The last team of Brattleboro Little League All-Stars to play in the postseason, the 10-11-year-olds, were the host team for the state tournament at the South Main Street Field over the weekend.
Only three programs fielded teams for this tournament: Brattleboro, South Burlington, and Essex. Brattleboro got a free pass into the double-elimination tournament after Bennington chose not to field an 10-11-year-old team, so Brattleboro had more than month off between the end of the regular season and the start of this tourney.
Brattleboro showed a few signs of rust in their opener on Saturday, but generally played well in a 4-3 seven-inning loss to South Burlington.
Luke Mann's two-run double gave South Burlington a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Brattleboro took a 3-2 lead in the third. Haley Derosia drove in a run with a base hit; Seamus Buckley pushed in a run with a ground out to first; and Jakob Curtiss scored on a wild pitch.
Your article on the Winstanley Enterprises solar project [“Site near I-91 eyed for 2-megawatt solar array,” News, July 10] was very interesting and informative. I am an advocate of renewable energy sources and am glad when the public has a chance to be educated about them. In doing so,
The Brattleboro Country Club has been looking to both the past and future in recent months and continuing what club president Jason Kelley calls an effort to reintroduce the club to the community. Taking note of the centenary, which will be official July 1, 2014, the club had club...
Births • In Brattleboro (Memorial Hospital), July 19, 2013, a son, Brantley Edward Wright, to Lylah (Bailey) and Joseph Wright of Townshend; grandson to Debbie Martel, Mike Bailey, and Joseph and Priscilla Wright. • In Brattleboro (Memorial Hospital), July 10, 2013, a son, Adam Ray Schoolcraft, to Kristy (Shippee) and Jessi Schoolcraft of Brattleboro; grandson to Michele Schoolcraft and Todd and Angie Howe; greatgrandson to Judy Tetreault. College news • Rebecca M. Mayer of Brattleboro was among a record number...
Newfane Garden Club meets on Aug. 1 NEWFANE - The Newfane Garden Club will meet and present “Preserving Nature's Bounty” on Thursday, Aug. 1, at the Newfane Congregational Church, beginning at 2 p.m. Following a brief business meeting, Sherry Maher, the market manager for the Townshend Farmers' Market and the Brattleboro Winter Farmers' Market, will demonstrate methods for preserving garden vegetables or local farm produce. DeeDee Garafalo of Dover and Joyce Orgera of Townshend will host. Guests are always welcome.
A traditional story of the Abenaki Indian people, who have lived in Vermont for thousands of years, tells of a time when the creator finished making the Earth and all the plants and animals, then decided to fashion the A-senee-ki-wakw, a new inhabitant to join the other beings. Unfortunately, the A-senee-ki-wakw, people made of stone, were unfeeling creatures, who with their gargantuan bulk destroyed everything in their path - trees, creeks, animals, meadows - because they lacked an ability to...
On April 16, 1862, men from Brattleboro may have been trying not to panic, or at least not get killed, as they crossed the Warwick River near Lee's Mill, Va. The confederates were not waiting for the their enemies; they were firing explosive shells at them. Some men were killed outright; other men were wounded and drowned. One can imagine a symphony of fear, composed of shells, yells, shrieks of the wounded, and the splashing of water. How far away...
Residents here have another option for overflow vegetables besides the compost pile. For the second consecutive year, “Save Our Surplus,” an initiative by Transition Towns Dummerston, is setting up self-service collection stands around town for residents to donate or take vegetables. All are encouraged to stop by. The collected produce is free. Non-perishables are also welcome. The stands will be set up each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through September at the KOA campground on Route 5, across...
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held recently to begin Phase II of the Bellows Falls Historic Riverfront Park and Trail System Project. The Bellows Falls Historical Society project will include trails, green space, river access, and interpretive displays at its seven-acre parcel along the Connecticut River off Mill Street. Adams Trucking and Excavation will serve as the Phase II project contractor. Work is expected to be completed this September. “This is where people will start seeing the vision take form on a...
After the intense heat wave in July, we are again faced with another year of elevated water temperatures in the Connecticut River at our state's only nuclear power station. Power plants use huge amounts of water for cooling, and when already warmed water enters the cooling system, that same water is far too hot to support a healthy ecosystem when it is discharged into the river. About 50 to 60 percent of energy generated by nuclear reactors is waste heat.
As Pikes Falls Chamber Music Festival returns to Jamaica Town Hall Aug. 4-10, Susanna Loewy, its founder and curator, says she's looking forward to building on last year's “hugely successful” events. And she's clear that there were some missteps at last year's events. These, she says, were excellent lessons moving forward. With a troupe of nine performing musicians, a conductor, a composer-in-residence, and two artists-in-residence, the festival will host an ambitious array of events: an afternoon family concert, a Tropical...
RE: “Visions, values, and tragedy” [Special Focus, July 17]: After two years, reading this story breaks my heart. Richard Gagnon, thank you for writing. My prayers for you, and for everyone in Brattleboro, continue.
