Brattleboro Area Jewish Community (BAJC)'s own mini-version of “Antiques Roadshow” will appear live on Sunday, June 28, from 1 to 4 p.m., at its synagogue located at 151 Greenleaf Street in West Brattleboro.
BAJC is hosting an appraisal day with four experienced appraisers present to evaluate and assess antiques, collectibles, and memorabilia, including books, documents, sterling silver, glass and art glass, china and pottery, fine art and signed prints, musical instruments, records and entertainment memorabilia, jewelry, paper documents and ephemera, small furniture, tchotchkes, and more.
Firearms, knives, ammunition, or other weaponry are not allowed, nor are large and bulky furniture.
The appraisers are local dealers Richard Michelman (sterling silver, glass, china), Kit Barry (paper goods, documents, and ephemera), Stephan Brandstatter (art, music, entertainment memorabilia) and auctioneer Sharon Boccelli (all categories). The appraisers are knowledgeable in their respective fields and will offer a valuation based on current trends and market value.
To say that Grandma and I had a few things in common might be an understatement. October was our birthday month. We shared the same passion for horses, flowers, art, and music, and we both had a knack for making mint jelly. And despite the age gap between us,
I have this nasty habit of overemphasizing my downfalls. Because I feel unworthy of success, or maybe I don't know what to do with the feelings of actually not failing. Because failure, success and the art of not failing are three separate things, and we have the right to...
During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration provided dignity and income for 11 million jobless men and women. Today, we need a United Nations CCC-WPA for places with extreme unemployment. Much of what the world spends on war and preparedness would be unnecessary if some were devoted to job creation. And ISIS recruitment would be harder. In the Middle Ages, the people who left their known world to become Crusaders against the infidels were not...
Downtown Farmers' Market now open BRATTLEBORO - The downtown Brattleboro Farmers' Market is now open for the season. It will be open on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., through the end of October at the Whetstone Pathway across from the Brattleboro Food Co-op. Enjoy fresh veggies, dairy, and cut flowers straight from local farms, along with lunch foods, including Anon's Thai Cuisine. EBT and debit cards are welcome. Contact [email protected] or 802-254-8885 for more information, or visit brattleborofarmersmarket.com.
Women in the United States continue to be underrepresented in careers related to science, engineering and mathematics, despite some recent strides in these areas. Although women make up 47 percent of the total workforce in this country, a 2014 U. S. Department of Labor report indicates that they comprise only 15.6 percent of all chemical engineering jobs and 12.1 percent of all civil engineering jobs, for example. The Windham Regional Career Center is planning to address this divide, in part,
Grace Cottage Hospital's 10th annual Tour de Grace bicycle ride will be held on Saturday, July 11. It's a scenic, mostly-downhill ride for family and friends that helps to raise money for patient care at Grace Cottage Hospital. Riders start at Stratton Mountain anytime between 8 and 10 a.m., and ride at their own pace to Grace Cottage Hospital in Townshend. Bus transportation is provided to return riders and their bikes back uphill to Stratton Mountain. If you prefer, ask...
College news • Clarkson University student Bryce H. Bandish of East Dummerston was part of a winning team at the 2015 New York Business Plan Competition. Bandish, a senior majoring in chemistry, presented Comfy Pets with other Clarkson students. The team won the Undergraduate Excellence Award in Biotechnology /Healthcare. • Rebecca O'Neill of Westminster, a senior member of the women's rowing team at Bates College, received New England Small College Athletic Conference All-Academic distinction for the spring 2015 season. She...
Residents are invited to sing out on Saturday, June 27, starting at 5:30 p.m., at The Root Social Justice Center on Williams Street. There will be Karaoke with Enza Putignano and a silent auction with items from Amazing Planet! Farm, New Chapter, Stained Glass, Dosa Kitchen, Neighborhood Market, and many more. The family-friendly, fragrance-free event benefits The Root's Cross-Class Dialogue Circles, with $5 suggested donation and no one turned away. A light dinner will be served, and particiapnts are asked...
The Frendly Gathering Music Festival returns to Windham on June 26 and 27 at Timber Ridge, located on the back of Magic Mountain. Twiddle, one of the festival's headliners, has played the festival since its inception. The event's press release describes the act as “Vermont's own jam band." Nahko & Medicine for the People are the other headlining band, joined by nearly 28 other musical groups. In addition to “rock and roll, bluegrass, folk, jam, reggae, and electronic acts,” the...
