Annual festival honors the state vegetable
When the autumn leaves are done falling and the nights get frosty, local farmers start harvesting Gilfeather Turnips for the annual Gilfeather Turnip Festival.
On Saturday, Oct. 26, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., people will come from all over New England to celebrate Vermont's state vegetable.
Grafton firefighters get set for their big tag sale
This year’s proceeds will fund replacement of air tanks
A Fall Festival Tag Sale benefiting the Volunteer Fire Department will take place - rain or shine - on Saturday, Oct. 12 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 13, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the firehouse at 711 Route 121 East. Over the 38...
Around the Towns
Brattleboro sets dates for leaf pickup BRATTLEBORO - Friday, Oct. 25, and Friday, Nov. 8, are curbside leaf pickup days. Leaves and clippings must be in brown paper leaf bags and waiting at the curb by 7 a.m. Acceptable waste includes only leaves, grass, clippings, garden waste, and twigs...
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12th annual White Cane Awareness Day features talk and walk
The 12th annual White Cane Awareness Day event will take place Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 118 Elliot from 10 a.m. to noon to celebrate the white cane as a symbol of independence and self-reliance for those who are blind or have low vision. The event will begin with a welcome talk by Dan Norris, director of adult services and deaf/blind consultant for the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Norris will introduce guest speakers Michael Goldberg and Peter...
Fall fun around the region
Weston Playhouse hosts craft show WESTON - The Weston Craft Show at the Weston Playhouse on the Green will feature the work of dozens of juried artisans from throughout Vermont. The show opens Friday, Oct. 11 and will run through Sunday, Oct. 13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Proceeds from the show will benefit the preservation of the historic museums in Weston, including the Farrar-Mansur House & Museum, the Old Mill Museum, and the Craft Building, as...
VTC will present witchy ‘Bell, Book and Candle’
The Vermont Theatre Company is proud to announce a performance of the whimsical romantic comedy Bell, Book and Candle, directed by Robert Wellington with producers Michelle Page and Jonathan Kinnersley. Set in New York in the 1950s, this fun play by John Van Druten follows witch Gillian Holroyd, who casts a spell on an unattached publisher, Shepherd Henderson, partly to keep him away from a rival and partly because she is attracted to him, according to a news release. He...
McDonald-Cady appointed to Superior Court
Deputy Windham County State's Attorney Kerry Ann McDonald-Cady of Dover has been appointed to a Vermont Superior Court seat. McDonald-Cady was appointed on Sept. 30 by Gov. Phil Scott. Superior Court is the state's trial court consisting of civil, criminal, environmental, family, and probate divisions. She replaces former Superior Judge David Howard and will be assigned to the west region of the Superior Court, primarily in Rutland and Bennington counties. In a news release, Scott praised McDonald-Cady's “record of sound...
Milestones
College news • Kiley Owen of Dummerston and Conall Sullivan of Jacksonville both graduated in August from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. • The following local students achieved academic honors during the summer 2019 semester at Community College of Vermont: Allyson Wolski of Newfane and Alexandria Felsted of Wilmington were named to the Dean's List. Selected to the Honors List were Dakoda Carter of Bellows Falls; Marshall Lazar, Chelsie Poplawski, Michaela Russo, Ryan Weeks, and Jessica Weiner of Brattleboro,
Source to Sea Cleanup pulls tons of trash from area rivers
On Sept. 27 and 28, an estimated 3,500 volunteers gathered at more than 125 locations along the Connecticut River and tributary streams in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut for Connecticut River Conservancy's 23rd annual Source to Sea Cleanup. Volunteers with work gloves and trash bags got dirty - and some got wet - in their effort to remove nearly 50 tons of trash in and along our rivers. Notably, CRC worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and...
Golden (-crust) anniversary for pie festival
This is the golden jubilee year of the Dummerston Church Apple Pie Festival. The Oct. 13 festival, which takes place at the junction of Middle and East-West roads, is the church's biggest annual fundraising event. It starts at 10 a.m., and runs until all pies are sold. Starting in 1969 and for its first four decades, the event was orchestrated by Gladys Miller, who died in 2013. Dwight Miller Orchards, her family's business, provided the apples for the thousands of...
