Local Summer Activities

Author: Kelsey Rinehart

May Days in Middlebury
Local businesses join together for the third annual promotion from May 15-18. Storeowners will hang beautiful baskets of blossoms to celebrate the arrival or spring. Participating businesses will hold drawings for prizes, offering customers the chance to win gift baskets, a picnic dinner for two and an overnight stay for two. Feeling the crunch of finals? Stop and smell the roses in downtown Middlebury.

Want to give blood?
The American Red Cross Blood Drive will be held on Tues., May 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Hall on Exchange Street in Middlebury.

Willie Nelson, Tracy Chapman and Garrison Keillor spice up summer in Vermont
The Summer Concert Series "Concerts on the Green" at the Shelburne Museum, seven miles south of Burlington, will feature these famous musicians and entertainers. Scheduled to perform are Willie Nelson & Family on June 23, Tracy Chapman on July 20, Alison Krauss on Aug. 15 and National Public Radio (NPR) superstar Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" on Aug. 19.

Vermont Tree Society (VTS) proclaims 2003 "The Year of the Tree"
The VTS will be holding several events over the summer, among these the opening of Gifford Woods State Park in Killington on May 17 and the Family Fun Day at the Noble Dairy Farm and Starksboro Town Forest on July 26. Come learn how to protect our maple, oak and fir friends.

Learn Vermont Lore at the Rokeby Museum
Visit a stop on the Underground Railroad in Ferrisburgh, Vt., and meet the Robinsons. This pioneering family of Quaker abolitionists, farmers and artists lived in Rokeby, a sheep farm, from the 1790s to 1961. Experience rural Vermont family life and get to know the real Green Mountain State.

Want to ride with Jesus (and fellow Motorcycling Christians) by your side?
Join the Christian Motorcyclists Association on the fourth Friday of every month at 7 p.m., at the Assembly of God Christian Center in Ferrisburgh, Vt. Contact Emile or Marian Perron for more information at 877-2883.

Discover the artifacts of the Green Mountain State
Visit the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History at 1 Park St. in Middlebury. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Stock your shelves for lazy summer days
The Ilsley Library on Main St. in Middlebury will hold a book sale on the first Saturday of every month from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Is your summer love poetry Shakespeare-caliber?
Come to the Middlebury Writers' Workshops on Mondays from 10 a.m. to noon to hear feedback on your writing. The meetings are free and open to all who are interested in sharing their work and listening to others' pieces. For information call Marjory Cady, 388-1126.

- Compiled by Kelsey Rinehart