Upcoming programs and events
Nurturing Healthy Emotional Development: Tools for Guiding Big Feelings
This is the first of three workshops with Carrie Becker of Transforming Early Childhood Education. Free, childcare provided, preregistration required here. At the East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church.
What do you do when your big feelings overwhelm you? Do you shut down? Do you yell? Do you take a deep breath, work through your feelings, and move on? As adults, we don't always know what to do with our big emotions, so why do we expect young children to know what to do with their big feelings? During this session, we will learn skills for self-regulation and develop tools to help guide the children's big feelings in our care.
Behavior is Communication: Understanding Behaviors Young Children Exhibit
This is the second in a series of three workshops with Carrie Becker at Transforming Early Childhood Education. Free, childcare provided, registration required here.
As adults caring for young children, we often feel challenged by the behaviors our young children exhibit. When we understand how to decipher our children's message, we are less overwhelmed and more confident in our parenting practices. During this session, we will build an understanding of early brain development, antecedents (things that prompt a behavior), and scaffolding (providing support/guidance).
Old-time jam session
Old-time music, also known as Appalachain stringband music, is traditionally played on the fiddle, banjo, guitar and bass. Tunes are learned by ear and are ideal for community participation. The music is the sort that one would naturally hear at a square dance or a contra dance.
Acoustic musicians of all ages and abilities are encouraged to attend. The session is free and open to the public. Listeners are encouraged to attend as well.
The East Craftsbury old-time jam session is supported by Cabot Arts’s Music Mentoring Program whose mission is to revive community fiddling and to encourage participatiton in traditional music. The session will occur every 1st and 3rd Wednesday from 6 - 8pm.
Old-time jam session
Old-time music, also known as Appalachain stringband music, is traditionally played on the fiddle, banjo, guitar and bass. Tunes are learned by ear and are ideal for community participation. The music is the sort that one would naturally hear at a square dance or a contra dance.
Acoustic musicians of all ages and abilities are encouraged to attend. The session is free and open to the public. Listeners are encouraged to attend as well.
The East Craftsbury old-time jam session is supported by Cabot Arts’s Music Mentoring Program whose mission is to revive community fiddling and to encourage participatiton in traditional music. The session will occur every 1st and 3rd Wednesday from 6 - 8pm.
Old-time jam session
Old-time music, also known as Appalachain stringband music, is traditionally played on the fiddle, banjo, guitar and bass. Tunes are learned by ear and are ideal for community participation. The music is the sort that one would naturally hear at a square dance or a contra dance.
Acoustic musicians of all ages and abilities are encouraged to attend. The session is free and open to the public. Listeners are encouraged to attend as well.
The East Craftsbury old-time jam session is supported by Cabot Arts’s Music Mentoring Program whose mission is to revive community fiddling and to encourage participatiton in traditional music. The session will occur every 1st and 3rd Wednesday from 6 - 8pm.
I Don’t Want To! : The Power of Independence
This is the third in a series of three workshops with Carrie Becker of Transforming Early Childhood Education. Free, childcare provided, registration required here. At the East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church.
How often do you find yourself in the push and pull of power struggles with your young child? Our children are in a constant search for power. Did you know that for young children, independence is power? The more young children do for themselves, the less they seek power in ways that feel undesirable to the adults around them. During this session, we will discuss strategies for supporting young children as they build their independence skills.
Old-time jam session
Old-time music, also known as Appalachain stringband music, is traditionally played on the fiddle, banjo, guitar and bass. Tunes are learned by ear and are ideal for community participation. The music is the sort that one would naturally hear at a square dance or a contra dance.
Acoustic musicians of all ages and abilities are encouraged to attend. The session is free and open to the public. Listeners are encouraged to attend as well.
The East Craftsbury old-time jam session is supported by Cabot Arts’s Music Mentoring Program whose mission is to revive community fiddling and to encourage participatiton in traditional music. The session will occur every 1st and 3rd Wednesday from 6 - 8pm.
