BRATTLEBORO - Brattleboro Area Hospice will offer its fall volunteer rraining beginning Thursday, Sept. 6 and continuing until Nov. 15. The trainings run from 6-9 p.m., and are held at BAH, 191 Canal St. Applications are due Aug. 17.
Hospice volunteers help and support neighbors and their families who are living with life-threatening illnesses throughout Windham County. Help may range from errands and gardening to emotional and physical support.
Volunteers report the work is challenging and very rewarding. Training topics include Hospice philosophy, nuts and bolts of volunteering, ethical issues, personal attitudes toward death and dying, and grief issues. Presenters include professionals from the community as well as Hospice staff and volunteers. For an application, call 802-257-0775. There is a $40 contribution requested to cover the cost of training materials.
...The English language is full of euphemisms: for example, Vermont Yankee's “Emergency Planning Zone” as mentioned in Richard January's letter [July 11]. I won't quibble with the actual title of the zone in question. I do, however, question the purpose of the “Emergency Planning Zone.” If it isn't to...
Earlier this month, celebrated food writer Andrea Chesman came to Everyone's Books in Brattleboro to talk pickles. Facing a table in the bookstore set out with a tantalizing spread of varieties of homemade pickles for the tasting, paired with palette-cleansing crackers, an eager, pickle-crazy crowd was excited to try...
August is a magnificent month for many reasons, not the least of which is that the zucchini crop seems still controllable. An early-morning search in the garden, gingerly parting those large prickly leaves, produces delicate green fingers of squash, a smattering of glorious buttery blossoms with not a late-season monster in sight. Zucchini grow at an alarming rate. Those lovely blossoms can turn into 8-inch fruit in just a few days. If you are slow to pick them, you end...
Obituaries • Nancy J. Burbank, 65, of Townshend. Died July 25 at home. Wife of John H. Burbank for 33 years. Mother of Melissa Burbank-Gonzalez and her husband, David Gonzalez, of Dover, N.H., and the late Mark Dennis Shuey. Stepmother of Patricia Burbank Lloyd of Audenried, Pa., Sandra Burbank Zarek of Cheshire, Mass., and the late Yvonne Burbank Hudson. Born in Montpelier, the daughter of Helen (Seckington) and the late William Dillon, she was raised in Brattleboro and graduated from...
The third annual Northeast USA Rice Conference will be held at Akaogi Farm in Westminster West on Saturday, August 4, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is the second straight year that Akaogi Farm, with assistance from the McCouch Rice Lab at Cornell University, will host this conference, which features presentations by renowned authors, researchers, and farmers. “Rice is still a very new crop to the Northeast,” said conference coordinator Mia Murphy, “and we need to consider both how...
Blues and jazz vocalist Samirah Evans of Brattleboro has chosen the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund (VDRF) to be a beneficiary of sales from her song, Strength in Numbers, available for purchase at www.cdbaby.com. In 2005, the flooding brought on by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans destroyed the home of Evans and her husband, Chris Lenois. The couple ended up relocating to Lenois' hometown of Brattleboro. Six years later, one day before the anniversary of Katrina, they watched Tropical Storm Irene...
I moved here almost three years ago. I am not originally from New England, but I lived in northern Vermont several years ago. My family and I have never had any issues with residents of a particular area that we have chosen to move to. We have always gotten along with the residents, respected the community, and tried to fit in. That is to say, until our decision to move to Bellows Falls. We came to Bellows Falls for medical...
Senior Solutions (formerly the Council on Aging for Southeastern Vermont) has long had a local office in the Brattleboro Senior Center. Senior citizens gather weekdays at the center for activities and meals, where they can meet easily and privately with Senior Solutions staff. Some arrive via public transportation directly from and back home. Others park their vehicles in the Senior Lot. Some cannot walk easily or far. Someone has decided to move this Senior Solutions office to the Brattleboro Municipal...
For 37 years, the Vermont Jazz Center (VJC) has presented its summer jazz workshop, encouraging students from down the street and around the world to hone their improvisational and musicianship skills while getting away to a country setting. On Thursday, Aug. 9, at 8 pm, VJC presents the summer workshop faculty concert, where teacher/musicians get to show their stuff. The concert features vocalists Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton, Howard Brofsky and Jeff Galindo on trumpet, Scott Mullett and Jake Whitesell...
About 2,700 gallons of water from the spent fuel pool at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant drained into a wastewater system on July 22. The 300,000 gallon pool contains 2,500 spent fuel assemblies removed from the reactor core. The spent fuel assemblies are submerged below more than 20 feet of water. The water drained about six inches over the course of about 30 minutes when employees who were working on the fuel pool cleanup system left drain valves open. Operators...
Main Street Arts is offering two opportunities for adults and teens to explore painting in August. Matt Peake will offer a Plein Air painting workshop on Sunday, Aug. 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a fee of $42 for members and $56 for non-members. The group will meet at Main Street Arts for a demonstration and strategy session, then travel to a nearby scenic spot to paint (with pastels or water colors) or draw with graphite/charcoal. Outdoor easels...
