Northeast Kingdom

NEWPORT — Members of Community National Bank’s (CNB) Wellness Committee recently attended the Worksite Wellness Conference in Burlington to accept a Governor’s Excellence in Worksite Wellness Award.

Each year the Vermont Department of Health and the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports honor Vermont businesses for their efforts to promote health and wellness in the workplace.

CNB’s Wellness Committee, initiated in 2017, offers engaging activities that encourage physical fitness, healthy eating habits and emotional health for the bank’s employees.

The response rate to the Wellness Committee’s efforts shows that CNB employees have welcomed the opportunities to learn about health-related topics and to participate in activities that promote fitness and well-being.

The bank says they are honored to have received the Gold Level award for the Governor’s Excellence in Worksite Wellness.

Community National Bank is an independent bank that has been serving Vermont communities since 1851.

They have offices located in Derby, Barre, Barton, Derby Line, Enosburg Falls, Island Pond, Lyndonville, Montpelier, Morrisville, Newport, St. Johnsbury and Troy.

NEWPORT — A new initiative led by Michelle Tarryk and Barbara Morrow, along with over two dozen women leaders and business owners across the Northeast Kingdom, say they’ve come together to foster leadership in girls and women in the NEK.

The project is called Women LEAD, and the group will launch with a fundraiser at The Eastside Restaurant on Monday, March 25, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Women LEAD is in alignment with recommendations from the recent NEK Collaborative Leadership Development Task Force Action Plan.

Recommendations include creating a NEK Leadership Institute as well as a project focusing on engaging NEK Women in Leadership Learning.

“This project has been an absolute thrill,” Tarryk said. “I am in awe of the women who participated in the calendar and I am also very excited about the leadership opportunities that we will be able to bring to young girls throughout the kingdom.”

The group is inviting those interested to come out for complimentary appetizers, a cash bar, and to hear from several collaborators.

Presenters at the event include Michelle Tarryk of Northeast Kingdom Learning Services, Katherine Sims of the NEK Collaborative, Alice Kitchel, State President of Business and Professional Women’s Club, Sunny Noelle Naughton of the Northeast Kingdom Young Professionals Network, and Vermont Photographer Mary Claire Carroll.

NEWPORT — While locals wait for the ice to go out by watching the vanilla extract mascot placed on Lake Memphremagog​ to sink, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department is reminding ice fishing enthusiasts not to play the same game with their shanties.

Vermont state law requires that all ice fishing shanties be removed from the ice before the ice weakens.

The shanty must be removed before the ice becomes unsafe or loses its ability to support the shanty out of the water, or before the last Sunday in March, whichever comes first.

That date this year will be on March 31.

All contents, debris, wood, and supports must also be removed so they do not become a hazard to navigation in the spring.

The fine for leaving your ice fishing shanty on the ice can be $1,000, and shanties may not be left at state fishing access areas.

NEWPORT – The Northeast Kingdom Young Professionals Network has launched a number of new initiatives and hosted a number of successful events this past year, significantly increasing the numbers of its organization region-wide.

The board reflects the geographic diversity of the region, with Maire Folan, the program manager of the Green Mountain Farm-to-School office in Newport, serving as committee chair.

Patrick Sodums, the YPN vice chair, brings a hospitality background to the group, as he works as the conference and corporate sales manager of the Burke Mountain Hotel & Conference Center in East Burke.

Rounding out the board is Sarah Chadburn, the group’s treasurer, who serves as a credit analyst at Community National Bank in Newport.

“The vision of the NEK YPN is to be a network for young professionals living and working in and around Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom,” Folan states. “We hope to provide valuable leadership, relationship, and education opportunities through collaboration with community partners.”

The group has held successful social events, or mixers, to bring people together.

It hopes to soon roll out some new programs that will welcome new folks to the area and provide more leadership opportunities.

The Northeast Kingdom Young Professionals Network was re-energized two years ago by Geoffrey Sewake after having been established by then-Northeast Kingdom Chamber President Hannah Manley in 2011.

The main purpose of the group is to serve the needs of young professionals, employees, leaders, and entrepreneurs of the tri-county region, who are hoping to find networking and social opportunities with others in their area.

“We recognize the word ‘young’ to be dynamic, not static, and ‘professional’ to be inclusive, not exclusive,” Folan noted. “We welcome all to this group.”

In the past two years, the NEK YPN has sponsored a number of events in the Northeast Kingdom and partnered with similar groups in northern New Hampshire in an attempt to reach out to more young professionals throughout the North Country.

Such meetings have not only allowed more professionals to network with each other but also helped the committee determine what the needs of young professionals are in the Kingdom.

“An important priority of the NEK YPN is to reach every corner of the Kingdom and help and assist young professionals, as they are not only the leaders of tomorrow, but, in many cases, today’s leaders as well,” said Darcie McCann, executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber. “We as a chamber, as well as other chambers throughout the Kingdom, are striving to work as closely with the group as possible to ensure we give them the support and skills they need to succeed.”

NEWPORT — Orleans County Conservation District, in cooperation with Natural Resources Conservation Service, is hosting a meeting to receive input from the public and our partners regarding natural resource priorities in the area.

NRCS administers several programs funded through the Federal Farm Bill.

