Frank Hawkins is a holdout in a vanishing art. He is an adept in the old-fashioned trade of sign painting, as were his father, his grandfather, and his uncle. He is proud to be, he says, a “brush man.”
His Main Street studio is full of handcrafted signs and the tools for making them. Hawkins makes the kind of signs that have all but disappeared in this age of computer-aided design, internally lit plastic signs, and vinyl lettering. The rotary phone on his desk reflects his taste in technology.
Hawkins tends toward a libertarian outlook; it rankles him that his craft is subject to extensive regulation.
He points out that advertising has become ubiquitous - Dumpsters sport the logos of the corporations that own them; vending machines are emblazoned with the brands of soft-drink manufacturers - but that signs are singled out for the attention of lawmakers and zoning boards.
You could say my father talked me into it. As long as I can remember, my father has always donated blood. And now, here I am, about to donate a pint of my own. The phrase “like father, like son” comes to mind. I enter the Elks Club at...
These fictional stories represent potential profiles of youth who take their own lives in growing numbers in America. A newly released study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that the suicide rate for 10-to-19-year-old females and 15-to-19-year-old males increased by 8 percent between 2003 and...
Leslie Cornick, who lives in Saxtons River and commutes to Brattleboro, has reached the point where she has talked to her boss about telecommuting one day a week to her job at an Internet services firm. “I'm spending $8 to $10 a day on gas,” Cornick said. “I just can't do that.” Rising gasoline prices are affecting the driving habits of citizens like Cornick and their broader spending decisions. The federal Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration says it will...
Instead of the barrage of typically depressing and/or frivolous and/or scandalous national and international news that we're all subjected to on a daily basis, wouldn't it be uplifting to hear about what's going right with the world? Let's hear more about the 1 to 2 million nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) around the world working to heal the planet. Rather than being cowed into fear, submission, and impotence by the major news corporations, let us be motivated by the wisdom of this...
Gardening season is upon us, and as I scrutinize my various garden maps, trying to decide where to plant what, I have been pondering the relationship between insects and gardeners. Most gardeners I know like bugs, to a degree. They like to see interesting spiders in the garden, for example, because they know spiders feast on a lot of the “pest” species that might otherwise ravage our crops. But gardeners can be a savage lot when it comes to many...
For more than three decades, stained-glass artist Rick Neumann has been refining his craft - the ancient art of delicate stained glass creations - through the design, application, and restoration of glass artworks with business and life partner Liza King. Neumann honed his craft as a Windham College student and went on to study at the well-respected Condon Studios in Connick, Greenland. He has worked exclusively with stained glass since 1972. Their studio on Strand Avenue, small by design, offers...
Let's be clear on a couple of key points regarding the Bellows Falls barn mural. Yes, it violates Vermont's anti-billboard laws, which govern any signage visible from a limited-access road, period - even an exit ramp. And yes, the Bellows Falls Downtown Development Alliance should have been more aware before commissioning a $4,000 mural on a barn to promote the village. When the legislature created the billboard law in 1968 to safeguard Vermont's scenic beauty (and the tourism revenue it...
Dear Mary Ellen: I was shocked and horrified by the recent devastating tragedy in our area, where a mother killed herself and her two young children. How can we best deal with the feelings of grief that come up in a situation like this, even when we don't know the people involved? Is there any way to prevent such a tragedy? -Troubled * * * Dear Troubled: I know that many people share your grief at this tragic loss of...
Where were you when Chernobyl blew? I was planting peas. Some of you reading this were not yet born on April 26, 1986. But you carry the deadly atoms of that disaster in you. Your body remembers, deep in its cells. And the Earth remembers. It wasn't an April like this one. The cold lingered that spring. I was late getting the peas in. The sky was grey, and a cold drizzle was falling. Vital spring rains. Not so welcome,
While you Vermonters were cursing the day you ever moved to - or originated in - Vermont, I was traveling to Nicaragua in search of the mighty tarpon. My son Shorty, the fruit of the sainted union between me and my tempestuous flower Ruth, had been spending the past three months in Ocotal, Nicaragua. The lad had decided that Spanish fluency was the key to landing an ambassadorship in some español-ish country. He found a total immersion outfit on the...
Within two minutes of conversation, Nancy Clingan is able to match people with social services many miles down the Connecticut River. A quick laugh, and she says, “I'm a huge resource person, and I know people in the services. I have my Rolodex in my mind.” The Saxtons River resident founded and runs Making the Most of I, a woman's group that celebrates its tenth anniversary May 11. Central to Clingan's vision for this independent, locally grown, nonprofit organization is...
I live on the Rock River, just downstream from what was once a thriving industrial center. At the turn of the 19th century, the Rock River powered more than 20 different industries, including a sawmill, a grist mill, a fulling mill, a felting mill, a jelly mill, a tannery, a wheelwright, a carriage maker, a hatmaker, and a bobbin- and boxmaker. It's hardly surprising, given this industry, that both the stagecoach and the West River Railroad made regular stops in...
Last time out I was railing about green beer, the kind made out of lager and food coloring for St. Paddy's Day. But green beer, the kind that is environmentally conscious, is a different story. I don't mean organic beer, although that is a topic worth investigating sooner rather than later. I mean beers produced by breweries doing all they can to lighten their carbon imprint. Many breweries have long recycled spent grains to local farmers for use as feed.
Town Manager Barbara Sondag estimated that the town paid $5,000 in dealing with the repercussions of the special article calling for the indictment of Bush and Cheney. While not a trivial sum, the real cost of the elections to the town could be far greater. Three new Selectboard members have joined Dick DeGray, a most conservative member on past boards. Can we expect them to move the board beyond the narrow range of predicable positions DeGray stood for in the...
The day I decided to become a permanent resident of Brattleboro was the day I chose to prepare myself for all it meant to live in a nuclear town. The nation's longest-running nuclear power plant, Vermont Yankee, stood a few miles down the road - something that could not be ignored. I'm proud that my electricity does not come from carbon dioxide–producing fossil fuels, but that low carbon footprint comes at a high cost. We're advised to prepare for the...
The parking lot at Cersosimo Lumber Co. has been a little emptier these days. Market conditions have forced the company to cut one of four sawmill shifts at its operation on Vernon Street, and declining demand has lowered prices just as transportation costs have spiked. In addition, increasing demand from Asia has diverted some of the log supply, meaning less work for local sawmills that would otherwise create dimensional lumber and thus further affecting the economy. This combination of circumstances...
Comic books have long been considered kid stuff, bought at newsstands and drugstores and hidden under the bed with the other unwholesome goods of childhood. With a new name and revamped image, graphic novels are finally working their way into the mainstream of literature, newly finding their place as a fresh and viable format for storytelling. Now that graphic novels have arrived to a place of respectability, one woman in Rockingham is doing her best to make sure they stay.