BELLOWS FALLS-The Julian Gerstin Sextet will perform at Stage 33 Live, 33 Bridge St., on Sunday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m.
Gerstin has spent a lifetime playing music of the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, and the U.S. - funk, R&B, and jazz. He's lived and studied in Martinique, Cuba, and Ghana, mastering dozens of percussion instruments and hundreds of traditional rhythms. On a given song you might hear him playing congas, jawbone, an enormous beaded shaker, or the tanbou drum of Martinique on which he sits and uses his heel to change the pitch.
Gerstin founded the Sextet to bring his range of instruments and influences to a jazz setting, where they serve as a platform for his fellow musicians' creativity. The group includes some of New England's most creative talents: clarinetist Anna Patton; trumpeter Don Anderson; pianist Eugene Uman, whose influences, like Julian's, range from funky grooves to experimentalism; bassist Wes Brown, whose career spans gigs with early jazz master Earl "Fatha" Hines to avant-gardes like Wadada Leo Smith and Anthony Braxton; and Ben James, who was John Tchicai's drummer for several years.
"This is global jazz," say organizers, "music with lively Caribbean drums and sparkling trumpet, velvety clarinet, and muscular piano. Music by turns lyrical and humorous, intense and peaceful, grooving and thoughtful, and always surprising."...
TOWNSHEND-Grace Cottage will host two Saturday flu vaccine clinics, on Oct. 5 and Nov. 2, from 9 a.m. until noon at Grace Cottage Family Health, 185 Grafton Rd. These clinics are open to all; one does not need to be an established patient. Registration is recommended (call 802-365-4331); walk-ins...
BRATTLEBORO-Palaver Strings' upcoming concert, "Dancing Home," at the Brattleboro Music Center (BMC) will focus on a new piece, Ḥawwāsh, composed for Palaver by the prominent Arab-American composer Kareem Roustom. According to a news release, the piece "explores the interconnected nature of dance music and cultural heritage, our sense of...
BRATTLEBORO-How does landscape painting intersect with environmental conservation? Two experts explore the possibilities at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) on Sunday, Sept. 29, at 2 p.m. Moderated by BMAC Curator Emerita Mara Williams, the talk will feature visual artist Ilana Manolson, whose exhibit, "The River Between," is currently on view at the museum, and Connecticut River Conservancy Executive Director Rebecca Todd. Manolson is a painter, printmaker, and naturalist based in Concord, Massachusetts. She lives beside a river and...
BRATTLEBORO-Vermont Theatre Company will be hosting auditions on Monday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m., in the Community Meeting room on the second floor of the Brooks Memorial Library on Main Street. Auditions will be held for four one-act plays. The shows include In the Shadow of the Glen, by J.M. Synge; 11:11, by James Perry; Emotional Baggage, by Lindsay Price; and Rappaccini's Daughter, an adaptation of the Nathaniel Hawthorne story by Dante Mauriello. Directors are Jesse Tidd, Kay Becker, Dante...
SAXTONS RIVER-Area chili makers will show off their culinary skills Saturday, Sept. 28, on Main Street in Saxtons River to benefit 24 Main Street, a nonprofit community center. 24 Main Street was established in 2019 in the former Christ's Church building and hosts a variety of activities, including Village Early Learning Center daycare, a food co-op, a monthly book group, a weekly coffee hour, a game night, concerts, art workshops, a nature club, a showcase fair for nonprofits, and occasional...
BRATTLEBORO-An America 250 Town Hall will consider the "intellectual and imaginative muscles necessary for holding free-speech principles in a pluralist society." The session, "What Does the First Amendment Ask of Us?" orchestrated by the Windham World Affairs Council, Brooks Memorial Library, and Vermont Independent Media/The Commons' Voices Live series, will take place in person at the library at 224 Main St. and will be livestreamd on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m. Meg Mott, a professor emerita who taught for...
College news • Alexander Gadowski of Dummerston was one of 438 Des Moines (Iowa) University Medicine and Health Sciences students from five programs to receive their white coat during the university's annual White Coat Ceremony on Sept. 13. Gadowski is part of the university's Doctor of Podiatric Medicine program. Obituaries • Shirley Crawford, 98, of Wilmington. Died on Sept. 14, 2024. Born on May 31, 1926, she was the daughter of the late Ruby (Griswold) and Hermon Parsons. On July...
BELLOWS FALLS-Canal Street Art Gallery (CSAG), 23 Canal St., presents the Ceramic/Fiber show and the Carol Keiser Solo Spotlight show, on view through Nov. 9. CSAG also announces the opening of its Artist Made Stationery department. The Ceramic/Fiber exhibition features work by five local artists who use one, or both, of these historically and culturally significant media in their art. One-of-a-kind blankets by Christine Cole consist of hand-dyed luxury fibers from around the world and are treated as paintings, blending...
Peace and Justice Party candidates at Flat Iron Co-op on Sept. 28BELLOWS FALLS - The Flat Iron Cooperative at 51 The Square will host a Meet the Candidates Event on Saturday, Sept. 28, from noon to 3 p.m. This event is offered as part of the Cooperative's commitment to offer educational opportunities to the community and support participation in democracy. Organizers say two statewide candidates from the Peace and Justice Party (formerly Liberty Union Party) will be available "to hear...
PUTNEY-The Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series presents world music ensemble Yemen Blues on Sunday, Sept. 29, at 4 p.m., at the field behind The Putney Inn, 57 Putney Landing Rd. The band is touring in support of their recent album, Only Love Remains. Formed in 2010, organizers boast, "Yemen Blues was swiftly recognized as one of the planet's most adventurous and invigorating bands, at once contemporary and timeless, defiantly singular and deliciously eclectic." The quartet - Ravid Kahalani, the band's...
