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Your support powers every story we tell. We're committed to producing high-quality, fact-based news and information that gives you the facts in this community we call home. If our work has helped you stay informed, take action, or feel more connected to Windham County – please give now to help us reach our goal of raising $150,000 by December 31st.
BRATTLEBORO-The Sarasa Ensemble presents "Sweet Sleep," Friday, Nov. 14, at the Brattleboro Music Center (BMC), 72 Blanche Moyse Way.
"Coinciding with nature's annual moment of repose, the ensemble will explore music inspired by the many states of sleep," wrote organizers in a news release.
The concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will include works for soprano, strings, lute, and organ. It will feature Georg Muffat's concerto grosso No. 4 in G minor, "Dulce somnium," which inspired the program title.
"Some of us sleep deeply, some of us lightly, some need nighttime tea to help fall asleep, some a book or a podcast or listening to music," explained Sarasa co-founder Jennifer Morsches. "Some of us have recurring dreams, some unwanted nightmares, and many need something repetitive to help ease us to slumber, such as a lullaby, perhaps counting sheep, or the lull of water or waves on a beach. And then, for all of us, there is the inevitability of eternal rest."...
BRATTLEBORO-ByWay Books & More, 399 Canal St., will host three children's authors - Eileen Christelow, Karen Hesse, and Liza Ketchum - for a book signing Saturday, Nov. 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. "Each renowned author is a master of their craft," wrote Severia Draike, proprietor, in a...
NEWFANE-NewBrook Fire and Rescue's 23rd annual Silent Auction is set for Nov. 29 through Dec. 8. Donations can be dropped off at the Fire House on Tuesdays, Nov. 18 and 25, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. New or gently used items, such as handcrafts, antiques, holiday items, gift certificates...
Senior lunch in Newfane NEWFANE -The monthly senior lunch will be held Thursday, Nov. 13, at noon at Newfane Congregational Church. The menu consists of crackers and dip for an appetizer, followed by shepherd's pie with peas and corn, green salad, and pumpkin bread for the main course. Gingerbread with cream will be served for dessert. This meal is sponsored by Senior Solutions and prepared and served by volunteers from the church and community. Suggested donation is $3.50. Call Winnie...
BRATTLEBORO-Tiny Theater will do a staged reading of Act II of Jon Robin Baitz's celebrated play, Other Desert Cities, Monday, Nov. 17, from 5 to 7 p.m., at ByWay Books, 399 Canal St. "Due to the resounding success of the Act I reading, the Tiny Theater ensemble is thrilled to present the highly anticipated Act II reading," organizers said in a news release. Severia Drake of ByWay Books will host the event, which kicks off with a quick recap of...
PUTNEY-Yellow Barn's 17th season of Artist Residencies continues this month with cellist Sarah Rommel, who returns with her Arioso Project, culminating in a free public performance that serves as its East Coast premiere Thursday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m. in the Big Barn. Following the hourlong performance, Artistic Director Seth Knopp will moderate a conversation between Rommel and the audience about the program and her work to secure a future for Arioso. Sarah Rommel (Yellow Barn '18) aims to bring...
BRATTLEBORO-Vermont Pastel Society (VPS) has announced the winners of this year's juried member show. After an initial jurying process led by Margaret Dyer and Dawn Emerson determined the 23 pastels in this year's show, nationally recognized pastelist Liz Haywood-Sullivan selected the winners. Best in Show went to Katrina Thorstensen's "Coastal Overlook," described by the judge as "wonderfully evocative of a foggy coastline." Second place went to Chris Reid's "On the Rocks III," a "lovely observation of color on snow with...
PUTNEY-Next Stage Arts announces the opening of "Life in Vermont and Mexico," a new exhibition of paintings by Carol Keiser. The opening reception will be held Sunday, Nov. 16, from 4 to 6 p.m., offering an opportunity to meet the artist and experience her work firsthand. Keiser's paintings are inspired by her life in the countryside of Putney, and her experiences living in Mexico, a country known for its vivid colors and striking contrasts. Through her work, Keiser "captures the...
-Umbrella, an organization based in the Northeast Kingdom, has expanded one of its services statewide. The Spark, a prevention "warmline," aims to disrupt patterns of domestic abuse by providing anonymous and confidential one-on-one help to those who have caused or could cause harm to an intimate partner or other family member. A "warmline" is like a hotline in that it is a number someone can call when they need a particular type of help. The term "hotline" typically refers to...
BRATTLEBORO-Plans are moving forward to set up an emergency overnight shelter this winter to fill what organizers say is the need "to offer a warm and welcoming overnight space for adults during the coldest months of the year." More than 50 people gathered at the Beloved Community Church - the congregation formed by the collaboration of the First United Methodist and First Baptist churches - on Town Crier Drive for a meeting that outlined plans for the overnight shelter, which...
