Issue #716
Shattering stigma about death and dying
In our culture, it is common for people to avoid talking about death - our own or that of someone we love. Sometimes people need help starting those conversations.
Kasey March is a death doula - a person who helps guide and console a dying person, and their family and friends, during the end-of-life period.
Food Truck Roundup at Retreat Farm evolves into ticketed event
Every summer, Retreat Farm's Thursday evening Food Truck Roundup signals the start of its summer. With construction on Route 30 and the transformation of the North Barn into a gathering place for the community, Food Truck Roundup will evolve into a ticketed event this season. “To preserve the Food...
Touched by recent tragedies
Windham County residents have been touched by upsetting events in recent months. You might have read about a murder in the news or you might be returning to the workplace you shared with the victim. You might have heard about yet another overdose death, or you might be one...
More
Next Stage’s Bandwagon Summer Series continues with Crocodile River Music
Crocodile River Music, a world music ensemble, is set to perform as part of the Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series on Saturday, May 27, at 6 p.m. The concert will take place at Retreat Farm in Brattleboro. The Bandwagon Summer Series is an annual event, featuring an eclectic lineup of musicians from around the world. “West African music is rich in its history and impact to Western musical traditions, and Crocodile River Music does an incredible job showcasing that history...
Around the Towns
Tax assessment grievance hearings to begin in Brattleboro BRATTLEBORO - The town of Brattleboro Abstract Grand List was lodged on May 17, and change of assessment notices were mailed. The Brattleboro Listers will hold grievance hearings at the Municipal Center, 230 Main St., starting Wednesday, May 31, at 9 a.m. Applications for a hearing are available at the Assessor's office or online at www.Brattleboro.org on the Assessor's page. Applications should be physically (via mail or email) received in the Assessor's...
Milestones
College news • Dominic Italia, a member of the Brattleboro Union High School Class of 2012, received his Doctorate on May 12 from the Creighton University School of Dentistry in Omaha, Nebraska. Dr. Italia will return to Denver, Colorado, where he previously graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Denver, to begin his practice with Englewood Dental Associates. • Jonathan Griffin of West Townshend, a sophomore majoring in business administration, was named to the spring 2023 Dean's...
Public invited to visit Kipling’s Naulakha for annual rhododendron tour
The Landmark Trust USA (LTUSA) invites the community to experience an 1892 treasure and its expansive garden and grounds firsthand at the historic preservation nonprofit's largest annual event and fundraiser - the Naulakha Estate & Rhododendron Tour, Sunday, June 4, from 1 to 5 p.m., and Monday, June 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Normally open only to guests renting the properties for overnight accommodation, Naulakha, its Carriage House, and the Stables Museum chronicling the Kipling family's life in...
Brooks Memorial Library hosts book launch for new edition of short stories by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Celebrate the newly released edition of 28 short stories by Brattleboro author Mary E. Wilkins Freeman with the initially intended title Green Mountain Stories on Tuesday, May 30, 7 p.m., at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main Street. Originally published in 1887 as A Humble Romance and Other Stories, this new edition features an introduction and critical commentary by Freeman scholar Brent Kendrick, who will discuss the stories and the change in title. The collection includes such favorites as “On the...
NECCA hosts flying trapeze recital, Flight Night
On Friday, May 26, at 7 p.m., New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) offers the chance to fly into spring with a retro 1980s Neon Flying Trapeze student and staff showcase. Admission for this performance is by donation. The fun continues with a Flight Night taster trapeze class for audience members to feel the joys of flying through the air with the greatest of ease. With $10 for one swing, or $20 for 3 swings, you will learn how...
Brattleboro crunches EMS numbers in look to future
When municipal leaders abruptly ended a nearly 60-year relationship with Rescue Inc. in 2022 and proposed a town takeover of emergency medical services which they claimed would reap up to $700,000 in annual insurance profit, residents weren't the only ones surprised. So were officials of the 13 Vermont communities that operate their own emergency medical services. “That whole decision by Brattleboro sent shock waves through Vermont EMS,” said Bill Mapes, chief of the Morristown EMS Department. “Insurance doesn't cover EMS...
Region’s artists open their doors
This Memorial Day weekend, the Vermont Crafts Council will present its 31st annual Spring Open Studio Weekend, which spotlights the multitude of professional artists and craftspeople who live and create throughout the state. In Windham County, tour attendees will have the chance to visit multiple artists in their studios, plus several galleries, during the event on May 27 and 28. Participating sites will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, with many studios offering...
BAJC hosts annual antique appraisal day
Brattleboro Area Jewish Community (Congregation Shir Heharim), will be producing its sixth annual Antiques & Collectibles Appraisal Day on Sunday, June 4, from noon to 5:30 p.m. at 118 Elliot Street. Five specialists will be present to evaluate and appraise all categories of antiques and collectibles, including sterling silver, art glass, china, pottery, oriental rugs, fine art, signed prints, musical instruments, records and entertainment memorabilia, estate and costume jewelry, coins, currency, ephemera, photographs, toys, dolls, clocks, watches, tchotchkes, and more.
Rock River Players present ‘Another Evening of One Act Plays’
Rock River Players present “Another Evening of One Act Plays” on Friday and Saturday, June 2 and 3, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, June 4, at 2:30 p.m., at Williamsville Hall. The lineup includes works by Newfane playwright/film director Pamela Corkey (premiere), as well as works by area playwrights Jennifer Jasper and Robert Cullinane, a one-act by New York playwright Scott Sickles, and structured improvisation. Beautiful Noises by Scott Sickles, directed by Randy Lichtenwalner is about a recently-deceased man who...
