Jane DeNeefe [“Evolution of a writer,” Arts, Nov. 23] is an Alabama treasure. Her take on the rock-and-roll scene in 1960s Huntsville is just a sliver of her insights into Alabama history.
Thank you, Vermont, for adding the edge that brought out these most recent publications.
...Two Readsboro men are dead after a deer hunting accident near Howe Pond Road last Saturday morning. According to Vermont State Police, 39-year-old Benjamin Birch was accidentally shot by a fellow hunter, 49-year-old Timothy Bolognani, while chasing a deer. Bolognani then shot himself, state police said. State police said...
The owners of Mike & Terry's Exit 4 Sunoco on Route 5, near Exit 4 of Interstate 91 and the Dummerston/Putney town line, want to add a Dunkin' Donuts store with a drive-through window to the site. Sandri Realty of Greenfield, Mass., wants to build a 924-square-foot addition to...
We appreciate having Jane DeNeefe back in Alabama [“Evolution of a writer,” Arts, Nov. 23]. I recommend her book, Rocket City Rock and Soul, to those who enjoyed music in the 1960s and current music lovers. While reading, I enjoyed both reflecting back to the music I loved then and exploring in my mind the music I love now. YouTube got a work out because I found that you must listen to the music when you read the book. Be...
This is an open letter to Evan Twarog, who is 14 years old and lives in Keene, and whose dad works at Vermont Yankee. Evan wrote a letter to The Commons [“What is my family going to do if VY shuts down?” Nov. 16] in which he said that his dad isn't “the monster that the media and anti-VY groups make him and other VY employees out to be.” Evan said that if VY closes, their life will change, and...
When I was a kid, I would watch the sun sink into the mountains at twilight. As the shadows came out of the woods, a horrible dread would fill my soul. Bigfoot was out there. I just knew it. He was lurking outside our cabin waiting for it to get really dark. Of course, it was easier to believe in Bigfoot back then. I was a kid, and the world was new, filled with mystery and endless possibility. There was...
In response to Evan Twarog [“What is my family going to do if VY shuts down?” Letters, Nov. 16]: What a wonderfully written letter in support of your family, Evan. It is obvious you are a great student with the gift of reason, an open mind, and a solid family life. I trust you know how blessed you are and that you have the foundation for a fantastic life ahead. Regarding your concern for your family in light of the...
Join Brattleboro native Philip Galanes, New York Times advice columnist of the Social Q's, on Friday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m., to discuss his newest book, Social Q's: How to Survive the Quirks, Quandaries and Quagmires of Today, at Brooks Memorial Library. Since its debut in June of 2008, Galanes' Social Q's column has established itself as a fixture in the newspaper and has quickly become one of its most popular features. In addition to his weekly column, he appears...
Your article about the Estey Organ Factory [“First decade,” Arts and Entertainment, Nov. 2] was most interesting. It also brought back memories I have of working there, for a short time, in 1950. Here is one of the stories told to me at that time. Several years before I started work, a shabbily dressed man came to the factory and told a salesman that he would like to look over some of the organs. The salesman, noting his obvious worn...
“Getting to Zero” is the theme selected by the World AIDS Campaign to commemorate this year's World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. The new theme echoes the UNAIDS vision of achieving “Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.” The AIDS Project of Southern Vermont (APSV) will host a community event on Thursday, Dec. 1, from noon to 1 p.m., at the River Garden. The event will open with a 10-minute candlelight vigil on the sidewalk, followed by a...
The Next Stage Arts Project begins its Community Artist Performance Series (CAPS) with Putney resident, pianist, and author Gordon Jones presenting an afternoon of Bach in a one-hour program of piano and harpsichord music followed by a reception and discussion with the artist. The performance, on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 3 p.m., will include selections from The Well-Tempered Clavier, The Goldberg Variations, and selected fugues from The Art of Fugue. A citizen of the United Kingdom, Jones has made a...
Obituaries Editor's note: The Commons will publish brief biographical information for citizens of Windham County and others, on request, as community news, free of charge. • Robert “Bob” G. Barnes, 68, of Northfield, Mass. Died Nov. 20 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, N.H. Brother of Richard and his wife, Judy, of Hinsdale, N.H.; and Raymond and his wife, Patti, of Northfield. Born in Greenfield, Mass, the son of the late Gerald and Erna (Bruhm) Barnes. His early years were spent...
Brattleboro Rotary Club holds 47th annual Christmas Tree Fundraiser BRATTLEBORO - On Nov. 26, the 47th annual Brattleboro Rotary Club Christmas Tree Fundraiser began. Since 1965, the Brattleboro Rotary Club has sold Christmas trees as a fundraiser for local community service projects. Vermont-grown trees of all shapes and sizes will be sold 1-7 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays in front of Brattleboro Bowl on Putney Road. Sales will continue until the trees...
The devastation the surrounding towns sustained during Tropical Storm Irene prompted Leland & Gray's principal, Dr. Dorinne Dorfman, to seek outside donations to help provide free hot breakfast for all our 380 middle- and high-school students. The majority of students who attend Leland & Gray live in towns hit hard by Tropical Storm Irene - Brookline, Dover, Jamaica, Marlboro, Newfane, Stratton, and Wardsboro. We were overjoyed when nearly 60 individuals, schools, and organizations from all over the county donated $16,740.
