Arlington Mills and Water: A story of ingenuity and wealth.

Brooks, streams, and rivers were the circulatory system supporting the growth of new towns in the New Hampshire Grants. While Arlington, Sandgate, and Sunderland forests provided a seemingly limitless source of raw material, the various mills transformed the forest into income for the early settlers.

This presentation will examine the growth of Arlington's early mill-based industries. We will identify some sites, what remains today, and why they have disappeared.

Talk by local historian Bill Budde, Curator of the Russell Vermontiana Collection.

To be held in the Performance Hall at the Arlington Common. Free to the public.

Understanding how our brains process information is a fascinating journey. In the context of artificial intelligence, Dr. Shavit will explore how these natural brain processes relate to AI. How does AI mimic brain functions? Drawing from his extensive knowledge and experience, Dr. Shavit will bridge the gap between artificial and biological intelligence, offering thought-provoking insights into the current AI landscape. He will discuss emerging trends and future directions that are set to impact both businesses and our daily lives. A Q&A session will follow, allowing the audience to delve deeper into the future of artificial  intelligence.

Facilitator:
Brian Edward Suslak is the former owner/president/CEO of W.J. Cowee, and a partner and owner/partner in numerous commercial real estate endeavors. He is also a former partner at MacDonald & Company, specializing in mergers and acquisitions. A graduate of Tufts University, he resides in Arlington, Vermont and volunteers for local nonprofit organizations. 

Guest Speaker:
Dr. Shavit is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he heads up the Computational Connectomics Group at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Dr. Shavit’s primary focus is understanding the relationship between deep learning and how neural tissue computes, by extracting connectivity of the human brain – a field known as “Connectomics”. Dr. Shavit was born in Israel and received his BS and MS degrees at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and his Ph. D from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is a recipient of the Gödel Prize and Dijkstra Prize for his work in computer sciences and has co-authored a number of papers and a book in the field.

Display your creativity by putting your carved/decorated pumpkin on the St. James wall by 6:30 pm; voting begins at 7pm.  There will be prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place! 

Sponsored by Arlington Area Alliance Nonprofits

Come join your neighbors for a fun-filled evening that starts with a free Community Dinner at St. James Church hosted by the Arlington Common. Dinner starts at 5 pm and goes until 7pm or until the food is gone. Dinner will be chili, cornbread, green beans, and pumpkin pie.  

In the years after statehood there were many efforts to build roads (turnpikes as they were called then) to expand commerce.  One such turnpike was built connecting the towns of Sunderland, Stratton and Wardsboro.  Today that road is known as the Kelley Stand Road.  Members of the Kelley family were instrumental in getting that road funded, in developing a logging business along the road, and building a large boarding house which became known as the Kelley Stand Hotel.  This presentation introduces the members of the Kelley family and their lasting claim to the road that bears their name.  It also discusses the hotel and the thriving community around it in the years after the Kelleys left.  One member of the Kelley family, John William Kelley, wrote poems after his many years of logging.  A ledger book containing those poems was discovered recently in a nearby barn.  A few of those poems will be shared with the audience. 

Join Avis Hayden on October 20th to hear more about this fascinating bit of local history!

New York and New England contain nearly 200,000 miles of stone walls that were built by 18th-19th century farmers. With the abandonment of thousands of farms in the mid-19th century and the fields being reclaimed by forests, most of those walls are now located in the woods. Dr. Delano measured nearly 1,000 miles of stone walls using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), principally in New York State and New Hampshire, and has published the results in the peer-review, professional journal, Journal of Geophysical Research. In combination with ancestral information, these old stone walls provide an enduring legacy of subsistence farmers and their struggles for survival in a harsh climate.

Guest Speaker:
John Delano, PhD retired in late 2016 from the University at Albany, State University of New York as a professor at the Distinguished rank. During his academic career, he served as the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University, an Associate Director of a NASA Astrobiology Institute involving a consortium of five universities and was the recipient of several university awards including the President’s Award for Exemplary Public Engagement. He served on 24 scientific advisory panels for both NASA and the National Science Foundation. Since retiring to Williamsburg in 2016, he has published four scientific papers in professional journals, taught courses and made invited presentations, and volunteers his time with several clubs and organizations.

An entirely FREE event sponsored by Heritage Family Credit Union, providing learning and networking opportunities exclusively for nonprofits. Our fall event focuses on Strategic Planning, with Sarah Henshaw, founder of Leaves of Change VT, as our Keynote Speaker.

An Evening with Agroecologist and Entomologist Vic Izzo of UVM

Discussing bugs in our gardens and how to grow with them.

Sponsored by the Arlington Garden Club and  

The Bennington Chapter of UVM Extension Master Gardeners

The Performance Hall at the Arlington Common

Talk by local historian Bill Budde. To be held in the Watkins House at the Arlington Common. Registration not required.

