Celebrating Independence Day in Vermont

I love hometown parades and fireworks, so Vermont is right place to be to celebrate the 4th of July. Here are some of the happenings around the state. I live in Randolph, so will probably just walk a mile to Main Street to enjoy the festivities. The local fireworks are in a field across the the road from my house, so we just sit in our own backyard for the best seat in the house.

The 4th of July parade in Randolph is a traditional small town parade that’s the pride of Randolph. Starts at 10 AM. Get there early with a lawn chair and set up on the sidewalk. It’s followed by music, food and games. www.randolph-chamber.com

Watching fireworks from the Statehouse Lawn in Montpelier is always special. July 3, the party starts at 6:00 pm downtown with music (nice block party street dances), food, and a parade. Fireworks at 9:30. Free. http://www.mdca.org/montpelier_independence_day_celebration

VT Symphony Orchestra plays a varied program and concludes with fireworks to the 1812 Overture.
July 3, Grafton Ponds (Route 35, Townshend $25) or July 4th at Shelburne Farms (Route 7, Shelburne $32) or July 5th at the Trapp Family Lodge Concert Meadow (Stowe, $30). www.vso.org/

4th of July Fireworks Extravagnza at the VT State Fairgrounds, Rutland. http://www.rutlandvermont.com/images/fireworks09.pdf

An Old Vermont 4th, at the Billings Farm Museum in Woodstock, 10 AM – 5 PM.
“Traditional music, flag-making, hand cranked ice cream, horse-drawn wagon rides, patriotic speeches and debates, and more! ” There’s an admissions fee.
Then head to the Woodstock Union High School for the town carnival and fireworks display. Bring a blanket or lawn chairs and a picnic or buy vendor food (no alcohol allowed). Fire spinners, bands, kids games lead up to fireworks at dusk. There’s a fee. www.woodstockvt.com/

For something completely different, head to Montreal’s International Jazz Festival. Great music in a great city (need I mention the great food and drink?). Their definition of jazz is pretty loose. 350 free outdoor shows on multiple stages. Tonight: Stevie Wonder, yes, free. (There’s pricy inside concerts as well.)
June 30-July 12 Montreal is 3 hours from SoRo if all goes well at the border. Bring your passport. www.montrealjazzfest.com

On July 3rd, Burlington has a free concert in Battery Park.
Starts at 6:30 pm with 2 great bands: The Horseflies from Ithaca (”post folk art rock”) and The Lost Fingers (Gypsy jazz from Quebec). Then fireworks over Lake Champlain at 9:30. www.celebratechamplain.org

Enjoy !!

Family Vacation Time

I have been on vacation since last Wednesday. My mother came up from Central Florida to visit. She complains about the heat in Florida (and I heartily agree with her), but she does not tolerate the cooler weather of Vermont. Our temps have been in the mid-60’s and she is living in one of my heavier fleece jackets – I am in short sleeves and sandals!

On Thursday, we drove to Burlington for the Vermont Quilt Festival. We are both avid quilters, so always schedule her visit to coincide with the show. The largest show in the Northeast, we saw lots of beautiful quilts and spent a little money with the vendors. We had planned to return on Friday, but felt more inspired to stay home and work on my current project – a large sampler. It was a dark and rainy day, so there were only a few thoughts about venturing outside. Over the course of 2 long days, we completely cut out all the remaining blocks, sashing, borders and binding for my project. Piecing will now be a breeze. Thanks for the assistance!

The only work I have done this week is keeping up with campus e-mail. So much is happening in the office with the 2nd deposit deadlines that I cannot lose track of emails or the daily data reports.

Took mother to the airport this morning, so am now catching up on laundry and re-setting the extra bedroom for it’s regular use. Back to work in the morning . . .

Road Trip This Week

I am looking forward to this week. Early Wed morning (about 5 am), I am taking off in the car for New Haven, CT – about a 3 1/2 hour drive straight south on 91. Yale Law School is hosting the Northeast Association of Pre-Law Advisors meeting, an annual event where pre-law advisors and law school admissions folks get together and talk and talk and talk . . . about the applicant world, about LSAC, about everything that has to do with our joint connection. One day will also be spent on the Quinnipiac Law School campus and the Univ. of Conn. Law School campus – a field trip within a field trip! There about about 250 pre-law advisors and 60 law school admissions deans registered, a medium sized group for this organization.

About the only thing I like about New Haven (other than the Yale campus), is a fantastic music store for classical organ and piano music. It’s only about 4 blocks from my hotel, so will definitely find time to go shopping

Is it really June already?

This spring has gone by so fast – I can’t believe that we are already into June! I think part of the problem is that we have had so much rain and cool temps. Granted, we need to rain to create the green mountains for the Green Mountain state, but enough is enough!

