With the average life expectancy of women longer than that of men, the Brattleboro branch of the American Association of University Women is offering a discussion session on Preparing for Widowhood on Friday, Dec. 6, at noon.
The free session will be held in the community room at The Brattleboro Savings and Loan Association at 221 Main St., and includes lunch.
Participating and offering guidance are Jean Giddings, attorney at law; Toni Ciampaglione, financial advisor at Park Place Financial Planners; and Theresa Masiello, vice-president and senior retail officer at BS&L.
According to data from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation that appeared in The Money Alert (June 29, 2018), 80 percent of women die single and 25 percent have spent their husband's death benefit within two months.
Early-bird tickets are now on sale for the 17th Annual Collegiate A Cappella Concert, a benefit for the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center taking place at the Latchis Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m. This year marks the first time early-bird pricing has been offered for this...
The Rockingham Historic Preservation Commission handed out plaques for seven properties in town during a reception Oct. 24 to honor the winners of the 2019 Old House Awards. These awards are presented annually to recognize individual home and business owners who take pride in preserving and maintaining their historic...
The “Framed” documentary film series at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill, continues with filmmaker Mike Leonard and his documentary One Town at a Time on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m. The film celebrates Vermont, and Leonard will host a Q&A following the film. In 2006, during a summer between semesters at college, Leonard took on the challenge of visiting every town in the state of Vermont by joining the 251 Club - a unique organization dedicated to exploring the...
In 2015, the Heather Pierson Acoustic Trio released an EP, Still She Will Fly, and the title track was that year's No. 2 single on folk radio. Their 2017 CD, Singin', debuted at No. 1 and was the No. 11 album of the year on the folk charts. Heather's new solo album, Lines and Spaces, comes out this month and is her 12th CD release. The trio will bring their “traveling music store” of instruments - piano, acoustic guitar, tenor...
2019 marks a milestone for a group of artisans in Guilford as they celebrate the 20th annual Holiday Open Studio. When Nancy Detra and Carol Schnabel started this event, they could not have imagined how it would evolve. As they tell the story, that first year they were the only two participants, and they invited about 50 people. Many of those friends came, and the initial Open Studio was a big success. After a few years, they decided to invite...
The Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble presents “Dynamic Duos: Partnerships of the Baroque” at the Brattleboro Music Center on Friday, Nov. 29. The 7:30 p.m. concert will spotlight some of the many partnerships that sprang up during the Baroque era between famous violinist-composers and their favorite cellists, producing a wealth of instrumental sonata repertoire. Performing will be Alison Bury, violin; Dick Earle, oboe; Jennifer Morsches, piccolo cello; Timothy Merton, cello; and Robin Bigwood, theorbo. The program includes Vandini's Sonata in A...
Brattleboro winter parking ban in effect BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Parking Department reminds everyone that the winter parking ban is in effect. Overnight parking is forbidden on all streets in the town of Brattleboro. Vehicles parked for longer than one hour between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., may be ticketed and towed at the owner's expense. This ban is in effect even if there is no snow on town streets. Brattleboro has a flashing light system and a signboard program...
Transitions • Lynn Levine, founder of Forest*Care, a Dummerston-based consulting forestry business since 1978, recently announced that Andrew Morrison of Dummerston is now the new owner. Morrison is a former science teacher with a B.S. from SUNY's College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a graduate degree from Antioch University New England, where he focused his research efforts on understanding our forests' resilience and the impacts of invasive plant species. For the past several years, he has worked for Land...
Twice each year, southern Vermont is treated to a dynamic music festival featuring outstanding middle and high school student musicians. The Connecticut River Valley Music Festival Association 2019 Fall Festival, encompassing 25 schools, will be hosted at Bellows Falls Union High School on Nov. 22 and 23. Bellows Falls Union High School Music Director Nick Pelton said in a news release that he and the school offered to contribute due to the high level of involvement of BFUHS students. All...
After 45 years in business, the past 16 of which were under the ownership of Kim and Edward Bank, Gallery North Star will permanently close its doors Dec. 2. “This has been an extremely difficult decision for us,” Edward Bank said in a news release. “We had to evaluate the many factors involved with continuing to operate the gallery, and it just proved to be unfeasible.” He said there were three major reasons driving the decision. “First is the general...
