Last month at the Riverside Industrial Center in Brattleboro, a group of Vermont Yankee employees and volunteers from Baptist Haiti Mission finished loading used office furniture into a Sea Land container for shipment to Haiti.
Entergy Vermont Yankee has been donating items deemed surplus, given the impending shutdown of the plant at the end of this year, to local nonprofit organizations, schools, and volunteer fire departments.
However, some items needed too much tender loving care to be of local value.
Doug Bruce, a Vermont Yankee employee who volunteers with Baptist Haiti Mission, suggested that even heavily used office furniture can make a significant and positive impact in Haiti.
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital hosted a special art reception on July 31 to showcase more than two dozen pieces of original Vermont artwork, thanks to a generous donation by the Susan Sebastian Foundation of Williston. The Foundation was established in April 2009 by Elise Braun of Waterbury, following the death...
The Festival of Mandolin Chamber Music III is a workshop and concert dedicated to the classical mandolin and chamber music composed for the mandolin ensemble format. A public concert on Sunday, Aug. 10, at 3 p.m., presents works for mandolin and guitar. Mandolinists are invited to register for the...
Local author Crescent Dragonwagon is the featured guest at the Dover Free Library's upcoming annual fundraising event and dessert social on Aug. 7 at the Dover Town Hall. The author of more than 50 published books, Dragonwagon's oeuvre spans five genres: novels, cookbook/memoirs, poetry, and children's literature. For one of her children's books, “Half A Moon And One Whole Star,” she received the Coretta Scott King award. Dragonwagon's “Passionate Vegetarian” earned her a James Beard award, and she counts the...
It seems that elections come earlier and earlier in Vermont. This year, we will have a primary on Aug. 26. The primary is a party function, allowing the major parties - in Vermont, that means Republican, Democrat, Progressive, and Liberty Union - to determine their respective candidates. Voters do not register for a particular party, so the primary is open. When voting, you will be given four ballots, you will use one, and then you will discard the other three.
The evening cocktail party and silent auction known as “The Red Barn Affair” two years ago was the talk of the town for weeks afterward. Organizers say this year's reprise of the party - and auction of original art by New England artists - promises to be as well-attended and exciting. Come to the Red Barn 10 x 10 Art Auction on Saturday, Aug. 9, rain or shine, at a lovely, big tent at Wardsboro Library, 170 Main St. All...
Obituaries • Donna J. Beers, 64, of Windham. Died July 29 at her home following a courageous battle with cancer. Wife of Donald Beers for nearly 47 years. Mother of Lee A. Beers of Walpole, N.H. and Sandy Beers Ferreira of Londonderry. Born in Townshend, she grew up in Windham, and went to Leland & Gray High School in Townshend. She worked at a few different places during her career - most recently at the Weston Village Country Store. She...
Morningside Shelter has landed a $10,000 grant from the Entergy Charitable Foundation in support of its Housing Support Case Management services, funds which will benefit more than 40 local households this year. According to the most recent U.S. Census data, of Windham County's roughly 44,000 residents, 10.7 percent - some 4,800 people - live in poverty. Many work in low-paying jobs and lack the resources to weather unexpected or unplanned expenses that can lead to homelessness. In announcing the grant,
Have breakfast with a deputy in Putney PUTNEY - On Thursday, Aug, 7, from 9 to 11 a.m., Windham County Sheriff's Department Corporal Melissa Martin will be making her famous sausage gravy and biscuits at the Putney General Store. During this time, Martin will be available to engage with residents to hear any questions or comments they may have about the concerns they see facing Putney. Thirty percent of proceeds from the sale of coffee and plates of sausage gravy...
The Leland & Gray Players' Summer Performing Arts Exploration 2014 (SPAE) presents a culminating performance of “The Phantom Tollbooth” on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 8 and 9, in L&G's Dutton Gymnasium. Now in its seventh summer, SPAE offers workshops in music, design, dance, lighting, sound, and puppetry. The program is directed by L&G alumni Karlie Kauffeld, Abby Wicker, and Emily Fuller. Managed by L&G Players' Director Ann Landenberger, SPAE's staff include alumni Patrick Hauer and Nicole Winot, and L&G students...
Glaringly absent from The Commons' thorough coverage of the Democratic race for state Senator is any mention from the candidates of the current global warming crisis. Appalled but not surprised, I find Democrats - and Republicans - living in denial of the unprecedented threat we humans now face. What's wrong with this picture? Our very survival is at stake, and people go along with the status quo, life as usual. Life is not usual! We need to seriously address our...
Twilight Music continues its 12th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues, and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, Aug. 10, with newgrass and contemporary folk trio, The Stockwell Brothers. The seven-concert series continues every other Sunday through Aug. 24. Concerts begin at 6 p.m. on the Putney Tavern lawn (bring a lawn chair or blanket). In the event of rain the venue moves to Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill. Featuring...