The Putney School is opening its doors to the public for two days of great jazz music. The Vermont Jazz Center (VJC) presents its summer jazz workshop in the beautiful setting of the Putney School campus, encouraging students from down the street and around the world to hone their improvisational and musicianship skills. This year, faculty will deliver their concert on Thursday, Aug. 8. The students will offer two performances on the final evening of the workshop, Friday, Aug. 9.
Last week, a handful of Grafton residents spoke with Governor Peter Shumlin, who had agreed to take ten minutes of his busy schedule to meet with us. He knew the topic: our concerns about a proposed industrial wind project in Grafton/Windham. While we presented our concerns - impact on the environment, noise and health, tourism and economy, property values - in those few minutes, the meeting made me reflect on a few questions. * * * What would a large...
I am feeling uncomfortable with the statement that I made in my comments on the stories Joyce Marcel collected about the slaying of Michael Martin by Richard Gagnon at the Brattleboro Coop two years ago [“I miss my arrogant friend,” Letters, July 24]. I said I also felt (as someone in the article had said) that Richard had “taken one for the team.” Um. Richard didn't take it. He gave it. And “it” was murder. One has to go back...
After seven years of hard work and too many disappointments, glass artist Randi Solin and ceramist Natalie Blake have joyfully turned their dream into a reality. At the same time, the dream of creating an artistic corridor on Flat Street has now morphed into a diamond-shaped set of arts destinations that extend from the Brattleboro Museum & Arts Center to Route 30 and beyond. Opening with a celebratory pig roast for the public later this fall, the Fulcrum Arts Center...
The Apron Theater Company and the Next Stage Arts Project present “The Cripple of Inishmaan,”a play by Martin McDonagh. Performances are at Next Stage Arts on Thursday, Aug. 8 through Sunday, Aug. 11; and Thursday, Aug. 15 through Saturday, Aug. 17. The Aug. 11 performance is a 2 p.m. matinee; the other performances are at 8 p.m. “The Cripple of Inishmaan” is Apron's second production as Next Stage's “theater company in residence” after its staging of “Wit.” “The Cripple of...
RE: “Visions, values, and tragedy” [Special Focus, July 17]: The main story was well written and seems well researched; it was informative and well done. Thanks for writing it. But the story about Meg McCarthy, the wife of Richard Gagnon, is asking for too much sympathy/empathy for the killer. She whines about her husband serving 17 years. He got off easy from what I've seen in this country. The wife's story could have been left out. The next story, from...
RE: “Visions, values, and tragedy” [Special Focus, July 17]: Congratulations to Joyce Marcel, for writing, and to The Commons, for publishing, the story-beneath-the-story surrounding this unfortunate event. My guess is that you'll catch a bucket-full from various people and organizations, and that you knew you would going in, which makes your efforts all the more commendable. After reading the story, and taking in both Alex Gyori's reported remarks and actions, along with the reported conduct of Michael Martin, it is...
RE: “Visions, values, and tragedy” [Special Focus, July 17]: Great journalism - full picture. I remember Richard Gagnon as very helpful and kind, although I'm sure he would not remember me. I do not condone his act of violence. I do and did feel the shift of focus at the new co-op. It's sad all around: the end of many ideals, goals, and regard for the community. This situation comes as no surprise to me. I used to be a...
I just finished reading the excellent article about the murder of Michael Martin by Richard Gagnon [Special Focus, July 17]. As a person who grew up in England, I began to imagine how this story would have played out if set in that country, or indeed anywhere in Europe! The background story probably would have been the same - workplace harassment or bullying and extreme emotions relating to work, especially being fired, happen anywhere. But then the story would have...
Strand Avenue - that once-tiny and picturesque road beloved by town walkers which connects busy Western Avenue to busy Williams Street - is undergoing reconstruction, with the replacement of two retaining walls and addition of a lane to the top of the road. A real, actual bona fide second lane. Strand Avenue residents, shown only rough plans several years ago, thought their one-lane road would be “slightly” widened to 16 feet. But upper Strand will become two genuine 8-foot “minimum-width”
RE: “Visions, values, and tragedy” [Special Focus, July 17]: I appreciated - in some ways - Joyce Marcel's article about the co-op tragedy, particularly the opportunity to hear from Richard Gagnon and his wife, Meg McCarthy. I did, however, find the article to be very one-sided. My main concern is the way in which Michael Martin was portrayed. I, too, am a department manager at the Brattleboro Food Co-op. Michael was my supervisor as well as Richard's. Richard's experience was...
Finding one's way to a “build party” work session for soapbox derby vehicles proves easy. All you need to do is look for the pickup truck with a bed full of scrap metal, plastic pipe, and other objects. These materials might well be recycled - through ingenuity, artistry, and sheer force of will - into gravity-propelled go-carts and raced in the annual Kornguth's Soapbox Derby at the Exit 1 Industrial Park on Sunday, Aug. 18. The ringleader of the handful...
