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.

Fairs & Festivals

Fiber art and quilt lovers will enjoy the Vermont Quilt Festival at the Champlain Valley Exposition.

June 26: Vermont Quilt Festival celebrates color, creativity

The 39th annual Vermont Quilt Festival returns to the Champlain Valley Exposition at 105 Pearl St. in Essex Junction on Friday, June 26 through Sunday, June 28.

New England’s largest and oldest quilt event continues to inspire visitors with hundreds of quilts on display. Quilt enthusiasts will enjoy several exhibits of new and antique quilts, lectures and classes presented by noted quilt artists, quilt appraisal services, free gallery talks, demos and shopping in the Merchants Mall.

Festivities begin 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 25 with the awards ceremony celebrating the contest winners. The Merchants Mall features more than 90 vendors with the best in quilting supplies, machines and gift items.

Daily admission is $12, children under 14 free. Show hours are Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. An appraisal service for antique quilts is available Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the fee is $45 per quilt. For more information, visit www.vqf.org or call 802-872-0034.

Fundraisers

June 27: BRAM 5K Walk

On Saturday, June 27, the Black River Academy Museum will host a 5K Walk that will begin and end at the museum at 14 High St. in Ludlow.

The walk will go down Dug Road, then to town on Route 103, take a left onto the short street in front of the Baptist Church, and a left turn onto High Street to bring the walkers back to the museum. Registration is at 10 a.m. with the walk beginning at 10:30 a.m. Cost is $20 per person, $10 per senior and/or student.

The 5K walk is part of the celebration of  a new exhibit “The Walking Woman,” which features works on paper of walking women, curated by John Stewart of the Amity Foundation.

The museum will also host a free Fashion Show at the museum at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 27. The models will be members of The Women’s Club of Ludlow including Darlene Remy, Karen Haskell, Kathy McMahon and Michele Twombly; and fashions will be supplied by Tina’s Fun Stuff to Wear.

The fashion show’s door prize is a painting by a Croatian painter. The artwork is currently on display at People’s Bank. Big Eyes Bakery is donating refreshments for a reception after the show. Call 802-228-5050, email: glbrehm@tds.net or visit the museum’s website bramvt.org for more information.

Hostas will be available for purchase at CHS Plant Sale. Image by Terren Peterson.

June 27: Annual Cavendish Historical Society Plant Sale

Over 35 years ago, Craig Rankin started a plant sale to raise money for the Cavendish Historical Society.

Rankin also graced Cavendish with his artistic skill, creating pen and ink drawings of well-known landmarks in and around Cavendish. CHS will sell a selection of his original cards that he drew as part of the Save the Valley campaign, which prevented the damming of the Black River.

With his death in 2008, the historical society has continued Rankin’s plant sale legacy. This year, the sale will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 27, at the CHS Museum on Route 131 in the village of Cavendish.

There will be many varieties of hosta, along with other perennials including iris, daylilies, pachysandra, ginger and forsythia. For the first time, the sale will carry tomato plants ready for porch or patio. Other items for sale include fire starters and “magical” flowers upcycled from the cans found on Cavendish’s highways and byways.

June 27: Music in the Meadow to raise funds for Race for the Cure

Music in the Meadow, the 13^th annual benefit organized by Pat Budnick of Motel in the Meadow to benefit VT/NH Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure cancer charity, will be held from noon to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 27 and 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 28 at the motel’s meadow at Route 11 West in Chester.

Both days feature a bar-b-que and entertainment by musical guests. There will be a raffle, a silent auction, a horseshoe tournament and games for the whole family. Bring a lawn chair or a blanket or just sit under the tents to enjoy festivities.

Performing Saturday will be Mark Shelton, DV8, Roadhouse, Travis Parker and Johnny O, Heartfire and Spectris. Performing on Sunday are Garry Sharon, Green Mountain Express, Robert Barton, Crazy Love and Totally Submerged.

Admission is a suggested donation of $5. Any additional donations will be welcomed. For more information  and to view some of the raffle items, visit the event’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Music-In-The-Meadow/131040393575787

Bonnie’s Bundles dolls auctioned for Springfield Humane Society

Early Bonnie’s Bundles dolls that will be auctioned off to benefit the Springfield Humane Society

I

n memory of Francess  Carpenter, Bonnie’s Bundles Dolls is auctioning off three of the famous dolls originally designed in the early ’80s.

Francess Carpenter, affectionately known as Bunny, had sewed for Bonnie’s Bundles Dolls for 35 years. She died in July 2011. During her years of working for Bonnie Watters, Watters had given Carpenter a number of dolls.

They remained company for Barney, her husband, until his death in earlier this year. At that time, Carpenter’s dolls were returned to Bonnie Watters, who in turn has put three up for silent auction on-line and at the Bonnie’s Bundles Stone Village gallery.

Auction proceeds will benefit the Springfield Humane Society. These dolls are 30 to 32 years old and are in perfect condition. Each doll is being auctioned separately. Minimum starting bids are $50. The winners will be announced on July 4.

To bid, drop by the gallery during its open hours at 250 North St. in Chester’s Stone Village, call 802-875-2114 or email email dollmaker@vermontel.net. The deadline for bids is 5 p.m. EST on Saturday, July 4.

For more information on Bonnie’s Bundles Dolls and the auction, visit the website. For information on the Springfield Humane Society, visit www.spfldhumane.org.

Music

Candice Jenkins

June 26: Grounded4Life brings Candice Jenkins to Chester

On Friday, June 26 at 7 p.m. Candice Jenkins will entertain at Grounded4LIFE coffeehouse located in the First Baptist Church at 162 Main St., Chester.

Jenkins plays hope-filled music with soaring vocals and will be supported by musicians from White River Junction’s Riverbank Church.

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

Organizations

T. Breeze Verdant holding a Nepalese child.

July 2: Rotary hosts trekker on Nepal journey

Chester Rotary will hold another in its series of First Thursday talks at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 2 at the Bradford Tavern in the Fullerton Inn at 40 The Common in Chester.

The program is free and open to the public. Speaking will be T. Breeze Verdant of Brattleboro, who will present photos and stories about his travels in Nepal in March and April.

He returned home 10 days before the devastating earthquake that killed more than 8,700 people, shattered entire villages and destroyed many precious UNESCO world heritage sites. This presentation focuses on a 14-day trekking trip in the southern section of the Annapurna Conservation Area, a region largely inhabited by an ethnic group known as the Gurungs, and a side trip to Chitwan National Park in the “Terai” flatlands.

Theater

Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams discuss politics in the SVAC stage play

June 27: ‘Jefferson and Adams’ at SVAC

The Southern Vermont Arts Center will be hostng  Jefferson and Adams: A Stage Play at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 27 at 930 Southern Vermont Arts Center Drive, Manchester.

Written by playwright Howard Ginsberg, Jefferson and Adams is the story of the turbulent 52-year friendship of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Adams’ wife, Abigail. Based on the collection of letters between these prolific founding fathers — and one equally astute wife — the play fuses compelling political thoughts with passionate personal beliefs. By focusing on the unique relationship between the characters and the spirit of the time, the play reveals each of the three as thoughtful, persevering, dedicated, innovative, relevant — and human. Tickets are $20 members/$25 non-members. For more information, visit www.svac.org/exhibitions–events.html.

Compiled by Susan Lampe-Wilson