Music feeds the soul, but this year the Roots on the River Music Festival will help to feed the body as well.
Ray Massucco, Vermont Festivals LLC producer, has announced that this year’s nonprofit partner for the Roots on the River Music Festival is the Vermont Foodbank (www.vtfoodbank.org).
The Vermont Foodbank, through a network of 270 food shelves, meals sites, senior centers, shelters, and after-school programs, runs programs that help feed as many as 86,000 Vermonters in need of food assistance. Its agricultural programs, including a statewide crop gleaning project, help to increase the amount of locally sourced produce.
“The Vermont Foodbank is honored to be this year’s beneficiary of Roots on the River’s generous support,” said Peter Stamm, a member of the board of trustees of the Foodbank. “One strives to nourish the community’s body, the other, its soul.”...
Rolling Stones lead guitarist Keith Richards is among hundreds of prominent music stars who recognize reigning soul diva, Bettye LaVette, as a unique talent. “When you hear a voice like Bettye LaVette's, there's a freedom of movement and emotion, which is rare,” Richards says on LaVette's website. “Put me...
Vermont Performance Lab (VPL) has just landed a $27,000 grant as one of 20 national recipients in Round Two of Dance/USA's Engaging Dance Audiences, the first national funding program for audience engagement practices focused specifically on the art form of dance. The award supports the new VPL Performance Club,
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) is looking for scary, cute, ugly, cuddly, weird, shiny, silly, colorful, friendly, or even mean imaginary creatures for VT Kids Design Glass II. Kids in grades K-6 are invited to let their imaginations run wild and then to submit drawings and descriptions of their homemade creatures to BMAC by June 1. After the drawings have been submitted, about a dozen will be selected by professional glass artists from throughout New England to be...
As the town of Brattleboro welcomes a new Selectboard, we acknowledge the contributions that outgoing members Dick DeGray and Dora Bouboulis made to Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV) during their tenures on the board. Both advocated using BCTV to provide increased transparency and public involvement in local government. Dick and Dora increased the meetings we cover by calling for the addition of Brattleboro's Planning and Development Review Boards to the Channel 10 lineup. Also serving as a member of the BCTV...
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital announces the establishment of Vermont's only comprehensive Center for Wound Healing. Located on the BMH campus, the center provides the most advanced therapies available for the treatment of chronic and non-healing wounds. According to BMH President and CEO Steven R. Gordon, when the center opens its doors and begins seeing patients on May 9, it will be the first facility of its kind in Vermont, and has been designed to serve the tri-state region. “Chronic, non-healing wounds...
Rockingham Free Public Library will join with WOOL-FM 101.1, Falls Area Community Television, Village Square Booksellers, and readers around the world for the third annual World Book Night, on Tuesday, April 23. World Book Night is dedicated to spreading the love of reading person-to-person to those without means or access to printed books. On April 23, volunteer “book givers” will distribute half a million free World Book Night paperbacks in more than 6,000 towns and cities across the country. An...
Births • In Keene, N.H., (Cheshire Medical Center), March 15, 2013, a son, Odhran Wyatt, to Minhwa Luetschwager and Shane Whittaker of Bondville. College news • Ignazio Macaluso of Brattleboro is one of 43 senior Graphic Design students at Keene State College who will be presenting their design portfolios at a student show on Friday, April 19, from 3-7 p.m., at the Lloyd P. Young Student Center. The show provides an opportunity for area employers to connect with students who...
If you want to know why Janet Napolitano, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has bought 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition - enough to provision a 24-year Iraq war - then get in line with the 15 U.S. representatives and an increasing number of reporters who also want to know. Napolitano is refusing to explain the extraordinary purchase - far more than is needed to accommodate live use and weapons training during the five-year purchase period -
On March 1, I came across a FairPoint truck blocking my driveway, the technician in his little bucket lift messing with the box on the pole there. “What's up?” I asked him. “We're hooking up one of your neighbors, farther up the hill,” he told me. “I'll be right down and get out of your way.” “Take your time,” I told him. “I have to get all this ice off the car anyway.” I had chosen FairPoint for my Internet...
