Throughout four weeks in June, the village of Bellows Falls celebrated the queer community and kept the legacy of the Andrews Inn alive.
So what did Bellows Falls Pride actually do to honor Pride month? By revering our history and staying true to who we are, engaging locally with merchants, inviting aligned nonprofits to collaborate, and honoring the seminal decade of activism by the founders of the Andrews Inn, our plans unfolded organically and powerfully on a local level.
We began by booking four classic LGBTQ-themed films at the beautiful Bellows Falls Opera House. We paid homage to the Andrews Inn with a founder's photo exhibit. We supported a Pride Whistlestop Tour through all 10 Amtrak Vermonter stations, with a crowd of more than 30 people in Bellows Falls - and were joined by Vermont's U.S. representative, Becca Balint!
We purchased a 30-foot rainbow banner that appeared first at the train station and now hangs proudly above the downtown Square. We held a T-Dance at the incredible Field Center.
The year 2023 has been a successful one for the Walk for Amber Scholarship. Between the walk and raffle on June 4 and our Welcome Center fundraiser on June 24, we raised just over $4,000. On June 15, we awarded three Amber Bernier Scholarships - you go Madison, Ella,
In a recent Oxfam study on worker well-being, the United States came in last of the 38 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The countries in the OECD include not only western European countries, Canada, and the U.S., but also Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia,
On June 29, Food Connects held an event at the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) Business Park at 22 Browne Court to announce the launch of a public campaign to raise $1 million. The campaign aims to support the expansion of their regional food distribution network and foster sustainable growth in the local food system. Speakers included Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbets, state Sen. Wendy Harrison, D-Windham, BDCC Executive Director Adam Grinold, and Food Connects Founder and Executive Director...
The Council of State Governments (CSG) has announced that Tristan Roberts, a Democrat who represents Halifax, Whitingham, and Wilmington in the Vermont House, has been selected to participate in the 2023 CSG Henry Toll Fellowship. The Henry Toll Fellowship is a national leadership development program for state government officials, bringing together (1)46 individuals representing 28 of the states and U.S. territories and from all branches of state government. "I'm honored and excited to be selected for the Toll Fellowship because...
After having met at open readings sponsored by Write Action in Brattleboro, Nichael Cramer and Rolf Parker-Houghton quickly became admirers of each other's poetry. They will present a joint reading at the Putney Public Library, 55 Main St., on Wednesday, Aug. 2, at 6:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. After work and study in physics, computer science, and music, Cramer now lives, writes, woodworks, and reads in Guilford with his wife Crystal Washburn. His poems...
The Nu Mu Music and Art Festival returns to 118 Elliot, for this second year, known as "Nu Mu Tu." Opening on Friday night Gallery Walk on Aug. 4 with "Sounds and Signs," a community art-making event and exhibition of graphic scores, Nu Mu Tu begins a month of musical performances celebrating improvisational music. All are invited to join artist (1)Hallie Lederer, of Brooklyn's Powerhouse Arts, who will guide participants during Gallery Walk to create visual representations of music called...
The good news: This month's statewide storm was no match for Vermont's "Great Flood of 1927," a 36-hour downpour that economists estimate would have damaged up to $4 billion in property today. And the bad: Although officials are still tallying the impact of the most recent deluge, the collective cost could rival 2011's Tropical Storm Irene - and be a sign of things to come, according to a recently-released national study. "Make no mistake, the devastation and flooding we're experiencing...
Sculptor Lela Jaacks of Brownsville will give a free talk about her work at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) on Thursday, Aug. 10, at 7 p.m. The event will take place in person in BMAC's sculpture garden, alongside Jaacks's exhibit, "micro/tele Scope." Walk-ins are welcome, or register at brattleboromuseum.org. Jaacks will discuss the making of her art, including the inspiration for "micro/tele Scope," sculptural works that integrate natural and handmade materials in an exploration of space, light, texture,
No, the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) is not coming apart at the seams. The ribbons of colored tape that will soon be affixed to the front of the museum's 1915 building are art. More specifically, tape art-the handiwork of Michael Townsend and Leah Smith, a Rhode Island-based public art duo known as Tape Art. Just over a year ago, Townsend and Smith collaborated with BMAC and the ArtLords, a group of Brattleboro-based Afghan artists, on a project called...