A short list of some of my favorite summer sippers: • 2011 Anton Bauer, Grüner Veltliner, “Gmork,” Wagram, Austria: We tried all of the entry-level Grüners available to us when the 2011s were released, and this one had the perfect trifecta: great flavors, long finish, and tons of energy - wow! Flavors include tart Granny Smith apples, lime zest, fresh peas, and a beautiful white pepper finish that just goes on and on. Speaking of peas, get some and try...
The dog days of summer are upon us, and they certainly affect how and what we eat and drink. As a wine lover, I look forward to the changing seasons guiding my wine selections. I look for wines that pair with the settings in which I'll enjoy a glass and the foods that we'll be consuming. Now is the height of my “summer sippers” season. What makes a wine a candidate for the summer sipper short list? First, and probably...
Two Windham County projects are among the recipients of seven Vermont Community Development Program grants totaling $1.9 million that were announced by Gov. Peter Shumlin and Commerce and Community Development Secretary Lawrence Miller at a ceremony July 27 in Morristown. The town of Brattleboro will be getting $325,000 for a loan to Carbon Harvest Energy, which will complete work on an agricultural facility and create nine new jobs in the process. Located at the Windham Solid Waste Management District facility...
It's easy to take for granted how markedly different Vermont's attitude toward voting and elections is, compared to the rest of the nation's. It's easy to register to vote in Vermont, and registration drives at sites from schools to nursing homes happen regularly. Early voting takes place six weeks before an election, and voters can cast a ballot ahead of Election Day for any reason they offer. No photo ID is required at polling places (a good thing, as Vermont...
Even if you're one of the lucky ones who has air conditioning in your house during the summer heat waves, it's pretty likely you want your meals to be as low-maintenance as possible. It's great that all these lovely vegetables are available this time of the year so you can make simple salads, but nobody but a rabbit wants to eat salad three times per day, every day. To make life more interesting, you could add some cheese to your...
Stand at the corner of Bridge and Depot streets near the train station, and look around. The contrast between what the landscape looked like in March, and what it looks like now, is amazing. Look toward Hinsdale, and you see green space instead of derelict buildings. Look across the street, and you see the Whetstone Station Restaurant and Brewery, the newest addition to the local dining scene. Look up the hill toward Malfunction Junction, and you see the new Brattleboro...
This Saturday is the 59th Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl and, for the first time since 2008, the game is back at Dartmouth College's Alumni Field. The annual match-up between the top high school graduates of Vermont and New Hampshire starts at 2:30 p.m. in Hanover, N.H., site of 48 previous Shrine games. Renovations to Alumni Field forced the game to McLeay-Royce Field in Windsor for the past three years. There's only one local representative on the Vermont squad this year,
Following are two recipes from Andrea Chesman's book. No-fail half-sour dill pickles Vinegar gives a kick start to the pickling process in these quick and easy recipe, guaranteeing success. If you've never tried fermented pickles, this is definitely the recipe to start with. You can multiply this recipe as many times as you like, but these pickles are best enjoyed at 1 to 2 weeks, so it makes sense to make small batches as the cucumber season progresses. (Makes about...
Choreographer Victoria Marks and filmmaker Ann Kaneko said they believe dance can become a civic conversation that can participate in the life of the town. On Thursday, Aug. 2, at 7 p.m at the Bellows Falls Opera House, Vermont Performance Lab (VPL) will be screening their work-in-progress documentary Action Conversations: Bellows Falls. The presentation is the culmination of a six-week Vermont Performance Lab residency led by Marks and Kaneko with teen and adult women from greater Bellows Falls. The event...
Tannins are a component found in the skins and pips (seeds) of red grapes. Since grape skins also provide a lot of flavor and color, the juice for red wines is often macerated, or left in contact with the skins to extract those desirable properties. The presence of tannins also lends a particular texture, or mouthfeel, to the resultant wine. You can tell that a wine is tannic if your mouth feels drier after you take a sip of wine.
I dressed for school, putting on my plaid polyester skirt, zipping it up. It fit fine, but how long would I be able to wear this school uniform? How long before I started to show? I put on a white blouse and my maroon sweater. I looked the same but didn't feel the same. All day long at school, I felt like I had a special secret inside. I couldn't wait to get home and call Kevin with the news.
Our foursome was a few holes into the round at the Purpoodock Club in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, when someone asked David Geary where the name “Purpoodock” came from. “It's from one of the Maine tribes,” he said. “It means: Where the wind is in your face - on every hole.'” What? This isn't a golf column? No worries. Although part of the purpose of the jaunt north was certainly to have a go-round on Geary's home course, it was more...
