Issue #466
‘This is the type of thing that just makes everything that we do seem right’
I wanted to bring out the fanfare for the Brattleboro Fire Department - and my recent guest, Fire Chief Mike Bucossi - because they have just been awarded the 2018 First Responder Service of the Year award by the Vermont Department of Health Emergency Medical Services.
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Wardsboro plans annual July 4 Street Fair and Parade
Downtown Wardsboro doesn't look the same way it did in 1949, but the town's Fourth of July Committee says Wardsboro still offers that old-fashioned feel to visitors every Independence Day. In a news release, the committee says they have plenty of activities planned for Wardsboro's 69th annual Fourth of...
March shines spotlight on veteran suicides
On Sunday, July 8, Army First Lt. Lauren Mabie, a native of Brattleboro, and her mother, state Rep. Valerie Stuart, D-Brattleboro, will hold the third annual 22-4-22 March to raise awareness about veteran suicide. The 22-4-22 March brings attention to the high rate of veteran suicide, reminds Vermonters of...
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Life’s ups and downs in a rusty white Subaru
So my story, like so many of ours around here, starts with spending far too much time in a Subaru - specifically, a 2001 white Subaru Forester with what someone referred to as “freckles.” Those freckles were actually dime-sized and quarter-sized and plate-sized rust spots. But I like I the term “freckles” a lot better. This Subaru - which I decided for unknown reasons to name “Willie” - and I went through a lot together, ups and downs. Willie was...
BMC Summer Salons offer insightful conversations about music
The Brattleboro Music Center offers a series of informative, inspiring conversations about music. The BMC Summer Salon series, led by violinist Moby Pearson, kicks off Thursday, July 5, with an exploration of the keyboard in chamber music, from baroque trio sonatas to 20th century works and everything in between - including pieces for glass harmonica and harmonium. Host Moby Pearson, a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory, has performed with chamber ensembles and orchestras for more than 45 years. He has toured...
A Vermont homecoming
So have you ever been really homesick? So homesick that you can feel it in your chest or your stomach? Well, I felt that the year I lived abroad in the very mysterious kingdom of Wyoming. My wife is from Wyoming, and when we got married, she had warned me that “living in Wyoming is like living in a time warp. It's really 20 years behind the rest of the country.” And she said it's “sort of like the cowboy...
Amato, Moody named BMH Employees of the Year
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital recently presented the 2018 Employee of the Year Award to two employees - Pamela Amato, emergency department unit coordinator, and Marcy Moody, manager of physician billing. The annual award is a closely guarded secret until the official announcement at the annual Ice Cream Social held during Hospital Week. Steven R. Gordon, president and CEO of BMH, presented Amato and Moody with their awards, citing their commitment to local healthcare. Amato began her career at BMH in 1999,
Around the Towns
Early voting for Aug. 14 primaries has begun BRATTLEBORO - Early/absentee ballots for the Primary Election to be held Aug. 14 are available in Vermont town clerks' offices. Anyone wishing to vote prior to Aug. 14 may apply for an early/absentee ballot until 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 13. Early/absentee ballots may be voted in person in the clerk's office, mailed to the voter by the clerk's office, picked up by the voter or if a voter is in need...
Radio guys on a wild ride
I have fallen slowly - and sometimes quickly - deeply in love with Vermont, flaws and all. But some of why I love being here, and being of here, is what I witnessed in 2011 around Tropical Storm Irene. Now when Irene hit, I wake up the next morning and thought, “Oh, my god, there are still cherry tomatoes. How bad can this be?” Little did I know. Not far from me, off of Williams Street, the water was raging.
Great River Theater Festival comes to Saxtons River
The Great River Theater Festival returns to its roots in Saxtons River for its second season with shows, workshops, and several gatherings, including cookouts, over the next two weekends. Main Street Arts will offer performances of Peter Shaffer's Equus, a psychological thriller that is considered a modern classic. Shows are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, July 5, 6, and 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the MSA theater, which has been reconfigured so the audience literally has a ringside seat. The show...
