Issue #768
Art Among Friends exhibit on display in Newfane
NEWFANE-An exhibit of watercolors and oil paintings by Art Among Friends - Connie Evans, Alice Freeman, Kathy Greve, Laurie Klenkel, Louise Zak, and Lynn Zimmerman - opened in the Crowell Gallery on June 4.
Owing to an editing error of unusually spectacular proportions, The Commons published the wrong venue in a profile of the group and announcement of the show that appeared in the May 29 issue.
Races emerge in region in state primary election
Many contested races for House seats throughout Windham County, bucking a statewide trend
While the party primaries in Vermont are lacking in drama on the statewide level, Windham County will have many contested races for House seats this year. Election Day for the primary vote is Tuesday, Aug. 13. Vermont law permits early voting to begin as soon as ballots are available,
West River Valley Thrives presents Youth Ally Award to Jennifer Matheson
TOWNSHEND-In 2022, West River Valley Thrives developed the Youth Ally Award to acknowledge those who work to support youth in the community. "Studies show that youth who receive support from the adults in their community are more likely to live happier and healthier lives," the group said in a...
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Around the Towns
Business Breakfast set for June 8 GUILFORD - Guilford and Vernon business owners are invited to attend a Business Breakfast hosted by the Guilford and Vernon Planning Commissions at the Broad Brook Community Center in Guilford on Saturday, June 8, from 9 to 11 a.m. The featured speaker is Adam Grinold, executive director of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC). Topics for discussion include BDCC's programs that provide managerial, technical, regulatory, and financial support to local businesses; opportunities for businesses...
Hayward speaks on ‘Art and the Gardener’
MARLBORO-On Friday, June 14, at 7 p.m., Gordon Hayward, noted garden designer and author, will discuss the relationship between fine painting and garden design at Ragle Hall, at Potash Hill (formerly Marlboro College), 2582 South Rd. The talk is based on Hayward's latest book, Art and the Gardener. Hayward will explore the crosscurrents between these two visual pursuits that facilitate designing one's own garden. "Ask what kind of garden you want, not what kind of garden others expect of you,"
Vermont Theatre Company announces cast of ‘Julius Caesar’
BRATTLEBORO-Vermont Theatre Company (VTC) unveiled the cast lineup for its Shakespeare in the Park production of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, set to grace the Rotary Stage at Living Memorial Park Thursday through Sunday, June 20–23. Following the success of their 2019 production of Macbeth, VTC returns to the iconic venue with director Jessica Gelter at the helm. This marks VTC's first production at the Memorial Park's Rotary Stage since 2019. The cast will feature Christian Drake as Julius Caesar;
Espressivo! returns to the BMC Stage
BRATTLEBORO-The Brattleboro Music Center's (BMC) Chamber Series welcomes the return of Espressivo! Friday, June 7, with guest Harold Robinson. The concert, set for 7 p.m. at the BMC, will feature Mozart's Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Piano Quintet in C minor, and Schubert's "Trout" Quintet. Espressivo! Includes four artists with a passion for chamber music - violinist Jaime Laredo, cellist Sharon Robinson, violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, and pianist Anna Polonsky. In this concert, they are joined...
Milestones
College news • Cameron Gage, a psychology major from Putney, and Yuki Ishibashi, a business management major from Saxtons River, were named to the spring 2024 Dean's List at Springfield (Mass.) College. Transitions • Jackie Ethier, DNP, RN has been named as Brattleboro Memorial Hospital's Chief Nursing Officer. Ethier joined BMH in 2022 as the director of nursing service. A year later she was appointed senior director of nursing services. Ethier began her career in healthcare in 2002 as a...
Bristol Lightning will perform an odyssey of American music
PUTNEY-The Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series presents an odyssey of American music with Bristol Lightning, on Saturday, June 8, at 6 p.m. at Cooper Field, 41 Sand Hill Rd. "Bluegrass from Tennessee from Grammy-award winning musicians - what's not to love?" asks Keith Marks, executive director of Next Stage Arts, in a news release. "Dave Eggar has been on stages around the world in pop, classical, jazz, and so many more settings. He's an award-winning cellist who infuses a sense...
