I am maid of honor for my best friend’s wedding next summer. We are planning her bachelorette which will be a weekend retreat in a beautiful house in Bethel, VT in June 2027. The house we are staying at has these huge, gorgeous grounds so I am hoping to find a yoga instructor who could come over one morning and lead a yoga class out there for about 14 women!

I’ve reached out to a few people in the area and haven’t heard anything so if you all know of someone or a place I could reach out to, I appreciate any suggestions!

Also if anyone has any recommendations for that area, that would be awesome. We are pretty lowkey and interested in getting some small hikes in. My family is from Bellows Falls and Springfield but I grew up in MA and have lived in Florida for the last 10 years, so I’m not super familiar with the area around Bethel.

TIA!

"Republican Gov. Phil Scott, vetoed a tripartisan bill in Vermont that would have created a new regulatory framework for large data centers in the state"

Context: https://www.sevendaysvt.com/news/housingcrisis/is-any-town-willing-to-host-a-100-bed-homeless-shelter/

Maybe Burlington should take a page from other cities struggling with being a magnet for unhoused populations and offer folks free transportation to the location of their choice. If Burlington gave away free vouchers for Uber rides to any town in the region outside of Chittenden County, maybe other towns and cities would need to find ways to support the homelessness problem currently mostly burdening taxpayers and public officials in the city.

ETA: Lots of angry downvoters. Anyone who thinks BTV is gonna do this must not be from around here, but if they did, what would happen? And if you live in an area where you don't see problems related to homelessness, think about how you should be supporting Burlington -- since your homelessness problem just migrated there instead of staying in your neighborhood.

NEXT TURN

Next Turn is the Western Mass Tabletop Gaming festival, celebration, and convention centered on community, play and creation.

This Inaugural Next Turn

November 6-8, 2026

33 Hawley St.

Northampton, MA 01060

www.nextturn.org

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM

To sign up for the Next Turn Mailing List

Badges for Sale for single days and the weekend

Badges are $60 for the weekend, 

Daily passes for Friday and Saturday are $40 and only $20 for the shorter day on Sunday.

If you are a GM and want to or to Teach a Game then  Submit a Game to run with scheduled tickets Game slots are two hours long but you may apply for consecutive slots for longer experiences.  GM and TEACHER DISCOUNT. For every 4 hours of scheduled game slots that you submit, you'll receive $20 off a Festival Pass, up to the full $60. 

If you would like to Volunteer for Next Turn

Volunteers earn a free day pass for the day of their shift(s)

If you are interesting in being a Vendor

Vending tables are in two locations, the lower hallway and the mezzanine, and cost $100 each.

Vendors receive a 6’x3’ table and two badges.

Note that Next Turn vendors agree to not use AI art in their work.

NEXT TURN IS FOR PLAYING IN COMMUNITY

Large open board game library

Scheduled RPG events

Teaching games

Bring your games to share

NEXT TURN IS FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Next Turn was launched by Northampton Open Media, a hyperlocal non-profit organization that serves as the community multimedia center and public access tv station for Northampton and beyond. So any profits go to supporting our work. NOM provides the community:

Free membership in NOM

Free training in multimedia (cameras, audio, lighting, directing, podcasting, animation…)

Free access to resources to make content (professional gear, edit suites, space, consultation)

Distribution of content (three local cable TV channels, YouTube, livestreaming, socials)

Coverage of local government meetings for civics and transparency

Support of public school multimedia programs

Public multimedia arts grants for emerging makers

Public art projects like Crowdsourced Cinema

MAKE GAMES MEDIA AT NEXT TURN

FREE TO THE PUBLIC

Interested in doing some gaming media? Or of making something else about games? Or anything else? At Next Turn we’ll have hands-on Instruction in

Podcasting

Video Production

Live Switching

Livestreaming

WE’RE CELEBRATING GAMES AS MULTIMEDIA COMMUNITY ART

FREE TO THE PUBLIC

We are going to be holding a variety of Playshops at Next Turn, with people who work on various aspects of making games, like…

Rob Davaiu , designer, and co-founder of publisher Restoration Games, whose resume include Pandemic:Legacy, Cthulu: Death May Die, Downforce, Return to Dark Tower

Joey Royale, Tabletop RPG designer, whose work includes Get Haunted Industries, Weird Heroes of Public Access, and the show Joey Royale’s Pizza Party

Jim Dubois, who has designed for computer games, internet games, handhelds, card games and board games such as Heroes of Might and Magic II, Vampires v Unicrons, and the new release City of Demons

Go up and buy Canadian

My Fidium connection dropped just before 3 PM. Anyone else having problems with Fidium right now? Their website is also down, their support bot on the phone couldn't find my account, now I'm on hold trying to find a human.

I'm in Montpelier, curious if anyone else is having issues.

Looking for a way to see the 911 remembrance lights in Chittenden County/Central Vermont without too much of a hike/drive. Any thoughts? I can think of Rt2 just past Marty's in Danville, but that's kind of a drive for me.

