BELLOWS FALLS - It's time to get ready for Rockingham Library's Autumn Poetry Open Mic. Rustle up some poems by a favorite author. Dig out some poems you've penned over the years. Or sharpen your pencils (and your wits) to write some original poetry. Then get ready to share on Monday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m., at the Rockingham Free Public Library, 65 Westminster St.
Readers should come prepared to read up to five poems. To begin, each person will read one poem. Depending on the number of participants, a second, third, fourth, and even fifth round of reading will follow. To learn more, go to rockinghamlibrary.org, call 802-463-4270, email programming@rockinghamlibrary.org or stop by the library.
...These are surely times that are testing our faith in ourselves, one another, and our democracy. As we saw with Richard Nixon, though, our republic is strong. And it can withstand the current assaults on the U.S. Constitution. What's heartening is to see a strong majority of Americans still...
College news • Chad Bernard of Jacksonville was inducted into the Colby-Sawyer College chapter of Alpha Chi on Oct. 19. Bernard majors in nursing and is a member of the Class of 2021. Transitions • A Hanus has joined In-Sight Photography Project of Brattleboro as its new program director.
Bellows Falls successfully defended their Division III state cross-country title with another stellar championship effort on Oct. 26 at Thetford Academy. BF sophomore Abby Broadley once again was the individual champion, covering the 5-kilometer course in a time of 19 minutes, 39 seconds, finishing ahead of runner-up Camille Bolduc of Craftsbury by 44 seconds. Stephanie Ager (fifth, 21:28), Victoria Bassette (14th, 23:07), and Abby Dearborn (16th, 23:12) rounded out the scoring for the Terrier Harriers, who ended up with 31...
The Brattleboro Music Center's Season Guest Concert series features pianist Jenny Lin on Sunday, Nov. 10. The 3 p.m. concert at the BMC will feature the music of Philip Glass. Highlights will include Truman Sleeps, from the film The Truman Show, and The Hours, from the film The Hours. Also included will be Mad Rush, Distant Figure - Passacaglia, and Piano Etudes 18, 2, 13, 16, and 6. Jenny Lin is one of the most respected young pianists today, admired...
Join Epsilon Spires in welcoming artist Lauren Pakradooni to the Epsilon Spires Gallery, 190 Main St., during Gallery Walk on Friday, Nov. 1. Multimedia artist Pakradooni will incorporate kinetic sculpture, printmaking, and sound in her installation. Two wall-mounted sculptural panels will project sound that will complement and contrast with two free-standing sculptures with internal speakers. The free-standing acrylic glass sculptures will be interactive, housing speakers and sand that, when turned over, will behave like an hourglass, with falling sand slowly...
WOOL 91.5 FM, community radio for Vermont and New Hampshire, will hold its 12th annual Silent Auction and Farmers' Market on Friday, Nov. 15, from 5 to 8 p.m., as part of the monthly BF3F arts night. Having been on the air for 13 years - three as the largest full-power community station in New England - WOOL, also known as Black Sheep Radio, is supported by memberships, underwriting, and fundraisers of which this annual auction is a primary component.
It takes a lot of work to maintain a holiday tradition for decades, but for nearly a half-century, there has been a community Thanksgiving dinner in town. The 47th edition of this meal will take place from noon to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 28 at the St. Michael Catholic School gymnasium on Walnut Street. And it takes dozens of volunteers and generous donations of money and food to support Brattleboro Community Thanksgiving, which serves more than 500 people each...
Because of his “great and unmatched wisdom,” our real-estate mogul has changed course and withdrawn his decision to host the upcoming G-7 meeting of world leaders at his failing resort in Florida. A modest proposal: He could, instead, host another upcoming set of meetings there: the House impeachment and Senate trial proceeding. To fend off a charge of violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution, he could remit all expenses to himself.
Compass School will celebrate its ninth annual Compass Day Open House event on Tuesday, Nov. 5. This is a special day for the school to showcase some of the elements that make Compass unique. Prospective students, family members, friends, and alumni will have an opportunity to visit classes, take a tour of the campus, and talk to students and teachers about the school's distinctive approach to education. Doors open to the public at noon for lunch, followed by classroom visits...
