Issue #594

Winterplace opens for outdoor fun in Wilmington

The public is invited to enjoy WinterPlace, a new winter recreation area set up with an entrance at Hayford Field. WinterPlace, funded by a grant from AARP Vermont, is administered by Wilmington Works and executed by community volunteers.

Parking is available at the Old Twin Valley High School parking lot. Whenever there is sufficient snow, volunteers will stomp out short and long tracks that can be used for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or walking.

At all times, users are encouraged to get creative with using the park. (Some ideas include making snow sculptures or snow people, stomping out mazes or designs in the snow, adding illustrations and thoughts to the community chalkboard.)

In addition, the park is stocked with some shared equipment. Look in the baseball dugouts for clothing for dressing snow people, as well as for balls, snowshoes, and sleds. More items will be added this winter.

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About this report and its sources

This story was written and reported by MacLean Gander, with reporting and research assistance from Lucas Sillers. It was edited by Jeff Potter. Our report is based heavily on information provided by three individuals involved in the antifa movement, initially in response to an email received by The Commons...

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Book festival begins 20th year with a new Literary Cocktail Hour

Think California, make your favorite drink, and join author and Pulitzer Prize finalist William Souder on Friday, Jan. 8, at 5 p.m., for a discussion of his book Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck. The first full-length biography of the Nobel laureate to appear in a...

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Around the Towns

Everyone Eats! paused for lack of funding SPRINGFIELD - The Everyone Eats! program that has provided free restaurant to-go meals to Vermonters in Brattleboro, Bellows Falls, and other towns since August was put on hold Dec. 31. Everyone Eats! engaged more than 170 Vermont farms and food producers, played a key role in keeping more than 150 restaurants in business, and provided more than 500,000 meals to members of communities in all 14 Vermont counties. The program was funded this...

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Vermonters pinched even before pandemic hit, study finds

The COVID-19 global pandemic hit many Vermont households hard and without warning. The public health crisis spurred an economic crisis when people lost their jobs and businesses closed. Despite billions in federal assistance that have helped many households and businesses weather the pandemic storm, for many in the state, this economic crisis represented a continuation of struggle that started before COVID-19 highlighted the gaps in the state's economy and social safety nets. People of color and women have been disproportionately...

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BDCC’s Business Succession Program seeks to match buyers, sellers

People ages 60 and older own nearly a third of private businesses in southeastern Vermont. Many lack a succession plan. Concerned about the potential consequences of loss of businesses and jobs, the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) is focusing on succession planning. With a grant from USDA Rural Business Development, this fall BDCC launched REGENER8, a program to support business owners seeking an exit and prospective business buyers seeking an exciting opportunity. “We became focused on this issue a few...

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Youth Services seeks volunteers for court diversion panels

Youth Services is seeking volunteers to serve on its court diversion panels in the New Year. Court diversion is a voluntary, confidential alternative to court proceedings for certain juvenile cases and adult cases referred to the program at the discretion of the State's Attorney's Office. According to Sally Struble, Youth Services' director of restorative justice programs, court diversion's underlying intent is to repair harm that is caused by the crime and to address underlying conditions that led to the offense.

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Milestones

College news • Andrew Zuckerman of South Londonderry has been nominated by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., to be a member of the Class of 2025 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.. Zuckerman was one of 28 Vermonters who were vetted and selected by Vermont's Congressional delegation for nomination to attend the nation's Service Academies. Obituaries • Carleton Stanley Barnett Sr., 87, of Halifax. Died peacefully, surrounded by family, on Dec. 24,

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LGUHS students raise awareness in Sticker Shock campaign

During the first weeks of December, West River Valley Thrives staff and members of Leland & Gray's Above the Influence (ATI) youth group donned masks and loaded up with hand sanitizer to do a modified version of its bi-annual Sticker Shock campaign. According to a news release, ATI youth “work to inspire people to make healthy choices through fun, engaging, and educational activities, with an emphasis on substance use prevention. Twice a year, these students organize a Sticker Shock campaign.

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Loss of business financially devastating, heartbreaking

A beloved member of the community, Elise Paffrath, who runs Breeze Thru Agility, has lost her business. Her new landlord gave her a short time to vacate the building, and he was apparently unwilling to negotiate more time for her to prepare for the closure of her business. This comes in the middle of a pandemic and is financially devastating to Elise and heartbreaking to her friends and clients. Over the last 25 years, Elise has provided world-class dog-agility instruction...

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Terrorism on the domestic front

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the main focus on terrorism in the United States has been on radical Islamic groups like Al-Qaida and ISIS. For national security experts concerned with terrorism within the U.S., that focus has changed in the past few years: the most significant terror threat now comes from white nationalist and white supremacist groups. In a report released in October, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that “racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists - specifically white supremacist...

