Schedule of Events

Friday, June 1 

5:00 – 8:00 pm
Gallery Walk Night Kick Off
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Vernon Street, downtown Brattleboro
Come hear live music at the Museum and at various other locations downtown. Performers sponsored by the Strolling of the Heifers will include the Heifer Brass Quartet, percussionists Jay Cook and Steve Leicach, Vermont singer and farmer Allan Greenleaf and The Doctor.  Juggler Rob Peck and clown and fire eater Robin Zegge also will provide entertainment.
And don’t miss the wine tasting hosted by North River Winery at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center.

7:30 – 8:30 pm
Celebrating Our Local Agricultural Legends
Sponsored byWorld Learning, New Chapter, Walgreens, Organic Valley, Horizon Organic/ The Organic Cow
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Vernon Street, downtown Brattleboro
Witness this tribute to some of southern Vermont’s farmers who have made long-term contributions to the agricultural field. Based on the highlights of interviews by Brattleboro Union High School students, William Stearns and Sherry Providence will present a profile of each farmer that recognizes their individual achievements. The members of the older generation who will be honored are Jay Bailey, Leon Corse, Joe Hamilton, Don Harlow, Dwight Miller, Jr., Paul Miller, Charlie Robb, Sr., and Stu Thurber. Charlie Robb, Jr. and Karen Robb and Ross and Amanda Ellis-Thurber are the members of the younger generation who will be recognized.
The Friends of Music at Guilford Chamber Players and the Blue Moon a cappella quintet will provide music, including two works written especially for the occasion. The Chamber Players will play Zeke Hecker's "Farm Sketchbook," and Blue Moon will sing “Cow Cantata,” with text by poet Verandah Porche and music by Don McLean. Michael Hanish’s iconic images capture the spirit of these agricultural leaders.

8:30 – 11:00 pm
VermontJazzCenter Big Band Concert and Swing Dance
Cotton Mill Hill Bldg., 72 Cotton Mill Hill, Brattleboro
Come dance the night away.Wine, beer and refreshments available. Children under 12 are free. Call: 802-254-9088 for tickets.

Saturday, June 2

9:00 am
Pre-Parade Entertainment
Main Street and the Brattleboro Common
Come early to save the best seats! Be entertained by lively musicians and performers, including clown and fire eater Robin Zegge; jugglers Rob Peck and Tony Duncan; magician Andrew Pinard; face painter Jackie Reis; stilt walker Rick Adam; singer and musician Andy Morse; performance artist and Dairy Godmother Amelia Struthers; and Dairy Princess Maia Struthers. Watch the feats of members of Nimble Arts Trapeze & Circus School and see the New England Youth Theater’s living statues. And hear the music of the fiddlers who will perform later in the day at the Dairy Fest. 

9:00 – 11:00 am
Garelick Farm Milk Sampling
Main Street, in front of Fleming Oil
Enjoy a free sample of Garelick Farm’s delicious milk. Look for their truck in front of Fleming Oil’s gas station.

10:00 am
Strolling of the Heifers Parade
Main Street, downtown Brattleboro
Watch the parade’s starlets -- 100 flower-bedecked bovine beauties – lead the cavalcade down Main Street. They will be followed by a team of six Belgian draft horses, pulling an antique Wells Fargo coach that appeared in Pasadena, California’s famous Rose Bowl Parade. Many other nationally recognized acts will follow, including the Quaboag Highlander Pipe Band -- one of the largest pipe bands in America. The Andover One Wheelers, a group of 30 cyclists from New Hampshire, who have appeared in New York City’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, will return to Brattleboro. The Red Star Baton Twirlers of Derry, New Hampshire, also will be back in town. Recently named the “World Champions of Baton Twirling”, these young women have performed in Washington, D.C.’s Cherry Blossom Parade. Three of their alumnae, who are the sole exhibition baton twirlers that perform with the bands of Norte Dame, Purdue and the University of Southern California, will join them. Many other animals, bands and entertainers also will appear in the parade.

9:00 am – 3:00 pm -- Funky Heifer Exhibition on the Brattleboro Common
Come see these crazy critters created by members of the general public. And stop by the Heifer Stage at 1:00 pm to see who wins the contest’s top prizes.

THE DAIRY FEST & MARKET PLACE TAKE PLACE DOWN BELOW THE BRATTLEBORO COMMON ON BRATTLEBORO RETREAT HEALTHCARE’S GROUNDS.

Right after the parade
Heifer Stage, Brattleboro Retreat Healthcare’s grounds
Celebrity Milking Contest
Sponsored by Organic Cow/Horizon Organic
Watch our star media milkers, including WKVT’s Peter “Fish” Case, WTSA’s Tim Johnson, and the Brattleboro Reformer’s Sabina Haskell. And join some of the Green Mountain State’s political dignitaries, Agriculture Department officials and farmers in a toast (with milk!) to local agriculture.