The Red Clover Rovers Turkey Trot has grown into a great Thanksgiving tradition in Brattleboro. The 5-kilometer road race attracted 199 runners this year, and the men's winner was none other than Jacob Ellis, the top runner this year for the Brattleboro Colonels' cross-country team. A knee injury at the Thetford Invitational in early October cost him a shot at contending for a state title. Instead, Ellis earned bragging rights by winning his first Turkey Trot. Ellis held off Frankie...
Tropical Storm Irene caused $7 million worth of damage to roads in the town of Halifax. The town, population 800, has an annual budget of $700,000. State Rep. Ann Manwaring, D-Wilmington, represents Halifax. As she put it: “That's a cash flow problem.” Since September, town officials had no choice but to rob Peter to pay Paul - that is to say, they've been using some property tax money slated for the state property tax education fund to pay $2 million...
As part of its food sovereignty campaign, Rural Vermont continues its new series highlighting the traditional foods and connections that make each Vermont community unique. On Friday, Dec. 16, at 6 p.m. in West Townshend, join neighbors and friends for an old-fashioned family-style meal that celebrates the area's agricultural roots, and then stay for a conversation about what makes this food system special, and what changes could make it even better. The event is free. RSVP by email or phone...
The Historical Society is searching for published authors to participate in an “Authors of Dummerston” exhibit scheduled to open mid-January, 2012. The exhibit is open to published authors who either wrote their books while in residence in town or who now living in Dummerston but had their books published while living elsewhere. A display of books by deceased authors such as Al Morgan, Rudyard Kipling, and Frederic Van de Water will be included. Authors will be asked to display their...
The River Singers Community Choir will perform songs of joy, health, love, and peace to celebrate winter traditions, and the turning of the year, at its annual December concerts. The 95-voice, multigenerational choir, led by Mary Cay Brass, will perform its mix of eclectic music from many cultural and musical traditions on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m and Sunday, Dec. 4 at 3 p.m. at the White Church on Main Street. The concerts typically open with songs to celebrate...
Atamaniuk Funeral Home is sponsoring its 15th annual Holiday Support Program and A Service of Remembrance on Tuesday, Dec. 6, for bereaved families and friends. The free event will again be held at Carl M. Dessaint VFW Post 1034, 40 Black Mountain Rd., at 7 p.m. Celebrating the holidays and special family traditions without a loved one is one of the most strenuous events for a grieving family. Speakers will share specific ways of coping with the holiday season and...
The photos and video footage of Lt. John Pike of the University of California at Davis Police casually hosing down a group of unarmed, nonviolent protesters with pepper spray on Nov. 18 has been compared to the fire hoses and police dogs turned on civil rights protesters in Birmingham in the early 1960s. That comparison is not far from the truth. Undeterred by the cameras recording this act, Pike calmly walked up and down the line of about two dozen...
The slogan “Buy Local” has been the mantra for independently owned companies in Vermont for more than a decade, but at a gathering for a left-leaning statewide business group, members were told that now-ubiquitous retail concept isn't enough to help businesses endure tough times. “Invest Local” is the logical next step toward creating a viable community economy, according to a Brooklyn-based journalist who spoke at the recent annual fall conference for Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility at the Mount Snow...
The Occupy Wall Street movement has sparked a new wave of protest, especially by young people who are finally letting the world know that they have had enough: enough corporate greed, enough of ever-waning job opportunities, enough environmental degradation, enough passivity. The focus of this loosely structured protest is the immorality and criminal behavior of the largest and most profitable corporations in the world. The statements from many of the Wall Street occupiers make the clear connections between the extreme...
Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee has announced its annual test of 37 sirens within the nuclear power plant's 10-mile emergency planning zone. The test will take place Thursday, Dec. 8, at 1 p.m. The pole-mounted sirens are located in the Vermont towns of Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, and Vernon, and in the New Hampshire towns of Chesterfield, Hinsdale, Richmond, Swanzey, and Winchester. In Massachusetts, the sirens are located in Gill, Colrain, Leyden, Bernardston and Northfield. The three-minute siren testing is being conducted...
Let me say, first, that, the way it's often used, “affordable housing” is not a helpful term. That's because the term “affordable” is based on no particular standard. Any housing can be affordable - or not. It depends entirely on income. A $3,000-a-month apartment is affordable, if your income's $120,000. So I'm going to call the category of housing we're discussing here “low-cost” or “low-rent.” There is, though, an accepted standard that takes into account both cost and income. It...
The town of Halifax is slowly making progress in repairing roads that were destroyed by Tropical Storm Irene. According to Selectboard member Edee Edwards, Amidon Road between the Massachusetts line and Franklin Hill Road has been reopened. Work continues on Green River Road between Thurber Road and the Guilford Town line, and on the middle of Stowe Mountain Road. These roads are still closed for construction. Contingent upon weather, Edwards said that Stowe Mountain Road is expected to reopen by...
Two memorial concerts are planned to assist Brattleboro musician Coretta Corbin Bliss, who lost her 17-year-old son, Daniel Bliss, and her mother, artist Rita Corbin, in a Nov. 6 car accident in Massachusetts. To help Bliss and her family deal with funeral and other costs - and to celebrate the lives of Daniel and Rita - musicians have donated their time for a fundraising concert at the River Garden on Main Street in Brattleboro from 4 to 8 p.m. on...
The family of an elderly Marlboro woman who died of hypothermia in 2007 will have their day in court. The family of Gladys Kennery may now have a jury trial in a civil action against Vermont State Troopers Travis Valcourt and Francis LaBombard III, after they assured Kennery's daughter, Lorraine Kennery, that they would check on her mother, and then checked the wrong house.According to court documents in the Vermont Supreme Court decision last week that overturned a superior court...