Good Morning Early Birds,
It’s a fine, clammy, swamp-like morning for Haz-Mat disposal. The Hartford Transfer Waste Facility is accepting our Haz-Mat materials (including “dead” electronics — but errant satellites not accepted) until noon today. Latex paint cans that have been dried out with substances such as kitty litter also accepted. This collection is usually held in Woodstock in the area of the “Jungle”. This year it’s all goin’ on in Hartford.
Once that’s done, consider heading over to Union Arena or up to the National Park to check out interesting wood-working and furniture exhibits. http://www.vermontwoodfestival.org/consumers/current_show.php
There’s usually an entrance fee for the furniture show at Union Arena, but the National Park is free except for scheduled tours of the “mansion.” Traditionally, this weekend at the Park is great for kids and families. The rangers always have special hands-on activities going such as creating walking sticks…and so forth. www.nps.gov/mabi You’re likely to find cool people carving salad bowls and explaining how the wood from the forest is now being turned into local crafts. And yes, Woodstock Early Bird gives you the warning that one of her least favorite words will be bandied about quite a bit today , but that’s okay: It’s all about sustainability!
If you have visitors or guests moving about the Village, suggest they enjoy a trolley ride. This is still a free electric-powered vehicle that runs to the Billings Farm and back from locations all over town such as the front of the People’s Bank just off the Village Green.
Woodstock Early Bird has some great shots of its driver “Carlisle” who is the well-known local driver with a lots of personality. Unfortunately, they are stuck on the phone re-possessed temporarily by ATT. In any case, it’s worth the ride just to have him offer you a wooden nickel. He’s good with the “How-do-you-do-m’am” stuff and — usually wearing a cowboy hat and often does the twisty thing with his mustache. Your visitors will enjoy the ride and learn about cow methane and how it is harnessed to create electricity used to power trolleys and beer plants. (Long Trail Brewery is another “cow-powered” facility).
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 