A sign from beyond
My mom died a number of years ago, and she died at home in Vermont with her family and her loved ones by her side. That day, my father and I sat on the couch, side by side. I couldn't tell you how long we sat there, but we were quiet. Three minutes could have gone by, 30 minutes could have gone by, three hours could have gone by - I just don't know. Everybody was in the house, and...
Brattleboro ‘goes Fourth’ for the 45th year
The “By the People: Brattleboro Goes Fourth” citizens committee invites the public to the town's 45th annual Independence Day celebration, set for Wednesday, July 4, with a morning parade downtown and afternoon and evening program of family activities and fireworks at Living Memorial Park. Some 50 marching units - including the Brattleboro American Legion and Brattleboro Union High School bands, veterans, civic, and youth groups - will kick off the festivities at 10 a.m. with a parade along Canal and...
The ties that bind in Vermont
On June 14, the Fables Storytelling Series kicked off with its first evening of local people telling true stories on stage. Peter “Fish” Case, who served as master of ceremonies (and told a few stories of his own in that capacity), credits Next Stage Arts Project Executive Director Maria Basescu as the inspiration behind the series, which will run monthly at the historic, recently renovated nonprofit performing arts venue in Putney. For this first show, the four storytellers - Sarah...
Milestones
College news • Thea Schlieben of Brookline has earned a master's of social work degree from Springfield (Mass.) College for studies completed in 2018. • Molly Ann Rice of Brattleboro graduated with an M.S. in education from The Graduate School at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. • Michael Conti of Stratton was awarded a bachelor's degree from Fairfield (Conn.) University. • Stephanie Moranski of Brattleboro and Maureen Ward of Brattleboro each earned an M.S. in education from Simmons College...
Putney considers flood, erosion hazard regs
On Tuesday, July 10, at 7 p.m., at the Putney Fire House, a public hearing will be held to consider regulating development in the Sacketts Brook and East Putney Brook river corridors. According to a news release, the state has designated these corridors as hazardous areas where significant erosion and channel shifts are likely to occur. The regulations also call for 50-foot setbacks from the tops of banks for certain smaller streams. Since 1985, Putney has followed Federal Emergency Management...
Second site opened for those needing daytime support
Dr. Karen Hein and her husband Ralph held hands as the doors to the Gathering Place's Dover site officially flew open, June 18. Ralph, a pediatrician, lives with Alzheimer's. For the past few years, he has travelled on the Moover from his home in the Deerfield Valley to the Gathering Place's Brattleboro location. Karen smiled. The new Dover location means a shorter commute for Ralph, whom she affectionately calls “Ralphie.” Ralph lifted his head and smiled at the mention of...
Nonprofit expands effort to bring local food to wholesale buyers
Food Connects recently received a $50,000 Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Grant to support the expansion of the nonprofit's local wholesale food delivery service. The grant will help fund a second refrigerated truck, which complements a new walk-in cooler and freezer and will help it increase its sales and marketing capacity. Food Connects, which merged with Monadnock Menus last autumn, started in 2013 with a mission to deliver “locally produced food as well as educational and consulting services aimed at transforming...
Gino’s elderberry fritters
To make these elderberry fritters, start by preparing a deep fryer with hot oil. Make your batter, starting with a dry mix of: ¶2{1/2} oz. all-purpose flour ¶Pinch of salt ¶1{1/2} tsp. confectioner's sugar Set aside the dry mix. Prepare a wet mix by thoroughly whisking, in a small bowl: ¶1 large egg ¶{1/4} cup lager beer, not too bitter Add the dry mix and whisk to remove lumps. Add another: ¶{1/4} cup beer Whisk until batter is uniform. Now,
Shish kabab tips and tricks
• If you want a variety of foods served on the same skewer, precook any vegetables that take a little longer than the fish or meat you are cooking. Onions, carrots, and potatoes are notorious for not being done all the way through, and peppers or large mushrooms may need just a head start of a couple of minutes, depending on what else you are cooking. Soft vegetables like zucchini do not need advance cooking. • The alternative is to...
