'Share the Harvest' is open on Sundays
BRATTLEBORO - Edible Brattleboro's “Share the Harvest” stand is open every Sunday through Oct. 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in their free, help-yourself garden at Turning Point, on the corner of Elm and Frost Street (diagonally across from New England Youth Theatre).
Thanks to the generosity of local farmers and gardeners, Edible Brattleboro distributed about 2,500 pounds of free produce last summer. Feel free to drop off produce from your garden during the Sunday hours.
Anyone may also visit Edible Brattleboro's two public help-yourself gardens to harvest whatever is ready. Simply look for the green flags and instructions on how to harvest. The gardens are located at the Brattleboro Food Co-op (rear parking lot) and Turning Point.
Edible Brattleboro is fully volunteer-run. To help out or learn more, contact Marilyn at [email protected] or visit www.EdibleBrattleboro.org.
Community drum circle at Inclusion Center
BRATTLEBORO - Tara Murphy will lead a community drum circle at the Inclusion Center on Friday, Aug. 30, at 11 a.m.
Murphy leads creative dance and drum classes for children and adults with special needs and developmental disabilities. She says the rhythms “relieve stress and help people connect with each other, as well as their own creativity, healing, and expression.”
Murphy, originally from Washington, D.C., grew up studying ballet and theater.
She earned her B.A. in theater and religious studies at Yale, where she began studying African dance and drumming and exploring her African heritage. While at Yale, she was awarded a fellowship to study traditional dance and drumming at the University of Legon in Ghana, West Africa.
For the past 20 years, she has studied closely under many African and Afro-Caribbean artists in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Boston.
Inclusion Center is located at St. Michael's Episcopal Church, lower level, 16 Bradley Ave., and is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays. To learn more, call 802-380-5484.
NECCA to hold open house
BRATTLEBORO - On Aug. 31, from 1 to 3 p.m., New England Center for Circus Arts offers a free opportunity for visitors and interested students to try circus activities at the NECCA trapezium at 10 Town Crier Drive. Visitors curious about what it might feel like to enroll in a class can explore the custom-built circus facility, play on trapezes, learn to juggle, balance on a wire, and jump on the trampoline with coaches guiding sample activity stations.
All ages are welcome. Classes at NECCA start at age 1½, with opportunities for tots, youth, teens, and adults. On Aug. 31, there will be student demos and staff on hand to answer questions and assist with registration. Windham Apparel will also be on-site with a pop-up store offering clothing and shoes for dancers and movers.
The fall session begins Sept. 9 with more than two dozen beginner-friendly classes including an early-morning fitness class with low trapezes, novice stretching, tots and youth classes, and weekly juggle jams. View the class roster and enroll now at www.necenterforcircusarts.org or call 802-254-9780.
'Uprooting Addiction' film coming to Rockingham Free Public Library
BELLOWS FALLS - “Uprooting Addiction,” a documentary film and discussion exploring the connection between childhood trauma and addiction through personal stories and interviews with experts in the fields of trauma and addiction, will be held at the Rockingham Free Public Library on Thursday, Sept. 5, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. A free dinner will be served.
Daryl McGraw - a person in recovery with more than 10 years of professional experience in trauma, addiction recovery, and community reintegration, and who stars in the documentary - will discuss adverse childhood experiences and the risks and vulnerability for addiction. Information and connections to local resources will be shared as well.
This event is hosted by Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center in partnership with Springfield Turning Point Recovery Center and Greater Falls Connections. Contact [email protected] or 802-463-9927, ext. 209, for more information.
Author talk at BMAC explores history of queer liberation
BRATTLEBORO - Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown discuss their book, We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation, at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 5 p.m.
The event is free and open to all. After the talk, the authors will sign copies of the book, which will be available for purchase at the Museum.
We Are Everywhere is a sweeping photographic history of the Queer Liberation Movement, featuring more than 300 images from more than 70 photographers and 20 archives. The book traces queer activism from its roots in late 19th-century Europe to today.
Riemer and Brown are the creators of queerhistory.com and the popular Instagram account @lgbt_history. Brown is an attorney, and Riemer is a former attorney, writer, and lecturer. The two live in Washington, D.C., where they enjoy “fighting fascists, spending time with their dog, and disrupting fundamentalists' worldviews.”
The Sept. 7 talk is presented in conjunction with the exhibit Dona Ann McAdams: Performative Acts, on view at BMAC through Sept. 23. McAdams is one of the photographers featured in Riemer and Brown's book. To learn more, call 802-257-0124 or visit www.brattleboromuseum.org.
Study Group on Shakespeare's Final Plays at Putney Library
PUTNEY - Gordon Jones, a Putney School faculty member, is offering a study of Shakespeare's final plays this fall at the Putney Public Library. The group will meet on Mondays at 6:30 p.m., starting Sept. 9, and will work through three plays - The Winter's Tale, Cymbeline, and The Tempest.
Alongside the plays, the group will also study some of Shakespeare's sonnets, using a selected edition compiled by Jones and available in a digital or print format. Copies of the plays will be available through the library and can also be found on the MIT Shakespeare site. Jones will also be making online study guides to the plays.
Participants may come for one play or the entire series. To join the group, email Jones at [email protected].
Tai chi class for older adults begins Oct. 8
WESTMINSTER - Tai chi, the Chinese method of slow, fluid movements, has been called the perfect exercise for older adults. It can improve balance, coordination, flexiblility, and mood, and can ease the symptoms of chronic conditions such as arthritis and Parkinson's Disease.
A new course for beginners will start Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 11 a.m. at the Westminster Institute on Route 5. The course is hosted by Westminster Cares and will be taught by Ben Daviss, a senior instructor with the New Hampshire-based, nonprofit Oriental Healing Arts Association.
The group will meet weekly for an hour. The cost is $5 per session, but the introductory class Oct. 8 is free. No commitment is required. Depending on interest, they also may offer a course in seated tai chi or a late-day or early-evening class.
To learn more or to register, contact Donna Dawson, director of Westminster Cares, at 802-722-3607 or [email protected].