Issue #507
‘We walk with a common clarion call for change’
Today, we flooded the Statehouse with silence, song, and the voices of youth calling for action to protect the Earth and their future and to ban new fossil-fuel infrastructure.
Over the course of this walk, approximately 300 people have walked - some for one day, others all the way.
Administrative manager joins Broad Brook Community Center
Sara Coffey, president of Broad Brook Community Center in Guilford, recently announced that Jaime Durham has been appointed to the newly-created position of administrative manager. Durham, a Guilford resident, is the first staff member of the Community Center, which was formed in 2015 and now owns the former Broad...
Around the Towns
Fantini to speak on SIT's past, present, and future DUMMERSTON - Alvino Fantini will speak on “The School for International Training: Past, Present and Future,” at the Dummerston Historical Society quarterly meeting on Thursday, April 25, at the society's schoolhouse in Dummerston Center. The business meeting will be held...
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Reed receives CCV Leadership Scholarship
Amanda Reed of Bellows Falls has been awarded a Community College of Vermont Leadership Scholarship that honors leadership through service learning, volunteer work, and involvement in student life at CCV. CCV president Joyce Judy presented the award to Reed and 12 other recipients representing each CCV branch plus one online student at a luncheon in Montpelier on March 29. Reed was nominated by her CCV Springfield advisor Debra Grant, who recognized Reed for her involvement in the community. “Amanda is...
A place to help survivors of abuse
If you've never heard of a children's advocacy center or a special investigative unit, you aren't alone. Despite our agency, Windham County Safe Place, having existed here for the past eight years, many people in our community aren't familiar with us or what kind of work we do here. We provide support to victims of childhood physical and sexual abuse and to adults who have experienced sexual assault. It is estimated that one in 10 children will experience sexual abuse...
Young adult author presents reading at Marlboro
Marlboro College welcomes back Molly Booth '14, a pioneer in young adult queer fiction, who will present a reading from her new work, Nothing Happened. The reading and discussion will take place Thursday, April 25, at 6:30 p.m., in the Appletree building on the Marlboro campus. Booth's first book and culminating project as a student at Marlboro, the young adult novel Saving Hamlet, was published by Disney Hyperion in 2016. Nothing Happened, her second book, was published in 2018 and...
Milestones
College news • Colton Butler of Whitingham and Holly Landon of South Londonderry were both named to the Dean's List at Elmira (N.Y.) College for the winter 2019 term. • Peyton Eisler, a nursing major from Wilmington, was named to the Dean's List at Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., for the fall 2018 semester. Obituaries • Maxine B. Stevens Enright, 94, of North Walpole, N.H. Died Saturday, April 6, 2019 at the Maplewood Nursing Home in Westmoreland, N.H. Born on...
Sky Blue Boys to perform at Stage 33
Banjo Dan and Willy Lindner were the driving force behind the much-loved, legendary bluegrass band “Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys” during its 40-year run. As a twosome, they play and sing in the vintage country music brother-duo tradition of the 1930s and 1940s. They'll be performing a special two-set late afternoon matinee at Stage 33 Live in Bellows Falls on Sunday, April 28. The first half will spotlight songs and stories, followed by an update of their longtime audience...
Brattleboro Concert Choir presents ‘Beauty Through Tragedy’
The Brattleboro Concert Choir presents “Beauty Through Tragedy: The Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams & Amy Beach” in two concerts, April 26 and 27, at the Latchis Theatre. The Friday, April 26, concert is set for 7:30 p.m., while the Saturday, April 27, performance will begin at 3 p.m. According to a news release, Amy Beach was the first American woman to publish a symphony and the first major American composer of any gender not to receive early training in...
Main Street Arts offers dance workshops
Main Street Arts is offering a series of dance workshops with professional dancer and choreographer Neva Cockrell of Loom Ensemble on four Tuesdays in May. Cockrell is the artistic director of Loom, where she choreographs and directs new dance-theater works in the U.S., Dubai, and Europe. She has also been touring internationally with Pilobolus for the past three years, including performing in Germany, Israel, Mexico, China, Switzerland, Dubai, and the U.S. Her diverse background in gymnastics, contact improvisation, and contemporary...
