MOUNTAIN BIKE CLINICS

Get into mountain biking or dial in your current skills. These clinics are geared toward beginner or intermediate riders and provide a structured, step-by-step progression toward building the skills necessary to have fun and find success on a mountain bike – all in a positive and supportive environment. Clinics cover the basics of gearing, shifting, braking, body position, cornering, bike handling, riding obstacles, trail riding, bike maintenance and repair. We provide quality instruction by female instructors experienced in coaching, mountain biking, and Wilderness First Aid.  If you have your own mountain bike and helmet, great!  If you don’t, we will arrange a rental for you.  Registration forms may be found here.

June 24th:
Stowe Mountain Resort, 9-4 PM

July 29th:
Stowe Mountain Resort, 9-4 PM

August 26th:
Millstone Hill, Montpelier area, 9-4 PM

$95.00

We’d love to hear from you! Please contact Angela Emery at (802) 622-0400 x152.

Who should take this program?
We are looking for women who are in transition – returning to the community from incarceration and/or who are on state assistance (Reach Up, Food Stamps, etc.) and need to transition to work.

We encourage you to apply if you are a woman who:

• has a lack of or a spotty work history
• has childcare, housing and transportation plans in place or close to being so
• are willing to commit to eight weeks of class time  (which includes being on time, communicating with program coordinators, following through with tasks and complying with the requirements of the program)

How to apply?

1) Interested women attend an orientation at our Winooski office where we give an overview of the Transitional Jobs program
2) At that orientation, attendees fill out an application and sign up for an interview
3) Applicants interview with Transitional Jobs Program Coordinators
4) Coordinators check references and accept women based on of the women’s needs and fit for the program

Interested women please call Louise 655-8900 x 503 for orientation times and locations.

The Labor of Love exhibit is designed in recognition of working women as part of Vermont Works for Women’s upcoming 25th anniversary.  VWW Executive Director Tiffany Bluemle said, “One way in which we’ll mark our anniversary is by celebrating individual women who are passionate about their work and are changing lives, whether as a dairy farmer, law enforcement professional or educator.  At its best, work connects us to our communities and to colleagues who open our eyes and affirm our efforts.  It gives us a sense of purpose.  It engages our passion, our intelligence, and our talent.”

VWW was bowled over by the nominees put forward from across Vermont as well as the moxie, professionalism, and inspiration their stories reflect.  The quality and quantity of nominations received made the decision-making process extremely difficult for the volunteer selection committee.  Bluemle said of those selected, “These honorees were chosen because their work and lives testify to the theme ‘Labor of Love.’  Learning about working women’s tenacity, courage, and creativity throughout the state has been a tremendous source of inspiration.  Knowing and sharing these stories will offer role models for everyone.”

LABOR OF LOVE HONOREES

As part of developing the fall exhibit, our honorees will gather on Saturday, May 5^th (10 am – 4 pm) at Spaulding High School in Barre where they will be interviewed by a team of high school girls.  Their interviews will focus on understanding what work means to each honoree, as well as discerning its particular challenges or opportunities.

The exhibit will feature photos and excerpts of the recorded interviews and will make its first appearance at a special event in Burlington next fall.  Plans are to take the exhibit “on the road” after that and share it in a variety of locations around the state in the coming year.  Labor of Love is being created in collaboration with the Vermont Folklife Center and made possible by support from the Vermont Women’s Fund and FairPoint Communications.  Photographs of the women being honored will be taken by Mary Claire Carroll, of Carroll Photography.

For more information, call StaciAnne Grove at (802) 655-8900, ext. 121 or email sgrove@vtworksforwomen.org.

We are thrilled to bring LUNAFEST to Burlington. This film festival is a series of short films by, for, and about women. In addition to the films selected by Luna, VWW will show excerpts from Mother Nature’s Child, by Vermont Film maker Camilla Rockwell.

The best part: The best part: 100% of the proceeds will benefit the work of Vermont Works for Women and the Breast Cancer Fund. Ticket prices start at just $15. Bring a friend and join us for a fun night out!

• Reception – 6:30 PM
  Catered reception with tantalizing finger foods from FRESH Food, wine available (for purchase), awesome can’t-be-missed raffle prizes, music by Evergreen Erb, opportunity to meet local film maker Camilla Rockwell.
• LunaFest Films – 8:00 PM
  Lunafest movies will include film by local film maker Camilla Rockwell

TICKETS:

$30 Reception and screening of films
$20 Advance Purchase for screening only
$25 Day of event for screening only
$15 Student admission for screening only

Tickets may be purchased online through LunaFest or in person at the Flynn Box Office in Burlington.

LUNAFEST SPONSORS

Special thanks to Seventh Generation for their support in helping this event happen! Stellar raffle prizes donated by Stoweflake, Bike Recycle Vermont, Leunig’s, August First – with more arriving everyday!
(Check back for updates.)

