Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce

🎉 Today's the day! 🎉

Join us at our Brattleboro Branch for our final Member Appreciation Day BBQ! 🌭 Stop by for a delicious hot dog, connect with our team, and let us thank you for being a valued member.

Missed this one? There's still one more Member Appreciation Day to come in Springfield on Monday, June 29, with snacks, giveaways, and plenty of appreciation! 💙🧡

Big things are happening at Slippery Slope Goats! 🐐

After working with Mar-Weld (now Schumer Industries) since October, we're excited to finally welcome our new mobile handling system to the farm—and we're proud to say that Slippery Slope Goats is officially the first farm in the United States to own one!

As our herd and grazing business continue to grow, we've been looking for ways to work smarter, safer, and more efficiently. This system is going to save us countless hours, make handling animals easier on both the goats and the humans, and greatly improve safety for me and my employees. Anything that reduces the chances of getting body-checked by a goat with strong opinions is a win in my book.

One feature I'm especially excited about is a custom access door built into the chute specifically for ultrasounds. Anyone who's spent time trying to ultrasound goats knows that convenience and efficiency aren't usually words associated with the process. This thoughtful addition is going to make pregnancy checks faster, safer, and a whole lot less frustrating.

A huge thank you to the Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program for helping make this investment possible through a grant award. Support like this allows farms like ours to adopt innovative equipment, improve animal care, and continue building stronger agricultural businesses.

Now, while I'm thrilled about all the time and labor this system will save, the goats seem less enthusiastic. Rumor has it they're already holding meetings to discuss how quickly they can learn to outsmart it.

Stay tuned for photos and videos as we put this system to work!

The EPA notes 235 cfu as the upper limit for bacteria levels in swim waters. That's 235 colony-forming units of bacteria in a 100 mL sample of water. The higher the number, the more of a chance there is to pick up a waterborne illness from swimming.

There is always an ambient level of bacteria in any waterway; we collect samples to give folks an overview of the trends in several popular lakes, ponds, and recreational spots on the Black River and some of her tributary streams. Even if there is no a public swimming spot on some of these (such as Amherst, Echo, and Rescue), public boating is allowed - so falling out of a boat is a possibility. ;-)

* Wear a PFD or life vest when boating
* Stay out of the water any time it appears cloudy or murky

Swimming hole bacteria numbers, based on samples collected yesterday:

Amherst Lake: 42 cfu (Green Mountain Fireplace Specialties)
Lake Rescue: 14 cfu (Betty McEnaney, Diamond Realty)
Lake Pauline: 21 cfu (Green Mountain Sugar House)
Cavendish Gorge: 88 cfu (Green Mountain Power)
Tolles Dam (Weathersfield): 91 cfu (Scott Piper & Son Excavating)
Twenty-foot Hole: 33 cfu (Greater Upper Valley Trout Unlimited)

Buttermilk Falls - no results yet (Okemo Mtn Resort)

MANY thanks to our 2026 sponsors for donating to support the testing for these sites!
Cavendish Gorge: 88 cfu

Good morning. Wish list for the Food Shelf: Canned Fruit, Non-dairy shelf stable milk, shelf stable milk, Jelly assorted flavors, canned meats assorted, canned tomatoes assorted, tomato sauce, condiments, seasonings, cooking oils. As always, all food items are helpful and we are grateful to the community for its continued support.

Handsome Cole is off to his new home! This wonderful gentleman will be living the good life with a fenced yard, doggy door and all the love his new Dad is going to give him. ❤️ 🐾