Support VPR And Win

With so many choices, why do you listen to and support Vermont Public Radio?

Because it gives you topics for dinner conversation?

Because Walter Parker’s voice soothes your young children?

Because you’re convinced Terry Gross is a mind reader by always asking just the right question?

Because you could win lots of prizes?

Okay, that last one is more of a bonus. VPR's membership drive begins next week, and whatever your reason for listening, we hope you will make a pledge today to support this essential service. Plus, when you make a pledge now you’ll be entered to win:

• Two pairs of round-trip airline tickets to anywhere in the continental U.S. from Milne Travel 
• A $1,000 gift certificate to Small Dog Electronics
• $1,500 in gift cards to Phoenix Books
• A trip for two to see Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me in Chicago
• A $2,000 gift card to Onion River Sports
• A $2,000 gift card to Gardener's Supply 

The sooner you pledge, the more chances you have to win – a no-brainer, right?

Thanks in advance for your support. And remember, if you’re a sustaining member, you’re already entered in all of the drawings. Good luck!

Contest Rules

Get Your New VPR Euro Sticker

We've updated our Euro sticker with a fresh new green! All you have to do to get yours is become a sustaining member or make a pledge in any amount to VPR today!

Show everyone on the road that you're a proud VPR listener - and supporter. You'll help VPR meet its goal for the upcoming membership drive and keep the news, music, and conversation you love going strong. Thanks!

Thank You For A Successful 2012!

2012 has been an incredible year! On behalf of all of us at Vermont Public Radio, I just wanted to say thank you for listening to and supporting VPR this year. In my 2012 President’s Letter, I share some of the accomplishments that listener support made possible over the past year, including:

• Extensive coverage of the 2012 election
  
• More coverage of local communities, the arts, the economy, and politics.
  
• Experiments with new programs, including Q from the CBC and NPR’s Tell Me More, The TED Radio Hour, America’s Test Kitchen, and Here’s The Thing with Alec Baldwin.
  
• Launched Friday Night Jazz With Reuben Jackson, and 24-hour jazz stream.
  
• Hosted more than 20 live performances and brought on local host Kari Anderson to VPR Classical on weekday mornings.
  
• Introduced an Android app to our suite of mobile services, thanks to the VPR Journalism Fund.
  
• Expanded our service with new VPR News and VPR Classical stations in Brattleboro, and a new VPR Classical station in Rutland.

Click here to read the full letter.

None of these achievements would have been possible without your passionate participation in all its forms - listening, feedback, and financial support. Thank you for being a part of this community.

I hope you’ll make a year-end gift to Vermont Public Radio today to pay for another great year of news, music, and meaningful engagement.

I wish you the best for the season and all of us at VPR look forward to serving you in 2013.

Friends of VPR Recognized for Philanthropy & Community Support

November is most thought of as a month of thanksgiving.

It was fitting then, that on November 15, hundreds of people gathered to give thanks to the 2012 recipients of the Outstanding Philanthropists of the Year Awards.

The annual awards recognize those in the community who stand up for important causes and serve as generous benefactors to nonprofit organizations in the region and are sponsored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Northern New England (AFP-NNE) Conference.

When the call for award nominations went out, members of the VPR staff immediately thought of Bill and Jane Stetson of Norwich, and People’s United Bank, both of whom have made a significant impact in Vermont (and beyond) and are longtime supporters of VPR as well.

On the day of the awards ceremony, more than 200 people assembled at a special luncheon held at the Stoweflake Mountain Resort in Stowe. Those in attendance included individuals who had written letters of support for the Stetsons nomination, Dr. William and Susan Boyle, Toni LaMonica, David and Nancy Grant, as well as Jack Byrne. Also on hand to accept the corporate award and represent People’s United Bank were CEO Michael Seaver, Director of Marketing Kathy Schirling, Marilyn Hardacre, and Jill Jaret-Rossi.

