Issue #304
Interactive art exhibit on display at Putney School
An interactive art exhibition entitled i see everything, i understand nothing, directed by Steven P. Perkins, is on display in the Michael S. Currier Center art gallery at The Putney School through May 15.
“Being disoriented can help to see things freshly,” says Perkins. “Step into the shoes of the perpetual traveler, immigrant, student, and seeker. We provide the passport for a journey, and you are asked to activate your senses by moving from place to place.”...
From property owner, relief that it wasn’t worse
The day after a brush fire scorched most of her property, landowner Siiri Lane took a few minutes to speak after a long day and night. “How amazing all these firefighters are,” she said Tuesday from her home on Ginseng Hill. “I get teary about it." Lane called emergency...
Animal welfare is more important than our entertainment
A few weeks ago, I was at the Big E in West Springfield, Mass., for a dog show. When I walked my dogs, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a live camel in the far end of the parking lot. My surprise and delight at seeing a...
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You don't need a tiny house to enter tiny house raffle
A group of residents at the Brooks House enthusiastically supports the raffle of a tiny house to benefit Hilltop Montessori School and Morningside Shelter. Raffle proceeds will be shared in an 80/20 split. As apartment dwellers, we personally cannot use the tiny house, so we're writing “Morningside Shelter” in the name space on tickets instead of our own names. If one of those tickets wins, it would be a double win for the shelter and our whole community. We have...
Is a rainbow flag today’s swastika?
How interesting that on April 1, we were reminded that on that date in 1933, Nazi Germany staged a day-long national boycott of Jewish-owned businesses, while that day's headlines in 2014 told about a call for boycotting Indiana because of that state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. We all want the freedom to exercise our faith convictions as protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, just as the Jews in Germany wanted to live according to their faith while...
Less danger, less need for Emergency Planning Zone
The state of Vermont wants Vermont Yankee's longtime emergency planning zone (EPZ) and emergency response organization (ERO) to remain in force and unchanged until 2020. The state cites safety concerns, but as a retired nuclear power engineer, I don't make sense of that reason. It's really simple: once the spent fuel is in the fuel pool, the potential for serious accident is greatly reduced and the current high level of emergency preparedness is no longer necessary. It's like the end...
Unfair criticism of our early efforts on The Commons
Randy Holhut's autobiography of his life in journalism was interesting, but when he finally stopped talking about the Brattleboro Reformer and got around to mentioning The Commons in supposed celebration of its 300th issue, he fell victim to his own erroneous prejudices and gave your readers misinformation under the guise of historical news reporting. First, he tried to conflate a protest at the Reformer, marked by the “stridency and self-righteousness” of those gathered, into being the genesis of The Commons.
Roots on the River Festival names Meeting Waters YMCA as this year's nonprofit partner
Ray Massucco, Vermont Festivals producer, announced that this year's nonprofit partner for the 16th annual Roots on the River Festival is Meeting Waters YMCA. The southern Vermont music festival will be held this year from June 4 to 7, at numerous venues throughout the town and will feature nearly two dozen acts, including John Fullbright, Sam Baker, The Black Lillies, and Mary Gauthier. Each year, a new nonprofit partner is announced, offering an opportunity to spread public awareness about the...
Around the Towns
All Souls hosts annual Tag Sale WEST BRATTLEBORO - All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church will hold its annual Tag Sale on Friday, May 8, from 4 to 7 p.m., and Saturday May 9, from 8 to 11 a.m. Sponsored by the Women's Federation. This popular sale will feature clothing for women, men and children, and household items such as vacuums, toaster ovens, lamps, books, toys, jewelry, and more. The proceeds will support projects beyond the church budget. All Souls Church...
Milestones
College news • Sarah Bemis of Brattleboro, an early childhood education major and member of the Class of 2015, was inducted into Eastern Connecticut State University's circle chapter of the Omicron Delta Kappa National Honor Society in Leadership. • Hayley A. Ryan of Putney has been inducted into the University of Vermont History Department's Alpha Alpha Psi Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta. • Molly Goodhue of Brattleboro was among student-athletes from 16 varsity sports and the dance team honored for...