Local radio station, 92.7 BrattFM will be broadcasting live from Price Chopper/Market32 for three consecutive days leading up to Thanksgiving, collecting food and cash for Project Feed the Thousands. Parker Springfield, recently voted Brattleboro's favorite DJ, is the on-air radio personality for 92.7 BrattFM who will anchor the event. He will be joined by mid-day personality Natalie Knowles and afternoon personality Dave Matrango. They will be broadcasting live on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Nov. 25 through 27, from 7 a.m.
Brattleboro's Seasonal Overflow Shelter (SOS) opened for the 2019-20 winter season on Nov. 18. After a successful first and second season located at the upper dormitory on the Winston Prouty campus (formerly the Austine School for the Deaf), Groundworks' staff and Board say they are grateful for the opportunity to return to the space for a third year. “This program is the area's last safety net for the most vulnerable members of our community,” Josh Davis, Groundworks Collaborative's Executive Director,
There is a systemic problem with education in the state of Vermont. On a per-pupil basis, we spend 60 percent more than the national average, but our students score only in the average range, nationally. Worse, our students get an average grade in a country that ranks 17th in the world overall and only 35th in math. We have fewer minorities and less poverty, two factors that normally cause lower scores. Vermont has leveled the playing field by redistributing tax...
A study committee has recommended the state hire a consultant to investigate how to best fund public-access media organizations. PEG (public, education, and government) channels have seen their funding dwindle in recent years due to the number of people switching from cable television to more internet-based streaming or on-demand services. Additional changes at the federal level will likely cause these channels to lose significant portions of their funding. As a result of these funding threats, the Legislature established the PEG...
After two talks focusing on the ongoing crisis in Northeastern Syria, the Windham World Affairs Council's next program moves across the globe to another region, Southeast Asia. On Friday, Nov. 22, at 7:30 p.m., in the parlor of the Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St. in Brattleboro, Windham World Affairs Council will present “Movement Of People: Trafficking and Migrating in Southeast Asia Today.” The speaker will be Braema Mathi, a Singapore-based human rights activist who is currently in the Global...
I appreciate the admonitions to drivers about being aware of cyclists. Some of us would love to be able to cycle around town but, for mobility, health, and other reasons, we need to stick with our automobiles. I would thus like to add a few admonitions to cyclists, for the safety of all of us: 1) Cyclists are required to follow the same laws as drivers, e.g., stopping at red lights and stop signs, riding with the traffic. When cyclists...
As winter approaches, cold weather can increase the financial pressures on struggling Vermonters, making healthy food scarce for everyone in the household - including pets. To address this urgent need, Brattleboro Savings & Loan is again hosting their “Furry Friends” pet food drive to support the important work of the Windham County Humane Society. Donations will be accepted during Thanksgiving week and will help keep WCHS's Free Pet Food Pantry stocked throughout the year. “This fundraiser is a natural fit...
Almost 150 folks, most of them members of the Brattleboro Food Co-op, sat together to celebrate the 45th annual meeting of the Co-op. As we ate delicious food prepared by Co-op staff, we listened to reports from the board and the general manager. Soon after, the moderator opened up the floor for comments. We heard first from a long-time Co-op member, a woman of color, who stood up and told of an extremely painful racially-based experience she had at the...
Hello and good day to you, residents of lovely Windham County, Vermont! I hope that this past week has been a good one for you. I know, as I age, life continues to present increasing challenges, so if we can have some good moments or days in a given week, that's a good thing, indeed. As for our upcoming weather week, we're going to see some snow shower activity on Wednesday with very light accumulations possible in spots. Thursday looks...
Stone Church Arts presents Corner House, who describe themselves as “spirited songwriters with an old-time groove.” The award-winning instrumentalists perform Saturday, Nov. 23, at 7:30 p.m., in the Chapel at Immanuel Episcopal Church, the stone church on the hill, 20 Church St. The harpist Maeve Gilchrist has declared, “These fine musicians and lovely people think about each note they make and it comes together in something bigger. Simply beautiful music.” Steeped in tradition, the Boston-based band writes and arranges music...