Charles Dudley Warner, editor of the Hartford Courant and a good friend of Mark Twain, once remarked that while everybody talks about the weather, nobody seems to do anything about it. Today, as extreme weather becomes increasingly common and the science of climate change more widely accepted, many people are wondering whether there is anything they can, in fact, do about the weather. This month, The Nature Museum at Grafton presents two events that take an optimistic, can-do approach to...
Marlboro College, in collaboration with Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center, will host the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in honor of Earth Day 2013. Presenting 13 of the best new environmental films, the festival is April 21 from 7 to 9 p.m., and April 22 from 4 to 6 p.m., in Marlboro's 125-seat, acoustically engineered Ragle Hall. The national festival is billed as the largest of its kind, and features nearly 100 new movies on subjects ranging from environmental action to...
RE: “A community photographer, mentor, and friend” [Editorial, April 3]: A nice tribute to a good friend who is already missed by many.
Author to discuss Irish “wave” in the Green Mountains BRATTLEBORO - Vince Feeney, author of “Finnigans, Slaters and Stonepeggers: The History of the Irish in Vermont,” will present the program at the Dummerston Historical Society's quarterly meeting on Thursday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m, in the Dummerston Center Historical Society Schoolhouse. From the late 1840s through the 1860s, thousands of Irish immigrants settled in Vermont. They arrived just as Vermont was undergoing a mini industrial revolution, based on railroad construction,
RE: “A community photographer, mentor, and friend” [Editorial, April 3]: Roger Katz was one of the good guys, one of the best. Very sad to say goodbye.
Opposing teams know what to expect when they face any Bellows Falls baseball team coached by Bob Lockerby: good pitching, opportunistic offense, and sound defense. That formula got the Terriers to the top of the Division II standings last season and, even though the Terriers have a younger and less experienced squad this season, fans will see more of the same this season. In the season opener against Leland & Gray on April 8 in Townshend, BF pitcher Mike LaBeau...
California trombonist and composer Michael Vlatkovitch makes a rare New England appearance on Friday, April 19, at 8 p.m., at the Open Music Collective. He will be joined by three distinct figures in the Pioneer Valley creative music scene who are dedicated to both performing and encouraging younger generations of musicians through their teaching and research. Meeting as a group for the first time, they are especially excited to present their collaboration at the Open Music Collective, a unique grassroots...
How to make a living as an artist or craftsperson in southern Vermont? Start here: The Arts Council of Windham County (ACWC) is sponsoring a forum, “Business Training for Artists,” at the Windham Antique Center, 5 The Square, on April 19, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Co-produced by the Rockingham Art and Museum Project, the session explores the opportunities for arts-specific business training in our area. The session coincides with Bellows Falls' Third Friday Gallery Walk, which starts at 5...
Health Care and Rehabilitation Services (HCRS) is hosting two free workshops for parents and community members aimed at keeping children safe: “Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Behavior of Children” and “Plugged-In: Technology, the Internet, and Child Safety (Revised!)” Both workshops are set for Friday, April 19, at the Marlboro College Graduate Center in downtown Brattleboro, and presented by Karen Holz of Montpelier-based Prevent Child Abuse Vermont (www.pcavt.org). “Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Behavior of Children” is 9 a.m.
One of the most important lessons I've learned in life is that when you have a problem, you figure out what's causing it and get down to the root of the matter. Governor Peter Shumlin's proposals to cap Reach Up in Vermont and limit the Earned Income Tax Credit are clear examples of misunderstanding the problem and, therefore, calling for a solution that won't fix it. The things I hear coming from Montpelier and some newspapers these days don't ring...
