WEST DOVER-I Love Art Space announces the return of Art on the Mountain, the once long-running gallery show organized by the Deerfield Valley Health Care Volunteers. Organizers say that for more than 40 years, this event had been an annual favorite in the Deerfield Valley Area.
At its height, it was a two-week, three-weekend show with high-caliber artists and craftspeople. It took months of preparation and many volunteers, and was a highlight of the summer season in the area.
In a news release, I Love Art Space says the revived Art on the Mountain "will be a much smaller show, but with the same high standards of the original."
The 2024 Art on the Mountain will be held Friday through Sunday, Aug. 2, 3, and 4, at the Dover Town Hall. Hours will be 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 3, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 4. The show will open with a VIP party on Aug. 2 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. This will be a "by invitation" event, where guests can preview the art and enjoy appetizers, music, and a cash bar.
UNITY, N.H.-If the "Zionist Project" is fair game according to Kate Casa, then so is Hamas's "Islamist Project" - that of the Muslim Brotherhood. It's less about Palestinian statehood and more about establishing a repressive Islamic state ruled by sharia law. If Casa is OK with that, then I'm...
BELLOWS FALLS-Canal Street Art Gallery, 23 Canal St., announces a call for entries for original art from local and regional artists for its upcoming Vermont Summer Group Show, followed by the new Ceramic and Fiber show, and the Art For All Seasonal Group Show. Additional opportunities for artists include...
PUTNEY-NXT Gallery hosts an opening reception for its upcoming exhibit, "A World Adjacent: Paintings by Jana Zeller." The reception will take place on Friday, May 31, 5:30 to 8 p.m. The exhibit continues through Aug. 11. In her artist statement, Zeller writes about painting props and puppets and designing sets while a teen in a family of internationally touring puppeteers. "During this time I discovered my passion for painting and spent many years creating backdrop-sized oil paintings full of puppet-like...
Town seeks citizens to serve on boards BRATTLEBORO - The Town of Brattleboro is looking for citizens to serve on the following committees and boards: ADA Committee; Arts Committee; Brattleboro Housing Partnerships; Cemetery Committee; Citizen Police Communications Committee; Conservation Commission; Design Review Committee; Design Review Board (Alternate); Development Review Board; Development Review Board (Alternate); Energy Committee; Fence Viewers; Honor Roll; Inspector of Lumber, Shingles & Wood; Planning Commission; Senior Solutions; and Weigher of Coal. Applications and more information can be...
Obituaries • Norman J. Amidon, 47, of Putney. Died unexpectedly on May 14, 2024. Norman was born in Brattleboro on May 21, 1976, to Dennis Amidon and Susan (Moffit) Johnson. A graduate of Brattleboro Union High School, Norman worked at Putney Paper Co. for more than 20 years, most recently as mill manager. Norman also served with the Putney Fire Department and Rescue Inc. of Brattleboro. On July 17, 1999, he married his high school sweetheart, Jacklynn (Stockwell) Amidon. Norman...
BRATTLEBORO-The view outside the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) looks a little different now that new work by two Vermont artists is gracing the building's large window bays and front lawn. Collage artist Vanessa Compton and sculptor Lee Williams each present their own complex explorations of what it means to be a human interacting with society and the landscape, in exhibits titled "A Night at the Garden" and "The Wounding," respectively. Both artists use pre-existing and recycled materials to...
BRATTLEBORO-Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center (BEEC) presents the Southeastern Vermont Solar Sprint competition and invites young innovators "to showcase their engineering prowess and environmental consciousness." Scheduled for Thursday, May 30, from 9 a.m to 1 p.m. at Living Memorial Park, the event will bring together students from across the region to design, build, and race model solar-powered cars while fostering a deeper understanding of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts and environmental stewardship. "Solar Sprint is not merely a race;
BRATTLEBORO-CX Silver Gallery, 814 Western Ave., presents "Then and Now" an exhibition of works by Cai Xi, through Aug. 26. Cai was in the first generation of art students when universities in China reopened after The Cultural Revolution. According to the gallery's website, her work "traces a path from Sichuan Style in the late '70s with a palette intermingling hues that echo the surrounding environment, and the Shanghai style of the '80s, with color used straight from the tube, with...