Sarah Ellis is a writer and mental health advocate based in Burlington. A Windham County expatriate, she addresses mental illness, resilience, and hope in her newsletter, "Composted Mayhem," at sarahrebeccaellis.substack.com. BURLINGTON-How do you dress up your fear for Halloween? Mine is tucked beneath a swashbuckling hat and beaded onto a gold chain I looped around my neck - part of my pirate queen costume I found for $8 with two plastic buckles and a sash. It's a great costume, but...
Jim Freedman is a leadership consultant and author. BRATTLEBORO-In the 18th century, Scottish Enlightenment thinker Adam Ferguson offered a stark warning to governments: A nation is in decline when it spends more servicing its debts than defending itself. That threshold, once a theoretical marker of decay, has become a reality for the United States. In 2025, for the first time in modern history, our country will pay more in interest on its national debt than it will spend on national...
With the federal government shutdown stretching into the longest in U.S. history, Nov. 1 was supposed to see the end of full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments to some 42 million citizens until the shutdown was resolved. Several states, including Vermont, have stepped in to try to fill at least some of the financial gaps for citizens enrolled in the state's 3SquaresVT program. Participants received most if not all of their November benefits on Nov. 7. Vermont State Treasurer...
BRATTLEBORO-Public discussion about the fiscal year 2027 budget has started with the intention, Town Manager John Potter says, not to increase property taxes more than about 4.4%. "It keeps the town working for its residents but in a balanced way," said Potter at the Nov. 4 Selectboard meeting, noting "deeper dives" are coming up for each department as personnel meet with the board in the coming weeks. Overall, the proposed budget would need a $861,000 increase in property taxes to...
PUTNEY-Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present mandolin duo Matt Flinner and Joe K. Walsh at Next Stage Saturday, Nov. 15, at 7:30 p.m. Known for their "mastery of the mandolin and tasteful musicality," said organizers in a news release, Flinner and Walsh "bring rich voices and diverse textures to the acoustic and bluegrass worlds." Vermont-based multi-instrumentalist Flinner has made a career out of playing acoustic music in new ways. Starting out as a banjo prodigy who was playing...
BRATTLEBORO-The Brattleboro Music Center Chamber Series welcomes Musicians from Marlboro - Group I Sunday, Nov. 16, at 3 p.m. This ensemble is led by senior violinist Itamar Zorman, of the Lysander Trio, along with Clara Newbauer, violin; Hiroki Kasai and Ao Peng, viola; Oliver Herbert, cello; and Donovan Bown, oboe. The program features Britten's Phantasy Op. 2 for string trio and oboe, his first work to gain major international recognition, as well as Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8, a work...
Obituaries • Agnes Irene "Aggie" Gilson, 95, of Brattleboro. Died peacefully Oct. 29, 2025, at Thompson House ,where she had been a resident for the past three years. A lifelong resident of Brattleboro, Aggie was born at home May 30, 1930, the daughter of Robert and Florence (Smith) Parmenter. She attended St, Michael's Parochial School and graduated from St. Michael's High School with the Class of 1948. She went on to graduate from Holyoke (Mass.) Hospital School of Nursing, where...
BRATTLEBORO-In celebration of National Coming Out Day (Oct. 11) and World Kindness Day (Nov. 13), Windham County Prevention Partnership invites community members to gather for an evening of storytelling, reflection, and connection at the Latchis Theatre Thursday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. A story slam is a community event where individuals have up to five minutes to share a true, personal story on a theme. No notes, no scripts - just a story from the heart. "This is not a...
BRATTLEBORO-For 50 years, Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV) has been a cornerstone of local storytelling - from covering local municipal and school board meetings to training community members in media production. Founded in the 1970s with a mission to give everyone a voice on TV, BCTV continues to offer talk shows, podcasts, livestreams, and event recordings representatives say reflect the vibrancy of the region. Selectboard meeting coverage was the organization's first production and remains its flagship program today. But BCTV is...
BRATTLEBORO-What inspires someone to start on a dramatically new venture in their 80s when contemporaries are putting their feet up? My Bones Are Woven, a 2021 film directed by Jane Mote and Joshua Krenshaw, explore this question Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 118 Elliot Gallery, 118 Elliot St. The film centers on British artist Ann Sutton, who won world acclaim as a weaver and industrial textile designer. At age 78, she dedicated herself to pushing the boundaries of fine art. The...
BRATTLEBORO-The second installment of the 2025 Brattleboro Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes will be due by 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 17. Payments made after that date will have 1% interest added to the unpaid balance. Town utility bills are also due by 5 p.m. Payments made subsequently will have an additional 1% interest, as well as an 8% penalty, added to the unpaid balance. Payments can be mailed to the Town of Brattleboro, 230 Main St., Suite 111,
For everyone 3SquaresVT provides money every month to buy food at grocery and convenience stores and farmers markets across Vermont. Benefits can be multiplied at farmers markets when combined with Crop Cash. To find out if you are eligible for 3SquaresVT and get help applying, visit vermontfoodhelp.com or text VFBSNAP to 85511. To learn more about Crop Cash, check at the manager's booth of your local farmers market, visit nofavt.org/cropcash, or call NOFA Vermont at 802-434-7162. You'll find local food...
