The Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series presents Canadian singer-songwriter Kiran Ahluwalia at The Putney Inn, 57 Putney Landing Rd., on Friday, June 2, at 6 p.m.
“Cosmopolitan and distinctively Indian,” organizers say, “with roots in Sufi, Qawalli, and Punjabi Folk, Ahluwalia crafts her own contemporary originals while organically mixing with West African Blues and American Jazz.”
Ahluwalia is a two-time Juno (Canadian Grammy) winner. Her six-piece band, led by guitarist Rez Abbasi, “creates a unique sound that is ethereal, raw, urgent, and elegant at the same time,” organizers say.
Her music has garnered praise from critics worldwide, and she has collaborated with leading musicians from the Celtic and Fado worlds, as well as Malian group Tinariwen.
“By the People: Brattleboro Goes Fourth” is seeking donors and parade participants as it prepares to celebrate the town's 50th Independence Day event on Tuesday, July 4. The all-volunteer citizens committee will begin the day at 10 a.m. with a parade from Flat Street to Main Street and the...
Michelle Cherrier, chair of the Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD), recently announced that the district was awarded a grant of $276,942 from the (1)Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) Organics Infrastructure grant program. It will be used to support expansion of WSWMD's food and organics composting facility. “This...
In collaboration with Vital Partnerships and Out in the Open, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) is hosting a free dance party at the museum during Gallery Walk, on Friday, June 2, at 7:30 p.m. The party will feature a DJ, photo booth, balloons, refreshments, and a make-your-own-boutonniere station with Pride ribbons. The event, open to all ages, will offer a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community and others to celebrate Pride month and prom season. The event...
Property to be released by Sheriff's Dept. BRATTLEBORO - The Windham County Sheriff's Department is currently seeking the rightful owners of several items currently stored at their office. The items currently available range from evidence that has been released to property being held for safekeeping. If you believe your property is being held, you may contact Deputy Micah Fisher. A description of the property, as well as proof of ownership, will be required. All items left unclaimed after 90 days...
Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present contemporary folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Gorka, plus folk duo Lizzy Mandell and Barry Stockwell, at Next Stage on Sunday, June 4, at 7 p.m. at 15 Kimball Hill Rd. Gorka “is perhaps the quintessential iconic singer/songwriter of the 1980's folk scene,” organizers say. Hailing from New Jersey, “he honed his craft and persona as a shy, wry, and insightful singer-songwriter in the Greenwich Village Fast Folk and Boston music scenes.” Gorka...
Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) will kick off National Homeownership Month and NeighborWorks Week with three days of special community events in early June, including a Get to Know Homeownership program and the third annual Chalet Invasive Species Clean-up Day. All three events are part of the annual nationwide NeighborWorks Week, when thousands of volunteers, business professionals, and elected and civic leaders join together for a week of service and celebration of homeownership and successful community development across the...
Weddings • Helen Eileen Collins Suntag, a 2011 graduate of Brattleboro Union High School, recently married Joseph H. Einsig of Exeter, Pennsylvania. The small ceremony was held on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. The couple honeymooned in Madeira, Portugal. The bride, 29, earned her bachelor's degree at Tufts University in 2015 and her master's in counseling psychology from Northeastern University in 2018. She recently opened her own psychotherapy practice in Philadelphia. The groom, 31, is a 2013 graduate of New...
Members of the Bellows Falls Woman's Club recently participated in the international Dress a Girl Around the World project to provide dresses for girls in vulnerable situations. Nancy McAuliffe, club president, Valerie Forrest, Louise Luring, and Beverley Palmerine traveled to Proctorsville recently to join other Vermont club members in a sewing session to add to the many dresses that have already been sewn by Vermonters. The dresses are simple cotton pullovers with pockets in bright designs that are meant to...
Gallery in the Woods, 145 Main St., will host an ongoing exhibit of linocut and woodblock prints by William H. Hays. His work will be featured during the month of June, with an opening reception on Friday, June 2, from 5 to 8 p.m., during Gallery Walk. Hays has been an artist since 1971 when he began working in watercolors and in oils, notes a news release. He was a painter throughout his life until his late wife bought him...
Foot care clinics at Putney Community Cares are free through fall 2023. To take advantage of this opportunity, would-be attendees need to register for an appointment by contacting registered nurse Beverly Sinclair, who provides these clinics. The foot care clinics typically occur on the last Thursday of each month, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., though the schedule may change depending on the nurse's availability. Upcoming dates are June 22, July 27, Aug. 31, Sept. 28, and Oct. 26. Sinclair...
As families gather to celebrate during prom and graduation season, it is important for adults to stay vigilant with alcohol use and make sure alcohol is not easily accessible to young people. This is why West River Valley Thrives (Thrives), a local substance use prevention coalition, invites community members to participate in two national programs during this time of year. “By sharing the responsibility of creating safe celebrations as a community and educating ourselves and our children about the dangers...
