Beginning May 5, The Dianich Gallery will exhibit new work from Massachusetts artist Molly Hatch. The show will run through July 30.
Hatch designed her newest body of work, titled “Passage,” with the gallery space at The Dianich in mind - a space distinctively suited to sculptural floor pieces. While she is better known for hanging plates on the wall as paintings, “Passage” is largely focused on sculptural objects displayed off of the wall, with only two of the five pieces in the show hanging.
Featuring new ceramic sculptures and drawings, the inspiration for “Passage” comes from both historic and contemporary textiles and patterning found in home interiors.
“Stack I,” “Stack II,” and “Stack III” play patterns off of each other in the way one might find pattern combinations in a home and concentrate the eye on these juxtapositions, encouraging the viewer to see the patterns and colors in a new way.
The big pine near the gazebo that acts as the communal Christmas tree is sick and needs to be replaced, according to information Selectboard member Emily Vergobbe shared at the April 4 regular Board meeting. “It's not very healthy,” Vergobbe said, but “it's the only tree that's do-able” on...
Statewide, about 80 percent of our children live in communities that educate their youth in schools that operate at all grade levels. These schools include small-town elementary schools, and both town-based high schools and larger union high schools. These larger union schools - like Rivendell, CVU and North Country...
Grace Cottage Hospital hosts annual events to promote “health, wellness, and fellowship” while also raising money for the nonprofit hospital and its Patient Care Fund. “While delivering high-quality health care is our first priority, promoting wellness and bringing together our community with these joyful events is part of who we are,” Andrea Seaton of Grace Cottage Foundation said in a news release. “And the more, the merrier!” Organizers encourage residents and visitors to the region to participate in any or...
BF Rotary hosts annual Penny Sale BELLOWS FALLS - The Bellows Falls Rotary Club will host its annual Penny Sale on Saturday, May 7, at the Bellows Falls Union High School auditorium in Westminster. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for the 6 p.m. start of the first of the Penny Sale's three action-packed series. Refreshments will be provided by the Bellows Falls Union High School Booster Club. The Penny Sale is the Rotary Club's major fundraiser with proceeds used for...
Echoing a recurring theme in Vermont Yankee's decommissioning, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch says newly introduced federal legislation would increase the influence of state and local governments in nuclear-plant cleanup. Welch, D-Vt., announced April 20 that he had introduced the Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Act as a companion to a Senate bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. “As we've seen with Vermont Yankee, the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant has a huge impact on local communities,” Welch said in...
Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe writes a somewhat disingenuous op-ed in which she contends school choice is not threatened by Act 46 and that voters in their communities ultimately decide whether to continue tuitioning to allow each family to find a school that best fits their child's needs. In fact, Act 46 provides a variety of incentives, penalties, and rules that work against individual communities freely choosing their direction. The preferred option laid out in the law would eliminate choice for...
An introduction to business ownership succession planning will be offered on Tuesday, May 10, from 2 to 5 p.m., at the Marlboro College Graduate Center, 28 Vernon St. Attendees will receive a copy of “An Owner's Guide to Business Succession Planning.” There is no cost for this event, but registration is required. In this seminar, according to a news release, participants will learn the basics of how to choose a path for ownership succession in their businesses, and take a...
Confluence, a new gallery in the historic E.J. Bullock Building, will have its opening May 6 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Regular hours will be Saturday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Sunday noon to 4 p.m., and by appointment. The gallery's debut show will consist of work by five women photographers inspired by the beauty of their local environment: Sue Hartman, Jeanette Eckert, Stacy Birch, Nicki Steel, and Ann Floriani. Hartman, a 30-year resident of Readsboro, previously...
College news • McKenzie Bover of Brattleboro and Matthieu Fortier of South Londonderry were among 45 Castleton University students who were recently selected to present at the annual Castleton Scholars Celebration: A Showcase of Original Student Work. The event gives the university the opportunity to showcase the rich variety of students' scholarly and creative endeavors at Castleton across academic departments and programs. Each presentation arose from course assignments, capstone experiences, and independent study programs, all supported and guided by faculty...
