Hello and happy Saturday!
Before I start, I want to remind you to take a look at the Candidate Website list. Some of our candidates have virtual and/or in-person events coming up this weekend and next week, so if you want to get to know more about them, now’s the time! I’m also jazzed to announce I’m working on some candidate profiles, so you can get to know the candidates running for contested races in town. We’ll start early next week with School Committee.
Next, as you might know, one of the sculptures in the Sculpture Park, Global Warming (known to many as “The Cherries”), was created by Ukranian artist, Nikita Zigura. He and his brother have managed to escape to Poland, but they had to leave everything behind. There is an effort underway to raise money to support him by purchasing the sculpture (which is currently leased). If you’d like to contribute, you can go to the Burlington Sculpture Park website. Just be sure to specify when making your donation that you want it to support the purchase of the Global Warming sculpture. If you want to support the relief effort in Ukraine in other ways, NPR has an article with several organizations you can choose from.
Finally, I wanted to thank you all for your support as I undertake this accidental full-time project I’ve managed to stumble backward into. I’m enjoying interacting with you all, reading your emails and comments, compiling accessible information for everyone in our town, and brainstorming ways to reach more residents. You’ve made me feel like I’m filling a need and providing value to the community.
Lots of you have asked how you can help with the Buzz, so due to popular demand, I brainstormed a list for you:
- Looking for a way to contribute without having to actually do anything? A paid subscription might be for you. They’re going for $5/month or $50/year, and currently these earnings help me pay for marketing (flyers, ads, graphic design) so I can reach more people. Soon I’ll start being able to use the funds for childcare so I can wrap my head around podcasting, and maybe even pay myself for my time – though those days seem pretty far off.
- Want to do some virtual work on your own time? I would love a social media partner that could help me reach the kids. (And by that, I mean the demographic of people younger than me who doesn’t hang out on Facebook.) On my recent Facebook ad, only about 5% of the clicks were from people under 35. Which isn’t surprising, because, as my daughter says, “Facebook is for moms.” Not to insult the non-moms out there in Facebookland, but age-wise she’s pretty much right. I’d love to work with someone more knowledgeable than I about how to reach our 18-35 age groups – because this is historically the least-engaged segment of the population, and the segment that should care most about the direction of the town.
Love going to meetings (or at least listening to them while you cook dinner or play Monopoly or whatever it is that normal people do in the evening)? I hope you’ve been enjoying my writeups of the bigger Committee meetings. If I hadn’t attended the Planning Board Meeting this week, for example, I never would have known that the Town wishes to connect to the Minuteman Bikeway (which is of particular interest to me as a cyclist) or that the Burlington bear ate all the honey from the beehives at Network drive a couple years ago. Think of all I could learn if I went to every single meeting!
Of course, I am one person (with kids who need me to be around during the time most of these meetings happen) and I cannot attend many of these meetings. So, if you are interested in attending meetings such as Planning Board, Select Board, Conservation Commission, and School Committee and then sending me a really short, bulleted, high-level summary of what was discussed right after the meeting ends, that could really increase transparency and keep the public more informed about what our Boards and Commissions are talking about without me having to figure out how to photocopy myself. (Note that I won’t be seeking these kinds of summaries from those actually on the boards. They need to be able to focus on the meeting.)
So, if you’re interested in any of these opportunities, I’d love to chat. Just reply to this email, hit me up on Facebook or Twitter, or comment below.
See you tomorrow!
Nicci
