It's hard to write about the Bellows Falls field hockey team without dipping into the big bag of superlatives.
However, this is a program that has won 49 straight games, and counting, as well as three straight state championships. This year's team is undefeated and unscored upon in its first nine games, has outscored its opposition by a 65-0 margin, and is intent upon winning a fourth straight title.
And BF coach Bethany Coursen will be happy to tell you the reason why the Terriers are the best in the state.
“We are one big team,” she said on Oct. 5 after steamrolling Brattleboro, 9-0, in a homecoming weekend game in Westminster. “No one person can win a game for us.”...
Bless Dr. Christine Blasey Ford for her courage and shining integrity, as well as the two unidentified, equally courageous women who confronted Senator Jeff Flake in the door of the “Senate only” elevator to speak of their sexual trauma, the other women who came to Washington, D.C. to sit...
Like many mobile home parks in Vermont, the three developments that make up the Tri-Park Cooperative Housing Corporation - Mountain Home Park, Glen Park, and Black Mountain Park - have quite a few homes sited in floodways. In 2011, Tropical Storm Irene destroyed more than 20 homes in Mountain...
The more we push the collusion narrative, the less we see what Vladimir Putin's objective is: destabilization. Was there collusion between Donald Trump and Russia? Yes, and yet, it resided near the edge of plausible deniability. But that's hardly the point. The point is that Putin is interested in destabilizing the West by backing potential despots (Marine Le Pen and other nationalists in Europe) and breaking international power blocs (the European Union, NATO). Look at Russia's larger narrative over the...
We did it! On Sept. 9, hundreds of people, including dozens of families, took to the streets of Brattleboro as part of the global Rise for Climate day of action. This local Rise event was one of the largest in our region, and we couldn't have done it without the support of so many in our community. More than 100 bikers took over the streets in a “critical (and kid-ical) mass ride,” more than 100 people marched up Main Street,
When we were teens, my siblings and I shared a hand signal for when our mother had been drinking. It was a mimed gesture of a beer can going quickly to the mouth. Other kids of alcoholics probably share signals like this - ways to deal with their parents' erratic behaviors, quick workarounds to avoid conflict and maintain denial about “the problem.” My father was sober by then and probably should've known better. He got into Alcoholics Anonymous when I...
Thank you for your column on the constitutional right to panhandling, an important issue. However, the discussion leaves out aspects of the issue that, to my knowledge, are always left out in such conversations. An ordinance against begging violates not only the right to free speech of the beggar but also that of the potential giver. Giving charity to a poor person is also a form of speech. The fact that other channels exist for the giver to support the...
College news • JoJo McDonald of Londonderry was one of more than 250 first-year University of Vermont students, led by 80 upper class leaders, that began their University of Vermont experience as part of TREK, a unique, seven-day first year enrichment program sponsored by UVM's Department of Student Life. • Grace Rizio of Wilmington has joined the University of Vermont's Honors College. Rizio is one of 212 student to join the Honors College's Class of 2022. • Olivia Zschirnt of...
Wilmington is taking charge of finding its next downtown business by offering a cash prize for the business that best meets the town's needs. Faced with several downtown vacancies, and recognizing that a lack of capital is the most common barrier of entry for small businesses, the downtown organization Wilmington Works put together the “Make it on Main Street” competition. A $20,000 prize (raised via donations and corporate sponsorships) is being offered for use as start-up capital for a new...
The Brattleboro Music Center's Season Guest Concert series continues Friday, Oct. 19, with a performance of Mendelssohn's String Octet by the Sarasa Ensemble. Felix Mendelssohn's Octet is one of the most adored chamber music pieces in the string repertoire, composed by a very precocious and nimble 16-year-old talent. Rarely performed on original instruments with gut strings, Sarasa offers a fresh view of this energetic work. The particularly innovative program will include contrasting elements of sublime French Baroque music by Marc-Antoine...
A public conversation titled “Sources of Inspiration: Creative Lineage,” will feature four artists speaking about their sources of inspiration and how these nourish their creative work. The event will take place on Oct. 18, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., at the Latchis Theatre, an ADA-accessible space. Admission will be $8 at the door; series tickets purchased at earlier events will be honored. Work trades are available; contact Shantavns@gmail.com or text 802-275-8152. Featured artists include classical musician and long-time arts advocate...
On Oct. 5, the In-Sight Photography Project opened its 20th annual photography exhibition and benefit auction at the Vermont Center for Photography, located at 49 Flat St. The auction continues all this month at www.insightphotography.org/auction2018, where all available auction prints are on display. Bidding ends on Sunday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m. The inspiration for the name of this year's auction, Standing Still, is taken from the world renowned documentary photographer, Dorothea Lange, who wrote, “photography takes an instant out...
