Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) is accepting applications for no-cost complete weatherization services, from energy education to weatherization and energy retrofits. These free upgrades save money and help ensure a warm, comfortable, and safe home.
SEVCA's expert staff can offer:
• Home energy audits performed by a highly trained energy-efficiency auditor, who will conduct a comprehensive home audit to determine what can improve energy efficiency in the home.
• A comprehensive plan to weatherize your home that includes air sealing, insulating, duct sealing, improving heating and cooling systems, minor repairs, and health and safety improvements.
The New England Musicians Relief Fund (NEMRF) has launched an initiative to reach $500,000 in donations by March 13, the one-year anniversary of when COVID-19 forced the entertainment industry in the region to shut down. Founded in 2020 by a host of Boston-area musicians, union leaders, executives, and music...
In-Sight Photography Project will begin its spring in-person session of photography classes for youth on Monday, March 15. The nonprofit offers inclusive classes to all interested youth ages 11-18, regardless of their ability to pay class fees. No student is ever turned away because of their financial situation and...
Every single person who has ever played on any sort of team - sports or otherwise - has been exhorted by a passionate leader to put aside personal goals and play for the team. A mask for one is a mask for all! Why is this so hard to do during the twilight (at least, we hope) of the pandemic? Malcolm Gladwell, in his 2006 book, The Tipping Point, used the epidemiological model to describe how information is rapidly transmitted...
We at Putney Community Cares are enormously moved by contributions to our annual appeal, to the RoundUp fund at the Putney Food Co-op, and to our Facebook page. While all these critical donations help us fulfill our mission, this year is different. We find that we're addressing new and increasing needs in our community, and these needs are likely to continue to grow in the coming months. Because our mission is to meet the needs of Putney residents of all...
To celebrate poetry's being alive and well through this past year of the COVID-19 pandemic, three organizations - Write Action, Time to Write, and the Brattleboro Literary Festival - are inviting submissions of poetry written during the past year for a new project, “Poems Around Town.” Poems selected will be printed on fine card stock and displayed in shop windows and other downtown venues during National Poetry Month in April. Did a year of “lockdown” lead you to discover (or...
Since late 2012, five hydroelectric facilities in the heart of the Connecticut River have been in the process of renewing their operating licenses, which are issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The Wilder, Bellows Falls, and Vernon dams in Vermont and New Hampshire, and the Northfield Mountain Pump Station and Turners Falls Dam in Massachusetts, impact more than 175 miles of the Connecticut River. Later this summer, members of the public will have what may be their last...
Tool helps property owners, schools, towns estimate education property taxes MONTPELIER - The Vermont Department of Taxes has created an education property tax estimator tool for the 2021-22 property tax year (FY22). The tool was created to help taxpayers understand the impact of their budget vote on Town Meeting Day and to help school board members and district officials understand the impact of proposed budgets on taxpayers based on their combination of property value and household income. Figures produced by...
Restoring downtown buildings was identified as a top priority during last year's community visit, led by the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD). To sustain this momentum and address the need for small-scale development in downtown Bellows Falls, the town of sought help through Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation's (BDCC) Southern Vermont Economy Project (SVEP). According to a news release, BDCC said it identified the Incremental Development Alliance (IncDev), a nonprofit consulting agency that “provides technical assistance to transform development plans...
College news • Griff Waryas of Bellows Falls was named to the Dean's List for the fall 2020 semester at the University of Rhode Island. • Adam Culver of Grafton, Silas Holmes of Wardsboro, Morgen Janovsky of Wilmington, and Samuel Thibault of Williamsville were all named to the President's Honors List for the fall 2020 semester at the University of Hartford. • The following students were selected for inclusion on St. Lawrence University's Dean's List for the fall 2020 semester:
The VFW Post 1034 Auxiliary is taking part in a new national anthem singing contest, “Getting Excited for the Red, White, and Blue.” The entry deadline is Wednesday, March 31. Designed to promote patriotism and encourage youth to learn the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner” while displaying their creativity and vocal talent, the contest is open to youth ages 6 to 16. Entrants do not have to be related to a VFW or Auxiliary member. Contestants must submit a video...
