Each September, the Putney Foodshelf's Top the Truck food drive during Hunger Action Month brings in donations of both food and money that last for about two months. It's an important part of the organization's fundraising and food procurement.
This year, the drive will take place from Sept. 20 to 26 at the Putney Food Co-op and the Putney General Store.
Because of COVID-19, the Foodshelf board of directors said in a news release that it reinvented Top the Truck to limit person-to-person contact.
People can purchase cases of food at a bulk rate at the registers of either store as well as online. At the General Store, people will also be able to buy single items for the donation basket.
After three years under the leadership of Jamie Hodgson as executive director, the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) is launching a search for a successor. Wendy Harrison started her duties as interim executive director on Sept. 8. Hodgson joined NECCA in 2006 as a coach and has...
“Can you hear me?” That phrase dominated on Saturday as more than 100 meeting members and officials navigated the town's first virtual Annual Representative Town Meeting (ARTM), which approved all 19 warned articles over 13 hours as well as a few non-binding articles designated as “other business.” While the...
Help available for utility customers to pay their bills COLCHESTER - If you've fallen behind on your utility bills, a new state grant program can help get you back on track. Many Vermonters are facing financial hardships due to the COVID-19 economic slowdown and have growing balances. Green Mountain Power customers can qualify for this new free funding, available only until Nov. 20. The Vermont Department of Public Service runs the Vermont COVID-19 Arrearage Assistance Program, which can help you...
A Waterbury-based renewable energy company, Green Lantern Solar, has completed construction of a 500 kilowatt AC solar array on a reclaimed gravel pit. Such locations are deemed “preferred sites” for solar development by the Vermont Public Utilities Commission. After visiting the site and reviewing plans last year, the Selectboard and Planning Commission agreed to support the preferred site designation, as did the Windham Regional Commission. The array joins just over 100 projects in 66 towns developed by Green Lantern, accounting...
College news • The following local students received academic recognition for the spring 2020 semester at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.: Morgan K. Brooke-deBock of Brattleboro received Dean's List, first honors. Elijah A. Burdo of Brattleboro and Liam R.S. Kennedy of Brattleboro received Dean's List, second honors. Transitions • Nancy Heydinger of Vernon has joined Brattleboro Savings & Loan as a mortgage loan originator. Heydinger worked for two local banks earlier in her career as both an assistant bank manager...
Bennington College is accepting submissions from students nationwide for its 2020-21 Young Writers Awards. The college has a unique literary legacy, including 12 Pulitzer Prize winners, three U.S. poet laureates, four MacArthur Fellows, countless New York Times bestsellers, and two of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People. In celebration of this legacy, Bennington's Young Writers Awards promote and recognize excellence in writing by high-school students. Each year, more than 2,000 students submit poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to the competition. The...
Canal Street Art Gallery, 23 Canal St., presents its third annual “A World Suspended in Color” fine-art glass exhibition, which opens on Friday, Sept. 18 during Bellows Falls 3rd Friday Gallery Night with a live online event on Facebook at 6 p.m. The exhibition will be on view to the public through Nov. 14, Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can also visit the Gallery's Online Viewing Room, open all the time at canalstreetartgallery.com. “With the...
September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and the Vermont Department of Health says it is “recommitting to a comprehensive public health approach to preventing suicide” in the state. “This has been a year of extraordinary stress,” the department stated in a news release. “People are anxious, feeling isolated, and have pressures that can be difficult to navigate. All of which, for too many, may contribute to factors that may lead to thoughts of self-harm.” According to the Centers for Disease...
Like many other fall events this year, the Grafton Firefighters Fall Festival Tag Sale has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis. This year would have been the event's 40th anniversary. However, to keep the tradition alive, the Grafton Fire/Rescue Auxiliary has created a new event: a raffle on Saturday, Oct. 10, the date originally planned for the Tag Sale. In addition to the raffle, a by-donation to-go hot dog lunch will be available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.,
With the country in a political as well as a health crisis, and with the 2020 election promising to be one of the most divisive periods in our history, several national organizations have been stepping forward, seeking to help in healing the bitterness and rancor. One of these is Braver Angels, whose Maine/New Hampshire chapter, appreciating the efforts already being made in Brattleboro, now includes Vermont. While the organization supports vigorous pre-election campaigning, it believes that political tensions and strife...
