This year's Empty Bowl event to benefit Our Place Drop-in Center's food pantry is back in person Sunday, Nov. 6, at Alyson's Orchard in Walpole, New Hampshire.
Tickets are now on sale for the 25th annual dinner and auctions that get underway at 5 p.m. The evening includes a supper of signature soups from local restaurants and chefs as well as silent and live auctions, with items and services donated by local businesses and individuals.
Tickets are $40 each and are on sale at Village Square Booksellers in Bellows Falls, Galloway Real Estate in Walpole, at Our Place or online through the center's website at ourplacevermont.org.
With the theme of “Gather and Share,” the event begins with an auction preview and social hour. Proceeds of the dinner go toward supporting the food programs of Our Place, which include a food pantry, daily breakfasts and lunches to go, and grocery deliveries to homebound seniors.
I am writing to share my support for Nader Hashim for Windham State Senate, a candidate who brings together kindness and competence, humility and insight. Political conversation is often harsh and divisive these days. Differences can turn quickly into personal attacks. Nader Hashim is a peacemaker and a consensus-builder.
College news • The following local students were honored for academic excellence during the summer 2022 semester at Community College of Vermont. Named to the student honors list were Ada Brown, Cheryl Christophe, Emma Ethier, and Chelsea Lawson of Brattleboro; Krystal Martin and Ethan Gray of Dummerston; Brooke Chaney...
Nearly a year ago, community leaders gathered in the Cotton Mill for an event launching southern Vermont's efforts to welcome and resettle more than 100 evacuees from Afghanistan. These evacuees fled their homeland in August 2021 with the collapse of the Kabul-based Afghan government and the subsequent takeover of the country by the Taliban. They eventually ended up in Vermont at the beginning of this year, with the campus of the SIT/World Learning in Brattleboro as their first stop. Weeks...
As part of its commitment to building a safer community, the Brattleboro Fire Department (BFD) is partnering with First Due and the Community Connect Program. The program allows residents and business owners to share valuable life safety information with the fire department. According to a BFD news release, residents “can provide details about their home, family, children, pets, medical/functional needs, and more,” so when first responders are dispatched to an emergency at that residence, they have the most information possible.
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) presents a mushroom journaling workshop with artist Madge Evers on Saturday, October 29, at 2 p.m. The class will begin at BMAC, where participants will make their own nature journals using a simple paper fold. Next, participants will go on a walk across the river to the Wantastiquet trails, where Evers will lead a nature observation and journaling program focused on finding and identifying mushrooms and recording them as drawings or spore prints.
The Windham World Affairs Council (WWAC) will present its annual Galbraith Lecture on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. at Brooks Memorial Library with Ambassador Peter Galbraith. Recently returned from Ukraine and Moldova, Galbraith will provide an update on the military and political situation in Ukraine and assess the future prospects in his talk, entitled “The Ukraine War: What Now? What Next? and How Does It End?” Galbraith will consider the war's implications for Ukraine, for Russia and Putin, for...
Vermont Humanities will present “Migration Pathways: Stories of Yesterday and Today” on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 2 p.m., in the Main Reading Room of the Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main Street. Andrew Ingall, creator of the project “Warlé, Yesterday, and Today,” will deliver a slide talk and storytelling exercise inspired by the lives and legacy of Warren Kronemeyer and Leon Ingall, a Vermont couple who were entrepreneurs and civic leaders in Townshend during the 1980s and '90s. Ingall was a...
This piece, and other letters to the editor, in The Commons assert that one must be a lawyer or do research into judicial history in order to understand Proposal 5, the so-called “reproductive liberty” amendment, and that since ordinary people don't have the lawyerly training to understand what is written in the proposed amendment, voters should trust the experts (i.e., lawyers) who can understand it and tell us what it means, rather than us ordinary types relying on reading the...
Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present an evening of contemporary bluegrass and Americana music from far and near by California-based AJ Lee & Blue Summit and Vermont-based The Stockwell Brothers on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Although falling loosely under the bluegrass label, AJ Lee & Blue Summit generally plays without a banjo. Performers Sullivan Tuttle and Scott Gates are on acoustic guitars, AJ on mandolin, Jan Purat on fiddle, and Chad Bowen on acoustic bass. Drawing...
The town of Londonderry has commenced a housing study that will explore critical housing issues in the community and lead to the creation of a housing strategy. Patty Eisenhaur, Housing Needs Assessment committee chair, said in a news release “our goal in conducting this study is to help identify the community's priority housing issues, and at the same time, estimate the number and types of housing units needed in Londonderry." According to the committee, the study “will include a detailed...