Reducing car use is good for the planet
The Brattleboro Development Review Board is considering whether to allow cars and trucks to drive though the Brooks House to get from High Street to the Harmony parking lot. The board should continue the ban on vehicles. The world's leading scientists say that climate change is a major threat to earth's ability to support human life. Cars and trucks are a major cause of climate change. Walking and riding a bicycle reduces obesity. Treatment of obesity-related health problems for people...
Amtrak tweaks fares, schedules for Vermonter
It was one of Amtrak's best kept secrets, and now it is gone. For the past couple of years, it was possible to take the Vermonter to any station in the state for just $12. Amtrak did this to help boost ridership inside Vermont, but never really publicized it. “The fare seemed to us to be successful in raising short-distance ridership,” Christopher Parker, executive director of the Vermont Rail Action Network (VRAN), a rail advocacy group, wrote in an email.
PACE program brings energy-efficiency within reach of homeowners
Home loans for energy efficiency improvements at no or low interest are now approved for Brattleboro residents, with neighboring towns already implementing the program or on track to bring it to their residents as well. The final hurdle for the implementation of the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program was cleared at the April 28 Brattleboro Selectboard meeting. PACE is a clunky term for a new financing tool that turns home energy improvements into a no-brainer for many homeowners. Furthermore,
Six College Collaborative launches new website
The Six College Collaborative (formerly known as The Windham Higher Education Cooperative) recently launched a website, www.sixcolleges.com, featuring local paid internship opportunities for college students, information about cross registration among the six participating colleges, and community offerings at the various college campuses. The collaborative includes Community College of Vermont, SIT Graduate Institute, Vermont Technical College, Landmark College, Marlboro College, and Union Institute and University. The website was built by a Vermont Technical College intern, Emily Purcell, under the direction and...
Get on Board presents “Meet Your Match†event
Get On Board Windham County will present an opportunity for local nonprofits to engage with community members at a “Meet Your Match” event on Thursday, May 14, at Marlboro College Graduate Center on Vernon Street. The goal of the event is to help nonprofit boards meet potential new board members, while helping community members connect with nonprofit organizations. Prospective board members, including any members of the community at large interested in board service, can attend the Meet Your Match event...
WSWMD gets upbeat assessment from state inspectors
The Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) got a pleasant surprise when a pair of staffers from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation conducted a surprise inspection on April 8 of the District's transfer station and recycling facilities on Old Ferry Road. The operations include a transfer station for municipal solid waste, construction, and demolition debris; a materials recovery facility (MRF) for sorting and baling recyclable materials; scrap metal recycling; a recycling drop-off area; a reuse (Swap) shop; an area...
Poetry as an oral tradition
Two longtime residents, Tom Ragle and Don McLean, will collaborate on a public reading of Sonnets on Wednesday, May 13. The 7 p.m. program will take place at Guilford Community Church, and is admission-free with donations welcome. Sharing a belief that poetry, which originated as an oral tradition, should be liberated from the page and read aloud, McLean and Ragle decided to help revive the practice of public recitation of the works of both classic and less-known poets. Both readers...
Stamp Out Hunger food drive this weekend
The rural postal carriers in Windham County will hold their annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive Saturday, May 9, to benefit local food pantries. As carriers make their rounds on Saturday, they will pick up non-perishable food items that their rural customers leave in bags by their mail boxes. Suggested items to donate are canned meats, fish, soup, juice, and vegetables; and pasta, cereal, and rice. Food items should be in non-breakable containers, such as boxes and cans. Expired items...
Plight of Vermont's migrant farmworkers to be addressed at forum
The Root Social Justice Center is partnering with Justicia Migrante/Migrant Justice (JM) to present a community forum on JM's current campaign, Milk With Dignity, at the Root, 28 Williams St., on Saturday, May 9, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Justicia Migrante is a migrant farmworker-led organization based out of northern Vermont whose mission is “to build the voice, capacity, and power of the migrant farmworker community and engage community partners to organize for economic justice and human rights.” There are...
Now that you have a bag of vegetables, what do you with them?
With the admonishment to “eat healthier,” including adding more fresh fruits and vegetables to one's diet, people at any income level who are unaccustomed to preparing produce can feel overwhelmed. What, for example, does one do with kohlrabi, even if one can even identify it? For people on a tight food budget, there is little incentive to waste limited resources on food one cannot prepare, or will not like. In Windham County, some accessible, affordable, comprehensive resources are available. Putney...
