BELLOWS FALLS-Our Place Drop-in Center has received two grants of $3,500 each from the Vermont Foodbank to increase its capacity to provide food for those experiencing food insecurity.
The Vermonters Feeding Vermonters grant will be used to buy fresh local produce, prepared foods, yogurt, and cheese for the food shelf and for the senior citizen monthly food distributions.
A second grant will be used to purchase a glass-front refrigerator to display fresh produce in the food pantry, making the contents more visible and encouraging more choice of fresh produce by those using the pantry.
"We are trying to increase the availability and use of fresh produce by our community," Our Place Director David Billings said in a news release. "Local produce not only supports our local economy, but it also provides a sense of place and pride in one's community by sharing the bounty that comes from it."...
MARLBORO-The Brattleboro Concert Choir presents "In Paradisum: Music of Gabriel Fauré," featuring the Requiem, "Cantique de Jean Racine," and "Tu es Petrus" with orchestra. The concerts, scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, May 4, and 4 p.m. Sunday, May 5, will be performed at Persons Auditorium on Potash Hill on...
BELLOWS FALLS-As the weather warms up, the Rockingham Free Public Library invites patrons to find adventure this spring - starting at the library. The library is launching a new outdoor, immersive experience throughout the village and Bellows Falls history called "Bellows Falls in Time." Part scavenger hunt and part...
Famed folk families join for Grafton performances May 4 GRAFTON - John Lomax III of America's multi-generation folk music family brings his "Lomax On Lomax" presentation to Vermont for his New England debut Saturday, May 4, 6:30 p.m. at the Brick Meeting House, 2 Main St. Fiddler John Specker and his daughters Ida Mae and Lila (The Speckers) will perform. Local resident George Alexander is promoting this event. "Growing up, some of the favorite songs in my grammar school songbook...
BRATTLEBORO-Inspired by the natural world, artists have long contemplated diverse themes such as history, science, memory, and spirituality. Eleven contemporary artists explore these ideas and more in the exhibition "In Nature's Grasp," currently on view at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC). The public is invited to join a curator tour of the 32 artworks in the exhibit on Thursday, May 9, at 7 p.m. BMAC Director of Exhibitions Sarah Freeman, guest curator Michael Abrams, and several of the...
College news • Leah Madore of Williamsville has been inducted into Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology, at Russell Sage College in Troy, New York. • Jessica Tatro of Brattleboro, a biology major in the Class of 2024, has been inducted into the Tau Chapter of the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Scholastic Honor Society for the 2023-24 academic year at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. • Grace Conety of Brattleboro and Sam Mills of Marlboro were...
BRATTLEBORO-The Gateway Foundation of the Brattleboro Rotary Club will again offer college scholarships this year to graduating students at Brattleboro Union, Leland & Gray, and Hinsdale high schools. The amount of assistance will be $2,000 to $3,000 per student. A combination of financial need, academic achievement, and community service will be used as the criteria for selecting the recipients. Every application must include a student application, a Parent Contribution Questionnaire (PCQ), a 250-word essay entitled, "What I learned by doing...
BRATTLEBORO-St. Michael's Episcopal Church hosts its annual Terrific Tag Sale, which has been taking place annually since 1993 (excepting the pandemic year of 2020) at St. Michael's on 16 Bradley Ave. on Saturday, May 4, 8:30 a.m.–2 p.m. This year, the proceeds from the sale will benefit Loaves and Fishes, Brattleboro's community meals program whose mission and work is "to feed anyone who is hungry and food insecure." Loaves and Fishes, located in Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro, is a...
PUTNEY-The Landmark Trust USA (LTUSA) invites the community to learn more about one of our region's most distinctive architectural typologies, one that many Northern New Englanders call home: the connected farm building. On Tues., May 14, at 7:00 p.m., LTUSA will host noted scholar and vernacular architecture historian Thomas C. Hubka to speak on his seminal book Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn. The presentation will take place at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill, and will be livestreamed.
SAXTONS RIVER-The Saxtons River Art Guild (SRAG) will offer a workshop with watercolorist John Dimick on Saturday, May 4, at the United Church of Bellows Falls, 8 School St., from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The theme of the workshop is "Painting Water ... Ripples, Reflections, and Whitewater." Dimick will demonstrate and discuss his techniques for drawing using a grid system and reference photo, for identifying and defining the white areas he wants to protect, and for splattering paint. He...
BRATTLEBORO-Harmony Collective features artist Erin Jenkins during May, and the public is invited to the opening event during this year's first Gallery Walk on Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 p.m. Jenkins's linocut prints and handmade sketchbooks in the exhibit "Meander" revolve around memories of "quiet moments that emerge from taking time for a slow aimless wander, looking with patience and curiosity, and capturing the calmness found there," write organizers in a news release. Jenkins says she finds herself inspired...
