When we two Vermonters walked into a co-working space in San Francisco, we gasped. In front of us was a large room with long tables at which people were sitting at laptops.
It was quiet. Some people were walking around. A tour showed us the phone booths, a conference room, the coffee gallery (of course, it was San Francisco), and upstairs space where companies were renting larger offices.
The space was specifically for “social entrepreneurs.” For us two, who at the time regularly camped out at the Blue Moose, it was a vision of what we lack here.
As a one-person business, I generally work at home. However, there are times when I think it would be really nice to go somewhere where I could work in the company of others. So I go to town, choosing which of the wireless cafes will put up with me nursing a cup of coffee. I'd go to the library, but I do like having a coffee.
“Voices Like Wind Chimes,” by Arlene F. Distler (Finishing Line Press, Georgetown, Ky., 2014) is a remarkable new chapbook contains 21 of Distler's finely limned poems. To read through from beginning to end is to travel the transforming milestones of a rich and fascinating life. This poet finds wisdom...
On some level, I'm attracted to the notion of the Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting ad hoc Futures Committee - maybe because I see less and less of my future. But the minutes of this new committee are troubling. The truth is, most people's attention span can hardly make it...
Area singers are invited to join the Brattleboro Concert Choir this September as BMC begins a special season celebrating 25 years under the direction of Susan Dedell. The year begins with Verdi's extravagant Requiem, scheduled to be performed with soloists and full orchestra at the Latchis Theater on Jan. 10 and 11, 2015. This work, perhaps more than any other choral composition, allows the chorus to explore the full range of vocal expression – from whispering sotto voce passages to...
There are many ways cheesemakers describe their cheeses, but “spoiled little brats” is one I had never heard in my 19 years of cheesemongery, at least until I sat down to talk with Nancy Bergman and Kyle Frey of Spoonwood Cabin Creamery in Jacksonville. (I actually spoke more with Frey, as Bergman was up to her elbows in curds.) Spoonwood Cabin Creamery makes about 10 different cheeses, depending on season and demand, using goats' and cows' milk. All are either...
The Brattleboro Music Center's fall semester begins the week of Sept. 8, and offers individual lessons, as well as classes for kids, teens, and adults; instrumentalists, singers, and non-musicians; absolute beginners and accomplished musicians. Individual and group instruction, for all ages, beginner to advanced, can be scheduled with one of the BMC's 40 accomplished faculty members in any of more than 20 instruments, including voice. Daytime programs for adults, such as the “Beginner Violin Class” and “Pulse, Pitch and Panache”
The League of Women Voters of Vermont strongly supports universal, state-supported health care for Vermont. There seems to be a misconception that because Vermont Connect is having technical difficulties, administering a single-payer system will somehow be worse. There's every reason in the world to believe the opposite is true. Under single payer, there will be: 1. No need to determine the best balance of deductibles versus premiums versus co-pays. 2. No need to submit personal financial data for a complicated...
Area residents will get their hands dirty building a communal sculpture at Brattleboro Clayworks' first “Bad Art Night,” Wednesday, Sept. 10, from 6 to 9. The unconventional class, perfect for clayworkers of all skill levels, focuses on nurturing creativity and play, its organizer says. Those who find the approach liberating may sign up for Finding & Exploring Form, a 10-week clay sculpting and hand-building class that meets Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. starting Oct. 15. The class will include...
Ray “The British Clockmaker” Bates maintains a delicate balance in his professional life. He honors the past, focuses on the present, and keeps an eye on the future. This rare combination of talents has made this Newfane resident one of the most sought-after clock restorers in the country. Bates honors the past by understanding the intentions of clockmakers working before the Industrial Revolution. Before he begins the restoration process he wants to understand what the original clockmaker had in mind.
Windham County voters, thank you so much for your continued faith in me as your senator and for giving me the right to have my name on the ballot for the general election on Nov. 4. I am honored and humbled by your support. I thank Becca Balint, Joan Bowman, and Roger Allbee for putting their names forward and engaging in a positive and civil campaign. It was well said by Ann, Roger's wife, when she said, “I am impressed...
Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains, serving New Hampshire and Vermont, invites girls and adult volunteers to join Girl Scouts, the country's preeminent leadership development organization for girls. As families plan their school-year free time, Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has released new data showing the organization's benefits to girls and volunteers. Results of a “pulse poll” conducted this summer with more than 3,500 volunteers and parents of Girl Scouts in kindergarten through fifth grade show positive...
BRATTLEBORO - The Town of Brattleboro is looking for citizens to serve on the following committees and boards: Agricultural Advisory Board; Arts Committee; BASIC (Brattleboro Area Skatepark is Coming; must be a Brattleboro resident); Development Review Board (alternate); Energy Committee; Fence Viewer (by statute, must be legal voter of the town); Honor Roll Committee; Inspector, Lumber, Shingles, and Wood; Nelson E. Withington Fund Advisory Committee; Planning Commission; Recreation and Parks Board; Regional Economic Hub Study Group; Senior Solutions Representative; SEVCA...
Democrats and Republicans operate by connecting wealthy people to previously chosen puppets as candidates rather than giving voters a real say in the choosing of candidates. For the average person, being a Democrat or Republican is like being a sports fan: you want to vote for the “winner” of the race, but you really have no impact on the game or the consequences of the election. Liberty Union is democracy in action: members set policies, and candidates respect those decisions.
When a cabaret cast closes a successful run of performances they find another theater and do it again. And that's what audiences can look forward to Sept. 12 and 13 at Town Hall. With permission from the Actors Theatre Playhouse of West Chesterfield, N.H., Southern Vermont Lyric Theatre (SVeLT) will present the cast of “Sittin' Around the Piano” for two performances. The cabaret, presented in August, was conceived as an evening of singers singing their favorite songs from Broadway and...
I disagree with many of the so-called facts in this article by Scott Dixon addressing skatepark siting. I have visited several skateparks over the past 10 years gathering facts and opinions. I have also consulted with sound engineers and police officers, and I have researched lawsuits involving skatepark noise. First of all, I know the Elm Street area well, having been raised nearby, and I have walked thereabouts for years. It is not out of everybody's earshot, as claimed. Police...
Police urge extra alertness on roads as students return BRATTLEBORO - The police department reminds motorists that the 2014-15 school year has begun, bringing with it increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic around the schools in the mornings and afternoons. Drivers are reminded to stay alert to school buses and to children boarding and exiting. The police say they are going to be a greater presence around school zones in town to enforce traffic laws and assure a safe commute for...
Sometime between freshman orientation and Thanksgiving break, a female undergraduate on a campus somewhere in the United States will be sexually assaulted by a peer. A panel will convene to deal with the situation and will inevitably handle things poorly. Just as rape predictably occurs in the fall on some college campuses, campus disciplinary panels are also predictably ill-prepared to properly adjudicate. Why is it that colleges can't respond to such a predictable problem? One explanation is that members of...
Brooks Memorial Library asks your input in a survey to learn how community members use the library's computers and Internet connection, and how this service has made a positive impact on their lives. This information, gathered through Sept. 21, will help the library improve its technology services and assess the value of providing free access to computers and the Internet here. The survey, coordinated by the University of Washington Information School, is anonymous and is available in English and Spanish.
When the Brooks House opened in June 1872 it was lauded one of the grandest hotels of its day. In short order it earned its reputation from New York to Boston as a premier resort destination. Max L. Powell purchased the Brooks House in 1928, and manager Arthur B. Dickey oversaw a complete update and renovation of the property, including the latest electrical technology - and a telephone in each guest room. Now known as The Brooks Hotel, the property...
Students entering Green Street Elementary School on their first day of classes Aug. 28 were greeted by a new face: that of Principal Mark Speno, who says he wants “to see great things happen” there. For Speno, Green Street marks a homecoming. He grew up in Brattleboro, started his teaching career at Green Street, and taught there for nine years. “It's a special place for me,” said Speno. Speno took over from outgoing Principal John Reed, who stepped down at...
