People who like cheese are happy when a new cheese comes on to the market. But the truly cheese-obsessed (like me) flip their wigs when we try a new, local cheese, especially one with an impressive pedigree.
Parish Hill Creamery in Westminster West recently began its first full season of cheesemaking, and for cheese enthusiasts, it hits many marks.
The head cheesemaker is Peter Dixon, who has been making cheese and other dairy foods commercially since 1983. Locals of a certain age might fondly remember the old Guilford Cheese Company - that was the Dixon family's business.
Since then, Dixon has gone on to consult with a variety of cheesemakers in the United States, Canada, and beyond. Some of my favorite domestic, artisan-made cheeses have his name attached to them.
The Brattleboro Development Credit Corp. (BDCC) announced last week that it has launched its search for its next executive director. BDCC's current executive director, Pat Moulton, is stepping down to become the state's secretary of commerce and economic development. The 60-year-old regional development corporation owns and operates 450,000 square...
The great New Yorker writer Roger Angell once said that, for him, the real attraction of watching baseball is that “I might see something that I've never seen before.” I thought of those words after watching the Leland & Gray Rebels and Green Mountain Chieftains do battle on the...
Twilight Music continues its 12th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, June 15 with Kat Wright and Brett Hughes' Americana music quartet. Kat and Brett's Burlington-based band features the pair's soaring vocal harmonies and Brett's acoustic and electric guitar playing. Their harmonies evoke timeless mountain traditions and bluesy soul, all lonesome and heartfelt, whether they're singing their own songs or the inspired covers...
Kevin O'Connor remembers taking in the Fourth of July fireworks show at Living Memorial Park as a child with his family. “It was magical,” the journalist and member of the By the People: Brattleboro Goes Fourth citizens committee said, recalling the bursts of color in the night sky. This year marks Brattleboro's 41st annual Independence Day celebration. Yet for O'Connor, the committee, and the community, a sea change accompanies this year's July 4 festivities: For the first time, the committee...
College news • The following local students were awarded degrees at the University of Vermont during its 213th Commencement on May 18: Rachel Alberico of Brattleboro, B.A., English; Haley Blair of Stratton, B.S. in Education; Jillian Blaisdell of Londonderry, B.A., communication science and disorders; Emily Brown of East Dummerston, B.S., biological science; Kathleen Clark of Brattleboro, B.S., nursing and health sciences; Kiah Coble of Brattleboro, B.A., English; Jacqueline Dezendorf of Townshend, B.A., anthropology; Gage Fichter of Putney, B.S., exercise and...
It seemed worth taking a moment to respond to the assertions made by Rick Hege [Viewpoint, June 4] claiming my “botching” of the announcement that I won't be seeking another term in the Vermont House and my endorsement of a candidate running for the seat. Given the length and tone of Hege's opinion piece, I don't expect that anything I can offer will be satisfactory to him, but I do hope providing some context might actually be informative for other...
In Economics 101, we learned something about supply and demand. When shortages exist for goods and services, or for specialized personnel - such as receptionists and doctors - waiting lines and times lengthen. Prices might rise for scarce resources. In health care, patients with long waits might suffer. In federal programs, especially the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), veterans groups will protest (appropriately), while opposing political groups attack with denouncements of government medicine. Investigations follow, with new legislation, executive orders,
Burke to speak on transportation issues at next WBA meeting WEST BRATTLEBORO - The next monthly meeting of the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) will be held at the New England House on Thursday, June 12, at 6 p.m. State Rep. Mollie Burke, P-Brattleboro, will address issues pertaining to transportation as it relates to West Brattleboro. A member of the Vermont Legislature since 2008, Burke serves on the Transportation Committee and successfully procured funds for the repaving of Route 9. Burke...
Actors Theatre Playhouse opens its summer season on June 19 with “Found a Peanut” by Donald Margulies. In this bittersweet comedy, which opens on muggy Brooklyn, N.Y., on the last day of summer vacation, 1962, Margulies reveals deep empathy for children coming of age. With irony and humor he gently unfolds the carefree innocence of youth as it gives way to the awareness of things to come. Sam Pilo, who directs the ATP production, finds the piece particularly appealing. He...
Vermont Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Fund Round 2 applications now being accepted. Funds can be used to help businesses still recovering from 2011's Tropical Storm Irene. Businesses may apply for funding to help with unmet needs that are a direct result of flooding. There will be a series of workshops to assist with applications. If you are applying for the first time, you must attend a workshop: They will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the...
