VERNON - The Vernon Community Market, a program of the Vernon Recreation Department, is seeking vendors for its 2024 summer season, which will open Thursday, June 6. It will continue the first and third Thursdays of each month, June through Sept. 19. It will be closed for the Fourth of July holiday.
The market's hours will be from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Vernon Rec Area, 607 Pond Rd. The market will feature J & B's Curbside Café, handmade crafts, farm goods, baked goods, flowers, and more.
For more information on registering to be a vendor at the market, contact the Vernon Recreation Department at [email protected], 802-254-9251, or [email protected].
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MARLBORO-The Green Mountain Conservancy (GMC) has been granted $285,879 by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board toward the purchase and conservation of the Old Oaks Headwaters Preserve, 200 acres of forested land in Marlboro. In a news release, GMC said it "is working to raise the rest of the...
BRATTLEBORO-Exquisitely crafted instruments, made in Brattleboro. That's what visitors can see, hear, and even play when they visit the Estey Organ Museum (EOM) this season. A new exhibit has been created by Board member Rev. Craig L. Cowing, retired clergy from Rocky Hill, Connecticut. This special display highlights patterns...
BRATTLEBORO-The Last Laugh, a 1924 German silent film drama about a hotel doorman demoted to washroom attendant, will be screened with live music on Friday, May 10, at 8 p.m., at Epsilon Spires, 190 Main St. The screening will feature live accompaniment on the venue's Estey pipe organ by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film musician. The story of The Last Laugh, regarded as one of German director F. W. Murnau's best pictures, is told entirely in visual terms,
ROCKINGHAM-A field trip led by members of the Rockingham Conservation Commission (RCC) will discuss invasive plants and restoration management on Saturday, May 11, from 10 a.m. to noon, at 409 Saxtons River Rd. The Windham County Natural Resources Conservation District worked with the RCC and local volunteers, including Americorps members, in May 2016 to plant several hundred native trees along the Saxtons River in Rockingham. The site was a FEMA buyout, a 3.4 acre parcel that had three mobile homes...
Obituaries • Jo A. (Seppala) Bailey, 74, of Vernon. Died April 24, 2024, surrounded by her loving family. Jo was born on Oct. 16, 1949 to the late William and Violet (Wojchick) Seppala. She graduated from St. Michael's School in Brattleboro in 1967. She married Philip F. Bailey in Brattleboro on Feb. 8, 1969. She worked for many years in Brattleboro at local businesses which included The Book Press and Dunham Shoe Company, and owned and operated PJ's Chocolates. She...
BRATTLEBORO-Brattleboro Savings & Loan (BS&L) presents its annual "Shred Day" on Saturday, May 18, from 9 a.m. to noon at their main branch at 221 Main St. This is a free event in which the public is encouraged to bring their confidential and sensitive papers from this past year - such as old bank statements and canceled or unused checks - that need to be disposed of securely. Individuals can bring up to five boxes to be shredded. BS&L offers...
BRATTLEBORO-For the finale of its 25th anniversary year, Sarasa Ensemble presents "Birds of a Feather," with works by Rosenmüller, Reincken, Westhoff, Schmelzer, Scheidt, and J. S. Bach's Harpsichord Concerto in E major. The concert is set for Friday, May 10, at 7 p.m., at the Brattleboro Music Center. The Sarasa Ensemble is a collective group of international instrumentalists and vocalists who perform classical music spanning the 17th to the 21st centuries on both period and modern instruments for diverse communities.
WEST DUMMERSTON-Lydia's Friends, the organization that supports the Lydia Taft Pratt Library, will host its annual Geranium Festival, Silent Auction, and Book Sale fundraiser on Saturday, May 18, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Dummerston Community Center, 150 West St., rain or shine. Lydia Taft Pratt Library Director Dena Marger said in a news release that "it is vital to the success of a small-town library like ours that we have the support and advocacy that comes from...
BELLOWS FALLS-Stage 33 Live, 33 Bridge St., welcomes the return of London-born, Oxford-educated Rupert Wates and his American acoustic folk on Sunday, May 19, at 7 p.m. Tom Pirozzoli will open. "With the lyricism of Gordon Lightfoot and the attention to craft of Richard Thompson, Rupert's highly developed songwriting is by turns vulnerable and bold, featuring intricate lyrics and memorable melodies, exceptional guitar skills, and a smooth, expressive voice," say organizers in a news release. He's released 11 solo albums...
WEST BRATTLEBORO-Theatre Adventure's Wednesday Troupe presents Alice In Wonderland Wednesday through Friday, May 15–17, with three performances at the West Village Meeting House, 29 South St. Organizers say the Theatre Adventure Wednesday Troupe "features a wonderfully diverse cast with great breadth of self-expression." They will present an original adaptation of Lewis Carroll's tale that "inspires imaginative thinking, creative problem-solving, and a delight in the unexpected." Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865. More than 150 years later, Alice's adventures...