Since 1951, Marlboro Music has played a leadership role in the development of chamber music worldwide, and in enriching the artistry and changing the lives of generations of exceptional musicians. For seven weeks each summer, concert artists of widely varied ages and backgrounds come together as one closely knit musical family with the unique gift of unlimited time to study in great depth works from the vast chamber music repertoire. Co-artistic directors Richard Goode and Mitsuko Uchida are among the...
Governor Peter Shumlin, who does not support stricter gun control in Vermont, should read Joyce Marcel's well-researched piece [“Visions, values, and tragedy,” Special Focus, July 17]. The writer finally made sense of what had always been called a senseless murder at the Brattleboro Food Co-op. Had Richard Gagnon kept his promise to his wife to never buy a gun, he would have sent his boss with a bloody nose or some broken ribs to the emergency room instead of to...
In awarding Annie Baker the Best New American Play Award of 2009 for “Circle Mirror Transformation,” presenters noted she won because she captured life in a small, artsy Vermont town in such a touching and compassionate way. In the play, which runs for 12 performances in August at the Actors Theater Playhouse in West Chesterfield, N.H., five relative strangers taking a six-week community acting class learn about trust, compassion, responsibility, and personal growth in the community in which they live...
The scent of ferns mingled with the odor of insect repellant as a group of visitors to the state's smallest state park, Dutton Pines, gathered around a red pine tree. Timothy Morton, stewardship forester with the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, tapped the tree, which is traditionally harvested for telephone poles. Morton explained that edible worm lives in red pines, and that he often tells schoolchildren with whom he works that if they can find a worm in a...
My column last month was about the family life of the Canada goose. Some of the column referred to the friendly relationship that many people have toward these geese, bordering on the pet-like. This month is the flip side on the Canada goose, which used to be the forerunner of winter and the harbinger or spring. No more. Edward Forbush in “A Natural History of American Birds” (1955), described the reaction of people to the “flying wedge” of Canada geese...
Four times since mid-June, monitors have recorded “spurious spikes” in radiation levels inside the Vermont Yankee plant. The “false positives” for high radiation levels were a result of faulty equipment that produced inaccurate results and did not indicate there were actual increases in radiation in the building that contains the spent fuel pool, according to Rob Williams, a spokesman for the plant. Entergy notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of the equipment malfunction last week. On July 26, the Vermont Department...
The Immanuel Retreat Center has opened its doors and is in full swing with three- and four-day workshops scheduled through August, and another one in November. With a focus on community, spirituality, and the arts, the center is a spoke from the hub that is the Immanuel Episcopal Church or, as it is locally known, the Stone Church. The Retreat Center complements Stone Church Arts (SCA), a concert series celebrating its 10th season this fall. It expands what can be...
Attendees at the July 21 B.E.A.N. (Brattleboro Essential Arts Network) micro-grant dinner at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) awarded grants of $200 each to two artists to support their community-oriented art projects. The winners were Scot Borofsky, for “Brattleboro Pattern Project,” and Terri Malloy, for “Sculptures for a Greyt Cause.” At the dinner, Youth Services/Big Brothers Big Sisters of Windham County won $40 in a raffle. Representatives said the money would help fund an afternoon workshop for children...
The view from Route 30 of the Interstate 91 bridges that span the West River between Exits 2 and 3 is scheduled for an up-cycle. The two 50-year old towering steel-and-rivet bridges that traverse the West River will be demolished over the next few years and replaced with one concrete bridge that the Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) touts as a pilot project on a fast timeline. The AOT and design-build firms FIGG Engineering Group, of Florida, and PCL Civil...
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital announced that its Birthing Center will institute a “golden hour” for all healthy newborn babies and their parents. The start of the new policy is set to coincide with World Breastfeeding Week, which runs Thursday, Aug. 1 through Wednesday, Aug. 7. In maternity care, the golden hour is defined as the first hour of life for the newborn. Immediately following the delivery, BMH Birthing Center staff will place the baby on the mother's chest. No separation will...
A reward is offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for what safety officials conclude was a case of vehicle arson here two weeks ago. According to Brattleboro Fire Chief Michael Bucossi, Brattleboro Fire and Police departments responded to a vehicle fire 68 Birge St. in the early hours of July 15. After investigating the burned car, Bucossi said, a fire investigator and police detectives eliminated all other causes and deemed the fire an act...
PCL Civil Construction Inc., the construction firm behind the new West River Bridge, will close Route 30 and Upper Dummerston Road during limited portions of the project. The West River Trail will also see closures. The closures will last only a few hours, according to Caleb Linn, engineer with PCL. Upper Dummerston Road and Route 30 will never be closed at the same time, he said. The project team will post information on road closures through its project website, www.I91BrattleboroBridge.com,
Entergy plans to cut about 30 jobs at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant by the end of the year, a vice president at the Louisiana-based corporation said Tuesday. The news comes on the same day Entergy reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the company would eliminate about 800 positions from its nationwide workforce of 15,000. Entergy employs about 650 workers at Vermont Yankee in Vernon, meaning layoffs would affect about 4 percent of employees. “It's really across...