BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation announced the winner of the 2022 Windham County Economic Development Program (WCEDP) Business Plan Competition via webinar on Jan. 14.
WCEDP Council members joined a panel of judges, representatives from Vermont's Department of Economic Development, and BDCC's business team in congratulating Dena Moses, owner of Vermont Weaving Supplies, and her growing team on their win.
The judges who served on the panel were unaffiliated with BDCC and included Brian Holt, co-owner, 1a Coffee; Leda Scheintaub, co-owner, Dosa Kitchen; Andrew Rackear, entrepreneur; Ellen Capy, founder, Mocha Joe's; Peter Carvell, senior commercial banking officer, Brattleboro Savings & Loan; and Michael Alexander, owner, Recycle Away.
Fifteen companies applied for the competition, which began in September 2021, with six submitting final business plans.
Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) recently expanded its tire recycling facility on Old Ferry Road to better serve its member town transfer stations and the public. A newly installed bunker holds more than 1,000 tires - enough for collection by a licensed tire recycling contractor. WSWMD executive director...
The New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) was recently awarded a prestigious grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. NECCA is the leading circus arts school in the United States. Founded in 2007 in Brattleboro, the school has grown to include a three-year professional training program alongside...
Castle of our Skins continues its ninth season theme, stitching together stories, history, and art with “Sound & Appliqué,” an in-person concert complete with two world premieres, seven original quilts, and original poetry created by Shirley Graham Du Bois Creative in Residence Marlanda Dekine. The event will include a 1 p.m. virtual lecture by Boston-based textile artist L'Merchie Frazier on Saturday, Jan. 22, followed by a 7 p.m. concert performance at the Brattleboro Music Center. “African American quilting traditions are...
The next group of College to Career Program students will begin classes later this January to become medical assistants at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. The program, developed in 2016, pairs classroom learning at Community College of Vermont with clinical training at BMH. In just one semester, students get the education and training they need to begin a career in healthcare. The program is described in a news release from CCV as a “unique solution” to a local shortage of qualified medical...
The Putney Public Library will present a talk by Ann McEntee on Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture, via Zoom on Wednesday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. Olmsted designed our first city parks, park systems, and model suburban communities. He promoted environmentalism and the subsequent creation of the national park system. Greatly influenced by his New England upbringing, Olmsted instilled in us a love of our American landscapes. This talk begins with a brief overview of Olmsted's early...
It's a “happy coincidence of opportunity, needs, and values,” as School for International Training (SIT) President Sophia Howlett called it. SIT has a mostly empty campus these days. Meanwhile, the people who are helping to resettle Afghan evacuees in southern Vermont needed a short-term place for them to stay and begin the transition to life in a new country. And thus has grown an innovative idea that may become a model for future collaborations between other educational institutions and refugee...
As a supporter of Molly Gray when she ran for lieutenant governor, I was disappointed in her announcement that she was now running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. When the people of Vermont voted Ms. Gray into office as lieutenant governor, I'm sure many of them trusted, as I did, that she would fulfill her term, serve Vermonters well, and then, when the time would come, run for governor. Instead, it seems she viewed the state...
The other night, I was driving the kids home and came to a stop sign at the base of a steep hill. There were no other cars and no other people...but I still paused. I had noticed something and it was, at that moment, under the front of my Jeep. I backed up, parked, and put my hazards on. And there, in the bright gaze of my headlights, was the tiniest and most adorable little mouse. It was just sitting...
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), after several years in the making, entered into force and became part of international law one year ago, on Jan. 22, 2021. The TPNW outlaws the development, manufacture, testing, possession, transfer, acquisition, stockpiling, use or threat of use, control or receipt, stationing, or development of nuclear weapons or providing assistance in these activities. The U.S. and all other nations that possess or are “protected” by nuclear weapons have refused to sign...
Virginia Ray's front-page news story exemplifies covering a controversy without falling into ho-hum “neutrality,” but reporting the story fully and fairly so that the facts can speak for themselves. The non-transparency of a Selectboard, which declines to publicly discuss or explain important decisions, is an insult to the letter and spirit of Open Meeting. Thank you, Commons, for such world-class journalism.
After inquiries from The Commons about process and potential open meeting law violations during its appointment of a new, five-member Planning Commission on Jan. 10, the Selectboard responded to some of those questions. After declining to respond by press time on Tuesday, Jan. 11, the board sent an email on Friday, Jan. 14 with a “timeline” of events. The correspondence followed a Thursday, Jan. 13 special meeting and executive session for “confidential attorney-client communications for the purpose of providing legal...
College news • Hannah Gantt of Vernon has been named to the Provost's List at Troy (Ala.) University for the fall 2021 semester. • The following local students were named to the Plymouth (N.H.) State University Dean's List for the fall 2021 semester: Dillon Glazer of West Wardsboro, Kathleen Hodsden of Bellows Falls, Sarah Scarlett of Saxtons River, Jack Armbruster of West Dover, and Noah Rawling of Bellows Falls. • Gabrielle Beal, a member of the Class of 2024 from...