Blanche Moyse Chorale presents memorial concerts of Bach cantatas
The Blanche Moyse Chorale presents a program of four cantatas by J.S. Bach, dedicated to the memory of beloved baritone Sanford Sylvan, on Friday, Oct. 11, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 13, at 2 p.m., at the Brattleboro Music Center. Under the direction of Mary Westbrook-Geha, the Chorale has selected four cantatas that Sylvan sang during more than 20 years of warm affiliation with the Chorale and with the New England Bach Festival and Marlboro Music Festival. Sylvan died...
Marlboro College alumni present talk on Shakespeare, ‘Party Bard’ podcast
Marlboro College presents a talk and discussion by alumni Molly Booth '14 and Jack Rossiter-Munley '12, hosts of a Shakespeare-focused podcast called Party Bard, on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. They will be joined by T. Hunter Wilson, Marlboro writing and literature faculty emeritus, who helped inspire their love of writing and Shakespeare. This event is free and open to the public, and will be held in Marlboro's Whittemore Theater, site of many Shakespeare productions over the years. The...
Honoring a literary pioneer
On Thursday, Oct. 17, at 11 a.m., the West Brattleboro Association, in conjunction with the Brattleboro Words Project and Brattleboro Literary Festival, will unveil a state Historic Marker commemorating acclaimed local author Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and four historic schools that stood near the current site of today's Academy School. Mary E. Wilkins Freeman was repeatedly voted the most popular female author during the 19th century. Best known for her short stories, she published over 250 in her lifetime. Freeman...
Stone Church Arts presents ‘The Fire and the Ecstasy: The Music of Hildegard of Bingen’
Immanuel Episcopal Church will present the music of Saint Hildegard of Bingen on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the stone church on the hill at 20 Church St. The Fire and the Ecstasy: The Music of Hildegard of Bingen will feature Ruth Cunningham and Melinda Gardiner, both performing on harp and vocals. This public concert is a part of the weekend workshop/retreat, Hildegard of Bingen: Magistra, Mystic, Musician, taking place this same weekend, Oct. 11-13, at Stone Church...
Windham Grows Farm Business Accelerator extends application deadline
Windham Grows Farm Business Accelerator is seeking farmer-entrepreneurs interested in individualized, farm-business, value-added scale-up plans that will include mentoring, in-kind resources, physical space, educational experience, and technical expertise. The deadline for applications for the November cohort has been extended to midnight on Oct. 12. To learn more and apply for admission to Windham Grows, visit windhamgrows.org. By giving farmer-entrepreneurs the resources needed for high-value management skills, this project will help farmer-entrepreneurs build dynamic new farm businesses while leveraging one of...
‘The Met: Live in HD’ returns to Latchis
The 2019-20 season of The Met: Live in HD opens this Saturday, Oct. 12, at 1 p.m., at the Latchis Theatre with Puccini's final masterpiece, Turandot. Thrilling dramatic soprano Christine Goerke brings her fierce portrayal of the title princess, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the podium for Franco Zeffirelli's dazzling production of Puccini's epic tale set in China. Tenor Yusif Eyvazov is the mysterious prince Calàf, alongside soprano Eleonora Buratto as Liù; and bass-baritone James Morris as Timur. This live cinema...
A fight to go flat
If you don't like reading about boobs, you should move on, because this post is about boobs (or lack thereof). It is October, after all - the month of pink ribbons and catchy breast cancer slogans: Save the Tatas. Save Second Base. Big or Small, Save Them All. I get it. They're funny. I chuckled a little. But can you imagine how these slogans would read if they were for prostate cancer? Save the Nuts? Swing for the Balls? Big...
Area cross-country teams tune up for state meet
The Brattleboro and Bellows Falls cross-country teams got a dress rehearsal for the state championship meet on Oct. 5 when they journeyed to Thetford Academy for the annual Woods Trail Run. Traditionally held on the first Saturday in October, the Woods Trail Run takes place on the same course used for the state meet on Oct. 26. It gives competitors a chance to run the 5-kilometer course and have some race experience on it against top-level runners before the big...
Honoring the water protectors
This fall, southern Vermont photographer John Willis has two books in the works. George F. Thompson Publishing, in association with the American Land Publishing Project, has just released a new edition of Willis's celebrated book of photographs of the Oglala Lakota Sioux community at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Views from the Reservation. In November, the same publisher will bring out a new book by Willis, Mni Wiconi/Water Is Life, about the sacrifice and spiritual dedication of thousands of people who...
