For Immediate Release
April 15, 2008

Contact: Martin C. Langeveld
802-254-2407

langeveldvt@comcast.net

7th Annual Strolling of the Heifers Has Green Theme; Brand New Events Include Live Green! Expo, Miss VerMOOOOnt Beauty Pageant, Children’s Literary Tent                                                                                                      

Brattleboro, Vermont -- Live Green! is the theme of the 7th Annual Strolling of the Heifers Parade & Festival (Fri., June 6 – Sun., June 8), Vermont’s light-hearted rendition of Spain’s Running of the Bulls. Named a Top Ten Summer Event by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce for six years straight, this year’s agricultural celebration will focus on simple steps everyone can take to protect the environment. The animal cavalcade’s stars, 100 flower-bedecked bovine beauties, will be followed by nationally recognized entertainment. The parade (Sat, June 7 at 10:00 am) also will have floats highlighting the importance of living in harmony with the earth.

After the parade, the Dairy Fest & Market Place (11:00 am – 3:00 pm, Retreat Healthcare’s grounds) will offer entertainment, free samples and activities that echo the event’s environmental message. There also will be a Children’s Entertainment Tent, Best Chefs of Vermont Pavilion, Petting Farm, Fiddlers Tent and Vermont Cheese Pavilion.

Two brand new event highlights this year will be the Miss VerMOOOOnt Beauty Pageant, sponsored by Aubuchon Hardware (The Brattleboro Common), and Livestock Children Literature Tent (Retreat Healthcare’s grounds), sponsored by Hood. Emceed by Joan Rivers look-a-like actress Nan Mann, the beauty tongue-in-cheek beauty contest will be judged by a celebrity panel of judges. The “Most Beautiful Heifer” will stroll down the red carpet surrounded by the paparazzi and throngs of fans. Awards also will be given for “Most Congenial Heifer” and a surprise category. Prizes, donated by Aubuchon Hardware will be awarded to all final contestants. The beauty pageant will be followed by the always popular Celebrity Milking Contest. Bernie Sanders, a veteran who hasn’t missed one contest in seven years, will be joined by several other luminaries who will give him a run for the money. Hood’s Livestock will be rockin’ with book-related activities for kids, including performances, readings, drawing lessons, and treasure hunts. Nationally acclaimed book authors and illustrators, Scott Nash, David Elliott, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Suzy Becker, Lori Korcheck and Marshall Taylor will be on hand to read to and greet their fans.

The Live Green! Expo, sponsored by Aubuchon Hardware, (on The Common) will feature roughly 30 exhibits. In addition to fuel efficient cars like Toyota hybrids and the Prius, there also will be booths with information on ways to live clean and eat green.

It all begins on Friday, June 6, with the Gallery Walk Night Reception for Local Agricultural Women (5:30 – 7:15 pm, Robert H. Gibson River Garden, Main Street), featuring children and adults raising their voices in song. There also will be a Street Party on Main Street (closed between High and Elliott) featuring all kinds of music and entertainment including 10 living statues. Those interested in test driving a hybrid, should head over to Toyota’s Highway to the Future (The Brattleboro Common from 5:00 – 7:00 pm).

Celebrating Agricultural Women (7:30 – 9:00 pm, Latchis Theater, Main Street), a multi-media tribute featuring the Brattleboro Area Women’s Chorus, Vermont Jazz Center, Brattleboro Music Center and Brattleboro School of Dance, will follow.

At 9:00 pm, the music will continue at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden. Zabap -- Afro-Caribbean Avant-Garde Jazz will feature melodies from Africa and the Antilles, fused with the intensity of contemporary improvisation. Seven of New England's master improvisers will take the stage:  Eugene Uman, on keyboard; Derrik Jordan, on violin and guitar; Dan Rostov, on trumpet; Jamie MacDonald, on bass, Doug Raneri, on rums and Steve Ferraris and Julian Gertin, on percussion. 