PUTNEY-Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present singer-songwriter Carsie Blanton and her Handsome Band, plus fellow singer-songwriter Milton at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill, on Thursday, May 9, at 7 p.m. Blanton has been described as a songwriter with "hooks, chutzpah, and revolutionary optimism," say organizers in a news release. Inspired by artist-activists including Nina Simone and Woody Guthrie, her catalog includes American popular song from folk and swing to pop-punk protest anthems. Her "unique mix of hook-driven pop...
BRATTLEBORO-This afternoon at the Co-op, when I greeted a fellow with whom, for years, I have enjoyed mutually friendly encounters, I got ambushed. Without prelude or preliminaries, he accused me of hating Palestinians. Blind-sided, confused, offended, I wanted an explanation. "I read what you wrote in the paper," he said. "I suggest that you read more carefully," I replied. Writing about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I knew, would be like walking across a minefield. In an opinion piece, I discussed suppression...
BELLOWS FALLS-Heartfelt Seeds and Wild Goose Players will host a book signing and Mother's Day tea party to celebrate Lorna McMaster's Zoe and the Seed Garden on Sunday, May 12, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Wild Goose Players, 7 Westminster St. Illustrated by the author with 16 needle felted wool panels, this 14-chapter book for children follows Zoe on her visits to Auntie's seed farm, where she embarks on a journey of learning to find hope for the future...
UNITY, N.H.-I want to commend Tim Wessel for his sincere attempt to address Hamas's terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2024. Israel should not be left off the hook for its brutal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. Wessel tried to make that clear. He also tried to make clear that Hamas shouldn't be left off the hook, either. But, sadly, trying to inject nuance into the complex discussion of the Mideast crisis is drowned out by overzealous voices...
BRATTLEBORO-A former Selectboard member has announced that he will be running for state representative for District 9 (formerly District 3). Ian Goodnow will seek the Democratic Party nomination for the seat after after having served on the board for the past four years, the last two as chair. He stepped down from the board at the end of his term in March. He is a practicing attorney at Costello, Valente & Gentry P.C., also of Brattleboro. This week, incumbent Rep.
Karl Meyer has been a stakeholder, intervenor, and Fish and Aquatics Studies team member in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing proceeding for the Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Project since 2012. Meyer is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is accepting written comments on FirstLight's application for a new FERC license to run Northfield Mountain for another 50 years, until 5 p.m. on June 3. The agency encourages submissions by email to...
BRATTLEBORO-John Ungerleider has built a career at SIT and elsewhere around the false equivalency that the people of Israel and Palestine could achieve peace if they would come together to talk as coequal partners. This normalization paints the Israeli occupation of Palestine as a benevolent and paternalistic system that would somehow evolve into peace if everyone could just sit in a circle, play guitars, and talk. It requires the occupied - who have been displaced and dispossessed for more than...
-Last week saw the season openers for the two local schools offering Ultimate Disc as a varsity sport this year - Brattleboro and Leland & Gray. On April 29, Leland & Gray lost to Burr & Burton, 15-1, while Brattleboro rallied to beat Mill River, 12-10, on May 2. The Rebels and the Bears then faced each other in Townshend on May 3, and the Bears came away with a 12-7 win. These two schools share a common bond. While...
BRATTLEBORO-After serving 12 years in the Legislature, Rep. Tristan Toleno, D-Brattleboro, is retiring from state politics and ramping up his career as an organizational consultant. Toleno, 52, said he feels the need to return to full-time work and build up some wealth and stability before retirement. "It's a personal decision to prioritize my family and future security," he told The Commons. "I spent most of my whole adult working life in food service. I loved that career. But it wasn't...
While a mandala may seem pure art, this configuration of images and symbols guides focus - and thus aids meditation - in certain Eastern spiritual practices. Mandalas appear ubiquitously in nature; they're created in sundry materials, and they're rendered in paints and other media on various surfaces. One manifestation is the sand mandala, which is created - and destroyed - over time and ritualistically. Originating in India, the techniques of sand mandala painting were taught by Buddha Shakyamuni in the...
BRATTLEBORO-How to murder a school: Trash talk it and undermine board members; repeatedly vote to close it. Persuade parents to withdraw their students; drive out dedicated, talented staff. Sue it. Jean Anne Kiewel Brattleboro This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons. This piece, published in print in the Voices section or as a column in the news sections, represents the opinion of the writer. In the newspaper and on this website, we strive to ensure that opinions...
BRATTLEBORO-Several recent commentaries in The Commons about the situation in Gaza are deeply problematic. And while many people have responded to these opinions to help set the record straight, there are still not enough voices decrying Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. It is deeply offensive to present Jewish opinion about the events in Gaza as monolithic. Any claim that suggests all Jewish people - in Israel or in the U.S. - share the same point of view about the...