Due to its popularity, we are offering another clinic meant for those who already have a basic understanding of the game. The clinic will focus on three of the most important shots in pickleball: the serve, the third shot drop, and the dink, as well as strategies for improving your game.

This clinic is open to the public. The cost is $12 for members and $14 for non-members.

Registration is required on CourtReserve, the Arlington Common fitness website. To register, follow the link to CourtReserve and log in as a member OR sign up with the guest membership "class drop in and open play". Once signed in, the clinics are located in the "Events" section of the website. Upon registration you can pay the fee.

Due to its popularity, we are offering another clinic meant for those who already have a basic understanding of the game. The clinic will focus on three of the most important shots in pickleball: the serve, the third shot drop, and the dink, as well as strategies for improving your game.

This clinic is open to the public. The cost is $12 for members and $14 for non-members.

Registration is required on CourtReserve, the Arlington Common fitness website. To register, follow the link to CourtReserve and log in as a member OR sign up with the guest membership "class drop in and open play". Once signed in, the clinics are located in the "Events" section of the website. Upon registration you can pay the fee.

Avis Hayden, a Sunderland resident who has done extensive research on Lucy Prince and her family during their 50 years in Sunderland, will give a 30 minute presentation prior to the "Lost Nation" film. There is no cost for this talk but seating is limited, so early sign up encouraged.  

Here is the basic outline -- come hear Avis' talk to learn the details! 

Lucy Prince traveled from Guilford to Sunderland sometime around 1797 to settle on land that her late husband Abijah had secured the rights to.  Lucy learned that the land had been purchased by another settler.  After years of court battles, Lucy was awarded 18 acres.  Her family built a small cabin on that land. Lucy Prince lived there until her death on Jul 11, 1821.  Three of Lucy's children lived in the cabin until the last one died in 1854.  

The talk is free but space is limited so registration is required.

Join us for a talk on Arlington’s Main Street: Past and Present, by local historian Bill Budde. To be held in the Watkins House at the Arlington Common. Registration not required.

A reading of the new play Texting Through Grief, written and performed by Drama Desk Award winning actress Mary Bacon and renowned writer James Still, with photographic projection design by accomplished photographer Gisela Gamper. The evening is designed to foster a community dialogue about how we collectively and individually process our grief.

Mary Bacon, who maintains a second home in Arlington, is a Drama Desk Award winning actress and writer, recently seen as Patti in Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s Coal Country, with original music by Steve Earle, at NYC’s Public Theater and now available on Audible. She has worked with numerous directors, playwrights, and actors throughout her career, on Broadway and off-Broadway, in select theaters around the country, and in tv and film. She's appeared in countless world premieres, notably by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, Molly Smith Metzler, Chad Beckim, Heidi Armbruster, Kate Hammill, James Still, Theresa Rebeck, Pete Gurney, Charles Busch, Michelle Lowe, John Michael LaChiusa, Sybil Pearson, Horton Foote, Daisy Foote, A.R. (Pete) Gurney, and Tom Stoppard. She and her co-chair Heidi Armbruster founded Women Artists Writing group, which aims to develop and amplify the writing voices of mid-career women and non-binary theater artists. Mary lost her beloved husband of 25 years, Andrew Leynse, January 20, 2023.

James Still’s plays have been produced throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, South Africa, China and Japan and have been developed at New Harmony Project, O’Neill Conference, Sundance, Seven Devils, Colorado New Play Summit, Launch Pad, and many others. Recent work includes Everybody’s Favorite Mothers (about the founding of PFLAG) and a trilogy of linked plays: The House That Jack Built (Indiana Repertory Theatre), Appoggiatura (Denver Center Theatre), and Miranda (Illusion Theater, Minneapolis). His play When Miss Lydia Hinkley Gives A Bird the Bird was a winner of Red Bull Theater’s Short New Play Festival in New York and performed at many festivals. Still is an elected member of both the National Theatre Conference in New York and the College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center. He received the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award from the William Inge Festival, the Todd McNerney New Play Prize from Spoleto, and the Indiana Authors Award for Drama. He is a four-time Pulitzer nominee for his work in the theater, and a five-time Emmy nominee for his work in television. He lives in Los Angeles.

Gisela Gamper has been known for her photography and experimental video work since 1971. In 1999, Gamper began working with video and so began a long and creative collaboration with her husband, musician and composer, David Gamper. Together they created, See Here Now, a live music and video installation that was performed and presented in New Music venues in New York and elsewhere. In 2023, she published a limited edition art-book, No Longer Sleeping Alone, distributed by Printed Matter, Inc. Most recently, Gamper’s video work, What Goes Around Comes Around was included in Screen Compositions 20 with Experimental Intermedia at Issue Project Room, curated by Katherine Liberovskaya in March 2024. A new video installation, Hear, There, Everywhere opened May 2024 as part of Harvestworks/Governors Island summer programming — on view until August 2024. Gamper’s photographs are in numerous private collections and in the collection of the Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, NY.

