The Chester Winter Carnival is still on with lots of activities. But a few scheduled events have had to be canceled thanks to the weather, which over the last year has not been so kind to us. Julie Pollard, who heads up the Winter Carnival, said Thursday that although the
Braeburn Siberians had to cancel its dog sled rides because of lack of snow, it's already committed to next year's Chester Winter Carnival. And Pollard added that the nice weather should draw out even more people for the scavenger hunt. Only three other events were canceled. You can find those on the jump.
Below is the amended agenda for the Winter Carnival. Please note canceled events.
Chester Winter Carnival 2012
Friday, Feb. 17
Dinner/Dance at the American Legion, 637 VT 103 S.
6 p.m. Cocktails (cash bar)
7 p.m. Dinner ($12 for dinner
8 p.m. Freeway Band Dance
Saturday, Feb. 18
8
a.m. to 10 a.m. Kick-off Breakfast Buffet at the American Legion, 637 VT 103 S., sponsored by the American Legion Women’s Auxiliary. Breakfast includes pancakes with maple syrup, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and homefries. $8 for adults; $4 for children 6 and up; free for kids under 6.
11 a.m. Sled Races at the Pinnacle on Lovers Lane. CANCELED
Noon to 3 p.m. Dog Sled Rides at Cobleigh Field on Cobleigh Street, Braeburn Siberians offering free rides.
CANCELED1 p.m.
Biathlon Sled/Shooting Match, at
the Pinnacle on Lovers Lane. Courtesy of Grafton Ponds – 100% safe laser guns
2 to 4 p.m. Scavenger Hunt $100 prize to winning team; (Noon to 2 p.m. registration and maps at Chester Hardware, 21 Main St.)
6 p.m. Bonfire at Cobleigh Field
6 to 9 p.m. Ice Skating Party at Cobleigh Field CANCELED
6:30 p.m. Fire Sculpture by Barre Pinske at Cobleigh Field
Sunday, Feb. 19
9 a.m. Chester Snowmobile Club Poker Run at the Pinnacle on Lovers Lane. CANCELED
10 a.m. Broom Hockey Tournament at Cobleigh Field, Food vendor - Chester Rotary Club. For more information: call 802-875-2693 for team signup
The DIRT: The Grateful Garden Seed Sale begins Wednesday
The 2012 Grateful Garden Seed Sale begins Wednesday Feb. 1, Carrie Roy King announced over the weekend. You can purchase your Fedco garden seeds from The Grateful Garden and help raise money to repair damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene. The garden, part of Chester-Andover Elementary School, has been declared safe by the UVM Agricultural & Environmental Testing Lab. But extensive damage was still done to fencing and the soils need to be replenished.
You can choose from two lists: 26 types of GMO-free seeds for id="mce_marker".60 a pack and 25 organic seeds for $2.20 a pack. Beans, zukes, cukes, tomatoes, pumpkins, broccoli, lettuce carrots, herbs and flowers are among the offerings. 
being offered. Download the forms at www.fedcoseeds.com/forms/chester.pdf and www.fedcoseeds.com/forms/chesterOG.pdf
The order forms contain the descriptive plant information that has made Fedco famous. Order forms and a check or cash can be returned to your child’s teacher or mailed to The Grateful Garden @ CAES , 72 Main St., Chester, VT 05143.
This 3rd annual seed sale run through March 3rd with seeds being distributed by late March. Please contact King at
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or Jana Bryan Wunderle
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for more information.
The mission of the Grateful Garden is: (1) to provide place-based enrichment opportunities in science, art, math, writing, geography and civics; (2) to provide healthy food to students and to connect them to the source of their food; and (3) to support community gardeners. The Grateful Garden is a volunteer effort that applies organic and sustainable gardening principles and actions.
TARPS wins $2,000 in grants
Susan Lampe-Wilson of The Animal Rescue and Protection Society in Chester has announced that the shelter has been awarded t
heanimalrescue.com’s top prize for Vermont in Rounds 1 and 3 of its Shelter Challenge. TARPS’ shelter has received two grant checks for $1,000 each.
The Shelter Challenge is a partnership between The Animal Rescue Site and the Petfinder.com Foundation. Grant money awarded by the organizations totals $300,000 in direct funding to world-wide animal rescue and welfare groups.
TARPS found a unique way to motivate their voters daily to visit the site and vote. Supporters receive an e-mail or a Facebook posting from one of the shelter’s successfully adopted cats, Seannie, pictured right, who shares a photo and a comment or two about his day-to-day life. Voters also are given the theanimalrescue.com’s Shelter Challenge link and encouraged to remember to vote.
Of the double-win, TARPS President Wendy O’Dette, who is Seannie’s owner, said, “We couldn’t be happier. I am very grateful for our daily voters. We consistently received over 50% of the Vermont vote. I’m sure we couldn’t have achieved that without Seannie’s reminders.” The funds will be used to pay for pet food and vet care as well as rent and utilities for the shelter, located at 1758 Rt. 103 S.
A complete list of TARPS' needs can be found at its website here. Currently, some of its larger needs are a clothes washer, a Mac computer and Mac platform with an external hard drive. Lampe-Wilson said the shelter is always in need of paper towels, Dawn dish detergent and wet catfood. Last year, TARPS was able to place about 125 animals in homes, and it currently is home to 88 cats and kittens.
A new round of voting began on Jan. 9. To vote visit www.theanimalrescuesite.com, and click on the Shelter Challenge tab on the right. To be added to Seannie’s email, visit: http://tarpsanimalsheltervt.org/donate/free-help-info or send your request and e-mail address to
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.
For a full list of 3rd round winners visit: http://www.greatergood.com/pressroom/PRARSShelterChallenge3Winners.pdf.
I vote for TARPS every day. The work they do is so very important and I love Seannie's messages.