What were ordinary folks doing in Vermont before they got caught up the whirlwind of the Civil War? Find out on Sunday, July 15, at 2 p.m. at the Guilford Historical Society's program Guilford 1860: As the Storm Clouds Gathered.
The program is to be held at the Guilford Meeting House on the Guilford Center Road (next door to the Guilford Free Library). The illustrated presentation will be filled with unexpected and amusing details to answer questions about what farmers raised, the jobs women held, surprises in the town budget, and attitudes about kissing in public.
Based on research done with census records, the grand list, a school register, letters, photographs, period newspapers, and the collections of various historical societies and libraries, the program, by Guilford resident Linda Hay, will look at life in this one small Vermont town.
“I wanted to know the specifics, not just generalizations,” she said. “Many of us think Little Women or Ken Burns' series The Civil War when we think of that period, but I wanted to check out the truth of those images. I think the answers will surprise people.”...
The Windham County Heat Fund has announced the creation of a special fund to raise money for Peter Diamondstone and Doris Lake, who lost their home of 44 years in West Brattleboro to an early morning fire on July 3. Not only was their home a total loss, but...
The forecast was dire, but thunderstorms that were predicted on July 4 stayed away long enough for “Brattleboro Goes Fourth,” the town's 39th annual Independence Day celebration, to go off without a hitch. More than 50 parade entries - including the Brattleboro American Legion and Brattleboro Union High School...
The Leland and Gray Players offer a Summer Performing Arts Exploration (SPAE) for young people entering grades 5-8. The program opens with a family potluck on Sunday, July 22, and runs Monday through Friday, July 23, to Aug. 3 with culminating performances the evening of Aug. 3 and the afternoon of Aug. 4. A few spaces remain. Typical days will include theater games, production work and workshops in acting, music, scene design, movement and dance, lighting, costumes, and prop-making. These...
Chittenden County State's Attorney and Attorney General candidate T.J. Donovan has made several appearences in Brattleboro to keep his name before voters who may be accustomed hearing about 15-year incumbent AG Bill Sorrell. Donovan is running in the Democratic primary on Aug 28 against Sorrell in what many observers see as the most contested race of the season. “It's a tough challenge but we're up for it,” Donovan said on the phone last month as he was driving from Brattleboro...
Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV) recently entered two pieces in the nationwide “Hometown Media Awards” contest hosted annually by the Alliance for Community Media, and won both categories. BCTV entered a 19-minute piece in the Original Teleplay category for videos created by youth under 18. The winning video, Double Trouble: BCTV's Summer Video Camp Spectacular, features a mysterious cloning epidemic in downtown Brattleboro. The story idea and script were written by the group of 10 children ages 10 to 12 who...
Obituaries • Edward W. “Ed” Aplin Sr., 72, of Brattleboro. Died July 4 at his home. Husband of Cheryl King Aplin for nearly 47 years. Father of Edward Aplin, Jr. of Nelson, N.H., Jason Aplin and his wife, Hilary, of Dover, Melissa Looman of Dummerston, and the late Donald Edward Aplin. Brother of Barbara Aplin of Brattleboro, Dorothy Cousins of Sharon, Conn., Pauline Stark of East Randolph, Betty Spicer of Utica, N.Y., and the late David Aplin, Joyce Beam, and...
I've been fed up with dial-up Internet for a long time, but instead of doing anything about it, I've just let it slide. I realized it was a waste of money to be paying for something I was barely using, but it wasn't the first time. I'd paid for satellite television for over a year but watching my TV less than once a week, before finally disconnecting. It had taken a prod in that case (a rate increase) to give...
Brattleboro Police to hold annual bike/abandoned property auction BRATTLEBORO - The annual bike and abandoned property auction will take place on Saturday, July 14, at the Brattleboro Police Department. A preview the bicycles and other property abandoned during 2011 will be held on Friday, July 13, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. If you believe the police may have your property, bring in a bill of sale, receipt, or other proof of ownership. Only those with proof of ownership will be allowed to...
The United Way of Windham County is investing more than $287,000 in high-impact human service programs in the areas of education, income, and health. Starting this month, grants will begin for 24 programs to 16 organizations serving more 10,000 residents of Windham County. The Community Impact model guides investment decisions by basing selection criteria on a set of target outcomes that have been identified through a comprehensive, data-informed community participation process. Trained volunteers review the program grants to assure that...
