Month: April 2025

Public Pool

The recent addition of the Ralston Swimming Hole has given its residents an entirely new way of building their relationships in a healthy way. Funded through memberships and town funds, the location includes one deep swimming pool and one shallow swimming pool for young children. This space is meant to serve as a nice place to go with family and friends, as well as a common spot to do light activities on a daily basis. The Ralston Swimming Hole is fully indoors and has sloped windows that let daylight into the swimming area. Events are held at the swimming pool pretty frequently and the large pool is available to rent on an hourly basis for personal events. The location has a website where people are able to view whether or not an event is currently being hosted. The location also includes an indoor shower area as well as a changing area with closed off stalls for privacy. This addition to Ralston adds a new community space for residents of all ages to enjoy.

Community Health Center — Ward 3

The Ralston Community Health Clinic, located in Ward 3, serves as a place where Ralstonians can receive non-emergency medical attention without needing to leave the island. Before it was built, Ralstonians needed to travel to Burlington for routine medical care, significantly increasing the cost of even basic procedures. With the Ralston Community Health Clinic, citizens can get their vaccinations, check-ups, and basic prescriptions without the hassle of leaving Ralston.

            The center takes all of the insurance providers common in the state of Vermont. It also partners with the local high school to offer CPR, first aid, and emergency medicine classes for interested students.

Building this new center has also helped significantly increase the number of people moving to Ralston. Qualified medical professionals have flocked to our island now that there is a place hiring them, and new families feel much better about moving here now that we have a local medical center.

Ralston Community Church

The Ralston Community Church serves as a wonderful place for the citizens of Ralston. With the church people are able to connect to each other and to express God’s love by encouraging each other to stand firm to their faith. There was a time where Ralston didn’t have a church and many christians citizens felt the need to gather together but didn’t have that opportunity. They felt the need to share their faith with others but also felt like they don’t belong. But then one day the government came to their needs and provided a church in the community. The sense of belonging came back to the Christians in the community and the Christianity  community continued to grow more as they shared their faith with other citizens. To learn more about Ralston Community Church go to the Ralston website under the categories, “Culture, Recreation, and Religion,” you will find all the information you need.

LED Smart Lighting

With its recent installment of smart lighting, Ralston has become a much nicer and safer place. Its streets are now well lit at darker hours, promoting better social interaction. The smart lights are also capable of changing their color temperature to match that of sunrise/sunset cycles, improving citizen health. Though the technology behind smart lighting may seem expensive and a waste of funding, The smart lights actually help to save money through their usage of light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, which are more energy efficient when compared to standard light bulbs. LED bulbs also last significantly longer than a standard incandescent bulb, which reduces waste made by discarded bulbs. Though residents may worry about the expanded surveillance that comes with the improved lighting, this lighting system can be used to lessen criminal activity, which makes Ralston and its citizens much safer. The smart lighting is also used to collect data on air and noise quality, and pedestrian and vehicular traffic patterns, which is beneficial for urban planning purposes. Though a normal lighting system may be okay for most cities, Ralston knows that its people deserve the best.

Town Hall

The original way of Ralston to work was good but there was little that people could do to influence what would happen in their community, so adding the town hall and a biweekly meeting there has increased both the happiness and the willingness to participate in the local community/government. This includes writing to the elected officials or simply running for the office themselves. There have also been many small organizations that address specific needs or issues in the community like helping newcomers or just simply being there for those in need. 

Community Health Center — Ward 2

A health clinic on the island is saving Ralstonians and visitors time and money trying to travel to and from the University of Vermont Medical Center. The health center helps deal with smaller injuries such as a sprained ankle, or a cut on your arm that needs stitches. The health center, located in Ward 2, is semi-central to Ralston and easily accessible to the people of Ralston. It is also be away from the wetland so the construction to build the health clinic has not been too expensive. This is a good addition to a community where people live active lifestyles—golf, nature walks, and swimming being very popular. A minor injury is now not such a major expense.

Affordable Housing

The new developments of Ralston have provided new housing, community members, and funds throughout the community. Located in Ward 3 on a small portion of the Nature Preserve, the developers aimed to connect nature with progress in an environmentally friendly capacity. We are pleased to announce these new developments will be affordable for lower-income families in the event to integrate different economic standings into its ward. By implementing strict HOA policies, the new development prioritizes a cease of littering, greenhouse gases, and pollution all while boosting economic capacity. We would like to thank some of Ralston’s longest residents for their generosity in providing the land to house these developments and their tireless efforts in working with the developing team to keep the area environmentally friendly and preserved. Ralston is a town filled with character, a community forged in interpersonal relationships, and culture. It’s our great pleasure to announce a new beginning for Ralston, its current residents, and our future.

Ralston Food Bank

The Ralston Food Bank is a nonprofit organization that provides food for those in need. Since the organization is nonprofit, this means it is fully reliant on donations and fundraising. But, due to the kind hearted atmosphere of the people of Ralston, there is predicted to be many donations given to help those in need. This food Bank will help anyone who is struggling economically and cannot afford groceries. Although there will be a limit on the amount of groceries because of wanting to maintain stock for everyone, the Ralston Food Bank’s goal is to meet the basic needs of the community of Ralston. If the Ralston Food Bank can not fit the needs of a community member that comes to them, they will guide them to the correct resource that they need. This organization is not just for the people, but it is also supported by the people. This will move the community towards eliminating food insecurity whilst providing other resources for those in need.