The Brattleboro Music Center has taken a big step toward a long-awaited move to its new home, according to a news release.
On July 8, the Center officially took ownership of the former Winston Prouty campus on Guilford Street, across from Living Memorial Park.
Renovation and expansion work will soon begin to create a facility to better accommodate staff, faculty and students, and the center's performance and education programs.
“Purchasing the former Winston Prouty campus is a historic moment and the culmination of decades of hard work, vision, dedication, resources and a firm belief in the value of our organization by so many special individuals,” BMC Managing Director Mary Greene said in a news release.
Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) has announced that Paul Millman, co-founder of Chroma Technology in Rockingham, is the 2016 recipient of the Terry Ehrich Award for Excellence in Socially Responsible Business. Named for the late owner of Hemmings Motor News and a founding member of VBSR, the award...
Malte Herwig, journalist and author, will discuss his new book, “The Woman Who Says No: Francoise Gilot on her Life with and without Picasso” on Friday, July 22, at 6 p.m., at Everyone's Books, 25 Elliot St. This book is an intimate and revealing biography of the talented artist...
Two members of Vernon's Fiber Optics Committee visited their neighbors to the northwest to drum up interest in their proposed telecommunications project. Munson Hicks and Bronna Zlochiver attended Guilford's June 27 regular Selectboard meeting to present fiber optics as a possible, locally-owned source for high-speed Internet service. The Fiber Optics Committee, formed in June 2015 as part of Vernon's Economic Development Commission, has researched fiber-optics companies, and whether Vernon wants, and can support, this utility. [See “Town continues to explore...
Town sets tax rates PUTNEY - During two Special Selectboard Meetings, the Board unanimously voted to set the municipal tax rates for 2016. To raise $847,678.28, the Board set the General Fund tax rate at 35.76 cents per $100 of assessed value. To raise $716,354.52, the Board set the Highway Fund tax rate at 30.22 cents. To raise $21,689.75 for the local agreement, the Board set the tax rate at 0.00915 cents. Bank borrowing approved PUTNEY - Following the directives...
College news • Dominic Italia of Dummerston graduated from the University of Denver with a B.S. in Biology. He will pursue the field of dentistry in his graduate studies. • The following local residents were among the 399 members of the Class of 2016 to earn degrees from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. on May 21: Ava Myette of Brattleboro graduated with a B.A. in English, Caroline DiNicola-Fawley of Brattleboro graduated cum laude with a B.A. in anthropology, and Marguerite...
Three videos produced by Mondo Mediaworks for the Brattleboro Retreat were winners at the 26th Annual Lamplighter Awards on June 2. The New England Society for Healthcare Communications held their annual awards to honor the marketing, public relations, and communications excellence of 58 hospitals, healthcare facilities, and marketing/advertising agencies. Two Mondo Mediaworks productions, “Jim's Story”and “Raina's Story,” each brought home two silver awards, while the Building Hope Together video won an Award of Excellence. “It's exciting to have our work...
Manitou to hold healing walk WILLIAMSVILLE - The Manitou Project will hold a Healing Walk on Friday, July 22, from 4 to 6 p.m. This meditative walk on Manitou's Sanctuary Trail will be led by Mary Stowe and will include poems or other readings and chances to share about the experience. The walk takes place rain or shine. Meet at the parking lot at 4 p.m. For more information, contact Stowe at 802-246-1152. St. Michael's Episcopal Church to host climate...
The future is looking brighter at Bradley House. A December merger with Brattleboro's Holton Home has brought stability to the longtime residential care facility. And a much-needed structural overhaul and expansion project - which will add seven rooms to Bradley House, as well as new dining facilities - is scheduled to start later this year. On July 6, Gov. Peter Shumlin traveled to Brattleboro to announce more than $2.8 million in community-development grants for residential and commercial projects across the...
Melissa James Gibson's “What Rhymes with America,” presented by Next Stage Arts Project and The Apron Theater Company and directed by Hallie Flower, will be performed on July 21, 22, 23 and 28, 29, 30 at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on July 24. The play features a cast of seasoned Apron performers: Mark Bateman, Katrina Spenceman, Julia Tadlock, and Kenzie Klem. A father and his teenage daughter stand on either side of a closed door. Life is...
Mount Snow's multimillion-dollar snow-making upgrade won't be finished for the upcoming ski season due to continued delays in the resort's EB-5 funding program, administrators have disclosed. An executive with Mount Snow parent company Peak Resorts, during a July 14 announcement of the company's fiscal year 2016 earnings, said the West Lake snow-making project remains on hold due to the “excruciatingly slow” federal EB-5 approval process that has kept $52 million in foreign investor money tied up in escrow. “We are...
