At Harris Hill Ski Jump there are two sheds on the right as you walk toward the woods and the Ice Pond Trail.
On one side of the bigger shed, spray-painted in letters a foot tall, are the words “tits” and “bitch.” There's also a drawing of a smiling face that looks to be performing fellatio.
With all the preparation for the recent event that draws apparently several thousand people from far and near, did not one of the team members say, “Hmm, that's not really the image we want people - tourists or locals, children or adults - to have of this town”?
No one said, “You know, objectification of and derogatory words about women are not acceptable, I'm going to paint over them”?...
Johanna Gardner's Viewpoint seems to encourage all of us consumers to decrease demand for plastic products, in the interest of keeping the Earth from drowning in them. Many of us are diligent about reducing our purchases of nondegradables, and I for one am curious about who buys the tons...
Town seeks to fill committee vacancies BRATTLEBORO - Citizens are needed to serve on the following committees and boards: Agricultural Advisory Board, ADA Advisory Committee, Arts Committee, Conservation Commission, Design Review Committee (Alternate), Development Review Board (Alternate), Energy Committee (to be determined), Energy Coordinator, Inspector of Lumber, Shingles &
I read with great interest Deborah Luskin's commentary about the woeful lack of high-speed internet and reliable cell service in our state. We want to lure out of state workers with a cash incentive, only to offer them an electronic version of the old Vermont saying “You can't get there from here.” I suppose they could gaze out the window and admire the natural beauty of our state while waiting for slow connections to work. That might be pleasant to...
The Blanche Moyse Chorale presents a selection of choral works from the German Romantic Period, under the title “Clara, Robert, and Uncle Brahms” - that is, Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms. The concert will be performed twice: on Friday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m., at Next Stage in Putney, and on Sunday, March 17, at 2:30 p.m., at the Brattleboro Music Center Auditorium. This concert program is, to some extent, a family affair. Clara and Robert Schumann were...
In the aftermath of Superior Court Judge Robert Mello's ruling against an injunction that would have halted the state-mandated school-district merger process, the original lawsuit against Act 46 continues to make its way through the legal system. Meanwhile, state officials warn of “serious consequences” to districts that don't plan for July 1 deadlines to comply with aspects of the education-reform law. “The Plaintiffs have not shown a substantial likelihood that they will prevail [in the lawsuit] on the merits of...
I thank the voters of Brattleboro for their trust in me, as I look forward to serving as a Selectboard member. Where else but here can you run in a four-way contested election and end up with three new friends? I thank candidates Daniel Quipp, with whom I look forward to serving, Franz Reichmann, also the chair of the RTM Finance Committee, and Oscar Heller, who ran such a spirited campaign. Many thanks to Town Clerk Hilary Francis and her...
On Friday, March 15, at 118 Elliot at 7:30 p.m., Windham World Affairs Council will present a video/acoustic installation created for the newly constructed Klahr Center, the permanent home of the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine on the campus of the University of Maine at Augusta. Were The House Still Standing: Maine Survivors and Liberators Remember the Holocaust is the creation of Robert Katz, currently a professor of art at the University. WWAC invited Katz to bring his...
Auditions for Deerfield Valley Players' production of Cabaret will be held in Memorial Hall, 14 West Main St., March 20, 2019, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., and also on March 21 and 22, in the Community Room of Brattleboro Savings & Loan, 221 Main St., from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Be prepared to sing a song of your choice, and a song from Cabaret (16 bars each). Accompaniment will be provided. Performance dates are Aug. 1, 2, and 3 in...
This winter has seen some extended cold snaps and spikes in the price of fuel, and many households with low income are at the point where they no longer have resources to keep the heat on. According to Southeastern Vermont Community Action, heating/energy costs for households with low income average about $2,000 more than they can afford every year. Most households eligible for Seasonal Fuel Assistance have used up their benefit and many have come to SEVCA for Crisis Fuel...
College news • Marie S. Dennis of Marlboro graduated, with honors, from Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island at the end of February. She will walk with her class in the graduation ceremony on May 18. Dennis majored in liberal studies with a minor in business, and has been accepted to the MBA program, which she will begin in September. • Celia Feal-Staub of Putney participated in the fall 2018 Bates College Junior Semester Abroad program. Feal-Staub, who is...
Canal Street Art Gallery's “A Moment in Frame - Photography” show is on view to the public through April 6. All are invited to attend the artist reception at the gallery on 23 Canal St., from 5 to 8 p.m., on the BF 3rd Friday Gallery Night on March 15. For this show, 1 percent of profits will be given to a fund for the maintenance of existing public art in the town of Rockingham through a special Public Art...
At the conclusion of a spectacular Escher Quartet concert in the acoustic miracle of the stunning concert hall at the Brattleboro Music Center, I reflected on that institution's splendid gift to our community. In addition to stimulating performances of multi-genre music, the Center provides top-level faculty for several hundred students of all ages and rehearsal facilities for several groups. The Windham Orchestra rehearses weekly in the concert hall. Practice rooms, many equipped with grand pianos, serve as teaching studios, and...
I'm trying to raise funds to attend the national Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin summit in Atlanta in April. I work full-time for a mental-health agency as a case manager. My other community involvements include: • board member and recovery coach at the Turning Point of Windham County recovery center; • board member for a statewide housing-first organization; • advisory board member for the Windham County COSU (Consortium on Substance Abuse); • committee member and outreach worker for Project Care,
I read and re-read Dan Jeffries' Viewpoint on why it is that people like him and his siblings should not be expected to financially support programs for those who have less. While I understand the pride he takes in the hard work of his family members (whom he uses as examples of people who have been viewed, as he says, as having the “ability to pay”), I take issue with his attitude that because they have worked hard for what...
