Issue #836
Guilford volunteers create community guidebook
GUILFORD-The town of Guilford recently announced the publication of the Guilford Guide, a comprehensive new resource designed to connect residents and newcomers with the Guilford community. The 76-page digital version of the guide is now publicly available and free to view online or download.
The Guilford Guide serves as a "user's manual" to living in Guilford, wrote coordinators in a news release. It contains information about the town government, local businesses, food and agriculture resources, news sources, social services, recreation opportunities, arts and culture, houses of worship, and more. It is intended to serve as a go-to handbook for anyone looking to better understand and engage with Guilford's community.
AARP Foundation now recruiting volunteers for in-person and virtual Tax-Aide service
BRATTLEBORO-AARP Foundation has kicked off volunteer recruitment for its Tax-Aide program, a volunteer-based tax preparation service that offers free in-person and online tax preparation and assistance nationwide to taxpayers with low to moderate income. Volunteers may sign up to assist taxpayers with a number of roles available. Tax-Aide will...
BMAC hosts discussion of ‘Paris in Ruins’ Oct. 23
BRATTLEBORO-The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) invites the public to a discussion of Sebastian Smee's Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism Thursday, Oct. 23, at 5:30 p.m. This event is part of the new series, BMAC Reads - club-style conversations focusing on books about...
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Milestones
Obituaries • Peter Robertson Amidon, 76, of Brattleboro. Died at home, surrounded by close family, on Oct. 4, 2025. Husband, father, grandfather, beloved friend, and multi-talented musician, Peter was beloved in the Brattleboro community, to which he offered and gave so much. He led "Choirs of the Community" for many events, was one of the musical leaders of the Guilford Community Church, cofounded the Brattleboro Christmas Street Band, co-led the Hospice singing group Hallowell and, most recently, gathered the ensemble...
Agencies on Aging expect spike in advice due to Medicare Advantage cancellations
SPRINGFIELD-Many Vermonters with Medicare Advantage Plans received cancellation notices effective at the end of 2025. Affected beneficiaries should carefully review and save their cancellation letter, which provides information on how and when to timely enroll in a new plan. Vermont's five Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) - including Senior Solutions, which serves Windham and Windsor counties, among others - administer the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). SHIP offers free, unbiased, and confidential health insurance counseling, including assistance with Medicare...
Around the Towns
Whitingham Library temporarily closed JACKSONVILLE - Due to the culvert construction at the Municipal Center, the Whitingham Free Public Library will be closed until early November. Their tentative re-opening date is Monday, Nov. 10. Library staff remind patrons that their digital and streaming services remain available 24/7, but that they have suspended interlibrary loan services until they reopen. For more information, visit whitinghamvt.org/library. Main Street Arts to hold clothing swap fundraiser SAXTONS RIVER - Main Street Arts, 35 Main St.,
Rod MacDonald and Mark Dann to perform in house concert
BRATTLEBORO-Brattleboro House Concerts continues its Under the Maple series with Rod MacDonald and Mark Dann on Friday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. MacDonald was a big part of the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village, where he headlined the local clubs, co-founded the GV (Greenwich Village) Folk Festival, and wrote "American Jerusalem," "Every Living Thing," "White Buffalo" and "A Sailor's Prayer," among his songs recorded by Shawn Colvin, Jonathan Edwards, Happy Traum, The Crimson Pirates, and many more. With Dann...
Uman Trio performs in Marlboro
MARLBORO-Composer and pianist Eugene Uman will perform in a trio with double bassist Steve Cady and drummer Jon Fisher Thursday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m. at Thrush Hill Stage studio, 314 Upper Houghton Road. The Eugene Uman Trio balances a blend of music that is "innovative and exploratory" as well as "accessible and groove oriented," wrote organizers in a news release. Leader Uman uses this group to present his own original compositions, many of which were inspired by his years living...
Big Woods Voices in concert
CHESTER-The First Universalist Parish of Chester (the Stone Church) hosts Big Woods Voices in concert Sunday, Oct. 19, at 4 p.m. Big Woods Voices performs a cappella vocal harmony through arrangements grown from American roots genres, world folk styles, poets old and new, and member Will Danforth compositions. "From heart-stopping to foot-stomping, prayerful to fun-filled, dissonant to dulcet, Big Woods Voices brings the spirit of southern Vermont to life through rich harmonies and soulful interpretations," according to promotional material. Big...