It's time we recognized all the benefits that we are getting from Vermont Yankee. First, there is the electricity, right? Didn't VY produce two-thirds of Vermont's electricity? Well...VY might have produced it, but they didn't provide it! Vermont Yankee is a merchant plant, selling electricity to the highest bidder, and it certainly didn't all go to Vermont. Why am I speaking in the past tense? Because since March 22, Vermont hasn't been buying any power from Vermont Yankee. Don't believe...
RE: “It's our job” [Viewpoint, July 25]: I wholeheartedly agree with Ryan Hockertlotz. I also contacted the Townshend selectboard and advised them that I thought the ordinance was illegal and didn't want to see my tax dollars wasted to defend it when challenged.
RE: “Single-payer health care works: Just visit a VA hospital and see” [Viewpoint, July 18]: As a disabled Vietnam veteran, I agree wholeheartedly with Robert Miller. The VA has provided great care for me since I first entered a VA hospital in Boston in 1969. The White River Junction VA is exceptional in the care they give our veterans. And as Mr. Miller states, the VA is not profit-driven so care is what its staff concentrates on. As for those...
RE: “Local Komen chapter shouldn't suffer consequences” [Letters, July 25]: The students and current football players at Penn State will suffer due to the horrible actions of a few. But suffer they must. Sometimes the innocent suffer from the punishment of those who did wrong. I happened to see the movie Pink Ribbons, Inc.; I will never again donate to any organization aligned with Komen. When such a small fraction of the money raised really goes to discovering the cause...
RE: “Eight possible sites for public housing” [July 25]: We started with a list, compiled by Stevens & Associates, of properties that might be available and were considered worth studying. Most were removed from the list because they were too expensive, too far from services, too hilly, no water, and other such reasons. The eight “survivors” will be carefully vetted, with a rough development plan provided for each. No decisions have been made at this time. As BHA Executive Director...
I wanted to pinch myself several times as I stood above the lower level of the airport. My gaze overlooked the overflowing immigration line and became glued to the large hand mudras within the Delhi airport. Why here and why now? Was it the letters that I exchanged for a short time with a high-school friend, Veenu, who traveled between India and the United States? Was it the poster-sized picture of the Taj Mahal that I purchased 10 years ago...
A 51-year-old Guilford woman who was the treasurer for the Algiers Fire District was convicted of embezzlement by a federal grand jury last week. According to the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, a federal jury in Brattleboro last Thursday found Sherry Roebuck guilty of federal program embezzlement and mail fraud after a two-day trial. These convictions stem from charges that Roebuck embezzled more than $80,000 from the fire district. Senior U.S. District Judge J. Garvan...
For the first time in more than a decade, Rockingham Old Home Days is back in The Square. The Great Falls Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Bellows Falls Downtown Development Alliance, the town of Rockingham, and the Old Home Days Committee teamed up bring this annual celebration back downtown. With the exception of an antique truck show at Bellows Falls Union High School, all the events scheduled on Saturday, Aug. 4, will be in and around The Square. The day...
Bill Kirchen, whose Commander Cody classic Hot Rod Lincoln drove into the Top Ten in 1972, will play a concert on Sunday, Aug. 5, at the Lower Theater of the Bellows Falls Opera House. The show is presented by Vermont Festivals, LLC, in association with Flying Under Radar and Kicking & Screaming. Known for his indelible Telecaster sound on Hot Rod Lincoln, Kirchen was a founding member of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. He's released eight critically acclaimed...
State senate hopeful Mary Cain's bright blazer adds spark to the atmosphere of the The Works Bakery Cafe in downtown Brattleboro. “It's critical to realize that the very same tools for managing a family, decision making, budgeting time and money are the same as being able to multitask in the field of politics,” said Cain reading from her two typed pages of talking points. “Encouraging women to run is critical to making family-friendly policies in the work place,” she said.
Downtown bakes under a summer's sun. Humid air sticks to the skin and clothes of pedestrians shuffling from one air-conditioned building to another. Inside Mocha Joe's, Windham County Senator Jeanette White drinks an iced coffee. While other patrons melt into their seats, White grins. Fresh from a presentation with fellow legislators to high-school students participating in the Governor's Institute - Current Issues and Youth Activism, White is animated. She talks about student free speech and the censoring of student newspapers.
This week, between the contributions from readers, comments from the website, and the usual mix of food for thought that we find for you, your editor was working with approximately three times the amount of material than he usually has for the Voices section. We are still working on a roundup of local viewpoints in the aftermath of the Colorado shooting, which should appear in next week's paper. We'll plan to run letters about the primary election in several batches.
Senator Peter Galbraith reads his 2010 campaign brochure. He checks over his list of campaign promises, assessing which ones he met in his first term. Settled on an overstuffed couch in his Townshend home, the former ambassador and author has swapped his customary suit and tie for shorts, a button-down shirt, and bright blue Crocs. In 2010, Galbraith promised to expand health care, attract investment and jobs to Windham County, advance a green-energy future, keep Vermont special by protecting its...