Chloe Learey, a speaker on the panel at the Voices Live forum, is the executive director of Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development in Brattleboro. She serves as the steering committee chair of the Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance, as well as on the boards of the Vermont Community Loan Fund and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. BRATTLEBORO-The recent "Voices Live: A Conversation on Homelessness" at the Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro could have taken place in any town in...
ROCKINGHAM-The study by a Wyoming EMS consulting firm has recommended that three fire departments - Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, and Rockingham - be consolidated into one with one town-wide fire district. AP Triton presented the results of a feasibility study of the three local fire departments at a special joint board meeting of the Selectboard and the village trustees of Bellows Falls and Saxtons River. The Bellows Falls Fire Department employs a fire chief and on-call firefighters, while both village...
BRATTLEBORO-Chloe Learey, executive director of the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development in West Brattleboro, has a vision to build 300 units of diverse housing on the center's 180-acre campus. Guided by the belief that an inclusive community is ultimately healthier for everyone, Learey's goal is to provide housing that is affordable to many people with different needs. "I imagine a neighborhood where you don't say, 'Oh, there's the poor people's building. There's the old people's building,'" Learey...
BRATTLEBORO-Singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy is having a moment in the spotlight. Her new EP The Sun Doesn't Think was released on April 26, less than a year after her critically acclaimed album Echo the Diamond emerged to garner national attention from The New York Times, NPR, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and many others. "While I was on tour for Echo the Diamond, I was writing this EP," says Glaspy, who will perform "Margaret Glaspy: Unplugged" at the Stone Church this...
BRATTLEBORO-The recent eclipse that Vermonters were able to experience was beyond breathtaking. My husband and I enjoyed the 2017 eclipse together with friends. This year, we were looking forward to enjoying totality or getting as close to it as possible and sharing it with our daughter, who was born in 2019. We made it up to St. Johnsbury and waited in anticipation. The darkness, the silence, and the temperature drop during totality - followed by the cheers and applause -
PUTNEY-Steven K-Brooks responded to my letter defending the integrity of Jewish Voice for Peace by alleging that the organization "parrots Hamas." He contends that the comparison I made to Mandela's peaceful transition away from apartheid in South Africa was wrong. And he dismissed my reference to the Torah, which advocates "no truth, no justice, no peace." I cited the Torah as a guide to understanding the International Court of Justice's ruling that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. What K-Brooks...
BELLOWS FALLS-I see as a huge problem the number of apartments and houses being used as short-term vacation rentals instead of by "real Vermonters" who need places to live. I read of a wealthy young couple who had purchased more than a dozen properties here in Vermont - all for their own Airbnb profits. I'm not sure how to cap Airbnb offerings here, but in my own little town of 3,000 people, there are nearly a thousand Airbnb spaces. Some...
PUTNEY-As a physician and a hospice volunteer, I read with interest the recent article highlighting a person who chose to end their life with a prescribed medication. It was most surprising to me, however, that the article did not mention another option for people at the final stage of life. Certainly, very few people would choose to end their life in prolonged pain and suffering, and thankfully there are multiple other options at present. People who feel it is their...
BRATTLEBORO-If there can be an obituary for a piece of legislation, then this is it: H.829, we hardly knew ye. H.829 was enthusiastically passed by the Vermont House of Representatives, 97–42 but was killed in the Senate. From the beginning of the legislative session, H.829 was spoken about reverently by its supporters in Windham County. Its intent was to increase affordable housing in a number of ways by investing $900 million over the next 10 years. But where would the...
PUTNEY-Twenty shows - one per week - strikingly diverse and all outdoors. That's what the Next Stage Bandwagon Series offers again this summer. Next Stage Arts Project Executive Director Keith Marks promises this summer's offerings will surpass last year's record-breaker program for attendance and reach. A Covid-driven idea, the Bandwagon Series began as a way to keep the Putney-based producing venue going during the pandemic shutdown, by providing a way to bring people of all ages together safely for music...
Fric Spruyt is a property owner and property manager in Brattleboro and a member of the town's energy committee. BRATTLEBORO-It choked me up to hear that the Congressional Gold Medal has been awarded collectively to all Rosie the Riveters. They emerged at a time when we as a country needed to pull together, set aside our differences and prejudices for the common good. These days, unanimous support for anything in our divided society is a minor miracle, yet our deeply...
BRATTLEBORO-As the U.S. Supreme Court deliberates on whether towns have the constitutional authority to ban homeless encampments on public property, a Town Hall gathering organized under the auspices of a new 'America 250' initiative invites the public to share points of view on this topic in a carefully constructed civil debate led by "Constitutional Wrangler" Meg Mott. The Town Hall poses the question: 'Is it Unconstitutional to Ban Homeless Encampments?' It will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on...