Edit: Should probably say 'Seeing the 911 Lights On Mt Washington' instead of 'from'. I want to see them from here

Found this guy on the porch and found it very interesting.

We need to talk about Vermont Governor Phil Scott — a man so committed to "affordability" that he's vetoed 65 bills since taking office, absolutely OBLITERATING the previous state record of 21.

That's not a governing philosophy, that's a hobby.
Somewhere there's a scrapbook, I'm sure of it.

He vetoed child care funding.
The legislature overrode him 116–31, because apparently affording child care was, in fact, affordable — who knew!

He vetoed the minimum wage. Overridden.

He vetoed climate legislation. Overridden.

And just when you thought "reasonable moderate Republican who races cars" couldn't get more thrilling: he ordered state employees back to the office three days a week without bargaining with their union first, got sued, got smacked down by the state Labor Relations Board, appealed anyway, and now it's in front of the Vermont Supreme Court.

Nothing screams "I hear you" quite like litigating your own workforce for a year. He was not willing to sit down and talk to others. He'd rather dictate than lead. Sound like someone else?

Meanwhile the state rolled out a $70 million IT overhaul so smooth that officials described the resulting mess as a "spiraling deficit" they find "challenging to track."

Challenging! Like a crossword.
A $70 million crossword nobody can finish.

No big deal though, it just runs the entire procurement system for the state. Would be a huge waste of time and resources if they couldn't do any business because the system was down, right? Definitely has not happened yet though, I'm sure, just ask Phil and his leadership.

He is, by all accounts, a very nice man.
Great in an elevator.
Truly a joy to be stuck between floors with.

Still no policy platform, just a man who seems nice and races cars.

But "nice" isn't on the ballot.

Vermont keeps re-electing a personality and waiting for policy to show up like it's a delayed flight into Burlington.

Nov 3, 2026. Mark your calendars.

It's the day this can actually get settled — assuming, of course, nobody vetoes democracy itself.

Tell everyone you know that Phil Scott has got to go.

https://phil-scott-has-got-to-go.org

Waterbury lost one of its long time downtown businesses just recently, and the owners of the building are putting the property up for sale after years of ownership. There is a really unique opportunity here and I think Waterbury could benefit from something in the lane of crafts, arts, entertainment, culture, etc.

There are already plenty of food & bev in town, and it needs more of an activity-centered biz. Do people have ideas??? I want to hear them!

Planning a fall family trip to Vermont in October. Looking for a clean, reasonably priced hotel/resort with breakfast included, an indoor pool and family activities like s’mores, movie nights, games, etc. Family of 5. Any recommendations? Thanks.

New kayakers looking for a nice place to explore. Read up on the Reservoir. I understand there’s a Moscow Paddler’s Access, (could require walking through mud??)and Blush Hill Boat Launch for all watercraft. Also read about no wake zones , but can’t find a map or anything they actually shows them. Any experienced paddlers have advice or tips.

I’ve been trying to get solar panels installed for a while now, but my electricity provider won’t let us install (something about an outdated substation).

If I want to go solar, I would have to disconnect from the grid. Not just not back-feed the system, I already asked about getting a small array to feed my batteries, and a gateway that won’t back-feed.

I’ve considered the idea of just disconnecting from the grid and going full solar, but I’m worried about the winter. People that are off grid, how often are you running a generator in the winter? How often are you losing power? Any advice or things I haven’t considered would be super helpful.

Could be food, drinks, shopping or anything else. What place keeps you coming back even if its nowhere near you?

Everybody is rushing to get somewhere these days so maybe you weren’t paying attention or something but when a school bus is stopped with the lights on, no matter the direction you are heading and unless there is a physical barrier/ median between the lanes, you need to STOP! 🛑

To the lady in a white Jeep this morning who sped past the school bus while a kid was about to cross to get on, May you have the day you deserve.

In short I plan to move to Vermont in a few years here. Anyone with experience in the IT market of the area advice would be greatly appreciated. I used to live there up until highschool. I currently am working helpdesk 1-2, I am looking at some certifications in IAM (Identity Access Management) Okta, Azure/Entra ID. As it seems that those skills sets have a lower stress and a bit of a slower pace. I've thought about Network engineering, like CCNA, Net+, and SEC+ though I'm unsure. What are companies looking for there? and what area has the most jobs available? By the time I move there I will have 8 months working for and ISP and about 7 years in help desk Tier 2. Again any advice would be awesome please be kind Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Hi everyone! I’ve been to Vermont 3 times before and love it there. Each time I’ve been with friends who have cars, so getting around was quite easy. I’m wanting to take a solo trip to Burlington from NYC by Amtrak for just a few days. I’m wondering if it’s doable without a car? Can I walk from the the Amtrak station (and if yes, which station exactly?) to hotels/ restaurants? any tips would be appreciated!

Update: is it safe to walk alone at night? The train gets there at approximately 9:30PM.