• Graveside committal rites and burial with full military honors for James Lawrence Wood will be conducted Saturday, June 22, at 10 a.m., in Evergreen Cemetery in Winchester, New Hampshire, where he will be laid to rest beside his beloved wife. Mr. Wood, 99, formerly of Clark Avenue in Brattleboro, died on Dec. 8, 2023, at the home of his daughter in Bartlett, Tennessee. To view his full obituary, visit atamaniuk.com.
• A committal service will be held for Nancy (Cross) Hoover at the family gravesite at Meeting House Hill Cemetery at 580 Orchard St., Brattleboro. on Saturday, June 22, at 11 a.m. Immediately following the service, a light luncheon will be served at the Eagles Club, 54 Chickering Dr., Brattleboro. All are welcome. Mrs. Hoover died on May 15 in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. To view her full obituary, visit atamaniuk.com.
• Memorial services for Donald M. Hazelton will be held Thursday, June 27, at 1 p.m., at Dummerston Congregational Church in Dummerston Center. A reception will follow at Evening Star Grange. Mr. Hazelton, 93, a lifelong resident of Dummerston, died on March 8, 2024. To view his full obituary, visit atamaniuk.com.
• A funeral Mass for John A. "Jack" Willette will be held Saturday, June 29, at 11 a.m, at St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church, 47 Walnut St., Brattleboro. Interment will follow in St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery. Mr. Willette, 80, of Spofford, New Hampshire, died March 1, 2024, in Keene, New Hampshire.
WEST BRATTLEBORO-As the warmth of summer is upon us, Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center (BEEC) announces "Forest of Melody," a joyous celebration of midsummer. Set among the greenery and landscape at BEEC, organizers say this event promises to be an enchanting experience for all ages. "Forest of Melody" is a...
BRATTLEBORO-The Brattleboro Literary Festival invites all to listen on Friday, June 21, at 5:30 p.m., for a Literary Cocktail Hour, online and free, featuring New York Times bestselling author Thomas E. Ricks, author of Everyone Knows But You: A Tale of Murder on the Maine Coast. "In this riveting...
BRATTLEBORO-The Brattleboro Music Center and Retreat Farm kick off their popular "Music Under the Stars" summer concert series Saturday, June 22, with the return of PESO, the Pan Evolution Steel Orchestra, a steel pan band. PESO brings music to appreciative audiences around the U.S. and overseas. Founded in 2015 and based in Brooklyn, New York, members say they use the band's platform to promote unity throughout the culture and steel pan community, all while personifying the band motto of "Together...
BRATTLEBORO-St. Michael's Episcopal Church's Tag Sale on May 4 raised $10,000 for Loaves and Fishes. Loaves and Fishes is a community meals program for "anyone who's hungry," located in Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro. The 40-year-old program prepares and serves hundreds of homemade meals on Tuesday and Friday each week and delivers meals and groceries to those who are homebound. Ruth Tilghman of St. Michael's parish coordinates the all-volunteer program. "The weather forecast that day was for rain," said volunteer...
BRATTLEBORO-Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) and Putney Road Redemption Center (PRRC) recently announced that, over the last year, 120,000 returnable cans and bottles were collected at WSWMD's Brattleboro transfer station on Old Ferry Road and redeemed at PRRC. The reduction in weight of total recyclables saves the District $200 per ton in processing fees for single stream recycling. WSWMD's partnership with PRRC also generates revenue as Vermont's Bottle Bill requires the beverage industry to return 5 cents for every...
WEST BRATTLEBORO-All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church is hosting an exhibit of 25 Vermont artists with disabilities in partnership with Inclusive Arts Vermont, through Aug. 31. The theme, Cycles, emerged from community input, and the artwork expresses cycles of nature; of the body, mind, and spirit; as well as experiences of repetition, circular shapes, and more. The exhibition is on view at the West Village Meeting House, 29 South St., Tuesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursdays, 10 a.m.
WEST BRATTLEBORO-The musical duo Sharon & Daniel will lead the "Maximum Light Celebration," their third annual summer solstice party on Friday, June 21, 6 p.m. at the West Village Meeting House, 29 South St. The highly participatory event will feature singing, dancing and merriment of all manner, including a flower dance and solstice parade. The gathering is free of charge and family friendly. The celebration will be preceded by a potluck dinner starting at 5 p.m. The evening is sponsored...
The writer is a member of the Dummerston Conservation Commission DUMMERSTON-A friend of mine visited Sunset Lake in Dummerston to enjoy the beauty of the area and listen to the loons. While she was appreciating her time there, a family was, too. Unfortunately, the adults were hitting golf balls into the reservoir. She asked them to stop and they refused. It is important to note that Sunset Lake is a reservoir, and is a water supply for Brattleboro!! According to...
