Author: EW

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The 7th Annual West River Trail Run

Join The Collaborative Saturday, June 1, 2019 for a beautiful run from South Londonderry, Vt. to Jamaica State Park. The route is 11 miles of fun and exciting terrain along the West River. We encourage all outdoor enthusiasts to participate individually or as a three-person relay team. There is also a 5K Fun Run with discounted registration for youth participants. All proceeds go to The Collaborative, a nonprofit providing healthy choices and activities for youth in the southern Vermont communities. For more information, call the office at 802-824-4200. For more information go to http://www.thecollaborative.us/westrivertrailrun.

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West River Trail Spring Workday

Pictured are Malcolm Moore and Jim Webster, clearing a fallen tree on the Riverstone Preserve trail.  Photo by Alex Wilson.

Recent maintenance work on the West River Trail tackled clogged drainage ditches and fallen trees. Trail workers cleared drainage areas and chainsawed downed logs. A huge thanks to trail volunteers for their hard work! 

Happy spring, and enjoy the trail!

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Help Clean Up the Wetlands!

Posted on behalf of the Connecticut River Conservancy:

This Saturday is Green-up Day. Many of you may have plans already, but if you don’t, please join Kathy Urffer, River Steward for the Connecticut River Conservancy (and local businesses, organizations and friends) to remove tires from the wetlands adjacent to the West River on Spring Tree Road. We will be meeting at 8:30 am at The Marina Restaurant (28 Spring Tree Road, Brattleboro, VT) on Saturday, May 4th and will be working on this until around noon.

Agenda for day:
8:00 am: Kathy on site for set up
8:30 am: volunteers arrive: welcome, job delegation, training
9:00 am: GO! CLEAN! GO!
12:30 pm: finish up and cleanup

Kathy will have: trash bags, gloves, t-shirts, tire and trash tally sheets, tarps You should bring: bug spray, water bottle, muck boots/ hip or chest waders, sunscreen (dare to dream!), carabiners for your keys and if you are willing, extra tarps (they will get dirty!)

Thanks in advance if you can come help out! Please spread the word! ~ For questions, contact Kathy Urffer, River Steward, Connecticut River Conservancy, formerly Connecticut River Watershed Council. 802-258-0413. kurffer@ctriver.org

Image courtesy of Green Up Vermont. More Green Up Day activities featured in the Brattleboro Reformer. Click through for more info.

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Bag a Bean for the West River Trail

The Brattleboro Food Co-op’s Bag a Bean program is a convenient way for shoppers to donate money to local organizations. Many thanks to the Co-op for featuring The West River Trail in April. If you shop at the Brattleboro Food Co-op this month, please consider donating your beans to the West River Trail. Each Fava bean is worth 5¢ each, and helps support improvements to the West River Trail.

How does it work? For every reusable bag or container you use during your shopping trip, we will provide you with a Fava bean at the register. These Fava beans are worth 5¢ each when donated to one of the three local non-profits displayed at our exit. Each month there are three different organizations to choose from (organizations are featured on a rotating basis).

Visit or Contact:
Brattleboro Food Coop
2 Main Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
Hours: Monday – Saturday: 7am-9pm, Sunday: 9am-9pm

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Windham Regional Commission Trails Count

The excerpt below is from the Windham Regional Commission Trails Count Program. Click through to read the full story on the WRC website.

Would you believe that dozens of people each day were out on the West River Trail? Windham Regional Commission has expanded its pedestrian count program to the winter months, and recent data both surprised and pleased us.
Counts on the West River Trail in Brattleboro from December 11, 2018 through New Year’s Day 2019 were only about 15 percent lower than the long term average for non-winter months. It was probably the short days as much as, if not more so, than the cold though that kept people from getting out. We came to this conclusion because while weekday counts for that period were lower than average, weekend counts, when people are more likely to have an opportunity to get out during daylight hours, were exactly the same as the long term average for data recorded in spring, summer, and fall.
On Christmas Day we recorded 110 “trips” on our West River Trail counter. A “trip” is one person passing in one direction on the trail. At a place like the West River Trail where most people go out and back, we can estimate the number of persons using the trail to be about half the number of trips. This would mean about 55 people were out on the West River Trail on Christmas Day, about 50 on New Year’s Eve day, and about 68—our highest daily number—on December 29.

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Green Mountain Club Hike

West River Trail

LONDONDERRY — Join the Green Mountain Club and explore the West River Trail on Saturday, Feb.16, 2019. Participants are meeting 1 p.m. in the old railroad depot building at the corner of Rt 100 and West River Street in South Londonderry, then carpooling to the trail head. Depending on snow cover, snowshoe or hike with traction on the level railroad bed of the old West River Railroad on this northernmost part of the West River Trail. This is an easy, beginner hike. RSVP to Dale Malekoff at 802-824-5030 or dmalekoff@myfairpoint.net.

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Freedom & Unity: The Vermont Movie

Vermont Movie PosterSave the dates! The Friends of the West River Trail, Weston Historical Society & The Londonderry Arts and Historical Society present:
Freedom & Unity: The Vermont Movie, the first-ever documentary series about Vermont. All six chapters will be shown at the South Londonderry Railroad Depot; the first two episodes this Fall and the remaining chapters in 2019.
Part 1: “A Very New Idea”
Thursday, Nov. 15
Explores the roots from which the future state of Vermont grew, from Samuel Champlain to the Civil War.
Part 2: “Under the Surface”
Thursday, Nov. 29
Yes, quarrying, but also about social movements that have belied Vermont’s bucolic image.
South Londonderry Railroad Depot Route 100
7:00-8:30 PM
Admission free; donations appreciated. For more information on the movie visit the Vermont Movie website.

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Grand Teton National Park: A Geographic Portrait

Grand TetonOn November 8, Jeff Nugent, a former volunteer with the U.S. National Park Service and presently a specialist with the Windham Regional Commission, will present “Grand Teton National Park: A Geographic Portrait” accompanied by beautiful images of this iconic locale.
Thursday, Nov. 8, 7 PM
South Londonderry RR Depot
Free Admission, donations appreciated

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Dash to the Dam Costumed 5K Race

Dash_to_the_dam_AdOn October 20th, West River Valley Thrives (wrvthrives.com), a substance use education and prevention organization focusing primarily on youth, will host their 3rd annual costumed 5k run/walk along the West River Trail in Townshend, with registration starting at 9am. At 10 am, runners will race from the “Old Route 30” trailhead to the Townshend Dam Rec Area. At the finish there will be food, drinks, prizes and activities for everyone. Adults pay $20 to race and kids under 15 pay $15. Children under 5 run for free. Wear a costume – runner or not – and you might win a prize!
For more information and to register, visit West River Valley Thrives website at wrvthrives.com, scroll down and click on the registration button. You may also call Nick Plante at 802-365-4700.

This race is a fundraiser to benefit the programs of West River Valley Thrives, a youth substance use education and prevention organization in Townshend, Vermont, serving the upper West River Valley towns.

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Volunteers pull 135 tires from marsh

Brattleboro-Reformer-Photo-20181009-130632-TiresTwo-T5_00243

Kathy Urffer, the Connecticut River Watershed Council’s River Steward for Vermont and New Hampshire, stands next to truck tires that were pulled from a marsh near Spring Tree Road.

Impressive clean-up effort near the West River Trail! Click link for the full story on the Brattleboro Reformer website. Photo courtesy of the Brattleboro Reformer.