When Munzing added the annual Slow Living Summit in 2011, she hoped that presenting two days of speakers would, by communicating information, help citizens and the community.
And when Munzing came up with this year’s parade and programs, she hoped, by changing the itinerary, to again take care of something — in this case, business.
The nonprofit outfit — which made a name for itself 15 years ago by spurring national news outlets to juxtapose images of Spain’s Running of the Bulls with jaywalking Vermont Holsteins — is still planning its annual march for June 3.
“The stroll is to support family farms and connect people with the food they eat,” Munzing says. “Once you begin to buy local, you start to think of other ways to live more sustainability.”
This year’s summit, for example, is dropping its fees to offer two days of free lectures on “Entrepreneur to Table: Growing Your Conscious Food and Ag Business.”
“It’s still the ‘slow living’ mission to think about, take care and give to our friends and neighbors, but we’ve taken it into economic development,” Munzing says. “We need to create more businesses that are rooted in the community and culture rather than just filling real estate.”
In a similar vein, the organization has received grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Economic Development Administration for a “Windham Grows” small business hatchery that helps startup and early-stage employers with development support.
A farm-to-table apprenticeship program, for its part, is training unemployed or underemployed people for full-time jobs in the fields of baking, butchering and cheese-making.
“Attaining more skills,” Munzing says, “will help someone attain more pay.”
This year’s Strolling of the Heifers lineup will start June 1 and 2 with the free Slow Living Summit at the River Garden.
June 2 promises a downtown street festival with food and entertainment from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
June 3 steps off with the parade of farm animals, tractors and bands (dogs are discouraged because they can scare cows) up Flat and Main streets at 10 a.m., followed by a Slow Living Expo of food, entertainment and exhibits on the town Common and adjacent Brattleboro Retreat grounds until 4 p.m.
June 4 will bring a farmers breakfast at the Marina Restaurant from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., plus Windham County farm tours and “Tour de Heifer” farm-to-farm bicycling rides of 15, 30 or 60 miles. More information is available on the event website.
“The parade and festival fund all the work we do year-round,” Munzing says. “We’re forever changing and adapting to the times.”