After much deliberation, including a 90-minute Special Selectboard Meeting and a sit-down with Windham County Sheriff Keith Clark, the Board unanimously voted to renew the law-enforcement contract with Clark's department at their June 29 regular meeting. At the end of May, just about six weeks before the fiscal year 2016 contract expired, Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard received word from the Windham County Sheriff's Department that they couldn't honor the fiscal year 2017 contract Stoddard had expected to sign. That contract...
On June 10, the Brooks House Development Team, Stevens & Associates, P.C., and Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC received an award from the Preservation Trust of Vermont for the Brooks House renovation and preservation project, according to a news release. The awards recognize outstanding examples of historic preservation in projects recently completed in Vermont. The team received the award for its work in renovating and rehabilitating the historic Brooks House, located in downtown Brattleboro. The award recognizes Stevens & Associates and...
Town pays library's attorney fees VERNON - The Selectboard voted at their July 5 regular meeting for the town to pay attorney fees associated with Vernon Library officials' requesting clarification on a Town Meeting vote. The vote was 3-1, with Emily Vergobbe issuing the only dissenting vote and Sandra Harris absent. During Town Meeting on March 1, an amendment was made to the library's budget, but a $9,000 surplus mentioned in the original motion was left out of the amendment.
With Act 46 merger talks looming, Jamaica voters have declared their school district's independence. The town on July 12 voted 78-75 to leave the five-town Leland & Gray Middle and High School union, a move that could allow Jamaica to pursue school-choice options that aren't available within the current union structure. But Jamaica's exit isn't yet certain, since the other four union towns - Brookline, Newfane, Townshend, and Windham - each must vote to approve the change. Officials expect that...
State regulators say they won't reconsider their dismissal of an anti-nuclear group's objections to Vermont Yankee's fuel storage plans. The state Public Service Board last month approved construction of a new concrete pad for storage of the shutdown plant's spent nuclear fuel. Prior to that, however, Brattleboro-based New England Coalition had asked for reconsideration of its questions about the storage facility's safety and visibility. The Public Service Board already had dismissed New England Coalition's arguments in a June 1 order.
Hello to all residing in the Hamlet of Wind! Speaking of wind, the strong-to-severe thunderstorms early in the week have given way to a cooler, drier, and more-pleasant flow out of the west and northwest. I don't know about you, but this is the kind of summer weather I can tolerate. However, all you heat lovers will get another chance to bask in your summery glory once this weekend arrives as we push to near 90 degrees. For Wednesday, high...
After many delays, a large-scale landfill solar project is under new ownership and appears to be moving ahead. Windham Solid Waste Management District officials say a multinational solar developer has partnered with a Burlington company to build a 5-megawatt array on Brattleboro's closed and capped landfill. The previous developer ran into financial problems and was unable to do much with the project, which was enabled by special legislative language in 2014. But officials say they're seeing welcome signs of progress.
Marlboro Music, which is celebrating its 66th season on the hilltop campus of Vermont's Marlboro College, has, in large part, sustained the ideals of its founders and its guiding spirit, the late pianist Rudolf Serkin, through the generosity of former participants who, like Artistic Director Mitsuko Uchida, return to share traditions and their own insights with a new generation, according to a news release. Two-thirds of its “senior” artists each year are noted musicians whose musical outlook was shaped by...
This summer marks the fifth season of Pikes Falls Chamber Music Festival in Jamaica, with events between July 28 and Aug. 6. This year, the festival will again hold a series of evening concerts and a family and community day. In addition, festival musicians will tour Southern Vermont to play in nearby towns, according to a news release. The 2016 festival will include nine performing musicians, two composers, a conductor, and three visual artists. For this year's World Premieres, Philadelphia's...
The NewBrook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department has taken delivery of its newest major piece of firefighting apparatus, a Pierce FXP Tanker. The truck, manufactured at the Pierce plant in Bradenton, Fla., arrived at the NewBrook fire station on Route 30 in Newfane in early July, according to a news release. The new tanker is built on a Freightliner tandem-axle chassis and has a 350 horsepower Cummins ISL engine. It can carry 3,000 gallons of water. It has a main...
To get the most out of his sprawling dairy farm near the Massachusetts border, Jeff Dunklee knows his cows have to be comfortable and his equipment has to be clean. Lately, he's turning to a new source - the copious amount of manure produced by more than 500 cattle - to make both of those tasks easier. First came a new, heavy duty composting system that allows Vern-Mont Farm to transform cow dung into cow bedding. Next came an accompanying...