The stakes are too high for progressive political posturing
Last year, when author Marianne Williamson posted an open letter to Hillary Clinton, many left-leaning Democrats nodded in agreement. “I want a woman president,” Williamson wrote, and “you'd know what to do from Day 1.” But, she said, “none of that is enough to get the vote of a lot of people.” “Stop cozying up to the banks, the chemical companies, the military-industrial complex, the party machine, and all the various financiers who make up the plutocracy now ruining this...
Decline in civil discourse threatens the heart of our democracy
As the legislation that restricts firearms possession for violent felons and mentally-ill individuals adjudicated as a threat, was on its way to passage, and I was on my way to join a small group of state legislators from across the country to look at ways to promote more civil discourse. Right after the deciding vote in the Vermont House on the public safety bill, I found myself on a jet for a weekend training in Tucson, Ariz. at the National...
A place to expand young imaginations
At the Poetry Studio in Marlboro, young people from age six to 15 have taken the opportunity to slow down and listen to their imaginations. The results - poems, artwork, and beautiful handmade books from the past two years - will be on exhibit in the Gallery at the River Garden, 157 Main St., for the month of May. The exhibit is called “Creative Visions: Poetry, Art, and Beautiful Handmade Books by Young People from The Poetry Studio in Marlboro,
BF alums Walsh, Coffey Torney inducted into VPA Hall of Fame
Two Bellows Falls graduates, plus 12 others, were inducted into the Vermont Principals' Association Hall of Fame on May 1 in Montpelier - longtime sports editor and reporter Lawrence “Poody” Walsh and three-sport standout Regan Coffey Torney. Walsh, a native of North Walpole, N.H., graduated with the Class of 1959 at Bellows Falls High School. After a stint in the Army, he started at the Claremont, N.H. Daily Eagle (now the Eagle Times) in the mid-1960s. He is among the...
Saxtons River reveals revised park plan
The Saxtons River trustees and the village's Park Committee have revealed a revised, lower-cost design for the development of a park at a brownfields site in the center of the village. The project is scheduled for completion by fall. The Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP) team of LE Environmental, Grover Engineering and Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio (JMMDS) presented the plan at the village's annual meeting April 13. They have estimated the final cost for construction as $400,000, about two-thirds of...
Taste of spring
Wild fiddlehead ferns (or simply “fiddleheads”) foraged from our Vermont woods: they truly are a luscious New England delicacy. My Uncle Leonard was a great forager of wild native foods. Heading out to the woods with him and my Aunt Mary was always a treat; she searched for antique bottles, he turned his attention to wild foods. In the spring, he gathered fiddleheads and ramps (wild leeks) in great abundance. Fiddleheads, so called because they resemble the curled ornamentation on...
Just So Stories a success
The recent Just So Stories event at Naulakha, Rudyard Kipling's home, was a phenomenal success, more so than any prior year. This event has been offered to area elementary schools for the past 15 years and at the conclusion of the week set aside for the kids, an evening is planned for 25-30 adults. Generally it sells out, but not always. Jackson Gillman does an outstanding job of portraying Rudyard Kipling and an even more superlative job portraying the elephant...
Regional organization celebrates 50 years of combating poverty
Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) has come a long way in 50 years. The agency, which declares on its website that “the strength of our communities is measured by the quality of life of everyone within them,” has worked to reduce hardships for the most vulnerable Windham and Windsor County residents for 50 years. Grown from humble beginnings providing early education and support services to underprivileged children and their families, SEVCA now delivers nearly a dozen varied crisis intervention programs,
Pain medication policies penalize the people who are in pain
I'd like to raise an issue with the current stopgap procedure of making all patients prescribed pain medications physically pick up their paper prescriptions from their doctor's office monthly. First, this implies that all who are prescribed these drugs by their doctors are misusing them. This is simply not the case. These drugs have a purpose, and most patients who use them - or at least those who are in enough pain to need a regimen of some type of...
Hands off!