Activities on Sunday will include the Royal Farmer’s Feast (7:00 am – noon, Chelsea Royal Diner, West Brattleboro) and the Windham County Area Farm Tour (10:00 am – 4:00 pm).

“We chose ‘Live Green!’ as the theme for this year’s agricultural celebration,” notes local farmer Helen Robb, “because when it comes to slowing down global climate change, we’ve all got to do our part.” Robb helped found the Strolling of the Heifers in 2001. “With an average of roughly 40,000 attendees over the past few years, the Strolling of the Heifers Parade & Festival offer an unparalleled opportunity to educate the public about how they can help the environment.”

For more details log on to: www.strollingoftheheifers.com.

The Strolling of the Heifers’ mission is to raise awareness of the importance of sustaining local agriculture and to raise money to fund educationally oriented agricultural programs for youth. Over the past seven years, the nonprofit has distributed over $125,000 in funding to area schools and organizations for agriculturally related education projects. This year, many schools are using the grant money awarded by the Heifer Educational Fund for environmentally oriented projects that pick up on the “Live Green!” theme.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS. PRIMARY MEDIA SPONSORS: Brattleboro Reformer; WKVT GOLD: Hood/Booth Brothers Dairy - Official Milk of Strolling of the Heifers; Holstein Association; SoverNet, USA; Toyota; Turkey Hill; WTSA SILVER: Aubochon Hardware; Brattleboro Food Co-op; C&S Wholesale Grocers; Cabot Cooperative Creamery; Horizon Organic/The Organic Cow; Organic Valley; Price Chopper; Redex Industries/Udderly Smooth; Walgreens; WCAX-TV BRONZE: Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce; Brattleboro Museum & Art Center; Brattleboro Retreat Healthcare; Brattleboro Savings & Loan; Costume Ladies; Durand Ford Toyota; Green Mountain Tent Rentals; Hannaford Superstore; Key Bank; Mount Snow; New Chapter; Newman's Own; Stacy Subaru; Stuart Communications; The Rutland Herald; Trust Company of Vermont; United Natural Foods Inc.; Vermont Cheese Council; Windham Foundation CRYSTAL: 101 The Fox Radio; Building A Better Brattleboro; Chelsea Royal Diner; Chittenden Bank; Foard Panel; G.S. Precision; H&R Block; Hampton Inn; Home Depot; Keats Inc.; The Keene Sentinel; Leader Distribution; The Marina; New Holland; The Putney School; Riverview Café; U.S. Cellular/21st Century Cellular; Staples; Stoneyfield Farm; University of Vermont Extension; Vermont Country Store; Vermont Department of Agriculture; Vermont Natural Water; Windham County Dairy Promotion; World Learning; Woodstock Farms; WRSI/The River; Zinn Graphics PATRON: A Candle In The Night; American Flatbread; Antioch University New England; Arthur Whitcomb; Best Energy Saving Technologies; Brattleboro Chrysler, Jeep, & Dodge; Brunelle & Son Construction; BRW Electronics/ Radio Shack; Building Green Inc.; Capers Restaurant; Cockadoodle DOO; Cooke Family Realty; Co-operative Insurance; Farmers Diner/Vermont Smoke & Cure; Fleming Oil Company; Free Lunch Media Productions; Gallery Walk; Garelick Farms; Grafton Village Cheese Co; Holiday Inn Express; Hooker-Dunham Gallery & Theater; Howard Printing; Landmark College; Leader Distribution System, Inc; Marlboro Graduate College Center; Mary Meyer Mfg Co.; Merrick Pet Care; New England Natural Bakers; Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub; O’Connor Law Office; Perkins Home Center; Putney