Digging out in Burlington...

As many of us know, this year's Valentine's activities were cut short by Mother Nature...
Here I am, bundled up & helping shovel :-P


Jeremy has a post & pics I took the day of & after on Hello Burlington:
Valentine's Day Blizzard - Burlington, Vermont

Ice & snow sculptures coming to Burlington this weekend!

Yeah, due to some last minute saving maneuvers by some wonderful UVM students, a few events have been saved from the chopping block. My favorite is the ice sculptures.
Click this link for some video footage I took of last year's sculptures, near the ECHO center.
Hosting courtesy of Hello Burlington.

Thankfully this year, the sculptures will be on the Church St. marketplace, as you can hear in the video, the wind off the lake can be quite chilling.

Here's the synopsis of the Festival:

Friday, February 8 - Sunday, February 10 The Burlington Winter Festival is back for its 15th year, bigger and better than ever, with events on the Waterfront AND on the Church Street Marketplace! Marketplace activities include Vermont's own sanctioned snow sculpture competition and the Ice Walk, featuring fabulous carvings by seasoned and professional ice sculptures in front of select businesses. Stroll by the wonderful exhibits, vote on your favorite snow sculpture, and you'll automatically be entered in a raffle with prizes from local stores and the University Vermont! Waterfront activities include the Kids VT Family Expo at ECHO at the Leahy Center, and the 12th Penguin Plunge. Come enjoy this fun and dynamic winter celebration. The festival is sponsored by the University of Vermont's Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, Chittenden Bank, Burlington Parks & Recreation, the Church Street Marketplace, 95 Triple X and WVMT.

Global warming campaign coming to Burlington

Just received this from VPIRG (Vermont Public Interest Research Group):

Global warming is all over the news, and has become the top issue of this legislative session, ski season and kitchen table conversations everywhere. But it will be up to the people of Vermont to ensure we find solutions that match the severity of the problem.

We want to invite you to join Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss, neighbors, friends and experts in a new campaign to build a clean, safe and affordable energy future for Vermont.

VPIRG and the Mayor’s office are teaming up to fight global warming at the city and state level, and we want you to join us at our kick-off meeting! The meeting will launch a new city-wide effort to cut global warming pollution, discuss our state-wide campaign strategy, and plan for coordinated grassroots action.

I hope you'll join us at Burlington’s City Hall: Thursday February 8th at 6:30pm.

Burlington and Vermont have a chance to lead the nation this year by cutting our energy use and getting more power from clean local sources. It's the most important issue facing the legislature and the city of Burlington this year, and we need your support to ensure a victory. Together, we can make it happen!

Just checked the City's events calendar, but no mention of the event... here's what I found at VPIRG's website:

Kick-Off Meetings Launch Campaign for Clean Power
VPIRG is part of a coalition of anti-nuke, pro-renewable energy groups supporting legislation that would ensure that our energy needs are met through investments in renewables and efficiency first. We are hosting kick-off meetings across the state to engage citizen activists, discuss our campaign strategy, and plan for coordinated grassroots action (calling legislators, writing letters to the editor). The Vermont legislature has made global warming the number one issue of this legislative session. Now it's up to the people of Vermont to make sure that the solutions they propose match the severity of the problem before us.

It appears from the email that I received that Mayor Kiss is in agreement with VPIRG about the issue, to let our Mayor know how you feel about the issue, he will be taking calls tomorrow morning at 7AM on the Charlie & Ernie Show (620AM on the radio), phone 655-0303.

Annual Winter Festival not happening this year...

Yeah, I know... long time no blog, since (glances at past blog entry) November! wow... anyways, here's the 1st entry for '07

Yup, announced on Ch. 3 last night:

Burlington is putting the freeze on its annual winter festival. The snow sculpture contest and popular Penguin Plunge have helped attract people to the waterfront at a slow time of year. But the festival costs the city about a thousand dollars. And Mayor Bob Kiss says that's hard to justify for an event that's lost a major sponsor, and had a history of bad weather-- all while the city faces a looming budget deficit. So this year's festival is cancelled-- except for the Penguin Plunge.

Last year, Jeremy and I took time out of City Council campaigning to enjoy the neat ice sculptures... we'll see if we can upload the video when we have time.

As for the Festival, Mayor Kiss will be on Charlie & Ernie's 620AM morning show tomorrow (show is from 7AM to 10AM), so if you'd like to call in with your opinion of the cancellation of the festival, or to chat with the mayor, their call in number is 655 0303


Also, on a side note, remember to set your Christmas tree out by the curb for disposal by 7AM Tuesday for pickup ;-)