Events briefs: Sept. 27 through Oct. 5, 2016

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. Notices must be received by noon on Fridays to be eligible for publication the following week.

Now: Grafton Fire Dept. seeks tag sale donations

The Grafton Fire Department is seeking donations of usable items for its annual Columbus Weekend tag sale.

Items will be accepted at the firehouse, 711 Route 121 East in Grafton, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through Thursday, Oct. 6 and from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27 and Oct. 4. Volunteers are needed to help sort and price sale items.

Call Amber Stevens at 802-376-5646 or 802-843-2525 for more info.

Sept. 28: Community forum addresses early childhood

The Bellows Falls Promise Community will hold a forum to discuss what it takes to make a difference in the lives of young children in Bellows Falls. The event is 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at Central Elementary School at 50 School St. in Bellows Falls.

The forum will be moving past the conversations and into developing plans and taking action. Open to all community members, light refreshments and childcare will be provided.

Bellows Falls was selected as one of seven Vermont Promise Communities in 2015. The Promise Community Initiative is one leg of the Early Learning Challenge Race to the Top grant working with rural Vermont Communities to realize the promise of every child in a community.

For more information about the Bellows Falls Promise Community, the community forum and the work being done, contact Emilie Kornheiser at 802-363-5710 or by email Emilie.Kornheiser@vermont.gov. Follow the Promise Community on Facebook for updates about programs and community events.

Sept. 30: Indie folk music at Grounded4Life

Enjoy an evening of music and fellowship featuring Jennings & McComber, a husband and wife duo who writes original Green Mountain indie folk music with Celtic roots.

The two musicians play seven instruments between them: guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, double bass, mandolin, ukulele, and piano accordion.

The free event is on Friday, Sept. 30 at Grounded4Life, a coffeehouse downstairs in the Chester Baptist Church at 162 Main St. in Chester. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with food, coffee, and conversation. The program begins at 7 p.m.

Check out the Grounded4Life Facebook page or the grounded4lifevt.org website.

Sept. 30: Join Six Loose Ladies’ Spinzilla Challenge

Six Loose Ladies yarn and fiber shop offers a challenge to all spinners. The shop on the Green in Chester prepared a bright little mini batt of blended Romney wool and mohair.

The challenge is for spinners to incorporate all of this fiber into a skein of yarn. Prizes will be awarded for as many categories as can be contrived.

Deadline for sign-up for the shop’s challenge is Friday, Sept. 30. The shop encourages beginners to call to arrange a tutorial so they can join in the fun. For more details on the Six Loose Ladies challenge visit www.sixlooseladies.com or call 802-875-7373.

The SLL’s challenge takes place during Spinzilla 2016, a weeklong spinning marathon, beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 3 and ending at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9. Spinzilla is a global event that coincides with National Spinning and Weaving Week and is organized by the Spinning and Weaving Group of The National Needlearts Association.  Teams are being formed for Spinzilla 2016, a weeklong spinning marathon. On-line sign-up is open now through Sept. 30 at www.spinzilla.org.

Oct. 1: Cavendish hosts Energy Fair

The Cavendish Town Energy Committee sponsors an Energy Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Cavendish Town Elementary School, at 573 Main St., Route 131 in Cavendish.

Get all of your questions answered on weatherization, solar energy, energy efficient homes, heat pumps, composting and other money saving ways to help the planet.

Attendees learn about the latest energy saving technologies from professionals, and the simple ways to make living cheaper and more comfortable.

The fair is free and open to the public. Exhibitors from many companies and organizations will have representatives on hand. Whether you own or rent, there are many ways for you to save money. For more information, visit its website.

Oct. 1: Animal blessing at St. Luke’s

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at 313 Main St. in Chester offers two opportunities to bring animals for a special blessing on the side lawn: Saturday, Oct. 1 at 11 a.m. or on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 4 p.m.

Open to the community, all animals and their human companions are invited to participate in this service of giving thanks for the special role pets and animals play in their daily lives.

Each animal will be blessed by the priest and receive a Saint Francis medallion. In the event of rain, the blessing will be held in the church’s Willard Hall.

Oct. 1: ‘Bernie,’ a dark comedy, next FOLA Movie

T 2011 American black comedy  film “Bernie,” directed by Richard Linklater, will be shown as Friends of Ludlow Auditorium’s next movie offering at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1 in the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium at 37 S. Depot St. in Ludlow.

Starring Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey, the film, based on a 1998 Texas Monthly magazine article, “Midnight in the Garden of East Texas,” chronicles the 1996 murder of 80-year-old millionaire Marjorie Nugent by her 39-year-old companion, Bernhardt “Bernie” Tiede.

The movie is rated R. Admission is free; donations are appreciated. Popcorn will be supplied by Berkshire Bank and FOLA provides water. For additional information, call 802-228-7239 or visit FOLA’s website at www.fola.us.

Oct. 5: Meet ghost hunters at Rock Library

On Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m., team members from Vermont Paranormal Investigators from the Springfield/Ludlow area will share their paranormal experiences at the Rockingham Library at 65 Westminster St. in Bellows Falls.

They’ll discuss the history of their team and details from some of their cases.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 802-463-4270, email programming@rockinghamlibrary.org, visit www.rockinghamlibrary.org or stop by the library.

— Susan Lampe-Wilson