• Caleb Lisai of Bellows Falls graduated with a B.S. in marketing from Castleton University following the successful completion of the fall semester in December 2021.
• The following local students graduated from Champlain College after the fall 2021 semester: Trina Reynolds of Brattleboro earned a B.S. in accounting, and Lucia Turino of Putney earned an A.S. in accounting.
• The following local students were honored for academic achievement for the fall 2021 semester at Vermont Technical College. Named to the President's List was Meka Dearborn of Brattleboro. Named to the Dean's List were Andrew Clark of East Dummerston, Hyim Savel of Westminster West, Alexandra Kennedy of East Dover, Lisa Ryan of Wilmington, Emily Mleczko of Putney, and Amy Moore of Brattleboro.
• The following local students have been named to the Dean's List for the fall 2021 semester at the University of New England in Portland, Maine: Nicholas Campbell, Mollie Patenaude, and Leah Silverman of Brattleboro, and Olivia Lauricella of Saxtons River.
What are Trump's people thinking? They hang in. And then some. Why? A common explanation is the alienation of blue-collar white men - alienated by movement of jobs overseas, automation's assault on craft pride, weakening of private-sector unions, new status of women in family and workplace, and the shift...
In the Groundhog Day edition of The Commons, columnist Elayne Clift bemoans “circumstances grounded in the principles of our country's founders are slipping away.” She then goes on to write about voting rights and voter suppression. Our founders saw fit to own slaves and protect slavery. They suppressed the...
As a voter of Newfane I am pleased to support three candidates for Selectboard on the ballot for this Town Meeting Day, March 1. We have two incumbents - Ann Golob and Katy Johnson-Aplin - who have shown us their skills and commitment to town governance for all Newfane residents in the past year. Ann brings much experience and worked hard with Katy to facilitate access to the federal money available through the U.S. government rescue plan (ARPA). Ann also...
Brattleboro Elks Lodge #1499 has once again made a donation of $3,000 to the Windham County Heat Fund. In a news release, Cofounder Daryl Pillsbury said that the Brattleboro Elks have been a solid supporter of the Heat Fund. “Organizations such as the Elks remind us of the generosity and sense of social responsibility that permeate our local community,” he said. Pillsbury and Richard Davis created the Windham County Heat Fund in 2005 to help people in Windham County who...
When Dana Sprague began thinking of how to commemorate the centennial of the Harris Hill Ski Jump in print about four years ago, he brought some ideas to his fellow trustees of Harris Hill Ski Jump Inc., the nonprofit that oversees all things Harris Hill. “My thought was doing a beautiful program for this anniversary, with beautiful photographs, a list of winners, record holders, and a few historical references,” said Sprague, a local historian. He was surprised when the group...
Are other Vermonters distressed about the early makeup of the 2022 Vermont election slates? I have volunteered for every statewide campaign that Bernie Sanders has run, and I am a huge fan. However, the early and uncalled-for endorsement of Peter Welch for the Senate seat being vacated by Patrick Leahy is just wrong. Peter Welch has had numerous terms to distinguish himself in the House, and while he votes the right way for the political views of Vermonters, he has...
This country continues to supply weapons and military support to Saudi Arabia in their assault and blockade of Yemen. Grassroots, Congressional, and worldwide efforts were made in 2021 to end what has become nearly seven years of U.S. participation in the humanitarian tragedy in Yemen, which Congress never authorized. The goal was not achieved. What the world needs now is a new Yemen War Powers Resolution to stop and prohibit U.S. participation in the war. With the worst cholera outbreak...
Vermont and New Hampshire poets within a 50-mile radius of Brattleboro are invited to send up to two poems to Write Action for the second annual Poems Around Town. Poems will be chosen to appear in downtown Brattleboro shop windows during April, National Poetry Month. Write Action asks that poems be recent, within the past year, preferably. They must fit on a single page and be in a font such as Times New Roman, or a similar, easy-to-read font, in...
Kindergarten registration begins in Brattleboro BRATTLEBORO - The three town elementary schools have begun kindergarten registration for children who turn 5 on or before Sept. 1. You can find information and links to all forms at wsesu.org under “Kindergarten Registration 22-23.” For a paper copy, contact Morgan O'Brien at the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union Central Office at 802-254-3730. Registration paperwork should be returned by Monday, Feb. 14 to WSESU Central Office, Attention: Curriculum and Assessment, 53 Green St., Brattleboro VT...
On Wednesdays from 10 to 11 a.m., Brattleboro Area Hospice's Taking Steps Brattleboro (TSB) program hosts a Zoom question-and-answer information session on advance care planning (ACP) and advance directives. Advance care planning is a process of creating a written health care plan that will tell others what you want if you can't tell them yourself. It includes discussing choices about end-of-life (EOL) care with your medical provider, family, and others and includes choosing and educating your Health Care Agent and...
