Bluegrass Brunches support Flood Relief in Montpelier
Sunday July 30th, the second Braintree Bluegrass Brunch of the season will host a Vermont all-star musical line up, with a double bill of Patti Casey and Colin McCaffrey kicking off at noon followed by Doug Perkins, Patrick Ross and Jim Whitney. This event is hosted collaboratively by three local non-profit organizations; Chandler Center for the Arts, Ridgeline Outdoor Collective, and the Braintree Historical Society. Twenty five percent of the proceeds from the event will support flood relief in Montpelier, and the work of Montpelier Alive.
The Braintree Bluegrass Brunch was established in 2018 by Braintree resident Zac Freeman, motivated by his love of music, enjoyment of the local community, and appreciation for the amazing setting of the Braintree Hill Meetinghouse. This year, Freeman handed off planning to the three organizations so that this popular event may continue more sustainably. While the event is open to the public and there is no admission fee, the organizers encourage people to give to support the Bluegrass Brunch series as well as the projects of each individual organization. Braintree Historical Society is currently raising funds to support the renovations of the historic meeting house which is in need of a new slate roof. Chandler Center for the Arts, under its new Executive Director Chloe Powell, is funding an expanded budget for community and youth programs, and The Ridgeline Outdoor Collective maintains a network of multi-use trails as well as running youth biking education programming. With recent floods, ROC has the added challenge of repairing the extensive trail system established by the organization.
In the last week, as so many communities faced devastating destruction from the recent rainfalls, the partner organizations decided to add one more organization to the fundraiser split. They reached out to Montpelier musicians Casey and McCaffrey who both suggested the work of Montpelier Alive which is organizing on-the-ground clean up work and has set up a recovery fund.
The event begins with a group mountain bike ride organized and led by the Ridgeline Outdoor Collective taking off from the meeting house at 10:00 am. Gates open at 11:00, when vendors will have food and drink available, and the music starts at noon. The Braintree Historical Society Museum will be open throughout the event. The address of the Meetinghouse is 2756 Braintree Hill Road. Advance donations can be made at chandler-arts.org.
For more information about this event, please contact :
Chandler Director: Chloe Powell: director@chandler-arts.org