Issue #477
A firsthand education about our country’s inhumanity
From July 31 to Aug. 8, I joined the Grannies Respond caravan that traveled from Beacon, N.Y. to McAllen, Texas, on a 2,000-mile, six-city mission to raise strong voices of dissent about our government's inhumane and immoral immigration policies and to learn firsthand what was taking place on our southern border.
Early this summer, Nancy Braus, co-owner of Everyone's Books in Brattleboro, told me about the separation of children from parents which was taking place on the border as a result of our government's zero-tolerance policy.
Photography exhibit, events highlight struggle of addiction
An upcoming photography exhibit and series of related events organized by the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center shed light on what it takes to recover from addiction, a daunting challenge facing individuals, families, and communities throughout the U.S. Supported in part by the Vermont Arts Council and the National...
ACLU pushes Brattleboro on panhandling ordinance
Interviews with the town manager and an ACLU of Vermont attorney about the town’s interaction with people on public property asking for money
Panhandling. Begging. Asking for donations. Regardless of the terminology, asking people for money has remained a hot-button issue for the community. From conversations at Selectboard meetings to special community discussions about the topic to printed booklets, everyone has an opinion. Recently, the American Civil Liberties Union weighed in. As...
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Rec. Dept. plans removal of knotweed infestation near Creamery Bridge
The Recreation & Parks Department says they are working with a local forester from Long View Forest Woodland Services to control invasive plant and vegetation (Japanese Knotweed and other native invasive plants) adjacent to the Creamery Bridge. Since Tropical Storm Irene, Japanese Knotweed has become a strong presence on the banks along Whetstone Brook. This and other native vegetation is encroaching structures along the banks, negatively impacting building health, aesthetics, and, in the case of the knotweed, the area's ecology.
Doctor to reflect on service during Vietnam War
As an army doctor in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969, Robert Tortolani got to see the war from a variety of perspectives. He saw the jungle on the ground directly supporting the medics and soldiers in harm's way. He also saw it from the air, as he would be taken by helicopter between the five companies for which the young doctor was responsible. “I was doing house calls constantly in helicopters,” he told The Commons. He was stationed at a...
‘Lights, Camera, Auction’ to benefit Main Street Arts
Lights! Camera! Auction! will be the cry at Main Street Arts as the community arts center continues the celebration of its 30th birthday with its annual benefit gala Saturday, Sept. 22, beginning at 5 p.m. A silent auction of art work, local services, and donated goods will be on hand to tempt buyers, and Bill Stevens will auction off a group of special items, including an evening of wine and hors d'oeuvres on a veranda overlooking a flowing stream, with...
The Root Social Justice Center celebrates five years
Come celebrate The Root Social Justice Center's fifth birthday on Saturday, Sept. 22, with a family-friendly event for kids of all ages. According to a news release, The Root is raising fun and funds to keep their space and programs going strong for the coming year. While they encourage folks to come ready to donate, the event is free and open to the public. Participants are invited to gather at The Root, 28 Williams St., at 3 p.m., to make...
Fine-art glass exhibit opens at The Gallery
The public is invited to attend the artists' reception of “A World Suspended in Color,” a fine-art glass exhibit, from 5 to 8 p.m., on Friday, Sept. 21 at Canal Street Art Gallery, 23 Canal St. The exhibition is on view to the public through Nov. 3 at the gallery. It is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and all other days by appointment. According to a news release, the intention of “A World Suspended in...
Author to discuss McCarthyism in Vermont
Vermont author Rick Winston discusses Red Scare in the Green Mountains: The McCarthy Era in Vermont 1946-1960 at Everyone's Books on Friday, Sept 21, at 6 p.m. What happened in Vermont when the anti-Communist fear known as the “Red Scare” swept the country after World War II? Quite a bit, as it turns out. Winston explores some forgotten history as we see how a small, rural “rock-ribbed Republican” state with a historically libertarian streak handled the hysteria of the time.
Putney Foodshelf gets set to ‘Top the Truck’
September is national Hunger Action Month. According to the Vermont Foodbank, one in four people in Vermont struggles with hunger. On Wednesday, Sept. 26, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., rain or shine, the Putney Foodshelf, a nonprofit organization that provides supplemental healthy food for area people in need, will hold its annual “Top the Truck” food drive. This year, the truck will again be parked in the Tavern parking lot between the Gleanery Restaurant and the Putney Town Hall.
The Steamboats chug into Bellows Falls
The Steamboats, an ensemble of picker-singer-songwriters, combine reverence for the American vocal group with a progressive sensibility all their own. They will perform a Stone Church Arts concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22, in the Chapel at Immanuel Episcopal Church, the stone church on the hill, at 20 Church St., Bellows Falls. Singers Nick Throop, Mario Rincon, and Jon Jaffee hone gospel and a capella backgrounds, their soaring harmonies reminiscent of The Soul Stirrers and Fleet Foxes alike.
Around the Towns
BASIC to host second public visioning design session BRATTLEBORO - Brattleboro Recreation & Parks and BASIC are hosting a second public visioning session regarding the skatepark design with Stantec Action Sports, at the Gibson Aiken Senior Center on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 6:30 p.m. This public session presents local skaters with an opportunity to provide input into the design process, provides time for the public to discuss esthetic concerns related to skatepark design, and will serve as further input to...
Milestones
College news • The following local students are members of the Class of 2022 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine: Lillian A. Fisher of Brattleboro and Skye O. Rhomberg of Putney. • The following local students were named to the summer 2018 honors list at Community College of Vermont: Amanda Conley of Brattleboro, Abigail Maken of Brookline, Sage Hall of Newfane, Alexandra Petyk of Putney, John Salzman of Williamsville, and Ryan Bartlett and Tabitha Felisko of Wilmington. Obituaries • Clara...