In many ways, American society is very harsh. We embrace competition and predatory business behavior while showing little sympathy for those who get cleaned out by the predators. Someone who is unlucky in business, or helpless against the invisible tides of addiction, is allowed to live homeless and to go to waste or worse. Take what happened the other day when the cops in St. Petersburg, Fla., sliced up the tents in a homeless encampment with box cutters. We avoid...
Voters are warned to meet at Evening Star Grange on Wednesday, Sept. 3, at 7:30 p.m. to decide whether Dummerston should grant tax-exempt status to the West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department. According to the text of this special town meeting's warning, posted at www.dummerston.org, the proposal is for five years pursuant to the provisions of Title 32, section 3840. Arrive by 6 to catch the Selectboard at its Sept. 3 meeting, also at the Grange. The Selectboard put in approximately...
The Westminster West Community Fair returns for its 25th anniversary on Saturday, Sept. 6, just off Westminster West Road next to the Congregational Church. The theme of this year's fair is “Peacemakers Local and Global.” Admission is free. Activities abound for children and adults. Festivities begin at 8:30 a.m. between the church and Town Hall, when registration begins for the 5K race, which begins at 9. Coffee, drinks, doughnuts, and cookies are available in the church. The town library's book...
I am not sure who to talk to or how to go about this idea, but I would really like to work on a “no more” campaign in our area. I was touched personally by the recent death of 20-year-old Katelyn McFadden in Townshend. I have been in this situation, and I know we as a community have to be more proactive in the way we teach our kids. I have been mulling over how to deal with the death...
Back in the 1920s, things looked hopeful for women in Afghanistan. King Amanullah Khan and his wife, Queen Soraya, worked diligently to improve women's lives. The king discouraged polygamy, advocated against the veil, and pushed for greater personal freedom for females. “Tribal custom must not impose itself on the free will of the individual,” he said. His sister, Kobra, created the Organization for Women's Protection, while another sister established a women's hospital. Queen Soroya even founded the first magazine for...
Our son, Lucas, turns 21 on Sept. 21. For those of you who made it through fourth grade, this means he will experience his “golden birthday”- when you are the same age as your birth date. According to fourth-grade philosophy, the golden birthday is supposed to be one of the best years of your life. I mean, duh. One doesn't need an elementary-school diploma to grasp that kind of logic. While discussing the implications of finally reaching our nation's legal...
The typical school lunch can be everything from uninspiring to unhealthy, but it doesn't have to be. If you take some time once a month or so, you can throw some hearty, healthy hand pies into the mix. The best part is that all you have to do is remove them from the freezer and send them to school. You can make them small for younger children, or large (calzone size) for older kids or adults. For these pies, I...
Anyone looking forward to local peaches will likely wait until next year: Area orchards report an almost total peach crop failure this fall. Zeke Goodband, fruit-tree orchardist and orchard manager at Dummerston's Scott Farm, says the “bitterly cold winter” of 2013-14 is to blame. Temperatures typically begin creeping upward in late winter, when inside seemingly dormant trees, delicate buds form, awaiting the chance to blossom into fragrant flowers, then delicious fruit. This year, however, southeastern Vermont experienced extreme cold during...
Zon Eastes, former conductor of the Windham Orchestra, turned 60 this summer. And, like many reaching this milestone, he decided to throw a party. The rarity here is that this party is also a concert. “I am fulfilling a promise I made to my parents some years back to conduct a special concert of music I love,” says Eastes, “with an orchestra made up of friends I have known and loved over the years.” The Brattleboro Music Center's 2014-15 concert...
For the past month, San Francisco based choreographer Alex Ketley and dancer Sarah Woods have been engaged in a four-week research and development residency at Vermont Performance Lab (VPL), getting to know what social dance and concert dance means to Vermonters. “Although I have often performed works in California, New York and Europe, my entire dance career has been for people who live in cities,” Ketley says. “I wanted to find out what dance, in particular, contemporary dance, might mean...
