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Date: 9/15/2021
CHESTER – The Southern Hilltowns Adult Education Center will offer a wide range of free sustainability, business and computer classes online for Hilltown residents this fall.
Monique Trahan, a nutritional therapy practitioner, will join SHAEC as a new instructor. Trahan lives on a small farmlet in Southwick with her husband, goats, chickens, pigs, ducks and dogs. There are extensive gardens, fruits and berries, herbs, and edible mushrooms growing there using beyond organic methods.
Trahan enjoys sharing what she has learned on her journey back to health and high energy on a budget, and she loves busting the myth that it “cannot be” affordable, delicious, and easy. She will teach three classes this fall.
The first in the series, Preserving the Harvest, will be offered 6-7:30 p.m. on Sept. 21. The class will teach some of the best and easiest ways to preserve the bounty from a garden, from foraging, and from local farms and farmer’s markets, and how to take advantage of bulk buys and save money while eating well.
“We will cover dehydrating, blanching, freezing and touch on some unusual and easy options such as fermenting, salting and making liqueurs,” said Trahan. “We will cover equipment, from basic to upgrading, and there will be lots of tips and tricks to save you time and money.”
Trahan will also offer classes titled Making Cream Cheese and Easy Condiments. To sign up for these classes and for more information on other classes, visit www.shaec.org.
SHAEC’s partner, the Hilltown Community Development Corp., offers virtual business classes taught by Rosemarie Goyette, an accountant with over 30 years of experience in bookkeeping and taxation for personal, nonprofit, corporate and partnership clients. Goyette’s experience also includes business operations, streamlining accounts and best practices.
She will offer a variety of classes in the use of QuickBooks for organizations or small businesses, beginning with Intro to Quickbooks, 6-7:30 p.m. on Sept. 22.
The class will include an overview of Quickbooks for both new users and those who need a refresher, how to navigate the program, a business accounting overview, and how to set it up for a business, including a chart of accounts, recording transactions, customers and sales, vendors and accounts payable, working with cash accounts, financial statements and budgeting. To sign up for the Quickbooks classes, visit hilltowndirectory.com/events.
SHAEC will offer an online class, Understanding Your Property Tax Bill, 6-7:30 p.m. on Sept. 30. Patricia Baker will show how to read a property record card and check for errors, and learn what can be done when an error is found, according to the class description.
Baker has a long history of success with property tax cases and experience with property tax law and legislation. Registration is at www.shaec.org.