The American Red Cross urges eligible donors to give blood in the weeks surrounding Independence Day to help ensure a sufficient blood supply now and throughout the summer. Many summer activities, such as vacations and travel, cause frequent blood donors to be less available to give during the summer. However, hospital patients still depend on volunteer donors to receive lifesaving transfusions – the need for blood does not get a vacation. Eligible donors are encouraged to choose their day to...
Through a grant from the Vermont Community Foundation, volunteers in the Frost, Elm, Elliot Triangle Neighborhood (F.E.E.T. Neighbors) came together on June 12 to plant six barrels of flowers to beautify entryways to the area. “The mission of F.E.E.T. is taking small steps to build a greater community,” said Rebecca Jones, who has her medical practice on Elliot Street, in a news release. Jones helped initiate the F.E.E.T. effort when alleged drug dealing was affecting her neighbors and others sense...
Starting on Monday, June 29, at 5 p.m., Open Music Collective (OMC) begins its summer class programs for Jazz Vocals and Jazz Ensemble, and also offers the return of the Zappa class. In the Vocal Jazz Repertoire Class (June 29 at 5 p.m.), students will work on learning songs, writing charts, interacting with rhythm sections, counting off tunes and improvising. There is limited room for participants, but all are encouraged to enroll. The summer class historically tends to be more...
Meet the Candidates tonight VERNON - Residents have a chance to meet the candidates vying for seats on the town's Selectboard on Wednesday, June 24, at 6:30 p.m. The two temporary board members, Stephen Skibniowsky and Munson Hicks, step down from their positions at the end of June. They were appointed to serve in April, after Patty O'Donnell and Jeff Dunklee resigned. The special election to choose two new Selectboard members and a lister will take place June 30. WRC...
A town skatepark took one step closer to reality last week when the Development Review Board approved plans for a 6,500 square-foot park. DRB members also approved plans for an 8,000-square-foot dog park, planned for a site across the road from the skatepark. After more than five years of contentious debates, false starts, more than one last-minute kibosh, and mediation over where to put the skatepark, the Selectboard earlier this year approved locating the skatepark - which will cost an...
As part of the fifth biannual Festival of Mandolin Chamber Music Festival presented by Stone Church Arts, New England Mandolin Ensemble will perform with festival participants on Sunday, June 28, at 3 p.m. The concert takes place in the Chapel at Immanuel Episcopal Church, 20 Church St. The New England Mandolin Ensemble is in the vanguard of musical groups exploring both newly-composed and nearly-forgotten works for classical mandolin ensemble. Directed by Professor August Watters of Berklee College of Music, the...
The Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro signature fundraiser, a bike ride called Going the Distance, has attracted a following of committed riders and club supporters for six years. This year, an estimated 60 riders will pedal 40, 60, or 100 miles to raise funds for the local club that offers programs to area youth at its sites on Flat Street and at Westgate Housing in Brattleboro, and in Bellows Falls. According to former board president and ride coordinator Robert...
The Interstate 91 bridge that spans the West River remains on track to open November 2016 after a series of delays pushed back the original 2015 deadline. The state Agency of Transportation (AOT), construction companies FIGG Engineering Group, of Florida, and PCL Civil Constructors, Inc., of Virginia trekked to Brattleboro to provide a project update on Tuesday. Bad weather, soil issues, and permitting issues ended hopes that the project would be finished by the winter of 2015-16. Secretary of Transportation...
When you'd ask Norman Runnion for his life story, he'd point to a newspaper. Take the old Kansas City Journal-Post, where he played as a child while his father pounded on a manual typewriter. Or the Evanston (Ill.) Review, where he broke into journalism pasting up the sports page for $5 a week. Or Vermont's Brattleboro Reformer and The Herald of Randolph, where he capped a globetrotting career covering the world for wire service desks in New York, London, Paris,
I am not a stranger to Rachel Dolezal. In fact, I've met many like her in my own life. “I never liked the white man's music,” one of my boyfriends once said to me. “For years, I kept convincing my ex-girlfriend that the both of us would be able to produce a black baby.” I heard this and just laughed at the ridiculous statements he made. Over time, I realized that John was serious about his feelings while he maintained...