Vernon Historians to meet VERNON - On Sunday, Oct. 14, at 1 p.m., the membership of the Vernon Historians will hold its annual meeting, which includes the election of officers. The meeting and the historical program that follows will be held downstairs at the Vernon Town Office Building at 567 Governor Hunt Rd. At 2 p.m., Gail Golec will present “Captive,” a program about the story of Susannah Johnson and her family, who were taken captive in 1754 at Fort...
A staged reading of True as Steel, a play in the words of early Brattleboro literary couple Royall and Mary Tyler, will be performed one time only on Thursday, Oct. 11, at 7:30 p.m., at 118 Elliot Street as the first event of this year's Brattleboro Literary Festival. The play and an exhibition at Brooks Memorial Library are part of this year's Lit Fest offerings highlighting the area's rich literary history as a partner in the Brattleboro Words Project. Last...
BrattleMasters are moving to the Winston Prouty Center BRATTLEBORO - Michelle O'Hearn-Deblois of Wilmington will run the 6 p.m. Toastmasters meeting on Thursday, Oct. 11, at a new location: the Winston Prouty Center, 209 Austine Drive (formerly the Austine School). This week, BrattleMasters meet in the library in the back of Crocker Hall. Look for a sign marked “Garland School” and other signs for Toastmasters. The meeting will include speeches up to seven minutes in length, speech evaluations, and reports...
The Rock River Players present Twelve Angry Jurors by Reginald Rose Oct. 11 to 14 at Williamsville Hall on Dover Road. A riveting courtroom drama about a jury's deliberation in a homicide trial, Twelve Angry Jurors (originally Twelve Angry Men) was televised in 1954; soon adapted for the stage, it was then made into a highly-acclaimed film. Rose's timeless piece has since evolved into myriad productions around the globe. Twelve Angry Jurors depicts a jury forced to consider a homicide...
Artist Stephen Procter will exhibit his garden vessels at the Inn on Putney Road in Brattleboro on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 13 and 14. The show and sale is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. “The gardens behind the Inn are one of Brattleboro's hidden treasures, and they make a perfect setting for my work,” Procter said in a news release. Two monumental pieces coming back from other New England exhibits will...
I am writing this letter in support of Sara Coffey and her campaign for state representative for Windham-1. These days, I feel as if citizens are holding the values of honesty, authenticity, and accountability at the forefront of their minds when choosing candidates. After watching Coffey's campaign earlier in the season, and after having the opportunity to speak with her, I am confident that she embodies the values we need in politicians. She has a strong determination to bring communities...
A part of the Brattleboro Literary Festival, Laundry is a celebration of women's voices and women's lives through the writing that they do. It will be presented on Sunday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m., at 118 Elliot. According to a news release, the idea for the show was originated by Meg Baronian, a writer and teacher of writing at Landmark College in Putney. Featured artists include Verandah Porche, Wendy M. Levy, Megan Buchanan, Taite Blais, Ruth Antoinette Rodriguez, Diana Whitney,
The Architecture + Design Film Series, shown monthly in Brattleboro and Burlington, will screen Sabra: The Life and Work of Printmaker Sabra Field (2015) on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 6:30 p.m. at 118 Elliot in downtown Brattleboro. Doors open at 6 p.m. Film showings are free and open to all. Directed by celebrated Vermont filmmaker Bill Phillips, the 57-minute documentary explores the life and career of Vermont-based printmaker Sabra Field. According to a news release, the film highlights a body...
The Vermont Jazz Center is proud to present Christian McBride's New Jawn on Friday, Oct. 12, at 8 p.m. The band includes McBride on bass, with Josh Evans (trumpet), Marcus Strickland (saxophones), and Billy Hart sitting in for Nasheet Waits on the drums. McBride, a six-time Grammy award-winning bassist, is one of the most ubiquitous musicians on the jazz scene today. Just a quick glance at his upcoming schedule demonstrates his vast range of projects: gigs with the New Jawn...
Landmark College will host filmmaker Krys Kornmeier on Wednesday, Oct. 17, for an evening dedicated to the discussion and celebration of neurodiversity. At 7 p.m., in the Greenhoe Theater, Fine Arts Building, Kornmeier's film Normal Isn't Real: Succeeding with Learning Disabilities and ADHD will be shown. The 72-minute documentary will be followed by a panel discussion consisting of Kornmeier and neurodivergent members of the college faculty and student body. Landmark College Center for Neurodiversity Director Solvegi Shmulsky will serve as...
I hope the voters of Windham District 1 will elect Patrick Gilligan to the Vermont House. Patrick's candidacy reminds me of mine many years ago: I ran for the Legislature right after I graduated from Middlebury College. I decided that it was important for young Vermonters to be represented, as many of the decisions made in the Statehouse would affect my generation. I believed that I could contribute through my youthful energy. Patrick Gilligan offers the same perspective and enthusiasm.