St. Michael’s Episcopal Tag Sale yields $10,500 for Groundworks, Windham County Heat Fund
The St. Michael's Episcopal Church Terrific Tag Sale on May 6 yielded $10,500 for Groundworks Collaborative and the Windham County Heat Fund. “It was a beautiful day, perfect timing for the 50th anniversary tag sale,” coordinator Liz Vick said in a news release.“People were lined up well ahead of the 8:30 a.m. opening; the minute the sale opened, they rushed into the outside tents to go through the array of clothing and furniture, and into the church basement where there...
Clarification
A May 17 story about the end of the state's hotel voucher program included Brattleboro hotels and motels participating in the program, as provided to the newspaper by the Vermont Agency of Human Services' (AHS) Division of Children and Families. The Latchis Hotel was listed among the businesses. According to a May 18 email from Latchis Hotel General Manager Jonathan Jensen, “We have not at any time participated in nor supported this State of VT housing project, nor do we...
Twilight on the Tavern Lawn season begins with Vermont Jazz Center Sextet on May 28
Twilight Music kicks off its 20th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, jazz, folk rock, pop, and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, May 28, with the Vermont Jazz Center Sextet. The series of seven concerts continues every other Sunday through Aug. 20. All concerts begin at 6 p.m. in downtown Putney on the Putney Tavern lawn (bring a lawn chair or blanket) or, in case of rain, at Next Stage at 15 Kimball Hill. The...
Actors Theatre Playhouse season begins in June
Comfortably housed in a historic gem of a building where Main, Brook, and Cross streets meet, Actors Theatre Playhouse (ATP) has emerged from another hibernation to launch its 48th season. ATP's Producing Artistic Director Sam Pilo, with nearly 50 years of theater leadership under his belt, talks about the 2023 lineup - a season, as always at ATP, chosen with an eye toward a balanced mix of fare. “ATP takes pleasure in offering a varied program each year: a little...
'They knew this was coming up'
Dear people of Brattleboro: I have been a lifelong member of the area. For the most part, I have had a good life until my partner - my husband of 38 years - died and then things started going south. My health took a irreversible turn. I had a stroke, and they found blood clots in my lungs. I have mobility issues and breathing problems. I started to not be able to think very well, so I couldn't live alone.
'Someone else's money' simply ran out
It is unfortunate that motel/hotel vouchers are ending, but it is also necessary. Struggling taxpayers cannot be expected to give someone else a “free” (please read: taxpayer-funded) place to live while they can barely pay their own rent/mortgage/ other expenses. Before they were placed in taxpayer-funded motels, all these individuals and families were living somewhere else. It stands to reason they'll go back where they were before: friends, family, other states. The problem with “funding” this program indefinitely is that...
Burr & Burton edges BUHS Unified to win Southern title
When Burr & Burton and Brattleboro opened the Unified basketball season on April 3 in the BUHS gym, Brattleboro came away with a 46-38 win. The Burr & Burton Bulldogs were the Southern Division champion in 2022, and Brattleboro coach Tyler Boone said he knew the two teams would meet again in the playoffs. That return engagement came on May 19 at the BUHS gym for the Southern Division championship. This time, Burr & Burton came away with a 19-18...
Saving a planet, one pollinator at a time
Jane Collister, of Westminster, the sole person responsible for the Wildflower Pollinator Project, offers an easy and simple way to do something specific to turn the tide and save the planet. According to the National Park Service, life as we know it depends on pollinators, since more than 75% of the Earth's flowering plants depend on bees, butterflies, birds, or bats. These pollinators require specific plants that provide nutrition and habitat to larval and adult pollinators. Charts online show what...
Love and dignity for the unborn, too
Dan DeWalt says, “If we don't accept all people on the planet with love and dignity, then we will continue to allow violence, strife, and injustice.” But since Democrats support abortion, they're the ones who don't accept all people on the planet with love and dignity.
Free BIPOC hair clinic on May 27
The Root Social Justice Center will hold a free BIPOC hair clinic for all ages on Saturday, May 27. As explained in a Facebook post from the racial justice organizing and community group, Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color “have a variety of hair types and textures that require hair care that just isn't centered when we live and exist in predominantly white spaces.” With hair stylists versed in working with BIPOC clients unavailable in the Brattleboro area,
Memorable moments in Montpelier
The Vermont Legislature, which convened its 2023-24 biennium session on Jan. 4, wrapped up its first year's work on May 12. Although it will regroup in June to see if it can override Gov. Phil Scott's expected veto of the budget, among other things, the 13 Windham County legislators - two in the Senate and 11 in the House - are now free to return to their lives, their day jobs, and their reflections of the past hectic, momentous five...
Aviation has ratcheted up my anxiety
Erica Jong, author of Fear of Flying, wrote about more than her own fear of flying in her bestselling novel, but she did manage to capture my own feelings whenever I board a hunk of a silver vessel about to hurtle across the sky. “My fingers (and toes) turn to ice,” she wrote, “my stomach leaps upward into my rib cage, the temperature in the tip of my nose drops to the same temperature in my fingers, [...] and for...
Flood levels on Wilmington Town Hall represent hardships, strength, resiliency, perseverance
Sometime in the late 1980s, then–Wilmington Town Manager Sonia Alexander asked if I would paint the 1938 flood level on the side of the Town Hall. I was happy to do so, and it immediately drew interest of locals and visitors as we thought about an important part of our history. A few days after Tropical Storm Irene I checked with the town and was given permission (encouraged, actually) to paint the new, higher level. It marked the hardship that...