In the next few weeks, we will be hearing a lot about how our local elementary schools are failing to provide equitable educational opportunities for all our children. We will be told the problem lies in a lack of programs in the small-town elementary schools surrounding Brattleboro. We will be assured that we have to give up our local school boards and town meetings and adopt a single mega-district to govern our schools, or the state will do it for...
Big plans for Hidden Acres DUMMERSTON - David Hiler visited the April 13 regular Selectboard meeting to notify town officials of the pending purchase he and his business partners, Amy and Tim Brady, are making of Hidden Acres Campground. Hiler told the Selectboard that he and the Bradys are taking over immediately, signing a short-term lease with the current owners until the sale is complete. According to Hidden Acres' website, the campground opens for the season on May 12. The...
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital administrators want to strengthen their ties with two health-care providers on the other side of the Connecticut River. The hospital on April 26 announced formation of a new “strategic partnership” with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health in Lebanon, N.H., and Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene in Keene, N.H. Also announced was a “joint management committee” that will recommend ways to expand that partnership. Brattleboro remains an independently governed hospital, and a spokeswoman said the announcement “has nothing to do with a...
Savings Bank of Walpole hires Brattleboro resident as Commercial Loan Officer KEENE, N.H. - Savings Bank of Walpole has hired Stephanie Huestis as its Vice President and Commercial Loan Officer, according to a news release. Huestis, who lives in Brattleboro, brings over 20 years of experience within the finance industry to her new position and has a broad understanding of relationship management, commercial lending, sales, and new-business development. Previously, she held a number of positions at Peoples United Bank in...
A local bicycle-advocacy group, VBike, brought home the Notable Project of the Year award from the Vermont Walk/Bike Summit held in Rutland in early April. VBike, founded in January, 2015, by Dave Cohen, is a nonprofit organization “working to update and rejuvenate Vermont's bike transportation culture by introducing new innovations and technologies.” [See “A bolt of innovation” The Commons #310, June 17, 2015]. The Walk/Bike Summit was organized through partnerships among the Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT), the Rutland Regional...
Thanks to Meeting Waters YMCA's After-School Program for Inspiration, Recreation, and Education program (Y-ASPIRE), hundreds of children in southeastern Vermont can continue to learn, grow, and thrive even after the bell rings at the end of the school day. At least as important, Y-ASPIRE Executive Director Steve Fortier said in a news release, that also means several hundred parents can work with the peace of mind that their child is in a safe and nurturing environment. “When Sue [Fortier, the...
Green Up Day on Saturday, May 7, marks the 46th year of a treasured Vermont tradition launched in 1970 by then-Governor Deane Davis. Thousands of Vermonters are expected to come together in communities throughout the state to clean up roadside litter and tidy up public spaces to refresh Vermont's naturally beautiful landscape. For safety, volunteers should wear bright colors and sturdy shoes and gloves. Brattleboro will host four locations on Green Up Day. Sites include the corner of Elliot and...
Appointments made, truck bid awarded PUTNEY - The Selectboard unanimously approved the appointment of Blanche Coty to the Conservation Commission and the reappointment of Thomas Goddard as health officer at the April 13 regular Board meeting. The board reviewed bids for a dump truck, dump-truck body, and equipment. There was some discussion among Board members, Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard, and Highway Superintendent Brian Harlow on vendors, truck manufacturers, and warranties. The Board unanimously voted to purchase a Western Star dump...
Inspired by the coming elections, Vermont's own Bread and Puppet Theater will perform a brand new, giant puppet show on Sunday, May 8, at 7 p.m., at Next Stage in Putney. “The Underneath the Above Show #1” is written and directed by Bread and Puppet founder Peter Schumann, who says his new production is “a puppet-show contribution to the ongoing U.S. presidential election campaign.” “In our show, the normally slightly overweight three-dimensional electorate is reduced to its proper election year...
Members of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) are once again gearing up to “carry” out the largest one-day food drive in the U.S., the 24th annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. On Saturday, May 14, letter carriers and their food drive partners, including members of the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, will pick up donated food as they deliver your mail and make sure that it gets to a local food shelf. Traditionally held on the second Saturday...
