Grateful Garden seed sale; diabetes prevention program starts; Kurn Hattin singers to compete

The Grateful Garden, Chester’s school and community garden, is once again holding its vegetable, herb and flower seed sale. Choose from a variety of 50 seed packets from Fedco to get your garden growing. Select from 25 GMO-free seeds for $1.60 a pack or select from 25 organic vegetable, herb and flower seeds for $2.20 a pack.

Planting the Grateful Garden.

The sale will run through March 1^st with orders being distributed to buyers by late March.  You can download the GMO-free seed form by clicking here.  Or you can download the organic seed form by clicking here.  You can also visit the Grateful Garden blog and click on the link to download and print the seed sale forms for the informative plant descriptions and to complete your seed order.  Seed Sale Order Forms can be mailed to The Grateful Garden @ CAES, 72 Main St., Chester, VT 05143. Be sure to include your check payable to The Grateful Garden/CAES.

Since 2008, volunteers, students and teachers plan, plant, tend and harvest food and flowers for the elementary school from this garden. This teaching garden harvests basil, potatoes, garlic and onions that are served in the cafeteria. Funds raised through this seed sale go directly toward the purchase of new garden supplies and tools.

The Grateful Garden also offers 4-foot by 8-foot plots to community members to grow their own organic gardens in the school’s outdoor classroom. Community members interested in having their own community garden plot should contact Carrie King at  nigeldenali@gmail.com for details.

 Diabetes prevention program starts

The Springfield Health Center, Vermont Blueprint for Health and the Greater Burlington YMCA will offer the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program classes beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, at the Springfield Health Center, 100 River St., in Springfield.

The 12-month program will encourage adults at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes to reduce their risk by taking steps that improve their overall health and well-being. The program is led by lifestyle coaches Steve Fortier of Meeting Waters YMCA and Lara Peck of the Springfield Health Center, and there is no charge.

Participants will work together as a small group to learn how to eat healthier and increase their physical activity. The classroom-based sessions begin weekly for the first 16 weeks. After the 16-week period, participants will meet monthly to get support in maintaining their progress.

The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-led National Diabetes Prevention Program. It is free and open to the public. For more information, or to register, contact Michelle Kuusela at 802-885-7346 or email CHT@springfieldmed.org.

For more information about Springfield Medical Care Systems and its subsidiaries, visit www.springfieldmed.org

Kurn Hattin Choir first in Vermont to compete in WGBY-TV choral competition

WESTMINSTER
Forty young singers in the Kurn Hattin Homes for Children’s Select Choir have been chosen to compete on the third season of the public television series Together in Song, a choral competition series produced and aired by WGBY-TV in Western New England. This children’s group, under the direction of Lisa Bianconi, is the first chorus from Vermont to be selected to compete in the series, which highlights non-professional children’s and adults’ choirs in various musical genres.
Kurn Hattin Homes co-executive director Connie Sanderson announced the choir’s acceptance at the school’s winter Family Day celebration when the children’s parents were visiting campus. “They are in orbit,” she said of the children’s reaction, “And it’s even more special that they got to share the excitement with their parents here.”

Music has played an essential role in life at Kurn Hattin Homes since the school’s beginnings in the late 1800s. Today, all 100 students participate in one or more aspects of the music program, and all students in grades 4 through 8 learn and perform on band instruments. Bianconi, Kurn Hattin’s music director since 1985, said, “This is going to be an amazing adventure. The children have such talent and poise and have demonstrated that they are ready for a competition. We look forward to the first round.”

Together in Song, hosted by Springfield Symphony Orchestra Maestro Kevin Rhodes will air on WGBY at 8 p.m. Saturdays beginning on March 23. The Kurn Hattin Homes choir will compete with 37 other choral groups in 10 categories according to age and musical genre. Each week, a panel of judges as well as TV viewers vote for the best group in each category. The competition culminates in a live final performance at the historic Paramount Theater in Springfield, MA airing Sunday, April 28, 2013 on WGBY. For information on Together in Song and broadcast times, togetherinsong.wgby.org.

A place of hope since 1894, Kurn Hattin Homes for Children provides a safe home and quality education for boys and girls, ages 6-15, whose families are experiencing a time of personal or financial need. Kurn Hattin Homes is entirely funded by private donations. For more information, visit  www.kurnhattin.org