ARC 2025 Annual Membership Meeting & Holiday Dinner Dance – Sunday, Dec. 14 Noon – 4 pm at Rutland Elks Lodge
ARC 2025 Halloween Dance – Sunday, Oct. 26 1 – 4 pm at the Rutland American Legion
Please RSVP to 802-775-1370 by Wednesday, Oct. 22nd if you plan to attend. Transportation is available.
ARC 2025 Barn Picnic
We had a beautiful day for our 2025 ARC Barn Picnic on Sunday, Oct. 5 at the Duffy family home in Poultney. ARC members enjoyed a lunch of hot dogs, baked beans, macaroni salad, and a variety of chips followed by cupcakes for dessert. Members had fun socializing, viewing the animals, and participating in the Limbo Contest. Congratulations to James Fowler on winning the Limbo Contest!
ARC extends our sincere appreciation to the Duffy family for hosting and sponsoring this annual event along with the Poultney Rotary Club and McKenzie Country Classics. Thank you to ARC staff for their work on this and to TeeJay Morrigan for volunteering at this event. Photos by Ginger Morrigan.
ARC’s Artists First: Art By Any Other Name art show – Thurs. Sept. 18 – Sat. Nov. 1 12 – 6 pm on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at VTSU Castleton Bank Gallery 104 Merchants Row, Rutland, VT. All are welcome! Admission is free!
ARC Self-Advocates, AKtion Club, and the VTSU Castleton University Bank Gallery are proud to present “Art by Any Other Name,” a group exhibition of art created by ARC “Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered – Rutland and AKtion Club”. The exhibition runs from Sept. 18 – Nov. 1. The show had a very successful opening day with five of our art pieces being sold even before the opening reception honoring the artists!
This new Inclusion project, made possible by a Stewarts’ Grant, offered both groups the opportunity to create and share their artwork with the community. ARC extends our sincere gratitude to our member artists, Stewarts’, the VTSU Castleton Bank Gallery, Ginger Morrigan who facilitated this opportunity for our members, and to TeeJay Morrigan who built a ramp to make the art gallery accessible to all.
ARC has attended many community events recently. On Sat. Aug. 23, ARC had booths at both the Downtown Rutland Street Party and Sidewalk Sales and at the Rutland Town Celebration at Northwood Pool. And on Sun. Aug. 10, ARC had a booth at the Benson Burdock Festival.
ARC AKtion Club and SABE-R Annual Car Wash Fundraiser
On Saturday, August 9th, ARC Aktion Club and SABE-R members held their annual Car Wash Fundraiser at the Bank of Bennington, on Woodstock Avenue in Rutland. Members raised funds to donate to local nonprofits to help those in need. We extend a big thank to all who came out and showed their support to make this event a success!
ARC extends its sincere appreciation to the sponsors of this event – the Bank of Bennington for hosting this event and to Napa Auto Parts store for donating car cleaning supplies. Thank you to our volunteers Gwen and Jasper!
Rutland National Night Out 2025
On Tuesday, August 5th, ARC and its members had a great time participating in the Rutland National Night Out at Meadow St. Park. Members enjoyed the cookout and learning about other service providers. In addition to giving out information about our organization, ARC was able to give away coffee mugs and chap sticks with our logo on them courtesy of our 4imprint #4onebyone grant earlier this year.
ARC & Rutland Kiwanis Club 2025 Family Fun Day
We had a gorgeous day on Saturday, July 19th for our 2025 ARC/Rutland Kiwanis Club Annual Family Fun Day at the Pittsford Recreation Center. The fun filled afternoon started with a cookout of hamburgers on the grill with potato chips, brownie bites, and a variety of drinks and snow cones. Followed by activities of lawn games, hula hoop and limbo contests, swimming, karaoke, and bingo for prizes. Everyone had a great time!
We are so very appreciative of the Rutland Kiwanis Club and its members for sponsoring and volunteering at this annual event. We also extend our gratitude to the Mission City Church Youth Group who come to help out at this event each year. And thank you to our ARC volunteers in attendance.
ARC & Come Alive Outside First Annual Summer Splash
We had a blast Sunday, June 22 at our first annual ARC & Come Alive Outside Summer Splash at Lake Bomoseen State Park Pavillion. We had hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. Members brought a variety of side dishes to share – mac ‘n cheese, salads, chips, and desserts. The we played lawn games and had hula hoop and limbo contests. Congratulations to Shelby on winning 1st place in both contests! We ended the afternoon playing Bingo for prizes.
Our deepest gratitude to Come Alive Outside for sponsoring this new event for ARC. Our members had a great time! Thank you also to all the volunteers who made the event run smoothly.
Life Skills Courses at ARC
ARC’s first two, five-week life skills courses – Budgeting and Holistic Health – were successfully completed in mid June. Congratulations to all who completed these courses! And thank you to Jen McNeil and Lisa Lynch for instructing the courses. Everyone did a great job! These and future life skills courses at ARC were made possible by the 2025 Bowse Health Trust Foundation grant to ARC. Thank you, again, for your generous support of ARC.
ARC 2025 Sweethearts Dance
As our Valentine’s Dance had to be canceled due to a storm, this year we held a Sweethearts Dance in its place on Sunday, May 18 at the Rutland Elks Lodge #345. A delicious lunch of hamburgers, hot dogs, and french fries was enjoyed by all courtesy of the Elks, followed by cake for dessert and dancing. The song “Angels Among Us” was played- dedicated in memory of beloved ARC member Herman Goldberg. ARC is very appreciative of the Rutland Elks Lodge for hosting and sponsoring this make-up dance and of all the volunteers who made it all work .
2025 GMSA Voices and Choices Conference
On April 29th, members of our Self Advocates Becoming Empowered – Rutland (SABE-R) group attended the GMSA Voices & Choices Conference in Burlington. They took part in various workshops related to self-advocacy and enjoyed a nice lunch. At the awards ceremony, Colleen Duffy received the Self-Advocate of the Year Award and Jess Corey the Ally of the Year Award for our SABE-R group. Congratulations Colleen & Jess!
ARC Pays Homage to Herman Goldberg
ARC pays homage to one of our own – our beloved Herman Goldberg – who passed away on Sat. April 12 at the age of 90. Many of you knew Herman from his many decades as an ARC member, where he served on our Board of Directors as well as being Treasurer for both the Self-Advocates and AKtion Clubs for many years. When he lived in Rutland, Herman also volunteered in the ARC office by sorting mail, assembling newsletters, rolling change. He attended most all of ARC’s events, both indoors and outdoors, including many car wash and bake sale fundraisers with the AKtion Club. Herman also made an annual donation to ARC to cover the cost of the SABE-R group attending the annual GMSA Voices & Choices Conference. Not much stopped Herman from participating and being with his peers and friends. He served his community well by raising funds for various causes, participating in the community and being a good friend to many. He will be sorely missed. Herman Goldberg will forever have a place in our hearts at ARC and in this community. Rest peacefully our dear friend.
For a complete list of our meetings, events, and activities, please see our Calendar page.