Upcoming events: Wildflower walk; Weston artists salon; celiac run; wild edibles forage lesson; raptor fund-raiser; ‘Tosca’ prelude in Chester; discover your ancestors; Rural Vermont celebration

For more upcoming events, click here for The Chester Telegraph calendar. To be included in our Upcoming events briefs, email Susan Lampe-Wilson at calendar@www.chestertelegraph.org. Photos welcome. No PDFs, please.

May 3: Wildflower walk in Westminster West

Saturday May 3, 2-4 p.m., the Pinnacle Association’s leaders Libby Mills, Carol Westing, and Mary Lou Johnson, will take hikers to discover forest ephemeral spring flowers. Bring camera and water and meet at the Westminster West Church 44 Church St., Westminster West, to carpool to the start. Register with Libby Mills at 802-387-5596, libbym680@comcast.net, www.windmillhillpinnacle.org.

From left, Hunter Bell, book writer for [title of show], and Glenn Slater, lyricist twice nominated for Tonys for The Little Mermaid and Sister Act, are two of the artists participating in Weston’s 2014 retreat.

May 3: Weston presents top musical teams at salon reception

The Weston Playhouse Theatre Co. will introduce the creative teams behind four new musicals during a salon reception at the playhouse, located on the Weston Village Green, from 4 to 6 p.m., Saturday, May 3. The culmination of Weston’s seventh annual Artists Retreat week, the salon reception is free and open to the public with no reservations necessary.

Producing Artistic Director Steve Stettler will interview the visiting artists onstage, with each team sharing some of its recent work. Attendees will participate in a question and answer session and will have a chance to chat personally over refreshments following the presentation.

The roster of artists and projects includes Cara Reichel and Peter Mills (“Soldier’s Heart”); Jason Grote, Marisa Michelson and director Erin Ortman (“Scheherezade”); Hunter Bell, Eli Bolin and Lee Overtree (“[title of the show]”); and Glenn Slater and Wendy Leigh Wilf (“Beatsville”).

The free event will be held at the Weston Playhouse, 12 Park St., just off Route 100 S in Weston. There is ample parking around the Village Green and in the adjacent Weston Mill Yard. For more information, call 802-824-8167 x101 or visit westonplayhouse.org.

Nicolas Houghton. Photo provided.

May 10: Chester 5th grader runs for celiac disease  awareness

On Saturday, May 10, Chester fifth grader Nicolas Houghton will be running his first 5k race in Merrimack, N.H., to help provide clinical care and scientific research relating to celiac disease.

The event will be held at the Anheuser-Busch Property at 221 Daniel Webster Highway in Merrimack. A vendor fair will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m. And the 5K Run/Walk will kick off at 11 a.m.

Nicolas, who was diagnosed with celiac when he was in the second grade, hopes to raise at least $300 for the cause.

Celiac is an autoimmune disease that is triggered by the protein gluten, found in wheat, barley, rye and other grains. Symptoms include anemia, weight loss, chronic fatigue, osteoporosis, infertility and a variety of gastrointestinal problems. Untreated, celiac disease can be life threatening.

To visit Nicolas’ personal page to pledge, click here: Donor Page. Go to www.celiacwalk.org for more information.

The Nature Museum offers lessons on foraging for wild edibles.

May 10: Forage for edible spring plants in Grafton

Take a walk on the wild side in search of wild edible plants 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 10 at the Nature Museum, 186 Townsend Road, Grafton. Learn about ethical harvesting and safe use of a wide variety of wild edible spring plants. Ramp up your wild food foraging skills on this foray into the springtime woods. Connor Stedman, director of the Vermont Wilderness School in Brattleboro and a graduate of UVM’s Field Naturalist Program, will be the guide.

The morning program will cover field identification, traditional methods of land stewardship and gardening the wild. The group will meet at The Nature Museum and drive to nearby foraging grounds. Participants will taste of a wild food dish prepared by their guide. The workshop is targeted toward beginner to intermediate wild foodies, people who enjoy knowing their meal was growing wild only hours ago.