It's hard to fathom the idea that Christopher Columbus is still honored with a holiday, given what we know about his actions against indigenous populations. After quite a bit of recent scholarship on the subject, we know that Columbus ordered his men to cut the hands from Taino people who did not return with gold for the European invaders. We know that Columbus immediately set out to create a system of enslavement in the Caribbean. We know that within a...
Brett Kavanaugh is, perhaps, merely a symptom of the elitist old-boy network that such privileged young men are trained to tap into because that's how they get (farther) ahead in life. Go to the right schools, join the right fraternity, and become indoctrinated into the patriarchal, patronizing behaviors that support a power structure which fears (and uses, and presses down upon) women, brown people, trans people, poor people, and others who are outside their club. Dismantling this oppressive power structure...
Applications sought for FY20 human services funding BRATTLEBORO - The Representative Town Meeting Human Services Review Committee is accepting applications for Human Services Funding for fiscal year 2020. The application, as well as instructions and guidelines, will be posted on Brattleboro's town website. The deadline to submit applications to the Brattleboro Town Manager's Office is Monday, Nov. 5, at noon. The information session regarding human services funding is scheduled on Thursday, Oct. 18, at 5 p.m., in the Selectboard Meeting...
The locally-based jazz and blues singer Samirah Evans has been called “an unstoppable force of nature onstage” and “a sexy, high-octane blend of ebullient personality and explosive showbiz savvy.” Now Evans will be sharing the stage with her frequent collaborator, the explosive singer Evelyn Harris, who many remember from the brilliant African-American a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Evans and Harris will perform together at Brooks Memorial Library on Friday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. They will be...
I was not allowed to say on Vermont Public Radio that it was my grandfather who abused me - in a commentary about how hard it is for women like myself to speak up about past sexual abuse. Like many women, I was inspired to speak by Christine Blasey Ford's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. I found it entirely credible that she would have remained silent for over 30 years. I've been silent for 50. For those years I...
Good day to you, denizens of the verdant Green Mountains of southern Vermont! If you're reading this column on Wednesday (its day of publication) and you enjoy summer weather, seize the present moment and get outside! Unseasonable warmth and humidity are most likely leaving these shores until the spring of 2019, barring any anomalous mid-cold season warm surges, of which we've had a few over the past several years. Autumn is arriving and will be preceded by a good bout...
Selectboard Chair Sheila Morse recently told The Commons, “we're looking for a constable - a particularly tough challenge these days with all the requirements - and a dog officer.” Guilford isn't alone. In the last few years, Selectboards in a number of towns in southeast Windham County have struggled to find and keep an animal control officer. Some have contemplated sharing an officer with neighboring towns, but so far the idea has gained little traction. In other parts of the...
In July, the Legislature passed a law that removes criminal penalties for those age 21 and older to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana for personal use. Act 86 has its supporters, but the law has also left some parents and professionals concerned about what it means for the young people in their lives. A Sept. 26 panel discussion and question-and-answer session at Leland & Gray Union Middle & High School looked to shed light on the range of...
From Oct. 11–14, the 17th annual Brattleboro Literary Festival will host more than 50 authors who will be featured in nearly 40 events and discussions. “These authors have given us stories in which we can see ourselves and which also allow us to imagine lives beyond our own,” festival organizers write in a news release. “In their books we meet all kinds of humans (and animals!) like a restaurateur, politicians, immigrants, kings and queens, a Great Dane, soldiers, a 6-year-old...
The Selectboard recently approved a series of decisions - including a rate increase - bringing members closer to replacing the town's pay-to-park system. If all goes as planned, parking will cost more beginning on Feb. 1, 2019, with new meters and kiosks arriving a few weeks prior. At the Oct. 2 regular board meeting, members unanimously - and without major debate on the actionable decisions - voted to begin the process of changing a town ordinance to raise parking rates,
Danny Lichtenfeld, Director of the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, thinks the museum's new photography exhibit is something special. “Of course, I feel in one way or another that all the shows at BMAC are special, but “If She Has A Pulse, She Has A Chance” is engaging the community in a way that is rare for the museum,” Lichtenfeld says. In the Center Gallery of BMAC, “If She Has A Pulse, She Has A Chance” is a series of...
The Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services will come to town as part of its second series of victims' listening forums. The organization, established by state law, provides compassionate, victim-centered services to victims of crime and collaborates with partners across the state to develop and support new programs, invites all victims and survivors of crime, including business owners and family members, to share their experiences in the criminal justice system with the goal of improving the way the criminal justice...