Broad Brook Grange will hold its annual Pre-Town Meeting on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m., at the Broad Brook Community Center on Guilford Center Road.
This is the only opportunity for voters to hear details of the articles that will be presented at Town Meeting and to meet and discuss issues with the Selectboard in advance of Town Meeting. Refreshments will conclude the evening.
In addition, candidates for town offices are urged to attend to introduce themselves to the voters. State law prevents any “campaigning” by candidates at Town Meeting when an Australian ballot is used, as in this instance. So this is the only time before the vote for the public to meet and hear the candidates all at once.
Those interested in declaring as write-in candidates should take this sole opportunity to appear before a group of voters.
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center recently announced that 107 young people from across Vermont have been recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for their exceptional artistic and literary talent. The students' award-winning artwork and writing will be exhibited at BMAC from Feb. 15 until March 7,
On Saturday, Feb. 15, the Brattleboro arts venue Epsilon Spires will host “Phobos,” a performance of imaginative mechanical instruments designed by the Portuguese collective Sonoscopia. Described by its creators as a “dysfunctional robotic orchestra,” the instruments used in the performance reconfigure familiar objects like telephones and electronic children's toys...
Dr. Jennifer Zaccara, Vermont Academy's Head of School, recently announced the creation of a new merit scholarship program for students who live in Vermont. The Vermont Scholars Program's goal is to increase the number of Vermont students who attend the elite private school. “Every day when I walk through the doorway to my residence I see a treatise written by Dorothy Hall Leavitt,” Zaccara said in a news release. “She was the wife of one of our most important heads...
The Vermont Council on Rural Development will hold its last community meeting in the Let's Take Action Rockingham Community Visit process on Thursday, Feb. 13, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., at the Bellows Falls Middle School, 15 School St. VCRD invites all residents of the town to help line up action plans to move priority projects forward. According to a VCRD news release, about 150 Rockingham community members came together on Jan. 9 to set core priorities for future action...
Taxes due in Brattleboro BRATTLEBORO - The third installment of the 2019 Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes is due Feb. 18. Payments made after Feb. 18 will have an additional 1 percent interest added to the unpaid balance. The utility billing is also due Feb. 18. Payments made after Feb. 18 will have an additional 1 percent interest, as well as an 8 percent penalty, added to the unpaid balance. Payments may be mailed to the Town of Brattleboro,
Not all deposits at Brattleboro Savings & Loan are financial. The bank is hosting a community blood drive with the American Red Cross on Monday, Feb. 24, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at their 221 Main St. location in their Community Room. “We are committed to strengthening our community and helping meet hospital and patient needs through blood donations,” President and CEO Dan Yates said in a news release. “As a Certified B Corporation, we are committed to benefiting...
It's ironic that Stephanie Givens, after hanging a ”Grinch” skeleton in a prison uniform in her yard, was subjected to the same outraged mob mentality that led to lynchings in the first place. It seems that even nice, liberal Vermonters are trolling for affronts and projecting evil where none was intended. Depending on your perspective, Ms. Givens' display could be seen as funny, tasteless, or disturbing. But it takes sheer paranoid projection to identify the race of a plastic skeleton.
Obituaries • Betty Louise Gregory Bailey, 91, of Vernon. Died Feb. 2, 2020 at Vernon Green nursing home, where she had lived for several years. Born in Vernon on June 20, 1928, the third daughter of Alfred and Irene (Johnson) Gregory, she attended the one-room North Vernon Grammar School and graduated from Brattleboro High School in 1946 before going to work for American Optical on Putney Road. In 1951, she married Merle “Barney” Bailey, a union that would last 59...
The first gathering of “Nature & Books: A Monthly Discussion Series” is Wednesday, Feb. 26, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., at the Grafton Public Library. Co-sponsored by The Nature Museum and the Grafton Public Library, this book-discussion series will kick off with the 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner by Richard Powers, The Overstory. Powers' novel weaves together the stories of nine Americans whose experiences with trees influence their lives and decisions in complex and fascinating ways. The library has multiple copies...
While the Australian bushfires were being put out, Rotary clubs in Vermont and New Hampshire were gathering funds to help with the aftermath. This has resulted in close to $25,000 being donated to the effort. According to Rotary District Governor Nancy Russell, there are 60 Rotary Clubs in District 7870. “We saw homes destroyed, animals injured, children sheltering, and forests in flames,” she said in a news release, “and we knew we had to act.” Russell continued, “We reached out...
