Valley Futures

Held at the Big Picture Theater

Attendees: Dennis Derryberrry, Rob Williams, Jared Cadwell, Ginny McGinn, Tom Barefoot, Joshua Schwartz, Charlie Hosford, Ben Falk, Peter Forbes, Geri, Dan Holtz, Liz Holtz, Mike Dupee, Jill Arace, Gerri Procaccini, Karl Klein, David Dion, Jim Groom, Carol Groom, Susan Johnson

1)     UVM/VFN Final Presentations: Rob Williams announced that final presentations on the Local Community Initiatives class at UVM will be held on 12/2 – 6:30 PM at the Warren School.

2)     Mojo Posse: The newly formed VFN media working group, VFN Mojo Posse, have been filming a variety of MRV events over the past few months. Current members include Rob Williams, Mike Dupee, and Gregor Barnum. Videos are posted on the VFN Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ValleyFuturesNetwork.

3)     Formation of VFN Executive Committee: The concept of a VFN Executive Committee has been floated around for some time now. Folks interested in volunteering participating on a VFN executive committee to chart VFN’s course in the wake of the December 2 meeting should email Rob at rob.williams@madriver.com.

4)     Gross National Happiness: Tom Barefoot with Universal Micro Systems provided a summary of the Gross National Happiness American Project, which “envisions a sustainable future, based on the use of a comprehensive set of social progress indicators that reflects our American values and truly supports life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” GNH started in Bhutan 30 years ago serving as a manner for accounting broader dimensions of wealth, growth, and success beyond strict GDP metrics. Tom and others with GNH are putting together the Vermont Gross National Happiness Conference: Changing What We Measure from Wealth to Well-Being, scheduled for scheduled for Burlington’s Champlain College on June 1-4, 2010. More info at http://www.gnhusa.org. Tom left early to catch a flight to the 5th International Gross National Happiness Conference in Foz de Igusau, Brazil.

5)     Mad River Food Producers Group: Dan and Liz Holtz of Liz Lovely Cookies in Waitsfield are creating a network of food producers operating in the MRV watershed. The mission of the network is to promote MRV food producers and the MRV as a food destination, share ideas and resources to help all MRV food producers grow their businesses, promote exports of MRV food products to New England and beyond, and provide useful educational opportunities for MRV food producers. Future projects include a map of MRV food producers (akin to the 2009 Localvore map) and increased capacity for food production tourism. Dan and Liz shared their recently compiled organizational survey (link below) and are eager to get going. Please contact Dan at dan@lizlovely.com if you are interested in finding out more information. MRV Food Producers Mission&Survey.pdf

6)     Mad River Valley Community Music Bank: Mike Dupee shared the concept of creating a centrally coordinated music resource that serves, and contributes to the creation of community in the MRV. Goals of Music Bank are to

• create/support a cohesive, supportive, inclusive musical community in the MRV;
• help knit the arts, and music specifically, into the MRV Community;
• support the VFN and the collaborative creation of the future of the MRV;
• create space/energy around using music to help create the future;
• create opportunities for musicians to perform, and
• spread a little joy

Potential manifestations are a database matchmaker service for the MRV musicians community, musical entertainment to support community events, organizations, etc, periodic jams, etc. Next steps consist of soliciting interest and referrals of interest for participation through the VFN and invite interested parties to participate in an initial organizational meeting. Contact Mike at Michael.Dupee@gmcr.com if you’d like to participate in this emerging group. MRV Music Bank Outline.doc

7)     Re-Skilling Initiatives: Ben Falk described a new initiative to develop and present opportunities for the MRV community to share and learn traditional skills. The name “Re-Skilling” has come out of the Transition Town movement and seeks to retain culturally important skills that appear to be disappearing, but may become more important in the face of peak oil, high costs, and other constraints. Yestermorrow, Knoll Farm, Rootswork, Carbon Shredders, and others are currently teaching Re-skiling work. The attempt of this initiative is to provide an umbrella for these efforts and energy to broaden the current portfolio and reach. Potential workshops and themed potlucks can include knot tying, weaving, farming specific crops, etc. It was suggested that the effort was akin to the Foxfire book series and could partner with the VT Folklife Center. The project could tie in with Harwood’s Community Sustainability course. For more information contact Ben at ben@wholesystemsdesign.com.

8)     VFN Monthly Potlucks: Jill Arace shared a new initiative that she is spearheading to build trust and social capital within the community. Monthly potlucks will begin on January 31 at the basement of the Waitsfield Church and will be held on subsequent last Sunday’s of the month between November and May. The events will not be agenda driven, but could host reskilling or music bank projects. Jill will connect with Liz and Dan regarding advertisement. For more information contact Jill at jarace@gmavt.net.

9)    Mad River Transportation/Ride Share: Gerri Procaccini has started a website providing a linkage to and for folks in the Valley. http://www.valleyvoicevermont.com includes a ride board, trading post, events, free stuff, a variety of other connecting content.

Next meeting is Friday 12/11 at the Green Cup.

Submitted by Joshua Schwartz

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