The Florida Board of Education has set a new standard of how history will be taught in Florida schools. This comes after a long assault on the parts of history that tell the truth about the United States' dark past of slavery. The board's new account is that African-Americans "learned skills for their own personal benefit." This implies that slavery was not that bad after all, and it may have even been good for those who were enslaved. It is...
College news • Lily Huitong Friesen of Brattleboro graduated from St. Michael's College in Colchester in May 2023 during the College's 116th Commencement. Friesen was also named to the Dean's List for the spring 2023 semester and was inducted into an honor society, Sigma Xi. • The following local students received their degrees in May as part of the Class of 2023 at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island: John Imperatore of West Dover, B.A., communication and media studies;
Free youth workshop explores engineering topics BRATTLEBORO - Students entering grades 3–6 this fall are invited to explore the field of engineering at Science Fun Day on Tuesday, Aug. 15, at the Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., from 1 to 4 p.m. There is no cost to participate, but space is limited. Advance registration is required at bit.ly/725-fun. The deadline to register is Saturday, Aug. 12. Although sponsored by UVM Extension 4-H, enrollment in 4-H is not required, only...
Yellow Barn's 54th summer festival comes to a celebratory conclusion with nightly concerts, plus a Saturday matinee. On Thursday, Aug. 3, at 8 p.m. Yellow Barn enters the final weekend of its annual festival with a program of literary influences: James Joyce's Chamber Music set by Luciano Berio for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, cello, and harp; Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata novella, set by Leoš Janáček for string quartet; and Frederico García Lorca's poetry, set by George Crumb for his seminal "Madrigals" for voice,
A staged reading of George Bernard Shaw's The Misalliance will be presented at the Actors Theatre Playhouse for performances on two Saturdays, Aug. 5 and 12. Both performances begin promptly at 7:30. (1)The Misalliance is a play written in 1909–1910 by George Bernard Shaw. The play takes place entirely on a single Saturday afternoon in the conservatory of a large country house in Hindhead, Surrey, in Edwardian era England. The action follows Hypatia - the daughter of a self-made underwear...
Join Gallery in the Woods, 145 Main St., on Friday, Aug. 4, from 5 to 8 p.m., for Layering, a night of art and mini crankie performances by Delia Robinson. On exhibit are new and collected paintings, sculptural clay whistles, and live mini showings featuring a story scroll made by Robinson. "As the paint is laid down, layer after layer, I notice what a perfect analog art making is for life in Vermont," Robinson said in a news release. Robinson...
On Friday, Aug.11, at 5 p.m., the Literary Cocktail Hour hosts New York Times bestselling author Joyce Maynard for an online chat. Register for this free event at bit.ly/LitCocktail32. Over her 50-year career, Maynard has published hundreds of essays as well as 20 books, both fiction and nonfiction, including the memoir At Home in the World and the novels To Die For and Labor Day, both adapted for film. Maynard's newest novel, The Bird Hotel, was published in May, 2023.
Wednesday, Aug. 6, marks the 117th annual gathering at the Rockingham Meeting House to celebrate its 1906 restoration. "Gravestones as Touchstones" is this year's Pilgrimage theme. Part of Rockingham Old Home Days, Pilgrimage activities include food, music, and historic reflection. Keynote speaker Dennis Montagna will explore cemeteries as settings for public history with an eye to the importance of the meeting house graveyard as a source of community awareness and mindfulness, underscoring the need for preservation of this important Rockingham...
The Rockingham Free Public Library is pleased to welcome back Modern Times Theater on Wednesday, Aug. 9, at 5 p.m., for a new production: The Baffo Box Show: A Compact Cardboard Comedy. "When the world breaks," says the news release, "someone has to fix it. In this comedy in a box, audiences are invited into a fragile universe of cardboard, where the Baffo Brothers keep the sun running on schedule, negotiate with a demanding neighbor, and attempt to keep a...