On Saturday, Oct. 19 at the Colonel Williams Inn in Marlboro, 50 supporters of the Community Asylum Seekers Project enjoyed delicious hors d'oeuvres, time to connect, and a performance of 99 Facts About an Immigrant by Austin-based performance artist Leng Wong. Thank you to those who attended and to Leng for her moving performance. 99 Facts About an Immigrant focused on the details of personal experience that make us human and connect us with one another. CASP guests who are...
This is the first year Vermont has officially celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day after the permanent change was passed at the state level earlier this year. In honor of the Indigenous peoples who inhabited this beautiful continent before western Europeans first set foot on these shores, let us reflect on the traditions that honor and respect our dear Mother Earth. Every decision we make, whether it is individually or on behalf of community, has an impact for the future. We are...
Yellow Barn continues its 2019-2020 residency series with a free public concert by Lassus Quartett on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 4 p.m. at the Putney School's Currier Center. Lassus Quartett is a Swiss-based string quartet with violinists Joel Bardolet and Antonio Viñuales, violist Adam Newman, and cellist David Eggert. The group will perform Morton Feldman's gigantic String Quartet No. 2, a work lasting nearly six hours. Inspired by the intricate immensity of Turkish tapestries, the work is performed without pause,
The Brattleboro Winter Farmers Market opens its 14th season on Saturday, Nov. 2, in the C.F. Church Building at 80 Flat St. in downtown Brattleboro. After the last outdoor market in October, fans of the famous summer farmers market in West Brattleboro can follow many of their favorite vendors indoors to the only weekly farmers market in the region. The Brattleboro Winter Farmers Market will be open every Saturday, 10 a.m to 2 p.m., through March 28, 2020. Visitors will...
Agnès Varda was an innovator and creative force in French cinema going back to the time of the French New Wave in the 1950s and 1960s. Since then, she has forged a path that's all her own. The documentary Varda by Agnès, produced by her daughter, Rosalie Varda, takes the filmgoer on a tour of “the Vard's” oeuvre, even giving us a glimpse of her years as a still photographer. It is both biopic and film history. In a review...
On Nov. 8, at 8 p.m., Epsilon Spires presents CV & JAB, a collaboration by Christina Vantzou and John Also Bennett. Brussels-based ambient classical composer Vantzou and New York musician Bennett “will immerse the Sanctuary in drifting, surrealist soundscapes,” according to a news release. A sliding scale of $15-$20 will be charged at the door. The pair use synthesizers, field recordings, and traditional instruments like flutes and pianos to bathe their audiences in soft waves as well as sharp angles...
Gallery in the Woods, 145 Main St., presents its Winter Holiday show - Karen Gaudette's Animalia: “Welcome Yule.” There will be an opening reception for the artist on Friday, Nov. 1, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., during Gallery Walk. The Moondogs will celebrate with music. Gaudette offers joyful black and white drawings dedicated to the celebration of Yuletide, inspired by medieval illustrations, with images intended to inspire us to conserve, protect, and appreciate nature. Animal minstrels welcome back the sun...
Tickets are now on sale for the 22nd annual Empty Bowl dinner and auctions Sunday, Nov. 3, at Alyson's Orchard in Walpole, N.H., to benefit the food programs of Our Place Drop-in Center. The event gets underway at 5 p.m. and includes a soup supper featuring signature soups from local restaurants and chefs and silent and live auctions featuring items and services donated by local businesses and individuals. Tickets are $40 each and are on sale at Village Square Booksellers...
The End Of America returns to Stage 33 Live, at 33 Bridge St., on Saturday, Nov. 2, co-headlining with Oshima Brothers. This is the first show of an east coast tour by the two bands. The End Of America was voted “Favorite New Artist” at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and won the Emerging Artist Showcase at Falcon Ridge, returning the next year as that festival's “Most Wanted” band. Beck invited them to play his Song Reader album release show. David...
Rusty DeWees returns with all new material to the historic Jamaica Town Hall on Saturday, Nov. 9. DeWees delivers an old-time traditional evening of entertainment with iconic Vermont humor that is “part comedian, part musician, all Yankee with a side of cussin' to amuse everyone ... almost,” according to a news release. The Boston Globe has called DeWees “inventive, entertaining, and exceptional.” He was raised in Stowe, and lives up the road in Elmore. He has worked in every entertainment...
