Valley Futures

Q. How long have you lived in the Valley?

A. 5 1/2 years in Moretown.

Q. What do you most love about the Valley?

A. The river, the farms, and the great elementary school here in Moretown!

Q. How did you get involved in the Valley Futures Network?

A. I am interested in local currency projects, and joined the Onion River Exchange (ORE) timebank which is based in Montpelier last spring. But, I wanted to see if there was a way to make that sort of thing happen in the valley. I just happened to see a VFN ad in the Valley Reporter, checked out the website, and, lo and behold!–there was a Local Currency workgroup! I was really excited, emailed the contact person, and within a week had attended my first meeting as well as the June VFN retreat at Knoll Farm.

Q. What do you see as the Valley’s biggest challenges as a community looking ahead over the next several years?

A. I think that the biggest challenge will be whether we allow the changes that are happening right now, in the country and in the world, to separate us or to unite us. I believe that the only way to be a successful community into the future is by strengthening our connections to each other, across individual differences like financial status or how we choose to recreate or have fun.

Q. For anyone interested in the Valley Futures Network, do you have any advice?

A. Don’t think you have to know everybody, or anybody for that matter! Just come to a VFN meeting and start sharing your hopes and ideas and energy. I didn’t know anybody in the group at first, but they’ve been friendly and welcoming and respectful, which is great.

Note: We invite any Valley resident of good will to visit our web site at www.valleyfutures.net, sign on to support our vision statement, and join our working groups and list serves online. Please direct your questions and ideas to VFN facilitator Rob Williams at rob.williams@madriver.com or call 802.279.3364, or contact any of the working group chairs for more information.

Tags: Local Currency, Meet Our VFN Citizens Network, Uncategorized by Rob Williams
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Q. How long have you lived in the Valley?

A. 31 years! We moved here when our daughter was three months old. We looked at houses all around the Montpelier area, and serendipitously ended up in the MRV. Life works in mysterious ways!

Q. What do you most love about the Valley?

A. Of course, I love the beauty of our Valley, and all of the wonderful outdoor opportunities we have here… but most of all, I really love the people. I never ceased to be amazed by the all the generous, creative, civic minded, wonderful people that live here.

Q. How did you get involved in the Valley Futures Network?

A. I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in the first VFN retreat at Knoll Farm. I was thrilled to have this opportunity. It was a very special treat to “camp out” at beautiful Knoll Farm with other Valley citizens and have nothing else to do but get to know one another as we thought and “imagined” about the future of the Mad River Valley. Our hope now is that anyone who wants to get involved will do so!

Q. What do you see as the Valley’s biggest challenges as a community looking ahead over the next several years?

A. I think the biggest challenges are all about finding balance- how do we grow and preserve our environment; how do we create more jobs and not lose the intimacy of our community; how do we stay the same and change at the same time…

Q. You’ve been instrumental in starting up the “Valley Moves” transportation working group. How has your experience with this group been for you?

A. Bobbi Rood and I have served as co-chairs of Valley Moves for the past year. Transportation is a hot topic in our community! I’ve really enjoyed diving into this topic because it is something new for me. One doesn’t have to have a depth of experience to get involved. We are all learning together! Valley Moves has an active, committed core group, We’ve been really happy to get a couple of new initiatives up & running: the Valley Walk & Roll Festival, which we expect will be an annual event and the Mad Bikes of Waitsfield, the Valley’s first community bike project. In addition we are committed to supporting the work of the Mad River Path Association. However there is so much more we want to do! There is a great deal of interest in getting carpooling and van pooling going in the MRV. We need more folks to get involved to move this project forward. We are also trying to support the development of sidewalks and crosswalks and bike lanes… there is no limit to the number of important transportation -related efforts this group would like to tackle, but to do so we really do need more people. Bobbi and I would love to pass the torch to new Chairs of Valley Moves, and continue to work on the committee. Actually our next meeting is this Thursday, 7 pm at the Wait House. We hope to some new folks join us!

Q. For anyone interested in the Valley Futures Network, do you have any advice?

A. Please visit the VFN website to read the vision statement and to find out which working group you’d like to get involved with, or suggest another working group. VFN is meant to be accessible and welcoming to all.

Tags: Announcements, Meet Our VFN Citizens Network, Transportation by Rob Williams
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Frigg-ing Awesome! Nordic “Power String” Music Arrives In Vermont

By Rob Williams

What do you name a seven-piece power string band with enough acoustic groove to set the fjords on fire?

How ‘bout, well…

“Frigg?”

Stay with me here.

Yes, this band’s name is Frigg.

I know.

A bit strange, perhaps, until you consider their home turf: Scandinavia.

Frigg, as any self-respecting Scandinavian will gently remind you, is the Norse goddess of love and fertility.

And yes, Frigg is also the name of one of Scandinavia’s hottest new acoustic “power string” bands, and Vermonters would do well to consider checking out their phenomenally energetic music at Randolph’s Chandler music hall this coming Columbus Day week-end.

How to describe their mojo? Frigg’s music, hammered out amidst the fjords and mountains of Thor’s old country, is a toe-tapping mix of Finnish and Norwegian folk, stirred together with Irish, American Appalachian, and yes, county and western. The ten tunes on their newest CD, “Economy Class,” are among the most diverse collections of acoustic tunes I’ve heard on a single CD in some time. From reels to polkas (yes, polkas) to waltzes to some beautifully contemplative tunes, Frigg performs songs to satisfy any discriminating listener, and they do it with enough energy to power a small city in the dead of winter.

From the liner notes of their new CD “Economy Class” comes this explanation. To understand the power string band Frigg, take a mental journey to the small Finnish village of Jarvela. “The joke is that if your name is Jarvela, you were born with a fiddle in your hand. So they always ask, ‘Are you one of those Jarvelas?’” explains band leader and bass player Antti Jarvela. Like many people in this Western region of Finland, he carries the surname of the village in which he was born.

Some background (and I’m going to get clannish here): Frigg is comprised of three young Jarvelas, two sons and a daughter, from Finland’s most famous fiddle family, and two Larson brothers, who are members of a comparable Norwegian Hardanger fiddle clan. When these young musicians join forces, the traditional sounds from their respective cultures are infused with creative arrangements and the additions of mandola, dobro (yes, dobro), cittern, double bass and guitar.

Here’s the neat thing. Frigg isn’t interested in simply rehashing traditional tunes. Their newest album presents the groove and swing of original music with unexpected melodies and rhythms – I’ve listened to their CD five or six times now, and continue to be struck by the freshness of their sound.

And their unabashed exuberance.

As Vermont’s fall days grow shorter and winter begins to consider creeping in, Frigg’s warmth and energy are a welcome antidote to the cold that will soon be with us.

Hope to see you at the show.

Here are the details:

Frigg will appear at Chandler Music Hall in Randolph on Saturday, October 11 at 7:30 p.m. You can visit their website at: www.myspace.com/friggtheband .

Reserved tickets are $27/adult, $22/seniors and students and can be ordered by calling 802-728-6464 between 3 – 6 p.m. weekdays or at tickets@chandler-arts.org.

Tags: Uncategorized by Rob Williams
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