The Brattleboro Music Center (BMC) Chamber Series features the new quartet Espressivo! Friday, June 2, at 7 p.m., at the BMC. This group of four artists - violinist Jaime Laredo, cellist Sharon Robinson, violist Milena Pájaro-von de Stadt, and pianist Anna Polonsky - known for their expressive playing, thought Espressivo! seemed the perfect name for their collaboration of piano and strings. For decades, Laredo and Robinson, with their piano trio partner, the late Joseph Kalichstein, were considered (1)“chamber music royalty”
“Creative Relations,” a multimedia group exhibit in which 10 artists explore how family history, significant relationships, and social/cultural contexts influence the making of art, will open Friday, June 2, at 118 Elliot. In the show, some artists' work explores how creativity helps heal the legacy of personal and cultural trauma. Other artists' work arises from discovering their voice in relation to the past. Each artist interprets and shares the theme, often including text, through their own lens, inviting viewers into...
This June, the Crowell Gallery at Moore Free Library will be exhibiting the work of two artists, each unique in their expression but similar in their love of color. Karma Kitaj works with pigment using encaustic, acrylic, oil, cold wax, and mixed media, such as burnt shellac, horsehair, and india ink. She delights in unusual color compositions, and in this exhibit, the primary colors of red, blue, and yellow dominate her canvas. Sharon Myers is a returning artist. This year...
Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, local performers and teachers of traditional music, dance, and storytelling, are the 2023 recipients of the Brattleboro Unsung Hero Award from Compassionate Brattleboro. The ceremony will be held on Tuesday, June 13, at 5:30 p.m., at Centre Congregational Church on Main Street. The citation describes them as “two remarkable musicians“ who have “sung so often and so beautifully for the living and the dying, for justice, love and compassion, for members of our community, both...
Throughout June, Bellows Falls will once more become a destination for the LGBTQ+ community in New England and beyond for a number of events commemorating Pride Month in June. Susan MacNeil, a member of the committee organizing the celebration, says that the local events are designed to echo the days of the historic Andrews Inn, which was in business from 1973 to 1984. “Located in the downtown Windham Hotel building, the gay community sought out the town as a place...
The Brattleboro Women's Chorus presents their 27th annual spring concerts, “Sweet are the Days,” on Saturday, June 3, and Sunday, June 4, at 4 p.m., outside at Retreat Farm. Sunday's concert will also be livestreamed via Zoom. Conducted by founder and musical director Becky Graber, the spring concert features an eclectic program of soulful songs. Selections include compositions by Floridian singer-songwriter Velma Frye and former Brattleboro resident Susan Kisslinger; the haunting Estonian piece, “Mis on inimene?” (“What Is Human?”); and...
The youth rock festival, Brattrock, takes place Friday, June 2, at Brattleboro Gallery Walk, starting at 6 p.m. In the Harmony Lot, a dynamic line-up of four youth bands will play music appropriate for all ages. The approximately 30-minute performances, presented by sponsors Guilford Sound and Chroma Technology, will showcase bands Color Killer, Ezra Holloway, Stringhead, and Third Floor. Color Killer is a pop punk band that was formed in 2017 in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and quickly gained popularity when a...
“Bearing Witness,” an art exhibit by Karen Becker, is currently on view at the All Souls Church in the West Village Meeting House, 29 South St. The public is invited to an artist's reception on Saturday, June 10, from 3 to 5 p.m. The exhibit is a retrospective of Becker's watercolors, gouache, pastels, and prints, created over the past 40 years and inspired by her love of nature. The animals and trees represented are all bearing witness to the devastation...
One of the last films of the silent era, Josef von Sternberg's The Docks of New York (1929, 75 minutes) will be shown at Epsilon Spires on Friday, June 2, at 8:30 p.m. The screening will feature live accompaniment from pianist Donald Sosin and soprano Joanna Seaton, who are the musicians commissioned by Criterion Collection to create the soundtrack for the 2010 reissue of the film. “Miles of docks wait day and night for strange cargo - and stranger men,”
Brattleboro Community TV (BCTV) and the town of Brattleboro each received a 2023 Hometown Media Award from the Foundation of the Alliance for Community Media. The awards program was established to honor and promote community media, community radio, and local cable programs that are distributed on Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) access cable television channels. BCTV was recognized for “Overall Excellence in Public Education or Government (PEG) Access.” The award honors all of the programming of the station, not just...
