Mount Holly Newsflash- Friday, March 11, 2022

Mount Holly Newsflash - Friday, March 11, 2022  The weather today in Mount Holly -    Cloudy, with a high near 42. South wind 3 to 8 mph.   ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 1 AM EST SUNDAY... * WHAT...Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 8 to 13 inches. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph, mainly Saturday afternoon and night. * WHERE...Portions of central, northeast, northwest and southern Vermont. * WHEN...From 10 PM this evening to 1 AM EST Sunday. * IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. Areas of blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Light snow, possibly mixed with rain within the Champlain Valley, will begin overspread the region tonight. All precipitation will transition to snow by sunrise on Saturday. Periods of heavy snow will be possible late Saturday morning through Saturday afternoon where snowfall rates in excess of 1 inch per hour will be possible. Snow will taper off Saturday evening and come to an end Sunday morning. Gusty northwest winds between 25 and 40 mph will develop Saturday afternoon and continue into the overnight hours. Blowing snow may develop and significantly reduce visibility across the region. Archived Newsflash emails can be read at: https://mthollynewsflash.blogspot.com dedicated to providing a local alternative to commercially produced factory food This 'n That Another week gone by and another weekend approaching!  AND, supposedly more snow!  We've been able to get in the sugar house a bit his past week, and hoping to be there today as well.  Fingers crossed. One more calf expected here at the farm.  We've been posting daily 'cute calf pics' on both our Instagram and FaceBook pages. St. Patrick's Day is next week - don't forget the brisket!  We've got a few left here in the farm stand, stop on by and we'll help you with your meal plans. Our pizza freezer was restocked this week, so yay for that!  Grab one for those nights when you just don't feel like cooking. Ground beef was the top seller in the meat department last week.  Burgers, meatloaf, chili, stuffed peppers ..  the list is endless. Save yourself a trip to the big city and stop on by our farm stand.  Milk, bread, meat, maple, produce, pasta and so much more.  We'll be here for you. And lastly ..  this will be the LAST weekend for our fresh pastries and croissants from Vermont Croissant.  Morgan has decided to leave behind her work with flour to work with soil and lumber.  We wish Morgan all the best.   We look forward to seeing you this weekend.  Our farm stand is located at 1966 Healdville Road in Mount Holly.  We are open Tuesdays through Sundays from 12:00 - 5:00.  Closed on Mondays!   MAPLE OPEN HOUSE WEEKEND !   We will be opening up our sugar house for Maple Open House Weekend.  Mark your calendars - Saturday & Sunday, March 26th & 27th from 11:00am-4:00pm.  Take a self guided tour, sample our delicious wood fired Vermont maple syrup and meet the crew.  More details as we get closer to the event.     Plew Farm 1966 Healdville Road     Mount Holly, Vermont  05758 www.plewfarm.com Farm stand open Tuesdays through Sundays (CLOSED ON MONDAYS) 12:00pm - 5:00pm   802.259.2250 plewfarm@gmail.com     Mount Holly Biodiversity update   It's been a long, strange winter and project observations have been slow for almost everyone. As March begins and day length gets longer there are more opportunities to get out and find the amazing biodiversity in Mount Holly.  The Mount Holly Biodiversity project is now in its second year of volunteers collecting important information about our environment.  The project needs people who can report common species (birds, squirrels, deer, trees, etc.) and well as keep an eye out for the rare ones. Very soon we will start seeing early shoots of spring wildflowers and it's very helpful to submit photos of early growth as well as mature plants and flowers. Also, early migratory birds will soon be here and first sightings of plants and animals are very important to learn about their phenology (when they appear) and changes that might be happening. If you have helped in the past year, thank you, we hope you will continue this year.  If you haven't yet participated, please consider joining our project so you can learn how to identify the species in town and contribute to this citizen science project.  Looking forward to seeing your new observations!   Questions?  Call Jim at 802-259-2311   Vermont Home Gardener  March Madness.  Can we plant now?  As March gets started, we can't be sure if it's going to snow or be mud season. We have seen some brave sprouts peeking up from bulbs such as irises, lilies, snow drops, and early crocuses.  Some would call this "Fool's Spring".  Nevertheless, there are some garden preparations we can be doing, including planting onions, petunias, and coffee!   If you haven't yet pruned your fruit trees (apples, pears, cherries, etc.) these mild days might be your last chance to get the pruning done before the trees break dormancy.  After pruning them, give them a first spray coating of Dormant Oil to smother the over-wintering eggs left by last year's pests.   This week (March 7-9) I planted my onion seeds (3 varieties: Ailsa Craig, Redwing, and Patterson) along with four varieties of Wave Petunias (blue, purple, pink, & silver).  These plants are slow to start and require a long head start before transplanting out in late May.  Onion seedlings produce better final onions and are much cheaper than sets so are worth the extra effort.  You can also buy onion seedlings ready to plant from many seed companies and garden stores later in the season.  Most other seeds can wait a bit longer before starting.  More on this in the next article.   Looking for a fun project?  Try growing your own coffee!  I have just planted a flat of selected Honduran Arabica coffee seeds and will be looking for adoption outlets when they are ready.  Coffee plants naturally prefer to grow in shade so make a nice house plant with their dark green leaves and are a great topic for conversation.  Coffee trees are small so will get to only 2-4 ft tall in a pot.  They are not winter hardy and will need to come inside for the winter.  For the adventurous, I still have a supply of coffee seeds available for free that you can plant for yourself.  Contact me at 802-259-2311.     Hi Mount Holly Newsflash,  I am having a total knee replacement and would like to borrow a walker and a commode attachment. Chris Colm 802 770 4154 or 769 Straight rd, Belmont