‘This American Life’ producer to address Marlboro College grads
Marlboro College's 72nd commencement will take place on the morning of May 12, when community members will gather to celebrate the accomplishments of both undergraduate and graduate students. Radio producer and Marlboro alumnus Sean Cole '93 will give a commencement address, and renowned artists Emily Mason and Wolf Kahn will also receive honorary degrees. “We are honored to welcome Sean back to Marlboro and include him in our proceedings as commencement speaker,” Kevin Quigley, Marlboro College president, said in a...
Spring water-main flushing begins April 25
Brattleboro Utilities Division crews will start spring flushing of the town water mains on Thursday, April 25, at 10 p.m. and continue through Saturday, May 11. Some daytime flushing will continue throughout the weeks of May 13 and 20. Water-main flushing will occur during both 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...
Clift publishes collected travel tales
“All my life I have disagreed with David Henry Thoreau: Unlike him, I definitely think it is 'worthwhile to go around the world to count the cats in Zanzibar.'” Thus begins writer Elayne Clift's 13th book, Around the World in Fifty Years: Travel Tales of a Not So Innocent Abroad, a collection of selected stories about her global travels told in prose and poetry. Clift, an intrepid traveler who has visited almost 100 countries on every continent except Antarctica for...
Vern-Mont Farm conserves 146 acres with Vermont Land Trust
Jeff Dunklee of Vern-Mont Farm worked with the Vermont Land Trust, the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, and the Town of Vernon to conserve 146 acres on the east side of Route 142 in Vernon. Vern-Mont Farm is one of the largest dairies in southern Vermont; there are 625 Holsteins in the milking herd, and another 400 heifers and young stock. Over the past 150 years, five generations of the Dunklee family have run the farm. Jeff grew up there,
Rock Voices returns for a spring concert
Director Tony Lechner invites everyone to join Rock Voices, the area's only community rock chorus, for an evening of rock and pop classics. The concert will take place at Brattleboro's Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St., on Friday, May 3, at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. Backed by a professional rock band, this more than 100-voice choir performs the music of Simon & Garfunkel, Colbie Caillat, The Monkees, Corinne Bailey Rae, David Bowie, The Doobie Brothers, Boston, and...
Jill Lepore discusses ‘These Truths’ at Brooks Memorial Library
Bestselling author and Harvard University professor Jill Lepore will discuss her most recent work, These Truths: A History of the United States, at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., in Brattleboro on Saturday, April 27, at 7 p.m. Lepore's title signals the thrust of her historical investigation. As she writes in her introduction, “The American experiment rests on three political ideas - 'these truths,' Thomas Jefferson called them - political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of the people,” each...
Youth Services’ Spring Gala & Dance will feature local ‘celebrity’ dancers
Witness local “celebrities” showcasing their dance skills while supporting a great cause on Saturday, April 27, when Youth Services presents “Can Windham County Dance?” According to a news release, the gala and dance show at SIT, from 5 to 10 p.m., is a twist on televisions' hit reality show, Dancing with the Stars. This Youth Services event, presented by Twombly Wealth Management, offers a silent auction, a dinner prepared by A Vermont Table, and an hour-long dance show culminating in...
West River Education District set to vote on revised budget
The West River Education District, composed of the towns of Townshend, Newfane, Jamaica, Brookline, with representation from Windham, will have a re-vote on Tuesday, April 30, on the revised budget for grades 7-12 for the 2019-20 school year. Last month, at the vote held March 26, voters approved the first part of the school budget for the district for grades pre-K through 6. The second part of the proposed budget for the upper grades was voted down. An informational meeting...
Grateful for efforts to combat drug dealers
It was gratifying to learn that federal, state, and town authorities succeeded in apprehending drug dealers at 33 Oak St. and 48-50 Central St. as well as the Black Mountain Inn on Putney Road. Drug activity poses all sorts of problems for our community. Thank you to the officials who worked to achieve these results.