Explore the great outdoors with Hike & Seek
BRATTLEBORO-Families are invited to embark on outdoor explorations with "Hike & Seek: Family Adventures," a series of free, guided excursions designed to inspire fun and learning in nature. Presented by the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center (BEEC) and The Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro (BGCB), these adventures will take place on various Saturdays through June, with upcoming dates this year set for Oct. 18, Nov. 1 and 15, and Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to noon (the Nov. 15 event...
Two one-act plays pay homage to Agatha Christie
GUILFORD-Two murder crimes will be solved in one evening as Guilford Center Stage presents their 10th anniversary production, Agatha! - a pair of one-act Agatha Christie plays. Performances will be at the Broad Brook Community Center Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17 and 18, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 19, at 2 p.m. The production highlights the work of "the popular and most-published English author," organizers wrote in a news release. They said the performances also further Guilford Center Stage's...
Zara Bode’s Little Big Band returns to Brattleboro Music Center
BRATTLEBORO-Zara Bode's Little Big Band performs an evening of classic American swing music at the Brattleboro Music Center Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Duke Ellington, Django Reinhardt and Ella Fitzgerald, the band features Bode on vocals, known for her work with The Sweetback Sisters, and a horn section led by clarinetist and arranger Anna Patton. Other members include Ty Gibbons on upright bass, Alton Lathrop on guitar, Ron Kelley on saxophone, and Stefan...
Commissioner to discuss state plans to honor nation's 250th birthday
BRATTLEBORO-The America250 community planning group at Brooks Memorial Library has invited special guest and local history enthusiast Jonah Spivak to deliver a lecture on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 6 p.m. in the community room at the library. The topic of the lecture will be the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States and the planning efforts underway in Vermont. All are invited to attend. Spivak is one of 14 commissioners appointed by Governor Phil Scott to serve on...
More damage to health care coming, no thanks to Trump
Mike Mrowicki has served since 2007 in the Vermont House of Representatives, where he represents Putney and Dummerston in the Windham-4 district. PUTNEY-Our health-care "system" in Vermont is teetering, while the actions - or lack of them - from the current president might just push it over. Vermonters are paying more and more and feeling they get less and less. Access to health care is limited, evidenced by the wait times many experience to get an appointment. In some cases,
BMAC, RAMP present ‘Island: A Symposium’ in Bellows Falls Oct. 26
BELLOWS FALLS-The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) and Rockingham Arts & Museum Project (RAMP) present "Island: A Symposium" at the Bellows Falls Waypoint Center, 17 Depot St., on Sunday, Oct. 26, at 1 p.m. RAMP Founder Robert McBride will moderate a conversation with geologist David Howell, archeologist Gail Golec, and architect Dan Scully. This event is a sequel of sorts to the January 2025 program "Island: A Conversation," which emerged from the exhibition "Susan Mikula: Island," on view at...
BMAC presents concert of Baroque music on Oct. 25
BRATTLEBORO-The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) presents "Grace and Grandeur: Baroque Masterpieces from France and Germany," a concert by Ensemble Amphion Baroque, Saturday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. Led by Vermont-based flutist Jesse Lepkoff, Ensemble Amphion Baroque consists of musicians specializing in historically informed performance on period instruments: Marina Minkin (harpsichord), Na'ama Lion (baroque flute), Carol Lewis (viola da gamba), and Owen Wattkins (baroque oboe, recorder). Members of the group say they "seek to conjure the spirit and sound...
Southern Vermont Flannel Festival returns Oct. 18, 19
ROCKINGHAM-The Southern Vermont Flannel Festival will take place Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 18–19, at Rockingham Hill Farm, 34 Meetinghouse Rd. This two-day celebration invites locals and visitors alike to "slow down and savor the season." Set against sweeping hilltop views, the festival offers live bluegrass and folk music, farm-fresh food and drink, artisan vendors, family activities, and "all the cozy traditions that make fall in Vermont unforgettable," organizers wrote in a news release. Festival-goers can stretch out on a picnic...
WWAC screens film, hosts discussion on origins of ‘America the Beautiful’
BRATTLEBORO-Windham World Affairs Council will screen the film From Sea to Shining Sea: Katharine Lee Bates and the Story of America the Beautiful on Sunday, Oct. 19, at 5:30 p.m. at 118 Elliot St. The screening of the 37-minute film will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker John de Graaf. "America the Beautiful" might be the most beloved song in the United States, yet few know about the life of its author, Bates. The film tells the story of...