Intro to Printmaking Workshop: Greeting Cards with Jennifer Detweiler
Join local artist Jenn Detweiler for this hands-on block printing workshop. Learn how to design, carve, and print your own art on greeting cards. Materials provided, no experience necessary, free! Some premade stamps will be available for use as well. Please email to register.
Crafternoon
Whether you are sketching or knitting, folding paper or sewing, darning or making pom poms, all creative projects are welcome here!
A little puppet show for a cold day
While Bread and Puppet is best known for its hard hitting political shows and large scale pageantry, the theater also has a long tradition of making shows for young kids and old folks. The puppeteers use cardboard, paper, and scraps of cloth to create puppets; and fairy tales, folk songs, and nursery rhymes as their inspiration and texts. Songs, stories, puppets both small and life sized to delight and entertain both young and old!
Old-time jam session
Beginning Wednesday, January 15th, the John Woodruff Simpson Memorial Library and Cabot Arts will partner to host an old-time jam session. The session will occur every 1st and 3rd Wednesday from 6 - 8pm.
Old-time music, also known as Appalachain stringband music, is traditionally played on the fiddle, banjo, guitar and bass. Tunes are learned by ear and are ideal for community participation. The music is the sort that one would naturally hear at a square dance or a contra dance.
Acoustic musicians of all ages and abilities are encouraged to attend. The session is free and open to the public. Listeners are encouraged to attend as well.
The East Craftsbury old-time jam session is supported by Cabot Arts’s Music Mentoring Program whose mission is to revive community fiddling and to encourage participatiton in traditional music.
Community Scanning Day with Rachel Onuf
Do you have family photos or letters that you have been wanting to digitize? Preserve your family and community history at this community scanning day!
Staff from the Vermont Historical Records Program, based at the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, will be at the Simpson Library with a large format and regular format scanner. They will be available to advise you on how best to store and preserve your historic materials and how to organize them once they are scanned to a digital format. Free thumb drives available to store and bring your newly scanned materials home. If you so choose, your digitized materials can be added to the Simpson Library community archive. Email to sign up for a specific time, or just stop by.
Travel adventure book group: Island of the Lost by Joan Druett
Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett
“It is 1864, and Captain Thomas Musgrave’s schooner, the Grafton, has just wrecked on Auckland Island, a forbidding piece of land 285 miles south of New Zealand. Battered by year-round freezing rain and constant winds, it is one of the most inhospitable places on earth. To be shipwrecked there means almost certain death.
Incredibly, at the same time on the opposite end of the island, another ship runs aground during a storm. Separated by only twenty miles and the island’s treacherous, impassable cliffs, the crews of the Grafton and the Invercauld face the same fate. And yet where the Invercauld’s crew turns inward on itself, fighting, starving, and even turning to cannibalism, Musgrave’s crew bands together to build a cabin and a forge—and eventually, to find a way to escape.
Using the survivors’ journals and historical records, award-winning maritime historian Joan Druett brings to life this extraordinary untold story about leadership and the fine line between order and chaos.” - description on the back of the book
Pizza & Game Night
Ping pong, skittles, chess and cards. Have a favorite? Bring it to share. Free, all ages welcome.
Crafternoons
Bring your knitting, sketching, writing, needlepoint- all creative projects welcome! This informal group is open to all ages.
Collage and Decoupage workshop
Create a card or a box with this age-old technique of decorating an object or a surface using paper cut outs. Materials provided. Have something you'd like to decorate? Bring it along.
Crafternoons
Bring your knitting, sketching, writing, needlepoint- all creative projects welcome! This informal group is open to all ages.
Crafternoons
Whether you are knitting or drawing or sewing or bookbinding, all creative projects are welcome for this informal gathering.
Travel Adventure Book Group
This month’s book is Whatever You Do, Don’t Run by Peter Allison. Copies available at the library.