Very well written, Shanta L. Evans-Crowley! Your hair is beautiful whether you go au naturel or not! With regard to hair touching, however, I feel this happens to all females, no matter what ethnic group one belongs to. I cannot stand it when women come up to me and touch my hair, and yes, this happens to me a lot! I have extremely fine hair and lots of it. It takes too much time to tame my free-flying, mind-of-its-own locks...
Connections between art and journalism explored in benefit performances for The Commons
The area artists' collective Vortex 2 will present “Witness: An Exploration of Art and Journalism,” a show that will include readings of prose and poetry, video, and photographs, and music. The event will benefit Vermont Independent Media, the publisher of The Commons. According to members of the collective, “Witness” is based on the concept that, like journalism, various forms of art are ways of bearing witness to the truth of things. Vortex 2 is intended to “bring together poetry, music,
SEVCA by the numbers
Southeast Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) reported numbers for the period beginning in October 2013 and ending in September 2014. During that time, 13,157 people in 5,713 households accessed a wide range of services: • 1,688 households received $596,903 in crisis fuel assistance; 478 households received $250,255 in emergency housing assistance. • 2,011 households (4,508 people) received 13,768 diverse services from Family Services. • 242 homes were weatherized ($1.496 million), 89 homes received emergency heating system repairs or replacements ($128,349). •
Story of Civil War nurse to be performed at All Souls Church
To celebrate Mothers' Day on Sunday, May 10, All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church will present Cyclone in Calico, a monodrama written by Peter Nadolny and performed by Jeanne Austin. The program, which begins at 10 a.m., is offered free of charge and is suitable for all ages. Cyclone is the story of Mother Mary Ann Bickerdyke, a widow who left her sons in the care of others in Galesburg, Ill., at the outset of the Civil War in order to...
Art inspired by Pinnacle lands on exhibit at MSA
Art inspired by locally conserved land is on display through May 22 at Main Street Arts in an exhibit by the Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association. Connections and Reflections: Art of the Pinnacle Lands features works that capture the land and forest world as seen through the eyes of 13 local artists in a variety of media, including oil, charcoal, acrylic, tile, watercolor, and giclee print. Most of the pieces are for sale, with proceeds to be shared between the artists,
Community members move forward efforts to reverse homelessness
Edwyn “Ed” Cross is no longer homeless. After three years of sleeping at shelters, Cross will move into a private residence. He'll have his own room and share a kitchen. He's on a waiting list for a one-bedroom apartment. Box number two on a list of three goals - checked. Cross shared his happy news at the third community forum on homelessness at The Works Bakery Cafe on April 30. Cross' three top goals included finding a job, getting an...
Residents question property reappraisal results
Putney's recent property reappraisals have left some residents confused and annoyed. They shared their frustration at the April 22 regular Selectboard meeting, where Tax Lister Kathleen O'Reilly-Lawrence was also in attendance. The reappraisal process resulted in some landowners receiving notice that their property values went down, but their taxes went up. Diana Sidebotham was one of them. She told the Selectboard she reached out to “about 13 friends in town,” and found they were “exceedingly puzzled” by the “significant disparities”
Putney municipal briefs
Temporary cell town to stay awhile longer PUTNEY-The state Public Service Board recently received a request from AT&T for an extension of the time the company's temporary cell tower is permitted to remain at Basketville. The utility would like to postpone the switch to the permanent tower on Shag Bark Hill until spring 2016 to allow for unforeseen construction issues. The PSB has permitted AT&T to maintain the tower at Basketville until November, when the utility expects construction on the...
Town begins Union Hill project
A safety improvement project at the intersection of Western Avenue, Union Hill, and Cedar Street began on May 5. The Department of Public Works (DPW) projects that it will be completed in June, approximately six weeks from now. DPW crews will be working on the project from 7 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., daily. During this construction period, Union Hill and Cedar Street at the intersection with Western Avenue will be closed to motor vehicles, while pedestrians can use a temporary...
Dummerston news briefs
Town starts counting cars on high-traffic roads DUMMERSTON-It's time to count the cars. At the April 29 Selectboard meeting, Selectboard Chair Zeke Goodband announced that the Vermont Department of Transportation emailed the town with the intention to lay traffic-counting strips across “a few roads” in town. One has been in place on Middle Road in recent weeks. Because of continued complaints from townspeople about traffic speed along East-West Road, the Selectboard has also reached out to the Windham Regional Commission...