These programs are designed to assist farmers, forest owners, and other landowners implement projects that benefit soil health, water quality, wildlife habitat, and other natural resource concerns.

The meeting will be held on Friday, March 15, from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at the USDA Service Center Conference Room at 59 Waterfront Plaza in Newport.

The public is welcome and strongly encouraged to attend this meeting.

Organizers ask that anyone interested RSVP by March 8.

To RSVP, or for further information, contact the Orleans Conservation District at 802-334-6090 x 7008.

NEWPORT — More than two-dozen leaders and experts from across Caledonia, Essex and Orleans counties are sharing their recommendations for progress in the region, after six months of discussion and deliberation.

Two task forces convened by the nonprofit Northeast Kingdom Collaborative have each released a plan detailing projects that they believe can be started in 2019 and will have a measurable impact in areas crucial to the future of the Northeast Kingdom.

These areas include developing a generation of local leaders and supporting economic growth at the intersection of the creative, recreational and food sectors.

“We brought together a diverse set of people who really know these topics to dig in and develop their best ideas,” said Katherine Sims, Director of the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative. “We’re very excited about the creativity and specificity of the vision that came out of both of the groups.”

The release of these two plans represents a new phase for the revamped Northeast Kingdom Collaborative.

The organization has been working to increase coordination and communication among NEK businesses and nonprofits for more than 20 years.

During that time, it has assisted the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Rural Economic Advancement Program (REAP) in identifying priorities for investment in the region.

In 2018, it launched a new strategy involving a reformatted governing board, a new paid director, as well as closer ties with private funders and the task force process.

“With these recommendations in hand, the next stage for the new year will be working with Task Force members and other organizations to bring that vision to life,” Sims said. “These plans are a blueprint for our work together over the next year and beyond.”

The Leadership Development Task Force put its weight behind six initiatives in its plan, “Grow Your Own,” after seeking public input through three Leadership Summits last summer.

One is to empower emerging local leaders by launching an intensive NEK leadership institute and a more informal women’s leadership learning circle.

Another is to offer more affordable and accessible professional development opportunities through a new series of classes, as well as a new NEK Training Scholarship Fund.

Other initiatives are to connect current and emerging leaders via a new mentor network and integrate new community members through a new outreach program.

Among the organizations taking the lead in pursuing these projects are Northwoods Stewardship Center, NEK Young Professionals Network, Northern Vermont University, and the Northeastern Vermont Development Association.

This tri-sector task force focused on how to advance economic development at the intersection of the region’s three most dynamic sectors, which includes the creative, recreation, and food sectors.

In a report, the collaborative prioritizes five initiatives.

One is to coordinate and expand marketing the region by establishing an NEK Regional Marketing Partnership Advisory Group with several specific priorities.

Another is to sustain and grow place-based events by formalizing an “NEK Event Backbone” program run by a regional event assistance provider.

Other initiatives put forward are to enhance economic growth through rural community hubs with new investments in infrastructure that would connect outdoor recreation assets to the creative and food sectors, as well as to expand access to tri-sector experiences for kids, by starting an NEK Kids Program Fund.

Organizations leading these projects include Catamount Arts, Northern Forest Center and the Northern Community Investment Corporation.

Both task forces focused in on the importance of increasing connectivity in the region by expanding access to business-class high-speed broadband in community hubs and true high-speed broadband to residences.

Both recommended working with stakeholders to develop another detailed action plan for specific work in this area.

Greater details on the proposed programs, the Task Force process and the NEK Collaborative are available in the reports.

“We want these reports read by everyone who cares about making this region flourish over the long term,” Sims said. “We’re going to need everyone pitching in to help.”

NEWPORT — Waterfront Cinema will be showing two videos from the Faces of Vermont Agriculture series, which is a collection of eight short video profiles that highlight outstanding stewards of the land who live and farm in the Green Mountain State.

These dedicated farmers tell viewers in their own words, why conservation matters to their bottom line, to the health and sustainability of the resources on and around their farm, and to the future of farming.

Two local farmers, Merle Young III, and Paul Lisai, are highlighted in the series and their video profiles will be featured as opening trailers to every movie at Waterfront Cinema in Newport for the next three months.

Merle Young III, is a fifth-generation farmer who understands and believes in the importance of maintaining good soil health.

He and his family have been working for many years to improve the farm’s soil health by seeding cover crops in the fall on their silage corn fields, following crop rotations, expanding their vegetative buffers and understanding the farms nutrient management plan, all of which reduce soil loss and protect water quality.

The Young farm also has the only NRCS funded strip cropped fields in Orleans County.

Strip cropping is the practice of growing planned rotations of row crops, forages, small grains, or fallow in a systematic arrangement of equal width strips across a field to reduce soil erosion from water and transport of sediment.

Paul Lisai, former Orleans County NRCD board member, is doing a great deal of work to protect and improve his farm’s natural resources, including installing pasture infrastructure and implementing an intensive grazing system to improve the farms forages, soil health, milk production, and climate resiliency.

“The short but powerful messages in the videos help the public better understand the efforts that many of our cherished NEK farmers are making to ensure that their impact on natural resources is beneficial.” Sarah Damsell, the Orleans County NRCD Manager said.

You can view the videos below: