2007
Black and White Nights Film Series $480
The Series presents quality black and white films for public viewing during the depths of winter. The grant paid for needed equipment to show the films.
Cavendish Elementary School – Open Studio $900
This Open Studio featured a day long program on Japan and Japanese culture. The grant paid for equipment, food and instructors.
Cavendish Fletcher Community Library – Space Renovation$1,000
The library long needed a meeting room that could also serve as computer research space for adults. The grant paid for part of the actual renovation of an underutilized storage room.
2008
The Cavendish Town Players – Theater Production $1,000
A group of Cavendish citizens wrote and acted in a grass roots community theater production. The grant underwrote the cost of hiring an experienced director from Weston Playhouse who specializes in community productions.
Cavendish Historical Society – Archeological Dig $1,000
Historical Society members knew of artifacts found in agricultural fields near Twenty Mile Stream and wanted to search for other evidence of early Native American settlements. The grant paid for equipment needed to dig and sift soil, to record the activities and to catalogue finds.
Stepping Stones Preschool – Teacher Training $1,000
Stepping Stones Preschool sponsored a teachers’ workshop that trained instructors in math and science teaching techniques for pre-school and early elementary school students. The grant paid for part of the curriculum.
Cavendish Library – “Dinner and a Movie” $500
The library suffers from low visibility among adults in Cavendish. In order to raise awareness of programs and facilities the staff created a program featuring classic movies paired with food, and aimed at the adult community members. The grant paid for the movie rentals and the food.
Cavendish Town Elementary School – Healthy Eating Education $1,000
Educators and parents at the school prepared a program to serve fresh, locally grown produce in the school cafeteria and to train parents and teachers in a process that will lead to a farm to school healthy eating program. The grant paid for consultants and education and gardens.
2009
Fiber Arts in Vermont, Inc. $600
The organization created a class held at the Six Loose Ladies Fiber Arts store in Proctorsville in which students created completely new and uniquely original garments from old gently used articles of clothing. The grant paid for the instructor and for tuition for Cavendish students.
Ashley Hensel-Browning – Exploring Yoga and Choreography $1,000
Ms. Hensel-Browning and Ms. Rebecca Salem held a one-week workshop for Cavendish elementary students. Project goals included developing a culture of self-awareness and appreciation for dance within the youth of Cavendish. The grant paid for the educators’ fees and class materials.
Cavendish Fletcher Community Library – Concerts on the Green $1,000
The library assumed sponsorship of the annual summer concert series held on the Proctorsville green in July and August. The concerts were open to the general public. The grant paid for appearances by two local bands for two hour concerts each.
Stepping Stones Preschool – Multicultural Curriculum Materials $600
The Fund assisted the school to establish a pre-school curriculum in which students would learn elemental Spanish and have the opportunity to explore other cultures. Materials purchased included books, costumes, tapes, CDs and food.
Cavendish Community Theater – 2010 Summer Theater Production $1,000
The theater production of Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s 1932 play, “Tourists Accommodated” was presented by Cavendish residents. The grant paid for costumes, programs, sets, lighting and other technical needs including a sound system.
Cavendish Town Elementary School – Integrated Teaching Technology $779
The Fund paid for an eco-friendly LCD projector to integrate the systems in use for three elementary classrooms. Past school acquisitions had left a need for a projector that could tie to a white board and other technological systems now in use.
Jillian Palmer – Photography for Beginners $600
Ms. Palmer administered a class for Cavendish elementary students in which they learned the basics of photography through hands on instruction. The fund paid for two professionals who shared their time, and also bought disposable cameras for the students.
2010
Cavendish Fletcher Community Library – E-Book Purchase $500
The fund helped the library to purchase a selection of e-books in order to run a test project with elementary school children and allow interaction with new technologies in the classroom. The e-books will also allow visually impaired readers access a wider range of materials.
Cavendish Historical Society – Cemetery Cleanup and Young Historians $500
The Society recruited individuals to clean grave markers in some of the most neglected parts of Cavendish’s oldest cemeteries. The Fund paid for materials and equipment. In the Young Historians program the Society began a year-long educational program in the elementary school on the 1940s. The Fund paid for teaching materials.
Cavendish Town Elementary School – Tivoli, Cuban Band $500
The band Tivoli performed a concert for the town at the elementary school and spent time with the children demonstrating their instruments and explaining their music and their Cuban cultural heritage. The Fund paid for the visit.
Cavendish Town Elementary School – The Junkman and Music Garden $1000
The Community Fund paid a stipend so that the school could hire Donald Knaack, aka “The Junkman”, a music educator who built a music garden for the outdoor classroom using recycled materials. Conservation and recycling themes were stressed to the children.
Playing With Shakespeare – Community Theater Workshop $400
The Fund paid for Jamie Ward, a New York based actor to present a weekend workshop open to the community that culminated in a performance open to all, of selected Shakespearean scenes. The presentation was done in the Gethsemane Church in Proctorsville.
Quilts For Soldiers – American Legion $500
Diane McNamara organized a group of citizens to conduct old fashioned quilting parties to create quilts for the soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The project was sponsored by the Legion and the VA Hospital, which provided recipients. The Fund paid for various materials.
Stepping Stones Pre-School – Book Bag Lending Program $295
The school acquired preschool books with the intention of distributing them in book bags to all parents of pre-schoolers in Cavendish. Parents would withdraw a bag from the school, read all of the books in the bag to their children, then swap the bag for another with different books. Each child would be exposed to dozens of books before coming to school. The fund paid for books and bags.
2011
Cavendish Community Theater – 2011 Community Play $1000
The Fund paid for the director, costumes and settings for the 2011 summer community theater production. The play was an original work tracing the early inhabitants of Cavendish – timely presented as part of the town’s 250th anniversary celebration.
Proctorsville Fire Department – Junior Firefighter Training $500
The very active department trains high school age boys and girls as junior firefighters, teaching them skills that translate into careers and personal development. The fund provided money to implement several parts of the program this year.