ROCKINGHAM-Bellows Falls Pride is celebrating former Bellows Falls resident John Moisis by recognizing his accomplishments in establishing the historic Andrews Inn. At the Rockingham Selectboard meeting on June 11, members reviewed and approved a request that the month of June be known as the John Moisis Pride Month. "John was an openly gay man his entire life," Bellows Falls Pride organizers wrote in a news release. "His much-loved family were prominent business owners of the Hotel Windham. But when the...
BRATTLEBORO-Thank you for your thoughtful editorial. (Full disclosure: My personal views align with those of Jewish Voice for Peace, which also had a Viewpoint in Voices on the same day.) I would like to suggest three books that I believe will offer your readers necessary historical context for the terrible war taking place now in the Middle East. Well-researched and documented history adds important context that is vital to understanding the tragedy that is occurring there. These books provide that...
BRATTLEBORO-At a Jan. 25 dialogue at Georgetown University between an Israeli woman, Robi Damelin, and a Palestinian man, Mohamed Abu Jafar, who both lost family members in the ongoing Mideast conflict, Damelin spoke of how surprised she was by her own spontaneous reaction upon hearing that her son was killed by a Palestinian sniper. "One of the first things that I said is, 'You cannot kill anybody in the name of my child,'" she said. "I've no idea where that...
-There were two of our local teams that made it all the way to their respective championship games - the Bellows Falls Terriers team in Division III softball and the Leland & Gray Rebels in Division IV baseball. The second-seeded Terriers were expecting a trip to the state finals, while the sixth-seeded Rebels had to pull off a pair of upsets on the road to get to the title game. Unfortunately, both teams had to face the defending champions in...
BRATTLEBORO-After reading Cara Cheyette's "Voices" piece regarding her dissatisfaction with Sam's, my husband, Michael, commented: "It's like saying 'Well, I thought he was an a**hole' at a funeral." We have a combined history of patronage at Sam's of nearly 75 years - Michael's been a Brattleboro resident for 44 years, and I've been here for more than 30 - and we were frequent customers the entirety of that time. We rarely had any difficulty finding a salesperson to assist -
PUTNEY-The Putney Farmers' Market - "a localvore marketplace, located in the heart of downtown Putney," as described by its manager, Jill Green - celebrates its 15th season as a place for customers to connect directly with food producers and farmers from the region. Green, who has sold goods at farmers markets for 14 years and has served as an assistant manager and co-manager of the Brattleboro markets, describes her role in Putney as "truly my dream job." The 40 vendors...
BRATTLEBORO-The Vermont Community Foundation (VCF) recently announced that the Nelson E. Withington Fund has given more than $1 million to recreation and projects that benefit the public in Brattleboro, a milestone reached this year as the fund celebrates its 20th birthday. A permanent resource managed by the VCF, the fund has distributed more than 30 grants to support the development and refurbishment of parks, trails, and public amenities ranging from basketball courts and playgrounds to a popular skate park and...
PUTNEY-An exhibition of "Robot Crew" by Marge Barrett-Mills is on view at the Putney Public Library, 55 Main St., through Aug. 31. On display are 12 quilted panels crafted in three-dimensional applique of original patterns of robot figures by Amy Bradley. Barrett-Mills began work on them in early 2023 and has been exhibiting these quilts in Massachusetts libraries. Additionally a number of art quilts have been shown in various venues in support of nonprofit organizations, including the Massachusetts Coalition For...
BRATTLEBORO-Emilie Kornheiser, District 7 representative, has earned support for reelection to the Statehouse. Our town and county have long benefited from delegations of competent, caring, and energetic elected officials. Windham County has historically been an influencer in Vermont government, and Kornheiser is a standout among her legislative peers. In a short time in Montpelier, she has emerged as an effective and respected leader. She chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, giving Windham an influential role in state government.
Brooks Library to close early June 20 for network upgrade BRATTLEBORO - Brooks Memorial Library will close at 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 20, to accomplish the transition of its electronic network. The project is a complete network overhaul and upgrade that will result in a new internet connection that the library says "is almost 10 times as fast as the present connection. Network equipment that is more than 10 years old will be replaced, and library patrons and staff...
