On Nov. 7, the Brattleboro VA Outpatient Clinic held a Veterans Day Appreciation at which more than 40 area veterans participated.
We thank our contributors for their generous donations. Also, a special thank you to the entire outpatient clinic staff for their contributions and efforts to celebrate with our veterans this year.
...A great big thank you to all the folks who made the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust fundraising event a huge success! Thank you, Mavis Staples, for coming to southern Vermont. Partnering with all our business supporters, all our playbill advertisers, our tireless volunteers, and more than 500 people...
I read Susie Crowther's column with great interest. In particular, the effects of probiotics on our body, especially during seasonal affective disorder, was informative. Introducing kimchi as an antidote to stress was rather catchy, but I find it unreliable. If Susie's assertion is correct, the Koreans should feel no...
With a full and grateful heart to all the voters who supported my candidacy for assistant judge in Windham County, I express my thanks for their willingness to think outside the box and consider new possibilities for the future. I also want to encourage everyone - regardless of voting loyalties - in the needed immediate response to the current climate crisis. If we do not reduce our polluting of the atmosphere by 80 percent in the next 35 years, nothing...
Ron Krupp, a former Saxtons River farmer, recently published his latest book, “The Woodchuck Returns to Gardening,” the “sister-companion” to his 2005 title, “The Woodchuck's Guide to Gardening.” The latter book, now in its ninth printing with more than 18,000 copies sold, received the Christian Science Monitor Garden Book of the Year Award for New England. According to Krupp, we've lost our rural character, even here in Vermont, which many consider among the nation's more agricultural states. He's directed much...
The record-low election turnout in Vermont's 2014 general election should be a huge wake-up call to Governor Peter Shumlin and other Vermont political leaders. The fact that the majority of people stayed home is a referendum against the status quo. It shows that people have lost faith in the political process and its relevance to their lives. More than 60,000 Democratic voters who voted in 2010 did not participate in 2014. In 2010, anyone affected by the health-care crisis had...
Shortly before the Rockingham Free Public Library Trustees sat down for their October monthly meeting, they were presented with an 11-count complaint from a former library trustee. The letter from Deborah Wright alleges that the current board has continued violating state open-meeting and public-records laws and library board best practices. “This board and or some of its members are in serious need of state training on [open-meeting law],” Wright told The Commons last week via email. Senior Assistant Attorney General...
Worn Again Thrift Shop holds $3 Bag Sale SAXTONS RIVER - The Worn Again Thrift Shop on Main Street in Saxtons River is having a $3 Bag Sale, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Wednesday Nov. 19, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Friday, Nov. 21, and and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22. The Bag Sale will be for all clothing including sweaters, blouses, skirts, men's pants, jackets, coats and footwear, hats, underwear and gloves.
Through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) will again provide free tax preparation for lower-income taxpayers in the 2015 tax season. In order to help as many families as possible claim available tax credits, SEVCA is recruiting volunteers to staff the program. Local families and individuals will benefit from increased cash, and the local economy will benefit from their increased spending power. Not only can eligible taxpayers get a larger tax refund through the...
Company of Muses announces that tickets for the 2014 Brattleboro School of Dance production of “The Nutcracker” are on sale. Show times for this year's run of the holiday classic are 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 19-20, and matinees at 1 and 5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 21. All performances are at the New England Youth Theatre, 100 Flat St. For tickets, visit www.BrattleboroSchoolofDance.com or visit the studio, 22 High St., on Saturdays between 11 a.m. and 3...
Births • In Brattleboro (Memorial Hospital), Oct. 30, 2014, a daughter, Elizabeth Theresa Taylor, to Susan (Chubbuck) and George L. Taylor Jr. of Winchester, N.H.; grandaughter to the late Ralph and Carol Chubbuck, Marguritte LaCasse, George Taylor Sr., and Theresa Taylor. College news • Patrick Hauer of Newfane will have a principal role in the production of “Urinetown,” beginning Nov. 19-23, at Dean College in Franklin, Mass. Hauer is part of Dean College's Theatre Department. Transitions • Gina Pattison has...
Yagna Inn, a newly opened space at 61 Williams Rd. for the promotion of cross-cultural understanding, spotlights the true meaning of thanksgiving in indigenous cultures through stories performed by Michael Caduto, an award-winning author, master storyteller, ecologist, and educator. The name Yagna comes from the ancient Indian ritual of nature worship. During a yagna, offerings are poured into a sacred fire accompanied by chants. According to Yagna Inn's website, www.yagna.us, “yagna” is derived from a Sanskrit verb meaning worship, unity,
The Friends of Brooks Memorial Library will hold a raffle for a locally designed and built Colonial pine bookcase. Tickets for the raffle will be available at Brooks Memorial Library through Saturday, Dec. 13. Donated to the Friends by local craftsman Paul Rodrigue, this bookcase is handmade of pine cut from nearby Alstead, N.H. The bookcase is 44 inches tall and 24 inches wide. The traditional dovetail joints are all hand-cut. The warm, honey pine finish is the result of...