Friends of Music at Guilford, now in its 48th season, presents an “A Cappella à la Carte” evening on Saturday, June 14, as the finale to its annual calendar. As usual, the evening's three-part menu of membership meeting, all-community potluck, and a cappella concert takes place at Guilford Community Church, just a short distance from Exit 1 off Interstate 91. The festivities begin at 6 p.m. with a brief and merry Friends of Music membership meeting. Folks can sign up...
Thanks to Meeting Waters YMCA, hundreds of kids in southeastern Vermont and southwestern New Hampshire can continue to learn and develop important social skills even after the bell rings at the end of the school day. At least as importantly, says Steve Fortier, the organization's Executive Director, that also means that several hundred parents can work with the peace of mind that their child is in a safe and nurturing environment. “When Sue (Fortier, the Y's Program Director) and I...
In time for the summer recreation season, the Connecticut River Watershed Council (CRWC) and 13 other partners have launched the 2014 Connecticut River water sampling program. Results from samples collected on May 29 & 30 show low bacteria levels for most sites, meaning conditions for swimming and boating have been clean along the Connecticut River. River users can visit the “Is It Clean” page located at www.ConnecticutRiver.us to find bacteria levels at more than 110 river access and recreation sites...
The Brookline-Newfane Joint Contract School Board has warned a meeting for Thursday, June 12, at 7 p.m., at NewBrook Elementary School to vote on a proposed energy improvement project at the school. Voters from Brookline and Newfane will be asked to approve a lease for the proposed new 250 KW solar system and a loan to pay for a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The new HVAC system would replace the school's aging boilers, significantly reduce the...
Join the celebration of the longest day of the year, the first day of summer, and Simba's 25th anniversary at the Simba Silver Summer Solstice Dance Party Extravaganza on Saturday, June 21. The event starts at 8 p.m. at Evening Star Grange in Dummerston Center. In 1989, the band started by playing a benefit on the Brattleboro Common to shut down Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. They called themselves the No Nukes Band, and that group became Simba. Twenty-five years...
Ten-year-old Oak Grove School student Rei Kimura has been musical since her early childhood. When she was 8, her grandfather, who played blues guitar, bought her a guitar, and she's been working to master it ever since. She plays in bands around Brattleboro, attends open mics at the Loft in Cotton Mill Hill, and takes private lessons from her neighbor Kevin Parry, who runs the open mics on Thursdays at The Marina restaurant. This summer, Kimura joins a small group...
Vermont Yankee, recycled to become a 620-megawatt biomass power plant, would become the third-largest on Earth and the third-largest producer of biomass ash and emissions. It also would block the proposed western New England electricity corridor. How many acres of biomass would be harvested, then delivered daily by how many trucks and trains? Would they also remove the ash for disposal somewhere? Also burning trash? The Union of Concerned Scientists “does not consider waste-to-energy plants that burn raw municipal waste...
Join members of the Vermont Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) on Saturday, June 14, for a trip through a little known section of Black Mountain, a beautiful 275-acre parcel that the organization plans to acquire this summer. Walk through oak, pine, and hemlock forest; the mountain laurel should be at peak bloom. Meet at 1 p.m. on Rice Farm Road, Dummerston, opposite the West River Trail kiosk, one mile south of the green iron bridge. The four-mile hike will...
Twilight Music continues its 12th annual Twilight on the Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues, and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, June 15 (Father's Day), with Kat Wright and Brett Hughes' Americana music quartet. Kat and Brett's Burlington-based band features the pair's soaring vocal harmonies and Brett's acoustic and electric guitar playing. Their harmonies evoke mountain traditions and bluesy soul, all lonesome and heartfelt, whether they're singing their own songs or inspired covers.
The Bellows Falls boys won their second consecutive state track title in decisive fashion, taking nine events at last Saturday's Division III track and field state championships at Green Mountain Union High School. It was the first back-to-back track title in school history for the Terrier boys, who amassed 160 points. Woodstock was a distant second with 91; Thetford was third with 66. The BF girls finished third behind Woodstock and Lake Region. It was the fifth straight championship for...
Strolling of the Heifers (SotH), the Vermont-based local food advocacy group that produces the annual namesake parade, recently released a study that ranks Vermont as the state most committed to local foods. In the study, SotH gathered information from a variety of sources, including census data, three different databases from the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture, and monthly lists of farmers' markets in the United States to compile a “Locavore Index,” ranking each state in order of its commitment...
As storm clouds muted the sky above the Townshend Town Offices on June 3, the audience within crossed their fingers for sunnier days ahead. There, the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) outlined, for the second time, its draft process for distributing Vermont Yankee economic development funds. The ACCD hosted the public meeting to take comment on its proposed Windham County Grant Program (WCGP) application process. According to the ACCD's timeline, applications open July 1, with applications due...
