Issue #589
When we can’t have our normal holidays, we need them more than ever
For too many people, holidays are already fraught with complexity and difficulties. A global health catastrophe is the last thing they need to add to the mix.
For so many of us, the recent words of urgency from Gov. Phil Scott have created a gargantuan conflict.
Groundworks to open motel-based Seasonal Overflow Shelter for winter of 2020-21
The state's emergency motel voucher program is set to continue providing motel rooms as COVID-safe shelter through March 31, 2021. Those who do not qualify for such lodging can take cover in a seasonal overflow shelter in a local motel. Groundworks Collaborative has been providing support to more than...
‘Roots of Southern Appalachian Dance’ subject of Zoom lecture from Next Stage
Next Stage Arts Project and the Putney Historical Society present “Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics: Roots and Branches of Southern Appalachian Dance,” a virtual lecture by Phil Jamison, a scholar of traditional music and dance, on Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. The southern Appalachian square dance is a hybrid...
More
Vermont Judiciary delays criminal jury trials
Criminal jury trials, previously scheduled to resume in the Windham unit of the Vermont Superior Court in Brattleboro on Dec. 7, are now postponed indefinitely. According to a news release, the delay is in response to a recent significant increase in COVID-19 cases in Vermont, which is expected to continue in the coming weeks. Chief Superior Judge Brian Grearson and Vermont State Court Administrator Patricia Gabel made the decision to postpone the restart in consultation with Judge John Treadwell, who...
Holiday bazaars take it outside for open-air shopping
The holiday bazaar has been a longstanding tradition in Vermont, but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced some changes to the tradition - most notably, moving the marketplaces into the great outdoors. Dress warmly, wear your masks, and check out these bazaars: • The First Congregational Church of West Brattleboro will hold its Christmas Bazaar on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, as it has for more than six decades. This year, however, the bazaar will be held in front of...
Brattleboro Rotary delivers 4,600 face masks locally
Members of the Brattleboro Rotary Club recently visited several businesses and nonprofit organizations to deliver 4,600 face masks contributed as part of the Rotary Million Mask Challenge Tour. The tour traveled through six states and stopped at nine major municipal centers to deliver 800,000 masks to awaiting Rotarians. An additional 200,000 masks were distributed across Connecticut in the spring, making the total one million. Local recipients of the donated personal protective equipment included Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, Brattleboro Retreat, Garden Path...
A perfect holiday meal, close to home
This year's holiday will see people staying closer to home. Some might be prepping holiday dinners for the first time. To take some of the pressure off, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture has collected tips for creating your local meal, no matter your situation. • Looking to support local farms and producers? The Vermont Fresh Network's Local Holiday Meal Guide helps you find where to shop for local turkey and other ingredients for your holiday meal. • You can also...
Milestones
College news • Corey Dunn of Brattleboro enrolled for the fall 2020 term at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. • Madison Fortier, a member of the Class of 2022 from Brattleboro, was named to the Dean's List for the spring 2020 semester at Regis College in Weston, Mass. Obituaries • Phyllis Q. Anderson, 97, of Westminster. Died at home on Nov. 5, 2020, surrounded by her loving children. The daughter of Neal and Katharine Quimby, Phyllis was born in Newark,
Grant funds library's climate information programs for Rockingham area
The Rockingham Free Public Library (RFPL) recently received a $500 grant for climate-related programming from the American Library Association. In a news release, the RFPL - one of only two Vermont libraries chosen for this honor - thanked library patron Kat Martin, former Interim Town Manager Chuck Wise, and Rockingham Help & Helpers “for their fantastic letters of support which were included in the grant application,” and Rockingham residents Laurel Green and Peter Bergstrom, who “proved invaluable in planning for...
Holiday happenings
BFFDA gets downtown Bellows Falls ready for holidays BELLOWS FALLS - All are invited to join the Bellows Falls Downtown Development Alliance (BFDDA) for Light Up BF on Shop Small Saturday, Nov. 28, at 4 p.m. Thanks to local businesses, volunteers, and past board members, and using grant funding from the state, BFDDA is finalizing a 10-year design project. The work has included year-round lighting in the trees on The Square, festival lights across the streets, lights and garland on...