Heat wave continues, but relief arrives this weekend
Good day to you, hearty southern Vermonters! How's the heating been treating you? This writer has consequently withered down into a soup ingredient due to all this heat and humidity. I am admittedly much happier in colder climes, but for the summer lovers out there, this is your weather! We can expect our heat wave to continue through Thursday which includes the 4th of July holiday. Showers and thunderstorms will accompany a cold front Friday, and bring sweet relief for...
Shape up or ship out!
Sounds like the Brattleboro Retreat administration should shape up or ship out! What in the world is wrong with them? They are showing that they don't really care about the patients or the staff that they definitely need! The administration should be replaced! As soon as possible!
Retreat conflict unmasks 40 years of erosion in workers’ rights
The unfortunate situation at the Brattleboro Retreat underlines the importance of strong unions and the support of workers' rights. The display of power, disruption, and fear that management has offered as leadership is a sickening reminder of the destruction of workers' rights that has been going on since Ronald Reagan began attacking these rights 40 years ago. In this climate of fear and desperation, management exploits workers for maximum profits. Union power and influence has been steadily eroding, relentlessly attacked...
Twenty years ago, a similar story
I support the direct-care staff and what Eileen Glover had to say! Twenty years ago, my husband and I left the Brattleboro Retreat for some of the very same reasons. I was a registered nurse there and he, a mental-health worker. We woke up one morning and both realized how the administration's unrealistic changes to direct-care staff was having an impact on the safety of our clientele, as well as our ability to sleep well! We moved to the Concord,
Something is not going well
In the end, it is the patients who suffer. The Brattleboro Retreat is needed in this community. Clearly, something is not going well there, and I hope the facility can be turned around quickly before it is forced to close its doors.
Formula for quality staff
Treat staff right, and they will stay; then, you will attract more quality staff. The hospital cannot function without dedicated, quality nursing staff. Best of luck, clinical staff.
Retreat management: new realities in nursing require new approaches
In the past few decades, our society has witnessed unprecedented change in almost every area of life. This includes our professional experiences. The work we do and the ways we carry it out bear little resemblance to what most people took for granted at the start of the new millennium. In the field of health care, sweeping change has taken place at lightning speed and continues to be the new normal. The Brattleboro Retreat is an excellent example. Since 2008,
The brave little berry
Gino Palmeri, a self-described “plant person” all his life, has earned a living landscaping, in outdoor education, teaching about plants - “naturalist stuff,” as he described it. For the last 18 months, he has built Vermont Elderberry, a business growing and harvesting elderberries and turning their fruits and flowers into immunity tonics, beverages, and preserves. The berries are grown on his land, Amandola Farm, named after “an incredible town in Italy,” said Palmeri. “My mom lived there when she was...
There at the beginning
I was a witness to the rapid rise of mountain biking in the world — and much of it happened right here in beautiful downtown Putney. I’m not a Vermonter. I have moved here five times. And every time I moved away seeking fame, fortune, and glory — which I found scads of — every place I went to I compared to Vermont. In Japan, I said, “These hills are just like the ones in Vermont.†I was in Norway...
Little League playoffs begin for teams in Brattleboro
The Brattleboro 10-, 11-, and 12-year-old Little League All-Star teams have been selected, and the district tournaments have begun. Brattleboro's 12-year-olds got started over the weekend with a three-team round robin with Bennington and Rutland for the District 2 title. On July 1, the 12s lost, 3-2, to Bennington under a broiling late-afternoon sun at South Main Street Field. The game time temperature was 93 degrees with very high humidity, conditions that left players, coaches, umpires, and fans alike thoroughly...
‘Celebrating the Arts’ is July 4 theme in Saxtons River
With the theme of “Celebrating the Arts,” Saxtons River will kick off its annual Independence Day celebration Wednesday, July 4, with a 5K Firecracker road race at 8:30 a.m., followed by a parade at 9:30 a.m. Grand marshals for the parade are Margo and Mike Ghia. Given the celebration's theme of “Celebrating the Arts,” the committee felt it was fitting to honor Margo Ghia, because she has just left her position as director of Main Street Arts to return to...