Want to learn to play Mah Jong?  In this free class, you will learn to play the basics of the game. 

Space is limited and registration is required.  

To register please email info@arlingtoncommon.org

Arlington’s Main Street: Past and Present

Join us to learn more about historic Arlington and enjoy a collection of art, photographs, memorabilia , and artifacts from the Russell Collection and the Arlington Historical society.

The Watkins House at the Arlington Common

Free to the Public

Featured Artist - Ned Reade

All aboard this swashbuckling hunt for treasure! As Jim is lured out to sea in search of adventure, a wild ocean storm hits and his underwater odyssey begins. Jim learns that the ocean and all its inhabitants are threatened by pollution poured into the water from above. See if Jim can convince his people to take better care of the waters so that creatures above and below can live in harmony.

Come have fun while learning how to make your home more energy efficient, lower your

carbon footprint, and create a healthier lawn, garden, and community.

• Try out an electric lawn mower!!!

• Enter a raffle and win prizes!!!

• Enjoy some popcorn along with a screening of the award-winning film Kiss the

Ground, narrated by three-time Academy Award Nominee and Emmy Award

Winning actor, Woody Harrelson!!!

• Find out more about home weatherization, including installing heat pumps, solar

panels, and programmable thermostats!!!

• Learn about rebates and how to finance your energy projects!!!

• Activities for kids will include a scavenger hunt.

• The winners of the Lower Your Carbon Footprint Contest will be

announced!

• Featured speakers will include Representative Seth Bongartz, Paula Kamperman of the

Bennington County Solid Waste Alliance, and Arlington resident Marcus Jones of Living

Buildings, who will share his innovative concept for building homes without HVAC

systems in Vermont.

• Members of NeighborWorks & Heat Squad, Efficiency VT, SolarPro,

Gardens at the Yellow Barn Farm, the Arlington Lions Club, Bank of Bennington, and

more will also be on hand to provide guidance and to answer your questions.

• This community fair is made possible by a grant from the Municipal Energy Resilience

Program.

For more information, contact: Arlington.Energy.Committee@gmail.com

Pickleball 101 will not only include an explanation of the court, scoring,  and the rules of Pickleball but will also include demonstrations of various skills, including dinking, ground strokes, volleys, and lobs.

Jerry Wall has been playing Pickleball for 10 years and is certified for training by the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP). He is also the founder of the Bennington Pickleball Club, and is the District Ambassador for the state of Vermont for USA Pickleball.

REGISTER HERE

Pickleball 101 will not only include an explanation of the court, scoring,  and the rules of Pickleball but will also include demonstrations of various skills, including dinking, ground strokes, volleys, and lobs.

Jerry Wall has been playing Pickleball for 10 years and is certified for training by the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP). He is also the founder of the Bennington Pickleball Club, and is the District Ambassador for the state of Vermont for USA Pickleball.

REGISTER HERE

Pickleball 101 will not only include an explanation of the court, scoring,  and the rules of Pickleball but will also include demonstrations of various skills, including dinking, ground strokes, volleys, and lobs.

Jerry Wall has been playing Pickleball for 10 years and is certified for training by the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP). He is also the founder of the Bennington Pickleball Club, and is the District Ambassador for the state of Vermont for USA Pickleball.

REGISTER HERE

Pickleball 101 will not only include an explanation of the court, scoring,  and the rules of Pickleball but will also include demonstrations of various skills, including dinking, ground strokes, volleys, and lobs.

Jerry Wall has been playing Pickleball for 10 years and is certified for training by the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP). He is also the founder of the Bennington Pickleball Club, and is the District Ambassador for the state of Vermont for USA Pickleball.

REGISTER HERE

Pickleball 101 will not only include an explanation of the court, scoring,  and the rules of Pickleball but will also include demonstrations of various skills, including dinking, ground strokes, volleys, and lobs.

Jerry Wall has been playing Pickleball for 10 years and is certified for training by the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP). He is also the founder of the Bennington Pickleball Club, and is the District Ambassador for the state of Vermont for USA Pickleball.

REGISTER HERE

Saints & Liars is a Vermont-based Americana band who has been blending their own variants of honky tonk, folk, bluegrass, and rock n roll since 2012.

Tickets cost $10 and are not included in the festival's general admission price.

Performing Arts Center, Arlington Common Campus

For more information go to: https://www.vtflyfest.com/music-2024

Do you love fresh, sun ripened strawberries?  Blueberry pie? Raspberry jam? Blackberry crisps? So do we!  Please join the Arlington Garden Club for a presentation on all things “Berry Good!” For our Spring presentation, we welcome Andrew Knafel of Clearbrook Farm in Shaftsbury, Vermont to share his expertise on growing your own berries for a most delicious garden experience.  He will introduce us to thoughts about site selection, soil type, amendments, management and, most importantly, which varieties might lend themselves to our tastes. Q & A encouraged!

We look forward to seeing you and swapping stories and recipes too!