Another Broadband Provider

Thanks to Pat Mercer for putting us on to this:

GAW.com joins Wavecomm, WildBlue and Fairpoint in offering broadband to Orange. GAW offers competitive prices.  Your faithful webmaster has personally used the other three services (and we currently use WaveComm and Fairpoint); we haven't tried out GAW.

Like WaveComm, GAW uses wireless transmitters. It installs a small dish at your place, which needs to have line-of-sight access to a transmitter or repeater. WaveComm recently put a dish up on the Cardigan summit, and says it has plans to put repeaters around town for those who can't see the summit from their house.  

Wildblue uses satellites, and installs a dish at your place.  Fairpoint mails you a modem to hook up with a phone jack.  It's the easiest, most trouble-free solution, but DSL isn't yet available to most of the town.

We haven't contacted GAW to ask what the Brattleboro-based company plans for our area.

Trash Stats

Orange's latest trash and recycling statistics look impressive:  From May 6 to the end of December, we residents recycled 21 percent of our trash.

More than 18 tons of zero-sort recycling got collected in the eight months since the service began. The town gets charged less for recycling--which means savings to us as well as less garbage taking up landfill space.

Sounds like a win-win.

Gary Hamel Panels

We've just added a new photo album: high-resolution images of artist (and life-long Orangeite) Gary Hamel, depicting Orange history and wildlife.   Enjoy!

New Town Sign

Bob and Sharon Proulx noticed that  the Orange sign needed repair and new paint, they took it to have a cost estimate done.  The sign maker said that it would be better to make a new sign, since it would cost almost the same as to repair the old one.

Bob went to the Select Board and asked if the Town would approve the money for a new sign.  The Board did just that, and Bob had the sign made.  Check it out on Cardigan Mountain Road.  Be the first to take a picture and send it to us!

Thank you Bob and Sharon. You always have the benefit of the Town at heart.

Absentee Ballots

Pat White reminds us to get your request in to her if you need an absentee ballot for Voting Day, January 10.   The letter must state that you will not be in town on primary day and would like an absentee ballot; specify which party.  Include your your name, mailing address to send the ballot.   

Bring the request to Pat's office in the Town House, or you can hand-deliver or mail it to her home.  In return, she can hand deliver your ballot to you. But she's not permitted to give you any other person's ballot--not even your spouse's.  Get your ballot back to the Town House by 5 p.m. January 10 in order to be counted.