The Bellows Falls Downtown Development Alliance (BFDDA) will participate in the fifth annual Small Business Saturday on Nov. 29 to support independent businesses in Bellows Falls. Founded by American Express in 2010, Small Business Saturday is a day to celebrate the small businesses that help support your neighborhood. It is held every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to encourage shoppers, businesses, and public officials to come together to shop locally and show their neighborhood pride. Nov. 29 also marks...
When Tropical Storm Irene came through in 2011, my wife and I were snug in our West Brattleboro home and never even lost electrical power. Less than half a mile down the hill, however, the Whetstone Brook was flowing over the bridge at the bottom of Meadowbrook Road, already having irreparably damaged many mobile homes and severely impacted a number of important local businesses. I replay this scene three years later because it is a useful metaphor for being blind...
A lot of people post-election think that the old saying “You're so sharp you'll cut yourself” applies to Peter Shumlin. The governor has withheld his single-payer health-care plan until 2015, the reasoning goes, to avoid taking a political risk; doubting his resolve, the left stayed home or cast a protest vote. I don't know the true reason for Shumlin's actions. He says the plan isn't ready yet and that the Vermont Health Connect experience has taught him not to bring...
An early morning house fire on Nov. 13 took the life of a Halifax man. According to Vermont State Police, the Halifax Fire Department responded at 1:31 a.m. to a house fire on 2978 Reed Hill Rd. The home was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, and a second alarm was sounded. The fire was put out by about 3:30 a.m., as Halifax firefighters were assisted by crews from Whitingham and Colrain, Mass. State police said the body of Ray...
Early on the morning of Oct. 23, the Vermont Jazz Center was the target of a theft. Thieves broke into the VJC's performance space at approximately 4 a.m. and stole more than $8,000 worth of mostly new musical equipment within 20 minutes. With its recent upgrade, the center had achieved a new level of detail that allowed it to deliver exceptional sound throughout ots newly expanded space. The losses were yet to be insured. According to VJC Executive Director Eugene...
Share in the holiday spirit with family, friends, and artists at the 16th annual Cotton Mill Open Studio and Holiday Sale, Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 6 and 7. Everyone is invited to experience the hospitality of 24 resident artists, musicians, bakers, cooks, dancers, circus performers, and craftspeople of the Cotton Mill, and an additional 32 juried, local participating artists and artisans. This spirited, sensory extravaganza is sure to provide something for everyone. Experience a variety of tasty culinary delights, exhilarating...
This is great news ! Vermont at one time had looked into diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains, but then Colorado Rail went under. Now, at least two DMU trains meet Federal Railroad Administration regulations and could be used along this route for fast, lower-cost service. Has anyone looked into this? So now what happens to UMass-Amherst campus train service? Again, here is where a UMass DMU train could run between the campus and Springfield, Mass., say, to match up with...
Thanks to the voters of the Windham-4 district of Westminster, Putney, and Dummerston for re-electing us to work for you in the Vermont House of Representatives. With the election behind us, we are already preparing for the tough work ahead in another tough budget year. Creating a sustainable economy, implementing universal single-payer health care, maintaining student achievement at a cost we can afford, protecting our environment, and providing for the disabled, elderly, and young children are on most folks' list...
When Giuseppe Verdi wrote his “Requiem” in 1874, little did he know it would become one of the most beloved and frequently performed works of all time. And how could he have imagined the subversive power it would provide, some 70 years later, against the inhumanity of a Nazi concentration camp? The Brattleboro Concert Choir presents “Defiant Requiem,” an award-winning documentary of the power of music to provide solace and give strength while revealing depths of power and pain, on...
Grace Cottage Hospital and Green Lantern Group have entered into an agreement to collaborate on a 500 kilowatt community solar array. The electricity generated by this array, located in Pittsford, a town just north of Rutland, will serve the main Grace Cottage Hospital buildings and Pittsford's municipal buildings. The project will generate significant savings for Grace Cottage Hospital over the 20-year term of the agreement. Green Lantern Group has secured a Certificate of Public Good for the project and anticipates...
Citizens wanting to weigh in on Entergy's decommissioning plans for Vermont Yankee nuclear plant have less than a week to get their comments to the Department of Public Service (DPS). The public comment period ends Nov. 25. Few opportunities exist for the public to give direct feedback on two critical reports that will set the foundation of VY's decommissioning process call SAFSTOR. Federal regulations allow up to 60 years for decommissioning under SAFSTOR. VY's owner, Entergy, has submitted draft versions...
Despite the recent closing of the Austine School, Austine's yearly Thanksgiving community feast will be continued by the Brattleboro Deaf Club. For many years, the Austine School had graciously offered a traditional Thanksgiving meal to the local community. This presented a precious opportunity for parents, deaf students, business leaders, and the general public to schmooze and intermingle while fostering a warm community relationship. Developing this community relationship is key to this cherished event, which is why the Brattleboro Deaf Club...
