Sterling College and Headwaters Community Trust have signed a purchase and sales agreement for transferring Sterling’s Craftsbury Common campus to Headwaters Community Trust, reports the Hardwick Gazette.
The closing is expected by the end of the year. Sterling’s campus features 10 primary buildings, 16 outbuildings and roughly 165 acres.
“If the sale is successful, Headwaters intends to move quickly on one established community priority: the relocation of Craftsbury Saplings [child care center] to the campus, said the announcement.”
Headwaters is a community land trust serving Albany, Craftsbury, Glover, Greensboro and surrounding communities. It formed in 2024 to address the lack of affordable housing.
Conservationist honored
The Vermont Land Trust honored longtime conservationist Sally Laughlin of Cambridge and farmer Greg Cox of West Rutland Tuesday for their contributions to Vermont’s land and communities.
Laughlin received VLT’s annual Land and Lives Award, which recognizes leadership, resourcefulness and inclusiveness in supporting Vermont’s land and people.
A founder of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Laughlin served as its executive director for 18 years. She directed the first Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas and coordinated the Woodstock Christmas Bird Count for 50 years.
Laughlin also helped create Cambridge’s Peter A. Krusch Nature Preserve. She and her late husband, Peter Krusch, donated more than 50 acres to the town in 2021, and she helped Cambridge acquire another 30 acres this year.
The land trust also presented its $5,000 Eric Rozendaal Memorial Award to Cox, who has operated the 81-acre Boardman Hill Farm for more than 40 years. The certified organic farm produces vegetables, chicken, pork and other products. Cox has also trained aspiring farmers and helped establish winter farmers’ markets and the Vermont Farmers Food Center.
“Food is the foundation of human health and potential,” Cox said. “I wish for Vermont farms and farmers to continue to work with nature and the land in a sustainable and responsible way.”
Cox plans to use the award to replace the roof on the farm’s main greenhouse.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors hosts Stuff the Bus Nonperishable Collection Drive
The Neighbors Helping Neighbors Food Pantry in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, is a community food shelf supplied in part by the Vermont Foodbank. This Saturday, September 26 from 10:00am-5:00pm, RuralEdge will host a nonperishable food collection drive at White Market, located at 385 Portland Street in St. Johnsbury. This event is strictly a donation collection site.
With a goal of filling an entire school bus with donated items, event organizers are seeking shelf-stable foods such as canned goods, pasta, dried beans, rice, peanut butter, cooking oil, canned meats, and other nonperishable items. All donations will benefit the Neighbors Helping Neighbors local food pantry in St. Johnsbury.