New England Youth Theatre will tackle issues such as xenophobia, bullying, and forgiveness March 6-14 with the timeless tale The Hundred Dresses, the kickoff show of NEYT's Mainstage 2020 season. Based on the award-winning book by Eleanor Estes and written by Mary Hall Surface, the story follows Wanda Petronski, a young girl who simply wants to have fun and make friends, just like every other child; but in 1930s small-town America, a Polish immigrant doesn't easily fit in. “This play...
The Brattleboro Music Center's Chamber Series presents violinist Itamar Zorman and pianist Adam Golka on Friday, Feb. 21. The 7:30 p.m. concert will take place at the BMC on Blanche Moyse Way. Since his emergence as the top prize winner of the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition, violinist Itamar Zorman has performed as a soloist and chamber musician around the world. The recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust award, he is a regular participant at the...
The well-known Quebecois trio Genticorum will perform in Bellows Falls at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16. The Stone Church Arts concert takes place at Immanuel Episcopal Church, the stone church on the hill, 20 Church St. Over the past 18 years, Genticorum has become a fixture on the international world, trad, folk, and Celtic music circuit. The band's six albums have met with critical success in Canada, the U.S., and Europe. Genticorum has given more than 800 concerts in...
Singer-songwriters Tom Pirozzoli and Dave Richardson will be the co-headliners on Sunday, Feb. 16, at Stage 33 Live. Pirozzoli is celebrating Reckon by the Light, the newest CD in a career that has spanned more than 40 years. He got his start busking on street corners and performing at anti-war rallies, eventually finding his way into the coffeehouse scene. His Fast Folk Music recordings are now part of the Smithsonian's collection. He was named a winner in Musician Magazine's Best...
Canal Street Art Gallery, 23 Canal St., presents “A Changing Form: Fine Art Ceramics,” the gallery's fourth medium-focused group show. It opens Feb. 12 and runs through April 4. All are invited for the opening reception with the artists, on Bellows Falls 3rd Friday Gallery Night, Feb. 21, from 5 to 8 p.m. The exhibit shares a collection from artists creating sculptural and functional original artwork using clay as a primary medium. Artwork by David Ernster, Kathie Gatto-Gurney, Deborah Goodwin,
Latchis Arts' new film series, The Great Composers, featuring films on the world's most influential composers, continues with In Search of Mozart on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 15 and 16, at 4 p.m., at the Latchis Theatre. Developed by Seventh Art Productions, which also produces the popular Exhibition on Screen series, The Great Composers films are written and directed by Phil Grabsky and narrated by Juliet Stevenson. In Search of Mozart is told through a 2,500-mile journey along every route...
Can you hear the {enspace}h{enspace}u{enspace}m{enspace} of my ancestors when my voice shakes as I speak in the room that wasn't designed for me? Can you hear the {enspace}h{enspace}u{enspace}m{enspace} of my ancestors on transatlantic slave ships rocking together in unison, calming their bodies, and defying all odds? Can you hear the {enspace}h{enspace}u{enspace}m{enspace} of my ancestors as I challenge your fragility and deep fear of being uncomfortable, even if it means the murder, incarceration, emotional dis-ease of my people? Can you hear...
Brattleboro Community Television and The Commons will present a Selectboard Candidates' Forum on Wednesday, Feb. 19, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., in the Selectboard Meeting Room on the second floor of the Municipal Center, 230 Main St. The program will be broadcast live on BCTV Channel 10. It will also stream live at brattleborotv.org as well as on Facebook. Randolph T. Holhut, news editor of The Commons, will moderate. The three candidates for a three-year seat - current board member...
Along with casting ballots for local Selectboard candidates and the presidential primary on Tuesday, March 3, voters will also consider a non-binding question: Should the town have a mayor? Two co-sponsors of a non-binding ballot question gathered with press last week to discuss the topic in a conversation that will be broadcast on Brattleboro Community Television as an episode of BCTV Open Studio. Former Selectboard member Dick DeGray and Brattleboro Savings & Loan President/CEO Dan Yates, who have spearheaded the...
The ballot question's co-sponsors have provided few details about their vision for how a mayoral system would work. As a result, most of the discussion has been filled by questions and opinion. Many people have written letters to local news outlets raising concerns about what a mayoral government would mean. Would Brattleboro relinquish the town manager position? Would Representative Town Meeting go away? Would the new system concentrate too much power in one position? How much would a mayoral system...
Hello and good day to you, fine citizens of southeastern Vermont! We've got our fairly bland winter continuing into February, despite a small dump of snow early this week. For Wednesday, we'll enjoy a lovely, seasonable day before clouds build in Wednesday night. Light accumulating snow changing to ice and rain by Thursday morning begets northwest winds and much colder temperatures Thursday night through Saturday night. At least our colder period will be accompanied by dry conditions and more sun...
