AROUND TOWN
PCAVT WALK
MONTPELIER — Prevent Child Abuse Vermont will hold its fundraiser event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, from the State House lawn.
The WALK through downtown Montpelier leaves at 10 a.m.
To be a WALKer, register at givebutter.com/2025WALKforSafeandHappyChildhoods.
To be a virtual WALKer and make a donation, visit givebutter.com/VIRTUAL_WALKer.
Free activities on the lawn include Musical Munchkins with interactive musical instruments, fiddlers from The Summit School, Marko the Magician, performers on stilts and with puppets, Bubble Station, lawn games, temporary tattoos and more. Also featured are free breakfast and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, car seat safety checks, booths with activities and information for parents, raffle, awards ceremony and prizes.
Global leadership
Daniel Franklin, a Guilford native living in Craftsbury, has been accepted into The Obama Foundation’s Leaders program, joining more than 200 global changemakers for the 2025-2026 class.
Franklin will be one of just 100 participating in the Leaders USA program representing 34 states and territories. Leaders will receive training in leadership development and civic engagement.
Franklin is a decorated nonprofit executive and community builder, having been named a Vermont Business Magazine Rising Star, Vermont’s Business Wellness Leader by the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, a Community Prevention Champion, and more. He currently serves as executive director of Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery. He also helped develop the nationally recognized “recovery village model” at Jenna’s Promise.
Public input
MONTPELIER — Two opportunities to provide public comment on the Agency of Transportation Rescission Plan due to $7.5 million budget cut, will be held:
From 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, at the Joint Transportation Oversight Committee meeting in the State House, Room 10. Public comment is expected to begin at 4:20 p.m.
From 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Joint Fiscal Committee meeting in the State House, Room 11. Public comment is expected to begin at 10:45 a.m.
To provide comment at either meeting, in person or via Zoom, email sorsha.anderson@vtleg.gov.
The AOT Rescission Plan can be found at ljfo.vermont.gov/assets/Meetings/Joint-Fiscal-Committee/2025-09-18/FY2026-TF-Rescission-Plan_September-2025_Submitted-9-10-25.pdf.
Red Bench Speaker
STOWE — Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum Red Bench Speaker Series will kick off the season with a discussion about “Underhill’s Lost-But-Not-Forgotten Ski Slopes” at 6 p.m. Sept. 25, at 1 South Main St., Stowe.
Event admission is $10 at the door or in advance at www.vtssm.org/red-bench-donation.
Featured speakers are Grant Allendorf and Roger Frey of the Underhill Historical Society, Jamie Ide, and Suzy Abair. The evening will be moderated by Vermont ski historian Brian Lindner.
Red Bench Speaker Series sponsors include rk Miles, Spruce Peak, Sisler Builders, and Vermont Ski + Ride.
Recovery access
LUDLOW — The Divided Sky Foundation, nonprofit addiction recovery center co-founded by Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and his former drug-court case manager and DSF program director, Melanie Gulde, has launched a Women’s Scholarship Fund to break down barriers that prevent women from accessing recovery.
The fund will provide financial support so that women, regardless of income, can access a dignified and empowering path to recovery where they face challenges from child care and financial barriers to stigma and lack of partner support.
To donate, visit give.dividedsky.org/campaign/divided-sky-womens-scholarship-fund/c723444.
COLLEGE NEWS
VTSU Castleton
CASTLETON — On Friday, Sept. 19, the Vermont State Colleges System will host its annual Undergraduate Research Symposium celebrating student research and academic achievement.
Held in the 1787 Room at Vermont State University Castleton and online, the symposium will feature 25 student presenters from both institutions in the VSC system, Community College of Vermont and VTSU.
The event is co-sponsored by VTSU’s McNair Scholars Program and the VSC Chancellor’s Innovation Fund initiative, Opportunities for Undergraduate Research and Graduate Professional Study.
The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, established by Congress in 1986 to honor astronaut and physicist Ronald E. McNair, is a federally funded TRIO initiative administered by U.S. Department of Education.
The program supports low-income, first-generation college students and those from groups historically underrepresented in doctoral studies.
For more information or to attend virtually, visit vermontstate.edu/event/vsc-undergraduate-research-symposium.
Sterling College
CRAFTSBURY COMMON — The public is invited from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, to Sterling College campus to help celebrate the fall harvest.
Open House: 10 to 10:30 a.m. Arrival, registration, refreshments; 10:30 to 10:45 a.m. President’s welcome; 10:45 a.m. to noon Mini-lessons with faculty; Noon to 1 p.m. Feast of the Fields luncheon; 1:15 to 2 p.m. Alumni panel — Crafting a Life & a Living Rooted in Values, Place, and Purpose.
Harvest Fest (open to the Sterling and greater Craftsbury communities): 2 to 3 p.m. Rock climbing, wagon rides, walking tour; 3 to 5 p.m. Live music with Alumni Band, Ursa and the Major Key, lawn games and crafting. Beer, wine, apple cider and snacks for purchase in the Biergarten.
Space is limited, register by Sept. 30.
AROUND VT
Child care
Vermont’s Child Care Campaign kicked off its next phase at Growing Vermont: A Conversation on the Future of Child Care, a town hall event featuring national and local policy experts at Hula Lakeside in Burlington.
The event marked two years since the passage of Act 76, Vermont’s child care law, as well as the wind-down of Let’s Grow Kids, the advocacy organization launched in 2015 as a 10-year campaign to transform Vermont’s child care system. Let’s Grow Kids will officially cease operations as an organization at the end of this year.
Moving forward, Vermont’s Child Care Campaign will be led by child care partners: The Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children, Building Bright Futures, First Children’s Finance–Vermont, and the Let’s Grow Kids Action Network.
UVM Health Network
University of Vermont Health Network has been recognized by the independent Lown Institute for excellence in cost efficiency and avoiding unnecessary care. Lown’s rankings include:
BURLINGTON — UVM Medical Center, Grade A in Value of Care, Avoiding Overuse, Patient Satisfaction, Inclusivity.
BERLIN — Central Vermont Medical Center, Top 10 nationally in Avoiding Overuse, No. 1 statewide in Cost Efficiency.
MIDDLEBURY — Porter Medical Center, Top 10 Critical Access Hospitals nationally in Value of Care, No. 1 Critical Access Hospital statewide for Value of Care, Cost Efficiency, Avoiding Overuse, Patient Outcomes.
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, Grade A in Avoiding Overuse.
ELIZABETHTOWN, N.Y. — Elizabethtown Community Hospital, No. 1 Critical Access Hospital statewide for Inclusivity.
Goodwill NNE
Goodwill Northern New England nonprofit announced its milestone of helping over 10,000 people achieve stability through its programs and community partnerships, from employment services and job training, career support and placement. Its focus is overcoming stability barriers when found in employment, education, housing, transportation and food.
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