Mud Season Series 2020
Here is the most up-to-date listing of the Middlesex Mud Season Series! Please note that most of these events will be held at Rumney Memorial School in the Library, except the two knitting classes, which will be held at Town Hall. Full class descriptions and bios are also on the Town Calendar on Front Porch Forum.
RSVP’s appreciated: [email protected]
Thursday, February 20: “Democracy in the Mountains: The Vermont-Switzerland Connection”— Susan Clark (Location: Rumney Library, 6:30-8:30 PM)
Gorgeous mountains, vibrant farms, flocking tourists, even chocolate--Vermont has a lot in common with Switzerland. But few New Englanders know that Switzerland is the only other place in the world with whom we share one other proud tradition: town meetings.
Every Swiss community, from alpine villages to the metropolis of Zurich, is governed through a form of town meeting. As Vermont grows and changes, what can we learn from the surprising historical parallels and creative adaptations of the Swiss experience? Join us for an evening of photos and discussion, featuring beautiful images from outdoor Swiss canton-wide meetings, among Switzerland's most surprising and fascinating alpine traditions.
Bio: Susan Clark is an educator and co-author of two books about local democracy: All Those In Favor: Rediscovering the Secrets of Town Meeting and Community, and Slow Democracy. She has conducted interviews and observed at numerous town meetings across Switzerland. She serves as Town Moderator of Middlesex, Vermont.
Thursday, March 5: “Heart and Eye: A Lens on the World”— Elliot Burg (Location: Rumney Library, 6:30-8:30 PM)
I love photography. I love holding a single-lens reflex camera in my hands … connecting with people in the field, close by and far away … viewing the world around me as I imagine it will later unfold in a finished print … being able to share with others what I choose to see of the world.
In this presentation, I will display photographs and talk about my approach to the art form, which is to select and research a theme, embed myself in the locale, approach my subjects, and create a series of images that resonate emotionally and artistically. I will also discuss some of the exhibitions that have emerged from this work flow—photographic portraits of neighbors in a remote Bolivian village; track and field athletes of advanced age; life in a public park in New York City; a female boxer preparing to defend her amateur title; the search for a grandparent’s Ukrainian birthplace; and the vibrancy of the performing arts, and of life in general, in Havana, Cuba.
Depending on the knowledge base of the audience, I may also discuss some of the technical aspects of the kind of photography I do.
Bio: Elliot Burg I live in Middlesex with my wife, artist August Burns. My solo exhibitions have included Circuata: Portrait of a Bolivian Pueblo; The Combination (boxer Ali Watson in the ring); Transcending the Limits of Age (senior track and field athletes); Sunset Park, Brooklyn (portraits of a city park); Eli’s Town (seeking family roots and finding kindness and brutality in Eastern Europe); Heart and Eye (portraits from around the world); Tortuga (documenting sea turtle conservation in Mexico); and ¡Conga! (images of Havana). I am currently working on Upon Reflection: Mirror Images in Water and Glass. I can be contacted at [email protected]; my website is elliotburgphoto.com.
Tuesday, March 10: “Where are All the Great Women Artists? – Psst, They’re in the Attic. — August Burns (Location: Rumney Library, 6:30-8:30 PM)
Award-winning portrait artist August Burns will give a surprising and thought-provoking take on Art History. Inspired by the #metoo movement, she says it’s time to challenge our assumptions and reclaim women’s place in the tradition of great Western art. Join us for this lively art-filled presentation.
Bio: August Burns’ is an award-winning painter whose portraits and figures reach deep into her subject matter, bringing the essence of each person and touching the viewer through her paint. She brings a lifetime of experience; traveling and working in remote areas worldwide, to her work, and finding the beauty and nuance in every face that marks it as an individual, unique from all others on earth.
Her work has been shown in galleries and museums throughout the US. In 2016, she was selected to paint the official portrait of Governor Peter Shumlin, which now hangs in the Vermont State House in Montpelier. August works out of her studio in Middlesex, Vermont.
Thursday, March 12: “Warm Up: Chai-making and Stories from India"—Sarah Birgé (Location: Rumney Library and Kitchen, 6:30-8:30 PM)
Bio: Sarah Birgé grew up in Vermont and has worked around the world as a teacher and non-profit director, including two years in rural Western India. Come learn how to make authentic chai (well, almost; anyone have water buffalo milk handy?) and hear stories about life in a small town in India.