“It's hard to be brown sometimes, but it is beautiful as well,” said Ezlerh Oreste to the large crowd gathered in Pliny Park. Oreste's voice was one of many people of color who spoke during Mourning the Loss of Black Lives: The Rally for Racial Justice on July 13. The evening's march memorialized 138 black people killed by police in 2016. Organizers also called for the state to establish anti-bias training at the Vermont Police Academy and to make space...
A culture of mistrust toward law enforcement exists in our country. Recent events have catapulted that mistrust to levels that exceed those of recent memory. Police interactions with citizens have been called into question, resulting in anger, disbelief, and frustration. These feelings have manifested themselves into protests, rallies, and marches throughout the country. Some have been peaceful, others have not. There was a march in Brattleboro that should be recognized. Unfortunately, no national news agencies were on hand to help...
Longtime Town Clerk Annette Cappy has announced her retirement. After more than two decades of service, Cappy will leave her post Dec. 31. Selectboard Chair David Gartenstein thanked Cappy for her work at the board's July 19 meeting. According to Gartenstein, in her time, Cappy has issued thousands of marriage, birth, and death certificates and has overseen 41 Representative Town Meetings. Cappy made history on July 1, 2000, when she issued the first civil union certificate in Vermont. She was...
On the not-too-hot morning of July 2, a large group of people gathered around the entrance to the Andrew G. Weeks Memorial Forest, just steps from a brand new trail. The only thing preventing attendees from venturing into the forest was a few strands of colorful plastic ribbon. Just a few minutes after 10 a.m., members of the Guilford Conservation Commission (GCC) snipped those ribbons, signifying the opening of the town's first publicly-accessed, mapped trail. The new Weeks Forest Carriage...
Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV) has won a national Hometown Media Award from the Alliance for Community Media in the category “Overall Excellence in P. E. or G. Access” for stations with budgets under $300,000, according to a news release. “PEG” is short for Public, Education, Government, the types of programming produced at public access centers. To enter, BCTV submitted a 20-minute video with excerpts from 15 programs produced by staff and volunteers in 2015, along with a description of BCTV's...
Twilight Music continues its 14th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues, and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, July 24, at 6 p.m., with Celtic world beat quartet The Gaslight Tinkers. The Gaslight Tinkers' blend of African, Caribbean, funk, reggae, and Latin rhythms creates a joyously danceable sound around a core of traditional New England old time and Celtic fiddle music, according to a news release. Peter Siegel (mandolin, guitar,
It's been said many times: Brattleboro is a baseball town. Never is it more true than in those eight weeks between mid-June and early August, when Little League, Babe Ruth, and American Legion baseball are in full swing. This year, Brattleboro is sending a 13-15-year-old All-Star team into the New England Regionals. The Post 5 team will soon be playing in the state Legion championships. And, on Monday night, the Little League 11-12-year-old All-Stars defeated Bennington, 15-14, to win the...
Director Burt Tepfer believes the biggest problem people have when facing the new play he is directing, a dark comedy about the nature of Jewish identity by Joshua Harmon, is its title. “'Bad Jews' was such a provocative title that when posters for a production in Great Britain were displayed in the London Underground there were cries of outrage and all had to be taken down,” Tepfer says. In reality, the name isn't anti-semitic at all. The expression “bad jew”
“We're all approaching the future, whether intentionally or not,” said Future Collective member Tess Lindsay, who is helping organize the collective's July 23 art and performance event at 118 Elliot. “What We Bring to Our Future” is the theme of the day's festivities, and will include a community art show, creative art market, and “collaborative, futuristic performances” from nine acts. “It's sort of a play on words,” Lindsay said, adding, “it's a fairly simple theme, but people can interpret it...
On Oct. 8, 1980, while my family and I gathered at our safe house in Las Canoas as our homeland El Salvador erupted in civil war, we were attacked by soldiers of the National Guard, dispersed by gunfire and grenades, then tortured and disposed of as if we were animals. Only five members of my father's family survived. My two siblings and I are the youngest of those who remain. I was 3 years old. When I think of the...
It has been a dreadful week for law enforcement across our nation. In light of recent events, I wanted to reach out to the Brattleboro police and thank you for all that you do to make our community a safer place for everyone. I know that your job is incredibly difficult, and as a citizen of this community I am deeply grateful to you for your service. I was inspired by President Obama's speech at the Dallas funeral on July...
On a hot Sunday afternoon, Paul Miller, one of three generations farming his family's land, took a short break and sat on a rustic wooden bench in the shade of a small farm outbuilding. For most of the day, he and his friends and family, all wearing red “Miller Farm” shirts, greeted scores of guests, gave hay ride tours, and dished out snacks at the farm's anniversary party. In a nearby barn, pettable horses, goats, and an abundant litter of...