Just Cause Eviction ordinance to be discussed BRATLEBORO - Join VT Rights & Democracy and the Brattleboro Just Cause Eviction working group on Thursday, Oct. 27, at 6 p.m. at Epsilon Spires, 190 Main Street, for a community information meeting regarding a Just Cause Eviction ordinance in Brattleboro. Officials, housing experts, and local activists are expected to offer details about what Just Cause Eviction is, why it's needed, and what one can do to ensure that tenant protections get onto...
Comedian Ed Smyth will “serve up a nonstop silly-string of brain-twisty characters and bits” that organizers say are “absurd for adults, goofy for kids, clean for your grandma,” at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30 at Stage 33 Live, 33 Canal Street. Smyth has been a regular at the Finger Lakes Comedy Festival since 2016, performed a weeklong show at Rochester Fringe, and has appeared at the Maine Comedy Festival. “He is a friend to all,” organizers wrote in a...
In light of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision limiting access to reproductive health care in parts of the country, the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) wants to ensure that Vermonters understand their rights to this important coverage. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), health insurance plans must provide coverage at no cost to consumers for contraceptive services and supplies, including the full range of prescription birth control, counseling, treatment of complications, and any other related services. Birth control can...
I appreciate The Commons reporting on recent proposed cuts to senior meal programs in Windham County. I am one of dozens of volunteer drivers who get mid-day meals out to seniors in the more rural areas of our county. I deliver to clients in Townshend, Brookline, and Newfane. The Dam Diner in Townshend prepares and distributes meals for recipients in these towns and many others, at the behest of Senior Solutions of Windham and Windsor Counties, based in Springfield. Senior...
The Brattleboro Music Center's Season Guest Concert Series welcomes In Stile Moderno on Friday, Oct. 28. The Center says the 7 p.m. concert, titled “Quia Amore Langueo,” will showcase 17th-century Italian settings of Song of Songs texts with the timbres of voice, cornetto, theorbo, and organ - the cornetto and voice intertwining as one in works for two sopranos. Performers include Agnes Coakley Cox, soprano; Nathaniel Cox, cornetto and theorbo; and Juan A. Mesa, organ. “These passionate and virtuosic works...
The Brattleboro Music Center's Chamber Series features Musicians from Marlboro on Monday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. This is the first of the group's three tour programs this season and features nine outstanding musicians performing works from three centuries. They include Lauren Pearl, soprano; Abigail Fayette, Alina Kobialka, Anna Lee, and Scott St. John, violin; Kei Tojo and Sharon Wei, viola; and Tony Rymer and Judith Serkin, cello. The program includes Respighi's “Il Tramonto”; Brahms' Quartet in B flat major,
My enthusiasm for Sara Coffey has been boosted by the Nancy Gassett campaign's weekly mailings of plastic-coated alarmist broadsides filled with distortions of Sara's good works and misinterpretations of responsible legislation. I'm surprised at how far these absurdities go - especially the pretend “liberal” broadside opposing Article 22 on the grounds that it would somehow enable “mostly straight, white teachers” to dictate the reproductive rights of “15-year-old” members of “the BIPOC community.” Based on this cynically disguised, divisive rhetoric, voters...
I'm voting for Tim Wessel for Vermont Senate to represent Windham County because over the course of his nearly six years of service on the Brattleboro Selectboard I have observed him to consistently approach even the most divisive topics with careful consideration, taking the time to listen to all perspectives before presenting his recommendations. As chair, Tim led the board through the unprecedented challenges of 2020, navigating not only the COVID-19 pandemic but also the highly charged public outcry for...
I recently received a flyer from “Concerned Citizens of Vermont” encouraging me to “vote a resounding no!” on the addition of Article 22 to the Vermont Constitution. The case made in the flyer is that the language of the amendment is “so vague” that it “doesn't adequately protect all reproductive rights.” This raised alarm bells for me. I have been dismayed by the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the horrifying effects this has had on women's self-determination and health...
As someone who has grown weary of politics-as-usual and the two-party system, I'm relieved to be able to vote for a strong, independent person who doesn't just pay lip service to representing his neighbors. I've known Tim Wessel for nearly two decades, and I know his heart and his character. Tim deliberates, weighs, listens, and ultimately makes his decisions based on what's best for the people and the community. Watching him on the Brattleboro Selectboard for these last five years...
