Our Village Business Alliance

Next Meeting, August 2nd

8:30am

Upstairs meeting room in Gillingham’s

Get involved!!

Bring you ideas!!

Work together !!

Woodstock is OUR Village!!

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Agenda

Socail Media/Marketing

Coop Advertising

Wassail Weekend

Integrated PR/Marketing

What can you do?

Get involved !!

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Scott Franzen-Chair

457-4956

email: info@woodstockvt.com

The Taste of Woodstock –A Community Festival

WOODSTOCK, VERMONT…The Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce announces The Taste of Woodstock, A Community Festival in downtown Woodstock, Vermont scheduled for Saturday, August 13, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.  The Festival is sponsored by the generous donations of the following chamber members:  Woodstock Home & Hardware, FH Gillingham and Sons Inc., Long Trail Brewing Company, Lake Sunapee Bank and Fairpoint Communications. 

Elm Street, in the center of Woodstock, will be closed to traffic and there will be over 40 participants providing a full day that includes: local specialty food, wine & beer tastings, music, entertainment and arts and crafts.  There is something for everyone: A Super Sidewalk Sale throughout town, Children will enjoy the Kids Activity Tent with fun and games going on throughout the day sponsored by the Purple Crayon Productions. 

The proto-Celtic band Colcannon led by Pat Stebbins on harp and Sam Moffatt on hammered dulcimer will get the entertainment started on Elm Street at 10:00 a.m. followed by the duo Stolen by Gypsies serving up the sounds of French jazz a la a Parisian Street Café!   Next on the main stage, Barbara and Tim the dynamic duo that makes the center of all Sensible Shoes sounds will rock the afternoon shopping and dining crowd with covers and material from their new CD. 

At 7:30 p.m., just in time for an after dinner stroll the sounds of Quincy Mumford will close the night.  In addition to the live bands that will perform in the center of Woodstock, other artists entertaining throughout the day include:  Circus art, sidewalk art, drumming and fiddlers.  

The Chamber would also like to thank the following additional sponsors for their contributions: Billings Farm & Museum, Woodstock Insurance, Dead River Company, Shiretown Books, Elevation Clothing, Leslie Marceau Designs, and Woodstock Galley. 

For more information contact the Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce at 802-457-2355 or visit www.woodstockvt.com.

Check out Quincy Mumford here!

http://youtu.be/ofyoNn66nFk

Spring is really coming to Woodstock, Vermont. Even though we just received another foot or so of snow, some of the ice went out on the Ottauquechee River! The ice flow came up to the bottom of the Lincoln Covered Bridge in West Woodstock! For those of you who may not be familiar with an ice out, it is the time when the river crashes and gnashes together and starts flowing!  The noise can be amazing and just a bit frightening, but it means we have had a thaw!

Another sure sign is that maple sugar producers are tapping their sugarbush. Betsy at Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock told us they had just tapped 6000 trees on snowshoes! For those of you who want to experience Vermont during sugaring season, join us for Maple Sugar Open House Weekend , March 19th and 20. In the Woodstock area we have many participating farms including Elm Grove Farm, Kedron Sugar Makers, Edmunds Maple Hill Farm, Top Acres Farm  to name a few. Visit www.VermontMaple.org to see a full listing and directions.

Here are some fun facts:

• Did you know it takes 40 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon of syrup?
• Maple sugaring season usually lasts from four to six weeks.
• It takes approximately 40 years to raise a sugar maple  to about 18 inches in diameter.
• A 40 year old tree can sustain one tap, while larger trees may have 2 to 3 taps.
• In 2010 Vermont lead the nation in maple sugar production with 890,000 gallons produced from an estimated 3,2000,000 taps

Given the weather and the amount of snow we have, this will be the perfect year to enjoy sugar on snow.If you have never had the pleasure of this very sweet treat you are missing a great Vermont experience. To create sugar on snow you must boil maple syrup down to a consistency of molasses. You then pour the hot syrup on clean snow and savor it with raised, homemade donuts and a dill pickle! Delicious!

So join us in Woodstock, Vermont for the beginning of Spring, March 19th and 20th for Maple Sugar Open House Weekend.Visit www.VermontMaple.org to see a full listing and directions.

Well, after the beautiful snow storm yesterday the Woodstock, Vermont area is ready for any and all outdoor activities. The sun is shining and the snow is glistening. This morning I put on my snowshoes and my chocolate lab, Lupine and I hiked up past the VAST trail and did some snow shoeing through about a foot of fresh powdery snow. When we got to the snow mobile trail we looked down at Silver Lake- they are trying to keep ahead of the snow so folks can skate.

The thing about new snow is the calm and quiet. You can hear an occasional blue jay, chickadee or woodpecker. Before the storm Lupine and I followed some fox tracks that seemed to meet up with a coyote. We followed those tracks- or really they used our trail for easier going. I love to find mink, ermine and deer tracks!

But if you would rather ski or ride, Suicide Six have all their trails open for some great outside fun! The Woodstock Inn & Resort is  grooming Mt Peg and Mt Tom for cross country skiing. And on the old Mt Tom ski area on Rt 12 north, you will find the best sledding and tubing around. Yes, you do have to bring something to slide on and hike up the hill- but the ride to the bottom is well worth it!   And what could be better after being outside than relaxing with hot chocolate or a pint of Long Trail at Bentley’s Restaurant? So I would say the roads will be clear tomorrow- so join us for some fun in the snow!

Living in the Woodstock, Vermont area is like living in a snow globe. Today is much warmer than yesterday and snow has been flurrying all day. Everything looks pretty and clean, especially the covered bridge in the middle of the village. Out our office window we can see Mt. Tom dressed in a fresh blanket of snow. People are strolling to the post office- when yesterday at 20 below zero they were zipping in and out! We had a beautiful walk with the dogs in Barnard this morning. Again, just snowing gently we were able to look down at Silver Lake and enjoy the beauty of the morning.

I am pleased to be attending the public hearing with the Vermont Scenery Preservation Commission tonight in Killington. After a year of work and collaboration we hope to have Route 4, the East -West corridor of Vermont, named a Scenic Byway. The actual name will be the Crossroad of Vermont Byway and it will pass directly through the beautiful village of Woodstock. The Crossroad of Vermont Byway will run from Hartford through West Rutland. If you take this route off Interstate 89, you will have the opportunity to experience some of the most beautiful images of Vermont. These include many covered bridges, the Quechee Gorge, the Ottauquechee River, the Woodstock Village Green, the Bridgewater Mill, Long Trail Brewing Company and the Long Trail to name a few.

How cold was it this morning on waking up in Woostock Vermont?

-24degrees in the Village!! What do you wear when walking the dogs? Long underwear for sure, wool socks, fleece lined ski pants, turleneck, fleece vest, down jacket, down vest, mittens, boots, hat! All this for a walk that lasted 20min! Coffee cup in hand I head out for my morning walk up to the bench on the summit of Mt. Peg, with a wonderful view to Billings Farm and Mt Tom, Vermont’s only National Park. Did I notice any of this today? No……….Too Cold! Trees were popping in the woods, snow was crunching as I walked, my dogs were almost dancing, or prancing would be a better word, they did not want to keep their feet on the ground for very long. So off we went at 6:03 am up the hill, through the pines to the open field, then into the woods again on a snow shoe trail, up through some more pines where the smells are usually good, not today Too Cold! Circle around and head for home. Have to say one thing for the -24 degrees……..Sure Woke Me Up!

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