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Dairy Fest & Market Place
Brattleboro Retreat Healthcare’s grounds -- All activities are free unless otherwise noted.
Enjoy the antics of strolling performers throughout the day, including clown and fire eater Robin Zegge; jugglers Rob Peck and Tony Duncan; magician Andrew Pinard; stilt walker Rick Adam; singer and musician Andy Morse; performance artist and Dairy Godmother Amelia Struthers; Dairy Princess Maia Struthers; and the members of Nimble Arts Trapeze & Circus School.   

Dairy Fest Highlights

11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Fiddler’s Stage
Sponsored by New Chapter
Musicians start playing right after the parade.

Listen to some of the best known fiddlers and instrumentalists around at this musical extravaganza produced by Kevin Parry.

11:00 am -- Lisa Brande, along with Mark Trichka on guitar and mandolin, will play Cajun and Zydeco selections from Louisiana.

11:30 am -- John Specker and his daughters Lila and Ida Mae will entertain everyone with old time music in the Ithica style.

12:00 noon -- Jesse Gagne-Hall will be accompanied by local accordion player and caller Andy Davis. They will invite the audience to participate in a traditional New England contra dance.
Following the dance demonstration, violinist Phil Bloch and guitarist Bryan Killough will play jazz and swing classics in the style of Stephane Grappelli, Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France.

1:15 pm -- Nate Paine will be joined by renowned banjo maker and instrumentalist Will Fielding for a rousing set of old time Appalachian Mountain music.

11:30 – 3:00 pm

Bests Chefs of Vermont Pavilion
Sponsored by the Vermont Fresh Network

Come watch some of our area’s leading chefs create one of their signature dishes with farm fresh ingredients. And feel free to sample their creations and ask questions.

11:45 Jim Martis - Putney Inn
12:15 Michael Allen -Deerhill Inn
12:45 Laurie Merrigan - Capers
1:15 Arthur Shelmandine - It's Arthur's Fault

The Vermont Fresh Network (VFN) is a small non-profit organization that has worked since 1996 to create partnerships between farmers and chefs in order to increase the use of locally grown food in Vermont restaurants. For more information about VFN, log on to: www.vermontfresh.net or call 802-989-0534.

The Heifer Stage

Sponsored by Organic Cow/Horizon Organic

Stop by and purchase a Strolling of the Heifers T-shirt. (All proceeds go to the Heifer Educational Fund.) This stage will function as the Lost & Found. Announcements and any emergencies also will be handled here.

11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Cheese Pavilion
Sponsored by Vermont Cheese Council and Brattleboro Food Co-op

Sample a wide selection of cheeses from all over Vermont.

12:30 & 1:30
Cheese Tour at the Cheese Pavilion

Come hear cheese experts Jeffrey Roberts and Ellen Ecker Ogden talk about the farms and people that produce some of the Green Mountain State’s most popular cheeses. Jeffrey is the author of the just published “The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese.” Ellen is the coordinator of the Vermont Cheese Council and the author of the soon-to-be published “The Vermont Cheese Book.”

1:00 pm
Talk about Cheese

Author Jeffrey Roberts will describe the history of cheese making in New England and Vermont, in particular. He will focus on how Vermont cheese makers have worked over the past 25 years to attain their current leadership position in artisan cheese production. He also will talk about Vermont's success as a small-scale cheese maker that markets products nationally and the future prospects of the state’s cheese makers.

8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Children’s Farm Fun Tent
Sponsored by C&S Wholesale Grocers and presented by the Cheshire Fair Association
       
Participate in ongoing activities throughout the day, including listening to story time, engaging in butter making and milking the virtual cow. Additional activities include lasso and ride, tractor maze, corn pools, coloring station and animal exhibits. Local Girl Scouts and 4-H club members will assist with many of these activities.

Special Highlights
11:00 Rebecca Mansfield (Junior Girl Scout Sings)
12:00 Pie Eating Contest
1:00   Shelby Lynn Rogers (Senior Girl Scout Sings)

11:30 am – 2:00 pm

Children’s Activity Area
See 10 minute performances by Nimble Arts every half hour.

First Annual Fair Trade Pavilion
Help support Fair Trade. AYLLU Inc, a local non-profit organization working to help Brattleboro become the first USA certified Fair Trade Town, will have a Fair Trade Pavilion at the Dairy Fest & Market Place this year. The Pavilion will house 15 - 20 vendors, who will  sell wares and provide information from all around the world related to Fair Trade. For more information, visit www.ayllumanta.org, contact sara@ayllumanta.org or call (802) 356-0551.