On Wednesday, Oct. 26 from 5:30 to 8 p.m., the Root Social Justice Center (28 Williams St., Brattleboro) presents “A Story Weaving Workshop” by Djeli as part of the BIPOC Affinity Healing Space Series. The event is free and open to anyone who identifies as a BIPOC person (non-white) - bring yourself and your stories; food and supplies will be provided. Call the center at 802-451-0509 for more information, or visit bit.ly/687-djeli to register. On Saturday, Nov. 5 at 7...
Wendy Harrison and Nader Hashim are my choices to be Windham County's new state senators. Here's why: Wendy is a good listener and a creative problem solver. A lifelong public servant, she has achieved success as a municipal staffer, town manager, appointed board member, and elected policy maker. She has the most government experience of anyone in the race and will bring to the Senate her life experiences as a woman and a mother. Nader is a former state trooper...
I am pleased to take the time to write a few words in support of my friend, colleague, and brother in the civil rights movement - Nader Hashim. Nader and I have worked together for several years and in many capacities toward creating a more fair and just Vermont. Throughout our time together, I have admired his ability to skillfully navigate complicated situations with grace and tact. I've watched Nader hold members of law enforcement accountable while simultaneously working with...
I'm voting for Tim Wessel to represent Windham County in the Vermont Senate because I've admired the work he's done as our Selectboard member for six years and because I'm excited about his independence. I was especially impressed with the way Tim helped us navigate the height of the pandemic - one of the most challenging times in our recent history. He communicated clearly and reasonably at public meetings. But his transparent communication on social media impressed me the most.
We are lucky here in Windham County to have two excellent candidates, Wendy Harrison and Nader Hashim, running for the state Senate to fill the seats vacated by Becca Balint and Jeanette White. Wendy and Nader make a strong team, and they would bring different, yet complimentary, skills to the Senate. I have followed both of their paths with interest and admiration. Wendy's work both before and since she came to Windham County demonstrates a deep commitment to community. As...
Emilie Kornheiser is running for her third term to the Vermont House of Representatives as the Democratic representative for what is now Windham-7. Her campaign motto, “Committing to Community,” is reflected in all of her dedication and hard work over the years. Emilie is an accessible politician. I was deeply moved by her door-to-door campaign strategy and her wanting to reach out to neighbors, regardless of political persuasion, to share ideas through meaningful conversation. She also regularly participates in community...
I'm proud that Emilie Kornheiser is my voice in Montpelier. As a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, she helped pass the largest state-level child tax credit and earned-income tax credit in the country. Further, as a retired person, I appreciate the improvements in the Vermont exemption changes for Social Security, another product of her committee. I understand that she and five other lawmakers will be studying changes to the public school funding mechanism. I am confident that...
I've known Tim Wessel for two decades, both professionally and as a friend. Tim, a candidate for a Windham County seat in the state Senate, moved to Vermont in 2002 and has been serving the state since then, both as a local business owner and as a public servant. He served multiple years on the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce board and as a Town Meeting member before running for Brattleboro Selectboard in 2016. There, he has served the town...
Health Choice Vermont surveyed statewide candidates about health freedom issues including government and private vaccine mandates. The survey, which can be found in its entirety at bit.ly/687-healthchoicevt-survey, poses a number of questions to a number of candidates. I want to highlight two. “Do you support legislation protecting against government vaccine mandates?” Liam Madden said yes. Becca Balint said no. “Do you plan to preserve parents' rights to choose whether to vaccinate their children?” Liam Madden said yes. Becca Balint said...
Tristan Roberts has been an active public servant for the town of Halifax for several years. He has worked on the Broadband Committee, which has made significant progress in bringing the internet to our area. He has now served on the Selectboard as well and is well-known for his ability to communicate with people in a nonjudgmental way. In part this happens because he is an excellent listener, but also because his love of Vermont is something most of us...
I am a native Vermonter, U.S. Army veteran, property owner, resident, voter, and taxpayer of Vernon, Vermont. I have never met the present Vernon/Guilford state representative, Sara Coffey. With all the information available on our Vermont state legislative website as well as other tracking websites, I have the information necessary to assess the job Sara has been doing as our Windham-1 state representative for the past four years. We all have to live under the laws and policies our elected...
Please vote Brenda Siegel for governor. When Vermonters experiencing homelessness faced a crisis, Brenda fought for them and waged a bold protest on the steps of our Capitol for days. When Bennington's Town Party created a Housing Statement of Support for housing reform, Brenda was there to help. Throughout the opioid epidemic, Brenda has championed pragmatic solutions to save lives. Meanwhile, our incumbent governor, Phil Scott, has allowed Massachusetts and Maine to reap commercial cannabis revenues for years when he...