Woodland strolls incompatible with mountain biking
The Retreat Trails in the Retreat Woods are at a crossroads. The new Retreat Farm nonprofit owns five Retreat Trails from four trailheads accessing the many, central Retreat Trails owned by the Brattleboro Retreat. The Lower and Upper Woodlands Trails from the Neighborhood Schoolhouse/Solar Hill trailhead access the central Retreat Trails from Western Avenue. When the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps recently maintained these narrow, steep trails, the crew leader, an avid mountain biker, decided to modify the Upper Woodlands Trail...
Biographer Harold Holzer tells story of Lincoln Memorial sculptor
Biographer Harold Holzer, a recipient of the National Humanities Medal, will speak on the life of Daniel Chester French, creator of the Lincoln Memorial, in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St. in Brattleboro on Tuesday, April 30, at 7 p.m. His talk, “Lincoln Memorial Sculptor Daniel Chester French: The Making of an Icon,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council's First Wednesdays lecture series and is free, open to the public, and wheelchair accessible. Note that this...
Public events mark release of fern identification guidebook
Author and publisher Lynn Levine has put together several events to introduce Identifying Ferns the Easy Way: A Pocket Guide to Common Ferns of the Northeast to the world. Levine and illustrator Briony Morrow-Cribbs will discuss the evolution of their new book, Identifying Ferns the Easy Way: A Pocket Guide to Common Ferns of the Northeast, on Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m. at Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, 10 Vernon St. in Brattleboro. The free event to celebrate the...
Memories of Marlboro Schoolhouse
Thanks for the front-page coverage and memories of the Marlboro Schoolhouse on Higley Hill Road in Marlboro. I was a rental occupant from 1972 to 1985. I awaited Liza and Casey Murrow's transition from the Schoolhouse to their new home on Lower Dover Road. I bided my time there in the midst of sawdust before our final move. Liza was very pregnant with their first son, Derrick. She somehow managed to navigate the Schoolhouse ladder to the “upstairs” bedroom/loft. With...
Affordable dental center slated to open this spring
While it might not be ready for the official ribbon cutting, progress on the Windham County Dental Center is ahead of schedule. According to United Way of Windham County Executive Director Carmen Derby, the joint project of the United Way of Windham County and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is gearing up to open at 375 Canal St. “Not a lot is happening right now,” she said. “But a lot will happen soon.” The center will be open to all clients who...
Our republic, decimated and discarded as we watch
Following the debacle created by Attorney General William Barr when he decided unilaterally that Donald Trump wasn't guilty of collusion or obstruction of justice, it seems appropriate to declare that we are facing dark times in the United States. It should be clear by now that we are experiencing an unprecedented, deeply dangerous Constitutional crisis that prompts a question. Why aren't Democrats, some media, and the public reacting more vigorously to the growing nightmare of encroaching autocracy, if not outright...
Fast flow produces a seesaw of showers, sun
Good day to you, hearty dwellers of southern Vermont! We're currently caught in an ongoing up-and-down pattern which will produce inclement weather followed by periods of fair weather over the next week. For Wednesday, we'll start off with a few early morning showers and transition to a partly to mostly sunny day that will last through Thursday. By Friday morning, rainfall will track back into the region as northern and southern stream systems merge over our region. Our storm departs,
Donovan: public investments level playing field
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan loves his home state. But, he said, it's struggling with an identity crisis. Is the Green Mountain State the agrarian state of the 19th and 20th centuries, with strong communities and values? Or is Vermont part of the global digital economy and, if so, what values do Vermonters need to sacrifice to participate? Donovan, a Democrat, asked that question - and others - during his visit to the weekly noontime gathering of the Brattleboro Rotary...
Making ferns simple
“Trees have names?” Lynn Levine remembers once asking. Now, Levine, a forester of 40 years and author of numerous nature-related books, is the one answering these questions. With her new guidebook, Identifying Ferns the Easy Way, published this spring, Levine hopes to provide a resource that both new and experienced forest-goers could benefit from and enjoy. One of the things that she does best, she says, is to make things simple - her goal with the new 74-page volume. It...