The award winners were also cheered on by VPR staff as well as members of the VPR Board of Directors in attendance including, Marsha Fonteyn, Doug Griswold and his spouse Lori Rowe, and Board Chair Perez Ehrich.

Serving as emcees of the event were Deb and Wayne Granquist, winners of the 2011 Outstanding Philanthropists of the Year Award. Deb recently stepped down from the VPR Board of Directors after a successful tenure, serving as chair of several committees and a chair of the full board. She and Wayne have been generous supporters of VPR for many years.

From l. to r., VPR President & CEO Robin Turnau, Deb Granquist, Bill Stetson,
Wayne Granquist, and Jane Stetson.

As the Stetsons were called to the podium to accept their award, a list of accolades was read about the many causes and organizations they have helped. Both are longtime and staunch supporters of VPR. Bill has been involved with VPR almost since the year of its inception in 1977 and today serves as a member of its Board of Directors. In recognition of their dedication and support, VPR named its Norwich studio in honor of the Stetsons in 2011.

In the early days of VPR, Bill even hosted (albeit briefly) his own show. Bill was always up for whatever challenge came up, including answering phones in VPR’s original studio in Windsor, hosting Switchboard, and appearing as a guest on Peter Fox Smith’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera.

From VPR’s first campaign for a new headquarters in Colchester, to offering generous challenges during membership drives, and leading the charge in building an endowment for VPR through its Creating A Sound Future campaign, Bill and Jane’s financial support has been instrumental in making VPR the strong institution that it is today.

From l. to r., Christine Baskett, President of the AFP-NNE, Tere Gade, Chair of the AFP-NNE Awards Committee, Wayne & Deb Grandquist, People's United Bank CEO Mike Seaver.
(Photo courtesy of Steve Mease.)

CEO Mike Seaver came forward to accept the award for People’s United Bank. He spoke highly of the dedicated employees who are involved in the community through volunteer efforts as well as offering financial support to important causes.

A part of the Vermont landscape since1904, People’s United Bank’s philanthropy has had a significant impact on our state. In the past three years alone, they have contributed more than $2,750,000 to Vermont non-profits and approved nearly $50 million in equity investments in Vermont affordable housing projects, representing more than 900 units of housing.

People’s has been a long-time and generous supporter of VPR, providing funding as an underwriter for programming like the global economic news program, Marketplace. Thanks in part to this support VPR is able to deliver on its mission of public service, providing its listeners with a vital connection to their community and the world. In fact, no company provides more support to public media in Vermont than People’s United Bank.

Also recognized at the event for Outstanding Foundation of the Year, was the Stiller Family Foundation. Based in Charlotte, the Foundation was noted for its work to support education and community development through organizations including Champlain College, the King Street Center, Burlington City Arts and Rebuilding Waterbury. The Stillers have also been generous supporters of VPR.

In this season of thanks, VPR wishes to extend its appreciation for the incredible support we receive from the Stetsons and People’s United Bank. We are reminded every day that what we do is only possible because so many in the community believe in our mission, value the service we provide, and support us with their time, talent, and treasure.

Click here for the full details of the event and all of the award winners.

A Message From VPR President Robin Turnau

2011 has been quite a year! On behalf of all of us at Vermont Public Radio, I just wanted to say thank you for listening to and supporting VPR. 



In my 2011 President’s Letter, I share some of the accomplishments that listener support made possible over the past year, including:

Unprecedented news coverage after Tropical Storm Irene

The launch of VPR’s Public Post

More than 50 live performances and interviews on VPR Classical

Click here to read the full letter.



At a time when newsrooms are shrinking and classical music is disappearing from the radio, Vermont Public Radio is more essential and relevant than ever. These achievements could not have been possible without the support of our listeners.

Please make your year-end gift to Vermont Public Radio today to pay for another great year of news, music, and community service.


Thanks for all you do for your public radio station. I wish you the best for the season and all of us at Vermont Public Radio look forward to serving you and your community in 2012.