Author King to speak on ‘Coming of Age With Grit and Grace’
BELLOWS FALLS-Senior Solutions and Bellows Falls Pride jointly sponsor a special presentation in celebration of Pride Month. On Thursday, June 20, at the Bellows Falls Opera House, Mark S. King, author of the book, My Fabulous Disease, will speak about sexual politics, the twin epidemics of addiction and AIDS, and how he has navigated sex, love, and family as a gay man living with HIV for nearly 40 years. He has been writing personal reflections on gay life, sex, addiction...
Queer Council debuts with events in June
BRATTLEBORO-The Queer Council of Brattleboro, a newly formed group of LGBTQ+ community organizers, will offer a series of celebratory events throughout June for Pride Month. According to a news release, in late January, Drift Mavyn, of Brattleboro, posted to a local queer friends' Facebook page asking whether anyone would like to form a committee to plan events for Pride Month in collaboration with others organizing in the community. Ultimately, approximately half a dozen people from a variety of backgrounds committed...
Organizers cultivate community and joy for Pride Month in Brattleboro
BRATTLEBORO-People can find more information about Brattleboro area Pride events hosted by multiple groups and individuals at glitterdirtvt.com. • Queer Sober Mixer - Wednesday, June 5, 5–7 p.m. - is described as "a platonic speed-dating event" hosted by Brit Quell and Caroline Hannon, "two queer early childhood educator buddies." No cover, but donations encouraged. The Good Spot, 580 Canal St, Unit 9. • Annual Pride Family Potluck - Out in the Open invites LGBTQ+ people, families, parents, and kids (of...
‘Brattleboro Goes Fourth’ invites entries for Independence Day parade
BRATTLEBORO-"By the People: Brattleboro Goes Fourth" is seeking parade participants as it prepares to celebrate the town's 51st Independence Day event on Thursday, July 4. The all-volunteer citizens committee will begin the day at 10 a.m. with a parade from Flat Street to Main Street and the Town Common. The shorter route comes after requests from older marchers and challenges finding enough volunteers and public safety patrols to monitor a longer distance. The local Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks,
Guilford Selectboard members deserve our thanks
The writer is a former member and chair of the Guilford Selectboard. GUILFORD-Dear members of the Guilford Selectboard, I want to share with you a simple message: Thank you. Thank you for serving the town, giving a great deal of time, considering carefully the many issues that cross your desks, and always having the best interests of the town in your hearts. I may not always agree with your conclusions and decisions, but I always appreciate your efforts to come...
Spring playoffs begin for local teams
-Playoff pairings have been announced for high school baseball, softball, tennis, and Ultimate disc in Vermont. Here's what the local teams are doing this week. • In baseball, Brattleboro (8-8) earned the No. 11 seed in Division I. On June 4, they went north to play No. 6 St. Johnsbury (11-5) in a first-round game and won, 2-1. The Bears now face No. 3 Champlain Valley in the quarterfinals on June 7 in Hinesburg. Bellows Falls (9-6) is the No.
Hooking the audience
WEST CHESTERFIELD, N.H.-Lights up in West Chesterfield: Actors Theatre Playhouse (ATP) opens its 49th season with the 14th annual Ten-Minute Play Festival. To whet the appetite, an ATP press release asks: What happens when... • A young movie buff, raised on the classics, must face the music (and a little advice)?• Olivia answers the door armed only with angst and preconceptions: Will she get religion?• The neighbor's philosophy is 'Build a wall'?• A desperate woman heeds a rancher's warning?• Exposure...
A happier solution to our national debt
SAXTONS RIVER- As concerned as I am, along with many citizens, with our enormous national debt, I would like to point out that its growth in the past decade is a direct result of President Trump lowering taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations, and not, as is sometimes claimed, of the American public's demands for a "nanny" culture that addresses social needs with expensive services. Not only is the United States the world's only developed democracy that lacks any far-reaching,
Support for an effective incumbent
BRATTLEBORO-I want to ask my neighbors to support Emilie Kornheiser for District 7 (West Brattleboro) Representative in the primary on August 13 and the general election on November 5. I actively participated in the field of early education for 20 years, which took me to Montpelier to advocate for the rights of teachers. It was here that I saw that we have many kinds of representatives in the statehouse. The best, my heroes, were the ones who were there to...
National nuclear waste policy? It’s very much local.