]]> http://www.vtworksforwomen.org/news-events/3460/feed/ 0 http://www.vtworksforwomen.org/news-events/lo/ http://www.vtworksforwomen.org/news-events/lo/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:35:55 +0000 sgrove http://vtworksforwomen.usmblogs.com/?p=3272 Do you know a woman who loves her work?  Does she inspire you or her peers?

Help us honor women from Newport to Bennington, from nurses to welders, from all communities and careers – and join our efforts to expose girls, young women, and adult women to a wide array of people, professions, and options.  Nominate this woman today to be included in Vermont Works for Women’s Labor of Love exhibit, a celebration of working women’s lives through photographs and recorded interviews.

As part of our upcoming 25^th anniversary, VWW will honor women who are passionate about their work, who are an inspiration to others, and who exemplify excellence in their field.  Vermont Works for Women’s Labor of Love exhibit will highlight working women from a wide variety of careers and communities across the state, recognizing the vital role women play in the organizations and communities where they work.  Twenty-five women representing a diversity of vocations will be selected through a statewide nomination process.

Labor of Love is being created in collaboration with the Vermont Folklife Center and made possible by support from the Vermont Women’s Fund and FairPoint Communications.

Applications – in both electronic and PDF format – are available at www.vtworksforwomen.org/nominate.  Nominations are due by February 14, 2012. 

Watch the “Miss Representation” Trailer

After the film, panelists Donna McAllister of the Vermont Department of Education, Bethany Pombar of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and Kelly Walsh of Vermont Works for Women will discuss the portrayal of women and girls in the media, what this means here in Vermont, and positive steps each person can take to combat these messages.

Tuesday – January 17

6:30-9:30 PM

Savoy Theater

26 Main Street, Montpelier

 FREE and open to the public.
Parents and middle school and high school aged
youth encouraged to attend.

This program is designed for beginner to intermediate skiers who want to take their skills to the next level, and into the backcountry.  Some experience on skis is necessary (but backcountry experience is not).

Price: $195 (proceeds benefit our girls’ programs!)

Price Includes:

• Alpine and Nordic area passes on Saturday
• Nordic area pass on Sunday
• 2 days of instruction
• Coffee/tea & light breakfast in the mornings
• Saturday apres ski wine & cheese

February 4 & 5, 2012 at Bolton Valley Resort
8:00 – 4:00 Saturday (followed by Apres Ski wine & cheese)
9:00 – 3:00 Sunday

Day 1 focuses on basic skills to help improve your skiing and prepare you for backcountry travel. Utilizing the open trails at Bolton Valley you will practice different climbing, descending, turning, kick and glide, and stopping techniques. Additionally we’ll discuss using skins and wax, choosing proper equipment and clothing, what to pack in your backpack, and other tips for being comfortable in the backcountry. Day 1 ends with an apres’ ski get together complete with wine and cheer.

Day 2 puts the skills learned on Day 1 to use as we head “off-piste” (off trail) on Bolton’s Backcountry Trails for a day long tour. Day 2 will focus on traveling comfortably in varied terrain, making turns off the groomed trail, and having fun. We’ll touch on map reading and route finding for those who are interested.

Contact Nadine Budbill at 802.622.0400, ext. 151 for more information or to register.

City Market’s “Change for Local Non-Profits” program raised $1,041.65 for our programs during the month of November. The program, which incentivizes patrons of Burlington’s downtown food co-op to reuse their shopping bags, sets aside 5 cents for every bag reused to donate to a different non-profit each month. Customers can also donate additional amounts directly to the chosen organization each month at any register. During the month of November, shoppers reused over 20,700 shopping bags, all for the benefit of VWW.

“We can’t stress enough the value we see in VWW’s work,” notes Allison Weinhagen, Director of Member Services at City Market. “Rosie’s Girls and Step Up programs are doing great things for a wide range of women. FRESH Food program offers the chance for women to learn skills in the field of food service. They’re using local foods and healthy recipes which ties in nicely with the Co-op’s mission.”

We are grateful to City Market for their commitment to community partners like us!  Be sure to continue to support their “Change” efforts – this month all proceeds benefit the Peace and Justice Center.  Keep reusing those bags – good for people, good for the planet, and good for non-profits!

Participants were performance artist Laurie Anderson, Champlain College president David F. Finney, Ben & Jerry’s CEO Jostein Solheim, and executive director of Vermont Works for Women Tiffany Bluemle.   It was presented by the Flynn Center and moderated by VPR’s Jane Lindholm.

To prepare for a recent panel discussion, Tiff  approached colleagues and mentors about the role that imagination plays in VWW’s work.  She discovered that it’s not something many of us have thought much about, though all that we do at VWW is contingent upon it.  

“It seems to me,” reflected program coordinator Erin Galloway, “that our work is not just driven by imagination but is deeply founded on it.  How would the women we work with approach us with their uncertainty and frustration if there weren’t some piece of them, however small, that imagined that their lives could be different?  Einstein said you can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.  You have to imagine it.  Our work imagines a day where we can stop saying women can do…and just do.”

We salute the transformative power of imagination – that of our staff, our program participants, and all of our partners.

You can view the imagination panel here or listen to it here.