Issue #452
Once more with feeling
Even the best things must one day come to an end. So it is as Ines Zeller Bass presents her final performances ever of her children-friendly classic of puppet theater, Isidor's Cheek.
Recently, Zeller Bass has been slowing her own performances in the theater pieces for children she created for Sandglass Theater.
Barns at Retreat Farm get state grant for repairs
Gov. Phil Scott recognized the recipients of 16 State Historic Preservation Grants and 17 Barn Preservation Grants at a ceremony held at the State House on March 15. The 33 grants, totaling $461,899, were awarded to municipalities, nonprofit organizations, and private barn owners in 13 Vermont counties to repair...
Alice B. Fogel, New Hampshire’s poet laureate, speaks at Landmark College
The Landmark College Spring 2018 Academic Speaker Series closes with New Hampshire Poet Laureate Alice B. Fogel on Monday, April 2, at 7 p.m., in the Brooks M. O'Brien auditorium in the East Academic Building. Fogel's presentation, “Science, History, Music, Art, Dance, Vegetables, and Other Things That Aren't Related...
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A step backward at the Statehouse
In this era, while we see impressive gains in some areas of civil liberties, we also see stagnation, serious threats to progress, and outright regression in others. Democracy itself is under severe threat with upsurges in authoritarianism and oligarchy both abroad and in the U.S. We might sometimes like to take comfort that we live in a state where a more-egalitarian approach is often the rule. But even Vermont's more open-minded approach is threatened by the recent passage by the...
Bingo Night returns to Compass School
Thursday Night Bingo returned to Bellows Falls with great success in January at Compass School. Compass hopes to make this a regular community event, and has scheduled their next Bingo Night for Thursday, March 29, at 6 p.m. Organized by the Compass 11th-grade class, proceeds from the evening help ensure that every student, regardless of economic circumstance, can participate in the international trip to Nicaragua this April. With more than 50 percent of Compass students eligible for free and reduced...
Hearings set in Townshend, Westminster on Windham Regional Energy Plan
The Windham Regional Commission will hold two public hearings on the proposed Windham Regional Energy Plan as an amendment to the Windham Regional Plan on Monday, April 9, at the Townshend Town Hall and Thursday, April 12, at The Westminster Institute. Both hearings start at 6:30 p.m. Pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 4348, the WRC requests general and specific comments with respect to the extent to which the amendment is consistent with the goals established in section 4302(c)(7) of Chapter...
Windham Orchestra spotlights the genius of Beethoven, Brahms
The Windham Orchestra spotlights two musical geniuses in a special concert Sunday, April 8. Two profoundly different works - Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15, by Brahms and Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (Symphony No. 6) - are on the program at the 3 p.m. concert at the Latchis Theatre. Brahms' work opens the concert, with Windham Orchestra Musical Director Hugh Keelan at the piano, and Jessie Pierpont as guest conductor. Keelan describes the Piano Concerto as a work...
Milestones
College news • Hayley Cartwright of Brattleboro, a first-year student at the University of Tampa (Fla.), was named to the Dean's List for the fall 2017 semester. She is majoring in entrepreneurship, with a minor in marketing. Transitions • The membership of the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) elected Gordon Faison, Charles Mallory, and Dick Thall to the museum's Board of Trustees at the annual meeting of the museum's members on March 6. Faison graduated from Williams College, where...
Around the Towns
BUHS Music Dept. offers sacred music concert BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Union High School Music Department presents “the Mass Reimagined” at the BUHS Auditorium on Thursday, March 29, at 7 p.m. The concert will open with Norman Luboff's African Mass, sung by the Madrigals. This work uses traditional Latin text in conjunction with South African infused harmonies and grooves and will be accompanied by Steve Rice on timpani. The BUHS Chorus will perform A World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass composed...
Concert benefits Brattleboro Women’s Chorus
On Friday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m., in the Centre Congregational Church parlor, a benefit concert for the Brattleboro Women's Chorus will be performed by two local-area vocal quartets, the Seymour Sisters and Singcrony. The Seymour Sisters are Betsy Williams, Laura Williams, Beth Spicer, and Kate Wolff, who sing old-time, gospel, country, and swing, and play banjo, mandolin, guitar, dobro and stand-up bass. Singcrony is an a cappella quartet consisting of Carrie Walker, Beth Kiendl, Ruth Allard, and Andrea Matthews.
Amherst professor discusses why Emerson’s writings endure in First Wednesday lecture
Amherst College professor Barry O'Connell will consider why the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson continue to inspire in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on April 4, at 7 p.m. His talk, “An Emerson for Our Time,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council's First Wednesdays lecture series and is free and open to the public. Drawing on Emerson's essays “The American Scholar,” “Self-Reliance,” and “Experience,” O'Connell will explore the many ways Emerson's writings continue to offer insights...
Windmill ridgeline protected for recreation, wildlife
The Putney Mountain Association, a nonprofit organization that protects land along Windmill Ridge, bought two properties, totaling 161 acres, on the western side of Putney Mountain and Windmill Ridge. The group then conserved the land with the Vermont Land Trust and the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, protecting it from subdivision and development and ensuring public recreational access. “This new land will fill key gaps in protected land, adding to the 2,000-plus acres that Putney Mountain Association, together with the...
