Issue #257

Speech contest winners advance

A contest winner from BrattleMasters, the Toastmasters club in Brattleboro, may be headed for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in August if she wins the next round of competition in Portland, Maine.

Susan Cummings won the local club contest with her speech, “Men!,” which is based on material from her book, “Adventures of a One-Breasted Woman.” The same speech was a winner in the next two levels of competition in the area and division contests.

In Portland, Cummings will be competing against the winners in all the Toastmaster divisions in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and in Canada, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

The winner at the International Speech Contest in Portland receives free round-trip airline tickets to Kuala Lumpur for the final world competitions. That winner will be considered the best speaker in the world this year, according to Toastmasters.

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Indian, Pakistani teachers to visit Leland & Gray

As part of a three-week U.S. State Department English language exchange program implemented by SIT/World Learning, 25 teachers from India and Pakistan will attend teacher training workshops at the SIT Graduate Institute campus in Brattleboro. Six local teachers including Dr. Dorinne Dorfman, principal of Leland & Gray Union Middle...

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Securing our student pipeline

Former Secretary of Agriculture offers some thoughts

My parents were part of what Tom Brokaw, the former national television news anchor, called “the greatest generation.” They gave but did not ask for anything in return. My parents, like others at that time, experienced many challenges, among them the struggles of the Depression and the challenges to...

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Milestones

Births • In Brattleboro (Memorial Hospital), May 25, 2014, a son, Ryan Matthew Dolloph, to Matthew and Michelle Dolloph of Grafton; brother to Jenna Nicole; grandson to Marcia and Ed Furgat of Saxtons River, Darlene and Marcel Boissonnault of Grafton, and George Dolloph of Rockingham; great-grandson to Victoria Fletcher of Saxtons River, and Irene Schaefer of Springfield. In Brattleboro (Memorial Hospital), May 24, 2014, a son, Lucas Gregory Stoughton, to Megan (Woods) and Gregory Stoughton of Vernon; grandson to David...

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The real scandal

Robert Miller of Brattleboro is feeling angry and frustrated these days. A combat veteran of World War II, Miller recently turned 90, and is in reasonably good shape for his age. He lost most of his hearing when he suffered a head wound in an artillery barrage during the battle for Monte Cassino in Italy in 1944. And, for the next seven decades, he received care from the hospitals and clinics of the Department of Veterans Affairs. So when he...

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Two great storytellers

Songs of sex for the mind and songs of sex for the body - two of the best singers/songwriters/rockers in the Western world, in my humble opinion, will be within an hour's drive of us this summer. Call it roots music or Americana or folk/rock/blues/gospel/bluegrass/alt-country music, it doesn't matter and I don't care. Just bring it on! First, James McMurtry is doing two nights at the Roots on the River Festival in Bellows Falls this weekend. That puts the sardonic,

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The family that clowns together

Sisters Ariana Wunderle, 10, and Emily Wunderle, 13, of Rockingham, are running off to join the circus this summer - with their parents' blessing. Ariana's skills as a wire-walker, aerialist, clown, and acrobat, and Emily's skills as an aerialist, have won them a spot on tour with Circus Smirkus, the award-winning, international, traveling youth circus based in Vermont. From late June through mid-August, the troupe will travel with its European-made Big Top tent to 15 venues throughout the Northeast, and...

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Around the Towns

Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce seeks board members BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce is expanding its board of directors. They are looking for dedicated individuals from the business community in the greater Brattleboro area to work with current board members and the Chamber's executive director to steer and steward this organization. Founded in 1906 and with some 500 members, the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce is Windham County's leading business and community organization. Representing businesses from all...

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State rep. botched his retirement announcement

I am extremely disappointed in Rep. Richard Marek (D-Windham 5). This has nothing to do with the fact that he has chosen not to run, nor do I have any extreme issues with how he has or has not represented the district over his tenure. My disappointment is in the timing of his announcement and the manner in which it was done. We all know incumbents tend to win elections in Vermont. It might not have anything at all to...

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Colonel teams open Division I playoffs at home

After the Brattleboro Colonels baseball team crashed and burned last season with a 3-13 record, coach Chris Groeger presented this year's squad with two goals: get into the Division I playoffs and get a high-enough seed to host a playoff game. The Colonels met both goals by finishing the regular season with a 10-6 record and earning the seventh seed in the Division I state tournament. They were scheduled to host No. 10 North Country (8-8) in a first-round game...

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Cat Dail & The Magnets, Bluebird Orchestra in concert at Next Stage

Next Stage Arts Project presents Cat Dail & The Magnets and The Bluebird Orchestra on Friday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m., at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill in Putney, in a benefit for Next Stage. Cat Dail is a singer songwriter/guitarist splitting her time between New York City and New Hampshire. Raised in Kansas City surrounded by blues and jazz greats, as a kid she saw Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Rich, and the Count Basie Orchestra. She was immersed in country...

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Honorary Consulate of Lithuania opens in Vermont

Kerry Secrest of Brattleboro has been appointed Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania to the state of Vermont. “I am honored to be appointed to this position,” Secrest said in a prepared statement. “Lithuania has always been a big part of my life, and I am looking forward to helping serve as a bridge between these two parts of the world that I love.” His Excellency Žygimantas Pavilionis, Ambassador of Lithuania to the United States (and Mexico), and Vaidotas...