Brooklyn-based production company Hideaway Circus is set to stage its open-air, family-friendly circus, Stars Above, in partnership with local presenter, the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) on Tuesday, Aug. 8 at 7 p.m. and Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 4 p.m.. "NECCA is working to support the regrowth of circus in America," Serenity Smith Forchion, NECCA's producing director, said in a news release. "We hosted Hideaway Circus for a residency in 2021 when they created their first major touring...
Rock Voices Brattleboro and Director Bob Thies invite everyone to join them for an evening of choral music. The concert will be at Brattleboro Union High School, 131 Fairground Rd., on Friday, Aug. 4, at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. Backed by a professional rock band, this season's music pays tribute to the 1970s, including songs by ABBA; Earth, Wind & Fire; Gordon Lightfoot; 10cc; Pat Benatar; Little River Band; Christopher Cross; The Doobie Brothers; Cass Elliot; Supertramp;
During the month of August, The Crowell Gallery will be featuring an exhibit of recent large-scale ink drawings and small color paintings by Newfane artist Leonard Ragouzeos. Prior to moving to Newfane in 2005, Ragouzeos taught as a professor of studio art for 31 years in Iowa and in Pennsylvania, while simultaneously maintaining an active studio life and exhibition presence. He began working with India ink on paper in a representational manner in the mid-1990s, focusing on faces and single...
Twilight Music continues its 20th Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, jazz, Americana, rock, and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, Aug. 6, with classic swing quartet The Woodpeckers. The Woodpeckers play the classic swing music of the 1920s and '30s. "In a highly improvisatory, good-humored, spontaneous, conversational, and interactive style, they freshly interpret the exhilarating music of that time, when jazz was being born and was embraced and celebrated by young and old," organizers say. The...
Marlboro Music Festival's fourth concert weekend, featuring three opportunities to attend, is nearly here as 35 resident artists will perform masterworks and new music by their resident composer. On Friday, Aug. 4, Marlboro Music Festival gives back to the local community with the annual town benefit concert in Persons Auditorium. All proceeds from this event support Marlboro town organizations. Helmut Lachenmann is this season's composer in residence at Marlboro Music. "This is a rare U.S. visit for the 87-year-old German...
On July 1, amendments to the Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA) - Vermont's workplace anti-harassment and discrimination law - went into effect. The amendments make significant changes that broaden protections to employees. Business owners, heads of organizations, and those responsible for employment compliance should make an effort to understand these changes - and then take whatever meaningful action is necessary to ensure their workplaces are (at a minimum) free from harassment and discrimination under the new requirements. * * *
I have been silent on the Selectboard's termination of the Rescue Inc. contract in favor of the town taking over EMS, but it is now time for me to speak on the issue. This was a shortsighted and horrendously wrong decision, because the numbers just do not make sense. The town was paying Rescue $280,000 annually for the EMS Services. Per a recent article in the Reformer, here are the costs to switch over: • Start up costs $1,000,000 from...
Your article mentions a complaint by Laura Campbell about "WWHT's 'startling' characterization of lots on opposite sides of Carol Brown Way as 'contiguous,' when they touch at no point; rather, the lots are separated by a busy thoroughfare owned and maintained by the town of Putney." Ms. Campbell may be ignorant of the standard relationship of property lines to town roads in Vermont: each lot has its boundary at the street's center. Two lots on opposite sides of a street...
I lwas shopping in Claremont, New Hampshire yesterday and picked up a copy of The Commons for a local update on the storm damage - very well covered. Then I read Fran Lynngaard Hansen's piece on the Green Mountain Camp for Girls. What a wonderful article! (And, for that matter, what a wonderful place!) Extremely well written, it takes you into the camp and tells a story about a place I would have thought did not exist anymore. Excellent work,
Brattleboro Post 5 fielded a solid team this year with plenty of good pitching, a steady defense, and timely hitting. Their goal was to win the Vermont American Legion Baseball tournament, and they had all the pieces needed to succeed. Unfortunately, Essex Post 91 also possesses all those ingredients and once again stood in the way of Brattleboro's quest for its first state title since 2019. Post 5 did their best, but Essex would not be denied as Post 91...