Pre-Kindergarten Preview Dates Announced for Open House and Registration at Townshend Elementary School for Three- and Four-year-olds. Pre-Kindergarten Registration at Jamaica Village School for Four-year-olds on April 24 TOWNSHEND and JAMAICA - March 7, 2019 - The West River Modified Education District (WRMUED), Townshend School, and Jamaica Village School are announcing dates in Townshend and Jamaica for Pre-Kindergarten registration and Open House Days. In Townshend, there are three dates for parents and guardians along with their three- and four-year-olds to...
Dan Jeffries seems to suggest that people in our society who have the “ability to pay” due to their own hard work should not have to share their resources to pay for programs or infrastructure that benefit people who have chosen not to work hard. In some ways, my family story is similar to Jeffries' story. My three siblings and I have all made our ways with success in the world. We grew up in a small town, in an...
Good day to you, fine folks of southeastern Vermont! I hope that you are ready for wisps of spring, hints of sweetness, an ever-increasing avian cacophony, and an ever-lengthening period of daylight. It's coming! That's not to say a few more wintry reminders won't pay us a visit over the next few weeks, but we've turned the corner and are firmly heading into the 2019 warm season. As for the upcoming week's weather highlights, fair and milder weather for Wednesday...
Here are some issues to think about prior to Brattleboro's Annual Representative Town Meeting coming up on Saturday, March 23. To make rational decisions about spending, one must carefully consider the municipality's ability to generate revenue. Brattleboro has a Grand List that has been relatively stagnant in recent years because we are limited geographically and because we have high taxes - two factors that chill expansion and development. But even more important, Brattleboro is a hub town with a population...
Sen. Becca Balint and I recently talked about all the things that are happening in Montpelier and how they shake out for Windham County - particularly, about what the state Senate has been doing with the minimum wage. Balint, a Democrat in her third term, serves as the Senate majority leader. She also sits on the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs, the Senate Committee on Finance, and the Senate Rules Committee. She also chairs the Senate...
As a longtime women's health educator and advocate, I was apoplectic when I read a recent commentary in The Commons [“Far beyond Roe v. Wade,” Viewpoint, Feb. 6] by a “chaplain serving an elderly population” who is also treasurer of the Republican Party in my state and a county party chair. The op-ed proffered so many spurious and false assertions, often stated by others with far-right political views, that my hair was nearly on fire. This is the claim that...
In conjunction with her solo exhibition, “Quest for Eagles,” at Brooks Memorial Library, the library will host an artist talk with Vermont wildlife photographer Dara Carleton on Tuesday, March 26, at 7 p.m. Topics will include information about local bald eagles: where to find them, how to identify them, how to photograph them, what equipment to use, and how to use it. A photography presentation will accompany the talk, and all are invited to this free and informative discussion. Questions...
Three Brattleboro Union High School student musicians have been selected to perform in All-Eastern honors ensembles in April. They will join with top high school musicians from the northeastern U.S. in Pittsburgh to work with esteemed conductors to craft performances of rigorous repertoire. Senior percussionist Ari Essunfeld will play in the All-Eastern Orchestra. He has earned the highest score among mallet percussionists auditioning for the Vermont All State music festival for the past three years and the highest score on...
There is always a painful finality to the last game of the postseason, especially when you and your teammates aren't the ones holding up the trophy. On March 8, the No. 6 Brattleboro Colonels lost to the No. 7 Missisquoi Thunderbirds, 2-1, in a Division II girls' ice hockey semifinal at Withington Rink. But this was a game that transcended the final outcome for the Colonel girls, for I believe that people will be talking about this game for years...
The River Gallery School is getting ready for its fourth annual “Off the Wall” fundraiser, a popular, action-packed art lottery on Saturday, March 30, 5 to 8 p.m., at 118 Elliot Street. More than 100 paintings are being donated by RGS staff, students, friends, and illustrious artists such as Mallory Lake, Paul Bowen, and William Hays, and many other area artists. Images and details of the available artwork are added to the RGS website until the day of the event.
According to the statistics, arts matter in Vermont. The participation of 28,708 people in the state's creative sector is 32 percent above the national average, according to a 2018 status report of the Vermont creative sector economy commissioned by the Vermont Creative Network. An additional 8,424 workers in the state do creative work within non-creative industries. Arts & Economic Prosperity 5, an economic-impact study that was prepared by the Americans for the Arts in partnership with the Vermont Arts Council,
Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present contemporary bluegrass and folk quartet The Stockwell Brothers at the Next Stage Cafe on Saturday, March 16, at 7 p.m. To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, JD McCliments Pub will offer an Irish dinner starting at 6 p.m., while the Stockwells will explore the connections between folk/bluegrass music and the music of Ireland. Bruce, Barry, Alan, and Kelly Stockwell's music spans traditional and progressive styles, but their trademark acoustic sound features new singer/songwriter...
During the first week of March, Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV) staff recorded the annual Town Meetings in seven towns, over two days, producing and broadcasting approximately 40 hours of coverage. That wasn't unusual for the public-access channel. What was unusual was that BCTV found itself as an agenda item on several meeting warnings. This year, the organization, which provides local programming on two channels over two cable networks in Windham County, asked the eight towns it covers to give the...