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BELLOWS FALLS â Faced with continuing state restrictions on public gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic, Rockingham officials are considering pushing Town Meeting back a month or so.
The Vermont Legislature adopted legislation Thursday that would allow towns to make some one-time changes to accommodate their towns during the pandemic.
Gaetano Putignano, chairman of the Rockingham Select Board, said he isnât in favor of postponing March Town Meeting, but he said the town has the right to consider it.
A traditional floor meeting, like the one Rockingham holds on Monday night before Tuesday Town Meeting, is out of the question, Putignano said, with other board members agreeing.
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BELLOWS FALLS â It may not be long, but itâs steep and âBlack Diamondâ all the way.
The Bellows Falls Community Ski Tow hasnât seen much activity in recent years, due to a lack of consistent snow and equipment problems.
But last weekâs record snowfall of close to 30 inches of powder has inspired some dedicated snow lovers to troubleshoot the towâs problems and get it running for area kids just as their Christmas vacation starts.
The small, lighted and rustic hill will be running Wednesday, from 5 to 8 p.m. It was open on Tuesday afternoon as well, and opened this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with some mechanical difficulties periodically cutting into the ski towâs time.
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BRATTLEBORO â It was a brutally cold morning on Saturday, but that didnât keep die-hard birders from participating in the Audubon Societyâs 121st annual Christmas Bird Count.
In Brattleboro, 20 field observers, with another 16 birders at their feeders, counted a record 5,877 birds Saturday, representing 56 different species, said Cory Ross, the local coordinator for the citizen-science project. Ross said the temperature tipped to three below when he started Saturday morning on the West River near The Marina Restaurant.
Ross said Sunday that Saturdayâs record count was âhelpedâ by tallying 1,400 starlings.
He said that unlike other years, the coronavirus pandemic necessitated some changes, as observers out in the field maintained their social distance from others. The birders also had to postpone their traditional pot luck supper, and instead met Saturday night over Zoom to exchange their experienc
BELLOWS FALLS â Thereâs house proud, and then thereâs â
house proud.â
Rockingham has been giving awards every year to the owners of restored homes and other buildings for close to 30 years, and in 2020 everything from a Victorian painted lady, to a 1950s split level modern home, to one of the oldest houses in the town won recognition.
The Rockingham Preservation Commission recently handed out five awards, and gave honorable mentions to four other properties.
Walter Wallace, the Rockingham Preservation Commissionâs coordinator, said the awards have been given out since the early to mid 1990s, and he said they were created to recognize efforts to maintain and preserve the historic character of the buildings in the town, including homes and businesses.