I'm writing to recognize Leslie Goldman, who, in her capacity as state representative and, in my opinion, has been the best I've seen in my 20 years in Vermont. This is based on her exemplary record of communication with her constituents, using the many means that today's modern world requires: personal visits, public forums, Zoom forums, letters to publications, etc. She listens, and she opens communication corridors to facilitate listening. To me, this is key to being an effective representative...
The Rockingham Historic Preservation Commission recently announced the recipients of the town's 2022 Old House Awards. These awards are made annually by the commission to recognize property owners in the town of Rockingham who maintain and restore their historic homes and commercial and industrial buildings. Eligible properties are older homes and businesses that have received exterior restoration and conservation by their owners, typically in the past five years. Brass plaques are awarded the winners, who are encouraged to proudly post...
Gul, Sakina, and family: A new garden growsGul was a police officer and scout for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. Raised without schooling in a rural area, his family continues to farm in the hills outside Paktia. His wife, Sakina, has no schooling, and his daughter had only just begun school - though his sons were excellent students and sportsmen. In August 2021, his commanding officer called him and told him to gather his wife and children and to find...
When Vermont Senate President Pro Tem Becca Balint, who is running for the state's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, attended a grand opening event for Groundworks Collaborative's new shelter and administrative offices on Oct. 13, she came not as a politician, but as a neighbor. Balint and her family live on South Main Street, just up the hill from Groundworks. She knows firsthand what the nonprofit does and whom it helps. Calling the staff “the real heroes,
Archer Mayor shares the inside story on Fall Guy, the latest novel featuring Brattleboro's famous fictional detective Joe Gunther on Saturday, October 29, at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main Street. All are invited for coffee (with maple syrup, of course) and a chance to chat with acclaimed author Mayor from 11 a.m. to noon in the main reading room. Copies of Fall Guy will be available for sale and signing from Everyone's Books. In book 33 of the beloved series,
The Green Mountain Mummers, having been prevented from performing for two years, are returning to Windham County towns to present their symbolic death-and-resurrection street theater, rain or shine, in six locations. The group of 10 (mostly) Windham County residents is probably the oldest continuing sword dance and mumming troupe in the United States. Founded in 1975, the group operates in the manner of the old English morris and sword dancers from which the dances were originally collected - they meet...
Longtime Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) representative and current Vice Chair David Schoales has left his elected seat on the board. His resignation, sent to the district's central office last week, became effective on Oct. 22. Asked why he has decided to step down now, Schoales responded that recent public diatribe against the board has risen to an unpalatable level. He said he feels he can be more helpful if he is no longer a board member. “The ugliness does...
Djeli (formerly known as William Forchion) smiles widely when recalling the time he was in Los Angeles as a stunt double for the actor Louis Gossett Jr. on the set of the 2003 television sci-fi film Momentum. “I spent the whole day with Louis, and he was so gracious, caring, and loving,” Djeli says of the actor. Though Gossett, now an 86-year-old actor, is still active, “he thought this might be one of his last films, so he gave me...
After big wins over two of the weakest teams in Division II, U-32 and Spaulding, Brattleboro entered the regular season finale against the Mount Anthony Patriots at Natowich Field on Oct. 21 with a 5-2 record and a chance to clinch the No. 2 seed in the playoffs with a win. Instead, Ayman Naser and the Patriots wrote a different script. The senior running back rushed for a school record 306 yards on 37 carries and scored three touchdowns as...
In-person voting for the Vermont statewide general election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 8, with polls opening no later than 10 a.m. All polling locations close at 7 p.m. • Athens: 10 a.m., Athens Town Office (25 Brookline Rd.) • Brattleboro: 7 a.m., American Legion (32 Linden St.) • Brookline: 9 a.m., Brookline Town Offices (734 Grassy Brook Rd.) • Dover: 7 a.m., Town Hall (189 Taft Brook Rd., East Dover) • Dummerston: 8 a.m., Dummerston Congregational Church (1535...
When Cassie Damkoehler came to Brattleboro Union High School as dean of students a year ago, administrators who once thought their biggest problem was the coronavirus had just discovered a gun in a student vehicle and graffiti threats about “killing you all.” Damkoehler kept her cool as higher-ups defused the situation last fall. Then they had to launch a faculty sexual misconduct investigation last winter. Place the principal on paid leave without explanation last spring. Watch his assistant ship out...