Windham Child Care Association sincerely thanks UPS, United Way of Windham County, Leader Home Center, and ReNew for their help and donations to make repairs at Windham Evening Care.
Windham Evening Care is the region's only licensed child-care program available for families during the afternoon and evening hours. Volunteers spent an entire morning and afternoon making repairs and beautifying the children's play area.
Thanks to their efforts, the children are safe to play for many months to come.
...RE: “The day that spring came” [Tails of Birding, May 1]: For me, near Nashville, when I start seeing the rose-breasted grosbeaks come to visit my feeders, I know spring is officially here. They only stay for about a week, but they are the sweetest couple you could have...
There are only a few days left. On Friday, May 10, Steve West will host his last Live and Local talk radio show, from 9 a.m. to noon on WKVT (1490 AM). I encourage anyone who has yet to experience the wit, wisdom, humor, intelligence, thought-provoking eloquence, inspirational, and...
A state agency has cut a $5 million telecommunications grant to Vermont Telephone Co. in half. This is the third time the Vermont Telecommunications Authority has pulled VTel grant money in recent months. On March 29, it revoked two broadband grants to VTel worth $3.4 million. The most recent decision, made at a board meeting last Friday, comes after negotiations between the VTA and the private firm VTel stalled. The $5 million cellphone grant was announced at a news conference...
In June 2012, the Town of Brattleboro was awarded a $50,000 National Endowment for the Arts “Our Town” grant to fund the Brattleboro CoreArts Project - an initiative that focuses on arts and place, and how both shape each other. The first fruit from that NEA grant is now being harvested: a comprehensive atlas of the arts in Brattleboro. The atlas was unveiled during a meeting on May 1 presented by the principals in the project. A team of graduate...
Now that the hustle and bustle of our market season has ended, it's time for some thank yous! On behalf of the vendors and organizers of the Winter Farmers' Market, a big thank you goes first and foremost to our customers. From our regular weekly shoppers, to the many visitors in the area who discovered our market and enjoyed the great local products and sense of community, the collective dollars our customers spent this season set new records for the...
Windham County's two hospitals are joining forces with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) to find ways to deliver health care more efficiently and save money in the process. Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, Grace Cottage Hospital in Townshend, and Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Lebanon, N.H. will be working with Helms & Company, a Concord, N.H. health care management firm. BMH President and CEO Steve Gordon and Grace Cottage interim CEO Meg Cleary said last week that, over the next few months, Helms will conduct interviews...
As the soon-to-be former director of Grafton Forge and as a resident of Grafton, I wish to extend my sincere thanks to my fellow residents, numerous visitors, students, and others who have always demonstrated to me the true nature and spirit of community. Much great good has been done here. I have had the honor to serve you in my capacity as blacksmith and educator, as president of the Grafton Valley Arts Guild, and as president of the Grafton Promotional...
In fast-pitch softball, a team's fortunes rise and fall with the pitcher. A team with a pitcher who can pound the strike zone and keep hitters guessing will usually be successful, even if the hitting and fielding are shaky. This season, Leland & Gray has a power pitcher in Elizabeth Symanski, and aside from one bad inning, she dominated Bellows Falls in a 12-3 win in Townshend last Thursday. Bellows Falls, which got blanked by Black River, 12-0, on April...
The Campaign for Vermont recently wrote in an email: “The top three headlines out of the Legislature last week (after a week of across-the-board tax increases on working families) were a ban on wild boar, marijuana decriminalization, and legalizing drivers' licenses for undocumented and potentially illegal aliens. Do you share these priorities? What are your legislative priorities? Please let us know.” Decriminalization of marijuana is not a bad idea. Scarce criminal justice resources need to target serious crimes. Licensure for...
