First Roots - Wild Roots

10/08/2026

Our Friendship Tree Community Mosaic project is entering its final phase: Taping, grouting, mining and polishing! We are learning the steps of mosaic making- a slow and mesmerizing process. And the Fishers are following suit in the sandbox!

10/06/2026

An extra day and extra hands made light(er) work of completing our Community Mosaic Wall! Our Catamounts and Fishercats all eagerly participated on this sunny and windy day by securing pieces of sky, mountains and special gems to “fill up” the tiny spaces. Thank you to LS and EB who showered us with words of affirmation (perfect timing in our 5th hr of bending) and stories of how the mosaics were created by the school children. A true partnership!

Adult jobs of grouting come next and then a hand finish polish using soft gloves. Stay tuned!

10/03/2026

What a beautiful day for creating! We were joined by multiple families on a sunny fall day to enjoy our Treehouse playground in its glory- including Stine Orchard c***r donuts and apple c***r! Our selection made choosing the best very hard…but the maple c***r donuts really knocked our socks off!!

So many decisions! Which mosaic do I choose? Where will it go? Do the pieces have the right shape? Right color for the space? We learned this is not a quick process…more time still needed next week to finish. Then Janine will begin the grouting and we can all help polish!

Thanks to Patty for setting up a floating leaf painting activity under the tent! And big shout out to 10 yr old Liam for making a Goldilocks invitation in the sandbox for the little kids….3 holes of different sizes and lots of shovels and cones. Liam concluded that digging holes is hard work, but the littles found it very appealing to dig more holes so they could fill in the originals!

Maria and Jackie, you are the team that made the dream work! Color coordination, shape sorting, bending, “buttering” the quickset and trimming the excess. Thank you for your gifts of inspiration, time and teamwork! Loved creating alongside you!

10/02/2026

Weeee’re ready! Richmond mosaic artist Janine Breton preps the concrete wall with a primer to be ready for the adhesive to receive our beautiful mosaics in the design of a Friendship Tree tomorrow!

The community is welcome to share our Art & Play morning 9-12, Oct 3rd!

09/23/2026

Join us for an Art+ Play Day at The Treehouse at First Roots -Wild Roots on Sat. Oct 3rd 9-12!

We invite our community families and friends to play on our new, whimsical hand-built treehouse (ages 3+ only) AND take part in our Mosaic Wall installation with our mosaic guide, Janine Breton. There will be grown up jobs (like mixing cement etc) and kid jobs like helping press on mosaics using our Friendship Tree Map- and enjoying our playground and refreshments too.

This will have a few stages to prep the cement block wall ahead of time, affix the mosaics, and then later grout. We expect the final product will have an “eye spy” feel to find the piece that you made within the tree!

09/22/2026

09/19/2026

Thank you to all who created personal mosaics at the Hinesburg Harvest Festival to become part of our giant Friendship Tree mosaic at First Roots -Wild Roots and the Treehouse! On Oct 3rd (9-3pm) we will open our treehouse playground to the community to help install the mosaic! We will be guided by Janine Breton, mosaic artist from Richmond, in moving from the “me” to the big “we”! Children can also play on our new hand built treehouse and enjoy snacks as part of the community installation event!

09/18/2026

Dear Families,
Join First Roots -Wild Roots at the fall festival on Saturday 10-2pm on the town green! We will be sharing a mosaic making table ( #7) for our neighbors to create a mosaic to contribute to our Friendship Tree Community Mural on a retaining wall by our Treehouse classroom door. On October 3rd we’ll be putting it up with the professional help of our local artist, Janine Breton who shepherded us through this multi step process of centering a unique medium, individual creativity, and community connectedness and belonging. Families are welcome to come on Oct 3rd for art, refreshments and a play day on our newly constructed artisanal treehouse!