Enter To Win An iPad2 From VPR

Vermont Public Radio’s October membership drive begins soon, but right now
is an especially good time to show your support by pledging to VPR.

Why?

Because when you pledge before the drive begins, you'll be entered to win a 16GB Apple iPad 2, thanks to our friends at Small Dog Electronics.

The iPad 2 is thinner, lighter, and faster than the original. With wi-fi and 16GB of storage you can browse the web, check e-mail, read the news, e-books, and magazines, and of course, listen to your favorite public radio station using the new VPR App for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch!

(Go ahead, play Angry Birds, too...we won't tell).

And when you pledge, you’ll feel good knowing you did your part to pay for the stories that move you.

The deadline to enter the drawing is Wednesday, October 12th. Listen to VPR on Thursday morning when we’ll announce the winner.

Support VPR and enter the drawing online here.

If you’re a sustaining member or have already made a gift or pledge in
advance of our fall membership drive, no worries - you’re already entered in
this drawing.

Thanks in advance for your support and good luck!

Contest Rules

Appreciating The "Little Moments" This Summer

I’ll admit that I take summertime for granted, even though in just a few short weeks I know I’ll proclaim, “Where did the summer go?”

Chatting with friends and family at our local creemee stand, it’s easy to forget that not so long ago, we were scraping ice off our windshields and navigating snowstorms. But this summer, I’m determined to spend more time appreciating the little moments that might otherwise pass me by.

As I listen to VPR in the car or to VPR Classical on the back porch after dinner, I will relish all of the great little moments that I hear: the hum of Garrison Keillor on A Prairie Home Companion, the way that one of the Car Talk brothers (is it Click or Clack?) snorts as they diagnose an ailing car, and the delicate vibration of a cello during a live studio performance.

I also appreciate the fact that VPR’s summer membership drive is going to be short, taking just three days in late July. But even though it’s short, it’s incredibly important: VPR needs to raise $150,000 to stay on track with its fiscal-year budget.

We’ve put together some great reasons for you to listen during this drive, including chances to win some prizes that would be a perfect complement to summertime in Vermont:

• A family bike package from Earl’s Cyclery & Fitness
• Tickets to a live performance of The Moth including hotel accommodations
• A paddleboard package from Canoe Imports
• Four airline tickets to anywhere in the continental U.S. thanks to Milne Travel
• A trip for two to Scotland in September with All the Traditions host Robert Resnik and other VPR listeners
• And a few other surprises along the way...

I hope you find time to savor your little moments this summer. Please show your support for the little moments you enjoy on VPR and VPR Classical by making a pledge today by calling 1-800-639-6391 or online by clicking here. Not only will you be entered to win some fantastic prizes, but you’ll be helping VPR meet its budget goal for this fiscal year!

If you are a sustaining member, you are automatically entered in all of our membership drive drawings. And if you are not a sustaining member, it’s a great reason to become one!

Thank you so much in advance for your support.

Inside Egypt With Chris Wren

VPR Commentator Chris Wren will be leading our Tour of Egypt in September. Chris spent three years there as the Cairo bureau chief for The New York Times from 1977 to 1980. He calls Egypt "one of the most colorful and complex countries" and says that Egyptians "must be the friendliest people in the world."

We asked Chris to pick the top three places he's looking forward to showing VPR listeners on this trip. Here's what he had to say.

"Certainly, the Great Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza, for all their popularity, overwhelm the senses, especially if you glimpse them in early morning or late afternoon. Giza's pyramids never fail to take my breath away.

The less well known pyramids of Saqqara, to which we'll enjoy a rare access, can be more exciting because they're so unexpected. And the City of the Dead on the other side of Cairo, where Cairenes are living in the old Islamic tombs, is remarkable. I loved to watch the Sufi dancing there on Saturday nights.

I also want to revisit some favorite Islamic and Coptic Christian sites in Cairo, which other tours may overlook, and the Ben Ezra synagogue, once central to Egypt's vanished Jewish community."