The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company is making single tickets for summer performances available for purchase immediately, an innovation it says will make its season of popular plays and musicals affordable for all audiences. According to Stuart Duke, Weston's managing director, through the theater company's new V-Tix program, select seats to each MainStage performance are priced at $25. Some tickets to Weston's intimate OtherStages performance space at the Rod & Gun Club will be priced at $15. Weston's 2013 MainStage season...
Births In Brattleboro (Memorial Hospital), March 27, 2013, a son, Henry Edward Pritchett Grobe, to Dawn (Everett) and Tony Grobe of Brattleboro; grandson to Dart and Joy Everett of Brattleboro and the late Carol Grobe of Guilford. Transitions • Jennifer Bruder of Bellows Falls has joined the Putnam Insurance Agency in Brattleboro as a commercial sales person. She has been in the insurance industry for more than five years, specializing in commercial insurance for small businesses and contractors. She worked...
Larry Simons' “Sculpture and Assemblages” is on display this month at the Crowell Gallery of the Moore Free Library, 23 West St. Simons specializes in assemblages of found wood and metal objects. The wood Simons uses is both natural, such as driftwood, or comes his way from its previous life as part of a building, tool, piece of furniture, or other consumer object. He created his first sculptures in 1965, from leather scraps he picked up at a sandal shop...
Toastmasters meeting at Marlboro Grad Center May 9 BRATTLEBORO - BrattleMasters, the Brattleboro-based chapter of Toastmasters International, meets Thursday, May 9, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Marlboro College Graduate Center, room 2E, 28 Vernon St. The club meets the second and fourth Thursday of every month at the same time and location. Guests are welcome and refreshments are provided. There is no pressure to speak, and members work at their own pace and with assigned mentors to help them...
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra's “Harp and Soul” harp and flute duo will perform at schools in Westminster and Putney on May 14. Flute player Anne Janson and harpist Heidi Soons are the heart and soul of “Harp and Soul.” In their fresh and engaging program, they explain how the harp and flute work and sound, including some of their special effects, such as glissandos. Several kinds of each instrument will be demonstrated. Janson and Soons will perform familiar music, and...
Humans are a narrative species; as far as we know, the thing that sets us apart from all others is our ability to tell stories. Time out of mind, we have told stories to transmit knowledge, establish community standards, and communicate fundamental beliefs. And we still do. How we tell stories has evolved with technology, but our need to tell stories remains constant. And as we recently witnessed in the village of South Newfane, hearing stories told live continues to...
Hilltop Montessori School recently received a $2,000 grant from the Vermont Community Foundation's Small and Inspiring grants program for its recent middle school trip to Alabama, which offered students the opportunity to live and breathe the Civil Rights movement after an intense period of study on the topic. “All year long the students have been exploring the evolution of the American identity with a particular look at the impact of slavery, abolition, Reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, and the Civil...
The “By the People: Brattleboro Goes Fourth” citizens' committee is planning the 40th anniversary of the town's Independence Day celebration, set for Thursday, July 4, with a morning parade downtown and an afternoon and evening program of free activities, concerts, and fireworks at Living Memorial Park. But first, our all-volunteer effort must raise money to pay for local bands, pyrotechnics, and appropriate liability insurance and security. Can you help us? We invite all area individuals, businesses, and organizations to offer...
An exploration of the strange dimensions of memory and cultural identity inform a new piece of contemporary dance being developed at Vermont Performance Lab. Choreographer Dahlia Nayar, in collaboration with dancer Margaret Sunghe Paek, and with music composed by Loren Kiyoshi Dempster, has been investigating ideas of belonging and not-belonging, the beauty and challenge of adapting to habitats scattered around the globe in contemporary society, and the nature of nostalgia. This month, Nayar returns with her collaborators for a creation...
RE: “If Vermont Yankee closes, Windham County will get poorer” [Letters, May 1]: Entergy and first Vermont Yankee had a legal agreement with the state to operate the atomic reactor only until March 21, 2012. I do know Entergy has hired a number of PR firms to spin how fantastically needed VY is to the Vermont economy. It is not. Studies done by the Department of Public Service show that as we transition to renewable, sustainable, environmentally friendly sources of...