Two online classes offered by Brattleboro Area Jewish Community
Cantor Kate Judd, spiritual leader of the Brattleboro Area Jewish Community, will offer two new classes on Zoom in the coming weeks. • An ongoing weekly Torah and text study will be an exploration of the weekly Torah portion, drawing on traditional and modern commentaries, Midrash, poetry, Jewish law and custom, and lived experience. This class is open to all. Regular reading of the portion and supporting texts is required - texts will be available online or sent by email.
Around the Towns
Thanksgiving closings in Brattleboro BRATTLEBORO - In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, all town offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 26 and 27, with the exception of emergency services. Brooks Memorial Library does not allow in-person visits at this time, but curbside and online services are available. The library will close at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25 and will reopen for curbside pick-up on Nov. 26 and 27 from 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Parking is...
Organizations join to seek funds in support of asylum seekers
Six Vermont organizations, affiliated in a regional effort to support people seeking asylum in the United States, are partnering for a Giving Tuesday fundraiser on Tuesday, Dec. 1. The organizations include the Community Asylum Seekers Project, Brattleboro; Bridge to Rutland, Rutland; Randolph Area Asylum Seekers Support, Randolph; Chittenden Asylum Seekers Assistance Network, Burlington; the Central Vermont Refugee Action Network and its Asylum Seeker Assistance Network, Montpelier; and Northeast Kingdom Asylum Seekers Assistance Network, St. Johnsbury. “People who seek asylum in...
Putney Craft Tour goes virtual
Every Thanksgiving weekend for the past 41 years, Vermont's most iconic open-studio tour, the Putney Craft Tour, draws thousands to the studios to meet the artisans to experience where art begins and purchase one of a kind works. Despite the ongoing concern of spreading COVID-19, artisans on the tour - the oldest of its kind in the country, now in its 42nd year - felt it important to share their work, which brings so much joy and meaning especially during...
Two nonprofits plan new housing project in West B
A longtime motel and restaurant at 78 South St. will become a new source of permanent housing and supportive services to individuals who now are sheltered in motels. Dalem's Chalet Inc. sold the property, with its almost 18 acres, to WWHT on Sept. 23 for $968,750. Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) and Groundworks Collaborative last week jointly announced that both nonprofits are partnering on a new project to be called the Chalet, which will repurpose the longtime motel and...
We have to embrace the mess of democracy. But how?
I feel compelled to respond to Jim Freedman's confusion and distress in his Viewpoint, which I share. I believe that Donald Trump is a sociopath and is bent on destroying a political system that we call democracy, with the collusion of a sycophant Congress. I also believe that Donald Trump supports white supremacy, a cultural belief that tolerates if not mandates the disenfranchisement, subjugation, terrorizing and lynching of any persons not “white.” My sibling is a Trump supporter. It confounds...
Action plan for the arts supports state’s creative economy
Participants of the Vermont Creative Network's IdeaJam in a videoconference on Nov. 17 highlighted their curiosity, optimism, and desire to collaborate. Conversations within the online event focused on how the region's creative workforce adapted their work, and how they want to move forward, using other skills from their creative toolbox such as problem solving and experimentation. The network - authorized by the Legislature in 2016 and operating as an initiative of the Vermont Arts Council - is developing the state's...
And for dessert: Nantucket Cranberry Pie
We love our cranberries in New England. Their pop of tartness and vibrant red color move from sweet to savory with ease. What would the holiday table be without cranberry sauce or relish? I've recipes for cranberry muffins and breads; vegetables roasted with cranberries; cranberries in sautés, in rice, and in meat dishes; cranberry parfaits and puddings; show-off tarts; cookies, crisps, cheesecakes, and other desserts; and any number of special beverages. One traditional favorite is Nantucket Pie, or Nantucket Cranberry...
Tom French, Bob Tortolani, and Don Spencer have helped countless vets
This Thanksgiving season, due to COVID-19 and the precariousness of life, I find myself feeling gratitude for each small gesture and kind word extended in everyday life. Perhaps because we now live under a larger shadow of death, I no longer take these ordinary niceties for granted. Has COVID-19 brought forth more simple acts of kindness among strangers, or am I now more aware of a humble graciousness that has quietly been here all along? I feel grateful to inhabit...
