For Immediate Release
March 2007

Contact: Martin C. Langeveld                                                              
802-254-2407
langeveldvt@comcast.net

Strolling of the Heifers Awards 2007 Grants
To Projects Ranging From Farm-to-School
Initiatives to Creation of School Gardens

Brattleboro, Vermont -- The Strolling of the Heifers, Inc. has awarded $25,000 in grants to local organizations for projects that raise young people’s awareness about the important role family-owned farms and agriculture play in our area’s economy and way of life. According to SOTH’s Executive Director, Orly Munzing, the non-profit organization’s Heifer Educational Fund gave grants of up to $1,000 to projects that include farmers as partners in ventures that increase young people’s understanding of the importance of agriculture. Since its founding six years ago, the Stroll has distributed over $120,000 in grant money, which has funded a wide variety of learning experiences that have ranged from kick starting farm-to-school food initiatives to creating school gardens and greenhouses. Notably, the annual Strolling of the Heifers Parade & Festival during the first weekend in June, sponsored by Turkey Hill Dairy, raises the money for the Heifer Educational Fund.

The Kindle Farm School was awarded a grant that will help it improve its developing agro-forestry program. The funding will make it possible for local farmers and loggers to teach the school’s students about the ecological and commercial aspects of managing sustainable timber lands. 

Westminster School received funding to support its Local Food Initiative. The project’s goal is to increase the use of local foods in the school’s food service program.  The grant will underwrite a series of “Meet the Farmers” events during lunchtime where students will have the opportunity to taste test the new, locally grown food items that will be added to school meals. Paul Harlow of Harlow Organics and Mike Collins of Old Athens Farm will help the school line up the farmers from Westminster who will participate in the series.  

Oak Grove Receives Grant for Farm-to-School Project That Will Integrate More Locally Grown Food in Area Elementary Schools’ Breakfast and Lunch Programs 

Oak Grove School received three grants from the Heifer Educational Fund. One of them will underwrite a collaborative farm-to-school project that will integrate more locally grown food into the breakfast and lunch programs at Oak Grove, Academy and Green Street schools. In addition to getting the schools’ food service provider, Café Services, to purchase more produce from local farms, other project goals include educating students about local agriculture and good nutrition.

Another grant will make it possible for Oak Grove’s first and second graders to learn how to plant a garden. After working with Lilac Ridge Farm and Walker Farm, the children will start their own classroom gardens.

The third grant received by Oak Grove School will permit Pam Becker’s kindergarten class to learn about the different seasons of farming by visiting Cortland Hill Orchard, Lilac Ridge Farm, Whetstone Valley Farm and Fair Winds Farm.

Another kindergarten teacher, Deb Kardane at Academy School, received a grant that will enable her class to enjoy a year-long partnership with Lilac Ridge Farm. Through their classroom studies and seasonal visits to the farm, the children will learn about healthy foods and their origin.

Timson Hill Preschool (THP) will use its grant to expand the program they initiated last year, which combined in-house activities and special programs with two field trips. THP will augment the curriculum and make it a yearlong program that includes activities on a variety of farms during different seasons. THP students will visit Green Mountain Orchard in the fall to pick apples and make cider and Taylor Farm for a farm and cheese making tour. They also will go to Adams Farm to learn how farm animals live and to Olallie Daylily Farm to investigate how lilies are grown.

Neighborhood Schoolhouse will use the funding to expand its garden curriculum. After visiting Deer Ridge Farm and Lilac Ridge Farm, the school’s students will use the knowledge they gain to build their own season-extending greenhouse.

Wardsboro Elementary School’s students will work with local farmers to create raised beds where they will plant gardens. Produce from the gardens will supplement their school’s food service program as well the food supply of a local food pantry.

Windham Elementary School students will learn about the history of farming in their area. They will visit the LeMay Farm where Ed LeMay will teach them about potato farming.

West Bee Nursery School will focus on the cycle of farming during different seasons. They will visit Fair Winds Farm, Cortland Hill Orchard and the Robb Family Farm.

4-H Growing Connections, a program of the Youth Horticultural Project, which is a program of UVM Extension, will educate young people about how to have a healthier lifestyle by maintaining good eating habits and engaging in physical activity such as gardening.