BRATTLEBORO-Under the Maple/Brattleboro House Concerts will host a benefit concert for RiverJam Romp on Sunday, June 23, at 6:30 p.m. The concert will feature Peter Siegel, Amanda Witman, and friends. Peter Siegel is an award-winning musician, educator, and founding member of The Gaslight Tinkers. Influenced by the songwriting of Pete Seeger and Phil Ochs, Dixieland, old-time fiddle tunes, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Siegel grew up singing on the Hudson River sloop Clearwater. He moved to the Pioneer Valley as a young...
BRATTLEBORO-Eight new exhibits open at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) on Saturday, June 22, featuring diverse artmaking techniques, media, and themes, including "Sci-fi Sufism," the power of water, mythic qualities of animals, and environmental wake-up calls. Five different curators have brought these exhibits to life, including BMAC Director of Exhibitions Sarah Freeman, who described the new line-up of art and artists in a news release as "one of abundance and offering." The exhibits include "The In Between" by...
BRATTLEBORO-I dip my pen into the swiftly congealing blood, the precious fluid that runs in all our veins. This line stumbles over bodies that lay neatly stacked on the bomb-pitted ER floors. Small faces contorted in a twist of anguish as the red thread divides those who live and die. My pen scratches out the last of a short life, my fingers trembling as the horizontal strand stretches. How long a line is the life of a child this tiny...
The writer is executive director of Out in the Open, an organization connecting rural LGBTQ+ people to build community, visibility, knowledge, and power. BRATTLEBORO-I'm writing to share more context about our Rural LGBTQ Liberation March and to also correct some misperceptions that the article covering our work in last week's Commons has created. There is quite a bit about the march that this article misses. Yes, there were chants about ending occupation and about ending genocide. As an organization we...
BRATTLEBORO-Recently, a friend and I, each from our own homes, did a half-hour Zoom training to phone bank for Jamal Bowman, the Black Democratic congressman representing lower Westchester county and parts of the Bronx. As many readers know, he's facing a huge challenge in the upcoming Democratic primary there on June 25 from one George Lattimer, an undistinguished, retired former county executive who probably had no thought of running until he was approached by AIPAC [the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee].
BELLOWS FALLS-How do you handle growing older with a deadly disease that has killed dozens of your friends, but that you have survived, so far, for nearly four decades? That is what author and blogger Mark S. King will discuss in "Aging with Grit & Grace," a free event presented by Senior Solutions and Bellows Falls Pride at the Bellows Falls Opera House on Thursday, June 20, at 7:30 p.m. Growing older with a chronic illness presents not only physical,
GUILFORD-Today, it is Gaza that burns. And tomorrow? The story of civilization is full of sieges, atrocities, massacres... European colonialism, the African slave trade... the genocide of the original inhabitants of the Americas... the Holocaust... today, the atrocity in Gaza is the face of colonial civilization. And it is today that a new generation faces the barbarism presenting itself as civilization and shouts, No! Stop! Not in our name! A new generation of rebels is born. Yet the war machine...
-To date, 149 Vermont cities and towns, home to about 77 percent of the state's population, have adopted the Vermont Declaration of Inclusion to ensure all residents, visitors, and people considering moving to their communities feel welcome, safe, and that they belong. Begun as a grassroots initiative by community members in the Rutland area, the Declaration of Inclusion has gained momentum with the help of Vermont Interfaith Action, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns,
TOWNSHEND-As fundraising continues for a new rural health clinic, Olivia Sweetnam has been named the new chief executive officer at Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital. On July 1, Sweetnam will replace Doug DiVello, who announced plans last December to retire when a replacement was hired. A graduate of Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, with a bachelor of science degree in nursing, Sweetnam received her master of nursing science and master of public health degrees from Yale University. The chief...
BRATTLEBORO-I read Joyce Marcel's profile of the race between Emilie Kornheiser and Amanda Ellis-Thurber with great interest. I've had my disagreements with Kornheiser in the past, but I will say that she has a profound interest and real knowledge of public policy and the issues facing working-class Vermonters. It's hard not to see how Ellis-Thurber's campaign is a response to some of the more innovative ideas coming from Kornheiser's leadership of the Ways and Means Committee, in particular her proposal...
Morse Brook Farm This is our third year at the Putney Farmers' Market. We like it because it is truly local and we are vending next to our neighbors. It has a very relaxed and welcoming feel and we have a very pleasant group of vendors who support the market and each other. We are a hill farm on the eastern slope of the highest ridge in Westminster, with a view of the Connecticut River Valley. We have 80 open...