Due to COVID-19, a maple syrup raffle and an online Zoom musical and storytelling event, “A Celebration of Maple,” will replace the Guilford Community Church's longstanding sugar-on-snow fundraiser this year on Saturday, March 20, at 4:30 p.m., via Zoom, according to organizer Fred Breunig. All raffle purchasers will automatically receive a link to the Zoom event by email, though Breunig stressed that raffle participants need not be present to win. Instead of the traditional meal, performers Andy Davis and Peter...
It's a truism in basketball that if your offense is struggling, Plan B is to try create some scoring opportunities by playing as aggressively as possible on defense. I saw two examples of this coaching strategy this week that led to a pair of wins for the Leland & Gray and Brattleboro girls' basketball teams. On March 4 in Townshend, the Rebels overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Arlington, 34-30, for their first win of the season. The following...
“Going, Going, Gone,” a public exhibition of artwork by Stephanie Nyzio, is on display through April 30 at the Crowell Gallery at Moore Free Library, 23 West St. For more than two decades, Nyzio has taught art in public schools. “Recently, she has taken time off to allow space to rekindle her commitment to her artistic voice,” according to a news release announcing the exhibit. She spent some of that time living in Costa Rica, immersed in a tropical paradise...
Next Stage Arts Project announces a livestreamed concert - “Highlander's Farewell,” by fiddler Alasdair Fraser and cellist Natalie Haas - on Friday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m. The retrospective concert is dedicated to revisiting and updating parts of the duo's 20 years of recording and performing cutting-edge fiddle/cello explorations of Scottish, Celtic, and global music. “With a shared passion for improvising on the melody and the groove of traditional tunes, Fraser and Haas feature dazzling teamwork, swapping melodic and harmonic...
Weathering a global pandemic might be a new experience for business owners. Yet the challenges facing communities are not necessarily new, as highlighted by the legislative priorities shared by Senate President Pro Tem Becca Balint and Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski with members of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Workforce development, child care, and broadband expansion were three priorities listed by Balint and Krowinski during the March 8 conversation, part of the Chamber's virtual policy series. “My goal from...
As The Commons went to press on Tuesday night, Seth Andrew, the cofounder of Democracy Builders and the nonprofit educational organization's executive chair, announced the cancellation of an agreement that would have put the campus under the long-term legal ownership and control of a nonprofit organization from Toronto. Calling the process of selling the campus to Type 1 Civilization Academy Marlboro Campus LLC “an engagement, then a marriage,” Andrew said that Democracy Builders had invoked protections it had negotiated to...
Gusts of cold wind slice through the warmth of the late winter sun shining down on Potash Hill. Deep piles of snow line the foot paths. A map of the campus with the logo of its previous owner, Marlboro College, in the bottom left corner points the way to the Dining Hall, where a bright yellow Degrees of Freedom banner hangs above the door. Inside, the early morning sunlight filters through flags of various countries and a Black Lives Matter...
The Vermont Jazz Center will present trumpeter Jeremy Pelt in a livestream show featuring his working quintet on Saturday, March 20, at 8 p.m. He will be performing music from his most recent album, Griot: This Is Important! Joining Pelt will be the performers featured on this new recording: Chien Chien Lu (vibraphone), Victor Gould (piano), Vicente Archer (acoustic bass), and Allan Mednard (drums). Pelt is one of the finest jazz trumpeters of his generation; he has been compared favorably...
Ten years ago, I wrote these words from a well of grief after the multiple nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima, Japan: “I imagine being told to evacuate my family (three children and two pets), along with 140,000 other people, into a homeland that is already a disaster from an earthquake and a tsunami. I imagine myself knowing I am leading them into a radiation zone. I imagine not being able to smell it, see it, feel it.” Nobody knew then what...
Almost 10 years ago, Marble Ace Arvidson, 17, left a note on his bedroom door saying he'd return in approximately 30 minutes. No one has seen him since. At least, no one who has shared information with Marble's family or the Brattleboro Police Department. “We won't stop looking,” said Trish Kittredge, Marble's aunt. Detectives with the Brattleboro Police Department are reviewing Marble's case with fresh eyes and requesting anew that the community share any information - even if it seems...