Unseen and unknown
On my drive to meet up with the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Youth Group, I stopped when I reached the Missouri River, the eastern boundary of the Cheyenne River Reservation. I pulled into a park to picnic and gather myself for the big unknown week ahead. I had a professor in college who would say, “You see what you know.” That evening I saw a beautiful expanse of water reflecting the sunset with the greens and yellows of the prairie hills...
Brattleboro Rotary Clubs host annual ‘Chuck for Charity’ disc golf tournament
The Brattleboro Sunrise and Noontime Rotary Clubs have joined forces to host the fourth annual “Chuck for Charity” Rotary Disc Golf Tournament on Sunday, Oct. 13, at Living Memorial Park at 1 p.m., with check-in and tee assignment at noon. Pre-registration is requested online at www.tinyurl.com/chuck4charity4 to allow for grouping players. Standard registration is $20 per person and includes play in the tournament, a custom tournament disc, and a cookout after the tournament, with burgers, dogs, and vegan options provided...
Businesses send clear message: not enough workers
Representatives from businesses across Windham County gathered in the cafeteria of the School for International Training's Stephen and Nita Lowey International Center. They sipped coffee and shared stories from the trenches of doing business in a state with an unemployment rate of 2.1 percent. It was time for a regional SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. “This is a real and continuing challenge for our employment base,” said Jeff Lewis, a consultant hired to hold the summit. The former...
Hatred from a hero
When I was 7 years old, two things frightened me about living in our small town in Connecticut: the brutal murder of Barbara Gibbons, and the wrongful conviction of her son, Peter Riley. I heard my father, the managing editor of the Lakeville Journal (which fought for Riley's freedom), discussing all the details of how the accused young man was deprived of food and water and pushed into a confession. An overzealous prosecutorial team also withheld evidence that would have...
A spicier twist on a classic French apple cake
I've made apple cakes for years, and they are always a hit. When I see the beautiful apples appear at the farm stands, I see a special dessert sometime in the near future, probably after Sunday dinner. This recipe is a variation on a traditional French apple cake, but with a few twists. Instead of using dark rum, which can overpower the delicate flavor of the apples, we instead intensify the flavor of the apples with a little Calvados, or...
Bake 1,500 pies in nine days? No problem!
The first clue that you are in the right place appears before you even get to the door: it's the unmistakable aroma of hot apple pie. The brilliant combination of fat and flour, sweet-tart apples, and warming spices creates an invisible cloud that wafts through the screen door of the Dummerston Congregational Church's basement kitchen. It's Thursday morning, a week-and-a-half before the church's biggest fundraising event, Dummerston's famous Apple Pie Festival. In the church kitchen, a team of volunteers works...
When fall turns to winter
Gemma Seymour: Behind us? It just started! * * * Kris Alden: When it's dark at 5 p.m. * * * Sallyanne Kinoy: That furious late October rainstorm that brings down the last of the leaves. * * * Leslie Sullivan Sachs: Time change: walking home from work in the dark. * * * Judy McGee: When I have to plug my heat tape in. * * * Tom Buchanan: When the first ski mountain opens for real (not a...
Stalling storm brings Easterly flow through Saturday, sunnier by Sunday
Hello and good day to you, residents of lovely Windham County, Vermont! I hope things are well with you. The first half of the upcoming seven-day period is going to feature a cooler and, at times, raw easterly flow thanks to a stalling ocean storm well south of Rhode Island and east of the DelMarVa Peninsula. We'll see showers at times starting Wednesday night through at least Friday with wind gusts 20 to 30 mph at times and mostly cloudy...
Correction
The headline of Elayne Clift's column [“Recipe for pandemic,” Oct. 2] was very obviously wrong. As was clear in the text of the column, one third of the world's population in 1918 and 1919 was infected by the avian flu virus. However bad that was, your editor apologizes for inadvertently claiming that all those people died from it.
