FERRISBURGH — August is here and, even in the midst of a pandemic, the Ferrisburgh Fire Department continues to offer its Chicken BBQ Dinner complete with Jerry’s Famous Sauce (the recipe being a carefully guarded secret). This longtime summer tradition opens at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 22, and will close only after all the chicken is devoured. However, this year the food service will be by drive through only — the meal will be brought to your car while you wait. So drive on in, enjoy the scrumptious eats and support the critical services of our Ferrisburgh Volunteer Fire Department. 
Ferrisburgh Treasurer Deb Healey reminds us that due to the July 15 extended deadline for filing federal income taxes, the Ferrisburgh tax bills will be mailed by Aug. 7. In order to meet the 30-day advance-warning mandate, the first installment will be due Sept. 15. All subsequent installments will be on their usual due dates: 4 p.m. on Dec. 1, March 1, and June 1 (or next business day). Contact Deb at 877-3429 if you have any questions or would like to set up an automatic debit for your taxes. 
Several residents and travelers have commented on the lovely flowers on the Lewis Creek Bridge. This is the seventh year the North Ferrisburgh Village Association has planted and maintained flowers on the bridge, which is in North Ferrisburgh on Hollow Road. The recent addition of the Little Free Library in the Hollow, also sponsored by NFVA, is an Eagle Scout project of Shea McClaren. Thank you, Shea, for this amazing, well-crafted creation that not only supports reading for all of our residents, but also adds to our community well-being in this time of physical distancing. 
The Bixby Library is actively working to offer key services to patrons during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are a variety of ways to access these critical services, which are described on the Bixby website, bixbylibrary.org. Bixby is currently offering curbside pickup and remote services as a response to the demands of COVID-19. Library patrons can also request to check out a laptop for one week, or museum/park passes for three days. Inter-library loan services continue to be available with only a few restrictions in place. The Bixby staffers are available by email, live chat (click the chat bubble in the corner of the interface during normal business hours) or by phone, 802-877-2211. 
The Bixby has also greatly increased its digital offerings. Please check out the online resources to find out about all the e-books, audiobooks, databases and more that are accessible with a Bixby Library card. Also, check out the events calendar for virtual programs such as the Summer Reading Bingo, Kids Virtual Storytime and the adult reading raffle. To sign up for a virtual library card, email Maddy Willwerth or Laksamee Putnam with your name, address, phone number and email. Bixby’s free Wi-Fi, “Bixby Free Internet,” is continuing to operate and patrons can access the Wi-Fi from outside the library building. Also, here is a link, via the Department of Public Service, to public Wi-Fi hotspots throughout Vermont: publicservice.vermont.gov/content/public-wifi-hotspots-vermont. 
Rokeby Museum is now open for the season. Exhibits, historic farm outbuildings and walking trails are open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. until late October. Due to COVID-19, house tours of the historic Robinson House are not available at this time, but we are urged to keep checking the website — an alternative way to experience the house may be available soon.
Rokeby is able to offer an incredible virtual art experience. Montreal, Quebec artist Courtney Clinton is currently navigating a remote arts residency with the museum. As she dives into the archives of a young artist’s 19th-century correspondence course, Clinton is producing her own modern-day correspondence class, which will be made available to the public July 27-Oct. 5. This distance-learning drawing course consists of six lessons inspired by Rachel Robinson Elmern and artist Ernest Knaufft. 
Clinton’s course is posted at rokeby.org, and will encourage participants to take the lessons into the world, on their own time. “In the contemporary context we think about distance education as this horrible thing forced on us by the virus. But in the late 19th century, it was an innovation that allowed people living in remote communities to access education,” says Clinton. The lessons will cover topics such as developing a sketchbook practice, finding and fixing mistakes, drawing from life (self-portraits) and more. With each lesson, students encounter archival images, Clinton’s drawings and a letter explaining the week’s lesson — both the why and the how.”
The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s regular services remain closed to the public due to the COIVD-19 pandemic. However, the staff have prepared a full series of special programs that are available both onsite and online. Visit the museum’s website for full details of the special events and exhibits that have been created by the staff to enable ongoing museum services at lcmm.org. 
The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s offering of “Presenting Abenaki Culture in the Classroom,” now in its fourth year, provides teachers and homeschoolers a deeper understanding of how Indigenous culture continues to thrive in the 21st century. Presented in an online course format for the first time, this is an academically rigorous course that will be available through 24 hours of required online class meetings and 21 hours of independent study. In addition, participants will have coursework to prepare for class meetings that they should expect to spend 8-10 hours on weekly. Participants will meet for eight required online classes from Aug. 30-Oct. 25. Each online class session will meet for three hours on Sundays.
 
NOTE: We are always interested in including a variety of Ferrisburgh-related news in this column, so if you have news that would be of interest, contact Sally Kerschner at [email protected]. Access these columns and other information about Ferrisburgh news and events by viewing the Ferrisburgh town website at ferrisburghvt.org.