Vermont State Police are appealing to the public for information regarding a fire that was set late Monday night inside Dummerston Congregational Church in Dummerston Center. According to state police, no one was in the church at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. Damage to the historic building, famed throughout New England as the headquarters of the annual Dummerston Apple Pie Festival, was estimated at about $25,000. Dummerston Fire Department personnel responded to the fire at...
Students at the School for International Training are campaigning to have SIT divest itself from fossil fuels. The students are talking with administrators and board of the school's parent nonprofit, World Learning, to get the institution to divest the portion of its $48.5 million endowment that is invested in fossil fuel companies. World Learning is a nonprofit corporation that includes the SIT Graduate Institute, SIT Study Abroad, and the Experiment in International Living in Brattleboro, as well as the International...
A late-night conversation about liposuction inspired Liz LaVorgna and Shanta L.E. to launch a project called Perfect Imperfection. To these local artists and friends, Perfect Imperfection is artistic activism challenging an impossible quest for perfection in a perfection-obsessed culture. L.E. said it's hard to believe that people, in their quest for perfection, would undertake surgery that leaves holes in their bodies. Yet everyone strives to hide the imperfections that they believe are unacceptable. “How odd is it,” said L.E.: “The...
Potholes, U-turns, and roadblocks have littered the road to finding a location for a town skateboard park. But the road may have finally reached the destination on Tuesday night, as the Selectboard unanimously approved a site in the lower northeastern corner of Living Memorial Park. The board also approved asking Representative Town Meeting for $20,000 toward the project. Jeffrey Clark, chair of the Brattleboro Area Skatepark is Coming (BASIC) committee, said the Theresa Brungardt Senior Area was the committee's top...
Brattleboro School of Dance classes for the 2014-15 season begin Monday, Sept. 8. Register at school's website or visit the studio at 22 High St. the weekend of Sept. 5-7. An open house is set for Friday, Sept. 5, from 5 to 8 p.m., at which dancers and their families can tour the studio and meet the faculty. Pizza and beverages will be available while they last. Registration continues on Saturday, Sept. 6, from 1 to 6 p.m., and Sunday,
The primary is over, but the general election period runs until Nov. 4. Political campaign signs will still dot the roadways until then. As one of those running, I am, however, so popular that seven of mine have now been stolen. Contact me on Facebook at Deborah Wright for State Rep-Windham 3, or come to one of the upcoming meet-n-greets at Shona's Grill or Donovan's Pub in early September for an autograph. In any case, please consider returning them. Not...
Capt. Michael Fitzgerald is Brattleboro's new chief of police. The Selectboard announced Fitzgerald's promotion during its board meeting on Sept. 2. According to Selectboard Chair David Gartenstein, the board, a citizens committee, a town employee committee, and a committee of police officers recommended Fitzgerald to chief after an extensive two-month search. Fitzgerald took over as interim chief after Chief Eugene Wrinn retired in June. Gartenstein said that Fitzgerald stood out from a field of five top candidates. Fitzgerald possesses the...
Art meets therapy in an exhibition of SoulCollage cards created by 11 local women who have worked with New Hampshire facilitator Maggie Cahoon, which is hanging at Sojourns Community Health Clinic, 4923 U.S. 5, through Sept. 19. “Using found images, scissors, mat board, and glue, your intuition guides the creation of a unique set of collaged cards that express important aspects of your Self and Soul,” writes Nancy Clingan. “This process invites you to give visual and poetic expression to...
It's been a long time since Bellows Falls beat Brattleboro in football. BF coach Bob Lockerby certainly can't remember, and that's taking into account his years as a player and as an assistant coach to his predecessor Bis Bisbee. Suffice to say that the Terriers are very, very happy with their 25-7 win over the Colonels in the season opener for both teams at Hadley Field last Saturday. The Terriers, who lost in the Division II semifinals to Rice last...