Register by Wednesday, April 30, to receive the early bird price of $20 for this three-hour workshop. After April 30, the price will be $25. Pre-registration and payment is required to secure your space at this event. Spaces are limited to provide an intimate experience for participants. For more information and to register, visit www.nature-museum.org or call (802) 843-2111.

May 10: Shelburne Farms hosts arts fundraiser for raptor rescue

“Birds Take Flight” is a fundraiser and celebration of birds and nature in the arts from 3 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 10 at the Shelburne Farms Coach Barn, 1611 Harbor Road, Shelburne,  overlooking the bay.

The event, which will benefit the raptor rehabilitation and wildlife education nonprofit Outreach for Earth Stewardship, includes chances to meet wild ambassadors/education birds, a reading, a book signing of the new novel “The Starling God” by Tanya Sousa, an exclusive showing of the documentary “An Unwelcome Success: The European Starling in North America” by filmmaker Richard Smedley, a silent auction of a wide variety of donated bird and nature-oriented artwork, finger food, a cash bar and more. The evening will conclude with the release of a rehabilitated owl wintered over at the OFES facility at Shelburne Farms.

Eveleen Cecchini and Craig Newman founded the nonprofit in 1989. In 1997 a partnership began with Shelburne Farms where both rehab operation and education were consolidated and housed in the renovated kennel building.

For those who can’t make it to the fundraising event but want to help, visit www.ofesvt.org/donate-to-ofes/. There is also the opportunity to support the “Under Your Wing” program where your donation “adopts” one or more of the education birds. Anyone needing directions to the Shelburne Farms Coach Barn may reference the Shelburne Farms website: http://www.shelburnefarms.org.

May 11: Chester prelude of ‘Tosca’ at Stone Church

The Windham Orchestra and PanOpera have created an introductory prelude to their upcoming complete performances of “Tosca.” The prelude will be held 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 11, at the First Universalist Church (Old Stone Church), 211 North St., Route 103 North, Chester.

Soloists Jenna Rae, Alan Schneider and Chester’s Stan Norsworthy, accompanied by Hugh Keelan on the piano will perform excerpts from “Tosca” and other operas. Dr. Luci Fortunato will provide cultural and historical background for “Tosca,” and Puccini and his life in Lucca, Italy.

Tickets are by donation and will be available at the door, and in advance at Misty Valley Books On the Green in Chester and the Brattleboro Music Center, 38 Walnut St. Brattleboro.

Full performances of “Tosca”  will be at the Latchis Theatre at 50 Main St., Brattleboro 7:30 p.m., Friday, May 30 and at 2 p.m. Sunday June 1 and at the Academy of Music in Northampton 274 Main St., Northampton, Mass., at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 5. For complete information, visit www.bmcvt.org.

May 14: Genealogist offers help in finding your ancestors

Are you descended from royalty? Whatever your background, a link to royalty might be lurking somewhere in your family’s past. Join genealogist Wes Nies for a presentation on finding royalty in your family tree on May 14 from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Rockingham Free Public Library, 138 Westminster St., Bellows Falls. Nies will demonstrate a variety of research tools and show proven pathways for locating royal ancestors. This program is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the library at 802-463-4270 or email rockref@sover.net

May 15: Rural Vermont’s 29th Annual Celebration

Rural Vermont’s 29th Annual Celebration will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, May 15 at the American Legion Hall, Route 103 South in Chester. Free and open to the public, the event will include a potluck supper, cash bar and a social hour with plenty of time for networking and catching up with old and new friends. Following a brief annual meeting, several farmers will take the stage for storytelling that will not only demonstrate their passion and connection to the way they raise food, but paint a future that returns the “culture” to agriculture. The stories will lead into a conversation about the barriers preventing or impeding food freedom, solutions for moving forward, and how people can lend support to this movement to regain our food freedom.

The public is invited to bring friends. Rural Vermont welcomes and appreciates special contributions to support their work to restore food freedom.

To RSVP and be entered into a weekly drawing visit, http://www.ruralvermont.org/uncategorized/rsvp.

—Edited by Susan Lampe-Wilson