By Susannah Kerest
Front Porch Forum hosts online newsletters in every town in Vermont, and now in some Upper Valley NH towns. Neighbors, nonprofits, businesses, and government officials can post messages, share news, get advice, make recommendations, announce events, sell items, and much more. It's all about helping neighbors to connect and build community.
This fall, Front Porch Forum is featuring Vermonters who excel at building community and offer tips for how you can get started in your own town. Read it here in The Bridge Weekly.
Karen and her husband retired to South Hero more than twenty years ago. Looking for a way to connect with their community, she and her husband approached the South Hero Fire Department. "We talked to the chief about joining, and when he talked about the physical requirements -- going up the ladder and carrying 80 pounds -- I thought, 'Maybe I should be part of the Auxiliary,'" Karen laughed.
While Karen helps coordinate a South Hero Fire Department holiday event at the firehouse, a rabies vaccine clinic, and the year-round distribution of reflective address house numbers and fire blankets, the Trunk-or-Treat is a personal favorite.
For Karen and so many others, South Hero's Halloween Trunk or Treat has become a beloved tradition, bringing the community together. "We're very rural. The idea of kids going door-to-door for trick-or-treating on Halloween out here would be difficult and not very safe. It's dark. The idea is to have all the participants in one safe place," Karen said.
South Hero Trunk-or-Treat is held in a school parking lot on Halloween night, where cars arrive early to decorate and prepare for the kids to go car-to-car to trick-or-treat. The school's PTO provides chili. The fire department is there to hand out candy, as well as the South Hero Rescue team and the Grand Isle County Sheriff.
It takes a lot of good internal communications among organizers, and outreach to the town residents, to create a successful event. Read all about it at https://frontporchforum.com/join-project/halloween-trunk-or-treat
Have you ever thought about getting neighbors together around a shared hobby? Is there a Fall Veggie Exchange, Garden Club, or Seed Swap in your community? Or, maybe you want to get one started! Post about it on Front Porch Forum.
(Courtesy Photo)