Valley Futures Network: Meet Laura Brines of Waitsfield
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.
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