The Champlain Flyer Non-Rail Program is being chaired by Pat Godburn. After attending our last NER convention in Syracuse, NY with her husband Art, Chairman of our Prototype Tour Program, Pat came away very enthused and readily agreed to host this year’s Champlain Flyer Non-Rail Program. She has a great line up of events planned for the weekend and is honing the details for this active and interesting program.
So you're a Non-Railer coming along for the "ride" - Welcome to your part of the Convention. We have lots of fun in store for you.
The program will begin on Thursday evening with a Welcome to Vermont in a sweet way. Carolyn Branagan, one of our State Representatives will be speaking about the Many Faces of Maple, one of our state's premier agricultural products. She will explain how the watery sap from maple trees is turned into the sweet maple syrup we all enjoy. She will describe how it is produced and graded for sale by color and taste. She will also have samples and recipes as well as a surprise for you.
In a state that is fast becoming known for its specialty food products, Lake Champlain Chocolates is one of the best and oldest purveyor’s of truffles and other chocolate delights. Friday, we will car-pool for a short trip to tour the Lake Champlain Chocolate Factory to taste and see how they make their many delicious products. From there we will either come back to join our "Rail" fans for a Prototype tour or head down to beautiful Church Street Market Place for lunch and shopping.
Lake Champlain Chocolates: http://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com
Church Street Market Place: http://www.churchstmarketplace.com
The evening has us creating a special keepsake framed collage from this weekend with Paula Paquette, followed by a Book Club Discussion of The Edge by Dick Francis. These are fun to attend and more info will follow.
Saturday morning a short drive to the country takes us to The Birds of Vermont Museum in Huntington. Bob Spear, an award winning carver, has been carving birds for over 70 years. The collection currently includes over 470 life sized bird – one of the largest being a California Condor that took over 500 hours to create. His most recent large bird is a tom turkey which took Bob 1300 hours over two years to create. Many of the birds are displayed in natural settings and are a wonder to behold. The museum adjoins the Vermont Audubon Center with easy walking nature trails through a variety of beautiful habitats providing plenty of opportunity to see birds and other wildlife.
Birds of Vermont Museum: http://www.birdsofvermont.org
Audubon Vermont: http://vt.audubon.org/index.html
Saturday afternoon Andrea Sharp will show us how to create special decorative boxes - perhaps for some of the Chocolates that you bought the day before. That will be followed with a little TLC with manicures provided by our local beauty schools.
Local Area Attractions for more places of interest in and near the Champlain Valley.
We are looking forward to seeing you and hope to provide you with a memorable time during your stay in Vermont.