I watched the Iowa caucuses - and the resulting mayhem - with a mixture of curiosity, astonishment, and hope. Despite the sometimes haphazard madness of it all, I found myself buoyed by so many of the participants declaring that, if their candidate did not make the cut, they would absolutely be prepared to vote for whoever did get the candidacy. I was also struck by the camaraderie between so many of those caucusing, from old friends to couples to people...
As I write this letter, the Wet'suwet'en First Nation peoples, on their unceded, ancestral land in British Columbia, are under armed attack by the Canadian government. It is an old story, one as old as the “discovery” of the Americas and as recent as Standing Rock a couple of years ago. Their Unist'ot'en Healing Centre, built in the path of the gas pipeline that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is trying to force through their territory, was surrounded by militarized Royal...
In an expression of solidarity with the brave citizens of the Wet'suwet'en tribe who are defending their sacred land in British Columbia from the Coastal GasLink pipeline, Post Oil Solutions and its Climate Café will hold an event expressing support on Monday, March 2, 6 p.m., in the community room of the Brattleboro Food Co-op. (Please do not park in the Co-op parking lot. Thank you.). The event is free, though we will pass the hat for needed donations to...
For more than 20 years, Vermont's smaller towns have been overtaxed and their schools underfunded, according to the Pupil Weighting Factors Report, a $300,000 study of current school funding legislation recently issued by the Secretary of Education. Hurry, and you may be able to save your school. The state has been raising enough tax dollars - it simply has not been distributing those dollars fairly. The current law, a math mystery called Act 60, was passed in 1997, when the...
The Scene: Presidential primary election, March 3 in Vermont. Election official: “Which ballot do you want? Democratic or Republican?” Vermont voter: “Why do I need to tell you which ballot I want?” “Well, umm, it's the law .â—Š.â—Š.â—Š.“ “Really?” Yes, it is! As was enacted in 1979: “A person voting at the primary shall be required to ask for the ballot of the party in which the voter wishes to vote and an election official shall record the voter's choice...
IElaine Clift claims that “If Democrats fail to provide strategic messages that hit home, voters won't know what's been happening under the radar because of the Trump administration, nor will they realize how it affects them.” It's my observation that the Democrats, supported by the print media, broadcast television, academia, and Hollywood stars, have offered a clear message. It's “We hate the president.” As the president and his administration's accomplishments continue to increase, his approval rating with voters across the...
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center presents an opening celebration for “Ask the River” on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 11 a.m. Admission is free and open to the public. “Ask the River” will be on view at BMAC through March 7. Artists Elizabeth Billings, Evie Lovett, and Andrea Wasserman describe “Ask the River” as “a community art and creative placemaking project that empowers us to reconnect with the Connecticut River and the water that flows through it, intertwining people and...
The high school basketball season in Vermont is long. The pre-season starts in November and the first games are played in early December. Teams slog their way through January and by early February, they have a good idea about whether they will have a long playoff run that stretches into March, or a quick exit in the first round. The Bellows Falls Terriers girls' basketball team started their season with four straight losses. Illness and injuries slowed their progress. But...
The Vermont Jazz Center welcomes Bobby Watson and Horizon on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. Watson, on saxophone, will be joined by Rising Stars Jazz Award-winner Giveton Gelin on trumpet and a rhythm section comprising members of the original group: pianist Edward Simon, bassist Carroll V. Dashiell, and the legendary drummer Victor Lewis. Horizon is a supergroup that performs straight-ahead, acoustic, hardbop music. According to band leader Watson, his composing style and the group's sound is influenced by Stevie...
Lissa Schneckenburger sits down at the piano, smiles into the video camera, and starts off with “just a snippet of what I did yesterday afternoon [as] we suddenly have a horn player in the family!” And the fiddler-composer from Brattleboro launches into a jaunty rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In,” as her son Hunter oompahs on the trombone in the background. It's just one of dozens of videos of dancers and musicians in Thetford, Montpelier, and Craftsbury, of...
Over the years, I've learned that cooking food and throwing a shindig can create a natural lubricant to make people come together with greater ease. As a method of creating mutual understanding, socializing over food isn't perfect. It doesn't solve any of America's many diseases - race, class, and so on. And sometimes, much like the process of cooking, things need to start with a lot of work before the labor can be enjoyed. We need to start in a...
Cabaret, a landmark musical when it opened in 1966, will reveal its potency once again when it opens Friday, March 13 at the Bellows Falls Opera House. This decadent entertainment depicts the rise of the Third Reich as seen through the veil of a seedy nightclub. As the dancers cavort before us, we become distracted, laughing, titillated by the exuberant depravity. Caught up in the 1920s version of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, we laugh along with the expanding...