Grant funds Words Project mural
MONTPELIER-The Vermont Arts Council (VAC) recently announced $433,165 in grants to fund public art projects and improve cultural facilities across the state, and three Windham County projects are on the list of grantees. The grants comprise two programs, Animating Infrastructure and Cultural Facilities. The Animating Infrastructure grant program will support 10 public art projects, totaling $93,500 in funding, including the fabrication and installation of a permanent, hand-carved interactive mural for the Brattleboro Words Trail at the new Amtrak station. The...
Taylor returns to the Latchis Oct. 18
BRATTLEBORO-Latchis Arts presents "An Evening with Livingston Taylor" on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 p.m. Taylor's career as a professional musician has spanned five decades, encompassing performance, songwriting, and teaching. Described as "equal parts Mark Twain, college professor, and musical icon," Livingston maintains a busy performance schedule, performing his repertoire of 22 albums and popular classics. "Liv is an airplane-flying, motorcycle-riding, singing storyteller, delighting audiences with his charm for over 50 years," organizers wrote in a news release. Taylor last...
Epsilon Spires presents music and visions of Hildegard on Oct. 19
BRATTLEBORO-The Pandora Consort returns to the Epsilon Spires Sanctuary for the second time this year on Sunday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m., with an encore performance of their "Hildegard Reanimated: Vision in Vision" program, which organizers said resulted in a standing ovation to a packed house back in April 2025. The program explores the mystical visions of 12th-century composer, theologian, philosopher, botanist, and doctor, Hildegard of Bingen through her spiritual music for voice and harmonium, accompanied by animated projections of...
Cornerstone Housing Partners, Senior Solutions present Deerfield Valley Health & Wellness Fair
WILMINGTON-Cornerstone Housing Partners/Support and Services and Home (SASH) in partnership with Senior Solutions, the area Agency on Aging for southeastern Vermont, will host the 11th annual Deerfield Valley Health & Wellness Fair on Friday, Oct. 17, at the Old School Enrichment Center, 1 School St., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This event is free, and there will be a free lunch of hot soups and bread. Older Vermonters and their caregivers often are unaware of the opportunities, services, and...
Other No Kings events on Oct. 18
Other No Kings events scheduled Saturday in the region include the following: • Bellows Falls: 1 to 2:30 p.m., at the corner of Westminster and Church streets, participants will line the sidewalks leading into the square. Drummers will keep the beat. Food drive for Our Place Community Food Project. Co-sponsored by Rockingham Town Democratic Committee and Grafton Supporters of Democracy. • Bennington: 10:30 a.m. to noon, Vermont State Office Building, 200 Veterans Memorial Dr. Sponsored by Bennington County Indivisible. •
Literary Festival is this weekend
BRATTLEBORO-The 24th annual Brattleboro Literary Festival takes place Oct. 17–19 at multiple venues in downtown Brattleboro. Founded in 2002, the festival has become a nationally known showcase for award-winning and emerging writers of all ages and genres. All festival events are free. This year's lineup features what organizers call "a stellar list" of more than 40 authors. It includes Ocean Vuong speaking about his novel, The Emperor of Gladness, and Adam Higginbotham on Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and...
Fiscal shock: The public deserves answers about BMH
Richard Davis, a retired registered nurse and tireless advocate for access to health care, is a former Brattleboro Reformer columnist. He continues to post his writing on his Facebook profile (bit.ly/575_davis) and on iBrattleboro. BRATTLEBORO-Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH), our small community nonprofit hospital, is facing what looks like its most challenging financial situation in its 121-year history. It is frightening for the 807 employees (as of 2023, according to an August 2025 IRS 990 filing) who depend on the institution...
‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ explores the meaning of commitment
BRATTLEBORO-Shakespeare's comedy Love's Labour's Lost provides a humorous exploration of how differently men and women view romance. The Brattleboro Union High School Players present their production of the play on Friday, Oct. 17, and Saturday, Oct. 18, in the BUHS auditorium. The Players have set the action in an unnamed Ivy League college in the 1950s–60s. King Ferdinand decides that he and his three close friends must focus on the academic life and forgo the company of women. They swear...
