Have you caught “Our Fragile Home,” Pat Musick's multimedia installation inspired by astronauts' and cosmonauts' impressions of the Earth from space? Jet on over: It's at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) through Sunday, Feb. 9, and then its orbit takes it out of view.
“Our Fragile Home” closes that day to make room for BMAC's Seventh Annual Domino Toppling Extravaganza on Feb. 17, followed by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards exhibition beginning Feb. 22 (reception and awards ceremony is March 8).
BMAC Chief Curator Mara Williams says all other exhibits will remain open through March 8.
...Congratulations, Brad Ferland, on the great press your single op-ed garnered. You open your piece with: “When the state of Vermont holds a major public hearing about Vermont Yankee and almost no one attends, what does it mean?” I do not know how many of these events you have...
To raise awareness among local women that heart disease is their No. 1 health threat, the Center for Cardiovascular Health at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital will present a series of events for February to promote “The Heart Truth,” a nationwide effort to spread information about women and heart disease, prevention,
Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center offers Valentine's Day specials of chocolate “scat” samplers for sale at the Feb. 7 Gallery Walk. Proceeds of these distinctive treats support scholarships for the center's nature vacation camps. BEEC has more than 20 years' experience providing southeastern Vermont with quality outdoor education programs, including walks through area woodlands to teach participants to read nature's signs. According to Patti Smith, BEEC's expert naturalist and tracker, tracking is much more than looking for paw prints on the...
§Moderator: O that we now had here §But one ten-thousand of those in Brattle-town §That are at home to-day! * * * §A Brattleboro Citizen: What's he that wishes so? §My cousin Mod'rator? No, my fair cousin: §If we are registered, we are enough §To give our town our vote; and if elected, §The fewer we, the greater share of honour. §Seven score in all will do the trick. §How know I this? 'Tis Charter tells me so. §God's will!
On behalf of the trustees of Friends of Music at Guilford, I extend sincere thanks to everyone who attended and otherwise supported our 43rd annual Community Messiah Sing on Dec. 7, and our 41st Christmas at Christ Church concerts on Dec. 13 and 15, events that allow us to contribute to the support of three other local nonprofit organizations. Set at Centre Congregational Church since 1980, the Messiah Sing was rededicated in 2007 as a benefit for homeless people at...
She is a successful businesswoman whose colleagues respect her. Still, she sometimes experiences “difficulty getting traction” for her ideas. She has worked in her law firm for five years and has just had a child. Her boss advises her to take a staff role instead of staying on the management track. “It will be easier,” he says. Too late, she realizes “there is no path back to the line.” She likes her firm and feels she has been treated fairly.
College news • The following local students were December 2013 graduates at Castleton State College: Josephine Barrale of Brattleboro earned a B.A. in sociology, Casey Bemis of Brattleboro earned an A.S. in criminal justice, Keighan Chapman of Jamaica earned an M.A. in education, and Julia Lesure of Vernon earned a B.A. in health science. • The following local students were December 2013 graduates from Union Institute and University's New England Academic Center in Brattleboro: Kelly Therieau, Alyssa Bingham, Kelly Wheatley,
Town Auditors' Report now available BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Town Auditors' Report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, is available upon request and may be picked up at the Town Clerk's office, 230 Main St. The Auditors' Reports will also be available as part of the Town and Town School District Annual Report, which will be available at the Town Clerk's office no later than Feb. 21. Based on a vote at Representative Town Meeting in 2010, the town...
Chris Lamb of the Andover (N.H.) Outing Club just missed making the U.S. Ski Jumping team that is competing in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia this month. But Lamb has another goal to shoot for: to be only the fifth jumper in the long history of the Harris Hill Ski Jumping Competition to retire the Fred Harris Trophy. Lamb will be in Brattleboro on Feb. 15 and 16 with more than 40 of the world's top jumpers from the...
The Vermont Department of Health makes potassium iodide tablets available to all who live and work in the six towns within the emergency planning zone around Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear power station in Vernon. Acknowledging that the current stock of adult tablets (130 milligrams) expires this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announces it is extending those tablets' “shelf life” by six months. According to a notice from the Health Department's Brattleboro District Office, despite the original February...
Residents at a special meeting of the Selectboard and Planning Commission came out strongly against a 135-foot cell tower AT&T has proposed erecting on Shag Bark Hill, and the town is waiting for the telecommunication giant's latest tweak to the plan. The meeting, held Jan. 30 at the fire department, was concerned with AT&T's intent to petition the Public Service Board for a required Certificate of Public Good to build a “mono-pine” cell tower on land owned by Michael Mecheski...
U.S. Forest Service officials in Vermont warn they are implementing and enforcing a closure order limiting “over snow vehicle” (OSV) speed on the more than 400,000-acre Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF). The new order, which took effect in January, states that the maximum speed allowed for an OSV within the Green Mountain National Forest is 35 miles per hour. “This regulatory measure is consistent with Vermont state law and speed regulations for OSV travel on Vermont state lands,” reads a...
