• Barbara Louise Aplin, 91, of Brattleboro. Died April 21, 2020 at Pine Heights Nursing Home, where she had been a resident for the past six months. Barbara was born in Brattleboro on May 30, 1928, the daughter of Donald George and Leone Carolyn (Fuller) Aplin. She was raised and educated in Putney, attending local schools. For many years, she worked as a proofreader for American Stratford and, in her earlier years, worked for a short time at Kurn Hattin Homes in Westminster. A quiet and peaceful soul, Barbara was happy keeping to herself. She was often known to spend hours lost in a good book. Barbara is survived by two sisters, Dorothy Cousins of Sharon, Conn., and Betty Spicer of Utica, N.Y., and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by three sisters, Mary Harlow, Pauline Starck, and Joyce Beam; and two brothers, David Aplin and Edward Aplin, Sr. Memorial information: There will be no formal funeral services. Burial will take place in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Putney. Donations to Putney Volunteer Fire Station, P.O. Box 875, Putney, VT 05346, or Pine Heights Nursing Home Activities Fund, 187 Oak Grove Ave, Brattleboro, VT 05301. To send messages of condolence, visit www.atamaniuk.com.
• Robert “Rusty” Blossom, 80, of Conway, Mass. Died March 9, 2020, beating by a decade the age at which he declared continued human existence “in bad taste.” Doctors attributed the cause of death to pneumonia, but a number of Rusty's friends had a different theory: Trump-related existential exhaustion. He is survived by his longtime companion, Susan Lenoe, of Andover, Mass.; his two brothers, Dwight, of Hinsdale, N.H., and Charles, of Concord, N.H.; and 26 nieces and nephews. His wife of 30 years, Margaret (Dunn) Blossom, predeceased him. Rusty was a resident of...
John Miller from the Old Schoolhouse Plantery passed away a couple of weeks ago. John was one of the gems of the Brattleboro Farmers' Market! Though he grew extraordinary exotic plants for homes, I interacted with him primarily around his vegetables, which were also extraordinary. If you never had...
Brooks Memorial Library moves services online BRATTLEBORO - Brooks Memorial Library might not be open, but many services it offers are still available. For quick and easy updates about the community and library, as well as links to online services and fun things to do at home, visit Brooks...
Grace Cottage Family Health is offering Telehealth appointments to provide additional access to primary care health needs in view of social distancing necessary because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Telehealth is a virtual (video chat) appointment with a health care provider for both established and new patients. Telehealth may not be right for everyone. Grace Cottage's scheduling center, with guidance of the health center's medical team, can help you determine whether the method is appropriate and set up an appointment.
The Brattleboro Rotary Club will again offer college scholarships this year through its Gateway Foundation to graduating students at Brattleboro Union, Leland & Gray, and Hinsdale high schools. A combination of financial need, academic achievement and community service will be used to select each recipients, who will receive $2,000 to $3,000. The awards will be presented in June. In addition, the club will recognize every recipient at a meeting this summer. The Gateway Foundation was established by the Brattleboro Rotary...
Amidst the organization's many measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Groundworks Collaborative has pivoted to a virtual approach for the organization's eighth annual Camp for a Common Cause fundraiser. The event, which normally seeks a permit to lift the town's public camping restriction for one night each May on the Town Common, will happen virtually this year on Friday, May 1. Organizers aim to bring the community together around the cause despite the physical distance separating us all -
The United States Postal Service,(1) which is not funded by tax money and is the only non-corporate mail service, is (2)struggling to stay in operation. (3)The agency needs government money desperately right now so it won't go under. At stake are the jobs of 640,000 employees.(4) The universal mail service will be needed for thousands and thousands of Americans to vote in the upcoming November election(5). President Trump threatened not to sign the recent coronavirus stimulus bill if it included...
We bought our home after half a lifetime of passing through on our way to other Vermont destinations. We've lived here for almost 17 years. We thought we knew this place - our neighborhood, the people, the town - but the last month has exposed to us how little we actually knew about our neighbors, our place in the Green Mountains, even ourselves. One of my first attempts at COVID-19 humor was to ask a neighbor who stopped in our...
