Eco-convergence hits Montpelier
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Alissa White, standing, speaks on the topic of basic backyard mushroom cultivation to a small gathering Monday at the home of Emmanuelle Monteith in Montpelier, as part of Village Convergence activities in central Vermont. STEFAN HARD/TIMES ARGUS |
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By SUSAN ALLEN TIMES ARGUS STAFF - Published: August 25, 2009
MONTPELIER – There's an eco-friendly celebration going on in Montpelier and across central Vermont, a weeklong educational forum and festival to bring the sustainable living community together to envision, build and maintain a better future.
Called the Village Building Convergence, it's modeled loosely on an annual event in Portland, Ore. The Montpelier-based event features 34 projects and workshops, as well as music, picnics and more, to highlight the need for sustainable energy, food sources, economies, transportation and other critical components of day-to-day living in Vermont.
While many of the events take place in Montpelier, a root cellar display and talk will be held Wednesday in Adamant, a wine-making workshop on Wednesday in Worcester, fruit and nut tree propagation will be discussed in Plainfield on Friday, a solar hot-water workshop will be held Saturday in Marshfield, and more.
Village Building Convergence wraps up Sunday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Lamb Abbey community space in Montpelier, with a speech by Jim Merkel, author of "Radical Simplicity," and Burlington-based Brazilian samba group Sambatucada.
"We're hoping to get a lot of people out for that. It's going to be a really great event," said Ben Graham, a Plainfield architect and one of the Convergence organizers. "We don't want this to be all work and seriousness."
Graham said Monday there are numerous individuals and groups working independently on some piece of the sustainable-living effort, each focusing on its own area of concern. Some are focused on the peak oil and energy issue, others the localvore food movement, and still others, natural health care. That's only part of a list that includes other aspects of daily life.
Using about $1,500 and a crew of volunteers, Graham and others put together the weeklong Convergence event. The Portland Convergence was conceived under another name in 1996, but became more focused and was named Village Building Convergence in 2002. That event is centered on sustainable building, whereas the Montpelier Convergence has a broader scope.
"It's an opportunity to see how it all comes together and show what we've been working on … and just celebrate," said Graham, who noted that sometimes the different groups working on sustainable living issues can bump elbows in trying to accomplish their goals.
"There's the realization that we're going to have to work together more. We have to know who our neighbors are, and learn to work together," he said of the Convergence event's goal. "It gives us an opportunity to begin to work and play together."
He said he hopes next year's Village Community Convergence will be larger.
"Things in Vermont take awhile," he said of any movement. "A lot of people have come out of the woodwork, are really inspired by it and want to help out next year."
sue.allen@timesargus.com
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