Thanksgiving closings in Brattleboro
BRATTLEBORO - In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, all Brattleboro Town offices will be closed Thursday and Friday, Nov. 28 and 29, with the exception of emergency services.
Brooks Memorial Library will close at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27, and will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. It will be open for regular hours on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 29 and 30.
Parking is free in all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Nov. 28 and 29. Parking will resume regular enforcement hours on Nov. 30. All other violations will be enforced.
Trash, recycling, and composting won't be picked up on Thursday, Nov. 28. Trash, recycling, and composting normally picked up on Thursday will be picked up on Friday.
Sign up for emergency assistance registry
BRATTLEBORO - Do you reside in the town of Brattleboro? Do you need assistance in an emergency or know someone who does? Do you have challenges that would make leaving your home difficult?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, the Brattleboro Fire Department asks that you fill out an Assistance Registry Form. The form can be found on the brattleborofd.org and brattleboro.org websites.
Forms are also available at the Senior Center, 207 Main St.; the Fire Department's Central Station, 103 Elliot St.; the Municipal Center, 230 Main St.; and Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St.
The information will be kept confidential and is for local emergency use only. If you have filled out a form in the past, the fire department asks to take a minute to fill out a new form.
The form should be submitted annually or when changes need to be made to the form. If there are any questions, contact the Brattleboro Fire Department at 802-254-4831.
Thanksgiving service at Christ Church
GUILFORD - St. Michael's Episcopal Church of Brattleboro will have its annual Thanksgiving Day morning prayer service at Christ Church in Guilford. Christ Church, the mother church of St. Michael's Episcopal, is heated, but steep steps may limit accessibility for some with impaired mobility.
The service begins at 10 a.m., lasts about 30 minutes, and includes hymns. Coming together to give thanks is a beautiful way to begin your Thanksgiving, and you will still have plenty of time for festivities. All are welcome.
Card-making workshop for immigrant detainees at Brooks Library
BRATTLEBORO - Bring a little cheer and encouragement to a child or family in immigrant detention by making cards with a message of hope and friendship in English and Spanish.
Adults and children are welcome to join in a workshop at Brooks Memorial Library on Saturday, Nov. 30, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Meeting Room.
All art supplies will be provided, as well as sample greetings in Spanish. You are welcome to bring additional art materials, special papers, glue sticks, and scissors (no glitter or removable items like beads, please).
Cards will be mailed after the workshop to the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), an agency that will distribute cards to family detention centers in Pennsylvania and Texas, as well as to recently-released immigrants awaiting reunification with family. Children 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult. If you can't attend, you can donate cards (homemade or purchased) for others to sign.
For more information, contact Wendy Bayliss at wendycbayliss@gmail.com. To learn more about LIRS, go to action/hope-for-the-holidays.
Celtic Christmas concert in Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE - The Whitingham Free Public Library welcomes back musician Jeff Snow for an afternoon of Christmas Celtic Music on Sunday, Dec. 1, at 2 p.m.
Snow, from nearby western Massachusetts, is a talented multi-instrumentalist who plays the music and tells the stories behind the songs. He plays 6- and 12-string guitar, autoharp, and Celtic Bouzouki and Bodhran. Snow has performed for audiences of all ages and in a variety of settings including concert halls, libraries, museums, churches, schools, and private homes.
Holiday refreshments will be served. For more information, call 802-368-7506 or visit www.whitinghamvt.org/library/announcements/celtic-christmas-concert. The library, which is handicapped-accessible, is located in the Whitingham Municipal Center on Route 100 in the village of Jacksonville.
Wildlife crossings is topic of Dummerston talk
DUMMERSTON - On Tuesday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m., at the Dummerston Congregational Church, at the corner of Middle and East-West Roads, wildlife biologist Kim Royar of Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department will give a free talk about wildlife corridors and crossings and the mammals that use them.
