• Committal rites and burial for Rita M. (Thomas) Call will be held in the family lot in Locust Ridge Cemetery in Brattleboro on Saturday, May 22, at 10 a.m., where she will be laid to rest next to her husband. Mrs. Call, 65, of Rockingham, died Feb. 25, 2021 at the Jack Byrne Center in Lebanon, N.H. To see her full obituary or send condolences to the family, visit www.atamaniuk.com.
...Putney Central School celebrated May Day with a garden renaissance work party. School staff, students, and their families turned out on a chilly, sunny morning to prepare the garden for the upcoming season. The group revitalized the six 4 ft. × 12 ft. raised beds, which needed fresh wooden...
The Westminster West Public Library was one of 517 U.S. libraries to receive grants through the “Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries” program of the American Library Association (ALA). Participating libraries will receive training in how to lead conversations, a skill vital to 21st-century librarianship. Library...
After more than a year of mostly online events, the creative professionals at Sandglass Theater are “eager to get back to teaching and to sharing the experiences of training and creating new work with people who are interested in the unique art form of puppet theater.” In a news release, Sandglass says its Summer Intensive Training “has historically been a meeting place among people from different countries, different ages, and different experiences in life and in art.” This summer, the...
Lower floor of Transportation Center closed BRATTLEBORO -The first floor (lower level) of the Brattleboro Transportation Center will be closed until Saturday, June 5, to make repairs to that floor of the structure. The Flat Street entrance/exit to the Transportation Center will be closed to all traffic. Vehicles will be allowed to enter and exit through the Elliot Street entrance only. For more information, please contact Carol Coulombe in the Parking Enforcement Office at 802-257-2305 or ccoulombe@brattleboro.org. Senior lunch served...
AARP Vermont encourages residents who are without access to high-speed internet, or struggling to afford it, to look into the recently launched Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program. The EBB is a $3.2 billion Federal Communications Commission program to help make more affordable the high-speed internet people need during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The pandemic has shown our reliance on high-speed internet,” said AARP Vermont State Director Greg Marchildon, who cited some examples: “telehealth, students learning remotely, and loved ones staying connected...
Please share this proclamation from the Windham Southeast School District in honor of our teachers: In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, the WSESD school board takes great pleasure in recognizing the extraordinary achievements of our teaching staff. By any metric used, Vermont public schools traditionally rank among the best in the nation, and the schools in the WSESD are clearly no exception. More than any other factor, we enjoy this success mainly because of an exceptionally talented and dedicated teaching...
Watch the next generation of circus stars perform Impetus, which the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) describes as “a high flying, awe inspiring theatrical circus production.” NECCA's graduating class of ProTrack students will take the virtual stage, presenting a show that, according to a news release, “captures the ways in which humans connect to influence, inspire, and irritate one another through space and time.” Impetus is the final Circus Capstone Project for professionally ready students attending the school's...
The Juno Orchestra, Vermont's newest professional chamber orchestra, has announced a new, four-part project: Juno Singles. Juno has engaged four local composers, commissioning each to craft a 10-to-15 minute work for string orchestra. Taking part are Derrik Jordan, of Putney, a world music specialist; Robert Merfeld, of Hinsdale, N.H., a pianist and chamber music coach; Dana Maiben, of Brattleboro, a violinist and Baroque music specialist: and Eugene Uman, of Brattleboro, director of the Vermont Jazz Center. The orchestra will workshop...
The Vermont Constitution lays out our state's governmental structure and also our rights as inhabitants. Therefore, it is understood to be the supreme foundational law of the state of Vermont. The aim and overall purpose of the Vermont Constitution is communicated in Article 7. It was written for the common benefit of all the people, for equal consideration, equal freedom and equal justice. It is expressly not for the advantage or favoritism of a person or set of persons. Vermonters'
Whether it's the latest baseless contention that President Biden wants to ban meat or the ongoing unfounded contentions of election fraud, facts do matter. Thankfully Vermont voters - and a majority of voters in our country - are proving they don't buy fact-less attempts to deceive. So it is “curiouser and curiouser” as to why the ongoing attempts to spread fact-less opinions? Across the nation, at least 60 cases have been brought to court alleging voter fraud in the last...