The Brattleboro Music Center's Chamber Series welcomes Musicians from Marlboro in concert on Saturday, Feb. 12, at 2 p.m. Admission is by donation and will support scholarships for BMC Music School students. Pieces chosen include some of the best Marlboro performances from the past five years, according to a news release. From Haydn's characteristically classical Divertissement in G Major, Hob. IV:7 to a work for alto and double bass written by Marlboro's 2016 composer-in-residence Sofia Gubaidulina, and from the mixed...
On Wednesday, Feb. 16, 350Brattleboro will host a screening of The Reluctant Radical, a 2018 documentary film profiling Ken Ward, a climate activist committed to civil disobedience to call out the fossil fuel industry for the massive damage it is causing to our planet. Ward was arrested in 2016 for participating in a coordinated effort that shut down Tar Sands pipelines nationally. The film shares Ward's personal struggle as well as the fulfillment that he felt from acting powerfully on...
To the people of Windham County: There is an old saying: “Culture eats policy for breakfast.” I'm proud and pleased that the culture at the Windham County Sheriff's Office for over a decade has been to embrace humanity, including around issues such as equity, implicit and explicit bias, and fair and impartial policing. Our department's mission is to provide effective, ethical, and affordable policing. We have championed a model of community policing which embraces the need for the public to...
I urge voters in Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, and Putney to elect Lana Dever to the WSESD school board. Lana is a longtime Brattleboro resident whose diverse professional and personal life experiences give her a deep and broad lens on the needs of students in this district. Not only is she a Black parent of a child attending public school in this area, she also grew up experiencing frequent moves and housing instability, a difficulty facing a great many students in...
We are tremendously fortunate to have Lana Dever running as a candidate for the WSESD school board. I have been a teacher in a public school for 16 years, and I am the parent of two kids who attend public school in Brattleboro; Lana is absolutely the person I want to help navigate our schools through the myriad of complex issues they are facing today. I had the privilege of working with Lana in the fall of 2020 when we...
Some thoughts about Ukraine: For the past few weeks I've heard pretty much nothing but sensationalist, war-fever stories in the U.S. press, including NPR and PBS (two of my main news sources). Even Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, stated recently that the media were exaggerating the threat of war. But of course it sells papers and boosts listener and viewer ratings. On Feb. 1, Amy Goodman's news show, Democracy Now!, devoted the entire hour to Ukraine. She interviewed peace activist...
The Brattleboro Concert Choir seeks singers of all voice parts for the choir's spring season. This spring's music includes profoundly warm and comforting works by Morten Lauridsen (Lux aeterna), Zanaida Robles (Magnificat and Nunc dimittis), and Randall Thompson (Frostiana), according to a news release. The choir performs an exciting and challenging repertoire, ranging from classic choral masterpieces to rarely heard and newly commissioned works. With music director Jonathan Harvey, “the choir is deeply committed to a high level of musical...
I encourage local residents to vote for Deborah Stanford and Lana Dever for seats on the WSESD school board. Stanford, a seasoned educator of 35 years, will advance innovative policies and practices and rally support to see to their implementation. Dever, an advocate for our most marginalized and vulnerable families, would bring voices of the unheard to board deliberations. Her extensive experience would bring a new level of diversity of thought to the board process. We need a board capable...
Vendor applications for the 2022 summer season with the West River Farmers Market are available at westriverfarmersmarket.com. Applicants are expected to review the updated 2022 Market Rules and Vendor Agreement on the site before applying. The market accepts applications from vendors who produce agricultural products, who sell prepared foods and/or crafts, and who provide services. All goods sold must be handmade, grown, or produced by the vendor. Details about vendor fees can be found on the website. Applications can be...
As a voting resident of Newfane, I would like to urge all town residents to consider Cristine White for the Selectboard. Cris is a lifelong member of this community who attended Timson Hill School and Newfane Elementary School (currently Newfane Town Offices). She and her family are five generations of community members who built homes, neighborhoods, and businesses here. Her passion for this town is obvious and hard to replicate. Those of us who know Cris respect her for her...
Zon Eastes and Michael Becker are running to keep their seats on the Guilford Selectboard. It has been my pleasure to have served and worked with Zon and Michael over the last several years. I enthusiastically support their campaigns. In every town, serving as a Selectboard member is a major time commitment. Guilford is no different. Members attend a wide variety of webinars, events, and functions across Vermont. Prepping for each meeting entails studying substantial amounts of documentation and presentations...
It is time to vote for our Selectboard members, and we have a number of candidates to choose from, which is wonderful. We are very grateful to anyone who takes on this job. Having served on many boards, we both know how much time this kind of service demands. Our Selectboard deals with many different issues, some of them very practical and some with large social ramifications. We saw this play out last year, when the board was asked to...