MIDDLEBURY-The J. Warren & Lois McClure Foundation and the Community College of Vermont (CCV) recently announced an extension of the Free Degree Promise to include Vermont's high school classes of 2027 and 2028. The extension ensures that current 10th and 11th graders will have the opportunity to complete a free CCV associate degree of their choosing just one year after high school graduation, a benefit first offered to the classes of 2023 through 2026. Since launching in 2022, the Free...
Nancy Braus, a retired independent bookseller, is a longtime activist. GUILFORD-Even amid certainty that a terrible event will occur - when you have seen the players in action too many times before and you know your side does not stand a chance - the actual feeling of the knife sliding in the back is real. Even when we have seen the same show of spinelessness again and again, how can we not feel pain from the weakness and betrayal yet...
-Bellows Falls has had a lot of great running backs over the years, but they have not had many with so much talent at such a young age as sophomore Jaden Bazin. Possessing a perfect balance of speed and power, Bazin is a scoring threat every time he touches the ball and is rewriting the Terriers' football record book with every game he plays. Against the third-seeded Mt. Abraham Eagles in a Division III semifinal game on Nov. 7 at...
STRATTON-After winning Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medals and, just last winter, her third cross-country season World Cup, Jessie Diggins could be forgiven for lazing away the summer and fall on vacation. So why has the most decorated U.S. Nordic skier in history instead run, biked, roller-skied, and weightlifted the past six months in Vermont? "This is the best place in the world to train," the 34-year-old said recently atop Stratton Mountain as she pointed to steep trails and a...
NEWFANE-The Crowell Art Gallery at Moore Free Library is now showing "Volunteers' Choice," a show featuring a variety of artwork created by volunteers, as well as some by local artists, through Saturday, Nov. 29. A reception will be held Sunday, Nov. 16, at 3 p.m. This show focuses on thanking gallery volunteers and allowing them to display their favorite pieces they possess or have made. "I think it's a great idea to get everyone who may not have a whole...
BELLOWS FALLS-This month, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO) will collaborate with The Moth Radio Hour to weave powerful storytelling into its "Made in Vermont" tour, an annual concert series uplifting Vermont artists through music. The tour will be stopping at the Bellows Falls Opera House for a concert on Sunday, Nov. 16, from 4 to 6 p.m. Conducted by VSO Music Director Andrew Crust, the 2025 "Made in Vermont" program centers around the concept of storytelling and the power of...
Chuck Collins is a researcher, campaigner, and storyteller based at the Institute for Policy Studies, where he directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good and co-edits Inequality.org. He is the author of 10 books about the impact of inequality on our lives, including The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, Born on Third Base, and (with Bill Gates Sr.) Wealth and Our Commonwealth. GUILFORD-As a co-editor of a website that tracks news and views about...
This letter, submitted by Meg Lucas, is co-signed by Nancy Witherill (Bartonsville), Sherry Maher (Athens), Tatiana Schreiber (Westminster West), Barbara Ternes (Bellows Falls), and Arlene Scully (Westminster West). SAXTONS RIVER-On Oct. 31, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a senior judge in the District of Columbia, ruled against the Trump administration in parts of the case involving the president's executive order to restrict voting rights. She entered a permanent injunction that prevented the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) from implementing the worst provision of...
BRATTLEBORO-Indivisible Brattleboro hosts "What Does Democracy Look Like? An exploration in art and discussion" on Sunday, Nov. 16, from 4 to 6 p.m., at Brattleboro's Latchis Theatre. Designed, according to the event press release, to "celebrate democracy through art, music, poetry, and discussion," the open-to-all event welcomes people from "across the political spectrum. Come together to find common ground, celebrate local creativity, and discuss the future we all share." The Commons spoke recently with event co-organizer Katie Allaway. From Wyoming,
TOWNSHEND-At a Sunday rehearsal in October, a cluster of nearly three dozen theater folks from fourth-graders to grown-ups set to another rehearsal and crew session for the Leland and Gray (L&G) Players' production of the junior version of the musical Aladdin. With sign painting in one corner, costuming in the backstage space, dance step review "center stage" (on the Dutton Gymnasium floor), sound techs doing checks, and directors conferring and leading, it was a microcosm of creative community - an...
NEWFANE-Town Meeting, a state holiday usually held on the first Tuesday in March, is a rare form of direct democracy where residents assemble and become a legislative body. This form of direct democracy has become an extremely rare endangered species, one where citizens can raise their voices directly without going through elected representatives. It still only exists in parts of Switzerland, Germany...and in Vermont. Here in Newfane, it takes 85 signatures (or 5% of the town's registered voters) to add...