The Blanche Moyse Chorale, a program of the Brattleboro Music Center, is scheduling auditions for new members in all vocal sections. The chorale is preparing a production of J.S. Bach's “Short Mass in F” with two motets and orchestral works on Columbus Day weekend this fall. Auditions for the performance will be scheduled during the week of May 8, with rehearsals to follow. Those planning to audition should be experienced in choral singing, capable of learning music independently, and not...
Great interview; very inspiring! We're lucky to have companies like Mondo Mediaworks in Brattleboro!
Solar project complaints received GUILFORD - “I have received a number of phone calls, e-mails, and letters” from people in town about the Tinker Hill Road solar project, Board Chair Sheila Morse told her colleagues at the April 25 regular Selectboard meeting. Morse explained the project, performed by GLC Powersmith, had gone through the Act 250 public hearing process last year, but now “we see the steel structures go up, [and] people are sort of worried how it looks and...
Several weeks ago, I attended a meeting for Brattleboro residents about the proposed accelerated merger, which the Act 46 Study Committee wants all towns to vote on in June. Very few Brattleboro residents were there because there wasn't a lot of publicity about this meeting. That was unfortunate because this accelerated merger and the articles of association, which will govern this district, will drastically change the ways our schools have been governed. Instead of local town school boards, there will...
The Windham County Economic Development Program (WCEDP) has released the 2016 Request for Proposals (RFP) for competitive grant funds. The WCEDP is meant to promote economic development in Windham County by providing funds to stimulate job creation through business start-up, expansion, or relocation, encourage entrepreneurial activity, and strengthen the economic development infrastructure to ensure a strong foundation for transformational economic activity. The primary focus of the program is private sector job creation and retention and direct support of entrepreneurial activities,
We relish the early signs of spring in this area - robins and crocuses, to name a few. One indicator for myself, and a number of others, was José Cordero in his motored cart, sitting in front of the Samuel Elliott Apartments in downtown Brattleboro. He would greet you with a smile, and depending on the day would engage you in sunny conversation or take an opportunity to just get things off his chest. Either way, he was always entertaining.
How does an entrepreneur build a successful, value-driven business by going slow? More than 30 featured speakers and 140 participants explored this question at the sixth annual Slow Living Summit. Business owners at the food and agricultural entrepreneurship summit, which ran from April 28 to April 30, shared their stories of success - often achieved on a bumpy path - and participated in workshops on funding and business planning. But ruling the day at the conference was the theme of...
Police say a man claiming to be collecting money for the National Children's Cancer Society has set up collection jars in several downtown businesses. The NCCS has been contacted and has verified that this man doesn't work for them, or have permission to collect money on their behalf. According to police, the subject is described as an overweight white male, last seen wearing a red polo shirt. The subject is using either the name Darren Akron or Daran Akullian. If...
The Community College of Vermont (CCV) recently announced that residents of certain counties in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York will be eligible for in-state tuition rates beginning in the fall 2016 semester. The program will apply to all students who live in Cheshire, Sullivan, Grafton, and Coos counties in New Hampshire; Franklin and Berkshire counties in Massachusetts; and Washington and Rensselaer counties in New York. “At CCV, our academic programs and support services are designed to prepare students to...
This is wrong on so many levels. Let's spend more time and energy on deciding the state dog or vegetable. With the lack of aftercare for addicts trying to get clean, and not helping those at risk of suicide, we are essentially telling folks at risk that we really don't care. Those in government should be ashamed of themselves; as a Vermont Democrat who voted some of these folks into office, I am also ashamed.
I am wondering if Patricia Sheehan has ever gone out after dark. For over 10 years, I lived in Brattleboro - a great place durning the day. But when I have worked at one of the three bars on Elliot Street, I always carried mace. There have been multiple stabbing incidents and a huge drug problem. Go to the ER some random night! Sheehan writes: “Brattleboro is a great, safe, close-knit place to live, and this essay does not help...
Shanta L.E. Crowley's piece was wonderful to read as we are currently relocating to the woodlands of Brattleboro - far enough from city life, yet close enough to enjoy all of the assets that the region offers. Her experience matches our own, and we are looking forward to becoming a part of the wonderful, diverse culture of this amazing area.