Yellow Barn opens this weekend for 49th season
On Friday, July 6, The Big Barn opens its doors for the opening weekend of Yellow Barn's 49th anniversary season with evening concerts on Friday and Saturday, plus a Saturday morning masterclass and Saturday evening discussion. Opening with Handel's Concerto Grosso in D Major, the first concert of the festival is a playful exploration of sonic connections between composers from varying time periods and countries, whose personal lives with music span a great distance. Two pieces by John Cage follow...
Local artist explores ‘Borderlands’ at MSA
An exhibit of the works of Heather J. Geoffrey will run through the month of July at Main Street Arts. With the title and theme of “Borderlands,” the show will have an opening reception Friday, July 6, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Geoffrey describes the images in a variety of media as “whispers from a place where the veils between worlds are thin.” This is “a place where boundaries touch like the edges and beginnings of lovers pressed close against...
‘The World in Claire’s Classroom’ gets a special screening
Join filmmakers Lisa Merton and Alan Dater on Tuesday, July 17, at 7 p.m., at Putney Public Library, 55 Main St., for a free screening and discussion of their documentary about Westminster West teacher Claire Oglesby. What can a classroom of first and second graders in one of the whitest states in the union teach us about respecting diversity and building community? The World in Claire's Classroom documents a veteran public school teacher and her class over the course of...
Roadside stand speeds toward expansion
As Fast Eddie's celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, owner Eddie Cogliano is planning for the future. “I'm 65 years old,” Cogliano told The Commons. “I'm not in the greatest health because I work too many hours,” he added. He wants to make some changes to his popular restaurant, bakery, and ice cream stand to increase its value to his family, his landlords, the shop's customers, and, when he's ready to retire, Fast Eddie's next owners. Those changes have already...
Sharing the joy of music
More than ever, Marlboro Music Festival this year wants to invite the local community in Southern Vermont to join the excitement of its summer music programs. “Marlboro 2018 is eager to share its music with the people in the area,” says Frank Salomon, Senior Administrator for Marlboro Music. “As a special incentive, Marlboro is offering $10 tickets to its concert of chamber music on Saturday, July 21. We hope that will encourage people who may not have experienced Marlboro Music...
Book pays homage to ‘the Elvis of Cleveland’
Joe Milliken still remembers the first time he heard the synthesizer-infused rock 'n' roll that stormed onto the airwaves in 1978 with the self-titled debut album of The Cars. From the fire of Elliot Easton's lead guitar to the ice of Greg Hawks' synthesizer, “Just What I Needed,” the first single off The Cars, didn't sound like anything else on the radio in the early summer of 1978. But the other element that made “Just What I Needed” a top-30...
Fall in love with food on a stick
The farmers' markets and farm stands are open. The trees have leafed out, and summer is finally here. We've uncovered the grill, stocked up on charcoal, and set up our outside kitchen. The barbeque season has begun. A cookout can be as simple as throwing some fresh veggies on the grill for a dinner side or inviting the neighborhood for a party. Few would disagree that a favorite summer barbeque technique is cooking food on sticks. From shish kebabs and...
State rep. sees tackling poverty, jobs as the key to a thriving Vermont
Workforce development. Economic development. Revenue generation. Those three topics are what drive state Rep. Valarie A. Stuart, D-West Brattleboro, to run for her fifth term in the Vermont House. “At the end of the day, I think it's about people feeling good about their lives. Being able to feed their families. Going to a job. Pulling a Paycheck. Being able to put a house over their heads,” she said. It's what Stuart believes many people want. But, she added, the...
‘Hidden treasures’ of county museum come out at gallery
On Sunday, July 8, at 3 p.m., the Crowell Gallery at the Moore Free Library will present an opening reception for “Hidden Treasures of the Windham County Museum.” As with most museums, space doesn't allow the Historical Society of Windham County to display more than a small fraction of the important items that are part of its collection at its museum on Route 30. During the month of July, the Crowell Gallery for the first time will bring a wide...