Town to flush water mains this fall
Brattleboro Utilities Division crews will start fall flushing of the town water mains on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 10 p.m. and continue through Saturday, Oct. 6. Some daytime flushing will continue throughout the weeks of Oct. 8 and 15. Water-main flushing will occur night and day. Customers are asked to check the flushing schedule closely, as flushing causes water discoloration, low water pressure, and, in some areas, periods of no water. Night flushing will take place from 10 p.m. to...
[FRAMED] series continues with ‘Texassippi Soul Man’ Danny Brooks
Next Stage Arts Project will present a special edition of [FRAMED], featuring both an original film and live concert featuring “Texassippi Soul Man” Danny Brooks & Lil Miss Debi at Next Stage on Thursday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. This special event features the 2017 film Hard Working Man, a documentary by Christopher Darton about the life of Danny Brooks as a working musician - writing songs, recording, out on the road, meeting people - as well as the effect...
Jazz concert promotes two nonprofits
On Sunday, Sept. 23, Stage 33 Live, in conjunction with WOOL-FM, presents an afternoon of world-class jazz, including a workshop and concert, with guitarists Draa Hobbs and John Stowell. The event takes place at Stage 33 Live at 33 Bridge St., and ticket sales benefit the venue and the radio station, two nonprofit community arts organizations serving the greater Bellows Falls area. Stowell will lead a workshop at 2:30 p.m. for guitarists seeking to develop their improvisational skills. Topics covered...
Buddy Walk set for Sept. 29
On Saturday, Sept. 29, Brattleboro will host its 10th annual Buddy Walk. The Buddy Walk was developed by the National Down Syndrome Society in 1995 to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October and to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome. It has grown from 17 walks in 1995 to nearly 300 walks planned for 2018 worldwide. In 2017, more than $14 million was raised nationwide to benefit local programs and services, as well as the national...
What’s at the Fest?
Sandglass Theater's 10th edition of their international festival of puppet theater, Puppets in the Green Mountains, takes place in Brattleboro and Putney on Sept. 19-23. It includes performances, workshops, film, lectures, community discussions, and more. The festival will open with a fundraising gala at the Brattleboro Museum & Arts Center on Sept. 20, at 5:30 p.m. This is an opportunity to meet the guest artists from Taiwan, the UK, and Canada, as well as performers and other guest from around...
Autumn arrives with season-appropriate weather conditions this weekend
Good day to you, fine folks of Windham County in southern Vermont! Well, well, well, the heat and humidity has finally lost its clammy grip on our region as we pass through the Autumnal Equinox and continue our earthly back bend away from our star this fall. Our incoming pattern shift couldn't be more well-timed! The equinox occurs at 9:54 p.m. this Saturday, Sept. 22, and will be a day of drying and cooling after a brief warm surge on...
Now? I am watching a spectacle
We wait for the next hurricane to hit. Not hit us - we are inland, and north. But what, really, is our separation, our safety? Now we have drones and satellites that take photographs of the Earth from above. They capture hurricanes; they watch the ice melt. Now we are free, above it all, in a certain way, while the swirling cloud patterns, the rifts, and the fissures are preserved. But what good are records of the breakdown, while mortals...
Performance through puppetry
Every few years, southeastern Windham County welcomes puppeteers from around the world for Sandglass Theater's Puppets in the Green Mountains. This year's festival, held from Sept. 19 to 23, is the 10th edition, and features companies from Wales, Taiwan, Canada, and around the U.S. The theme is “Opening the Doors.” Building directly on the themes introduced during the 2015 festival, “Walking to the Borders,” which focused on issues of immigration and humanization, this year's lineup includes performances for all ages,
Rich legacy
The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 swept Brattleboro off its feet the very day the grand opening of the Latchis Theatre was to have taken place. One of the hallmarks of that storm was that it moved so quickly up the coast that it arrived without warning, making any kind of preparation or notification impossible. Demetrius (Jim) Latchis was 7 years old when his family was preparing the grand opening of the theater that was created in memory of...
March toward unfreedom
Scholars have debated fascism's definition and contours since its inception in 1919. All agree that it is a form of radical nationalist authoritarianism. As I peruse various interpretations, accounts, and analyses of fascism, the view that speaks most persuasively is that of Robert Paxton. In his 2004 book The Anatomy of Fascism, Paxton offers a definition: Fascism, he writes, is “a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of...
BF girls, Colonel boys win Pickering Invitational
It was a day for the young at the Russ Pickering Invitational cross-country meet at Bellows Falls Union High School on Sept. 14. The event, named for the coach who guided the “Terrier Harriers” to numerous state championships in the 1970s and 1980s, turned into a showcase for the Terriers' youngest runners. BF's Ian Wallace and Abby Broadley each prevailed in their respective races on their home course. Broadley, a ninth-grader, won the girls' race in a time of 19...
In Stile Moderno launches season
On Friday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m., In Stile Moderno returns to Brattleboro with their new program, “Curious and Modern Inventions: Novelties, Oddities, and the Birth of the Baroque,” at the Brattleboro Music Center, 72 Blanche Moyse Way. Following up on their acclaimed performance in January, this group of young early music specialists will showcase their energetic and modern take on 17th-century music. The concert will be the first of three in the ensemble's 2018-19 season, with further performances in...
The dying of the light
Did you ever wonder what it would be like to slowly lose your mind? That's exactly what the innovative new play opening this week in West Chesterfield, N.H., is trying to dramatize. Actors Theatre Playhouse presents Florian Zeller's The Father in its regional premiere for eight performances only on Fridays and Saturdays from Sept. 21 through Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m. An internationally acclaimed and theatrically thrilling work, The Father is a moving portrayal of Andre, an elderly man suffering...