Dear Brattleboro, It has certainly been a year of change, transformation, and request for reform - definitely at the national and state level, as well as right here. Those in our community who have not felt supported or even safe have come together and reached out to those who hold power in our town to make their voices heard, to advocate for and aspire to be a part of real, holistic change in the place we all love and call...
As an example of what Rebecca Coffey refers to as President Trump's 20,000 lies, she references that on Aug. 8 he created another lie regarding the signing of the Veterans Choice Program. Ms. Coffey notes that Veterans Choice was “signed into law” by President Obama in 2014. The clarification is that the 2014 bill, and the restructured bill signed in 2020, are not the same bill. The 2020 Veterans Choice is a much-improved situation. In 2014, if your VA physician...
This past February, the Vermont House of Representatives passed the Global Warming Solutions Act with tripartisan support, 105–37. In June, the Senate passed it, also with tripartisan support, 23–5. The vote margin and nonpartisan nature of the vote might have surprised some, but what it revealed about the Vermont government gave me hope. Legislators across the political spectrum and from all corners of our state understand and agree that our residents, businesses, economy, and environment are already bearing the effects...
With this upcoming election, the United States is approaching a decisive moment in its continued development. Despite 2{1/2} centuries of effort, the practice and acceptance of the principles of equality, rights, rule of law, and freedom regardless of gender, nationality, skin color, religion, age, etc., has only imperfectly evolved. Our current political debate highlights the continued presence of glass ceilings for those with individual differences that in the human condition should have no real significance. How we vote this November...
September's National Recovery Month observance invites reflection on “recovery” and reminds us that recovery from addictive substance use and/or mental illness is worth seeking and protecting. While people intent on establishing and maintaining recovery can succeed no matter what, the Coronavirus makes that prospect tougher than usual. But recovery is worth the effort, and it is possible to overcome obstacles created by COVID-19. Individuals with serious substance-use disorders (addictions) and serious mental illnesses have a lot in common. They frequently...
Why Rotary? Now more than ever, the Rotary mission is called to action in service to our community and support of our friends. Rotarians by nature thrive with in-person connectivity, and we are struggling right alongside our neighbors to find pathways back from and through this pandemic. While this situation is not easy, Rotarians are resilient and persistent. None of this is perfect, but we continue to meet, virtually, every Wednesday at 7:15 a.m. to share a laugh and maybe...
An open letter to Rep. Brian Smith (R-Derby) regarding his participation in the lawsuit Martel v. Condos, filed in United States District Court in Vermont: Rather than becoming part of the problem by engaging with two out-of-state lawyers to obstruct Vermont's voting by absentee, it would be preferable that you would work with your fellow legislators and the people of this state to ensure a successful vote in the upcoming election. Vote-by-mail significantly increased turnout while decreasing on-site voting during...
I am reaching out to my friends and neighbors in West Brattleboro to encourage you to vote for Emilie Kornheiser for state representative (Brattleboro District 1). Over the years, I have had the honor to work with Emilie as a fellow state employee and as a community partner at Youth Services. Emilie has proven to impress me time and time again with her balanced approach and vision. She provides dialogue and transparency with her constituents and stands firm on issues...
Being part of an institution that has been part of this community for over 100 years has afforded us some perspective. Our bank has weathered financial and humanitarian crises before, and we expect to continue to serve our communities for many years to come. Some have asked me what is the best investment that they can make as we face multiple national and global challenges, and I am always hesitant to answer. Right now, however, is the right time and...
Thank you to all the voters of Brattleboro District 2 who voted in the Aug. 11 primary election, and to those who voted to support me as their representative in Montpelier for the coming term. In the midst of this pandemic, so many of you exercised your right to vote by taking an absentee ballot. And those who voted in person found that the polling station was well-prepared with strong protocols to ensure a safe voting experience. It was heartening...