Schuyler Gould is a board member of Citizens Awareness Network in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, which promotes the safe regulation and decommissioning of nuclear power plants in New England. He is a past president of New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution in Brattleboro. BRATTLEBORO-The Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel (NDCAP) is chartered by the state "to encourage open communication and community involvement in matters related to the decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station" and to "advise the Governor,
Plagued by massive disinformation
Lisa Jablow is a longtime animal advocate and a board member of Protect Our Wildlife and the Windham Disaster Animal Response Team. Bray's bill (S.258) was passed by the Senate and died this session in the House Committee on Environment and Energy. BRATTLEBORO-The wildlife advocacy movement has never been stronger in Vermont. Over the past few years, the State House has been bustling with bills seeking to improve wildlife protection and conservation, thanks to a completely dysfunctional, intractable, and self-serving...
Reelection campaign event on June 6
BRATTLEBORO-Join me for my re-election campaign launch! June 6 at 4:30 p.m. at the Kiwanis (Picnic) Shelter at the top of Memorial Park. I'm running for reelection as your state representative for Windham-7 (West Brattleboro) and I'm excited to invite you to an afternoon of music, food, and community conversation! I'm running for office again because this is a crucial moment in the fight for a fair Vermont, and I'm committed to doing what needs to be done to build...
At BFUHS, a flurry of construction on a building with ‘lots of life’
WESTMINSTER-As the school year ends and summer break begins, Bellows Falls Union High School (BFUHS) has $9 million in major projects in the works over the coming months. Four of the projects on the 53-year-old building are interrelated, and coordinating them for the best use of time and resources will require deft planning. Windham Northeast Superintendent Andrew Haas says the supervisory union is up to the task and is blessed with an experienced construction manager in Steve Horton, who has...
Humane Society plans ahead for a new furry clientele
BRATTLEBORO-The Windham County Humane Society (WCHS) is nearing completion of its expansion project that includes a veterinary clinic for public and shelter animals - and a local woman is returning to help run it. Dr. Alyssa Cote, who was born and raised in Bellows Falls, will work part time at WCHS's Pet Wellness Center along with Dr. Tara Torcoletti, staff veterinarian; Dr. Susan Kelly, volunteer veterinarian; and visiting veterinarian Dr. Sara White. Cote will start work at the clinic in...
For Brattleboro, a team approach to town’s economy
BRATTLEBORO-Emmett S. Dunbar has started work as the first economic development director for Brattleboro Thrives, a committee of the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance (DBA), the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce (BACC), and the Brattleboro Planning Services Department. "It's exciting," said Dunbar on June 3, his first day in the new job for the organization, which was created to support economic development, attract new business, and foster a vibrant community in town. "It's about convening and bringing people together," he said. Kate...
Stop supporting Netanyahu with U.S. cash, arms, and intel
BRATTLEBORO-As the U.S. continues to enable death, destruction, and famine in Gaza, Yemen, and the West Bank, as President Biden speaks of restraint to Israel's Netanyahu but continues to break U.S. laws and fuel the horror with American arms and military intelligence, we must continue to raise our voices in protest. The increasingly louder chorus from Americans and much of Congress for an end to U.S. participation, the rising tide of countries recognizing Palestine as a state, recurring Israeli protests...
A sleepier statewide election season?
MONTPELIER-After a red-hot election cycle two years ago, Vermont is due for a significantly sleepier campaign season, according to unofficial filings with the secretary of state's office. Major party candidates were due to submit petitions to appear on the Aug. 13 primary election ballot by May 30, though it may take days for the candidate list to be finalized. In stark contrast to 2022, all of Vermont's statewide incumbents up for reelection are running again this year. And most of...
Public education should put public front and center
Margaret MacLean has been an educator for 50 years, working as a teacher, school principal, and consultant in Vermont, the United States, and internationally. PEACHAM-Over the past 14 years, Vermont has enacted three sweeping school district consolidation laws: Act 153, Act 156, and Act 46. One of the goals of Act 46, the most recent legislation, was to provide education "at a cost that parents, voters and taxpayers value." Are consolidated districts delivering on this promise? A big-picture look says...
‘There’s only us. There is no them.’
Ken Burns, who lives and works just over the Connecticut River in Walpole, New Hampshire, has been making award-winning documentary films and miniseries for almost a half century. On May 19, Burns gave this commencement address at Brandeis University, where he received an honorary degree (doctor of creative arts). We not only found his words extraordinarily thought provoking but also appreciated his advice to college graduates - and, for that matter, the rest of us. We present it to readers...