Formerly home to Marlboro College, Potash Hill, a campus of buildings - historic and new, all striking in their New England vernacular architecture - offers all of the amenities and ample square footage for the nurturing of the arts. Thus, it's a perfect spot for RiverJam Romp's second annual summer camp slated for Friday, Sept. 8 through Sunday, Sept. 10. RJR launched in 2021 in a post-pandemic burst of creative energy among four friends: Peter Siegel, Mary Fraser, Amanda Witman,
I thank and applaud Laura Campbell for all of the time and energy she has given to opposing the proposed housing project in Putney. She and those who have helped and supported her in this effort deserve a lot of credit for stepping up and showing up to meet all of the complex challenges of this important issue. It is important because it will change Putney in ways that many of its residents will have to live with for years...
Julie Tamler's letter addresses pertinent social and economic issues associated with the Windham-Windsor Housing Trust's proposed development on Alice Holway Drive. I hope the world will read it. There is a huge disconnect between the glossy presentations by WWHT for "affordable" housing and comprehending the long-term social, economic, and environmental consequences of building on this particular parcel of land. This lot was sold to WWHT by Jeff Shumlin, brother of former Gov. Peter Shumlin. Peter Shumlin appointed Judge Thomas G.
Brattleboro, Vermont is a quiet town, for the most part. Sure, we have our share of some of the world's worst problems, but we handle them well, and the quality of life for most residents is something to be envied. But I never thought I would be terrorized by a gang of roving masked thugs in my safe little town. On July 24, as I sat in my hot tub, as I do most nights, a pair of beady eyes...
Why are millions of people living on the streets of the wealthiest nation on Earth? That is the question that Gregg Colburn, an assistant professor at the University of Washington, along with data scientist and policy analyst Clayton Page Aldern, tried to discover in their book, Homelessness Is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns, published in March by the University of California Press. Colburn was the guest at an online policy forum held by State Treasurer Michael...
New Hampshire–based Pink Floyd tribute band Echoes of Floyd played at the Stone Church in Brattleboro to a joyous crowd of 125 people on July 28 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the iconic album "The Dark Side of the Moon." Originally released in 1973, the album sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. This was Echoes of Floyd's fourth visit to the Stone Church in the last four years. Band members include Geoff Williams on guitar,
As I drove up Putney Road through the rain recently, I passed a woman pushing a shopping cart, full of rain-soaked bedding. Over the days since, I have wondered how she fared. In Brattleboro, the flood was particularly disruptive to people living in tents and mobile homes, exacerbating our housing injustices and underscoring the need for decent stable housing for all Vermonters. The flood also underscored the need for climate action. We have just experienced Vermont's worst climate-related disaster since...
Pikes Falls Chamber Music Festival is returning to celebrate the 2023 summer season with an admission-free concert series. Concerts begin on Tuesday, Aug. 8 in Jamaica and run through Saturday, Aug. 12. The summer festival emphasizing music and visual art began in 2012, founded by Susanna Loewy, who continues as the nonprofit's executive director. Since then, PFCM has performed 59 concerts in southern Vermont, commissioned 13 world premieres, and has shown 13 works of visual art. As described in a...
Recreation & Parks Director Carol Lolatte is getting her ducks in a row as the Living Memorial Park Generational Improvement Project starts to take shape. In March, Representative Town Meeting voted 98–19 to support a $4.1 million bond for the work, which includes improvements to the 1970s-era skating rink - replacing a 30-year-old condenser, a 25-year-old dehumidifier, and a rusting and uninsulated 49-year-old roof - as well as replacing lighting on the upper softball field with an LED system. "The...
Although costs are becoming more sharply focused as the town continues to explore supplying fire and emergency services in future, there's still much more to know. The Selectboard heard a fourth informational report regarding what is being called the Fire/EMS Transition Project at its July 25 meeting, which focused on what a fully municipal service model or contracted services model might look like. "We have a long way to go," said Selectboard member Peter Case, pointing out again that the...