Brattleboro Time Trade, which helps facilitate the exchange of goods and services for the benefit of the community, announces it has earned vital status as an independent, nonprofit charitable organization. Organizers say the group's IRS 501(c)(3) status marks a huge step toward achieving long-term financial stability. Brattleboro Time Trade is now eligible for many more grants, stipends, and low-cost office materials, such as a more efficient bookkeeping program. Moreover, it no longer needs to pay sales tax, and donations to...
The Bellows Falls Historical Society (BFHS) recently announced that another stage of the Riverfront Park is completed. As part of a previous grant acquisition, BFHS started work on building a deck and bird watching overview at Cold Pond. The area is still under construction. The overview will be dedicated to Alice Hawkes, one of BFHS's founders. The dedication will take place in the fall, as soon as the research is completed and her family is notified. That's also when the...
Community radio station WOOL hosts its sixth annual block party on Saturday, Aug. 9, at the Waypoint Center. The five-hour fiesta showcases the sounds and moves of Rebecca Holtz and The Once Hollow, Sool, The Meteor Shades, Mike Schlenoff, and Riddim Vigil. WOOL has much to celebrate this year: In April, the all-volunteer organization landed the most powerful signal ever controlled by an independent, non-commercial, publicly owned group in New Hampshire or Vermont. Formerly a low-power FM broadcaster, the station...
Vendor applications are now welcome for the ninth season of the Winter Farmers' Market, again to be held at the River Garden in the heart of Brattleboro. Space for new vendors is limited. Applications are due by Sept. 1. The Winter Market opens Nov. 1 for the 2014-15 season and will be open Saturdays through March 28, 2015, for 22 markets. Regular market hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with hours extended to 3 p.m. for holiday shopping on...
I am writing as a concerned shareholder in response to the letters by two members of the Brattleboro Food Co-op Board of Directors who have been forced to resign [Letters, July 23]. The Brattleboro Food Co-op is a nonprofit organization with a mission of service to the community in exchange for a tax-free status. The rules for nonprofit behavior are vague enough at times to allow actions and behaviors by the boards of directors that are questionable when viewed in...
With three concerts offered on the penultimate weekend of concerts at Marlboro Music, 37 of the 75 resident artists – some of the world's most established artists and most exceptional young professionals - will be heard in works by Bartok, Beethoven, Dvorak, Haydn, Schubert, Strauss and Tchaikovsky. The performances of works, many of which are core chamber music repertoire, chosen by the musicians themselves, are likely to yield new discoveries for the audiences as well as the players since they...
I have not so far heard any of our congressional delegation - Senators Leahy and Sanders, and Rep. Welch - publicly condemn Israel for its war crimes in the ongoing assault on the Palestinian Arabs living both in the West Bank and Gaza. As they must know, Israelis have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, 90 percent of whom were civilians (including hundreds of children), while experiencing fewer than 60 casualties themselves. These hostilities were commenced on the pretext of the...
The Vermont Department of Health is reminding anyone who lives or works in the six towns within the emergency planning zone around Entergy Vermont Yankee that it is time to request new potassium iodide tablets to replace the ones that will expire soon. The current adult doses (130 mg) of potassium iodide had an original expiration date of February 2014. Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a six-month shelf life extension for these doses, which...
Four hundred and thirty Vermont high school students attended the Governor's Institutes of Vermont (GIV) this summer. GIV hosts intensive, hands-on learning experiences for young people on college campuses throughout Vermont. Nine Institutes were held this summer in the following topics: Arts, Asian Cultures, Current Issues & Youth Activism, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Science & Technology, Farms, Food & Your Future, Information Technology & Digital Media, and Mathematical Sciences. The following area students were selected to attend the Institutes: • Bellows...
While the four-way race for the Democratic Primary for state senate is getting all the attention, there is one other contested primary on the Aug. 26 ballot in Windham County. The Democrats have a three-way race for Windham County assistant judge as incumbents Patty Duff of Brattleboro, who was elected to her second four-year term in 2010, and Lamont Barnett of Rockingham, who has served since being appointed in 2012, face a challenge from newcomer Paul “PK” Kane. Alice Landsman...
Contracts with unions representing approximately 1,700 of FairPoint Communication's 2,550 northern New England employees expired at midnight on Aug. 2 after negotiators last week failed to achieve an agreement on a new labor contract. Workers from the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represent about 450 workers in Vermont, voted last month to authorize a strike, but union leaders have not given the go-ahead for a work stoppage. For now, both FairPoint and the...
One could argue endlessly about settlements versus tunnels, missiles versus rockets, the number killed in Gaza versus the number killed in Israel. But all that overlooks what seems to me a basic fact: that Israel has overwhelming power. It's assured militarily by insuperable odds and politically by its U.S. patron, scared to speak truth to Israel and its lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Israel, in addition, has huge advantages technologically, financially, educationally. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it holds...
Tom Schiedler shows that one is never too old to learn about and appreciate a new art form. Thank you for making me look in a different way.
A recent spate of break-ins and vandalism to Main Street businesses has left some merchants asking what's behind it all - and how they can be part of the solution. “The great majority of our non-violent crimes - and even our violent ones - in Brattleboro are tied to drugs,” Acting Police Chief Michael Fitzgerald told roughly a dozen downtown merchants at their first-Tuesday Building a Better Brattleboro (BaBB) meeting at the River Garden. The conversation touched on shoplifting, advice...
