Upcoming events: Gift tags at area banks; ‘Peter Pan’ at Long Trail; FOLA celebrates; fuel, food fundraiser; memoir writing workshops

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.

Family Center Christmas gift tags at Chester banks

Stop by TD Bank or People’s United Bank to pick up a tag and the opportunity to give a gift to children receiving Food Shelf assistance. Return the wrapped gift with gift tag attached to the bank and the Chester/Andover Family Center will do the rest. The CAFC also invites the public to stop by the Thrift Shop and shop for  holiday gifts.

The center welcomes donations to the Thrift Shop and Food Shelf all year but recognizes that holidays are a particularly difficult time for those in need.

The Thrift Shop and Food Shelf are located at 908 Vt. Route 103 S., Chester, VT 05143. Thrift Shop hours are: 10 a.m to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays; 1 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Food Shelf hours are 1 to 6 p.m. Thursdays. For more information call (802) 875-3236, email: cafc302@gmail.com, or visit www.chester-andoverfamilycenter.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/chesterandoverfamilycenter.

Cover of the original J.M. Barrie book of Peter Pan and Wendy.

Dec. 12: Peter Pan at Long Trail School

Lost boys and villainous pirates abound as Long Trail School on 1045 Kirby Hollow Road, in Dorset, launches four performances of Peter Pan. Curtain times are 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 12, 13 and 14, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Dec. 15.

The production is based on J. M. Barrie’s original story, as adapted by Trevor Nunn (Royal Shakespeare Company) and John Caird.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children 12 and under. This year’s performances are accompanied by several fundraising events to benefit the LTS Actors’ Anonymous troupe, a group of area students who have been invited to attend the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, in August 2014.

On Saturday evening, the theater department invites the audience to sit down to a proper English feast of chicken potpie, veggie shepherd’s pie, and trifle preceding the performance at 5:30 p.m. A silent auction will be held Friday and Saturday nights and will include a Vermonter’s basket and a catered canapé party by local chef Tom D’Olivo.

Reservations are necessary for the Saturday English supper. Dinner for adults is $20, $10 for children 12 and under. Dinner and tickets for two adults are offered at the package price of $50. Call the school at 867-5717 to reserve a spot for dinner and/or tickets to any of the performances.

Dec. 13: FOLA’s Community Christmas Celebration

The Friends of Ludlow Auditorium’s annual Community Christmas Celebration will take place 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13 at the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium, 37 Depot St., Ludlow.

Highlighting this season’s program will be the music of students from Ludlow Elementary School and Black River Middle/High School, bell-ringers, a holiday reading and a special video playlet.

The program will end with the traditional sing-along led by the LES 3rd and 4th graders.

For more information, go to www.fola.us or call (802) 228-7239.

Dec. 16: Chester Senior Citizens Club luncheon

The Chester Senior Citizens Club will hold its monthly luncheon meeting at 11:30 a.m. Monday, Dec. 16, at the Chester First Baptist Church on Main Street. A Christmas gift exchange is planned and attendees are encouraged to bring a gift costing $5 or less along with a dish to share, a place setting and a friend.

Dec. 16: Democrats hold holiday fuel & food fundraiser

State Rep. Leigh Dakin and former state Rep. Kathy Pellett announce that the Chester and Andover Democrats’ annual fuel assistance holiday fundraiser will be held 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16 at Baba a Louis Bakery at 92 Vermont Route 11 in Chester. All are welcome to attend an evening of good conversation, refreshments and holiday cheer.

Attendees are asked to bring a donation of non-perishable food in addition to a contribution for fuel assistance. This year, food will be accepted to help offset federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—also known as 3SquaresVT and the farm bill cuts proposed by the U.S. House that will directly affect low income Vermonters.

Since its inception in 2005, the annual Chester and Andover Democrats’ fundraiser has raised more than $15,000 for fuel assistance for local residents.

For more information, contact Kathy Pellett at (802) 875-1372 or Leigh Dakin at (802) 875-3456. Those unable to attend but wishing to make a contribution can make checks payable to Food & Fuel Assistance Fund and mail to Bill Dakin, c/o Dakin and Benelli, P.O. Box 499, Chester, VT 05143.

Jan. 8: Write Your Life Story at the library

Share your life story with friends and family at Weston’s Wilder Memorial Library’s free bi-weekly memoir writing workshop called New Waters of the Lonely Way. The workshop will meet on even numbered Wednesdays from 4:30–5:30 p.m., January through March, beginning Jan. 8. Class participants will build confidence in their writing skills. Students should bring their own writing instruments, notebook, laptop or tablet. For more information, visit www.wildermemoriallibrary.org, Wilder Memorial Library’s Facebook page, or Twitter account @wilderweston. Due to the limited class size, students must preregister. To register, call (802) 824-4307 or email wilderweston@gmail.com.

– Compiled by Susan Lampe-Wilson