Thursday, March 19 and Thursday, April 2: “Learn to Knit Tough Vermont Socks”— Sarah Merriman (Location: Middlesex Town Hall, 6:00-8:00 PM)
Learn to knit tough Vermont socks that fit well and are quick projects. Over two, two-hour classes, we will knit toe-up socks with worsted-weight yarn and create patterns for all the feet of your family and friends, even those who live far away.
Class 1 (Thursday, March 19 at Town Hall, 6:00-8:00 PM): Creating a cardboard foot template, Magic Loop, Judy's Magic Cast On, flawless increasing. You will knit the foot up to the heel at home.
Class 2 (Thursday, April 2 at Town Hall, 6:00-8:00 PM): the Fish Lips Kiss Heel - with trick for preventing holes - a short ribbed leg and Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.
You will need to bring the following: worsted-weight yarn, a size 4 circular needle that's 32" to 40" (Yarn in Waterbury - in the Village Market complex - sells awesome and affordable ones with excellent points made by ChiaGoo. They also can recommend a good yarn. Go figure.), a stitch holder to hold 20 worsted weight stitches, and a piece of cardboard from the back of a legal pad. Stitch markers help, but we can always use paper clips or waste yarn.
After this class, you will be able to knit any sock in any weight of yarn by simply adjusting the math - EEEP! Next to washcloths, homemade socks are the #1 requested knitted items I know.
Bio: You may know Sarah Merriman as our engaging and efficient Town Clerk, or as a well-loved author. Come get to know her as an accomplished knitter and instructor!
Sunday, March 22: "Good Clean Fun - Driving an Electric Vehicle in Middlesex"— Lauri Scharf and Greg & Barb Whitchurch (Location: Rumney Library, 3:00-5:00 PM)
Bio: Lauri Scharf has lived in Middlesex for 19 years, driving all types of vehicles during that time, most recently a Tesla Model 3 (rear-wheel drive).
The Whitchurches have been moving toward greener electrical energy use over many years. They have PV, solar hot water, an air source heat pump, a Nissan LEAF & a Kia Niro EV at this point & are working on geothermal.
Thursday, March 26: “Middlesex Authors Night”— Scudder Parker, George Longenecker, William Dorrigan, TC Trapani, Anne Howland (Location: Rumney Library, 6:30-8:30 PM)
Five local authors will share their prose and poetry with us! Each writer will read a selection of their work with a short stretch break between authors.
There should also be time at the end for questions or brief discussions.
RSVP’s appreciated: [email protected]
Thursday, February 20: “Democracy in the Mountains: The Vermont-Switzerland Connection”— Susan Clark (Location: Rumney Library, 6:30-8:30 PM)
Gorgeous mountains, vibrant farms, flocking tourists, even chocolate--Vermont has a lot in common with Switzerland. But few New Englanders know that Switzerland is the only other place in the world with whom we share one other proud tradition: town meetings.
Every Swiss community, from alpine villages to the metropolis of Zurich, is governed through a form of town meeting. As Vermont grows and changes, what can we learn from the surprising historical parallels and creative adaptations of the Swiss experience? Join us for an evening of photos and discussion, featuring beautiful images from outdoor Swiss canton-wide meetings, among Switzerland's most surprising and fascinating alpine traditions.
Bio: Susan Clark is an educator and co-author of two books about local democracy: All Those In Favor: Rediscovering the Secrets of Town Meeting and Community, and Slow Democracy. She has conducted interviews and observed at numerous town meetings across Switzerland. She serves as Town Moderator of Middlesex, Vermont.
Thursday, March 5: “Heart and Eye: A Lens on the World”— Elliot Burg (Location: Rumney Library, 6:30-8:30 PM)
I love photography. I love holding a single-lens reflex camera in my hands … connecting with people in the field, close by and far away … viewing the world around me as I imagine it will later unfold in a finished print … being able to share with others what I choose to see of the world.
In this presentation, I will display photographs and talk about my approach to the art form, which is to select and research a theme, embed myself in the locale, approach my subjects, and create a series of images that resonate emotionally and artistically. I will also discuss some of the exhibitions that have emerged from this work flow—photographic portraits of neighbors in a remote Bolivian village; track and field athletes of advanced age; life in a public park in New York City; a female boxer preparing to defend her amateur title; the search for a grandparent’s Ukrainian birthplace; and the vibrancy of the performing arts, and of life in general, in Havana, Cuba.
Depending on the knowledge base of the audience, I may also discuss some of the technical aspects of the kind of photography I do.