Do you think a hunter should be able to kill a bobcat solely for the “sport” and leave the body to rot where the animal was killed? If not, then you're in the majority! Tragically, Vermont has no laws that prevent this behavior, and it happens every year. As a term, “wanton waste” is fairly clear, although “wanton” is not exactly a staple of everyday conversation. The top three definitions of “wanton” in Merriam-Webster are “merciless/inhumane,” “malicious,” and “extravagant,” making...
Ever since Windham Art Gallery closed shortly after she moved to Vermont almost two decades ago, painter Kay Curtis had been regretting that there was no longer a cooperative for art in Brattleboro. Of course, she knew that to start one up would be a huge job. “So I waited for 20 years,” she confessed. Then, suddenly, in September, Curtis got tired of waiting and declared, with the fervor of one on a mission, “I'm just going to do this...
The Putney Public Library, 55 Main St., invites everyone to view oil paintings on paper by Susan McDormand, now on exhibit through Dec. 28 during library hours and special events, free and open to the public. In a news release, McDormand said her interest in oil painting began about 20 years ago when she took classes at the River Gallery School in Brattleboro. Both Ric Campman, one of the founders of the school, and Lydia Thomson encouraged her to continue.
The architectural renderings might be conceptual, but the idea is not. The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) has announced a new museum to showcase contemporary art. The new structure will also provide 24 units of new housing downtown. Members of the team behind the multi-story, $30 million, arts-driven community and economic-development project formally unveiled their plans at an event at the museum on Nov. 19. BMAC, in partnership with M&S Development - an entity whose principal is a primary...
Those planning the expansion of the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center expect to increase the number of visitors downtown - substantially. “Our current expectation,” said Danny Litchtenfeld, the museum's executive director, “is that our annual attendance will double - from 16,000 today to roughly 35,000 - when this transformation is complete.” While these numbers are early estimates, Litchtenfeld said that they're based on the experience of museum expansion projects in other New England communities, such as the Massachusetts Museum of...
It was surprising and immediately disturbing to wake up one morning and learn of Marlboro College's intention to move to Boston, not lock, stock, and barrel...just the stock. But why was I surprised, having watched the slow, painful crumbling of the College over the past five or more years? Because the deal with Emerson is a really, really good one for Emerson. For Marlboro, it's terrible. Astonishingly so. On the upside, Marlboro preserves some 24 faculty jobs, but those jobs...
Beginning with this week's paper, Commons readers will see some new bylines in stories about Marlboro College's affiliation with - and proposed assimilation into - Emerson College in Boston. Our newspaper will bring you work from the young journalists at Emerson's student newspaper, The Berkeley Beacon (berkeleybeacon.com), who are covering this story with clarity, resolve, thoughtfulness, and compassion. “Immediately, we knew as a paper that we needed to hear from the students and faculty of Marlboro, and that a phone...
On a sunny, windy and cold Saturday morning, the third leg of the inaugural Red Clover Rovers Brattleboro Retreat Trails 5K Trilogy was run at the Retreat Farm. The Trilogy was dreamed up by Fred Ross of the Red Clover Rovers, who is a big fan of the Retreat Farm's trail network and wanted to create a series of races for trail runners. “I'm out on the Retreat Trails several times a week,” said Ross. “I think we're so lucky...
Marlboro College's graduate school is on a path to closure and could officially cease operations as soon as 2020, according to its president, Kevin Quigley. The graduate school has been tracking towards termination for two years and stopped admitting prospective students at the beginning of the 2019-20 school year. The shutdown comes as the main campus also ceases operations following the recent announcement of Emerson College's plans for acquisition of Marlboro. “They're in a teach-out mode,” Quigley said in an...
The Windham County NAACP recognized seven local racial justice leaders Saturday when a capacity crowd gathered for the group's first annual Freedom Fund Dinner. More than 200 people filled the town's American Legion as the organization presented lifetime achievement awards to educator and activist Mary Gannon, Keene State College head of diversity and equity Dottie Morris, Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity executive director Curtiss Reed Jr., and Guilford Community Church Pastor Lise Sparrow. The group presented a Courage and...