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Remembering when ‘the skies were never still’

As the ranks of those who fought in World War II keep thinning, every public appearance by a veteran of those who served seven decades ago becomes all the more treasured. Richard H. Hamilton of Marlboro is a familiar sight at veterans events and tributes around the area. On Friday night, he was the honored guest of Dummerston at its annual Memorial Day service, held on the traditional date of May 30, at Evening Star Grange. Hamilton, 91, of Marlboro,

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Public is invited to hear speakers and artists at Slow Living summit

The Strolling of the Heifers Slow Living Summit announces that all of its plenary sessions featuring prominent speakers and artists will be open to the public, free of charge. Also included in the free sessions is the showing of a film, “Food for Change,” about the growth of the co-op movement. Speakers and artists include local holistic health physician Samantha Eagle, writer and speaker Charles Eisenstein, Brattleboro cellist Eugene Friesen, and Guilford-based financial expert Amit Sharma. All of these sessions...

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Stroll Weekend to feature two Farm Art shows

Two farm art exhibits associated with Strolling of the Heifers weekend will be on view during the Stroll's Friday evening festival (coinciding with Gallery Walk) on Friday, June 6, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and continuing through June. At The Works Bakery Café, 118 Main St., Brattleboro-West Arts is collaborating with Strolling of the Heifers on a show highlighting five farms included on the Stroll's Farm, Food and Fiber Tour this year. Brattleboro-West Arts members visited those farms to get...

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Hungry young bear from Connecticut is raiding local bird feeders, trash cans

A young black bear from Connecticut has been getting into bird feeders and garbage cans in southern Windham County, and the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department is asking for help from local residents. Members of the public who spot the bear in their yards are asked to contact the department and take common sense steps to discourage the bear from causing further problems. The department says the bear is a yearling male marked with a red tag in each ear...

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Jon Potter is new executive director of Latchis Arts

Lisa Bloch, president of Latchis Arts, and Rick Hashagen, president of Latchis Corporation, announced last week that Jon Potter of Brattleboro will take over duties as executive director of the two organizations as of July 1. In a joint statement, Bloch and Hashagen said, “We're delighted to welcome Jon Potter to lead both the nonprofit arts component at the Latchis, and the day-to-day business dealings of the Latchis Hotel and Theatre. His relationship to the arts and artists in the...

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Brattleboro police chief to retire

Although he was sitting in the back of the hall, Brattleboro Police Chief Eugene Wrinn was the center of attention at Monday night's Special Representative Town Meeting. Meeting members went out of their way to shake his hand. We'll miss you. Good luck. Great job, they said. Earlier in the day, the town announced that Wrinn, a 28-year veteran of the force, is retiring, effective June 27. For Wrinn's part, he's never regretted a day on the job. He praised...

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It’s time to end the epidemic of sexual assault

What do city subways, college dorms, and military service have in common? They are all venues for the vulnerable when it comes to sex assaults. The latest horror stories come from women in New York who've been ogled, groped, flashed, harassed, splashed with ejaculate, and attacked on subways or in subway stations. One recent account involved a woman who was forced off a train and managed to escape only when she was able to push an alarm button as her...

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Marlboro College offers new summer writing intensive

During the week of Aug. 3 to 8, Marlboro College will present its first summer program specifically designed for adults who are interested in writing. Based at Marlboro's rural Vermont undergraduate campus, this year's summer writing intensive has the theme of service and active citizenship. “Anyone interested in writing and thinking about college is welcome,” said Ariel Brooks, director of non-degree programs at Marlboro. “We particularly hope that veterans and others eligible for our Veterans Writing Grant will take advantage...

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‘Act Out’ inaugurates new era at Hooker-Dunham

Actors, singers, and musicians are sharing current work as Brattleboro's Hooker-Dunham Theater presents “Act Out! - A Performers' Jam,” on Friday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m. Shakespearean monologues, original works by local performers, stand-up comedy, and a raft of improvisational theater ranging from bizarre situations to scenes drawn from the novels of Jane Austen are on tap. A series of wonderfully talented performers will give the audience a peek into how they develop their craft by displaying their works in...

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Vermont Land Trust conserves Harlow Farm

Paul Harlow, one of Vermont's pioneers of organic vegetable production, recently conserved his home farm with the Vermont Land Trust. The conservation of the farm will permanently protect this fertile farmland for future generations. “I want to see this farm I have worked on for so many years continue to be a source of food for the community,” said Harlow in a news release. “I have long considered conserving the farm, and this was the right time as this transaction...

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‘Astronomically high’ demand, low prices drive heroin use

Eyebrows were raised around the country in January when Gov. Peter Shumlin devoted the bulk of his State of the State address to what he called a “heroin epidemic” that affected people in every corner of Vermont. National press attention soon followed - not all of it positive. In a New York Times article on March 5, Vermont State Police Senior Trooper Wayne Godfrey described rampant drug use at Bennington's Mount Anthony Union High School, prompting outrage at the characterization...

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Brattleboro gets a budget — finally

It took two hours of sometimes contentious debate, but a revised municipal budget was overwhelmingly approved Monday night at a Special Representative Town Meeting in the Brattleboro Area Middle School multipurpose room. In a roll call vote, Meeting Members approved the new $15.7 million budget, 112 to 12. The final total represented a series of 1 percent department cuts, delayed capital purchases, and changes in staffing such as reducing the hours for the animal control officer from 40 to 30...

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NRC pressed about post-VY emergency planning

Answers from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about off-site emergency planning after Vermont Yankee shuts down at the end of this year left some audience members scratching their heads. The commission's annual public meeting, held in Brattleboro on May 28, brought to the surface fundamental questions about emergency planning and response for communities whose shuttered nuclear site still holds nuclear waste. Questions raised in conversations following the meeting asked whether the NRC had fully considered granting exemptions to nuclear plant operators...

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