Food Co-op; Red Roof Inn; Save The Corporations from Themselves; SEVCA; Silver Forest; Southern Vermont Cable; Spring Tree Maple Products/Specialty Brands of America; Suburban Propane; Taylor for Flowers; Triple T Trucking; The Valley Advocate; Verizon Wireless Zone; Vermont Agricultural Business Education Center; Vermont Agricultural Credit Corp; Vermont Bread/Rudy’s Organic Bakery; Vermont Land Trust; Wal-Mart; Windham Wines; Zinn Graphics SUPPORTING: Abbiati Monuments; Agri-Mark, Inc; Agway; Anon’s; Banknorth Vermont; Bart's Homemade; Best Inn; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont; Brown & Roberts Hardware; Brown Family Farm; Burton Car Wash; Cersosimo Lumber Co and Cersosimo Industries; Clear Solutions Inc.; Colonial Motel & Spa; Creamery Bridge Candles; David Manning; Inc.; Efficiency Vermont; Fireworks Restaurant; Friends of the Sun; Gale, Corum, Mabie, Cook & Prodan Law Firm; GPI Construction, Inc.; Green Mountain Spinnery; Hertz & Lloyd Attorneys at Law; Kristensen, Cummings, Phillips & Carol PC; Latchis Hotel; Mini Melts Dots of Ice Cream; Moo Dooers/VNAP; Newfane Country Store; Newton Business Products; Northland Downey Insurance Group; The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co. Inc; One Stop Country Pet Supply; Peebles; Perkins Home Center; Peter Havens; Pieciak & Co; Inc.; The Putney Inn; Real Green Goods; The Richards Group; River Valley Credit Union; Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters; The Sandri Companies; Solar Source; Thai Gardens; True Value & VS Variety Store; USA Solar Store; Vermont Artisan Designs; Vermont Natural Coatings; Vermont Veterinary Medical Assn.; Vermont Vinyl; Vermont Water Buffalo; VT-NH Veterinary Clinic; Windham Family Vision Care; The Windham Solid Waste Management District; Winter Panel Corp.; Women's Agricultural Network; Woodman Athletics; Yankee Farm Credit; Zephyr Designs SPONSORS: Adagio Trattoria; Adivasi; Altiplano; A.L. Tyler & Sons, Inc.; Amy’s Bakery Arts Café; At the Oasis; Bast Investment Co; Beadniks; Berkley & Veller/Greenwood Country Realtors; Black River Produce; Book Cellar; Borter’s Jewelry Studio; Brattleboro Haulage; Brattleboro Area Realty; Brattleboro Veterinary Clinic; Brooks House Realty; Campbell & Boyd Ins. Services; Inc; Carley’s Florist; Creative Woods Furniture Inc.; Crispe & Crispe Law Firm; Crofter Moving & Storage; Dalem’s Chalet; Inc.; The Dorner Agency, Inc.; Edward Jones & Company; ERA The Masiello Group/Stepping Stone Real Estate; Fenton Family Dealership; Fitts, Olson & Giddings; Fitz, Vogt & Associates at World Learning/SIT; Friends of Brooks Memorial Library; Green Mountain Bovine & Equine; India Palace Restaurant; J Coleman & Co Architects; James M. Puls & Associates Certified Public Accountants; John Rocray Law Firm; Lawton Floor Design; Linden Gardens; Masiello Employment Agency; Merrill Lynch; Merrill Gas Co; Inc.; Miller Brothers-Newton; Inc.; Nassau Broadcasting Partners, WHDQ/WZLF/WXLF/ WWOD/WCFR/WNHV/WSTV; New England Coffee; The New England House; Océ North America Document Printing Systems; Oly’s Plumbing & Heating; Outer Limits Health Club; Pinnacleview Equipment Inc.; Potter Steward Law Offices; Putney Road Market; Shin La Restaurant; Stevens & Associates; T.J. Buckley; Thomas M. French Attorney At Law; Verde for Home & Garden; Vermont Butter and Cheese Co; Walker Farm; Windham Flowers; WW Building Supply; Wyman Agency.

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