These are difficult days for the rule of democracy, openness, fairness, and just plain decency. Every day it seems the bar is lowered with no end in sight. This can make us feel powerless, at least at effecting positive change at the world or national level. Yet we have the important power in our hands to safeguard our values close to home, in our local communities, and that is where we can start. I truly hope we in Newfane will...
There are three superb candidates running for the Newfane Selectboard this cycle: Ann Golob, Jeff Chevalier, and Katy Johnson-Aplin. It is hard to find people to dedicate themselves to town government, so to have these high-quality candidates represents something hopeful for the foundation of local government - which, in Vermont, is the most direct example of true democracy. All three candidates have extensive backgrounds in planning, small business experience, and civics. I recommend that voters support these exceptional choices to...
The Commons and the Brattleboro Reformer will jointly host a candidates' forum for the Windham Southeast School Board on Wednesday, Feb. 16, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The Windham Southeast School District includes all public schools within Guilford, Brattleboro, Dummerston, and Putney. Early voting begins Wednesday, Feb. 9 and concludes on Town Meeting Day, Tuesday, March 1. To access the link for the forum and resources for the election, visit bit.ly/wsesd-forum. Voters in the four towns will select one representative...
Building on the success of a three-day festival in July of 2021 that celebrated Black girlhood and womanhood through poetry readings, film screenings, and curated culinary offerings, Epsilon Spires in downtown Brattleboro will once again team up with co-curator Shanta Lee Gander to present a series of events that brings together artists of color from around New England to exchange ideas across a variety of creative disciplines. Spearheading the Multidisciplinary Salon Series with Gander is Jamie Mohr, Director of Epsilon...
The Brattleboro Literary Festival virtual Literary Cocktail Hour Friday, Feb. 11, at 5 p.m. will feature author Jonathan Evison. In a review of Evison's seventh novel, Small World, in January, Kirkus called the book “a bighearted, widescreen American tale.” “Without being simplistic or wearing rose-colored glasses, Evison suggests a fresh way of recognizing our relationships without melting-pot clichés,” the review said. Evison, who lives with his wife and family on an island in Washington state, is also the author of...
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) will present a free online studio tour and glassblowing demonstration with artist Robert DuGrenier on Thursday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. via Zoom and Facebook Live. This event is presented in connection with the exhibit “Vermont Glass Guild: Inspired by the Past,” on view at BMAC through March 5. The exhibit features work by DuGrenier and 12 other glass artists, each of whom selected an item from BMAC's Study Collection of Ancient Objects...
Don Was, president of Blue Note records, calls vibraphonist Joel Ross “not only one of the preeminent instrumentalists of this era, but he is one of the greatest musical visionaries of his generation.” You can see that artistry for yourself on Saturday, Feb. 19, when the Vermont Jazz Center presents Ross, performing with his quintet, Good Vibes. The group includes Godwin Louis on alto saxophone, Jeremy Corren on piano, Kanoa Mendenhall on upright bass, and Jeremy Dutton on drums. This...
In the summer of 1969, 300,000 people gathered to hear the country's most iconic stars at a free music festival. And I don't mean Woodstock, in a field in upstate New York. I'm talking about the Harlem Cultural Festival, which organized six concerts in Mount Morris Park in Harlem. The lineup ran from legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson to a young Stevie Wonder, and it included the 5th Dimension, Sly and the Family Stone, the Staples Singers, and so many...
A Vermonter who battled back from a serious back injury to become a six-time national ski jumping champion and compete in two Winter Olympics for Team USA will be honored at the centennial edition of the Harris Hill Ski Jump competition. Jim Holland, who won at Harris Hill in 1995, will be inducted into the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum's Hall of Fame during the opening ceremonies on Feb. 20 at 11:30 a.m. “We are proud to celebrate the impact...
Gov. Phil Scott teased the possibility Tuesday of ending or changing the statewide Covid-19 recommendation that K-12 schools require masks for their students and staff. At the same time, officials urged Vermonters to stay up to date on their vaccines, as the number of Vermonters seeking a booster has declined to the lowest point since adults became eligible for it. Several states, including New Jersey and Connecticut, recently announced they will end their school mask mandates in the near future...
The year was 1920. Apartments were renting for $30 a month. Coffee was selling for 30 cents per pound at a grocery on Main Street. The mercury was down to 22 below zero. And Fred H. Harris, “whose ability as a ski jumper is well known, made a jump of 68 feet and another of 50 feet,” reported the Brattleboro Daily Reformer on Feb. 2. Harris was a man who lived for adventure. Having already been the first to lead...
After stepping down after his first term in the Vermont House, Nader Hashim wants to return to Montpelier. Hashim officially announced his candidacy on Feb. 7 for the Vermont Senate. He will be running in the Democratic Party primary this August, seeking one of the two seats representing Windham County. One of those seats is opening up with the decision by Senate President Pro Tem Becca Balint to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. In an interview with The...