A judge has found Zaaina Asra Zakirrah Mahvish-Jammeh, charged with murdering their social worker at the Morningside House shelter last month, temporarily incompetent to stand trial. The state can request a new competency evaluation, according to an order regarding competency signed by Superior Court Judge Katherine Hayes. A status conference is set for Aug. 9. Mahvish-Jammeh is charged with first-degree murder, accused of killing Leah Rosin-Pritchard, the social worker and shelter coordinator at the Morningside House shelter at 81 Royal...
An artist, writer, and anthropologist, Charles Norris-Brown died unexpectedly last October. Highly regarded on the Bellows Falls arts scene, he is remembered well in an exhibit at Bellows Falls' Canal Street Art Gallery (CSAG) through June 10. “Charles W. Norris-Brown: Distant Thunder Studio” presents original work from the late artist's unfinished graphic novel Thunder Basin within a recreation of his studio at CSAG. Viewing finished illustrations, studies, storyboards, and writings, visitors, according to CSAG's website, are welcome to explore Norris-Brown's...
Pause for a moment and imagine yourself on the streets of the largest and most expensive city in America. Ask yourself: Could I survive a week on the street? Where would I sleep? Where would I eat? I am a homeless resident of Brattleboro, living at Groundworks on South Main Street. I am uniquely qualified to talk about homelessness nationwide, having been homeless in four states since 2018: Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and - of course - Vermont. I...
After being closed for the last three years, the historic Miss Bellows Falls Diner appears to be headed for new ownership under a community nonprofit, a thorough restoration, and a reopening in 2025. Rockingham for Progress, Inc. signed a purchase-and-sale agreement in January with owner Brian McAllister, with plans to close in mid-June on the sale of the 1941 Worcester Lunch Car. In December, Jeff Dunbar, a local resident and a village trustee, broached “the idea that something has to...
The New England Center for Circus Arts is holding a ropes workshop that builds not only strength but relationships within the circus arts school's community. As described on its website, the workshop, Rope Meeting, is a “creative space for rope artists from all over the world to meet, share, connect, learn, and reflect.” NECCA will “provide the space and the community and you bring your excitement and skills you want to practice and the fun builds from there in an...
The regular season concluded last week for high school baseball, softball, lacrosse, tennis, and Ultimate disc in Vermont. The opening rounds of the playoffs for these sports began this week, while the track & field teams will have their state championships this weekend. Baseball • Brattleboro has been having trouble scoring runs all season, and their last few games of the regular season illustrated this with shutout losses to Otter Valley (2-0 on May 20), Monadnock (9-0 on May 23),
For almost five months, state legislators worked diligently on a budget. In one afternoon, Gov. Phil Scott vetoed it. Scott's veto, which came down on May 27, was based on affordability. “Vermonters have made it clear that living in our state is not affordable, and the data backs that up as we are ranked as having one of the highest tax burdens in the nation,” Scott said in a press release. Scott, a Republican, accused the Legislature - where Democrats...
Beyond the interaction invited through the exhibit of Charles Norris-Brown's art, the Canal Street Art Gallery welcomes volunteers to assist, as the gallery's website puts it, “in digital cataloging of all works pertaining to Thunder Basin to be available during the Distant Thunder Studio show, including artworks, sketchbooks and notebooks.” Those efforts will “help bring one artist's vision to life of developing his graphic novel into a Creative Commons–licensed work to be accessible for community-based projects worldwide.” So what does...
Drug deals, panhandlers, burglaries, vandalism, and a carjacking at the Transportation Center brought residents to a recent Selectboard meeting, demanding action and answers. “The people in the community are asking for your help and it doesn't happen,” former board member and chair Dick DeGray told the board at its May 16 meeting, two days after the parking garage incident. The board in recent years has shown “so much inactivity” on the crime issue, DeGray said, adding that he'd come before...
On a sunny late May morning on the Common, three men sat on a bench in the shade of a maple tree. These three local residents shared a common bond of being among the last living witnesses to the greatest conflict the world had ever known. This trio of World War II veterans didn't have to speak, or stand, in front of the crowd gathered there for the annual Memorial Day service on May 29. Just their presence spoke volumes.
The fact-gathering phase of the sexual abuse investigation in the Windham Southeast School District will wrap up soon, if it hasn't already. That's what Chair Kelly Young announced at the board's May 23 meeting. The investigation has been ongoing since the board hired attorney Aimee Goddard of Annis & Goddard, a Brattleboro-based law firm, on Dec. 21, 2022 to serve as independent investigator into sexual abuse charges against educators dating back to the early 1970s. Young said anyone “who has...
Southern Vermont's thriving music scene is getting a lot of attention these days. Brattleboro has attracted a lot of media attention as a top small town in the United States, most recently as the winner of the 2023 Strongest Town Contest. Strong Town, the nonprofit that runs the annual competition, cited Brattleboro as having “a strong community for the arts and culture” - a reputation that continues to build as the town attracts national, regional, and local bands that perform...