The Thanksgiving holiday has traditionally been one of the busiest travel periods in the United States. With more drivers on the roads than usual, the likelihood of a motor vehicle crash will increase.
With this in mind, the Windham County Highway Safety Task Force (consisting of the Bellows Falls, Brattleboro, and Dover police departments and the Windham County Sheriff's Office) will join other law enforcement agencies throughout Vermont and the country to make sure you make it to the table this Thanksgiving.
According to a news release from the task force, during the holiday weekend in 2019 (6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27, to 5:59 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 2), 279 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in traffic crashes across the nation.
More than half (54 percent) were unrestrained.
Owing to an editing error, the wrong day of the week was indicated for the Brattleboro Community Thanksgiving meal in last week's issue of The Commons. The meal, organized by volunteers, takes place Wednesday, Nov. 24 at 11:30 a.m., with pickups available at noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and...
Harris Hill Ski Jump, home of New England's only Olympic-sized, 90-meter ski jump, is kicking off its 100-year anniversary with the publication and release of its history, Harris Hill Ski Jump: The First 100 Years. The 120-page softcover book is narrated in a storytelling cadence by Brattleboro-based journalist Kevin...
All are welcome to join in celebrating the miracle of Chanukah, the Jewish holiday that spans eight nights - this year, from Sunday, Nov. 28 through Sunday, Dec. 5. Each night, the Brattleboro Area Jewish Community will shine a light on a critical social justice issue: environmental justice, justice for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), sexual orientation and gender identity, women's equality/elevating women's voices, health care, economic security/food and shelter for all, immigrant justice, and embracing religious freedom.
Obituaries • Elizabeth “Bette” Dawson Oot Blackwood, 93, formerly of Westminster. Died Nov. 5, 2021 in Norwood, Mass., surrounded by her children, as she would have wished and commanded. “Joy, joy, joy” and “Welcome in” were the two phrases many would know her by, as she invariably chose happiness over sorrow and never knew a stranger. Bette was blessed to have two great loves in her life, her first husband Albert Powell ("Pete") Oot, Jr., and her second husband, Terence...
Palaver Strings' Beehive Chamber Series offers “The First Course,” a program of critically acclaimed string quartets throughout the ages, at the Brattleboro Music Center on Friday, Dec. 3. The program begins with Grażyna Bacewicz's Fourth Quartet, which was entered into the Liège International String Quartet Competition in 1951 at the behest of the Polish Composers' Union. It was hugely popular and won first prize, cementing Bacewicz's place as one of her country's foremost composers. The concert continues with Voodoo Dolls...
A Christmas Memory is a story by Truman Capote set in his early childhood, when he was forced to live with distant cousins, none of whom paid any attention to him, with one exception... a much older cousin, also an outsider in the family and a bit strange. The two of them became fast friends. The story takes place at Christmastime when they made little fruitcakes for people they liked, including one for the president. The story climaxes when they...
“Evolving Traditions,” a new exhibit at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC), showcases work by 15 members of the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers and six collaborating artists. Tom Bodett, Timothy Clark, Greg Goodman, and Charles Shackleton led the creation of the exhibit, which is on view through Feb. 13, 2022 and includes their work. The exhibit “highlights the creative energy and fresh thinking that Guild members are bringing to their work with this gorgeous, confounding material - the...
A Special Town Meeting will be held on Saturday, Dec. 18, at noon, outdoors in front of the Town House at 13 Town Hill Rd. in Marlboro Center, where voters will address the method of conducting both the Town and School portions of Town Meeting on March 1, 2022. This meeting will follow the format of the traditional Town Meeting floor vote, in that the vote will be by voice (or paper ballot, but not Australian ballot, if called for...
Thanksgiving closures in BrattleboroBRATTLEBORO - In observance of Thanksgiving, all town offices will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 25 (Thanksgiving) and Friday, Nov. 26, with the exception of emergency services. Brooks Memorial Library will close at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 24. It will resume normal business hours on Friday. Trash and recycling will not be picked up on Thursday. All trash and recycling pickup will be delayed by one day all week. Bellows Falls hosts Open House WeekendBELLOWS FALLS...
On Saturday, Nov. 27, the annual Brattleboro Rotary Club Christmas Tree Fundraiser will officially begin. Since 1965, the club has sold trees as a fundraiser for scholarships of $2,000 to $3,000 to local students. Vermont-grown trees of all shapes and sizes will be sold daily in front of the Brattleboro Bowl on Putney Road until Sunday, Dec. 12. The trees will be on sale from noon to 6 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
Selectboard members did not back down from their Oct. 25 decision to “reconstitute” the entire Planning Commission just after former commissioners finished the town plan, despite an audience via Zoom of about 50 on Monday, Nov. 22, many of whom questioned the action. Selectboard Chair Richard Wizansky started the “Planning Commission update” portion of the meeting by “sincerely thanking” the now-former commission members for the work they did to develop and approve a new town plan. He also acknowledged the...