Summer school started last week. We have a number of students from other law schools, esp. Univ of South Carolina. They are freezing! One girl came into the office last week, dressed in a cute sun dress and sandals – to ask “Where can I buy some warm clothes”??

We are in the final stretch with the entering class . . . final deposit deadline is June 17th, so lots of checks are arriving in the office daily. The very patient candidates on the wait list will finally have some closure by the end of the month – yes or no . . .

Happy Anniversary to my honey

A Fun Scholarship Opportunity !

Access Group wants to make you aware of a scholarship contest we’re holding specifically for law students.

This year, our “My Inspiration” contest is calling for current and entering law students to create and submit a brief video describing what inspired them to pursue a legal career.

Our Access Group panel of judges will choose the 10 finalists, and voting will begin August 3, 2009. You, your students, colleagues and the entire country will vote to decide the winner of a $10,000 scholarship. Up to five additional honorable mention scholarships of $1,500 each will also be awarded.

Direct your students to www.AccessGroup.Org/MyInspirationContest to find more information about the contest and to review the official rules. The deadline for entries is July 15, 2009.

Memorial Day Holiday

Today is our Memorial Day holiday . . . and it is a picture perfect day in Vermont. Sunny with temps in the mid-60’s and a nice breeze. (In my next life, I should be a weather person). I made a promise to self not to work today – with the exception of this blog entry and checking in on the admitted students facebook page.

A few weeks ago, I took advantage of a great opportunity to purchase my old laptop from the law school. The warranty has expired, but it was my laptop and I know it inside and out. So, now we have a desktop pc and a laptop at home. Since husband works from home and is on the computer all hours of the day or night, I realized that this was the perfect time to go wireless.  With just a couple of consultations with the helpful guys at Staples and Comcast, I was able to set up all the connection! I am sitting outdoors in the sun writing this post.    Life is good

No matter what our political views are or how we feel about war, all Americans should unite on this day to thank our veterans.

Commencement

Yesterday was commencement. As always, it was so moving. All who process (faculty, trustees, new graduates, 25th anniversary class), all line up on campus and are led by bagpipes down the street to the town green. The sidewalks are lined with cheering families with their cameras.

The speaker was Frances Bieneke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council – addressing how much our graduates are needed in today’s world.

John Miller was selected by the class to give the class speech. He also received the Max Kempner award for service to the school. I am excited to also report that John will be joining the Admissions Office in August as our Associate Director.

I always joke that I attend commencement to make sure the 3rd years are really leaving – I need their parking spaces and apartments for the entering class in August! However, this class was special, they will be missed.

Peace be with you as you prep for bar exams and go out into the world.

VLS Climate Legacy Initiative

The Climate Legacy Initiative has been active at VLS for about 2 years now. The director is Prof. Burns Weston, a nationally renowned specialist in International Human Rights. For several years, he as split his time between Iowa and VLS. Professor Weston is receiving an honorary degree from VLS at commencement next week.The Associate Director is Tracy Bach, a VLS professor who spent a year in Rowanda about 4 years ago and is now headed to Dafur on a Fulbright fellowship.

They just published an excellent policy paper, Recalibrating the Law of Humans with the Laws of Nature: Climate Change, Human Rights, and Intergenerational Justice, that has been posted as a PDF file on the VLS website. It is definitely worth reading.

The website is www.vermontlaw.edu/cli

Happy Weekend!

Another year is coming to an end . . . already

At the law school we are in the middle of final exams for the spring semester. It is eerily quiet, but you can feel the stress of students walking through the campus. From my office, I watch them coming and going. I can always tell when a paper is due; car doors are slamming on the street and half-dressed, sleep-deprived students are racing to the registrar’s office with large manila envelopes clutched in their hands. Every now and then, a glorious whoop echoes through the campus as a third year exits their last exam . . . until the bar exam in July. But we won’t talk about that now.

VLS is #1 in Environmental Law!

Press release from Dean Shields:

The word is out, and I am delighted to announce that Vermont Law School has reclaimed top honors in U.S.News & World Report’s 2010 environmental law program rankings.

I heartily congratulate Environmental Law Center Director Marc Mihaly and all of our environmental faculty on their leadership and stellar accomplishments. It is especially satisfying to be acknowledged by legal educators who recognize the breadth and depth of our environmental program.

The programs ranked best in the nation in environmental law are:

1 Vermont Law School
2 Lewis and Clark College
3 Pace University
4 Georgetown University
5 University of California-Berkeley
6 University of Colorado-Boulder
7 University of Maryland
8 Duke University
9 New York University
10 University of Oregon

For more on the rankings, see the May print issue of U.S.News & World Report magazine, available as of Tuesday, April 28, or visit www.usnews.com.