Jason Porter of Bedford, N.H., and Heather Conarroe of Greenwich, Conn., successfully defended their titles on July 4 in the Bill Powers Memorial Firecracker 4-Miler in Brattleboro. Porter, 42, was pressed hard at the end of the race by Brattleboro's Jacob Ellis, but Porter prevailed in 22 minutes, 13 seconds, just one second faster than the 18-year-old Ellis. Rob Lind, 26, of Brattleboro was third in 22:39. Conarroe, 24, placed 15th overall and was the top female finisher in 26:04.
On Friday, July 13, at 8 p.m., celebrated jazz vocalist and composer Peter Eldridge will perform in concert at the Cotton Mill. The following day, he will lead an afternoon-long master class starting at noon on July 14 at The Open Music Collective in the Cotton Mill. Eldridge has released four solo recordings, in addition to his 20 years as a member and co-founder of New York Voices, a two-time Grammy-winning jazz vocal ensemble. Downbeat called his voice a “strong,
As the owners and caretakers of more than 5,000 acres of timberland in Windham and Grafton, we wanted to explain the details of our proposal to put three temporary meteorological towers atop our property. Meadowsend is a family-owned timber and forestry company dedicated to land conservation. The French family has owned Meadowsend and has been a proud neighbor in Grafton and Windham for 16 years. We have always taken pride in the way we have managed the property, and we...
Like others, I've been angry since the Citizens United decision, and before, about the role moneyed interests play in deciding our national elections and policies. And that anger has been spreading. There are now at least seven serious proposals to amend the Constitution, particularly to say that corporations are not people. That's important. But it would do nothing about the underlying problem: that our elections and policies are for sale. The fact that they're for sale for some reason gets...
A recent letter [“Stop attacking all women,” May 16] was brief, but her words cut through to something about the War on Women which is not much noticed in the media. I think the writer was probably of Republican sentiment. On my deck discussing issues of how women are presented and perceived in mainstream media, a very liberal film director raised this very issue. Whether Republicans are waging a war, he said, that is no reason for liberals in media...
The town of Brattleboro is soliciting proposals for reuse of the old Archery Building on 26 Depot St. The building has been vacant since 2006, when it was purchased by the town as part of the Union Station project. If all goes according to plan, the redevelopment of the surrounding land into a green space and bus turnaround will be complete by August 2012. The town is seeking proposals from persons or organizations to renovate, operate, and maintain the building,
June 14, 2012: I walked through the Co-op tonight for the last time. They've started moving without me. They're closing the old building today at 7 p.m. For good. Apparently, they had already moved quite a bit. Every dry good aisle was empty, and only the refrigerator and freezer cases remained stocked. There was a makeshift counter in the deli; from there, we ordered a sandwich in a wrap because there was no more bread. There were no chips either,
Just two years ago, I sat mute and even a little smug as I listened to two colleagues describe the difficulties of caring long-distance for a surviving parent - one a widow, the other a widower. Both were in their nineties. Back then, my parents were each 85 and still seemed well enough to drive us kids crazy. They insisted on flying to California for a staged reading of my younger brother's play, they witnessed their great-granddaughter's baby-naming, and they...
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal Affordable Care Act is constitutional, Vermont can continue its own health care reform effort secure in the knowledge that the necessary federal dollars will flow to the Green Mountains. Last year, the Vermont Legislature passed Act 48, a health care reform bill that puts the state on a course for a unified and universal health care system. The Legislature followed that up this year with Act 171, which outlines the...
For years, Connie Burton, owner of Burton Car Wash & Detailing Services in Brattleboro, has asked her customers not to keep the change. She's put out a collection jar at her two locations and her customers have emptied their pockets for various local causes. This year, Burton decided to earmark the proceeds from the change jar to the Green Mountain Camp for Girls in West Dummerston. She recently delivered $941.75, collected since last September, for the camp's scholarship fund. “A...
A concert designed to raise funds to rebuild a beloved local institution is almost sold out. A performance on Saturday, July 14, “A Concert to Rebuild Dot's,” will feature Jon Pousette-Dart and Aztec Two-Step at Memorial Hall, in a drive to match a $50,000 grant from the Wilmington Fund VT. Pousette-Dart's self-named band “carved a place in the landscape of American music in the 1970s,” according to his website (www.pousette-dart.com). “They were a mainstay of album radio, a favorite on...
An American subsidiary of a global energy firm and a New Hampshire-based timber company are teaming up on a proposal to install a commercial wind energy project on 5,000 acres of woodland that straddle Grafton, Townshend, and Windham near Route 121. The proposed site of the wind farm is owned by Meadowsend Timberlands Limited (MTL), a family-owned timber and forestry company based in New London, N.H., that owns about 30,000 acres of woodlands in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Also...