BELLOWS FALLS-The Saxtons River Art Guild will offer a workshop on Creative Composition led by Lynn Zimmerman on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the United Church of Bellows Falls, 8 School St. All materials will be supplied, but artists are invited to bring additional materials such as watercolors, watercolor pencils, and watercolor crayons, inks, brushes, and paper. "All that is needed is an open mind and a willingness to experiment and have fun," say organizers...
BRATTLEBORO-The Baker Street Readers will return to the Hooker-Dunham Theater to present Sherlock Holmes: Two Mysteries on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. Founded in 2018, the Baker Street Readers present readings of various authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Still, they are most known for their readings of the canon of Sherlock Holmes stories, always featuring founders James Gelter as Holmes and Tony Grobe as Dr. Watson with a rotating list of guest stars. Two Mysteries will...
DUMMERSTON-The Dummerston Conservation Commission presents what they call "an amazing program" at Evening Star Grange, 1008 East-West Rd., on Friday, Sept. 27, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. In February 2024, longtime friends Emily Wrubel and Judy Fink took the trip of a lifetime to the Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve in Angangueo, Mexico, where Eastern monarch butterflies journey to spend the winter. Fink retired from 35 years of teaching children and teachers and working in farm education. She moved to the...
BELLOWS FALLS-The Square in front of the Bellows Falls Opera House will be the stage for the annual Overflow the Opera House food drive to benefit Our Place Drop-in Center on Thursday, Sept. 26. Beginning at 8 a.m. and continuing to 4 p.m., board members and other volunteers will be on hand curbside to accept donations of food and funds to stock the food pantry at Our Place. For those unable to donate in person on the 26th, donations of...
-It took a bit of time for the Brattleboro Bears girls' soccer team to shake off their "bus legs" after having to wait nearly 90 minutes for their ride to show up and take them up Route 30 to Townshend on Sept. 17 to face the Leland & Gray Rebels. Once the Bears did get warmed up, the result was a 9-1 rout of the Rebels. Against a young Rebels squad, the Bears scored three goals in the first 20...
BRATTLEBORO-The Commons reached out to challengers to incumbents in state legislative seats, inviting them to contribute some basic information to introduce them to readers as early voting in the general election gets underway. Following are brief profiles from those who responded to the newspaper's outreach for this story, with additional reporting and context from public records. A number of Republican challengers declined to participate, all claiming hostile treatment in the local press. A campaign website or social media presence follows...
NEWFANE-It's a mid-September afternoon, warm under a bright late-summer sky, and Laura Xiao of By Hand Farm in Newfane is sharing her love for raising cut flowers - and sharing her know-how - with eager participants in a workshop offered by the Northeast Organic Farming Association-Vermont (NOFA-VT). Coming from as far north as Burlington and as far east as Haverhill, Massachusetts, and Londonderry, New Hampshire, participants listen, ask questions, and take notes. The 29-year-old Xiao, who sells directly to customers...
BRATTLEBORO-St. Michael's Episcopal Church recently announced a post-pandemic rekindling of its children choir program that began Sept. 24. The Beloved Community Youth Choir aims to develop both social and musical skills in youth by using music to instill the practices of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s philosophy of nonviolence. The choir will listen to and sing a diverse repertoire of music, with emphasis on songs about social justice and peace; they'll learn to improvise and collectively compose original songs and...
Laura Sibilia represents Dover, Jamaica, Somerset, Stratton, and Wardsboro in the Vermont House of Representatives, where she serves as vice-chair of the Environment and Energy Committee and co-chair of the Rural Caucus. DOVER-Affordability is a real problem for many Vermonters right now. Right now, prices are still 20% higher than they were before the pandemic. Families all across the state are feeling the pressure. It's getting harder to afford the basics. Add to that the cost of heating oil having...
Laura Chapman is a civic volunteer, social justice activist, and works with human-services nonprofits that help neighbors in need. PUTNEY-A few weeks ago, a collective unease rippled through our community as large flags for Trump and Harris appeared in the Dummerston School library window. This unexpected display at the school, which serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, sparked a flurry of conversation on social media. When the principal was approached, she declined to remove the flags from public view.
Brenda Lynn Siegel, the executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, is a policy advocate, educator, writer, and proud single mom. This statement from End Homelessness Vermont comes in response to changes in the state's emergency housing program, which instituted new limits on motel vouchers that will affect as many as 1,000 people. NEWFANE-What happened in Vermont on Sept. 20 to people experiencing homelessness is nowhere close to a humane treatment of our neighbors. I saw babies and schoolchildren being sent...
BRATTLEBORO-After a summer of standing-room-only meetings about public safety in town, the Selectboard voted on Sept. 17 to adopt a new ordinance to address behavior and to fund increased police staffing. Board members called these actions part of the town's community safety agenda which includes implementing a downtown safety action plan, developing a community safety messaging campaign, working for state legislative reform, and other actions to address public health and safety in town. By establishing safety zones in town where...
BRATTLEBORO-Lynn Levine's lifelong appreciation for music and nature, coupled with her personal history of anxiety and depression, have come together in her new book, Robin's Song. The author will present her book, envisioned for children in grades 3-6 but intended to appeal to adults as well, on Monday, Sept. 30, at Brooks Memorial Library from 7 to 8:30 p.m. In the story, Robin, a 12-year-old girl dealing with loss and anxiety, leaves Brooklyn to live in a small Vermont town...
A consultant is urging the state to make dramatic changes to its health care system, including repurposing inpatient units at Grace Cottage and three other hospitals, consolidating services at others, and reforming how and how much facilities are paid for care. If fully enacted, the recommendations, contained in a 144-slide presentation released on Sept. 18, would lead to a sweeping transformation of Vermont's health care landscape. The report envisions a system in which much care takes place outside hospitals, where...