Richard Davis, a retired registered nurse, was elected in March to a one-year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard, where he serves as clerk. He speaks only for himself, and his words here do not express any official statement by the board. BRATTLEBORO-I have been a member of the Brattleboro Selectboard only for a very short time, and I still have more questions than answers about how our little New England town of 12,000 operates. I suspect that most people pay...
BRATTLEBORO-As someone who has been a public health educator and advocate for many years, I appreciated Joyce Marcel's article, which illuminated racial disparities in health care caused by diagnostic tools that rely on technology. I also applaud the sources she quoted who are drawing attention to those disparities. I'd be interested to read a follow-up article about differences in care that derive from racism in the medical profession in general, which is rife with race-based assumptions and stereotypes. A variety...
Elayne Clift (elayne-clift.com) has written this column about women, politics, and social issues from the earliest days of this newspaper. BRATTLEBORO-In February this year, Texas executed a man named Ivan Cantu for murder despite the fact that evidence discovered post-trial had raised serious questions about his guilt, persuading jurors from his first trial to ask the courts to reconsider his case. A campaign supported by thousands of Texans pushed to pause the execution, and faith leaders called for a closer...
Howard Fairman, a native Vermonter, likes to study official public documents and presentations, research their backgrounds and implications, document what's really happening, then share food for thought with fellow grassroots Vermonters. PUTNEY-What happens when consultants from afar "with decades of experience in large, urban settings," as they claim on their website, offer their professional advice to rural Vermont towns? Putney is an example. Based in Sheridan, Wyoming, AP Triton advised the town in its Fire Department Operations Analysis: "It is...
-The Unified Basketball playoffs have begun in Vermont, and the undefeated and top-seeded Brattleboro Bears took their first step in the tournament with a 47-40 win over the eighth-seeded Springfield Cosmos on May 17 in the BUHS gym, while the seventh-seeded Twin Valley Wildcats lost their first-round game, 54-47, to the 10th-seeded Mount Anthony Patriots in Bennington on May 14. • Brattleboro faced Springfield for the second straight year in their playoff opener. Last year, Brattleboro needed a buzzer-beating basket...
BRATTLEBORO-It may not be odd that there will be several races for seats in the House of Representatives this fall, but it is unusual that two of the people leaving are named Tristan. Both Tristan Roberts, D-Halifax, and Tristan Toleno, D-Brattleboro, are stepping away from the Legislature. Sara Coffey, D-Guilford, is also leaving the House. And Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro, who is not leaving, will face a challenger in the Democratic Party primary, with Amanda Ellis-Thurber of West Brattleboro announcing her...
BRATTLEBORO-It was a tough legislative session with lots of action, reaction, traction, and factions, and it made Gov. Phil Scott so uneasy he said it convinced him to run for a fifth term in office. Windham County's legislators were in the thick of it from start to finish. The session isn't quite over yet, however. Bills that passed through the House and Senate are now on Scott's desk, awaiting his signature. If or when he declines to sign them, a...
BRATTLEBORO-Brad Fawley has published his dream book - the story of his own dream to become an Olympic runner, a dream he back-burnered years ago. Through his debut novel, The Frontrunner, though, Fawley takes the dream to the finish line as protagonist Russ Clayton beats upbringing, circumstance, and the odds to win - not only the gold, but also an indelible sense of self. The local launch of Fawley's book, published by Green Writers Press, will take place Saturday, June...
BERNARDSTON, MASS.-So you tell your readers you'll be printing more of their letters, yet you didn't print mine. I guess I can't make fun of Annie Landenberger (aka Mother Earth). But you'll happily print letters from antisemites. Pretty sick. Timothy Grant Bernardston, Mass. This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons. This piece, published in print in the Voices section or as a column in the news sections, represents the opinion of the writer. In the newspaper and...