The Musicians from Marlboro will perform at the Brattleboro Music Center on Monday, Jan. 24. Performers include Daniel Phillips and Stephanie Zyzak, violin; Tanner Menees and Maiya Papach, viola; Alexander Hersh and Alice Neary, cello; and Evren Ozel, piano. The program features Schumann's Piano Trio in F Major, Op. 80; Perkinson's String Trio; Schoenberg's String Trio; and DvoÅ™ák's String Sextet in A Major, Op. 48. In celebration of their recent purchase of Potash Hill, and the special partnership shared with...
As Physician Assistant Amy Neal wrote in The Commons, “We are doing our very best, but we are drowning [....] Please wear your masks and please get vaccinated. We know these things work. [...] We care about you and your family members. Please help us, so we can help the community.” In a letter to VTDigger's editor on Jan. 6, Linda Roy, a retired Brattleboro resident, expresses unhappiness with a mask mandate in town, stating the town is trying to...
Many aspects of Brattleboro make it an exceptional place. Much is going on in the way of cultural and social interactions that are unique. Its visual environment is exceptional with the unique colors of each season. Its society is inviting of all cultures. To me, a most special aspect is the potential for exceptionally unique artistic exposure. I am a strong proponent of Epsilon Spires. Jamie Mohr, as creative director, is constantly bringing performances that otherwise would not be seen,
Canal Street Art Gallery (CSAG), 23 Canal St., Bellows Falls, starts off 2022 with “New Work,” a represented artist group show premiering new artwork from each of CSAG's current roster of 21 artists. The show opens on Jan. 21 and is on view to the public through Feb. 26. Join them on (1)3rd Friday Gallery Night from 5 to 7 p.m., meet the artists, and watch the Live Artist Talk at 6 p.m. on Facebook or the CSAG website. This...
When I first heard of Becca Balint, it was because we were on opposite sides of an issue. The issue was whether or not to build affordable individual homes on land that led down a wooded hillside to cemeteries off of South Main Street. Byron Stookey, longtime head of Brattleboro Area Affordable Housing, was leading the charge for a small development. I supported this project, but it was the most conflicted decision I've ever had to make. I had spent...
The importance of civic responsibility is paramount to the success of a democracy. By engaging in civic responsibility, we, the citizens of the United States, ensure and uphold the democratic values written in our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Those values or duties include justice, freedom, equality, diversity, authority, privacy, due process, property, participation, truth, patriotism, human rights, rule of law, tolerance, mutual assistance, self-restraint, and self-respect. The goal of the Constitution is to encourage citizens to act responsibly...
Fourteen years after the plan was approved by the Selectboard, the Vermont Agency of Transportation says it can see “the light at the end of the tunnel” for the multi-year Putney Road project. It's an undertaking that state Roadway Design Project Manager Ken Upmal calls “this long, drawn-out, legacy project.” “Yes, the project's been around forever, but it's gone through a number of iterative processes that I don't want to bore you with,” said Upmal Tuesday when asked for an...
On Jan. 3, Gov. Phil Scott posted some pictures on his social media that caught my eye. The governor was drawing attention to an effort to grow Vermont's health care workforce, a worthy goal indeed in these stressful and frightening times. But it was the images themselves that struck me, as a reflection of something we see far too seldom in politics, even here in Vermont. The scene was our windy Statehouse steps, where the three politicians standing in the...
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic didn't disrupt the high school sports schedule in Windham County as much as feared last week. However, for some schools, the surge in COVID cases left them barely able to field a team. The Twin Valley boys' basketball team has been hit hard by the virus, and an already thin squad got that much thinner. The Wildcats showed up for their road game against Bellows Falls on Jan. 14 with only six players and the result...
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) will present a free online puppet-making demonstration with artist B. Lynch on Thursday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m., via Zoom and Facebook Live. Register at brattleboromuseum.org. Lynch will describe her puppet-making process, sharing images of in-progress and finished objects and exploring the techniques she uses. Lynch does not consider herself a puppeteer, but rather a visual artist who uses performative objects. She uses oversized masks, tiny puppets, full-size hand puppets, and large figurines...
One year ago, on Jan. 6, insurrectionists attacked our nation's Capitol, in support of the attempts by former President Trump and his allies to supersede the will of the people and overturn the 2020 election results. Despite the 2020 election being the most secure and most scrutinized election in recent U.S. history - if not ever - and despite the results of that election having been verified in numerous audits, recounts, and nonpartisan certification processes around the country, to this...
Three days after he jumped from a car during transport, a dog who has captured the attention of a huge swath of the community is still spending his days and nights on the loose while professionals try to bring him in to warmth and safety. Rudy, a 12-pound, black-with-tan-markings terrier/dachshund mix, escaped on Jan. 15 after a miscommunication between the transporter who had brought him from San Antonio, Texas, and volunteers resulted in his being put in the wrong vehicle.