Special Activities at Sponsors’ Booths
 
Turkey Hill Dairy’s Giant Cow Float -- 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Come get free ice cream from the parade and festival’s title sponsor.

Display of Brattleboro Reformer Coloring Contest Winners --11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Check out the prize winning entries in the Brattleboro Reformer’s Heifer Coloring Contest. And pick up a free copy of the Strolling of the Heifers’ program as well as a copy of the Brattleboro Reformer’s weekend edition.

Stacy Subaru Presents the “Great Moo- Off Contest”  -- 11:00 am to 2:00 pm

Hear the five children who have qualified by “mooing” on WTSA compete in the “Great Moo-Off.” Stacy Kritsas will judge the contest. Each contender will receive a WTSA T-shirt and a Stacy Subaru oil change certificate for their parents.  The contest winner will win a brand new bike from Brattleboro Bikes.

Staples Basketball Shoot Out -- Registration starts at 9:00 am. Shoot Out begins at 11:00 am.
Compete against members of your age group for great prizes.

Free Buses Will Run To Parade and Dairy Fest

MORE EVENTS AT OTHER LOCATIONS ON SATURDAY, JUNE 2

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Brattleboro Area Farmers’ Market
Route 9 in West Brattleboro, after Exit 2 and the Creamery Bridge
Meet local farmers and enjoy food and special events that pay tribute to local agriculture. 

9:00 am - 3:00 pm
14th Annual Friends of the Library Book Sale
Brooks Memorial Library, Main Street, downtown Brattleboro
Select from a wide selection of books, ranging from mysteries and fiction to classics and children's books. Cassettes, CDs and videos also will be on sale. And remember to take a look at the library’s special exhibit related to agriculture. Go to www.brooks.lib.vt.us for details.

3:00 - 6:00 pm
Curds & Grapes
Windham Wine Gallery, 30 Main Street
Come hear Jeffrey Roberts, author of the just published “The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese,” the first comprehensive directory of small-scale producers, talk about local cheeses. He will be joined by several local cheese makers, including Bob and Ann Works, owners of Peaked Mountain Farm. All of them will discuss the cheeses the Windham Wine Gallery will pair with specially selected wines and beers. Nominally priced tickets can be purchased at the door. Jeffrey's new cheese book also will be available for signing and purchase. For more information, call: 802-246-6400.

6:30 - 9:30 pm
Community Contra Dance
Family Contras & Squares
Shriner's Hall,  Brattleboro, VT
Join in an evening of traditional contra, square and circle dances, which have been a regular feature of rural life in New England for over 200 years. All dances will be taught to neophytes. And live music will be provided by some of the areas finest musicians, including caller and accordion player Andy Davis, pianist Keith Murphy, and fiddler Thal Aylward.
Adults: $6, Children: $3, Families: $15. Middle and High School students are free. All ages and abilities welcome. Refreshments will be served. For information contact: Robin or Andy Davis (802)257-1819  or log on to village@dancingmasters.com.

7:00 – 9:30 pm
Louise Taylor in Concert
The Loft, Cotton Mill Hill Bldg, 72 Cotton Mill Hill, Brattleboro
(Opening set by The Loft Youth Percussion Ensemble)

Soak in the sound of some of the finest music around.
Tickets: $10. Contact: 802-380-6360 or loftarts@yahoo.com

Sunday, June 3

7:00 am – 12 noon
Royal Farmer’s Feast
Chelsea Royal Diner
Rte 9, W. Brattleboro, 1 mile east of Whetstone Valley Farm
Enjoy a delicious meal made with fresh local produce at this historic landmark diner. Afterward, pick up a map for the self-guided farm tour that will run from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.

10:00 am – 4:00 pm
WindhamCounty Area Farm Tour 
Check out some of southern Vermont’s most scenic countryside as you wend your way around  on this self-guided tour. Many farms will host special activities for the public’s enjoyment. Maps available at the Chelsea Royal Diner.

7:00 pm
POPS! In the Park with the Windham Orchestra
Living Memorial Park’s Outdoor Stage, off Route 9 in West Brattleboro.

Wind down at the end of the weekend at this outdoor concert. Under the direction of guest conductor Steve Rice, the Windham Orchestra will perform an evening of show tunes, marches, waltzes, and more. Audience members are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs, and to come early and enjoy a picnic. In case of rain, the concert will be held at 7:30 pm at Brattleboro Union High School. Tickets are: General Admission: $5, Children (12 and under): $3, Family: $15. Tickets will be available at the park or in advance by calling the Brattleboro Music Center: 802 257-4523.