Watch for future blogs from Chris Wren in which he'll share some delicious Egyptian dishes, reveal some other favorite sites and let us know who will enjoy the VPR Tour of Egypt.

You can learn more about the trip and download a brochure by clicking here

Win Tickets to A Prairie Home Companion Live in HD

When you pledge to VPR today you’ll be entered to win two tickets to A Prairie Home Companion Live in HD on Thursday, February 4th.

A live performance of A Prairie Home Companion will be beamed in HD to some 500 participating theaters across the U.S. and Canada, including the Palace 9 Theater in South Burlington, Catamount Arts in St. Johnsbury, and the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. Watch the trailer below:



See what Dusty & Lefty and the "Real" Guy Noir look like, hear Guy’s All Star Shoe Band, and experience A Prairie Home Companion almost as if you were sitting in the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.

This drawing is happening tomorrow, so don't delay! And with your contribution to VPR, you’ll also be helping us take a day off the upcoming membership drive – for every $48,000 raised before February 1st, we’ll take a day off the drive.

Click here to learn more about this special show. Also, you don’t have to pledge to be entered, but we hope you will. Read our contest rules for more information.

THANK YOU!

VPR finished its membership drive on Monday morning, surpassing our goal of $600,000. And, just as importantly, $25,000 will be donated to the CVPS Shareheat and Warmth programs thanks to our partnership with Chittenden Bank.

Our generous listeners help make Vermont Public Radio one of the strongest and most successful in the country. Thank you for your support and helping to keep families in crisis warm this winter!

Warm Hearts, Warm Homes

Our latest VPR Artist Mug is called “Warm Hearts, Warm Homes” by Jayne Shoup of Middlesex. Depicting warm light flooding from a cozy home on a snowy night, it’s in honor of our partnership with Chittenden Bank and the CVPS Shareheat and Warmth programs.

Jayne wrote about the process of coming up with the art for this mug at her blog. You can read about it here.

And of course, to get your own mug - sure to warm your heart and home - visit our website and pledge $80. Thanks!

Support VPR and Win $1,000 at Small Dog Electronics

Today is Web Tuesday, where we'll try to raise as much money as we can before the on-air part of our membership drive begins tomorrow.

If your membership is up, or if you've never given to VPR before, or you’re just wanting to show VPR some love, I hope you'll make Web Tuesday a success by pledging online right now.

Web days have become a great way for VPR to get a jump start on its membership drive without interrupting programming like an on-air membership drive. Plus, giving online is easy, fast, and secure, and it saves VPR resources to boot.

Now if that's not reason enough to pledge today, perhaps we can entice you to participate in Web Tuesday with a special drawing. When you pledge today you'll be entered to win a $1,000 gift certificate to Small Dog Electronics to use in their store or online. You'll also be entered into ALL of the prize drawings for the rest of this membership drive - you can check them out online here.

As always, it's not the amount of your pledge - it's the fact you pledge. Thank you so very much for your support.

Check out VPR's Artist Mug Gallery

Volunteer Shelagh Shapiro is a VPR member and artist mug collector. She had this to share about VPR's newest mug and Artist Mug Gallery:

Like so many listeners, one of my favorite parts of VPR’s membership drive is mug anticipation. I collect VPR’s artist mugs, and as a long-time member I have an impressive collection, if I do say so myself. In fact, it’s always something of a shock to go to a friend’s house and see a mug I not only don’t have, but one that I’ve never seen before.

That situation is unlikely to happen again, now that VPR's Artist Mug Gallery is up and running. There you can browse and admire all of VPR’s artist mugs, past and present.

VPR began commissioning mug designs from Vermont artists in 1992. Since then, more than 50 mugs have been created to celebrate VPR and its community. While mugs from past drives highlighted in the gallery are not presently for sale, a new mug, “Wabanaki Creation,” by Rick Hunt, is VPR’s latest addition to the gallery.