The traditional music of Quebec comes to Bellows Falls on Friday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m. when É.T.É performs a Stone Church Arts concert in the Chapel at Immanuel Episcopal Church at 20 Church St. Three young musicians with varied musical backgrounds united their creative and artistic forces to form the group É.T.É. Its members, Élisabeth Moquin, Thierry Clouette, and Élisabeth Giroux, offer a dynamic and modern vision of Québec traditional music. É.T.É.'s musical arrangements are shaded with influences of...
The Rockingham Historic Preservation Commission will sponsor a program on “The Counterculture's Impact on Vermont and Vermont's Influence on the Counterculture Generation” on Saturday, Nov. 2, at noon, at the Rockingham Free Public Library. Author Yvonne Daley will discuss her most recent book, “Going Up the Country: When the Hippies, Dreamers, Freaks and Radicals Moved to Vermont.” In the late 1960s and early 1970s, thousands of young migrants, largely from the cities and suburbs of New York and Massachusetts, turned...
Winners of the Windham Orchestra Concerto Competition will perform with the Orchestra Monday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m., at the Brattleboro Music Center. Pianists Rebekah Hong of Amherst, Mass., and Zoe Mitchell of Walpole, N.H., were selected among several finalists in the 33rd annual competition, held in March. Accompanied by the orchestra, Hong will perform the first movement of Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto 5, Op. 103, while Mitchell presents the first movement of Schumann's Piano Concerto. The Windham Orchestra also will...
As influenza activity picks up this fall, the American Red Cross is urging healthy donors of all blood types to give blood or platelets to ensure a strong blood supply for patients in need. Blood and platelets can be given only by donors who are feeling well. One way to maintain health is to get a flu vaccine each fall. There is no waiting period to give blood or platelets after receiving a flu shot as long as the donor...
Project Feed the Thousands kicks of its 26th annual campaign against hunger in the community on Friday, Nov. 1, with WTSA broadcasting live from Brattleboro's Market 32 (formerly Price Chopper). Project Feed the Thousands is a community-wide food drive and will be collecting cash and nonperishable food items through the end of the year. WTSA staff will be joined by Project Feed committee members and area food shelf representatives from 7 to 9 a.m., and hope community members will stop...
“Collection of Inspiration and Solitude” will be Chris Carter's first exhibit of her oils and watercolors at the Crowell Gallery at Moore Free Library, 23 West St. Her paintings will be on display for the month of November, with an artist reception on Saturday, Nov. 2, from 1 to 3 p.m. Carter learned to paint with oils early in life by watching and painting with her father, developing her own technique and abilities through experience. “Originally from Massachusetts, I moved...
Franz Reichsman stood to make a motion that the Windham County Democratic Committee support a resolution to impeach President Donald J. Trump. “Whoo-hoo!” someone cheered. Despite a previous meeting of the committee being marked by division over support for party leadership at the state level [“Democrats weigh in on embezzlement,” News, Sept. 11], members quickly agreed to support the resolution to impeach Trump. This motion passed unanimously on a voice vote. The resolution will also be sent to Vermont's Congressional...
Anyone who is 65 years or older is most likely receiving notices about changing their Medicare plan by postal mail, email, or a variety of other media. Medicare open-enrollment period is from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, and anyone enrolled in either traditional Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan can switch coverage. New coverage would begin on Jan. 1, 2020. It is important to understand the history of the Medicare Advantage program. In 2003, President George W. Bush signed into...
I'm no economist, but when I hear about downtown businesses blaming their financial woes on the presence of people on the sidewalk asking for spare change, I'm left scratching my head. It seems like if you're going to run a business, you'd want to know the basics of supply and demand. Like if you want to make money, you need to offer goods and services that people want at a price they can pay. So, if you want people to...
My apologies to the Times Argus, a newspaper I usually find informative and knowledgeable, but they have been duped by someone into taking a public stance in an editorial that is misleading and unfortunately trashes program protections for our rivers and lakes from stormwater pollution. Other papers have now reprinted the Times Argus editorial, compounding the harm. Stormwater is the largest source of nutrient loading and water pollution facing our surface waters. It is generated when rainwater from ever-more-intense, higher-rain-total...
'Ága' In a yurt on the snow-covered fields of Yakutia, Russia, Nanook and Sedna live following the traditions of their ancestors. Their two children have long left the icy tundra. As they age, their way of life is changing as hunting becomes more difficult and ice begins melting earlier every year. 2018; Milko Lazarov; 96 min.; Bulgaria/Germany/France; subtitled; drama. Monday, Nov. 4, 6:30 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 8, 8:30 p.m. 'Anthropocene: The Human Epoch' A cinematic meditation that takes us to...