Proposed rental ordinance returns to table
The Selectboard, having learned of potential alternatives to ease financial burdens for tenants and landlords, will reconsider an ordinance that would cap the up-front costs required to rent an apartment in town. In December, the town will take up the proposal from the Tenants Union of Brattleboro (TUB) for a town ordinance that would prohibit landlords from collecting advance rent from a new tenant beyond the first month's rent and a security deposit. Most housing organizations cite a 5-percent vacancy...
Brattleboro adopts new goals to reduce emissions
The town has pledged that, within five years, it will have reduced carbon emissions within its borders by 26 percent of 2005 levels. The Selectboard voted unanimously to adopt the carbon emission goals proposed by the Town Energy Committee. The committee has proposed that carbon emissions be cut by 40 percent of the town's 1990 levels by 2030 and further cut by 80 percent of the town's 1990 levels by 2050. The aim of reducing carbon emissions is to slow...
Thanksgiving dinner for 30,000
Raisins in your stuffing. Running 3.2 miles at your town's Turkey Trot. A shared Thanksgiving meal at your community church sitting next to a person you just met. Each of us has our own holiday traditions, many of which will look very different this year. This is a loss, and we all feel it. But abundance remains in our community - an abundance of love, food, and people taking care of each other. Vermont Everyone Eats (VEE) is a program...
Changing of the guard
For many, many people, their first reaction to the election in the United States of America, even as it was happening, was shock and revulsion that the U.S. people did not repudiate Donald Trump with a stronger margin of victory for Joseph Biden. After four years, everyone knows what Trump stands for: open white supremacy, authoritarianism, misogyny, white resentment, calls to violence, cruelty, and so on. That he nevertheless received 72 million votes is a clear statement of the sickness...
Strolling of the Heifers auction raises funds to support programs
Just in time for holiday shopping, Strolling of the Heifers will host an online auction beginning Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 10 a.m. Donors have provided art, craft, food, tickets, and more. Do you love the pottery of Laura Zindel? Need lift tickets, museum passes, or a theater at the Latchis all to yourself for a night? This auction will offer these items, plus lots of other great Vermont-made items, from wellness to cheese. Bidding ends on Sunday, Dec. 6 at...
BMAC, Retreat Farm seek entries for first-ever Artful Ice Shanties Design-Build Competition
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) and Retreat Farm present the inaugural Artful Ice Shanties Design-Build Competition. Artists, ice fishing enthusiasts, tiny house aficionados, and design-builders of all ages and experience levels are invited to build artful ice shanties that will be displayed at Retreat Farm from Feb. 13 through Feb. 28. Entries can be built by individuals or by groups of friends, family members, classmates, office colleagues, or any kind of team. Registration forms and details, including building...
Amtrak plans new station for Brattleboro
Though no passenger trains have been stopping here since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Amtrak says it is in discussions with the town, the New England Central Railroad, and the state on a feasibility study for a new station that is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to a Nov. 19 news release from Amtrak, the new station would be located on Depot Street, directly across from the current station stop. It would feature the first...
The Thanksgiving that we’ll miss, the traditions that we’ll keep
Sandi Rudski Capponcelli: My father-in-law's birthday is Nov. 22, and we always celebrate it on Thanksgiving when the family gets together. Every year his “birthday” cake is a pumpkin cheesecake that I make especially for him. I have been doing that for almost 40 years now. This will be the first year I won't be making one for him. * * * Judy McGee: I'll miss having my son come up to be with us. He is in Connecticut. I...
Holidays
READERS RESPONDThe Thanksgiving that we'll miss, the traditions that we'll keepWith travel restrictions in effect, readers reflect on the beloved holiday traditions that will be missing this Thanksgiving - and the traditions that are beyond the reach of even a global pandemic * * * MEMORABLE MEALS/Dorothy Grover-ReadA tighter, simpler holiday mealThis farro and wild rice salad is a perfect side dish that can easily slip into a baked squash to create a delicious vegetarian entrée And for dessert: Nantucket...
A tighter, simpler holiday meal
This will be a holiday season to remember - not for its excesses, but for its smaller scope as many families limit their numbers. The menu might be a little tighter, a little simpler; perhaps it will highlight favorite dishes or those that carry the most tradition in your home. Maybe you are all eating together online, or having a Zoom dessert you've all made in your respective homes. While we might be used to having a turkey, all its...