On Monday, May 16, at 7 p.m., at the Mt. Tabor – Danby Historical Society meeting room in the Griffith Library on South Main St. in Danby, Vermont author Judith Edwards will give a multimedia presentation on the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in Vermont. The presentation will follow the Society's regular monthly meeting, which will begin at 6 p.m. The public is welcome, and light refreshments will be served. There is no charge, but donations are appreciated.

The CCC was a New Deal program during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, designed to give unemployed young men worthwhile public jobs. What jumps out at the visitor in Vermont state parks and the Green Mountain National Forest are the roads, stone buildings and fireplaces, dating back to the l930’s and the CCC. They were built by young men who made CCC camps their home from 1933 – 1937. Ms. Edwards has gathered information on their tasks, travails and stories, seeking details and anecdotes written and told by CCC members all over the country.

Ms. Edwards will focus on the only CCC camp that was in Mt. Tabor or Danby, the one in Mt. Tabor Village (Brooklyn Village). Facts about the CCC, its inception, its structure and its accomplishments in the midst the Great Depression, will be combined with specific information about the camp. The camp enrollees and personnel changed geographical placement frequently! You may be surprised at the camp numbers and names included in your area.

The presentation is not a mere lecture. There is music of the era, large storyboards and artifacts as a backdrop, and Ms. Edwards keeps it lively and engaging, to hold your interest in a subject about which she is passionate. There will be ample time at the end of the presentation for questions. Ms. Edwards would also be delighted to hear from members of the audience who have family, long gone, who were part of the Civilian Conservation Corps phenomenon.

The first Vermont title in the Department of Libraries' recording program for the blind and physically handicapped is Invasion on the Mountain, by Ms. Edwards. It is the first in a trilogy of historical fiction for middle school readers about the Civilian Conservation Corps on Mt. Ascutney in the 1930s.