Bio: Elliot Burg I live in Middlesex with my wife, artist August Burns. My solo exhibitions have included Circuata: Portrait of a Bolivian Pueblo; The Combination (boxer Ali Watson in the ring); Transcending the Limits of Age (senior track and field athletes); Sunset Park, Brooklyn (portraits of a city park); Eli’s Town (seeking family roots and finding kindness and brutality in Eastern Europe); Heart and Eye (portraits from around the world); Tortuga (documenting sea turtle conservation in Mexico); and ¡Conga! (images of Havana). I am currently working on Upon Reflection: Mirror Images in Water and Glass. I can be contacted at [email protected]; my website is elliotburgphoto.com.
Tuesday, March 10: “Where are All the Great Women Artists? – Psst, They’re in the Attic. — August Burns (Location: Rumney Library, 6:30-8:30 PM)
Award-winning portrait artist August Burns will give a surprising and thought-provoking take on Art History. Inspired by the #metoo movement, she says it’s time to challenge our assumptions and reclaim women’s place in the tradition of great Western art. Join us for this lively art-filled presentation.
Bio: August Burns’ is an award-winning painter whose portraits and figures reach deep into her subject matter, bringing the essence of each person and touching the viewer through her paint. She brings a lifetime of experience; traveling and working in remote areas worldwide, to her work, and finding the beauty and nuance in every face that marks it as an individual, unique from all others on earth.
Her work has been shown in galleries and museums throughout the US. In 2016, she was selected to paint the official portrait of Governor Peter Shumlin, which now hangs in the Vermont State House in Montpelier. August works out of her studio in Middlesex, Vermont.
Thursday, March 12: “Warm Up: Chai-making and Stories from India"—Sarah Birgé (Location: Rumney Library and Kitchen, 6:30-8:30 PM)
Bio: Sarah Birgé grew up in Vermont and has worked around the world as a teacher and non-profit director, including two years in rural Western India. Come learn how to make authentic chai (well, almost; anyone have water buffalo milk handy?) and hear stories about life in a small town in India.
Thursday, March 19 and Thursday, April 2: “Learn to Knit Tough Vermont Socks”— Sarah Merriman (Location: Middlesex Town Hall, 6:00-8:00 PM)
Learn to knit tough Vermont socks that fit well and are quick projects. Over two, two-hour classes, we will knit toe-up socks with worsted-weight yarn and create patterns for all the feet of your family and friends, even those who live far away.
Class 1 (Thursday, March 19 at Town Hall, 6:00-8:00 PM): Creating a cardboard foot template, Magic Loop, Judy's Magic Cast On, flawless increasing. You will knit the foot up to the heel at home.
Class 2 (Thursday, April 2 at Town Hall, 6:00-8:00 PM): the Fish Lips Kiss Heel - with trick for preventing holes - a short ribbed leg and Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.
You will need to bring the following: worsted-weight yarn, a size 4 circular needle that's 32" to 40" (Yarn in Waterbury - in the Village Market complex - sells awesome and affordable ones with excellent points made by ChiaGoo. They also can recommend a good yarn. Go figure.), a stitch holder to hold 20 worsted weight stitches, and a piece of cardboard from the back of a legal pad. Stitch markers help, but we can always use paper clips or waste yarn.
After this class, you will be able to knit any sock in any weight of yarn by simply adjusting the math - EEEP! Next to washcloths, homemade socks are the #1 requested knitted items I know.
Bio: You may know Sarah Merriman as our engaging and efficient Town Clerk, or as a well-loved author. Come get to know her as an accomplished knitter and instructor!
Sunday, March 22: "Good Clean Fun - Driving an Electric Vehicle in Middlesex"— Lauri Scharf and Greg & Barb Whitchurch (Location: Rumney Library, 3:00-5:00 PM)
Bio: Lauri Scharf has lived in Middlesex for 19 years, driving all types of vehicles during that time, most recently a Tesla Model 3 (rear-wheel drive).
The Whitchurches have been moving toward greener electrical energy use over many years. They have PV, solar hot water, an air source heat pump, a Nissan LEAF & a Kia Niro EV at this point & are working on geothermal.
Thursday, March 26: “Middlesex Authors Night”— Scudder Parker, George Longenecker, William Dorrigan, TC Trapani, Anne Howland (Location: Rumney Library, 6:30-8:30 PM)
Five local authors will share their prose and poetry with us! Each writer will read a selection of their work with a short stretch break between authors.
There should also be time at the end for questions or brief discussions.