“It's spring, and I'm sure we're going to start hearing about the tire pile on [Old] Route 5 again,” Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard told the Selectboard at their March 23 regular meeting. About a year ago, Stoddard and the Board discussed what to do about the pile of discarded tires, which, by some accounts, has been there at least four decades. [See “Town is concerned about pile of tires at Old Route 5 property,” Town & Village, May 13, 2015.]
Many experiences can be stressful, Retreat Clinical Manager Susan Balaban said. Many stressful events can effect one's mental health. But not all stress or mental health experiences lead to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Balaban said myths exist around PTSD - like that people suffering from PTSD are violent, or that it's easy to develop, or that it's a life-long disease. In very stripped-down terms, PTSD occurs when one, or many, experiences overwhelm the body's stress-response system long-term, Balaban said. Despite...
Upon appeal, the Vermont Supreme Court upheld the Windham Superior Court's ruling in Kurt Daims and Craig Newbert v. The Town of Brattleboro. The court, during its March term, decided that the Selectboard did not overstep its authority when it published an information sheet prior to a town-wide vote. Daims and Newbert, members of Brattleboro Common Sense (BCS), filed suit against the town last year claiming the board had practiced voter suppression during the March 2015 election. BCS supporters asked...
Cultural Intrigue, Limited 35 Frost St., Brattleboro 802-451-0828 • Website: culturalintrigue.com • Faceboook: facebook.com/ • Twitter: twitter.com/culturalintrigu • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/cultural-intrigue • Founded: 1992 (as Cultural Intrigue - Beadniks); 1996 (in current corporate form) • Corporate structure: Closely held Vermont domestic profit corporation • Employees: +/– 25 • Annual revenue: $4–$5 million • Services: Wholesaler of wedding decorations and home decor products, many handmade by the peoples of Bali, Jaipur, Thailand, and Indonesia. A retail brand, Luna Bazaar, sells the same...
The Vermont Theatre Company will present Oscar Wilde's comic masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest at the Evening Star Grange in Dummerston Center May 6-8 and 12-15. The play, referred to by the flamboyant playwright himself as “a trivial comedy for serious people,” lampoons the strict Victorian standards and manners that were prevalent in upper crust London, circa 1890. Filled with wit and wisdom, the play reveals two young men, Jack Worthing (Ryan Buck) and Algernon Moncrieff (Sam Murphy) who...
“Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, with their wealth of knowledge and experience, present shows featuring Civil War-era music, fiddle music from a variety of traditions, American Roots music, and a symphony program that fuses classical and folk traditions,”Âsays dance fiddler and teacher May Lea. “But a performance in Brattleboro is a rare event.” While Molly and Jay have many ties to area dancers and musicians, they haven't held a concert here for quite a while. Nonetheless, Brattleboro is one of...
Call me awestruck, but if there's ever been a more alluring business name than Cultural Intrigue around our fair town, I don't know what it could be. When those two words debuted locally about 23 years ago - on a storefront sign along with Beadniks - I'll wager that not too many downtown passers-by knew what they signified. My hunch is they suspected that there was something magical going on in the basement below the bead shop - something, well,
“Most of the time we can get fire to do what we want it to do,” said Fire Chief Michael Bucossi. “We see ugly things,” he continued. “It's the ugliness that you can't control.” Firefighting doesn't wear down a firefighter's psyche, say past and present personnel at the Brattleboro Fire Department. It's finding the body of the child that hid during a fire... It's trying to console family members after a loved one has committed suicide... It's crawling into a...
Though Vermont ambulance services are facing regulatory and financial uncertainty, Rescue Inc. is looking to expand. The Brattleboro-based ambulance service has plans to move its northern operations base from a small substation at Grace Cottage Hospital to a new, much-larger building in West Townshend. The move will allow Rescue to operate more efficiently while also adding staff and equipment in the West River Valley, Operations Chief Drew Hazelton said. The relocation, according to permit-application documents, will cost more than $500,000.
• Viewpoint: Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe on towns' ultimate autonomy in offering school choice to their respective students. • Counterpoint: Compass School Director Rick Gordon responds to Holcombe's piece. • Viewpoint: David Schoales, a member of the Brattleboro Selectboard and Town School Board, offers his personal point of view on the rush to change.