The cognitive dissonance of consuming animal products
Lindsey Britt is the founder of Compassionate Dining, a Brattleboro-based volunteer group inspiring people to eat compassionately, healthfully, and sustainably by increasing the availability of plant-based menu options as well as the demand for those options. Learn more at compassionatedining.com, and add your name at tinyurl.com/supportplantbased. Attend their next event, "Celebrating Community, Addressing Stereotypes: A Meal and Talk with VINE Sanctuary" at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., Brattleboro, on Monday, Nov. 10 at 5:30 p.m. BRATTLEBORO-A little over 10...
Bears, Bulldog girls play to 1-1 tie
-The Brattleboro Bears girls' soccer team had a chance to clinch the Southern Vermont League A Division title on Oct. 11 when they hosted the Burr & Burton Bulldogs for a noontime Homecoming Weekend match at Natowich Field. That achievement will have to wait as the two teams played to a 1-1 draw after 80 minutes of regulation time and two 10-minute overtimes. "We had never won an SVL title before," said Bears coach Jay Cudworth. "We played really hard...
Building housing, building hope
Chloe Learey is the executive director of Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development in Brattleboro and serves as the steering committee chair of the Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance, as well as on the boards of the Vermont Community Loan Fund and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. BRATTLEBORO-Brattleboro and the greater Windham region have always been places where neighbors look out for one another. We see it in our classrooms, our local businesses, our health care workers, and in the...
Lessons in food, farming, and community
GUILFORD-Every tradition starts somewhere, and for Guilford Central School (GCS), 2025 marked the first year of what the school community hopes will be an annual celebration of local agriculture. On Oct. 9, in the heart of harvest season, all 130 students took a morning off from their usual studies to congregate in the "circle garden" in front of the school, where squash, carrots, and tomatoes are still growing. From there, they broke into small multi-age groups to visit six stations...
Bellows Falls firefighters pay last respects to their captain
BELLOWS FALLS-Dozens of firefighters, in full dress uniform and from departments in both Vermont and New Hampshire, honored Bellows Falls Fire Department Captain Lawrence S. "Larry" Clark in a solemn funeral procession on Oct. 11. Clark, 74, died on Oct. 4 after a long battle with cancer. Though he never married or had children, Clark's lifelong service to the community in several capacities - firefighter, fire safety instructor, school guidance counselor, uniformed services grief counselor, scuba diver, and local history...
New leader eyes ways to ‘bring the community back to the Redfern’
KEENE, N.H.-Until about a decade ago, area audiences could see the likes of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Pilobolus, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band at remarkably affordable prices in nearby Keene as part of the Redfern Presenting Series at Keene State College (KSC). Now, the college intends to revive the series and to bring in other companies and artists - national and international as well as regional - not only as an enhancement to KSC's performing arts students' learning, but...
‘The more of us that are active, the better the outcome’
BRATTLEBORO-Around the country and throughout Vermont, citizens will take to the streets Saturday, Oct. 18, to protest actions of the Trump administration and to share concerns regarding ramifications thereof. In our region alone, one can join rallies and marches in Bellows Falls, Bennington, Chester, Manchester, and Wilmington, as well as Brattleboro, the previous site of several such demonstrations. According to a press release from Brattleboro Area Action, Brattleboro's event, "Be the Change: No Kings 2.0" will urge participants to "stand...
Mount Snow Child Care will shift to ‘employee-first’ enrollment model
DOVER-Mount Snow Child Care will transition to an "employee-first" enrollment model in five weeks, prioritizing its services for children of Mount Snow employees and "adjusting" its staff as necessary, according to Mount Snow General Manager Lea Gabrielle Potts. Sixteen non-employee families are left to find alternative care in an area where "no alternatives lie," according to non-employee parent Eamon Duane. Mount Snow Child Care Manager Katelyn Roske announced the enrollment model shift in an email sent to families earlier this...
Forests bring peace of mind in a stressful world
WILLIAMSVILLE-Deep in the Williamsville woods, a few participants sat with their guide, Amanda Kenyon, to meditate before venturing to seek nuances of color in the forest, then to share, to dial into the forest's rich scents and then share again. The 90 minutes of this uniquely refreshing Japanese tradition of shinrin-yoku - "forest bathing" - floated by, and the outcome promised on Kenyon's website (landkindguide.com) - to "slow down, breathe, and let the forest work its quiet magic" - was...