The Putney Community Center has been hosting teen dances for a very long time and really wants to continue providing a monthly hang-out with great music and a safe atmosphere for Putney's youth. We need help to continue with this! If you are a local adult (perhaps a parent of a PCS middle school teen) and would be able to donate one friday night a month to the 6th through 9th grade teens in our community, please email your name and phone number to wraymond@anselm.edu (board member, dance chaperone). Please email me if you have any questions as well (or comment on this post). Thank-You! -Wendy

If you are interested in helping out with the opening of Putney Books, come on down!

All next week, it will be book cleaning days at the VERY soon to be open Putney Books. Stop by any day Monday-Friday 11-3 to lend a hand! Thank you!

Are you a Vermonter who supports Barack Obama? If so, here are some ways you can help the campaign locally, this week:

OFFICIAL: 'Drive for Change'- Brattleboro: caravan/carpool to canvass NH!
Meet us at the Hannaford Plaza (Old Home Depot parking lot, 896 Putney Rd, Brattleboro, VT 05301) on Sunday, September 21st to caravan to Keene, NH and canvass for Obama! Please arrive by 11:00am so we can get organized and arrange carpools before heading over to help. We're heading to the Keene Campaign for Change Office and are aiming to reach there by 12:00 noon (305 Park Ave. Keene, NH 03431) and will be met by NH local field organizer, Gabe. Remember to bring comfortable shoes, and your Obama buttons!

Also this week:

Creative Adults Needed for Projects with Twelve PCS Students

The Putney Central School has students seeking willing, creative adults to spend time with them and help them learn more about what they like best! The Putney Family Services Mentor/Apprentice program has found 12 students in grades 5 – 8 with a variety of interests. Students have requested learning about photography, kyaking, caring for animals and cooking. Two students want to work with someone who can help them learn more about football – plays, passing, strengthening. One ambitious student is wild about tigers and wants to study about – and hopefully observe -- a tiger in captivity.

The Mentor/Apprentice program is offered through Putney Family Services and is coordinated by Amelia Struthers. Mentors and apprentices meet for a total of 12 hours over a period of weeks that suits the schedule for both mentor and apprentice. Students must initiate the first contact with mentors, create a schedule for meeting with the mentor, and keep a journal of their experiences.

If you would like to become a mentor to any of these students, or you have other skills besides those mentioned above that you could share with a student, please contract Amelia at Putney Family Services, 387-2120.

Members of the Energy list, and iPutney.

PEC (Putney Energy Committee), invites you to join us on Saturday at 10am at PEC central (120 Main St Putney Vt.) to ride green bikes and pick up garbage along the road and near any waterway that leads to the Connecticut River. Free bags and gloves and Green Bikes! For more information call 802 387 4141.

Help make Green-up Day every day.
We are looking for people to help with the following projects:

1. Street lamp replacement
2. Energy Audit implementation
3. Ride Board
4. Free Bike Project
5. Micro Hydro on Sackets Brook
6. Greener development at Basketville Village
7. No Idling campaign
8. whew...

To contact us, click on the "dos" in blue at the top of this post to send me an email.

-- Daniel

Green Up Day is this Saturday, May 1. This is an annual statewide litter pickup day. Putney's has been informal for the past several years, with people pretty much taking care of the roads around their own neighborhoods.

A town truck will be parked in the lot between the town hall and Our Lady of Mercy all day Saturday. Green Up bags and twist ties will be available there (next to the truck) from about 8:00 AM.

If you would like to help, this is what you do:

Go to the truck and take as many bags as you need, not more please. Go to an area of town you want to clean, pick up trash, and bring the filled bags back to the truck. Put them in the back. Areas in need of special attention this year are the two main arteries: Westminster West Road from Hickory Ridge Road to the Westminster town line, and Route 5 (the Bellows Falls Road) roughly from Basketville north. Any help getting these picked up would be greatly appreciated.

Call me if you have questions: Dan Toomey, Putney Green Up coordinator, 387-5402.

Do you like to sew? We need volunteers to sew han bok traditional Korean dresses for the 10 7/8 girls learning a dance with our Korean intern, Sohee Kim, to be performed this spring. We have fabric and patterns. Please contact Gerry Gatz at PCS (387-5521) for questions or Sue Kochinskas to sign on (387-5889 / flockshm@sover.net)

The Brattleboro Community Justice Center has a dynamic and rewarding volunteer opportunity available for those interested in helping to create a stronger, safer community and learning more about restorative and community justice.

The Reparative Panels are comprised of volunteer citizens (from Brattleboro, Putney, Guilford, Dummerston) who use Restorative Justice principles to address conflict and non-violent crimes and offer a community-based alternative to standard probation. Restorative Justice views crime as more than just a violation of laws; it's a violation of people and relationships. Repairing these violations is a key process in transforming the impact of a crime on a community.

[From the PCS newsletter]
Help PCS girls gain a stronger sense of identity, greater self acceptance, a healthier body and an understanding of what it means to be part of a team. Girls on the Run needs a volunteer to coach the program. No coaching or running experience is necessary! Training and curriculum is provided. To find out more, call Nancy Heydinger at 802-246-1476.