As is typical of many articles I have read, Randolph T. Holhut, you fail to truly state the significance of the arms that Hamas has unleashed on Israel and instead focused on Israel's might as if Israel should in fact apologize for building a strong military, training its young, and being able to finally protect its Jewish citizens after so many years in which Jews were unable to do so. You fail to mention the charter of Hamas, which was,
Buying in bulk is a smart way to stretch the family dollar. In that spirit, a national program called Solarize brings together neighbors interested in installing residential solar power projects. The idea goes that the more who buy in, the less the system costs everyone to install and use. According to Tad Montgomery, principal of Home Energy Advocates, the price of solar panels has come down considerably in recent years. Soft costs such as permits and installation, however, constitute more...
Many a young woman, when she meets the right man, dreams of creating the perfect wedding day. Such was the case for my youngest daughter after her boyfriend proposed in a wonderful and romantic way over a year ago. My daughter lives in Tennessee now, but she was raised in Hinsdale, and she wanted a New England wedding. She found a beautiful church, the reception venue, and, of course, the perfect dress. However, during one of her visits to the...
“I just like playing my songs, which are written to tell stories, no matter if it be the Christian or secular music I play,” Will McFarlane says. Former lead guitarist for Bonnie Raitt, McFarlane also was a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, also known as The Swampers. This acclaimed group of session musicians crafted the “Muscle Shoals sound,” with such hits as Aretha Franklin's “Respect” and Bob Seger's “Night Moves.” Although he wasn't with The Swampers from its...
A summer sun shone through the fan-shaped stained glass windows of the Brattleboro Retreat chapel. Across from the stage area used for plays and gatherings in the hospital's mid-century years, men's voices rose in song. The voices, piped through thoroughly modern speakers, belonged to members of the Boston Gay Men's Chorus. In a rare excursion beyond their performance area of Massachusetts, the 175-member chorus, led by Musical Director Ruben M. Reynolds III, will perform at the Latchis Theatre in November.
On Monday morning, a pair of moving vans waited patiently in the Harmony Lot. Inside the vans was the first load of furniture and files bound for the new Community College of Vermont/Vermont Technical College academic center at 41 Harmony Place, at the rear of the Brooks House. Both institutions are moving in this week - CCV from its Landmark Hill site off Putney Road, and Vermont Tech's Thompson School of Nursing from the Vermont Agriculture Business Education Center on...
Windham-4 state Reps. David Deen, D-Westminster, and Mike Mrowicki, D-Putney, are running unopposed for re-election. Deen and Mrowicki represent the towns of Westminster, Putney, and Dummerston in the House. Both incumbents say they are proud of the work done in the past session to protect children from chemicals that could harm them, to push ahead on health care reform, to support a renewable green energy future, and to keep Vermont's economy moving forward. Deen, a fishing guide when he's not...
In case anyone doubted Vermont's talents for making high-quality cheese, recent events ought to convince them. For the second year in a row, a cheesemaker from the state won the best in show ribbon at the annual American Cheese Society (ACS) conference and competition. The winning cheese was Tarentaise Reserve, made in Reading by Farms For City Kids Foundation's Spring Brook Farm. The cheese beat 1,684 others from 247 other North American producers. Vermont's winning streak continues. Last year, Jasper...
On a recent trip to the Brattleboro Area Farmers' Market, I picked up some beets and carrots from Rebecca at Old Athens Farm. I have been buying vegetables from her for years now - her organic produce is always big, beautiful, and tasty. It's also definitely more expensive than what you find in most grocery stores, so I wanted to find a way to make a little bit of it go a long way and make it the star of...
In August, produce overwhelms the senses. We are kids in a candy shop, only we're filling our bellies with berries, laughing at baseball-bat zucchinis, and getting high whiffing heirloom tomatoes. Right around the first of the month, summer changes. You can feel that shift if you persistently observe. August is a dichotomy: lazy summer days and impending fall semesters. People are torn between enjoying the moment and planning their future, wearing summer clothes while shopping for back-to-school wardrobes. Our inner...
“The repose exceeds the slope of the bank,” said Adam Hubbard, a landscape architect with Stevens & Associates, pointing to the back tree-lined bank of the Crowell Lot, which borders Union Hill. Selectboard chair David Gartenstein looked quizzically at Planning Director Roderick Francis. “Is that English?” Gartenstein asked. Francis answered, “It means it won't fall down.” The Brattleboro Selectboard, with citizens in tow, visited the top five potential locations for a town skateboard park recommended by the Skate Park Site...
If the employees of Market Basket have their way, at least one nice guy will finish first. The story of how folks who work for the New England supermarket chain and its customers fought to reinstate their beloved CEO and keep the company's mission intact makes for a modern day Joan of Arc story coupled with Take Back the Night and Occupy Wall Street tactics. It's also a model of citizen action and a cautionary tale about what can happen...