Bristol’s Peace Garden on the town green is getting ready to pop. Bulbs are poking through the soil, thanks to help from local elementary school students. On Green Up Day on May 4, Rachel Connor’s Girl Scout Troop will help Peace Garden coordinators spread compost to help the perennials that will come along soon to reach their full potential. Helpers will gather at the garden at 9 a.m. Contact Phoebe Barash at [email protected] to learn about ways you can help the Bristol Peace Garden bloom into the future.
 
Middlebury’s St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church will hold a live auction featuring fine antiques, more than 40 works of art, collectibles, estate jewelry, a car, handmade quilts, woodworking tools, a Troy Built chipper and much more this Saturday April 27, at the Middlebury VFW on Exchange Street. The event will begin with a preview of items at 3 p.m., followed by a 4 p.m. auction led by Tom Broughton. Proceeds benefit the church’s historic building preservation fund. The sale of the car will occur at 5 p.m. Get more info at: ststephensmidd.org.
 
Wondering what to do with all those plastic Easter eggs? Homeward Bound, the Humane Society of Addison County, would like to take them off your hands. The organization is looking for medium to large Easter eggs for its cat enrichment program. Homeward Bound can use the eggs for many feline functions. Cats enjoy eating canned food out of the larger eggs. They also like to find/play with the eggs when they’ve been filled with scented cotton balls. If you have any eggs to pass along, drop them off at the shelter at 236 Boardman St. in Middlebury. Homeward Bound is open Tuesday through Saturday, 12 noon -5 p.m., but the eggs can also be dropped off any time on the front porch.
 
Middlebury area residents and their four-legged family members have been disappointed at finding a padlock on the gate of the town’s popular dog park off South Street, behind the Middlebury Regional EMS headquarters. Rest assured, the dog park will reopen once its soil and grass is allowed to stabilize. Managers of the park are concerned dog traffic in the two-acre park — coupled with mud-season conditions — might put the amenity out of commission for a long time. Dog Park officials said they can’t pinpoint an opening date for the facility, but they’ll make sure to spread the word when it’s time.
 
Attention to those who live and drive in Lincoln: A pavement grinder will be in town during the week of April 29 to May 3, preparing road surfaces for future repairs. Grinding will begin on South Lincoln Road first, followed by Quaker Street, then concluding with River Road. Expect delays and plan for extra time commuting to work or school. For more information, contact Lincoln Town Clerk Sally Ober at 453-2980.
 
If you want to support students making healthy choices and you’re looking for a midweek spirit-lifter, here’s the perfect event for you: The culmination of the Health Education Learning Program (HELP), to be held in the Mount Abraham Union High School Auditorium on Wednesday, May 1, from 7-8 p.m. HELP encourages students to adopt healthy behaviors, provides opportunities for them to practice new skills, prompts important peer discussions around substance use/abuse, and employs strategies known to discourage substance abuse. This year, Mount Abe and the Hannaford Career Center have sent a combined 88 students through the HELP program. Student participants recently completed “Prevention Public Service Announcement Videos,” and the winning PSA team will be awarded with a trip to Washington, D.C., to attend a national youth summit on substance abuse strategies. Learn more about HELP or the upcoming event by contacting Jesse Brooks, United Way of Addison County’s prevention coordinator, at [email protected], or 388-7189.