Workers at the Brattleboro Food Co-op have been trying to improve their working conditions for quite a while. Their struggle became apparent when Co-op employees began organizing to unionize, with the ultimate goal of obtaining a contract with their employer. With community support, on Nov. 14, 2012, workers at the Co-op were recognized as part of United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 1459. Let's fast-forward to June 2014. Why is it, after 20 months, Co-op employees still do not...
The Halifax Historical Society celebrates the completion of its town history project on Saturday, June 14, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Town Clerk's office in West Halifax. Members of the writing committee will be available to sign books. Folks are invited to stop by with purchased copies of “Vol. 1, Born in Controversy,” released in June 2008, and “Vol. 2, Hills and Hollows,” released in November 2013. Books will be available for purchase. The Halifax history project,
Join the Friends of Brooks Memorial Library in a fundraising event to celebrate James Joyce and Bloomsday. “Dublin in Song and Story” with musician and Irish folklorist Tom O'Carroll will be presented on Thursday, June 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the library's Main Room. In this program, O'Carroll tells the tales and sings the songs of his native city, the capital city on the River Liffey, which has an abundance of history and colorful characters Tom will introduce you to.
Emily turned 16 last week. There are many things a 16-year-old might want for her birthday, including an iPad, an iPod, or a smartphone. One thing you wouldn't expect a teenager to request: a strawberry. No, “strawberry” is not the new BlackBerry. We're talking about a strawberry, and not just any strawberry. If you'll notice, I used the singular form to describe her request. We'll get to that. For now, please consider a 16-year-old girl requesting a strawberry as her...
Dad was 85 and I was 59 when I lost him. Not bad as these things go. For most folks, the condolence - delivered or un- - would be, “Well, you did have him for a good, long time.” And of course my response - delivered or un- - would be, “Yes, I did ... I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.“ I've lived with this solution to the Departed Dad Syndrome for 16 years now. I use the...
On a 112-12 vote, Representative Town Meeting members approved a $15.7 million municipal budget on June 2 - a budget that that was reduced after voters defeated the original budget in April. However, a group of citizens who feel the smaller budget lacks meaningful reductions is circulating a petition to call for another townwide vote. The leaders of the petition drive, members of a group called Brattleboro Common Sense (BCS), will need to gather 418 signatures of registered voters or...
As Main Street bustles with activity during Gallery Walk, former Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee holds a clipboard and asks a Rockingham resident if he'd like to sign his petition for state senator. The potential constituent from Rockingham happily agrees, then prints and signs his name on Allbee's growing list. A Democrat, Allbee is the third newcomer to declare his candidacy for one of two Senate seats for Windham County. Brattleboro's Rebecca Balint and Putney's Joan Bowman are also...
It has been a tumultuous 12 months as library boards go, but with the finalization and signing of a contract, litigation has all but ended between fired library director Célina Houlné and the trustees of the Rockingham Free Public Library. The embattled library director fought to get her job back, and won. Acknowledging the support of her husband, Steven Geller, and attorney Richard Bowen, Houlné told The Commons, “I am grateful to the Board of Directors for offering me this...
Two-term State Sen. Peter Galbraith announced Monday that he will not seek re-election in November. The Townshend resident said that he will devote more time to his international work, specifically an informal effort aimed at finding a political solution to Syria's civil war. In a statement, Galbraith wrote he will work with Syria's Kurdish and Christian minorities “to help them develop strategies to best protect their communities. “Reluctantly, I have concluded I cannot do this and still devote the necessary...
The family of Selectboard Chair David Gartenstein confirmed that he is recovering after a serious bicycle accident in Putney over the weekend. “He's going to be fine; he just needs some time,” said his wife, Liz Gartenstein. She said that her husband is alert and will return home from the hospital within a couple of days. She added that he sustained several fractured ribs when he fell from his bicycle on Holland Hill Road on June 8. A slight lung...
Leland & Gray Union Middle and High School had a chance last week to experience something that many high schools around the country can only dream of. As part of an exchange program by the U.S. State Department, 25 teachers from India and Pakistan came to the school on June 5 to spend the day as part of a larger initiative. Sponsored by SIT/World Learning, these teachers stopped by Leland & Gray as the first stop in a longer journey...
Only a short time remains to see ” Flora: A Celebration of Flowers in Contemporary Art ” and three other exhibits at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. Besides “Flora,” “Opposing Forces: New Paintings by John Gibson"; Walter Ungerer's “All the Days of the Year"; and “Cloaked and Revealed: Sculptural Paintings by Marela Zacarias” end Sunday, June 22. After that, the museum will close for five days, reopening Friday, June 27, at 5:30 p.m., with five new exhibits. An exuberant...