Mount Holly Newsflash- Thursday, March 10, 2022

Mount Holly Newsflash - Thursday, March 10, 2022  The weather today in Mount Holly -    Mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. West wind 6 to 12 mph. Archived Newsflash emails can be read at: https://mthollynewsflash.blogspot.com Rotary and United Church Sponsor Dinner for Ukrainian Relief, March 19   The Ludlow Rotary Club and the United Church of Ludlow are combining efforts to raise money for humanitarian relief of the besieged people of the Ukraine on Saturday, March 19 at the United Church, located at the corner of Elm and Pleasant Streets.   According to Linda Thomson, they plan to serve a lasagna dinner.  The cost will be $15 per person – or whatever generous donation the diner wishes to make.  "This is sort of an 'Eat So Others Can Eat' affair to help the struggling people in the Ukraine", noted Thomson.   Illustrating how much the Ukrainian situation has mobilized the area community, the following groups have volunteered to help with the dinner:   ·       Black River Produce will be donating all the vegetables for the salad. ·       Vermont Family Farms - Springfield Donating beef for lasagna ·       Okemo Valley Women's Club for dessert, brownies ·       Reading Greenhouse - Flowers ·       Kids from Cavendish will be preparing Sun Flower seed packets that they will be having for sale at the dinner ·       The Culinary Arts Department of the River Valley Technical Center in Springfield is going to bake bread ·       Members of the Ludlow Rotary, United Church, and Okemo Valley Women's Club will help prepare, serve, and clean-up after the dinner.   The lasagna will come in several sorts of variety to satisfy the palates of everyone.  This will include meat-filled, vegetarian, and gluten free lasagna dishes.  Complementing the main course will be salads, breads, and desserts.  Take-out meals may be picked up at the church between 5 and 5:30pm while in-church dining will be available from 5:30 to 7.   Pre-orders for take-out meals can be made by call 802-228-6275 or emailing Thomson131VT@gmail.com.    General donations are also appreciated.  They may be made at the Ludlow Rotary Club's website, https://portal.clubrunner.ca/2939, or mailed to Ludlow Rotary, PO Box 216, Ludlow, VT  05149.   Such donations are tax-deductible.   Thomson added that "We genuinely hope we can support the desperate needs of the folks in the Ukraine who are hungry and suffering the personal and family deprivations resulting from this terrible invasion.  So let's 'Eat So Others Can Eat'!"   People holding their children struggle to get on a train to Lviv at the station in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Ludlow Rotary Club and United Church of Ludlow are holding a fund-raising dinner March 19 to help these people deal with the unprovoked invasion of their country. "A Big Hand for the Little Lady" FOLA's Next Feature, March 19   FOLA will offer a most unusual Western, "A Big Hand for the Little Lady", in the Heald Auditorium at Ludlow Town Hall on Saturday, March 19 at 7 PM.   The film concentrates on the five richest men in the territory as they gather in Laredo for their annual high-stakes poker game. The high rollers let nothing get in the way of their yearly showdown. When undertaker Tropp (Charles Bickford) calls for them in his horse-drawn hearse, cattleman Henry Drummond (Jason Robards) forces a postponement of his daughter's wedding, while lawyer Otto Habershaw (Kevin McCarthy) abandons his closing arguments in a trial, with his client's life hanging in the balance. They are joined by Wilcox (Robert Middleton) and Buford (John Qualen) in the back room of Sam's saloon, while the curious gather outside for occasional reports.   