The spaces within
These autumn scenes come to us via “Quotidiously,” by Rich Holschuh of Brattleboro, who describes the photo blog as “a casual repository of things encountered nearby, whether at home or wandering about.” As a personal challenge, Holschuh takes all his images with his iPhone camera and presents them as-is - “no filters, apps, or editing, except for a rare crop,” he writes. We often run this feature in these seasonal sections. A public face of the effort in Vermont to...
Fall dinner for a good cause
Empty Bowls - a fun and family-friendly evening celebrating local potters, restaurants, and businesses coming together to raise vital funds for the food-shelf program at Groundworks Collaborative - will take place Saturday, Oct. 12. The 16th annual dinner, at Landmark College, will benefit the food shelf program at Groundworks Collaborative, now known as Foodworks. Diners choose a handmade bowl to keep from one of hundreds of local potters. Soup from any of roughly 20 area restaurants will be served in...
Heritage Festival draws thousands each fall
The 49th annual Heritage Festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 12 and 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on the Common in front of the historic Windham County Courthouse. This event, which benefits the Newfane Congregational Church, draws thousands of visitors each October from around the world. Amid the colorful fall foliage on the village streets and surrounding hillsides, talented artists and craftspeople display their creative efforts. Locals and tourists return year after year for this...
Immigrant storyteller Leng Wong to perform in benefit for CASP
Theater artist and storyteller Leng Wong will bring her original piece 99 Facts About an Immigrant to The Colonel Williams Inn Saturday, Oct. 19, in a fundraiser for the Community Asylum Seekers Project (CASP). Leng emigrated from China at a young age and is based in Austin, Texas, where she founded Lucky Chaos Productions and the People of Color Comedy Festival. 99 Facts was born from her experiences leading what she calls her double (or triple) life: “Who you are...
Two and the night and the music
The Vermont Jazz Center welcomes Grammy-winning trumpeter Nicholas Payton and vocalist Cyrille Aimée to the stage in a duo performance on Saturday, Oct. 12. Payton will perform on trumpet, acoustic bass, piano, and Fender Rhodes; Aimée will sing and, at times, use a looping device to layer her vocals. Individually, Payton and Aimée are two of the most creative musicians on the scene today, but as a duo their collaboration synergistically expands the boundaries of improvisational music. They spontaneously interact...
State funds will rehab two buildings in Brattleboro
Two historic properties will be receiving state Downtown and Village Center tax credits. The former Sanel Auto Parts building at 47 Flat St. will receive $168,478 in tax credits to support a top-to-bottom rehabilitation of the property. It is slated to become the new home for the regional offices of the Vermont Department of Labor and the Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, as well as provide office space for the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation and co-working and business incubator space.
Trio Sefardi to perform at museum
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center presents a concert of Sephardic Jewish music by Trio Sefardi on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m. Trio Sefardi's repertoire includes music sung in Ladino from a variety of sources, including songs from Balkan and Turkish Jewish communities, as well as original songs and arrangements by Flory Jagoda, known as the “Keeper of the Flame” of Sephardic music. In a recent review, Washington Post chief music critic Anne Midgette praised Trio Sefardi's “lovely and...
A marvelous partnership
When Indigenous Peoples Day rolls around, I make one of the favorite egg dishes of our house - for Sunday-morning breakfast, for brunch with friends, or for supper after everyone leaves. This recipe honors those who were here on this continent first and whose sustainable farming practices so strongly influenced New England cuisine –– corn, squash, beans, potatoes, peppers, and so much more. I use the last of the local sweet corn, bountiful butternut squash, and tender green beans to...
Holding tight to fall
Forget the official solstices and equinoxes and other astronomic definitions of our world and its position relative to the sun: we know in our gut and in our heart of hearts whether a new season has arrived in a meaningful manner. For me, that watershed moment between summer and fall comes with the subtle appearance of the first yellow, orange, or red leaf on the car windshield in the morning. That one leaf, to me, says that summer is over.
No end to apple-y goodness
The scent of warm apples, cinnamon, and butter greets visitors entering the the Newfane Congregational Church. On this misty October morning, approximately 20 volunteers assemble apple pies for the town's 49th annual Heritage Festival. In the church's dining area, sitting at folding tables, are volunteers, each assigned a different task: peeling apples, coring them, slicing them, filling the pie shells, and topping the mounds of apples with cinnamon, sugar, and butter. And in case you think pie making is a...