In laying out the print edition of last week's Commons, your editor accidentally omitted the byline and bio from the Viewpoint “Can the cooperative model save the next Vermont Bread Co.?” (though it was properly attributed on the website). The piece was written by Wendy M. Levy, one of our former reporters. We believe in transparency in the Voices section and consider the bio and byline essential context, which is why they are designed to be displayed so prominently -
Monday, May 17, was Tax Day. I know the topic of taxes can spark strong reactions in Vermonters, yet taxes pay for things we like and share such as libraries, schools, roads, and trash collection, and they are a valuable tool for closing the wealth gap. Taxes are part of how we each contribute to a Vermont that meets our needs. This incredibly difficult year has delivered significant challenges for our health, parenting, increased isolation and fear, job loss, and...
“Do you have something to say? Are you just frozen with your hand up?” DVFiber Chair Ann Manwaring asked while taking a vote during the annual online meeting of the communications union district (CUD). “I think I'm frozen on your screen,” a member called out. Manwaring shook her head. “These are the joys of virtual meetings and absolute evidence about why we need to get to work and get this system done,” she said. Despite the frozen video images, the...
Next Stage Arts presents a performance featuring Sofia Rei on Saturday, May 22, at 6 p.m., in the field behind the Putney Inn. The performance is the third of the arts nonprofit's outdoor, socially distanced Bandwagon Summer Series, designed to bring diverse artists and their cultures to Windham County, “from around the world to our region,” Next Stage Executive Director Keith Marks said in a news release. “It's an opportunity to see artists that one would have to travel to...
Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts, 181 Main St., presents “Jackie Abrams: 45 Years of Making,” starting Saturday, May 29, from noon to 7 p.m., with an artist reception from 5 to 7 p.m. This final, inclusive retrospective allows Abrams to share a large selection of woven baskets and non-functional vessels created during a 45-year career of learning, experimenting, and constructing. The entire exhibit is also available online. “It started in 1975 when I visited the Basket Shop in Chesterfield, Mass., owned and...
In a recent Zoom meeting with talented high school artists from across Vermont, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., announced the winners of the 40th annual Congressional Art Competition. Winning an Honorable Mention County award was Riley Rice of Westminster, a student at Bellows Falls Union High School, whose piece, “Ezra,” was selected from a field of 160 entries from students across Vermont. “I am amazed by the creativity of talented young artists across Vermont,” Welch said in a news release.
In September 1996, Becky Graber hosted a Wednesday night rehearsal at KidsPLAYce, the play center where her husband Tim Ellis was the director. She imagined she would gather a small group of women and girls to sing together through the fall, but people kept coming, and by November, they outgrew the venue. More than 60 singers met each week in the music room at Oak Grove School, and the group held its first concert in an ice storm in December...
Losing the entire high school spring sports season in Vermont in 2020 to COVID-19 has had a definite effect on this season. The signs of rust from players who haven't been able to play competitively in their respective sports for two years can be seen in the football-like scores in softball and all the baseball games shortened to five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule. There is no formal Unified basketball season for the second straight year. And the...
The Vermont Center for Photography (VCP) has announced plans to upgrade to a bigger - and accessible - space at 22 High St., in the Midtown Mall building on the corner of High and Green streets. The 23-year-old nonprofit organization is “dedicated to promoting the photographic arts in many different ways,” Executive Director Joshua Farr said, noting that the move is its largest project to date. For many years, the organization was known for its gallery space and its “rotating...
As we near the end of the session, I have been thinking how to give you a flavor of what it's like to be a legislator. Prior to being a member of the Legislature, I had never been aware of the process of bills being reported. The reporter of the bill has a crucial role and is responsible for informing the House of the intent of the bill and how the provisions will address the problem. The process starts with...
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the state of Vermont say it is OK to take off your face mask if you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the town says you still need leave your mask on. According to CDC guidance issued on May 13, masking and physical distancing for fully vaccinated Vermonters - except in limited circumstances such as in schools, on public transportation, health care settings, long-term care facilities, prisons, etc. - is no...
Energetic Juliette Carr has had quite a year, making an impact not only in her own right as a young health professional, but also on her community during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the nurse, community activist, and herbalist will graduate in August from the School of Nursing and Health Studies with a master's degree as a family nurse practitioner. Carr and two neighbors, Kate Gehring and Gloria Cristelli, also co-founded West River...
By a vote of 508–126, voters of the Windham Southeast School District authorized spending up to $2 million to renovate portions of the Academy School on May 11. The school, in West Brattleboro, serves students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The renovation project includes improving indoor air quality, replacing windows in 14 classrooms, reconfiguring a classroom to support small group learning, demolishing a temporary modular unit, and adding an approximately-2,000- square-foot addition. Engineering and architecture firm Stevens & Associates of...