PUTNEY-Keith Murphy's latest release, Bright as Amber, self-released nearly one year ago, will be played in its entirety by a special band of musicians for its debut performance at Next Stage Arts. For many years, the artist, who has lived in Brattleboro for 30 years, has been "forging a distinctive sound in the world of traditional song." Murphy grew up in Newfoundland surrounded by the rich musical traditions of the British Isles. "The songs that I often sing are songs...
Kevin G. Farrell describes himself as "an IT guy with a lot of, mostly, informed opinions about pretty much anything." This piece originally appeared on his blog, A Variety of Thoughts About Everything . BRATTLEBORO-I went on a motorcycle ride with my nephew Ethan on June 8. It was a great day for riding, and I enjoy Ethan's company a lot. So it was fun. Later in the afternoon, we went our separate ways - life and all that, you...
MONTPELIER-At the League of Women Voters, we are often asked, "Can men be members of the League?" And our answer is, "Of course, yes!" However, this was not always the case. When the league was founded 104 years ago, it was an organization for women, providing support for suffrage and encouraging their participation in the political process. It would be 50 years before the League of Women Voters would open its membership to men. On May 7, 1974, the League...
GUILFORD-To the editor of The Commons and voters in Vernon and Guilford: As kids we used to play a card game that consisted of laying one, two, three, or more cards on the table face down and declaring they were "three aces," or whatever. Your opponents have to decide if you are telling the truth or bluffing. A simplified version of poker. In polite circles, it was called, "I doubt it," which is what you would say if you thought...
BRATTLEBORO-I am a resident of District 7, and I have been a strong supporter of Emilie Kornheiser during her terms in the Vermont Legislature. I am also an admirer and customer of Lilac Ridge Farm. Amanda Ellis-Thurber, whose family owns and operates Lilac Ridge, is running against Emilie in the Democratic primary for the District 7 legislative seat. I believe in lively debate and straightforward conversation where ideas are challenged, and people have to think hard about what they believe...
PORTLAND, MAINE-Nicely written piece. I don't know that you can do more than that. One of my neighbors is a huge Trump supporter. We hadn't spoken since the Jan 6th debacle. However, it seems this division that's being caused by political leaders and groups is aimed at dividing us and possibly bringing us into civil war. So . . . I went to speak with him recently. As much as we disagree on almost every issue, I told him I...
WEST BRATTLEBORO-Emilie Kornheiser has done, and is doing, a wonderful job at representing us in West Brattleboro (District 7). Thanks (again), Emilie! Brian Shafford West Brattleboro 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 on this website, we strive to ensure that opinions are based on fair expression of established fact.
BRATTLEBORO-I recently went to the Brattleboro Common Sense website and saw the video of town health officer Charles Keirr saying there was human feces everywhere. That's ridiculous and not true! I lived there. We all used the port-a-potty or the inside bathroom. Not one person went to the bathroom outside. They also say there's no housing crisis! That's bullshit. Megan Bishop Brattleboro This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons. This piece, published in print in the Voices...
This letter was sent on June 7 to all WSESD staff. BRATTLEBORO-When Travis, the only saxophone player in the fifth grade band, began his concert solo by playing "Hot Cross Buns" instead of "Merrily We Roll Along," he stopped, waved his arm, and said, "No, wait! That's not it. Wrong one. This is it." To everyone's relief, he then led the band in a spirited rendition of the correct number. Our pursuit of excellence, our preoccupation with perfection, doesn't leave...
Residents of Guilford have discovered the aftermath an invasive species of roundworm that devastates beech trees, the latest indication that the leaf gall nematode has reached southeastern Vermont and inflicting beech leaf disease (BLD) in its wake. The presence of Litylenchus crenatae mccannii was first confirmed in Vernon last October by staff at the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, and then in Dummerston, after locals submitted pictures of ravaged beech leaves to the agency's website. The microscopic nematode...
BRATTLEBORO-William Shakespeare's words, stories, characters, and themes can bear meaning in any age; thus, after a five-year hiatus, the Vermont Theatre Company (VTC) is reviving a 30-year tradition of presenting Shakespeare in the Park. This weekend in Brattleboro's Living Memorial Park, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is offered, chosen by Jessica Callahan Gelter, who's directing the cast of 35, and James "Jay" Gelter, the president of the nonprofit theater company. "We chose Julius Caesar because in an election year it...
Carolyn North (carolynnorthbooks.com) is a writer of books that address "the interface between matter and spirit." PUTNEY-Growing up in New York in the 1940s, going to Radio City Music Hall was the most special treat a kid could imagine, so for my fifth birthday my parents took me there to see Walt Disney's new movie Bambi. The theater was huge and dark, the screen full of moving color, and the story so devastating to me that when the Hunter took...