A creative economy is bubbling up in southern Vermont. With the reopening of the stately Brooks House in downtown Brattleboro, followed by the opening of two new high-end art galleries and a restaurant or two, the inauguration of a serious new publishing house, a flush of grant money, a building boom rising on a tide of capital campaigns and many other indicators, the creative economy that many have talked about and worked toward may finally be here. For years, Brattleboro...
The 19th annual fall concerts of the Brattleboro Women's Chorus - “Give Me Wings,” songs of travel - will be performed the weekend before Thanksgiving. The multigenerational chorus of 80 women under the direction of founder Becky Graber is accompanied on guitar by guest musician Peter Siegel, known to local and national audiences as a singer-songwriter, composer-player of traditional fiddle tunes, and most recently a member of the world-beat Celtic band The Gaslight Tinkers. The idea of travel in the...
A new chill is in the air. The powerful producers of the plays of history have opened a sequel to their old cold war hit, and many of the cultural props that supported the first run are coming back into style. There's a retro look to the political landscape, the feel of the Dulles days. Rebellion, utopias, and tender-mindedness are out; conformity, realism, and hard-heartedness are in. Liberals - who always manage to mediate the terms of discourse - are...
Carolyn Frisa serves as the vice-chair of the Board of Trustees of the Rockingham Free Public Library. She has served on the board three years, including the contentious months leading up to the firing of Library Director Célina Houlné in 2013. But a new twist has taken place in the life of the busy civic volunteer and entrepreneur. “I stopped using email,” Frisa said. Frisa said that in the wake of months of blanket public- document requests to the board,
The gap in the Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association's trail system from Putney Mountain to Grafton is closed. Members recently observed the feat with a celebration that culminated a 20-year effort to acquire the necessary lands and easements to make the long through hiking trail possible for the public. In her opening remarks, Susan Roman, chair of the Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association (WHPA), thanked the volunteers, trail crews, and donors who made the new links and trail system a reality. She...
It used to be that the annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day marked the end of the road racing season in Brattleboro. The Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce would like to change that. On Saturday, Dec. 13, at 9:30 a.m., the Chamber will present the inaugural edition of the Jingle Bell Jog, a 5-kilometer fun run for all ages. The race will start behind the Brooks House in the Harmony Lot and run out of town along Whetstone Brook before...
The First Congregational Church would like to improve the accessibility of its historic building on Western Avenue. To that end, the church's 56th annual Holiday Bazaar on Nov. 29, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., will focus on raising money to purchase a stairlift to allow better access to the basement, where events such as the spring Maple Sugar Suppers are held - and to the restrooms. The church, established in 1769, has approximately 100 members. It's an aging congregation,
“Every once in a while you have to take risks,” says Mara Williams, chief curator of the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC). Williams is speaking about “Portraits, Expanded,” the new show on display at BMAC through early January, 2015. This multi-gallery exhibit features work by artists who extend the traditional concept of portraiture to include language, voice, time, history, community, and culture. Using an innovative range and variety of media and techniques, the artists in this exhibit show us...
Join the Vermont Center for Photography (VCP), 49 Flat St., on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 6 p.m. for a gathering with their five current exhibiting artists - Suzanne Flynt, Evie Lovett, Joan O'Beirne, Chris Triebert, and Lynne Weinstein. Each of these five prominent local photographers will discuss a bit about their works and field questions from the public. The event is free and open to all. Their exhibit, “FIVE,” will be at VCP through Nov. 30, and can be viewed...
Ernest Kinoy, 89, a prolific and award-winning screenwriter and playwright whose radio and television career spanned more than five decades, died at Grace Cottage Hospital in Townshend on Nov. 10 of complications from pneumonia. Kinoy won two Emmy Awards for his work. The first came in 1963 for an episode from the CBS drama “The Defenders,” starring E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed as a father and son team of idealistic lawyers who took on difficult cases that would invariably involve...
Hugh Keelan feels wonderful as he returns to Brattleboro from a stay at a dude ranch in Arizona to conduct a world premiere for the first concert of the new season of the Windham Orchestra. Keelan had spent time out West learning how to ride a horse. This adventure was not all fun and games but actually was supposed to be instructive. “The idea is to look at my leadership skills,” explains Keelan. “The thinking goes that if you mishandle...
Downtown will burst into full bloom this summer. The Downtown Alliance has expanded its flower program while managing to maintain a level-funded budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Members of the Downtown Alliance - formerly known as Building a Better Brattleboro (BaBB) - unanimously approved the organization's fiscal year 2016 work plan and budget at a brief meeting Nov. 12 at the Marlboro Graduate Center. In a budget summary handed out at the meeting, Board Chair Matt Livingston noted that...
In 2011, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force partnered with the National Center for Transgender Equality to put together one of the largest surveys of United States transgender people in history. The document they produced from this survey, “Injustice at Every Turn,” reflects a number of bleak realities. The organizations found that “transgender and gender non-conforming people face injustice at every turn: in childhood homes, in school systems that promise to shelter and educate, in harsh and exclusionary workplaces,