Many issues surround housing in the region - mainly, that there's not enough of it, and what is available is generally unaffordable for most renters or potential homebuyers. In a place that wants to attract and keep workers and their families, this situation is untenable and needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. Those are the conclusions - outlined at a public meeting on Nov. 18 - after six months of study, polling, interviews, and analysis that have...
On Friday and Saturday, Nov. 26 and 27, at 7:30 p.m., Next Stage Arts will present the Wild Goose Players' production of The Zoo Story by Edward Albee. Among the most famous one-act plays in the English language, The Zoo Story tells the story of two men, Peter and Jerry (played by John Hadden and David Stern, respectively) who meet at a bench in Central Park. Beginning with one of the most famous first lines in dramatic literature - “I've...
Next Stage Arts in Putney will host an opening reception for an exhibition of paintings by artist Susan Brearey on Friday, Dec. 3, from 4 to 6 p.m. Brearey, of Putney, is known for her unique, iconic depiction of animals. As described in a news release, in her paintings “primal, totemic images take the place of the photorealistic details found in some other works of wildlife art. Animals become primeval shapes, rudimentary and almost featureless, set against abstract surfaces.” Her...
Windham County's organic dairy farmers are counting their blessings that they were not shipping milk to Horizon Organic, which announced that its producers in the state will lose their contracts by the end of August. The Danone-owned company said it would end nearly 90 contracts in the Northeast. Of those farms, 28 are in Vermont, including those in nearby Bennington County. The company cited “growing transportation and operational challenges in the dairy industry, particularly in the Northeast.” “We greatly value...
With the end of the fall high school sports season come the honors for the best boys' and girls' soccer players, as well as the best field hockey players, in the Southern Vermont League. • In field hockey, the captains for Division I runners-up Bellows Falls - Maya Waryas, Grace Bazin, and Grace Wilkinson - all received the SVL's A Division First Team honors, while Jules McDermid and goalie Jaia Caron each made the SVL's A Division Second Team. BF...
An exhibition of wildlife photography, “The Peace of Wild Things,” by Dara Carleton, is now on view at the Putney Public Library through February 2022. The Brookline artist's color photographs of local wildlife are taken with a zoom lens on site from her kayak or on her wanderings in the woods, images of a mink, a pair of nesting great blue herons, a black bear, bald eagles, or the close up face of a raccoon. Most of her photographs are...
My friend and colleague Afsana came to me one day while we were working at Nile Valley School in Khartoum, Sudan. “On Saturday, we're going to buy a goat,” she said. Afsana was originally from Pakistan. Her family had moved to London when she was a teenager. In this tiny, private school in Khartoum, she was teaching third grade, and I was teaching first grade. We were living in the fanciest part of town, but the streets were made of...
We're all thinking about our Thanksgiving menus this week, including the important pies and desserts to please everyone around the table. I have rarely made a pumpkin pie from scratch, and when I have (once) it did not turn out as good as my mother's. Couple that with the fact I'm not a pumpkin pie lover, there has been little experimentation in my house, although I make one every year for those who think it isn't Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie.
Sandglass Theater will present its annual Crankie Celebration as a special show of “crankies, music, and even some puppets” at Green Mountain Orchard on West Hill Road, in connection with the Putney Craft Tour, on Friday, Nov. 26, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 27, at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Crankies are scrolling panoramas, usually used in connection with ballads or stories and often set to music. “A Rafter of Crankies” will feature Sandglass Co-founders Ines Zeller Bass and Eric...
With an extraordinary collection of artisan talent, the Putney Craft Tour stands out among art excursions, and this year's 43rd annual open studio tour on Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 26, 27, and 28) is no different. While last year's tour was virtual due to COVID-19, this year's artisans are looking forward to welcoming visitors into their studios again, while keeping pandemic safety at the forefront. Tourgoers will be asked to remain masked at all times. Some artisans will have displays and/or...
Community support for Julie and Greg Winchester is strong as the couple rebuilds their business, Rod's Towing & Repairs, after a suspected arson fire destroyed the gas station and repair shop at 40 Main St. on Oct. 9. “We're five, six, weeks in now, and the community of Putney has been so amazing,” says Julie Winchester. Apparently, the Winchesters are pretty amazing as well, as comments on the crowdfunding site Give Butter about the station - believed to be the...