Are you an area farmer interested in bringing local vegetables, fruits, meats, eggs, cheese, syrup, honey, or any other local food to market in the West River Valley? Do you create food items using raw materials sourced from local farmers? If so, consider joining Townshend Farmers' Market, held Fridays from 4 to 7 p.m. starting June 7 on the lawn of the West Townshend Country Store. The farmers' market serves West River Valley residents and the many visitors traveling the...
In 2004, the Angel of Death paid me a visit and gave me a close brush. As it turned out, he was not there to reap, but to teach. My ordeal began when doctors attempted what was supposed to have been a routine catheterization. My blood started to clot uncontrollably, and only the skill and dedication of the surgeon in an emergency bypass operation saved my life. I had a then-undiagnosed hereditary predisposition to clot easily, further complicated by a...
Twilight Music presents a twin bill of award-winning contemporary folk singer/songwriters Seth Glier and Liz Longley at Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery on Friday, April 19, at 7:30 p.m. A singer, songwriter, pianist, guitarist, and Grammy Award nominee, Glier is renowned for his fearless vocal delivery, musical exuberance, and seasoned songwriting. Since the release of his album “The Next Right Thing” in 2011, the 24-year-old Massachusetts native has shared the stage with artists as diverse as James Taylor, Ani DiFranco, Martin...
Five nationally renowned storytellers will bring the heat and the laughs on the evening of April 20 as part of an ambitious fundraising campaign for renovations at the venerable Latchis Theatre. Take a Seat: Five Storytellers on a Mission is presented by The Hatch (a.k.a. Tom Bodett, Rita Ramirez, Elizabeth Catlin, and Rich Korson), and features master storytellers P. J. O'Rourke, Adam Wade, Peter Aguero, Jim O'Grady, and Ed Gavagan. The five comedians are performing together for the first time-and...
Vermont Academy is helping celebrate Earth Day this year by helping kick off phase two of the Saxtons River Elementary School Community Garden on Monday, April 22, starting at 9:30 a.m., on the elementary school grounds. Phase one of the garden was completed in November 2012. Then, a group of students and adults representing both schools joined together to build, fill, and partially plant three large raised beds. Now an additional three raised beds will be built, filled, and planted.
Re: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cheesemongers” [Column, Food & Drink Monthly, April 10]: I haven't laughed so hard at a story in a newspaper in a long time. Thank you, Wendy M. Levy, for your honesty and brightening up this dreary, snowy, shitty, rainy Friday in April. I love this piece and hope you write more just like it. I'm looking forward to your store reopening soon and hoping for lots of business for you.
There's a for sale sign next to the main parking area for the Brattleboro Farmers' Market, but don't be alarmed. Yet. According to market manager Martha Miller, the market is scheduled to open for the season as usual on Saturday, May 4, at 9 a.m. But whether the market will continue at its longtime site on Western Avenue may be in doubt. Miller said on Saturday that Jonathan Chase, one of the owners of the three separate parcels that make...
Numerous aid groups have stepped forward in the wake of Monday's explosions near the Boston Marathon finish line, which resulted in at least three deaths and more than 140 injured. The American Red Cross is reporting that they have sufficient supplies of blood in Boston's hospitals for who were injured in Monday's explosions, but they are encouraging people to sign up for future blood drives. Call 800-REDCROSS or visit redcrossblood.org to make an appointment to give blood, or to get...
RE: “Much worse than your woodstove” [Voices, April 10]: So, you want Vermonters to voice their opinion about biomass? You've got all the forestry stuff incorrect. To keep it short: There will be more firewood available, not less, as a result of the proposed North Springfield Sustainable Energy Project (NSSEP) plant. Loggers get more (approximately $35-$40 for firewood logs) for firewood than chips (approximately $30 per ton, delivered), without the chipping cost. So they sort out the firewood logs. Yes,
Local nonprofits receiving federal funds are reviewing their budgets in response to the federal sequester, saying what started as an across-the-board 5 percent spending cut could thrust greater numbers into poverty. Steve Geller, executive director of Southern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA), said local organizations such as SEVCA “catch people in the nick of time” before they become homeless. Cutting services for people in poverty promotes unnecessary suffering and costs taxpayers more money over time, said Geller, who called the sequester...
