Issue #483
Democratic gubernatorial candidate looks for points of unity
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Christine Hallquist hoped to squeak through the August primary with a win. The former CEO of the Burlington Electric Cooperative won her party's race with a hefty majority.
With less than a week until the Nov. 6 general election, she has been visiting communities large and small, including spending a packed day in Brattleboro on Oct. 12, when The Commons caught up with her.
BF girls win Division III cross-country title
The Bellows Falls girls' cross country team turned in a dominant performance at the Vermont State Cross-Country Championships on Oct. 27 at Thetford Academy. The Terrier girls had four runners in the top 10 in Division III, and won their first state title since back-to-back wins in 1985 and...
Next Stage Speaks looks at acts of resistance through the ages
Resistance by individuals and groups has a long and varied history. Aristophanes wrote the play Lysistrata, in which women used sex as a weapon against war. The French and British resisted tyranny. So did Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Henry David Thoreau, Rosa Parks, and Woody Guthrie. On Friday,
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Milestones
Obituaries • Shirley Lona Gallup Bedard, 83, formerly of Brattleboro. Died Oct. 23, 2018 in South Ogden, Utah, following complications from Alzheimer's. She was born on a small farm in Guilford on Aug. 4, 1935 to Richard and Lona Gallup, the youngest of three children. She told stories of being chased by the big turkey there and then refusing to eat it when he was prepared for Thanksgiving. That was her earliest memory at age 3. Her family then moved...
Coffey: Track record of prompting dialogue
In my line of work as an admissions counselor for Africa and the Middle East at the School for International Training, I understand how important it is for people to talk with one another and sit together in community. Sara Coffey has done exactly that. Sara has come over the ridge to Vernon and met with various community leaders to learn about the issues and concerns that face our community here. She came to tour Vermont Yankee to learn more...
Guilford woman receives funding for environmental-displacement research
Tilden Remerleitch of Guilford has been selected for a National Geographic Early Career Grant for the next academic year. The funds will support the geography major's research on Ecuador's internally displaced and their relationship to the environment. Remerleitch graduated from the University of Vermont, Brattleboro Union High School, and Guilford Central School. The selection criteria, according to the National Geographic Society, are bold, innovative, and potentially transformative projects with their primary focus in conservation, education, research, storytelling, or technology. Remerleitch's...
Sister District plans concert at Next Stage
Southern Vermont Sister District presents an afternoon concert with local favorites The Seymour Sisters and Jon Bliss at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill, on Sunday, Nov. 4, at 4 p.m. Tickets are available at the door on a sliding scale $15-50 or at www.nextstagearts.org. In a news release, organizers said the event was a way to “channel your midterm excitement (or anxiety) by supporting Sister District, a national, volunteer based organization working to flip or hold strategic races Blue in...
Crime victims discuss the need to feel whole
People representing multiple agencies and nonprofits focused on criminal justice and survivor advocacy rearranged the chairs in the Brattleboro Union High School's classroom Oct. 15 as Vermont's Center for Crime Victim Services held the first stop on its statewide listening tour. Attendance was good for a Monday night in Brattleboro. Last year, the state agency heard from mostly professionals who worked with those who had experienced a crime. This year, staff said they hoped more victims would attend the meetings.
Basketville to close Putney store
A Putney landmark is about to vanish from the retail scene, but another longtime Putney business will be expanding into the soon-to-be-vacated space. This week, Basketville announced plans to close its Putney retail store before the new year. According to a news release, the company says it has evolved into a wholesale business serving some of America's largest retailers, and the Putney retail store no longer fits within the focus of the company's main business. Basketville's headquarters, employing about 25...
Selectboard repeals anti-panhandling ordinance
Following guidance from the American Civil Liberties Union and the town's legal counsel, the Brattleboro Selectboard unanimously voted to repeal an anti-panhandling ordinance at their regular meeting on Oct. 16. During the comments period, Board members invited Brattleboro Police Chief Michael Fitzgerald to discuss how his officers are responding to the increase of people asking strangers for money, and people who are homeless, in the downtown district. This was the second public hearing of the ordinance change; the first occurred...
Vote wisely — our way of life depends on it
I am troubled by what is happening in this country I love. Our electoral system has been under attack for some time via cyber meddling, media manipulation, voter suppression, gerrymandering, and other means. Abraham Lincoln, a great Republican, hoped that government of the people, by the people, for the people, would not perish from the Earth. What would he say about the far-right shift of his party? And how do you think Donald Trump would reply? Trump promised to be...
Zuckerman: the essence and personification of a public servant
As I checked the news just before sitting down to write this letter on behalf of Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, I learned that the Republican State Leadership Committee, funded by big pharma, the Koch brothers, the National Rifle Association, and many others, has begun dropping $186,000 into television ads attacking Zuckerman, Senate Pro Tem Tim Ashe, and Speaker Mitzi Johnson. A short while back, the National Association of Realtors approved a contribution of $54,000 from the organization's political action committee...
‘We will still be here, through what’s coming’
Around the time I transitioned, I started a business. It sells to transgender customers, mostly - people like me. We've shipped to every state in this country, now, and we send more to small towns than big cities by far. People send us letters and emails, saying: Hey, I didn't think anyone cared about what I needed, but this is what I needed. Or: I'm all alone out here in my small town, but I'm trying to get up the...