In Wisconsin, another unarmed Black man (say his name: Jacob Blake) was shot in the back by a police officer. According to my viewing of the video, there is little evidence that Jacob posed a lethal threat to the policemen, nor anyone else. He was shot seven times in the back and is now likely left paralyzed for life. Protests and unrest are understandable after such an injustice - because these incidents continue to occur over and over again. During...
Attending Annual Representative Town Meeting has often been an exercise in endurance as meetings, at least in the past 10 years, have stretched well beyond the eight-hour mark. Frustration expressed by some members around the lack of deep conversations at this year's meeting, however, highlighted ARTM's limitation in this regard. By the end of the night, the number of meeting members began to dwindle, prompting remaining members to consider - and ultimately vote down - a non-binding proposal to move...
On Sunday, Sept. 27, from 4 to 5:30 p.m., the Windham World Affairs Council (WWAC) presents Nobel laureate Jody Williams, who will speak on “Stepping Up and Taking Action on Killer Robots and the New Nuclear Arms Race.” Williams will present for 20 minutes, then lead a moderated online discussion. Registration is required on Zoom. The event will also be live-streamed on the WWAC Facebook page. Williams, who grew up in Brattleboro, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997...
Lieutenant General Todd T. Semonite, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), retired on Sept. 10 after 41 years of service. According to a news release, the Bellows Falls native was originally scheduled to retire on May 19; however, President Donald J. Trump extended his tenure until Congress could confirm his successor, Major General Scott Spellmon. This year, Semonite and the Army Corps of Engineers answered FEMA's call to simultaneously build 36 alternate-care facilities across the United States,
It is common now to say that progress toward racial equity and facing the wounds of the history of slavery in the United States and white violence against Black people will require difficult conversations. That was certainly the case in Putney in the past two weeks. At a Sept. 2 special meeting to address policy related to an earlier decision by the board to create a large Black Lives Matter mural on the road outside the Putney Central School, a...
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, education at all levels is in flux. In response, Epsilon Spires is sponsoring a film series focused on radical pedagogy. A communications center that seeks social impact through art and science, Epsilon Spires is hosting the series on alternative education models “to encourage discourse towards positive change.” “In our current times,” said Jamie Mohr, creative director, “when the instability and inequity of the systems and structures in place have become so apparent, and with children...
There are many signs of impending fascism that we need to stop sooner rather than later. The Black Lives Matter protests have highlighted one of the major features of a fascist state: one set of laws that apply to the elites and those who are part of the prevailing right-wing party in power, and another set of laws that apply to the rest of us. When we see Black men and women murdered, paralyzed, and jailed for no crime except...
The faculty members of a local teacher training program hope to lower the cost barrier for people of color to become educators. The Spark Education Teacher Institute, a one-year teacher certification program based in Brattleboro, focuses on social justice training and student-centered learning. The organization is holding a fundraiser throughout September with monies raised used to provide scholarships to people of color. The goal is to raise at least $28,000, or enough for two scholarships. According to program co-director Mikaela...
The reckless disregard for Vermont prisoners by the Scott administration not only is a travesty and disgrace, it is also a sign of systemic white supremacy that is at play - apparently, without the administration even noticing. Core Civic, with which the state has contracted to imprison Vermonters convicted of crimes, has failed miserably to do due diligence in its custodial care of human beings. COVID-19 has swept through its facility in Mississippi and poses a grave risk to scores...
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, Yellow Barn Artistic Director Seth Knopp continues his Patio Noise conversations with a look back at last summer's tribute to Mario Davidovsky. Joining Knopp will be double bassist Lizzie Burns, clarinetist Yasmina Spiegelberg, cellist Coleman Itzkoff, and violinist Alice Ivy-Pemberton, as well as sound engineer Julian McBrowne. Listeners are invited to join the discussion at yellowbarn.org from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. Last July, Yellow Barn musicians offered a tribute to Mario Davidovsky, the father of electronic...
I've been walking along my dirt dead-end road every day, watching the plant life as it progresses. Lately, I've had my eye on the Queen Anne's lace and got to wondering if any of it was actually yarrow. I know Queen Anne's lace has that tiny little purple spot in the middle, but I began to look more closely and realized that not all of them have that spot - or at least don't have it yet. But how else...