Settler Meredith (Henry Fonda), his wife Mary (Joanne Woodward), and their young son Jackie (Gerald Michenaud) are passing through, on their way to purchase a farm near San Antonio, when a wheel on their wagon breaks. They wait at Sam's while the local blacksmith repairs it. Meredith, a recovering gambler, learns of the big poker game and begins to feel the excitement once again. The newcomer buys into the game, eventually staking all of the family savings, meant to pay for a home.   The game builds to a climactic hand; the gamblers raise and reraise until more than $20,000 are in the pot. Meredith, out of cash, is unable to call the latest raise. Under the strain, he collapses. The town physician, Joseph "Doc" Scully (Burgess Meredith), is called to care for the stricken man. Barely conscious, Meredith signals for his wife to play out the hand.   Taking his seat, Mary asks, "How do you play this game?" At this, the other players object loudly, but eventually give in.   What follows is one of the most fascinating and most appealing Westerns ever made – with an ending that allows the memorable cast to display talent and interaction rarely seen in movies.   The New York Times' Robert Alden enjoyed the film, praising the "seasoned set of actors" in the cast: "They are a skillful bunch, and it is a pleasure seeing real film professionals having at each other. A foxier bunch of artful poker rascals would be hard to find" crediting Meredith with "perhaps the most memorable performance of the lot." Alden adds "the mixing of comedy and tragedy is sometimes uncomfortable for an audience" seeing it for the first time. However, the "delightful surprise ending makes the feast worthwhile. "   The film is open to everyone and is free; donations are appreciated. Water is provided thanks to the folks at the United Church of Ludlow. For information, 802-228-7239 and https://fola.us.     Pictured above is Joanne Woodward as she faces the big-time poker players in "A Big Hand for the Little Lady", the next movie to be screened by FOLA in the Ludlow Auditorium on Saturday, March 19.     Windsor County Sheriff  Candidate Speaks to Ludlow Rotary   Ryan Palmer, Candidate for Sheriff of Windsor County, was the featured speaker at the recent weekly luncheon meeting of the Ludlow Rotary Club (LRC).   In discussing his career, Palmer stated that he knew he wanted to be in law enforcement since he was 5 years  old.  He actually started working in this field when he was 19.   In describing the duties of the sheriff in Vermont, he said the principal functions were to process and serve legal papers, transport prisoners, assist mental health patients, and provide law enforcement services to area towns lacking a police force.  He also contracts with transportation and construction vendors.   He was quite definitive in is attitude towards towns using his services to produce revenue, insisting that "in 2022, policing for profit is wrong".   Ryan outlined the basic funding for the position of sheriff indicating that the sheriff received a base salary of $90,000 from the state, 5% of all ticketing went to the sheriff while 87% went to the town that contracted with his office.   He also expressed his personal feeling that his primary objective was "to keep people out of the system" and deal with young people towards this end.   The LRC normally meets every Tuesday for lunch and welcomes  visits by anyone interested in learning more about Rotary to these meetings.

Mount Holly Newsflash- Monday, March 7, 2022

Mount Holly Newsflash - Monday, March 7, 2022  The weather today in Mount Holly -    A chance of freezing rain and rain and snow after 8am. Cloudy, with a high near 44. Southwest wind 2 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. Archived Newsflash emails can be read at: https://mthollynewsflash.blogspot.com