The professional track students of the New England Center for Circus Arts hark back to the 1930s for the inspiration for their graduation showcase performance, “Gathered Safely In: Exceptional Circus, Exceptional Athletes,” slated for Landmark College's Greenhoe Theater, 1 River Rd. S., later this month. The theatrical circus show follows the behind-the-scenes lives of 16 circus performers in the 1930s as they prepare for another night of their big top production, “The Bonne Chance Show.” These players go through their...
Many people in Vermont have not heard of the Common Core Standards, which the Vermont Department of Education accepted in 2010. People have no idea what the term refers to, why it has now been accepted by most states, or how it is being implemented here. Numerous articles by education experts published in major professional journals have shown for years that American students have fallen far behind students in other countries in English and math skills. The sad fact is...
I just wanted to spread the word about all the trail work being done in Wilmington. The trails committee has created an extensive network of trails throughout various parts of town that are great for hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing. In particular, the Wilmington side of Hogback Mountain, between Lake Raponda and the Marlboro town line, has lots of trails for everyone to enjoy. These trails also abut the Marlboro network of trails. There is some great...
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimates it paid $970 for the Brattleboro Police Department to assist with security at its open house and question-and-answer session regarding Vermont Yankee on April 30. The money went for six officers and a supervising sergeant, said spokesperson Neil Sheehan. NRC in-house security personnel and two firefighters also were detailed to the event, held at the Brattleboro Union High School. The commission also paid $450 to have two firefighters on hand as “fire watchers,” said...
Prejudice is something we all live with and have dealt with in some way. If people aren't prejudiced about one's race, they might be about one's religion, ethnicity, social standing, or something else. It doesn't matter: it's all prejudice, and prejudice is ignorance. Most people try to hide their prejudices, but here in Brattleboro, we pride ourselves on dealing with it in subtle ways. One biker club, for example, seems to have prided itself in not having any black members,
I know it's May, and I should be waxing eloquent about ramps or fiddlehead ferns, but instead I want to talk about California. I love Vermont. It is a small, quiet, clean place with clearly defined seasons, interesting creative people, wonderful food, and good politics. But however charmed life is in Vermont, sometimes you want to leave, especially in April, which is when I recently disappeared to Los Angeles, a big, dirty, loud, sunny, place where lots of America's business...
Since the early 1980s, the membership of the Brattleboro Area Softball Association, Inc. (BASA) has generously contributed money and manpower to the improvement of the Brattleboro Recreation and Parks Department softball fields at Living Memorial Park. Recently, BASA fulfilled a longtime dream and pledged $125,000 toward the development of the West River Park and the creation of a regulation-lighted softball field there. On April 29, we officially started league play with games at this complex. On Saturday, May 18 (with...
Friday was a great Gallery Walk in Brattleboro with perfect weather, lots of activity, and Diversity Day bringing new folks and great spirit. It was the inauguration of Gallery Walk Ambassadors, a volunteer effort by the Arts Council of Windham County (ACWC) to ensure that Gallery Walk is enjoyed, appreciated, and safe for all. As the one who wore the bright vest with the Gallery Walk logo, I want to thank everyone for helping us succeed. It is important, particularly...
At the end of a hallway at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is a nondescript red and white wooden door. Open that door, and you'll find yourself in the middle of a construction zone. Work began on the renovation and expansion of BMH's emergency department (ED) in November, but construction work has picked up speed with the return of good building weather. BMH President and CEO Steve Gordon said last week that progress on the $7.5 million project is “excellent.” Gordon said...
My letter in the March 20 issue of The Commons [“Proposed cuts to VHAP, Catamount are unacceptable”] included an editorial change that misrepresents my meaning. The edited version refers to VHAP and Catamount as relief. I consider them to be insurance programs, not relief.