RE: “Stretching to adapt in trying times” [Town & Village, Feb. 27]: I spent a weekend at the smithy with Adam Howard before Christmas 2012, learning some new skills. My wife and I stayed at the Grafton Inn. We even attended the tree lighting ceremony at the invitation of some friendly locals we met over a beer. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Adam is a talented blacksmith, a gifted teacher, and a dryly funny man. He worked his butt off...
It all began with a name, a costume, a gesture, or a voice. Last fall, each New England Youth Theatre “Theatre Adventure” student plucked a character from any time or realm they liked. After finding costumes for their character in the New England Youth Theatre collection, they developed movements for breathing life into their characters, then wrote a little bit of a story about each character. Thus went the Theatre Adventure fall semester, which culminated with the characters strutting down...
The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant booted back up April 4 after a routine refueling and maintenance outage. The plant operates on 18-month cycles with about a one-month pause for maintenance and refueling in between. Plant officials say Vermont Yankee operated for 493 days this past cycle. Vermont Yankee replaced roughly one-third of the plant's fuel assemblies, or about 368 assemblies (there are 100 fuel rods in each assembly), an electrical transformer and a large recirculation pump. Approximately 1,000 additional...
A key part of the Brooks House renovation project is the Harmony Lot, and what it might become after the historic 1871 structure reopens next year. Kim Smith of Westminster, a graduate student at the Conway School (www.csld.edu) in Massachusetts, spent last fall working on what a re-imagined Harmony Lot would look like. She outlined her findings at a presentation at the Brattleboro Food Co-op Community Room on Monday. She said the goal of her work was to create a...
The School Board is set to change its policy and end an annual transportation stipend for the families of Stratton schoolchildren. Voters at this year's annual school district meeting voted to end a $300 stipend for each family with a school-age child attending an approved local public, private, or independent elementary or high school. Doing so shaved $6,600 from the school budget, which also lowered the tax rate. The change in the stipend is part of a review of the...
When astronaut Gerald P. Carr looked down at a receding Earth from his spacecraft, bound for Skylab, the first thing that struck him was the scale of the pollution he saw being perpetually created far below. Oil fires burned, and rivers carried red silt from deforested areas well out into the open ocean, and all within a very thin envelope of atmosphere. Upon returning, he began gathering aerial images that illustrated what he had witnessed. He knew he had to...
Jay and Janet Bailey hoped to find two young farmers to share the land at Fair Winds Farm on Upper Dummerston Road. Instead, the four farmers of Wild Carrot Farm answered the call - along with Melba the Jersey cow, who brought Ashlyn Bristle, Caitlin Burlett, Ben Crockett, and Jesse Kayan together. Wild Carrot Farm, entering its third year, is transitioning its farming operations from Brookline, where the four farmers worked other people's land in exchange for vegetables and meat,
Nestled in the hills to the east of Harriman Reservoir, the Corse Farm has operated as a dairy and sugar maple operation in the same family since 1868. A few years ago, the Corse brothers, Leon and Roy, separated the two farm businesses: the grass-based organic dairy operated by Leon and Linda Corse, and the sugar maple operation operated by Roy and Vanessa Corse. In March, the brothers divided the land between the businesses, and Leon and Linda's land associated...
The Bellows Falls Historical Society has received a $7,500 grant from TransCanada Hydro Northeast, Inc., to support its Bellows Falls Historic Riverfront Park and Trail System project. “We are delighted that our neighbor TransCanada answered our request for funds to support this important community project, and so many of our other initiatives,” said Dennis Ladd, society president. “Although the bulk of the work on Mill Street is being funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, we need to arrange funding from...