Hey everyone! Hope you can join Rural Vermont staff, board, and supporters for our biggest party of the year on May 16th at the Wilder Center in Wilder VT! If you're a member or involved in our work already, then come celebrate a great year and catch up with like-minded folks. Bring friends!

If you don't know much about Rural Vermont but you care about real food and our state's agricultural economy, then this is your chance to get to know us!

Hope to see you there. All the details are below ...

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Rural Vermont hosts its 2012 Annual Celebration, Wednesday, May 16th from 6:30-9 pm at the Wilder Center, Wilder. Rural Vermont supporters from all over the state will gather for this special event featuring keynote speaker Ben Hewitt, finger food potluck, live music, cash bar, annual meeting, farm fresh five raffle, and more! Free for Rural Vermont members, $5-$10 sliding scale all else. For more info, (802) 223-7222 or www.ruralvermont.org.

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For Immediate Release: Friday, April 20, 2012

Contact Person: Shelby Girard, (802) 223-7222, [log in to unmask]

Rural Vermont’s 2012 Annual Celebration on May 16th in Wilder VT:

Keynote Ben Hewitt to Explore Vermonters Feeding Vermonters

Rural Vermont hosts its 2012 Annual Celebration and member gathering on Wednesday, May 16th from 6:30-9 pm at the Wilder Center, on Route 5 just north of White River Junction, in Wilder, Vermont. Rural Vermont supporters from near and far are invited to join the staff and Board to celebrate rural life, real food, and sustainable farming. The event is free for Rural Vermont members and $5-$10 sliding scale for all else.

Rural Vermont is thrilled to have board member, farmer, and author Ben Hewitt keynote this special event. Join in the lively presentation and discussion about “The Future is in the Dirt: Growing a Culture of Vermonters Feeding Vermonters”. Bring questions and stories!

The Future's in the Dirt digs into the challenges and potential inherent to fostering a culture of local nourishment for local people. How can we build healthy, regionalized economies that honor the producers, the consumers, and the environment? What will it take to ensure a vibrant culture of Vermonters feeding Vermonters? The answers are not always obvious, but the need to find them has never been more urgent.

Folks can also look forward to a homemade finger food potluck, cash bar featuring Vermont brews, live music provided by local folk duo Nancy and Mike Wood, and plenty of time to swap stories, share plans, and float ideas with new and old friends.

Director Andrea Stander will get Rural Vermont’s annual meeting underway by sharing the priorities and progress of Rural Vermont’s Vermonters Feeding Vermonters campaign, followed by the 2012-13 Board election and an awards ceremony honoring Rural Vermont’s most committed supporters.

The recipient of this year’s prestigious Jack Starr award will be Will Allen of Cedar Circle Farm in East Thetford VT for the vision, energy, and dedication he has displayed in support of the GMO labeling bill, still pending in the Vermont legislature.

Throughout the course of the night, and in the weeks leading up to the event, Farm Fresh Five raffle tickets can be purchased for $5 each. Prizes include gardening goodies, a farm & food policy book basket, two different baskets of farm fresh fare, and a one-on-one dairy processing lesson in the winner’s kitchen with cheesemaid Lea Calderon-Guthe. Winners will be drawn at the end of the Annual Celebration and need not be present to win. To purchase tickets in advance, visit www.ruralvermont.org.

Rural Vermont’s 2012 Annual Celebration is being sponsored by NOFA-VT, Upper Valley Food Co-op, Cedar Circle Farm, Chelsea Green Publishing, Building a Local Economy (BALE), Edible Green Mountains, Vermont Grass Farmers’ Association, Bob White Systems, High Mowing Seeds, Sterling College, South Royalton Market, Vermont Compost Company, Local Banquet, and Way Out Wax.

Rural Vermont is a statewide nonprofit group founded in 1985. For the last 25 years, Rural Vermont has been advancing its mission of economic justice for Vermont farmers through advocacy and education. For more info, to purchase raffle tickets in advance, or to sign up for Rural Vermont’s mailing list, call (802) 223-7222 or visit www.ruralvermont.org.

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Shelby Girard
Outreach Coordinator
Rural Vermont
(802) 223-7222
15 Barre St., Suite 2, Montpelier VT 05602
www.ruralvermont.org

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____________________
Shelby Girard
Outreach Coordinator
Rural Vermont
(802) 223-7222
15 Barre St., Suite 2, Montpelier VT 05602
www.ruralvermont.org