A world premiere of a concertino by a Chester composer complements works by Beethoven in the final series of performances of this year's Windham Orchestra season. “Beethoven in Vermont” will be performed in two concerts. The first is Thursday, May 16, at 7:30 p.m., in Calder Hall at the Currier Center at The Putney School. The second is the following Sunday, May 19, at 3 p.m., at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro. Under the direction of Hugh Keelan, the orchestra...
William Wordsworth is one of my literary heroes. Love the guy. Bet you didn't think you'd be reading that today, right? Wordsworth has been there for me whenever I've been pressed to frame a beautifully compelling or compellingly beautiful thought and my own words didn't seem up to the task (alas, too frequently). How often I've found my voice in the gorgeous poetry crafted by this man, whose very name says it all. Sort of like calling in a pinch...
Does your town have a First Detector? If not, recruit someone from your community to attend an upcoming training. The Forest Pest First Detector Program trains citizen-scientists to help prepare Vermont for the arrival of invasive forest pests such as the Emerald Ash Borer and Asian Longhorned Beetle. First Detectors serve as a liaison between their community and federal and state partners by helping with education and outreach, volunteer recruitment, pest screening, and preparing their community for a pest infestation.
Fresh out of culinary school, I found myself working in Florida at an intimate French bistro, Café du Parc. The proprietors, Pierre and Anne Marie Latuberne, moved from their small village in France to southern Florida, where they offered their local delicacies created in the traditional style. This was classic French cuisine, and I was one of only two sous chefs (assistants to the head chef) in the kitchen. One day, I was preparing carrots for a stew. The first...
Saturday, May 11, is the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Day. Sponsored by Campbell Soup Co. and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), it is a day on which postal workers collect food donations in communities across the nation and provide assistance to the 50 million Americans struggling with hunger. In 2012, letter carriers collected food donations from 10,000 communities, and collected more than 70 million pounds of food, according to a press statement. It's the nation's largest...
The Putney Central School Community Garden is looking for gardeners for plots tucked away behind the school, just next to the school's own garden. All plots on the community side are about 210 sq. ft. and have been worked for many years as organic gardens. The school supplies water, and the hose reaches all plots. Though the garden space is tree-lined on one side, all plots have maximum sun exposure, giving one the feeling of being out in the open,
The Pettee Memorial Library trustees are considering a bid for replacement of the library's slate roof. At their May 1 meeting, the trustees took under advisement a $1,500 bid specification presented by Jancewicz & Son of Bellows Falls. Brian Knowles, sales representative for the roofing firm, inspected the roof in April and detailed what was needed to replace it. He said the $1,500 would be refunded if Jancewicz was chosen to do the work. At this year's Annual Town Meeting,
The Rockingham Free Public Library Board of Trustees is slated to decide whether to move the library offsite and possibly lay off library staff for the summer at its May 13 meeting. At a trustee public meeting held Monday at Village Square Booksellers, Library Director Célina Houlné reported to the trustees that the library staff preferred the library move to another building while Engelberth Construction Inc., completes repairs on the library's current building. This “Scenario A” would involve moving the...
This Saturday, May 11, is National Train Day, and activities to mark the occasion will take place at the Bellows Falls and Brattleboro stations. This year will be a celebration of the higher speeds of Amtrak's Vermonter, which now travels at speeds up to 79 mph between White River Junction and South Vernon, thanks to a $52 million track upgrade paid for with federal economic stimulus money. Christopher Parker of the Vermont Rail Action Network, a train advocacy group, said...
In a just world, everyone would love their work. Nobody would slog through the daily grind for only a paycheck and the hope for an early retirement. Everyone would be free - economically and otherwise - to choose the work that suited them and made them happy, whether it be raising children or painting pictures or driving a taxi. Even though my work is hard physically and emotionally - standing all day, repetitive stress injuries, dealing with the public (and...