The grant awarded to Green Street School will enable the school’s 4th graders to continue to expand Green Street’s garden and local foods curriculum.

The Grammar School in Putney will work with farmer Mike Collins of Old Athens Farm on the creation of a school garden.

Lilac Ridge’s Amanda Thurber will teach Montessori Students about Subjects Ranging from Composting and Soil Testing to Establishing Growing Stations

Hilltop Montessori School will continue to improve the greenhouse the school’s students constructed last year with Stroll funding. The school also will continue to partner with Hilltop parent and Lilac Ridge Farm owner, Amanda Thurber, who will teach them about a variety of subjects, ranging from composting and soil testing to establishing starter peat pots and growing stations.

Academy School kindergarteners will get an insider’s view of farming throughout the seasons by visiting Green Mountain Orchard, Whetstone Valley Farm, Lilac Ridge Farm and Fair Winds Farm.

Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center (BEEC) and environmental educator Lynn Levine will collaborate on the creation of a series of self-guided nature trails for Fair Winds Farm. Once the project is complete, the public will be able to use the trials, which will provide information about the farm’s natural history and other points of cultural interest, free of charge. 

Windham Childcare Association will continue its partnership with Lilac Ridge Farm on a yearlong learning experience that focuses on local farms and local food.

Students at Dover Elementary School will be mentored by a farmer who will help them create an organic garden.

The Dummerston School will use its grant to connect its students with the town’s rich agricultural heritage and teach them about the importance of producing and purchasing local food.  

Notably, 80% of the grant money awarded to organizations and schools listed above will be distributed to them at the start of the project. The remaining 20% of the funds will be awarded once grant recipients have supplied a final report on their project to the Stroll.