Have you ever wondered if you could really run all of your errands on a bicycle? Until recently, the only way most people could find out was by purchasing a bike and learning the hard way. Beginning this month, Brattleboro residents can conduct a thorough test-drive on a bike “outfitted with a really cool electric assist,” said Dave Cohen, founder of Vbike, the local nonprofit dedicated to getting more people on bicycles. The program, called “Take It Home,” has six...
Next Stage Arts Project in Putney presents Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens on Friday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m., for a special return engagement after Shelton's wildly successful appearance in 2014. In the seven years since the release of their last full-length record, Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens have toured extensively, playing main stages at some of the most prestigious festivals in the world, including Bonnaroo, The Monterey Jazz Festival, Montreal Pop, and The Ottawa Blues Festival. Though...
The In-Sight Photography Project will hold its annual Student Exhibition and Sale at the Hooker Dunham Gallery. The exhibit opens at Gallery Walk on Friday, May 6, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Images range from silver gelatin portraits to digitally altered inkjet prints. In the past year, In-Sight's local classes have served 130 students in 18 classes, five independent studies, and two partnerships - all of whom are invited to submit their best work for this show. The annual Student...
Brattleboro played host to a dozen schools last Friday for the annual Fenn Relays, a meet made up of relay events at various distances. It offers the opportunity for athletes to try some different distance races, or do things out of the normal routine, like the hurdles. Keene was the boys' A division winner with 42 points, followed by Lebanon with 41 and Brattleboro with 35. Bellows Falls came in fifth with 22 points. Monadnock won the girls' A division...
Much media ado about marijuana reminds me of media coverage of Donald Trump's opponents: Hemp is a more worthy candidate for our attention, but it gets very little. Marijuana is obviously very important to many, many people (beer is as well). But it needs to be said that marijuana hasn't as much to offer Vermont as hemp. For clarity's sake, although the term “hemp” refers to all of cannabis, including marijuana, in recent years it has become common practice to...
Artist Jeanette Staley and poet Verandah Porche are joining their considerable talents to create an exhibit at Main Street Arts titled “Unfinished Myth.” The show opens with a reception Thursday, May 5, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., and continues through June 10. “We found ourselves drawn back into familiar stories, or fragments of them, from Grimm, the Bible, and Greek mythology,” Porche said. “Their stark predicaments and sparse detail have always invited improvisation.” In one poem, Rapunzel in the tower...
The state Agency of Natural Resources has cited four alleged violators for dumping “hundreds of cubic yards” of fill material over a steep embankment on land owned by the town of Westminster. This resulted in excessive soil runoff into Newcomb Brook from a side road off the Westminster Heights Road, and just north of the new Vermont State Police barracks construction site. Naylor and Breen Builders, Inc., of Brandon, Fitzpatrick Excavating and Trucking, LLC, Roger Farnsworth of Westminster, and the...
Local author and publisher Dede Cummings will discuss her new book, The Good Living Guide to Beekeeping: Secrets of the Hive, Stories from the Field, and a Practical Guide that Explains it All, published by Good Books, a division of Skyhorse Publishing of New York, at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 6, at Everyone's Books. Beekeeping is nothing new - the ancient Egyptians were well versed in the benefits of living with bees - but, in recent years, there has...
Among the small group waiting to board Amtrak's southbound Vermonter here on a recent afternoon, no one was toting a bicycle. But that could change soon, as Amtrak has begun a carry-on bike service for its daily trains between St. Albans and Washington, D.C. It's a pilot project spurred by Amtrak's work with biking advocates and state officials. And while initial space for bikes is limited, some are expecting that to change relatively quickly - in part due to expected...
“This morning we have a special assembly,” Putney Central School Principal Herve Pelletier told the scores of children seated in the school's cafeteria early last Thursday. Although the students, joined by the school's faculty and staff, were there to greet two special guests - Kristen Benoit, program coordinator for the Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD), and Dan Toomey, the town's representative to the group - it was really they who were lauded the morning of April 28. Pelletier introduced...