The Green Street retaining wall project, estimated to cost $585,000, received an injection of funds Tuesday. Gov. Peter Shumlin announced a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for the town during a press conference in the Harmony Parking Lot. Federal CDBG funds help finance housing, support job creation, preserve cultural heritage, and rebuild infrastructure. Communities apply for grants, which are funneled from the feds to state agencies. The town closed the one-way portion of Green Street, Green Street Extension, last...
An evening of mandolin-based, acoustic world music by the Will Patton Ensemble comes to town on Sunday, June 28. Will Patton, Thal Aylward, Clyde Stats, and Dono Schabner have been playing their spirited stew of world music throughout the Northeast for more than 15 years, creating an improvisatory dialogue rich in melodic and harmonic invention. Mandolin magazine has described the music as “elegant, memorable lines... powerful and sophisticated, perfectly capturing the essence of the style.” Patton has played his music...
Marlboro College's “Happy Valley” dorm recently received a much-needed upgrade. The 10-room dorm at the small, liberal arts college located about 12 miles from downtown Brattleboro was built in 1960. Its rooflines, wooden clapboard exterior, and large windows in the common room remind one of a mid-century ski lodge. In recent years, as the college continued assessing its assets, Happy Valley rose to the top of the list of dorms in need of renovation, according to Dan Cotter, director of...
The Brattleboro Food Co-op will mark two milestones this weekend. On Saturday, June 27, the customer-owned grocery will throw its 40th birthday bash starting with a community cook-out at 11 a.m., and live music until 6 p.m. The Co-op will also mark its second milestone at 1 p.m., with a ceremony to honor its General Manager Alex Gyori, who is retiring that day. Gyori and the store have grown in unison for almost 33 years. While the Co-op nurtured a...
Vermont's oldest continuous horse show will hold its 74tth edition on Sunday, June 28, at West River Stables at Meadowbrook Farm, 102 Hill Rd., rain or shine. The NewBrook Horse Show's first class begins at 9 a.m. As always, admission is free for spectators and all profits benefit the NewBrook Volunteer Fire Department which serves Newfane and Brookline. Last year's show, with 40 competitors, yielded a $2,000 contribution to the NewBrook Fire Department, said Committee Member Roger Poitras. Members of...
Barreling down a hillside on bicycles donned with motorcycle helmets accompanied by the sound of Led Zeppelin, Hilltop Montessori School's 12 graduates made quite an entrance to their ceremony on June 12. The weather held long enough for all 12 to deliver their speeches to 200 guests under a tent on the Hilltop campus. As is tradition at Hilltop, each graduate prepares a speech about their growth as a person and learner during their time at Hilltop, along with thanks...
Frank Salomon, administrator of Marlboro Music School and Festival, says that despite the name, he believes that the organization offers not a festival but a retreat. “Professional beginning artists get the special opportunity to work with acclaimed senior artists, some of whom have been involved with Marlboro 30 years or more,” says Salomon. “Together, both get a chance to explore music with unlimited rehearsal time. The young and the veterans inspire each other, as they discover what lies beneath a...
A major new exhibit of work by the celebrated U.S. artist Jim Dine opens at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) on Saturday, June 27, alongside four other new exhibits opening concurrently. “Jim Dine: People, Places, Things” explores themes and imagery that have preoccupied the artist from his earliest creative endeavors. Best known for his bold depictions of domestic objects, Dine imbues hand tools, bathrobes, hearts, and skulls with emotional and aesthetic tension. A special preview of the new...
One day, during my first pastorate in Vermont, I went to the post office to get the church mail. One envelope with the name of a fake organization on it and no return address was addressed to me, so standing there in the lobby I opened it. For the next five minutes, I read about how gays and women like me were destroying both Christianity and the country, and how I was a “pitiful excuse” for a minister and human...
The former laundromat at 118 Elliot St. that lay dormant for so long has recently sprung back to life. For the past few months, construction crews have been busy at work, but instead of creating a new laundromat, they are building a new arts and music venue. The space's “soft opening” will take place the weekend of June 26, with a series of events to benefit a group of eight Oglala Lakota teens and two counselors visiting from the Pine...