Tristan Roberts represents the Windham-6 district in the Vermont House of Representatives, where he has served on the House Corrections and Institutions committee. HALIFAX-Dear friends, Like you, I love my family and I love being a Vermonter. The greatest privilege of serving you as state representative for the past two years has been the opportunity to love my neighbors in three towns by offering you the strongest possible representation in the Legislature. I'm proud to have served my neighbors in...
Lisa Ford has operated a vacation rental in Guilford for 11 years. In 2019, she organized a statewide Short Term Rental Summit; the first of its kind, it led to the creation of the Vermont Short-Term Rental Alliance, a member-based nonprofit association for vacation rental managers and short-term rental hosts operating in the state. GUILFORD-Short-term rental owners are not the evil housing tycoons we are sometimes made out to be. Vacation rentals peppered around our state make up just 2.5%
PUTNEY-On May 8, The Commons printed my letter to the editor, "We just want a permanent ceasefire" regarding Israel's war on Gaza. Steven K-Brooks fired back that my position was an "absurdity." He distorted what I had written. K-Brooks is correct that I compared how the U.S. labeled both Nelson Mandela and Hamas as terrorists (even though Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for leading South Africa out of apartheid). But I absolutely never gave any "assurance" that Hamas...
HINSDALE, N.H.-Carol, my beloved wife of 63 years, passed away on May 8, and her funeral was held May 17 at St. Michael Roman Catholic Church in Brattleboro. It was a beautiful day and we had a beautiful Mass that ended around 1 p.m. My daughter and I led the procession that followed her casket to the hearse waiting at the curb. Initially, the hearse blocked the view of anything beyond, but as we approached, we were absolutely stunned to...
Sara Coffey, a Democrat, represents Guilford and Vernon in the Vermont House of Representatives, where she chairs the House Transportation Committee. GUILFORD-May is the time of year when Mother Nature bursts into gorgeous bloom in Vermont. It is also the season when candidates gather signatures and file petitions for the next election season. I have decided not to run for a fourth term as the state representative for Windham-1. Some recent developments with elders in my family require attention, and...
BELLOWS FALLS-Most of the articles considered at Monday's Annual Meeting of the village were housekeeping items that passed without much comment or discussion. But two of the articles - the $1.67 million village budget, and borrowing $650,000 to replace the Kissell Hill water line - prompted considerable discussion. In the end, all the articles passed, including an amended Article 5. Regarding the village budget, most voters stated that they were fine with the budget but were concerned about a couple...
Dena Moses is a handweaver and entrepreneur living in Putney. You can find her at vermontweavingsupplies.com. PUTNEY-As a Jew living in Vermont, I find myself working to process all that has happened since Oct. 7. It hits on many fronts ... the massacre itself, and then the shock and disbelief in the aftermath. While we were deep in grief and trauma, friends whom we had loved and trusted turned their backs on us, claiming to know more than we do...
BRATTLEBORO-The more than 80 children who live at Ledgewood Heights, a 41-unit neighborhood for low- and moderate-income families run by Brattleboro Housing Partnerships (BHP), now have a new state-of-the-art playground. On May 16, BHP celebrated that milestone with a grand opening party that featured ice cream, face painting, and lots of smiles and laughter. The playground was the culmination of several years of work, with some help from an unexpected source. The original playground was installed in 1982, when Ledgewood...
Michael P. Stack is retired from a more-than-30- year career in the financial services industry, primarily in Boston. He has a master's degree in finance and was trained as a certified financial analyst. SAXTONS RIVER-I want to explain the empty calories inherent in our insanely aggressive fiscal and monetary policy and explain the negative impact on our taxpayer - and, importantly - future taxpayers. Here's the conclusion up front: Neither party is representing our needs in this matter. Why are...