PUTNEY-Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present Eastern European folk/Polish traditional/Global Roots music ensemble Polky at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill, on Saturday, May 4, at 7:30 p.m. This Toronto-based band, featuring 2022 Canadian Folk Music Awards "Traditional Singer of The Year" winner Ewelina Ferenc and suka (lap fiddle) player Marta Solek, "delights audiences with joyful vocal harmonies, unusual instruments, and upbeat performances," write organizers in a news release. The group draws inspiration from Poland's cultural tapestry, blending traditional...
NEWFANE-The students of the senior capstone landscape architecture studio of the UMass-Amherst Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning (LARP) Department will present designs focused on the Route 30/West River Valley corridor. The public is invited to drop by to meet the students and to view and discuss their designs at the Union Hall in Newfane Village from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 1. The Windham Regional Commission (WRC) invited LARP faculty Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture Carolina Aragón and...
BRATTLEBORO-JoAnne Rogers has been a member of the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Auxiliary since 1993. "I joined the organization and was the manager of the gift shop and the coffee shop at BMH," says Rogers, the organization's current president, who remembers "so many wonderful ladies" with whom she has worked over the years. The names of members past and present are a who's who of Brattleboro women. "If you've lived in this town for very long, you'll likely remember the BMH...
PUTNEY-Joe Biden, the nation's top law enforcer, is breaking the Leahy Laws. According to the Washington Post: "The United States has quietly approved and delivered more than 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel since the Gaza war began Oct. 7, amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid" - making every single tax-paying American complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Who is responsible for arresting a sitting president who is...
NEWFANE-The Crowell Art Gallery at Moore Free Library, 23 West Street, will present Ahren Ahrenholz's "Objects" exhibition in May. Ahrenholtz has been making pottery since 1971, when he ran a pottery studio in Cornwall, England. After returning to the United States, "we had a 6-month-old baby and no money […] so I opened the pottery studio with my family in Kensington, California, which is just north of Berkeley," he said. They stayed there until 1981. "I wasn't in love with...
BRATTLEBORO-Talk to anybody about Vermont's housing crisis, and the subject of high construction costs will inevitably come up. It currently costs about $500,000 to build a modest apartment or small home in the state, according to the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA). That's up from about $370,000 in 2022. High interest rates, supply shortages, and a lack of labor all contribute to these high costs. The result is a widening gap between what's needed (VHFA estimates 40,000 more homes will...
WINDHAM-Parents in the Windham School District, who sought via a lawsuit to have the district pay tuition to send students elsewhere, have had a majority of their claims dismissed. But Windham Superior Court Judge David Barra allowed a central part of the suit to continue - the allegation that Windham Elementary School, which last spring had fewer than 20 students, failed to meet the state's quality standards for education. "The only claim that remains is [...] for deprivation of the...
BELLOWS FALLS-Greater Falls Connections (GFC), a substance misuse prevention coalition located in Bellows Falls, thanks the community members from Rockingham and Westminster for their funding support. The funds allow GFC to pay for staff and address needs that are not covered by federal and state grants as well as the capacity to react to emerging and pressing community needs around substances and their misuse. GFC collaborates with the local school district and area community partners, and works directly with community...
-The Leland & Gray softball team has a new coach this season. Mike Bingham, who assisted longtime coach Tammy Claussen last season, took the helm when Claussen decided to step down after 23 years of leading the Rebels. But no matter who is in charge, there are some things that never change in Rebel Nation. This small school always seems to produce hard working young people who never back down from a challenge and always strive to be better at...
BRATTLEBORO-As Vermont's 54th Green Up Day approaches on Saturday, May 4, I want to take a moment to express our deepest gratitude to Connie Burton of Burton Car Wash for her unwavering support of our local Green Up efforts. For years Connie has generously sponsored a car wash, donating the proceeds directly to organizers. These funds have a significant impact, supporting the Green Up banner on Main Street as well as local tabling events, food, and more. In recognition of...
BRATTLEBORO-I just sat down to make a list of the pros and cons of our current trash/recycling/compost curbside program versus the mechanized program proposed by Casella Waste Systems. I believe it tips heavily in favor of our current program. Almost 15 years ago, our residents were up in arms over a proposed pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) system. A townwide vote was taken and PAYT was soundly defeated. Then, over a number of years, an extensive education program and curbside pilot was undertaken.
Beatriz Fantini is a professor emerita at SIT, where she worked for 50 years. She is a freelance writer and has published short stories in her native Bolivia and in Venezuela. Her husband, Alvino Fantini, is an SIT professor emeritus. WEST DUMMERSTON-Mother's Day is probably one of the most popular holidays we celebrate. It is a special day to honor the most important person in a family. My perspective, of course, might be old-fashioned, but I am 84 and was...