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Rockingham awarded grant for revitalizing Bellows Falls buildings

The Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) recently awarded a Small Grant for Smart Growth to the town to promote small-scale development in the village of Bellows Falls. According to a news release, the $1,000 grant will “help fund targeted technical assistance toward the goal of preserving, revitalizing, or repurposing vacant or underutilized buildings.” The Incremental Development Alliance (IDA) is a consultancy that helps residents strengthen their communities through small-scale real estate projects nationwide. The firm will engage 30 to 60...

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James Baldwin foretold Trump's coming

If we as white Americans - presumed, I suppose, to be “well intentioned” toward our sisters and brothers of color -want to understand Trumpism, may I suggest we have but to read James Baldwin, who already in the 1960s and '70s had Trump's number? In truth, he foretold Trump's coming. Because Trump is America, writ large. No, we are not “better than that.” I dare to say, as a white man and as one who has read Baldwin, that Trumpism...

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Process to rename brook becomes a river of rancor

The State Board of Libraries in charge of naming geographic features such as mountains and streams will revisit a petition to rename a local brook this month. So far, the conversation around renaming Negro Brook has touched on a multitude of issues: racism, uplifting the stories of Black women, local control, community belonging (or not), language, and reconciling history. The people having this conversation come from a myriad of life experiences. The renaming of Negro Brook represents only one of...

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In Rutland, you board Amtrak at train level

Your subhead “Development Review Board approves preliminary plans for new Amtrak station, which will give Brattleboro the first level-boarding platform in Vermont” is incorrect. It should read “the second level-boarding platform.” You board Amtrak in Rutland at train level (and have for many years). The modern station has an ADA-compliant electric chair lift inside the terminal, the platform is under cover, and it even has a second backup, manual wheelchair lift. All thanks to Sen. Bernie Sanders. My wife, a...

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Loss of dog training center is heartbreaking

How sad it is that a local landlord found it necessary to give Elise Paffrath, owner of Breeze Thru Agility, just 30 days to vacate her agility dog training center. Elise's small business has occupied her space for the last 10 years, and in that time she has offered a very special service to dogs and their owners, enabling many to learn a fun dog sport, use positive training methods, and share many laughs. With such minimal warning, Elise has...

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Regional school district deserves regional financial scrutiny

The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting (RTM) elects each year members of the body to serve as a Finance Committee to review the budget as proposed by the Selectboard so as to improve the ability of RTM members to make an informed judgment as they vote on the budget article. In the past, the Finance Committee also reviewed and reported on the budget for the town's three elementary schools and the Brattleboro Union High School District 6. With the implementation of...

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Our stimulus checks can make a difference

All of us, Republicans and Democrats alike, should recognize that, at the end of November, 10.7 million people remained unemployed through no fault of their own, due to COVID-19. While politicians continue to argue how COVID-related relief should be structured, the fact is that the president recently signed legislation that has three immediate features. First, stimulus payments of $600 per person (including dependents under 18) are going to households earning less than $150,000 for a two-adult household. Second, the new...

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All about eves

The eve of an event is a moment of great anticipation, trepidation, excitement, and anxiety. Why? An eve is the day or period of time immediately before an event or occasion. It is the time between events. Nothing has happened yet, so our imaginations can run wild, creating wide-ranging scenarios of what might come to be. One of the most famous “eve” stories in Western literature is Dickens' A Christmas Carol, when on Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge is presented with...

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So many unknowns, and a virus that wants to outwit us

World governments are trying to deal with the complexity of vaccinating enough of their populations to provide an adequate level of herd immunity to be able to declare that the COVID-19 pandemic is under control. Having a Darwinian health-care system and a lack of federal leadership means the U.S. will most likely lag behind the rest of the world in vaccine rollout. Experts are guessing that anywhere from 70 to 90 percent of people need to be vaccinated to meet...

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Erickson art featured at Crowell Gallery

For the month of January, the Crowell Gallery at Moore Free Library, 23 West St., presents a free exhibit, “On the Way By Painting En Passant” by C. Peter Erickson. In his artist statement, Erickson says he applies the original French chess definition of “passing through” to his art, “establishing the world's impermanence, its placement neither here nor there, but somewhere along the way.” “For many years I was most interested in painting with oil on canvas, eventually trending toward...

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Vt. high schools will resume play

The fall high school sports season in Vermont, held under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, was a success. Yes, the masks and sanitizer and social distancing made things a bit more cumbersome and awkward. To the credit of the coaches, the players, and the fans, everything worked. The students got a chance to play, and there were no outbreaks as a result of the games. Fortunately, the fall was a relatively tranquil time in Vermont for the pandemic. Now,

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BMAC hosts online conversation with Lois Dodd and Eric Aho

“Lois Dodd is a wonder, working happily and productively still at 93,” says Eric Aho of his friend and fellow artist. “When you meet Lois, you will see she's in no rush. She sets a deliberate pace, and you can see it in the unhurried nature of her painting.” Dodd will speak with Aho in an online conversation about her life and work on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. This event is presented in connection with the Brattleboro Museum...

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