Boston: respect for elections and their integrity
Marlboro residents might know Clarence Boston as an iconoclastic orchardist with a passion for apples that is matched by his deep knowledge about them. They might not know that he is equally steeped in and passionate about our political system. From his days as a congressional page to U.S. House Speaker Tip O'Neill onward, Boston has learned to appreciate the value of laws and how they can keep our electoral system functioning and serving us. Even when we find ourselves...
Coffey: an experienced community builder
As election day draws near, I applaud candidates running for office. The scale of Vermont allows all of us a broad spectrum of opportunities to make a difference in our communities. Sara Coffey is running for the Legislature in district Windham-1, which includes Guilford and Vernon. She is an experienced community builder who will work hard for her constituents. I have had the opportunity to work with Sara in her role as director of Vermont Performance Lab. She is aware...
Coffey: Reaching out to Vernon
I am pleased to be supporting candidate Sara Coffey for our Windham-1 legislative district. I have worked extensively with Sara on Guilford projects, ranging from the 250th anniversary celebration, to Grange events, to the Broad Brook Community Center, of which she serves as president. I am always impressed by her skills, level of commitment, and fairness in all that she takes on. As our district includes both Guilford and Vernon, I particularly note Sara's efforts to reach out to Vernon.
Coffey: The quintessential social entrepreneur
I have had the pleasure of working on various projects with Sara Coffey since we collaborated on the first Vermont Performance Lab (VPL) production - Music for Trains - when I was director of the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. I subsequently joined the VPL board of directors, and I'm continuously astounded by Sara's boundless energy, innovative thinking, and business acumen. Not only does Sara have the vision to conceive inspired community partnerships, but she also possesses the skills and...
Local EMS: training rules repel volunteers
State officials from several public safety agencies came to town to brief fire and emergency personnel on new training programs and requirements - and to listen to local needs. They got an earful. The Oct. 23 meeting at the Putney Fire Station brought representatives from the state Public Safety, Fire Safety, and Emergency Management departments to meet with representatives from Rescue, Inc., area fire departments and Selectboards, and representatives of the Windham Regional Commission, who could ask questions of the...
Hatred so vile
When I was in elementary school, a girl named Carol called me a “Jew bitch.” It was a shock and it hurt me, but I dismissed it, and her, as just plain stupid. When I was in high school, a girl named Gayle said I was the first Jew she'd ever met, and I wasn't so different after all. I laughed it off and said, “So I don't have horns after all?” And when I turned 13, a girl named...
2018 Brattleboro Film Festival films
• 1985: Monday, Nov. 5, 6:30 p.m. (Drama; Yen Tan; 85m; USA.) Having been gone for three years, closeted advertising executive Adrian returns to his Texas hometown for the holidays during the first wave of the AIDS crisis. Burdened with an unspeakable tragedy in New York City, Adrian looks to reconnect with his preteen brother Andrew while navigating his relationship with religious parents Eileen (Virginia Madsen) and Dale (Michael Chiklis). Shot in black and white, 1985 takes a unique empathetic...
Film reveals challenges of prisoners ‘Coming Home’
Mark from St. Johnsbury is preparing to leave prison. But first, he has to come to terms with why he punched his wife in the face on his way there. “Growing up, I watched these men come out of bars and fight every Friday and Saturday night,” he says. “That's what I equated alcohol with: Go to the bars, pick up women, have fun, get into fights, drunk driving, stealing cars, six months here, 18 months there ...” Soon, charges...
Around the Towns
Windham Orchestra gets spooky for Senior Noon Concert BRATTLEBORO - The Windham Orchestra presents a concert Thursday, Nov. 1, featuring some “delightfully spooky” works - and lunch - at a noontime concert. Musical Tricks-n-Treats at the Latchis Theatre is co-sponsored by Brattleboro Senior Meals and the Rotary Club of Brattleboro and is a fundraiser for the Senior Meals program. Works will include Mussorgsky's Night On Bald Mountain, and the audience will participate as well, singing the children's classic, Ghost of...
Mild and rainy to start November; sunshine returns on Sunday
Good day to you, good people of southern Vermont! Overall, November appears to be a month of oscillation. We should see a mild start, a potentially colder middle period, and then a milder end of the month. This will likely be due to a ridge (i.e., a large area of high pressure in the upper levels) near Greenland. These blocks are only foreseeable a couple of weeks out, and this signal continues to show itself lately. This should help push...
This is truly a dangerous time
This past week, the news was hard to bear. It doesn't make sense to just get used to it or to turn away, since it is real. I often tell my students that whether or not they pay attention to the news, the news is still paying attention to them. On Oct. 24, a man with a gun tried to assault a black church in Kentucky, according to police. The doors were well-locked, so he reportedly went to a nearby...