According to Royar, a wildlife corridor is the critical link of wildlife habitat, which joins two or more larger areas of similar wildlife habitat. By providing landscape connections, it enables migration, colonization, and interbreeding of plants and animals. Corridors can function as a sequence of stepping stones across the landscape.
Following Royar's presentation, large maps of Dummerston will be used to learn how to identify places where animals most often cross the road, including information provided by participants. She will bring animal pelts and bones so that we can become even more familiar with the animals that inhabit our town.
The talk is sponsored by the Dummerston Conservation Commission.
Music Together offers free demo class at NEYT
BRATTLEBORO - Music Together for Monadnock Families, a music and movement program for young children (infants through age 6) will be holding a free demo class at New England Youth Theatre (NEYT) on Thursday, Dec. 5, from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. Registration is required. To register, contact instructor and director Nancy Salwen at nancy@salwen.net or 603-357-4693.
Classes include singing, movement, and percussion-instrument activities for children and adults together, in a relaxed, playful atmosphere. If families enjoy the free demo class, there is an opportunity to enroll in the winter session beginning Thursday, Jan. 9.
Music Together for Monadnock Families is part of the internationally-recognized and research-based early childhood music program, Music Together, developed in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1987 on the principle that all children have musical abilities that can be nurtured in a stimulating and supportive environment.
Compassionate Brattleboro continues Community Conversations series
BRATTLEBORO - “Compassion, fear, and safety on Brattleboro's streets and public places” will be the fourth in the fall series of Community Conversations on Compassion, Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m., at Brooks Memorial Library.
Some people say fear and unpleasantness are keeping residents and tourists away from downtown Brattleboro. Others say a sizable number of Brattleboro residents have no place to hang their hats or spend their days, other than our streets and parks.
Brattleboro voters say they want to be a compassionate community. What can we learn about ourselves and our community by looking at this situation through the lens of compassion? Is there a compassionate way forward that includes safety, responsibility, accountability, and legality?
A panel of five residents with varied perspectives on downtown life will share their views and stimulate community conversation.
Community Conversations on Compassion looks at hard issues in our community and in our lives through the eyes of compassion. The hope is that these conversations will give us better understanding of what compassion means to us and our neighbors in Brattleboro in 2019, and how it can grow in our personal and public lives.
The spring 2020 series is being planned, and ideas or requests can be sent to compassionstory@gmail.com. All previous conversations can be viewed on BCTV's website, brattleborotv.org.
Tickets still available for Sunrise Rotary raffle
BRATTLEBORO - Time is running out on the chance to purchase dinner raffle tickets from members of the Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary Club. Members are selling tickets for their annual Dinner Raffle to raise funds for Project Feed the Thousands and other Rotary projects.
This year's first prize is five $100 gift certificates to the following Brattleboro area restaurants: Duo, Whetstone Station, Panda North, Echo, and The Marina. Second place prize is a $50 gift basket from Dutton Farm Stand and a $25 gift certificate to the Green Mountain Market and Deli.
Tickets may be purchased for $5 each or a package of five for $20 and are available through any Brattleboro Sunrise Rotarian or by contacting Jason (802-380-0848) or Toni (802-254-0047).
Members of the public can also purchase tickets on Wednesday mornings from 7:15 to 8:30 a.m. at American Legion Post 5 in Brattleboro during the Sunrise Rotary Club's weekly meeting. The raffle drawing will be held Wednesday, Dec. 11.
Sanders presents annual holiday luncheon
BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Senior Center and Brattleboro Senior Meals will host their annual holiday luncheon on Thursday, Dec. 19. The menu will include appetizers, rolls and butter, surf and turf, baked potatoes, asparagus, and Key lime pie. Appetizers will be on the tables at 11:30 a.m., and serving will begin at noon.
This free meal is sponsored by the friends of Senator Bernie Sanders. Entertainment will be provided. Reservations for this event are mandatory and won't be accepted before Dec. 2. Seating is limited to 150 senior citizens. For reservations, call 802-257-1236 or 802-257-7570, leave your phone number, and specify if you have any dietary restrictions.