Town, firefighters work out new labor contract
After nearly two years of negotiations with the town manager's office, members of the Brattleboro Fire Department now have an employment contract - and retroactive raises. At the March 20 regular Selectboard meeting, the Board unanimously approved the contract. This was the final step before the official signing of the document. Town Manager Peter B. Elwell noted the fire department's collective bargaining unit, the Brattleboro Professional Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 4439, already approved the agreement. Reaching this agreement has been...
Holy Week services
Holy Week services at St. Michael's BRATTLEBORO - St. Michael's Episcopal Church has special services during Holy Week and Easter. All are welcome at each service. St. Michael's is at 16 Bradley Ave in Brattleboro and is fully accessible. Contact the Church office with any questions at 802-254-6048 or [email protected]. On Wednesday, March 28, the Tenabrae service, “The Service of Shadows,” begins at 5:30 p.m. This is a quiet and contemplative service of scripture and poetry readings, cello music, Taize...
Jesus didn’t care, and neither do I
A couple of years ago, I was told by one of my peers, “I'm sorry, but I have no compassion for your aunt or uncle.” She was talking about my gay family members. At first, I was filled with anger; why would she say such a thing? She's never even met them. How dare she insult my family! Unfortunately, I responded with a fake, nervous laugh. I still think about how I should have said something. Recently, I was at...
Local lawmakers offer legislative update
On the eve of “crossover week,” the week on the legislative calendar when lawmakers decide whether bills will survive or be scuttled, members of the Windham County delegation gave their assessment of the session thus far. At the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce's annual Legislative Breakfast at the Brattleboro Retreat on March 19, local lawmakers gave updates about some of the legislation they've been working on. Firearms and school safety Firearms laws have taken center stage this session, as the...
Values above violence
They are gay, straight, and transgender. They are Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. They are black, white and Latino. They are middle-class, affluent, and poor. They are the teens of Parkland, Florida, the kids in Washington, D.C. and Chicago schools, the 11-year old children who spoke so eloquently to the crowds in Washington at the March for Our Lives on March 24. And together they are doing something we've never seen before. They are connecting the dots - recognizing something we...
Milder weather, with some showery periods, as spring is slow to arrive
Good day to you, southeastern denizens of the Green Mountain State! After a very cold, stormy and snowy month of March, our pattern has finally changed. This is because the large area of high pressure that acted as a blocking feature to our north (which forced storms south of New England) has broken down. The main impact in terms of short-term weather for southern Vermont will involve a warm frontal passage very early Wednesday morning. This will produce a period...
Timson Hill students display their art at Crowell Gallery
The Moore Free library and Crowell Gallery in Newfane will showcase the art of children from Timson Hill Preschool and from NewBrook Elementary School during April. This is the fifth year that the gallery has an exhibit of children's art during this month. Exhibit dates are April 4 through 28, with an opening reception on Friday, April 6, from 4 to 5 p.m. For more information, contact the library at 802-365-7948 or visit www.moorefreelibrary.wordpress.com.
Refugees of our working landscape
On our diversified farm, we produce meat, eggs, hay, sap, and forest products using regenerative agricultural practices. Because we aren't able to afford much land in Windham County, the haying and forest products that we harvest involve using other people's land. This activity creates a lot of abutting neighbors who need to continuously be educated and informed, and who like to be involved in what a working landscape looks, smells, and sounds like. The shifting seasons dictate our days. When...
NECCA students earn honors in Las Vegas event
Students training at NECCA brought back a full podium of awards from the Vegas International Variety Act Festival in February. VIVA Fest is the Vegas International Variety Act Festival held each February at the Silverton Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. For the four days of events from Feb. 15-18, VIVA Fest sets up a circus tent and small “circus city” on the outskirts of Las Vegas. A main tent hosts competitions and performances, a “petite palace” mini tent...
Local comedy film gets a world premiere at Latchis
On Friday, April 6, the world will finally have a chance to meet Lil' Balzac, a wannabe rapper willing to go the extra mile to realize his dreams of working with his favorite record producer. Lil' Balzac is the title character of a homegrown 30-minute absurdist comedy film shot in Brattleboro with a local cast and crew. It will have its first preview screening from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m., at the Latchis Theatre, a fitting place for the film's debut.
Too many deer? A local forester thinks so.
Lynn Levine is a long-time forester who lives in Dummerston. Forest management is a big part of her job. But lately, she says she has become discouraged as she watches more and more deer gobbling down more and more twigs off ash, sugar maple, and oak saplings in the woodlots she manages. Levine, who also is on the Dummerston Conservation Commission, was at Dummerston's Town Meeting on March 6 with an information table to outline the damage that is being...
Meeting takes on a gentle tone — but with some surprise moves
A mix of long-serving and newbie Meeting Members gathered at the Brattleboro Area Middle School multipurpose room on March 24. Throughout the approximately 11-hour annual Representative Town Meeting, members decided the financial fate of the Selectboard's proposed budget. Nothing new compared to previous RTMs. Yet the March 24 meeting will stand out as different from many of its predecessors. An atmosphere of optimism, problem solving, and generosity filled the room. All 29 warned articles passed on Saturday. After all votes...
A new place for performing arts in Bellows Falls
The former factory building at 33 Bridge Street is about to get more artistic. Beginning in April, the long-time home of community radio station WOOL-FM, Sherwin Art Glass, and Charlie Hunter Fine Art will count Stage 33 Live as a tenant. Stage 33 Live, a radio-television-web variety show, features regional performers and presenters offering music, theater, performance, academic, and spoken-word events. The organization is a registered nonprofit, and the Board of Directors consists of Gail Golec, Daniel Hartigan, and Mark...