What comes first, our own self interests or the environment?
I was one of the lucky 2,000 customers who was able to lease a Tesla Powerwall from Green Mountain Power. For $15 a month per panel, paid over 10 years, I was given two panels that would switch on if the grid went down. These panels would also provide backup energy for Green Mountain Power (GMP) when necessary. Valued by Tesla at almost $8,000 each, including installation, this $1,800 total investment seemed like a good deal from GMP, the first...
River Singers host gospel legend Kathy Bullock in two spring concerts
The 90-member River Singers Community Chorus will perform two dynamic, eclectic concerts of world music on Saturday, May 4, at both 3 and 7:30 p.m., at Next Stage in Putney. The River Singers, a multi-generational community choir led by Mary Cay Brass, sings a wide variety of community-based music from diverse cultural and musical traditions. Brass will be joined by guest conductor, singer, and dynamic gospel piano player Kathy Bullock of Berea, Kentucky. Bullock has been a professor of music...
‘I know that no one wants to be hungry. I know no one wants to be an addict. No one.’
I recently interviewed Melvin Harris, who was born in Birmingham, Ala., and he's been in the area for about 10 years. He worked for a while at C & S Wholesale Grocers and Vermont Bread Company, but then he found himself homeless, living in abandoned houses and sleeping under bridges. But now he is a resident of the Great River Terrace, a supportive housing community on Putney Road on the site of the former Lamplighter Motel at 1336 Putney Rd.
Workers make ‘significant progress’ on water main project
Last week, the Main Street Water Line Replacement Project crossed two big tasks off its list. First, contractor Zaluzny Excavating of Vernon installed approximately 150 feet of new 12-inch ductile-iron water pipe and four new valves along the east side of Main Street. Director of Public Works Steve Barrett told the Selectboard at its April 16 meeting that the successful installation will make the rest of the project move quickly. “Now we're off and running up the street,” Barrett said.
Folk duo Emma’s Revolution headlines West B concert
Emma's Revolution, the award-winning activist duo of Pat Humphries and Sandy O, will perform in Brattleboro for the first time at the Pete Seeger 100th singalong concert on May 12, at 7 p.m., at the West Village Meeting House. The duo had many connections with Seeger, a friend and mentor, during their career, as did the other performers scheduled for the concert, including Peter Siegel, Sally Rogers, Annie Patterson, and Peter Blood. Pete Seeger would have been 100 years old...
Colonel softballers humbled by MAU
The Brattleboro Colonels softball team started its season in dominant fashion. All of their first three games have ended after five innings due to the 15-run mercy rule. But all three of those wins, by an aggregate score of 68-0, came against Division II opponents. Colonels coach Kelly Markol knew that the real test of what kind of team she had would come on April 18, when the Mount Anthony Patriots came to Sawyer Field. On a gray, cold, and...
Stone Church Arts presents The Revenants
Bluegrass Gospel Project alums Taylor Armerding, Andy Greene, and Kirk Lord will perform original, time-honored, and contemporary Americana music at the Stone Church on the Hill in Bellows Falls at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 27. Showcasing compelling, intricately braided vocals, richly textured instrumental work, and solid, innovative rhythm, the three band members bring decades of performing experience to the stage. Armerding has been a passionate participant in the New England bluegrass/roots/Americana scene for decades. A founding member of the...
Bellows Falls poetry reading features three poets, ‘curated cocktails’
“Cocktail Continuum: An Evening of Expanded Poetics” will feature a reading by poets Seth Landman, Bianca Stone, and Ben Pease and what event organizers describe as “curated cocktails.” Readings by the poets will begin promptly at 8 p.m. at Wunderbar, at 22 Rockingham St. Stone, a writer and visual artist, was born and raised in Vermont and in 2007 moved to New York City, where she received her master's of fine arts degree from New York University. She collaborated with...