An absurdist tour de force exploring how we communicate with technological anxieties in a digital age is coming to Marlboro College on Friday, Feb. 7. The new comedy, Instant Misunderstanding, from Goat in the Road Productions (GRP), will be performed by GRP's two co-founders and artistic directors, Will Bowling and Chris Kaminstein. “In Instant Misunderstanding, past and present collide in a whirlwind of sandwiches, phone conferences, tea, and computer commands,” Kaminstein says. Bowling and Kaminstein created their newest work along...
“I am not going to answer any questions as to my association, my philosophical or religious or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private affairs. I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this.” That was Pete Seeger's answer to U.S. Rep. Francis Walter, D-Pa., before a House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearing in 1955. That earned Pete a one-year prison sentence...
If you have never seen a Snowy Owl, this is the winter to do so. Snowy Owls have irrupted into New England and been commonly reported in the mid-Atlantic states. At least one even wandered as far south as Jacksonville, Fla. I have seen reports of seven Snowy Owls sighted in the Champlain Valley in one day, and eight on Plum Island near Newburyport, Mass. That's the months-old news alert. Even the general media has picked up on the unusually...
There's an assumption among Americans that the products we buy must be safe if they're on store shelves but, unfortunately, this isn't the case. From cleaners to shampoos to clothing to children's toys, we use chemicals each day that are harmful to our health. Toxic chemicals are harmful to everyone who is exposed, but children are more susceptible to their dangers. Over the course of a typical day, children are exposed to measurable levels of toxic chemicals, including Bisphenol A...
Vermont's landscape works for a living. Across its rolling hills, pasturelands, rivers, and forests spring livelihoods made possible by tourism, agriculture, industry, and forestry. And - in a state where the workers' unofficial motto is “Moonlight in Vermont, or starve” - one tract of land can support many jobs from many industries simultaneously. According to Guy Payne of the Sustainable Energy Outreach Network (SEON), speaking at a presentation his organization hosted Jan. 28 at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden,
Like most writers, I am a tiny bit obsessed with music. Which is, admittedly, wholly unrelated to the fact that I cover Wall Street and noticed this week that more than 10 million Americans remain out of work, at least according to the latest blizzard of stunningly disappointing data from the U.S. Department of Labor. In the past, our tired, poor, and huddled masses of unemployed could at least take some solace in not-happy-to-be-unemployed noises (think Irving Berlin's “Slumming on...
Strolling of the Heifers presents “Love Local,” a week of community valentine-making at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden, a project that kicks off at Gallery Walk on Feb. 7 from 5 to 8 p.m. According to Stroll intern Kristen Fledderjohn, who is organizing the event, participants can stop in, make valentines, “and share some love, particularly with local farms and farmers.” Fledderjohn said the aim is to develop the River Garden as a space “where the community can come...
Our friend Pete Seeger passed on to the other side, * * * but he did not die, that is not possible. * * * He is a force of nature, made from the strength of love. * * * He is a chorus of morning birds heralding the spring. * * * He is a force of life, championing peace and social justice. * * * He is a presence of love, with his songs and sing-alongs that made...
After nearly 20 years of service and dedication to Brattleboro Area Affordable Housing (BAAH), one of its founders has retired from the organization's volunteer board. Byron Stookey - described by his colleagues as “steadfast, tenacious, unyielding, determined, inspirational, resolute, and meticulous” - led BAAH from its infancy in 1995 to a tax-deductible nonprofit organization serving greater Brattleboro with a number of initiatives, including three current programs. • The Save Our Homes loan program makes no-interest loans to people facing housing...
Four years ago, a large-scale choral work with music and libretto by Paul Dedell, “Songs of Divine Chemistry,” had its world premiere as part of the gala celebrations for Blanche Moyse's 100th Birthday with two sold-out and highly acclaimed performances at the Latchis Theatre. Performed by the Brattleboro Concert Choir under the direction of his wife, Susan Dedell, “Songs of Divine Chemistry” was based upon texts of mystic poets alternating with scientific writings on neuroplasticity. On Feb. 16, the Centre...
Lindsey Soboleski returns to the Main Street Arts stage for its winter production of Gilbert and Sullivan's “The Pirates of Penzance,” this time in the lead role. Last time she was here, in MSA's 2004 production of the show, the then-13-year-old Rockingham native was cast as one of Major-General Stanley's daughters, a relatively minor role that introduced her to the grind of rehearsals, late nights, and backstage tensions. She had previously taken part in MSA's children's plays, but this was...
Growing up in Vermont, I never understood the myth of Groundhog Day. According to Bill Anderson, who wrote a book on the subject (and as quoted by the Punxsutawney [Penn.] Groundhog Club), the Feb. 2 tradition is “a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates.” Groundhog Day, as the tradition goes, is “the day that the...