East Craftsbury Community Harvest Dinner
Come one, come all! Free!
4:30 pm Crankie show for all ages with Meredith Holch/Rhyming Fool Productions
Join local story-artist Meredith Holch for a family-friendly Crankie Picture Show! Think hand-made, hand-powered paper movie: At the turn of a crank, the twenty-foot illustrated story scroll passes through the wooden viewing box. Live fiddle music included!
5 pm Harvest Dinner- mac & cheese, chili, salads and desserts
This event is a collaboration between the Simpson Library, Craftsbury Saplings, and the East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church. Supported by a grant from the Vermont Community Foundation.
Community First Aid and CPR class with Karl Stein
Whether you are re-certifying these skills or learning them for the first time, all ages are welcome to this class. Space is limited and pre-registration is required- please email or call the library to save a spot! This class is free thanks to support from the Vermont Community Foundation. Note: This class will take place at the East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church.
Crafternoons
Whether you are knitting or drawing or sewing or bookbinding, all creative projects are welcome for this informal gathering.
From the Parlor to the Polling Place: Stories and Songs from the Suffragists
Singer and historian Linda Radtke, in period garb and “Votes for Women” sash, celebrates the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment, specifically highlighting the decades-long persistence of Vermonters, both women and men. Music was essential to the movement: each state convention of suffragists began and ended with songs such as “Shall Women Vote?” “New America,” “Giving the Ballot to the Mother” or “Voting as we Pray,” as well as rousing Christian hymns. Radtke also traces the movement’s alignment with other social justice initiatives such as temperance, labor conditions, wage equity, peace, and children’s welfare.
Touring the state in 1870, suffragist Lucy Stone urged resistant citizens to see women’s involvement in civic life as “Enlarged Housekeeping,” expanding women’s traditional efforts to nurture hearth and home to a wider focus to improve the greater community. (The Rutland Herald reporter expected “Harpies and Amazons,” and was impressed by suffragists’ mild and rational approach!)
Both the songs and stories in Radtke’s engaging presentation, accompanied by pianist David Gibson, highlight Vermonters’ efforts from 1840-1921, as they lobbied in churches, at “parlor meetings” at town halls and at the State House for total enfranchisement.
This program will take place at the Craftsbury Community Care Center, and is supported by Vermont Humanities and the Greensboro United Church of Christ Pleasants Fund.
Crafternoon
Whether you are knitting, stitching, drawing or painting, all projects are welcome at this informal gathering. For all ages.
Seasonal sing with Heidi Wilson
Come sing songs to celebrate the season together. Heidi will lead the group in simple, engaging songs that fill our bodies with harmony! All ages and voices welcome.
The Beginner’s Guide to Cemetery Sleuthing with Erin Moulton
Your local cemetery is a time capsule. Each headstone is plastered with clues about the deceased, those who once walked where you’re walking now. A simple step through the hallowed gates can bring you on an adventure to explore symbolism, workmanship, and local history. Join Erin E. Moulton as we learn the meaning behind cemetery iconography, abbreviations, epitaphs and more. Erin’s latest book, The Beginner’s Guide to Cemetery Sleuthing: Scavenger Hunt and Workbook will be available for purchase at the close of the program.
Bio: Erin E. Moulton writes books and tracks dead people. As a genealogical researcher, she has explored the lives of the departed for over 14 years. Erin is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the New Hampshire Historical Society, and the New Hampshire Society of Genealogists. She holds a B.A. from Emerson College, an M.F.A. from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University. She is an award-winning author of middle grade and young adult books. When she isn’t tracking down just the right word or just the right clue, she can be spotted sleuthing New England’s burying places. You can find her online at www.erinemoulton.com.
This program is a collaboration between the Craftsbury Community Care Center, the John Woodruff Simpson Memorial Library, the Hitchcock Memorial Library and Museum, and it is supported by Vermont Humanities.