Annamarie Pluhar is executive director and founder of Sharing Housing, Inc., a nonprofit organization promoting shared housing as a viable and enjoyable answer to the joint crises of housing affordability and loneliness facing our society through education and advocacy. To read excerpts from the forum on housing to which Pluhar is responding, see "Crushing the housing crisis" [Voices Live! Forum, April 10]. BRATTLEBORO-It was enlightening to hear Rep. Becca Balint describe the omnibus housing bill she is working on with...
HALIFAX-I was so pleased to see that Sens. Hashim and Harrison voted to support S.258, An act relating to the management of fish and wildlife. This common-sense bill would make wildlife management decisions in Vermont more democratic, fair, and humane. Updating the constituency of the Fish and Wildlife Board would make it more democratic. Especially when the agency is funded significantly by the General Fund, and their mandate is to manage wildlife for all Vermonters, the board should have broader...
Lisa Chase is retired and lives in Putney when not exploring national parks. PUTNEY-If you find yourself frowning too much and assuming the worst of your fellow Americans, I have this to offer as a corrective. I don't get out much. Winters are long here at home in Vermont. No snow, no bitter cold, no struggle to mark the days. So my daughter and granddaughter challenged me to join them for a week in Utah, hiking - gently, they promised.
BRATTLEBORO-On a recent Monday night, The Commons stopped in to see and hear what all the fuss was about at the weekly Open Mic at the River Garden Marketplace at 157 Main St. There, 15 or so musicians - guitarists, banjo players, pianists, accordion players, and many singers - each awaited the chance to perform a 10-minute set of two or three songs for an audience of approximately 25 people. Kevin Parry, a local musician and teacher who has run...
BRATTLEBORO-The Commons met Brattleboro Women's Chorus Director Becky Graber at her home recently to talk about the chorus's upcoming spring concert, her long career, and what this repertoire means to her. Here's an excerpt of the conversation. Victoria Chertok: Tell me about your early career. How did you start the Brattleboro Women's Chorus? Becky Graber: I moved to Brattleboro in 1977, straight out of college. There was a folk music scene that was welcoming, and one of my first jobs...
BRATTLEBORO-Samirah Evans of Brattleboro (samirahevans.com) will be a special guest soloist joining the Brattleboro Women's Chorus for the group's May 12 concert. The Commons caught up with her by phone recently to find out more. Here's an excerpt from the conversation. * * * Victoria Chertok: Hi, Samirah! What have you been up to musically? Samirah Evans: I'm happy to be coming up on 10 years of teaching jazz vocals at Williams College. I just completed my last day presenting...
Green Mountain Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (GMRSVP) would like to thank the voters of Windham County for supporting our program with your vote on Town Meeting Day. The appropriations approved on March 4 will help to support the volunteers who are delivering meals, providing companionship and transportation to homebound seniors, serving community meals, stocking food pantries and much, much more. Your support is greatly appreciated! GMRSVP is an AmeriCorps Senior program engaging people 55 and over in volunteer service...
Michael Knapp is a software developer and entrepreneur who is passionate about social justice. GUILFORD-As a Jewish Vermonter who has spent the past three decades working to improve our synagogue's safety and counter local antisemitism, I feel compelled to clarify that concerns about local antisemitism are neither unfounded nor a mere reflex. They are deeply anchored in the stark realities of our history and the present-day situation. Recent letters to the editor, including those by Jewish authors, deny the reality...
BELLOWS FALLS-In May, a community group will begin unveiling its work on a $37,000 study of the Native rock carvings next to the Vilas Bridge on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River. The Kchi Pôntegok Project (kit-see pohn-tuh-guk), named after the Abenaki expression for "at the Great Falls," which refers to the location of the petroglyphs. The group is at the point of wrapping up the project and members are planning public presentations of their findings. The group will...
BRATTLEBORO-The Brattleboro Women's Chorus spring concert, "Better Days," will showcase powerful and poignant songs by composers hailing from the African diaspora and will feature Brattleboro's own Samirah Evans as guest soloist. According to Graber, the concert, which takes place on Sunday, May 12, at the Latchis Theatre, was inspired by the teachings and repertoire of singer and composer Ysaÿe Barnwell and the work of the Black Lives Matter Commissioning Project. "The chorus aims to honor the rich cultural heritage and...
Annie Landenberger is a freelance writer who contributes regularly to these pages. WILLIAMSVILLE-I marched with my mother in the first Earth Day Parade, on April 22, 1970, just a week before my 16th birthday. Manhattan's Fifth Avenue was all rainbows and flowers, picnics, and Frisbee games: we thronged - 100,000 of us - to march from 59th Street, at the southern edge of Central Park, to Washington Square Park, while fueled vehicles were held at bay. For a teenager who'd...