The Brattleboro Senior Center at the Gibson-Aiken Center, 207 Main St., offers a busy schedule of activities for February: • A Wednesday writing group meets from 9:15 to 10:30 a.m. All are welcome to join this free, self-guided group. In addition to publishing an annual collection of their writings, members contribute to several local publications. Work includes poetry, memoir, song, and story. • The February birthday luncheon celebration is Thursday, Feb. 13, at 11:30 a.m. Stop by for appetizers, punch,
Two major local institutions are poised to expand. The Brattleboro Area Farmers' Market received approval from the Development Review Board (DRB) on Jan. 22 to turn the former Planet Gas Station on 570 Western Ave. into a parking area for the market. The New England School for Circus Arts (NECCA) also went before the DRB for a site plan review on Jan. 22 to construct a 130-by-85-foot building with an attached 1,296-square-foot two-story timber frame lobby for its new home...
The town has survived “Operation Bugout.” The Board of Selectmen, local and state emergency management personnel, school officials, shelter volunteers, and leaders from Halifax met Jan. 28 to hash out a “tabletop drill” of a catastrophic accident, and evidently they're still here to talk about it. The session, held at the Guilford Volunteer Fire Department, was a prerequisite for the Town of Guilford as a participant in a statewide emergency management drill scheduled for June. The exercise, dubbed “Operation Bugout,”
New sub shop on Putney Road Northside Subs & More has just opened on 896 Putney Road in Brattleboro, in the former D'Angelos spot next to One Stop Country Pet Supply. Run by Dorothy Pond, the restaurant will serve lunch and dinner, Monday through Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m. Sandwiches, soups, and salads will be the main fare on the menu. Blue Moose store on Flat Street Contrary to information provided to the Brattleboro Selectboard as part of the liquor...
On Jan. 14, Brian Staveley became a published author when his debut novel, The Emperor's Blades, was released by science fiction and fantasy publisher, Tor Books. Although this book is his first, Staveley's literary journey has already been a long and varied one, taking him from the study of poetry at Dartmouth and Boston University, through a 12-year career as a high-school English and history teacher and a year in Asia, to his present home on a dirt road outside...
It's true. Good cheese is expensive. At least at first glance. What many of us pay, per pound, for cheese, we'd never pay for a nice, well-marbled, grass-fed steak. I could go on about why cheese is generally more expensive than a nice steak. I could tell you all about the immense amount of labor that goes into turning grass into cheese. I could talk about capitalism's disregard for the small and handmade. But how would my doing so help...
A pickup truck travels slowly along a curving, snow-covered road. The truck's cargo, a stainless steel sap collection tank, juts across the tailgate. Ahead of the truck walks a sugarmaker carrying a coil of clear plastic tubing used to transport maple sap from three to tank. Sugarmakers are preparing for another Vermont sugaring season. It's the centuries-old practice that renders sweet, clear maple-tree sap into thick, amber maple syrup and keeps sugarmakers running. This year, Vermont - which leads the...
Two short rows of empty chairs faced the Brattleboro Union High School Board members and Windham Southeast Supervisory Union personnel as the board explained the budget for fiscal year 2015. The $27.8 million fiscal year 2015 District #6 budget increased just 0.96 percent over last year. Essentially, the budget is level serviced, explained Board Chair Bob “Woody” Woodworth. “I think we have a sound budget,” he said. The small increase came from “a good deal of combing through the budget,”
Local climate activists joined in a protest vigil on Feb. 3 calling on President Obama to reject the controversial Keystone XL pipeline following the release last week of the U.S. State Department's Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. The candlelight vigil at the Wells Fountain was organized by Post Oil Solutions as part of a national campaign led by CREDO, Rainforest Action Network, the Sierra Club, and 350.org, among others, calling on the president to keep his commitment to reduce carbon...
Under the banner of “Trustees You Can Trust,” four candidates are running together as a bloc to fill the four forthcoming vacancies on the Rockingham Free Public Library Board of Trustees in the March 4 town elections. The four candidates - Town Clerk Doreen Aldrich, physician Carol Blackwood, retired pastor David Gould, and attorney Ray Massucco - made their intentions known during a news conference on the library steps on Feb. 1. Gould is running unopposed for a two-year seat...
According to draft meeting minutes filed Jan. 27, Selectboard Chairwoman Edee Edwards reports that: • She received an e-mail from Todd Menees of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources river-management division noting that an extension of dates has been granted for the Old County North Bridge work. • There is no additional information from the Planning Commission regarding the VTel tower. • The school may need to have an Americans with Disabilities Act audit. Delivering the road commissioner's report, Highway...
Lauren Rose Herlocker speaks of how this year she is going to a small village in Rwanda to help a woman and her family build a house on the 20th anniversary of the genocide in that African nation. Herlocker and her husband, Daniel, whom she married in 2010, left the U.S. on Jan. 10 to travel overland from Ethiopia to Rwanda, arriving in Rugerero Village on or around April 18. The Herlockers both work as nurses at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.