Upcoming events: Classic and Christian music, comedy and documentary films, benefit food drives and plant sales, discussions on hunger and river health and a theater tour of London

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 7: Orchestra members to entertain Rotary Club

Windham Orchestra conductor Hugh Keelan and local Chester musicians — Dr. Sarah Kemble and Dr. Susan Lemei — perform at the First Thursday Chester Rotary Club Meeting from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on May 7 at the Fullerton Inn, 40 The Common in Chester. Attendees will learn about the 45-year history of the orchestra and some of the interesting people who make it such a success. The orchestra offers live orchestral music in southeastern Vermont by professional, amateur and student musicians in addition to performing music composed by local residents. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Enjoy the contemporary Christian music of Grace Abounding at Grounded4Life

May 8: Grace Abounding
comes to Grounded4Life

Beginning at 7 p.m., Friday, May 8, Grace Abounding, a young group just breaking into the contemporary Christian music scene, will perform at Grounded4Life located in the coffeehouse downstairs in the First Baptist Church, 162 Main St. in Chester.

The group began as the worship team for a youth ministry in Bristol, Conn., but its popularity has grown significantly. The band features: Elijah Martin on guitar; Justin Masayda, bass guitar; Bryce Harris, drums; and Hannah Martin on piano.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and music will begin at 7 p.m. The coffee bar and refreshments will be ready when you arrive. The program is free. Check out the Grounded4Life Facebook page or contact John Nunnikhoven at john4ns@fastmail.fm

May 9: Post Office Food Drive to help local food shelves

Every second Saturday in May, letter carriers collect food donations from their postal customers who participate in the Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive – the largest one-day food drive in the nation.

On Saturday, May 9, local postal employees will gather canned and dry goods donations to benefit local food shelves across Vermont, including those at Ludlow, Cavendish, Mount Holly and Plymouth and Black River Good Neighbor Services. There is a specific need for canned fruit, fruit juice, peanut butter, pasta, pasta sauce, tuna, canned meat, rice mixes, raisins, dried fruit, nuts, granola bars, coffee, tea, condiments, flour, sugar, toilet paper, cereal and shampoo.

To participate, place boxes or cans of non-perishable food next to your mailbox before your mail delivery on Saturday. The food will be taken back to a postal station, sorted and delivered to an area food bank or pantry. For more information about the food drive, contact your local post office. For more about Black River Good Neighbor Services, please call 802-228-3663.

May 9: Annual Plant Sale
at Rock Library

On Saturday, May 9 from 9 a.m.–3 p.m., the Friends of the Rockingham Library host it Annual Plant Sale at the library at 65 Westminster St., Bellows Falls. Rain or shine, vegetables, perennials, herbs, ground cover, trees, ornamental grasses, bulbs and houseplants will be available for purchase on the front lawn of the library.

There will be raffles for garden-related prizes. Local master gardeners will be on hand to answer any plant-related questions. All funds from the sale will directly benefit the library. For more information, call 802-463-4270, email anne@rockinghamlibrary.org or stop in to the library.

May 9: ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’ next FOLA comedy

The Friends of the Ludlow Auditorium will be showing The Grand Budapest Hotel at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 9 at the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium, 37 South Depot St. in Ludlow.

Fantasy, mystery and laughs at the Grand Budapest Hotel

The 2014 comedy film is a directed by Wes Anderson and stars Ralph Fiennes as a concierge M. Gustave H who teams up with young lobby boy Zero (Tony Revolori) to prove his innocence after he is framed for murder.

The movie is open to the public and is free; donations are appreciated. Popcorn will be provided courtesy of Berkshire Bank; FOLA will provide free water. For information, call 802-228-7239 or go to www.fola.us.

May 12: VT Foodbank discusses local hunger at Wilder Library

On Tuesday, May 12 at 10 a.m. Wilder Memorial Library 24 Lawrence Hill Road in Weston hosts The Portrait of Hunger in Our Community, a presentation by the Vermont Foodbank on what hunger looks like at the local level. A panel of representatives from the Londonderry Food Shelf, The Collaborative, Just Neighbors, and Neighborhood Connections will also discuss how their services and programs are making strides to address hunger and how you can too.