BACKGROUND ON SOME OF THE ENTERTAINERS
IN THE PARADE AND AT THE DAIRY FEST
Rick Adam has been performing, teaching, and inspiring people of all ages for over 20 years. He has toured widely, from elementary schools to colleges to maximum-security prisons, from Rhode Island to Russia. He also has acted with the Trinity Square Repertory Company and has appeared in films and on television. He was featured on a PBS show about one-man bands, which is now in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute. Rick will be hootin', yodelin', ropein, and dancing as Tex the singing cowboy with his wonderhorse Bullet as part of the parade and at Dairy Fest.

Tony Duncan has entertained audiences all over the world in venues ranging from circuses and night clubs to colleges and cruise ships. He has won many awards, including the 1994 World Juggling Championship. He also received rave reviews in the Broadway show “Sugar Babies” and has opened for such comedians as Tony Randall and Henny Youngman. Since he began juggling in the late 70’s, he has perfected his skills and has added many innovative twists to his art form.

The Doctor, also known as Jonathan Kaplan, sings and plays the key board. Formerly, as a farmer, Jonathan had an extensive vegetable farm in the Connecticut River Valley.

Alan Greenleaf is a songwriter and singer who decided to start farming 25 years ago when he grew tired of performing in nightspots. Ten years ago, he began to miss the “creative side of things” and picked up his guitar again. Since that time he has been writing and playing songs that reflect the life he has led in rural Vermont and the people and countryside that surround him.

Nimble Arts Trapeze & Circus School is a trapeze and circus school that offers instruction to students of all ages and skill levels. It was founded in 2003 by identical twins Elsie Smith and Serenity Smith Forchion, who both have taught and performed for circuses around the world, including Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey, Circus Smirkus and the New Pickle Circus.
Nimble Arts will present two events as part of the Strolling of the Heifers’ festivities, weather permitting. Advanced students from the school’s Professional Track Program will perform on a giant “flywheel” in the parade. Designed by Dummerston artist and writer Dan Snow, this contraption was originally meant to be used as a long distance, two-person powered, desert transportation device. Acrobats will hang from and swing around inside the “flywheel” as it rolls down Main Street.

Following the parade, Nimble Arts will offer 10 minute performances every half hour at the Children’s Activity Area at the Dairy Fest between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. Pre-professional and professional level students and instructors will perform acrobatic, juggling and aerial acts on a trapeze rigging set up for the occasion.

Andy Morse is a children's musician who has been delighting young audiences with his lively blend of sing-a-longs, dancing and storytelling for almost twenty years. He currently performs in venues across the Northeast. A percussive rhythmic guitarist, mandolin player and songwriter, he has a unique rapport with children who call him "the music man". Andy founded his own music entertainment business in 1993 and produced his first CD and tape, "Fun and Silly Songs for Kids," in 1999. His second release, "Andy's Funky ABC's," came out in March 2003.

Rob Peck is a professional juggler and the founder and artistic director of Foolsproof Productions, a vaudeville children's theatre company. Highlights of his career as a perfomer have included winning the International Juggler's Association's Award for Educational Excellence as well as the "Most Stupendous" trophy at the Southeast Regional Juggling Festival. Rob also is the president of ZestWorks, a speaking, training, and consulting company that uses interactive programs on the use of humor and creative team building in the workplace to help companies retain personnel, reduce stress and increase productivity.

Andrew J. Pinard has appeared on stage as well as on radio and television. He has written and adapted several plays for family audiences and can be found performing at fairs and festivals throughout New England each year. When he is not on the road, Andrew can be seen performing his special brand of close-up magic and comedy at resorts and restaurants throughout the Northeast. In April of 2000, he won the top honors in the 18th Annual New England Magic Competition.

Amelia Struthers, the Strolling of the Heifers Dairy Godmother, is a performance artist who began performing professionally as an actress at the Wheelock Family Theatre in Boston. From there she segued into working full time as a storyteller and children's musician. After moving to Brattleboro in 1998, Amelia joined the comedy improvisation troupe The Eggplant Players. She also started entertaining audiences with outrageous sketch comedy performances that helped her win a number of top awards and medals at comedy competitions in Massachusetts and New York. Amelia now tours as a singer and songwriter as part of the duo, "Vermont Timbre."

Robin Zegge performs sketch comedy and comedy improvisation and tours as a clown, magician, fire-eater and juggler. She has performed on television and radio and at festivals, colleges, theaters and comedy clubs around New England as well as in the Managua Circus in Nicaragua. Robin is Artistic Director and a member of the comedy improvisation troupe The Eggplant Players. She has won numerous awards for her performances, including the People’s Choice Award at an international competition in New York in 2002. In addition to performing, Robin teaches clowning, juggling and comedy improvisation classes and workshops. She also is on the faculty of the New England Youth Theater.