The really cool thing about Rick Hunt’s mug is that it tells the Wabanaki creation story as told by Hunt's wife, Carolyn Black. You can listen to the story here. Rick and Carolyn perform throughout the northeast as the Laughing Couple. Carolyn tells the Wabanaki creation story while Rick illustrates a mural depicting that narrative. Their performance describes the seven levels of creation; the birth of Glooscomba, the first man; the land of red soil and that of ice and snow; the significance of Gipboo, the bald eagle; and Glooscomba’s education into a leader who respects the teachings of his elders as well as the vision and strength of young people.

Artist mugs are a great way to show your support for VPR. Pledge $80 to VPR to support the programming and you’ll receive this beautiful new mug by Rick Hunt. Or, join the Artist Mug Collector’s Club for a pledge of $200 – VPR will send you the current mug and the next two, so you're guaranteed never to miss a mug. Thank you for listening, thanks for pledging, and thank you for the respect and support that you show Vermont Public Radio during our membership drives and throughout the year.

Happy Web Wednesday!

Today is Web Wednesday, where we'll try to raise as much money as we can before the on-air part of our membership drive begins tomorrow.

So without any further ado, if your membership is up, or if you've never given to VPR before, I hope you'll make Web Wednesday a success by pledging online today.

We've been experimenting with these web days before pledge drives for a couple of years now. Why? To start, giving online is easy, fast, and secure - and it saves VPR resources. But it's also a way to get a head start on the membership drive. All those Web Wednesday spots you've been hearing on the air don't interrupt regular programming like an on-air drive does. So, the more we raise today, the shorter the on-air drive will be, and the more programming you'll hear. And that's something we all enjoy!

Now if that's not reason enough to pledge today, perhaps we can entice you to participate in Web Wednesday with a special drawing. When you pledge today you'll be entered to win a $1,000 gift certificate to Northshire Bookstore to use in their Manchester store or online. You'll also be entered into ALL of the prize drawings for the rest of this membership drive - you can check them out online here.

As always, it's not the amount of your pledge - it's the fact you pledge. Thank you so very much for your support.

Why I Volunteer for VPR Pledge Drives, by Eileen Kristiansen

It's nearly membership drive time again, and we need volunteers to help answer the phones. To encourage you to sign up, we asked long-time volunteer Eileen Kristiansen to share her thoughts on why she volunteers at VPR. See what she has to say, then visit this link to sign up. The drive begins next Thursday, July 9.

Did we mention that we feed you really well?

And that we're charming and lovely to be around?

And there's a box of free books and CDs, just for volunteers?

And there's an endless supply of chocolate?

Okay, enough out of me. Listen to what Eileen has to say about volunteering at VPR:

I have been volunteering for VPR membership drives for nearly 9 years. My first time was answering phones and writing the pledges down on paper. I went with colleagues from work because I was nervous and there was safety in numbers. I was hooked after the first phone call. People that pledge are so warm and supportive and grateful for the volunteers. The staff at VPR feels the same way. I felt so good about what I was doing and about how it was helping others in so many different ways that I've only missed one drive since that time. I can't say enough good
about VPR and how they treat their volunteers. The friendships that I've made there are for life, too. Becoming a VPR volunteer has been one of the smartest things I've ever done."

Here's the link again. Please sign up, and thanks!

Take VPR's Underwriter Map on Your Summer Galavants

VPR recently launched this interactive Google map to help you locate the more than 200 businesses that support Vermont Public Radio. You'll find all the information about our underwriters in all corners of the state. Visit their websites or visit them during your summer travels - you can get directions right from the map from work, home, or wherever your travels take you. From lightning protection and baby clothes, from restaurants to learning centers to colorful, mismatched socks, if you are looking for it, there's probably a VPR underwriter that sells it.

Buying local is good for Vermont's economy, and why you buy local from businesses that support VPR, you're helping your public radio station stay strong, too. Please take a moment to take a look and be sure to tell them, you listen to VPR and proudly support local business.