BAJC to hold services, concert dedicated to tragedy in Pittsburgh
In the aftermath of the Oct. 27 murders at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the Brattleboro Area Jewish Community is blessed this week with the presence of a great Jewish teacher and fighter for social justice - Cantor Linda Hirschhorn. Cantor Kate Judd announced that the BAJC is dedicating this week's Friday night Shabbat service and Saturday night concert with Hirschhorn to the memory of those who have died. “It will be a time for us to gather...
Scott meets with Brattleboro Selectboard
As part of his “Capital for a Day” tour through Windham County on Oct. 23, Gov. Phil Scott and his cabinet joined the Brattleboro Selectboard and town staff for a listening session. “We are doing well here but we are facing the same challenges that other communities face,” Selectboard chair Kate O'Connor told Scott. On the positive side, O'Connor spotlighted the town's businesses, festivals, and social ethic. O'Connor highlighted some of what's going well in Brattleboro. For example, the Whetstone...
BCTV announces winners of 2018 Producer Awards
Brattleboro Community Television announced its producer awards winners for 2018 on Oct. 25, and 75 people attended. The People's Choice Award winner, which is a popular vote among the year's top-viewed videos, was won by Wendy O'Connell for her show's episode “Here We Are: with guest David Blistein.” The following organizations and individuals were recognized: • Community Partner of the Year: Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation, who partnered with BCTV this past year to promote awareness of its many activities and...
Windham-1 candidates make their case to voters
The audience filled most of the folding chairs arranged before the stage in Vernon Elementary School cafeteria on a crisp night on Oct. 16, as the Windham-1 house candidates, Sara Coffey, Democrat of Guilford, and Patrick Gilligan, Republican of Vernon, sat at a folding table awaiting questions. Moderator Martin Langeveld explained that the candidates had a few minutes for opening - and later closing - statements. He had reserved the bulk of the evening for audience questions. Opening statements In...
Sharing strength
Welcome into this circle of light. Thank you for coming here tonight to gather to create warmth and light. Thank you for setting aside space in your heart and in your evening to come here to honor the dead in Pittsburgh. Thank you for gathering together at a time when it feels so very dangerous to do that. I pulled this event together quickly, not meaning to offend or leave anyone out. I needed a place to put my grief,
Ground breaks for new housing
As someone who has worked inside a lot of job-site offices in his time running a construction company, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott was on familiar turf during his visit to Brattleboro on Oct. 23. “I very much appreciate being in a job office where things get done,” Scott said during a news conference prior to a groundbreaking ceremony for the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust's (WWHT) Snow Building on 29 Flat St. Funding for the $7 million project includes $1.5...
Democracy in action
While the candidates outnumbered the members of the public, those who did come to the Green Mountain Chapel on Oct. 17 got to take part in a sort of open mic night for democracy. Seventeen candidates from across the political spectrum came to the event, which was organized by Pastor Bill Steele of Green Mountain Chapel and Richard “Rick” Morton, chair of the Windham County Republicans. Each person got four minutes to speak their piece. Steele admitted he was nervous...
‘A blatant and brazen act of pure hatred’
Members of Shabbat Havurah, Brattleboro: On Oct. 27, we experienced the worst anti-Semitic attack in American history. Eleven Jews were murdered during a prayer service in the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. As we attempt to deal with this unconscionable tragedy, we pray that the American Jewish community and the country can find some healing. Unfortunately, this violent attack happened at a time when the Anti-Defamation League has reported a historic increase in both anti-Semitic incidents and anti-Semitic online...
A climate vigilante takes matters into her own hands
In a desolate, mountainous wilderness, a woman fixes an arrow to her bow and sends it flying over electric pylons standing like hideous giants across the land. Attached to the arrow is a string. Attached to the string is a metal cable, which, when pulled across the top of the wires, short-circuits the grid, instantly shutting down the huge aluminum smelter they feed. So begins Woman at War, an Icelandic film by Benedikt Erlingsson that could not be more timely:
Addition by subtraction
It's that time of year, my friends, when the leaves change color and the air chills and I look over the selections of the annual Brattleboro Film Festival - its seventh! - and see what looks good, what looks interesting, what will break my heart, and what looks hopelessly awful. (Not too much, I'm pleased to say. And it was ever thus: The festival and its volunteers generally choose great films.) Every year, it's an experiment. If it seems like...
We're all mad here
Visual artist and musician Roger Miller is bringing Surrealist Games to 118 Elliot for a return visit to Brattleboro. Two years ago, Miller presented the event at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, which allowed attendees to create art, not just look at it. The reaction from participants was overwhelmingly positive. Vaune Trachtman said she loved that it was “non-competitive fun. Everyone's a winner!” Rolf Parker described the evening as “awesome,” and the highlight for Ely Coughlin was “laughing so...
Emily Dickinson, poet. Emily Dickinson, lesbian?
Give a big hand to Molly Shannon, whose just-below-the-surface comedic style puts a face to Emily Dickinson not yet seen on the big screen in Wild Nights with Emily. Seasoned to a tee, she steals this show. Better yet, give a shout out to filmmaker and director Madeleine Olnek, who has fleshed out a credible romantic-friendship narrative for Emily Dickinson and her dearest confidant and sister-in-law, Susan Dickinson, strategically married to brother Austin. Emily Dickinson, poet. Emily Dickinson, lesbian? The...