Last week, environmental activists around the world had planned huge actions in the streets and schools, as well as lots of other creative ideas. While our well-planned agenda of full expression of our sadness, rage, and dreams about the future will need to be expressed in alternative words and actions in order to stay safe in this COVID-19 pandemic, we have not been idle. The lessons being learned from coronavirus for the world are unexpected and will impact our future...
Amid the economic and physical health devastations that the novel coronavirus has brought, some good news emerged this week: every homeless and housing-insecure person that Groundworks Collaborative serves has a roof overhead tonight, and a door that they can close behind them. Lodging in Windham County is shut to anyone but those termed essential personnel and, according to one receptionist at Motel 6, guests there have mainly been truckers and a few traveling nurses. But the motel is also open...
Have you noticed in this last month that there are more people out walking and riding bikes and there are fewer cars on the road? The quieter, calmer streets make this a good time to practice cycling your usual car routes in order to gain skill and confidence. Once you've practiced several times, you may feel ready to commute on your bike when social distancing ends. A Portland, Ore. physical education teacher suggested this idea, noting all the benefits that...
At this challenging time of disruption and social distancing, when people need something to help cheer them up, it's Yellow Barn Music Haul to the rescue. The Music Haul, a retrofitted 17-foot U-Haul truck, is visiting area food drops, nursing homes, health care institutions, and housebound individuals, to play recorded performances of music, ranging from the Beatles to Beethoven, for the enjoyment and well-being of all. “Certainly in this time, we want music to do as much good as it...
I had heard a Pope celebrate Easter at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in New York City; I'd cheered a rousing Easter in a rural Virginia church; I'd celebrated sunrise Easters and many a new-straw-bonneted one. But I'd never been to a cyber Easter Sunday service. Until now. Until this time, this spring of 2020, unprecedented in myriad ways. Expecting the unexpected, the new normal is already old and so, on April 12, I connected to my local Episcopal...
The proposal to shrink the state college system seems sudden. But in fact, it continues a process begun in the 1970s, when land grant and other public colleges and universities began charging substantial tuition. And, from the 1979-80 recession, tuitions increased steadily as states reduced support for higher education. Until then, states adhered to the spirit of the Land-Grant Agricultural and Mechanical College Act of 1862, offering higher education affordable to “the sons of toil.” No longer. In 2019, state...
Nicole Reisman was working as a private chef until the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted her business and the livelihoods of so many others. She wanted to help those who are having a hard time getting meals during this crisis. “There's just so much anxiety now that I thought it would be nice for people to get a well-cooked meal to ease that anxiety,” said the native of Memphis, Tenn. who moved to Brattleboro last fall. On March 17, Reisman put a...
Tree Warden Dan Adams is the 2020 recipient of the Vermont Urban & Community Forestry Program's Hamilton Award, which honors a tree warden “who has significantly advanced the goals of urban and community forestry through successful forestry practices, effective conservation planning, increased citizen engagement, and active public education.” The award is named for Dr. Larry Hamilton, the former tree warden in Charlotte. A private consulting forester, with over 35 years in the forestry business, Adams was nominated by Director of...
Many of us have now hit our limit on self-quarantining. Whether sheltering in place on our own, or with family, children, loved ones, friends, partners, or roommates, we are all entering a new kind of being-aloneness that is both challenging and eye-opening. This past month, we witnessed firsthand that the more we can manage to live in isolation, the greater our chances at beating COVID-19. Already, we are seeing the positive results of our collective efforts: This week, we learned...
February marked a time of celebration for Jason Lively and Cory Bratton. In that month, first-time business owner, Lively, acquired Duo Restaurant at the corner of High and Main streets. Just up the hill, Bratton and business partner Samual Schwartzkoph expanded their catering business, A Vermont Table, to include a restaurant in the space formerly occupied by The Backside Cafe in the Midtown Mall. The menus revealed, the tableware set, the doors opened for business. And then, a global pandemic.