Events that celebrate a unique quirk of a town - like the Gilfeather Turnip Festival - might look like frivolity on the surface. But Paul Costello said that these community events serve a larger purpose. Events and festivals help bring community members together for something fun that celebrates the town, said Costello, the executive director of the Vermont Council on Rural Development. But they also help build the town's identity, he said. Such events also attract people to the community...
So Trump is crazy and dangerous? It hardly matters. Because the world's governments and leading businesses and institutions are for the most part also crazy and dangerous: oblivious to the dying of the planet. They are more concerned with the next election, next quarterly report, or local issues and entertainments. About global warming, adult leadership barely exists - with the reach, courage, and persistence that are needed. Presidential debates give warming lip service. And we debate trade wars and immigration,
Hello and good day to you, residents of lovely Windham County, Vermont! I hope things are well with you. I want to start by apologizing for the Sunday blunder. When I wrote the column last week, it did not look like a soaking rainstorm was moving in early this past Sunday. Small timing changes 3 to 4 days out can cause bigger impacts down the line, and unfortunately that's what happened. Moving back into the present moment, we've got some...
The question of how to provide access to athletic activities on the Brattleboro Union High School playing fields continues to occupy the attention of the Windham Southeast School District board, its finance committee, and the public at large. I believe there are several steps to take that would permit an orderly examination of the alternatives and a reasonable conclusion to be reached. The two biggest issues appear to be whether a natural-turf option on Natowich Field can provide adequate access...
The Vermont Jazz Center is excited to present pianist Harold López-Nussa and his all-Cuban quartet on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 8 p.m., as part of the VJC's Emerging Artist Festival. This event is being held in memory of the VJC's dear friend and generous patron, Jonathan Flaccus, whose passion for Cuban music and classic bebop, as well as his generosity in assisting those in need, has had a great impact on the Jazz Center. This is a rare opportunity to...
Forty service members with ties to Vermont have been killed in action in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dozens more have died after their service as a result of their injuries or after taking their own lives after coming home. Local attorney Tom Costello, a Marine Corps combat veteran during the Vietnam War who is now the post commander of Brattleboro American Legion Post 5, said members wanted to do something to honor those who served and those who...
Next Stage Arts Project, 15 Kimball Hill, presents an evening of Americana music with two regional bands well known on the national scene - StompBox Trio and Pumpkintown - on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m. StompBox Trio vocalist Evelyn Harris was known globally as a longtime member of a capella sensation Sweet Honey in the Rock before forming StompBox Trio in Western Massachusetts with John Cabán (“Dobro” steel guitar, stompbox) and David Rodriguez (wood bass, foot tambourine). The trio...
Illuminating the dark side of brilliance, the 16 films (one is a 15-minute short) playing in the upcoming eighth annual Brattleboro Film Festival will infuriate and enchant you, often at the same time. As my mother used to say as she forced castor oil down my young throat, even bad things can be good for you. If my experience is any indication (I've seen 12 of the films), it will be hard to forget some of them. As always, the...
What do turnips and libraries have in common? In Wardsboro, the common ground seems to be community pride. “The festival provides a great opportunity for the community to get together,” says volunteer Christy Foote-Smith as she collects raffle money outside one of the vendor tents. The homegrown, heirloom turnip is the centerpiece of the Friends of the Wardsboro Library's biggest annual fundraiser: the Gilfeather Turnip Festival. “It's blossomed into something pretty amazing,” said Linda Gifkins, the festival co-chair, as she...
The eighth annual Brattleboro Film Festival opens Friday, Nov. 1 with a free public reception in the lobby of the Latchis Theatre, 50 Main St., where trailers for all 2019 films will be shown continuously. At the reception, which starts at 5 p.m., guests can hobnob with festival organizers and their fellow cinephiles prior to the opening night films, Varda by Agnès and Give Me Liberty, which begin at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., respectively. Film previews will continue to...
Olga Peters seems to have had an extensive “conversation” with Agency of Transportation Program Manager Jesse Devlin, who, she notes, is the agency's highway safety and design program manager. I have several thoughts regarding the article. Over the past several years there have been, in the warm season - almost monthly - AOT (VTrans) workers paving areas of Route 9 between Wilmington and Brattleboro. This continual work has been about repairing and maintaining Route 9's road surfaces due to the...