Forget “America the Beautiful” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In all its populist glory, the national anthem of the United States is Woody Guthrie's “This Land is Your Land.” And its transgressive, deeply radical lyrics still speak to the deepest longings inside of us. Woodrow Wilson Guthrie, an American legend, a musician, songwriter, author, hard traveler, fighter against injustice (“This machine kills fascists” was written on his guitar) and a family man to many, many families, was born in Oklahoma on...
All 154 homemade pies had sold by 11:45 a.m., announced Pastor Pete Carlson, the emcee at the 63rd annual Fourth of July celebration in downtown Wardsboro. The parade and street fair is the oldest, and, some say, the most laid-back, Independence Day celebration in Windham County. A relaxed and cheerful after-the-parade crowd walked up and down Main Street, continuing to chatter with children and pets as they lined up for the barbecue specials and sweets, including those sold-out pies and...
7-Eleven in West Brattleboro and Avenue Grocery on Western Avenue are leading the way to building a healthier community. They are the first two local retail outlets to implement the Healthy Retailers program sponsored by the Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition in collaboration with the Vermont Department of Health. The Healthy Retailer program is designed to help owners and managers of independently-owned grocery stores, convenience stores and gas stations create retail environments that encourage healthier food and beverage choices and discourage...
The Actors Theatre Playhouse will present its first Saturday Staged Reading of the season with Jon Robin Baitz' Substance of Fire for two Saturday performances on July 14 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. Reservations are not required. All tickets are $6 at the door. Baitz is an acclaimed playwright, screenwriter for film and television, and actor. His Tony-nominated new play Other Desert Cities is currently enjoying a long run on Broadway. He is also the creator of the ABC-TV series...
As evening rolled around, a charter bus full of children from New York City pulled into the parking lot at Brattleboro Union High School, where six families affiliated with the Fresh Air Fund were waiting to receive them. Whether they were meeting their families for the first time or returning to their hosts from last summer, the kids getting off the bus on July 5 had smiles on their faces and seemed eager to start their two-week vacation. The Fresh...
There are a handful of signs out marking a so-called “Vermont Yankee Evacuation Zone.” VY does not have an evacuation zone, but it does have a 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ), a requirement of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The 650 people who work at Vermont Yankee have earned a green rating for safe operations, the highest rating by the NRC. This rating reflects that VY is operating within normal range and that the plant has met the NRC's clearly defined...
Artistic Directors Richard Goode and Mitsuko Uchida, and more than 75 other master concert artists and young professional musicians from around the world, have been busy rehearsing since June 24 in the classrooms and studios on the hilltop campus of Marlboro College in preparation for the 62nd season of the Marlboro Music Festival, which begins this weekend. Over the span of seven weeks, these artists form a community where musicians exchange ideas and make new artistic discoveries as they explore...
Two buildings on South Main Street are in danger of tumbling into the Deerfield River. Portions of the riverbank across the water by The Crafts Inn have fallen in, courtesy of Tropical Storm Irene, which damaged the flood walls downstream of the Route 9 bridge on Aug. 28, 2011. Local architect Joseph Cincotta has identified the two buildings as critical to the six-part multi-phase repair project to rehabilitate the river and flood walls: The Cady & Dugan building, which before...
Once a year, Yellow Barn dedicates an evening to its founders, David and Janet Wells, with a tribute concert and post-concert festivities. However, this year is something special. Honoring David's 85th birthday on July 16, Yellow Barn will be exploring Johann Sebastian Bach's six Cello Suites during Friday and Saturday evening programs. A renowned cellist, David Wells is best known for his mastery of the Bach Suites for unaccompanied cello. “We consider these concerts a birthday present to David Wells,”
“Channelized” is the word that Todd Menees, a river engineer for Department of Environmental Conservation, uses to describe the Deerfield River where it passes through downtown Wilmington. The stone walls along the river, combined with the bedrock under the Route 9 bridge, have created an “all-hard, constricted river, with no dispersion of energy,” he said. “It would have been great to pick the buildings up and move them, but that's not going to happen,” he said. Rivers balance their speed...
U.S. Peter Welch, D-Vt., announced on Monday that he has written the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), requesting it “right-size” its loan programs. Based on stories gathered from constituents, Welch wrote SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills to request that her agency develop a micro-loan category within the SBA's disaster relief program to help small business owners. Welch heard from Vermont business owners during his Irene listening tours who told him that the federal disaster relief programs did not meet their...