Brush fires all over county keep area’s firefighters busy
Area fire departments were busy on Monday afternoon dealing with three brush fires in Windham County. Conditions around Vermont are so dry that a statewide ban on outdoor burning was ordered by the state Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation, effective Tuesday afternoon, the first time such a ban has been issued since 2005. The biggest fire on Monday scorched nearly 50 acres at 493 Melchen Rd. in West Brattleboro, near Hinesburg and Waubanong roads. According to the 2014 Brattleboro...
Vermont's country music legacy discussed at Brooks Library
From old-time fiddlers and harmonica tooters to radio cowboys, Vermont's country music legacy will take center stage when the Friends of Brooks Memorial Library presents Montpelier musician-educator Mark Greenberg's illustrated talk “Kitchen Tunks & Parlor Songs” on Thursday, May 14, at 7:30 p.m., at the Brooks Memorial Library on Main Street. Since the 1980s, Greenberg has been interviewing and recording musicians throughout Vermont, tracing the development of the state's vernacular music from its roots in Anglo-Celtic traditions through the influences...
Advice for the cheeselorn
As a public service, I offer this question-and-answer edition of The Cheese Log. It's sort of the cheese version of “Dear Abby,” except that name is already taken. So how about “Dear Stabby?” I mean, knives are involved, you know. Even though I've hung up my apron and closed my cheese shop, people still stop me on the streets and ask me questions about cheese. I sort of expected that I would be known as a go-to source of cheese...
Cookie Allen Fund established at Senior Solutions
The family of Eleanor “Cookie” Allen has established the Cookie Allen Fund in her memory for the purpose of helping older adults residing in Vernon. Allen was born at home on the family farm in 1945, and died on Dec. 31, 2014. A lifelong resident of Vernon, in her later years she was very active in helping local seniors. She often acted as an advocate and she drove the Senior Town Van. The Cookie Allen Fund will be administered by...
Healthy eating: possible on a limited budget
A belief persists that locally grown fresh produce is out of the price range of most Vermonters. So is it possible for lower-income people - those traditionally underserved by farmers' markets - to source affordable, fresh food? Of the 822 Windham County residents who participated in a recent health survey conducted by local hospitals, just over 35 percent of them “felt they couldn't afford healthy foods.” And a 2011 study by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) notes...
Why does white America act surprised by Baltimore?
One of the first photos I saw from the recent unrest in Baltimore was of a black youth with his arm cocked as he prepared to throw a stone at a phalanx of police in riot gear. It looked like a picture from the Intifada in Jerusalem. Or an image from the streets of Belfast at the height of the Troubles in the 1970s. Or Budapest in 1956. Or Prague in 1968 during the uprisings against the country's Soviet occupiers.
Honoring a thriving local weed
Pau d'Arco from the Amazon rainforest. Korean Ginseng. Norwegian Angelica. Exotic herbs from distant lands create a romantic allure. Their properties of longevity beguile us and create demands half a world away. Yet right here in our own backyard grows an herb equally as magical. Our humble dandelion packs as much medicinal gumption as the mighty plants from mysterious lands. Dandelion is considered a weed, a word that typically means “invasive” and “naturalizing.” Let's reframe the negativity. “Invasiveness” suggests strength...
Starry Mountain Singers sing Amidon songbook at May 22 concert
On Friday, May 22, at 7:30 p.m., at the First Baptist Church in Brattleboro, the Starry Mountain Singers will be joined by Peter and Mary Alice Amidon and special guests Patty Meyer on piano, Keith Murphy on guitar/piano, and Becky Tracy on fiddle, in presenting “The Starry Mountain Singers Sing Amidon.” This will be a concert of choral arrangements by Peter and Mary Alice Amidon. The event is a celebration of the Amidons' publication of two books with companion CDs:
Vermont Theatre Company presents I Never Sang For My Father
Vermont Theatre Company presents I Never Sang For My Father by Robert Anderson (known for his plays Tea and Sympathy and You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running), and directed by Robert Kramsky. Performances are May 15 through May 24 at the Hooker Dunham Theater in Brattleboro. In I Never Sang For My Father, Anderson, often described as the “dramatist of loneliness,” explores the hard truths about aging parents and the responsibilities grown children have toward parents...