Please note: this program will take place at the Craftsbury Community Care Center, 1784 East Craftsbury Road, Craftsbury, VT 05826
Crafternoon
Whether you are knitting, stitching, drawing or painting, all projects are welcome at this informal gathering. For all ages.
Travel Adventure Book Group: The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngston
Join the travel adventure book group for a discussion of The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngston. Books are available at the library.
Pop-Up Book Sale
Looking for some fresh books for your shelves, collage material for a fall project, or a vintage book to give a friend? Stop by the John Woodruff Simpson Memorial Library this weekend during open hours, Saturday 9-12 and Sunday 12-2!
The sale will include vintage non-fiction, art books, and children's books. All book sales are by donation, and all proceeds will go to support library operations.
Questions? email jwsimpsonmemorial@gmail.com, or call 802-586-9692
Pop-up Book Sale
Looking for some fresh books for your shelves, collage material for a fall project, or a vintage book to give a friend? Stop by the John Woodruff Simpson Memorial Library this weekend during open hours, Saturday 9-12 and Sunday 12-2!
The sale will include vintage non-fiction, art books, and children's books. All book sales are by donation, and all proceeds will go to support library operations.
Questions? email jwsimpsonmemorial@gmail.com, or call 802-586-9692
Crafternoon
Whether you are knitting, stitching, drawing or painting, all projects are welcome at this informal gathering. For all ages.
Library tea party
Enjoy an afternoon of tea, live music, games and whimsy in the backyard at the library. We will have a variety of teas and sandwiches to choose from, a hat-decorating station, a puppet-making craft, and some vintage games to try out from the library collection.
Crafternoon
Whether you are knitting, stitching, drawing or painting, all projects are welcome at this informal gathering. For all ages.
Judge David S. Tatel Book Talk: Vision, a memoir of Blindness and Justice
Join us to enjoy a conversation between author and recently retired Federal Judge David S. Tatel and our own Linda Ramsdell, founder of the Galaxy Bookshop.
This is a unique opportunity to hear directly from the author and participate in a Q&A session about topics ranging from a lived experience of American civil rights law, the function of the judicial branch to protect rights such as equal justice, voting equality, environmental protection, and foundational democracy, the Supreme Court, and coming to terms with a visual disability, And dogs. There will be lots of talk about dogs. Dogs in general, but guide dogs in particular.
This event is free and will take place at the East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church in East Craftsbury, which is ADA accessible. Books will be available for purchase at the event provided by our friends at the Galaxy Bookshop.
Some words about the book:
“The moving, thoughtful and inspiring memoir by one of America’s most accomplished public servants and legal thinkers, who spent years denying and working around his blindness, before finally embracing it as an essential part of his identity” – Bryan Stevenson
“ As both a judge and a writer, he’s committed to restraint, the rigorous dispassion of his opinions has been key to his success in defending the democratic ideals that we are now in danger of losing” Julia Stone Peters
Shakespeare with Peter Gould: Community read through of Romeo and Juliet
Join Get Thee to the Funnery founder and director Peter Gould for this community read-through of this summer’s Funnery play, Romeo and Juliet. Scripts provided, all ages welcome! If the weather is fine we will meet in the yard behind the library.
Historic Movie Night: Dogs and Shakespeare
Jean Simpson, the founder of the library, loved both dogs and Shakespeare. This movie night we will watch some reels that celebrate both, including a 5-minute dog’s-point-of-view film, and an 8-minute Romeo and Juliet, complete with the title cards that Ouida “Bunny” Grant created in her filmmaking. The films are from the Ouida B. Grant Film Collection of the library archives, made up of films taken by her in and around East Craftsbury in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s.
Storyteller Simon Brooks
Travel the world with storyteller Simon Brooks! This event is free, for all ages, and will take place at the East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church. Made possible by a grant from the NEK fund of the Vermont Community Foundation.