The Strolling of the Heifers is a 501 C 3. Its mission is to promote awareness of the importance of agriculture in our daily lives and to raise money to fund educationally oriented agricultural programs for youth. Log on to www.strollingoftheheifers.com for details.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS. PRIMARY MEDIA SPONSORS: Brattleboro Reformer; WKVT GOLD: Hood/Booth Brothers Dairy - Official Milk of Strolling of the Heifers; Holstein Association; SoverNet, USA; Toyota; Turkey Hill; WTSA SILVER: Aubochon Hardware; Brattleboro Food Co-op; C&S Wholesale Grocers; Cabot Cooperative Creamery; Horizon Organic/The Organic Cow; Organic Valley; Price Chopper; Redex Industries/Udderly Smooth; Walgreens; WCAX-TV BRONZE: Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce; Brattleboro Museum & Art Center; Brattleboro Retreat Healthcare; Brattleboro Savings & Loan; Costume Ladies; Durand Ford Toyota; Green Mountain Tent Rentals; Hannaford Superstore; Key Bank; Mount Snow; New Chapter; Newman's Own; Stacy Subaru; Stuart Communications; The Rutland Herald; Trust Company of Vermont; United Natural Foods Inc.; Vermont Cheese Council; Windham Foundation CRYSTAL: 101 The Fox Radio; Building A Better Brattleboro; Chelsea Royal Diner; Chittenden Bank; Foard Panel; G.S. Precision; H&R Block; Hampton Inn; Home Depot; Keats Inc.; The Keene Sentinel; Leader Distribution; The Marina; New Holland; The Putney School; Riverview Café; U.S. Cellular/21st Century Cellular; Staples; Stoneyfield Farm; University of Vermont Extension; Vermont Country Store; Vermont Department of Agriculture; Vermont Natural Water; Windham County Dairy Promotion; World Learning; Woodstock Farms; WRSI/The River; Zinn Graphics PATRON: A Candle In The Night; American Flatbread; Antioch University New England; Arthur Whitcomb; Best Energy Saving Technologies; Brattleboro Chrysler, Jeep, & Dodge; Brunelle & Son Construction; BRW Electronics/ Radio Shack; Building Green Inc.; Capers Restaurant; Cockadoodle DOO; Cooke Family Realty; Co-operative Insurance; Farmers Diner/Vermont Smoke & Cure; Fleming Oil Company; Free Lunch Media Productions; Gallery Walk; Garelick Farms; Grafton Village Cheese Co; Holiday Inn Express; Hooker-Dunham Gallery & Theater; Howard Printing; Landmark College; Leader Distribution System, Inc; Marlboro Graduate College Center; Mary Meyer Mfg Co.; Merrick Pet Care; New England Natural Bakers; Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub; O’Connor Law Office; Perkins Home Center; Putney Food Co-op; Red Roof Inn; Save The Corporations from Themselves; SEVCA; Silver Forest; Southern Vermont Cable; Spring Tree Maple Products/Specialty Brands of America; Suburban Propane; Taylor for Flowers; Triple T Trucking; The Valley Advocate; Verizon Wireless Zone; Vermont Agricultural Business Education Center; Vermont Agricultural Credit Corp; Vermont Bread/Rudy’s Organic Bakery; Vermont Land Trust; Wal-Mart; Windham Wines; Zinn Graphics SUPPORTING: Abbiati Monuments; Agri-Mark, Inc; Agway; Anon’s; Banknorth Vermont; Bart's Homemade; Best Inn; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont; Brown & Roberts Hardware; Brown Family Farm; Burton Car Wash; Cersosimo Lumber Co and Cersosimo Industries; Clear Solutions Inc.; Colonial Motel & Spa; Creamery Bridge Candles; David Manning; Inc.; Efficiency Vermont; Fireworks Restaurant; Friends of the Sun; Gale, Corum, Mabie, Cook & Prodan Law Firm; GPI Construction, Inc.; Green Mountain Spinnery; Hertz & Lloyd Attorneys at Law; Kristensen, Cummings, Phillips & Carol PC; Latchis Hotel; Mini Melts Dots of Ice Cream; Moo Dooers/VNAP; Newfane Country Store; Newton Business Products; Northland Downey Insurance Group; The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co. Inc; One Stop Country Pet Supply; Peebles; Perkins Home Center; Peter Havens; Pieciak & Co; Inc.; The Putney Inn; Real Green Goods; The Richards Group; River Valley Credit Union; Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters; The Sandri Companies; Solar Source; Thai Gardens; True Value & VS Variety Store; USA Solar Store; Vermont Artisan Designs; Vermont Natural Coatings; Vermont Veterinary Medical Assn.; Vermont Vinyl; Vermont Water Buffalo; VT-NH Veterinary Clinic; Windham Family Vision Care; The Windham Solid Waste Management District; Winter Panel Corp.; Women's Agricultural Network; Woodman Athletics; Yankee Farm Credit; Zephyr Designs SPONSORS: Adagio Trattoria; Adivasi; Altiplano; A.L. Tyler & Sons, Inc.; Amy’s Bakery Arts Café; At the Oasis; Bast Investment Co; Beadniks; Berkley & Veller/Greenwood Country Realtors; Black River Produce; Book Cellar; Borter’s Jewelry Studio; Brattleboro Haulage; Brattleboro Area Realty; Brattleboro Veterinary Clinic; Brooks House Realty; Campbell & Boyd Ins. Services; Inc; Carley’s Florist; Creative Woods Furniture Inc.; Crispe & Crispe Law Firm; Crofter Moving & Storage; Dalem’s Chalet; Inc.; The Dorner Agency, Inc.; Edward Jones & Company; ERA The Masiello Group/Stepping Stone Real Estate; Fenton Family Dealership; Fitts, Olson & Giddings; Fitz, Vogt & Associates at World Learning/SIT; Friends of Brooks Memorial Library; Green Mountain Bovine & Equine; India Palace Restaurant; J Coleman & Co Architects; James M. Puls & Associates Certified Public Accountants; John Rocray Law Firm; Lawton Floor Design; Linden Gardens; Masiello Employment Agency; Merrill Lynch; Merrill Gas Co; Inc.; Miller Brothers-Newton; Inc.; Nassau Broadcasting Partners, WHDQ/WZLF/WXLF/ WWOD/WCFR/WNHV/WSTV; New England Coffee; The New England House; Océ North America Document Printing Systems; Oly’s Plumbing & Heating; Outer Limits Health Club; Pinnacleview Equipment Inc.; Potter Steward Law Offices; Putney Road Market; Shin La Restaurant; Stevens & Associates; T.J. Buckley; Thomas M. French Attorney At Law; Verde for Home & Garden; Vermont Butter and Cheese Co; Walker Farm; Windham Flowers; WW Building Supply; Wyman Agency.

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