Space is limited. Call 802-824-4307 or email wilderweston@gmail.com to reserve a spot.

May 12: Williams River health presentation in Chester

Marie Caduto, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Watershed coordinator for the southeastern Vermont watersheds, and Ken Cox, fisheries biologist of the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, will discuss the current conditions of the Williams River and its tributaries, at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 12, at the First Universalist Parish, also known as the Stone Church, at 211 North St., Route 103 North, Chester.

Caduto and Cox will address topics of fish health, concerns about erosion and invasive plants, and what can be done to improve the current conditions. They will also share lessons learned through dealing with the aftermath of Irene. Caduto will discuss an existing program through which volunteers monitor the water quality of the Williams River, and how this information is used.

Sponsored by the Chester Conservation Committee, the event is free of charge, though donations will be accepted. For more information, contact Melissa Post at 802-875-4102 or at goodwood@vermontel.net.

May 13: Feed your Passion: A Little Taste of Springfield

A Taste of Springfield will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13 at the Springfield Town Library, 43 Main St., Springfield. Walk through the library and chat to locals, sample small plates from Springfield restaurants, and discover your appetite for interesting things at the library. This is a free, family friendly event.

May 14: Get On Board Windham County presents Meet Your Match event

Get On Board Windham County will present an opportunity for local nonprofits to engage with community members at a  Meet Your Match  event from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 14 at Marlboro’s Graduate Center, 28 Vernon St. in Brattleboro.

The goal of the event is to help nonprofit boards meet potential new board members, while helping community members connect with nonprofit organizations. Prospective board members, including any members of the community at large interested in board service, can attend the Meet Your Match event at no cost. At 5:30, 6, and 6:30 p.m., Marlboro staff will present “Everything You Need to Know about Board Service in 10 Minutes or Less,” followed by a Q&A session.

The Meet Your Match event will include at least 18 local boards looking for board members. These boards focus on a range of issues from local food to youth services to the arts. Onsite childcare will be available, as well as refreshments and door prizes.

Those interested in attending are asked to register and receive the full list of boards that will be tabling: www.marlboro.edu/board. For more information, contact Ariel Brooks at abrooks@marlboro.edu.

May 29: Part 5 of Vermont Movie at Wilder Library

Wilder Memorial Library in Weston will be screening Part Five of Freedom and Unity: The Vermont Movie at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 29.

Subtitled Ceres’ Children, the fifth installment takes a deeper look at some of Vermont’s cherished traditions: participatory democracy and the conservation ethic, from the ideas of George Perkins Marsh, one of America’s first environmentalists, to contemporary volunteer groups and activist movements.

The film captures 21st century debates over natural resources, then circles back in time to show how these concerns originate in the ethics of farmers, who depended on the natural world for their survival. The disappearance of dairy farms has raised a tough question: how big is too big?

How can Vermont survive in a world economy? Can Vermont be a model for small, local and self-sufficient farming? Space is limited, call 802-824-4307 or email wilderweston@gmail.com to RSVP.

May 29: Deadline to sign up for annual London theater Tour

The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company has announced plans to visit the capital of the English-speaking theater world from Nov. 3 through 12 for its 14th annual London Theatre Tour. Producing artistic director Steve Stettler and London tour director Giles Ramsay, who have designed all of the company’s previous tours, will again be leading the group. Registration has begun and the deadline for sign-ups is May 29.

Tour members will spend nine nights at The Montague on the Gardens, a four-star boutique hotel in a row of restored Georgian townhouses adjacent to the British Museum in Bloomsbury, a quiet neighborhood of parks and cafes. The package includes six plays, a concert, special meals and a series of visits, lectures and discussions and plenty of free time to take advantage of all that London has to offer.

Pricing, registration forms and a draft itinerary for the Weston London Theatre Tour can be found on the company’s website at www.westonplayhouse.org/london-tour-2015 or by contacting Charma Bonanno at 802-824-8167 x108 or cbonanno@westonplayhouse.org. Interested tour members are urged to return a registration form as soon as possible in order to receive preferred seating for all performances. Questions about the tour can be addressed to Steve Stettler at sstettler@westonplayhouse.org.

— Compiled by Susan Lampe-Wilson