Latchis Arts presents jazz vocalist Kendra Shank in the Circle of Love Benefit Concert for Groundworks Collaborative on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 7:30 p.m.
Hailed as “a supremely skilled vocalist” (The New York Times) with a “delectable voice” (Time), Shank has headlined at festivals, concerts, and clubs around the world.
She combines jazz originals, standards, world music, French chansons, folk/pop songs, and improvisation in an adventurous style that inspired jazz great Abbey Lincoln to call her “an original; a singer with a sound.”
Shank has been a champion of the songs of Abbey Lincoln, and the “Circle of Love” title of the concert is taken from a song of Lincoln's that Shank recorded on her CD A Free Spirit: Abbey Lincoln Songbook.
The time has finally come to turn my book, From the Boroughs to Brattleboro and Beyond by the Flat Landers that Made the Move, over to an editor. In the interest of wanting to stay local, I am looking for an editor who might want to meet for periodical...
On Saturday, Oct. 8, Black Mountain Assisted Family Living will host 'Que for a Cause! a barbecue competition fundraiser. The event will be open to the public from noon until 5 p.m. on the Brattleboro Common, while area pros and amateurs will compete at the Holiday Inn and Suites.
Constitution Week, Sept.17–23, commemorates the signing of the Constitution of the United States. Did you know that the only place in the Constitution that “Lord” or any reference to God is where the date is written (“Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven”)? Did you know that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” and “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” are not in...
Vermont continues to lead the nation by a commanding margin as the top maple producing state. Total Vermont maple syrup production in 2022 was 2.55 million gallons, an 800,000 increase over the prior year and about half of the U.S. production of maple syrup. To celebrate a productive season and introduce folks to Vermont's maple syrup, the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association offers a Fall Maple Open House weekend on Oct. 8 and 9. This addition to the annual tradition...
Since 1970, volunteers have made the Newfane Heritage Festival a seasonal destination in the heart of the historic village. Once again, people will celebrate community, crafts, and entertainment. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 8 and 9, rain or shine. Volunteers will sell refreshments under a tent on the triangle in front of the church, including apple pies, apple crisp with ice cream, hot dogs, hamburgers, sandwiches, chili, doughnuts, clam and...
The Fire Department is seeking community input as part of an EMS study facilitated by AP Triton Consulting. The firm, based in Wyoming, is conducting the study as part of a strategic plan for the next five years. A brief, confidential online survey at surveymonkey.com/r/bfdcitizens seeks input and opinions from the community. The results of the survey will be compiled and published in the final report, tentatively set to release in December. On Tuesday, Oct. 18, a representative from AP...
Kevin O'Connor has been writing on Rescue Inc. all year, and every time he positions Rescue as the poor beleaguered service providers, so virtuous and innocent, assassinated by a rogue Town Manager from outside Vermont. Horrors! His front-page article is yet another op-ed disguised as journalism. The Selectboard was extremely transparent at the time of conflict: they released the threatening letter Drew Hazelton, chief of operations of Rescue, sent them, and Ian Goodnow and Liz McLoughlin, Selectboard chair and past...
This op-ed poses a question that seems logical on its face - until one does a bit of research. The “compelling state interest” test has been a part of Supreme Court case law since 1963 (Sherbert v. Verner) and 1972 (Wisconsin v. Yoder), where religious freedom was upheld in the absence of compelling state interest. The Supreme Court incorporated this test in the Roe v. Wade decision: “Where certain 'fundamental rights' are involved, the Court has held that regulation limiting...
The seventh annual Rotary Southern Vermont Disc Golf Championship Weekend will be Oct. 8 and 9 at Living Memorial Park. On Saturday, Oct. 8, is the Chuck for Charity Team Scramble. Businesses, families, and groups of friends are encouraged to enter a team on the scramble with 3 or 4 players for $100 total. This event is designed for new players to learn the sport and become acquainted with the disc golf course at Living Memorial Park. Beginner teams play...
Medieval Faire in Putney PUTNEY - On Saturday, Oct. 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., The Grammar School (TGS) in Putney will transform its campus into a medieval village once again as they host their annual Medieval Faire. This event has been a family favorite for 34 years. Enjoy the festivities while the royal court presides over the Faire. Kids can ride a flying dragon, practice a joust, battle a knight, and more! Fairgoers can also shop for goods...
Ballots have been mailed to the members of the Vermont State Employees Credit Union (VSECU), seeking votes to support a merger with the New England Federal Credit Union. As a 40-year member of VSECU, I was curious about what this merger could mean for me and the family of VSECU members. VSECU is a Vermont state-chartered financial institution, and as such, it is locally owned by its members, who have control over how it is managed. I did a little...
Comcast changing BCTV, FACT channel numbers BRATTLEBORO - Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV), the community media station for Brattleboro and southern Windham County, has been assigned new numbers on the Comcast lineup. Effective Oct. 27, the new channels will be 1078 and 1079. For northern Windham County, Falls Area Community Television's (FACT-TV) new numbers will be 1082 and 1083. Two years ago, BCTV's and FACTV's channel numbers were changed from their historic positions on 8 and 10, after a negotiation with...
Retired Brattleboro Police Department Captain Mark Carignan's premier novel Out from Under: George V. Higgins would have admired it. If you know who he was, that's my review. If you don't, read both.
Contrary to what Erica Walch writes, a “compelling State interest” limiting personal reproductive autonomy is clearly defined in United States law, and we need passage of Article 22 to the Vermont Constitution to limit it and protect Vermonters' right to abortion. Article 22 states: “That an individual's right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one's own life course and shall not be denied or infringed unless justified by a compelling State interest achieved...
Obituaries • Vera M. Deyo, 99, of Brattleboro. Died Sept. 17, 2022 at Bradley House in Brattleboro, where she had been a resident for the past nine years. Mrs. Deyo was born in Burlington on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 1922, the daughter of Eleoda and Mary (Buffum) Maynard. She was raised and educated in Wilmington, graduating from Wilmington High School with the Class of 1940. For 37 years, she served as secretary for First Baptist Church in Brattleboro. Prior to...
On Wednesday, Oct. 12, from 6 to 10 p.m., the downtown arts venue Epsilon Spires continues its Food System Series of film screenings and pop-up dinners presented in partnership with the local organic microgreen farm Grateful Greens. This installment features a four-course dinner of regional, sustainably produced ingredients by the Brattleboro-based caterer Forage & Flourish, followed by a showing of the 2020 documentary Kiss the Ground. “My vision for this series is to bring awareness to what is going on...
The Actors Theatre Playhouse presents Vern Thiessen's Shakespeare's Will, a one-woman presentation featuring Wendy Almeida as Anne Hathaway speaking her mind on the day of the funeral for her husband, William Shakespeare. There are four performances only: on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 7, 8, 14, and 15, at 7:30 p.m., promptly. Very little is actually known about William Shakespeare and his wife of 34 years. But this much we do know: Anne was 26 years old and pregnant when she...
Suicides in Vermont are at a 25-year high, and state health officials have issued a call to action for Vermonters to be partners in bending this curve. To help make this happen, the Vermont Department of Health and Department of Mental Health have launched “Facing Suicide VT,” a statewide prevention effort funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Facing Suicide VT provides access to suicide prevention education, support, and advocacy resources. This initiative features a comprehensive website, FacingSuicideVT.com.
The Blanche Moyse Chorale will perform Brahms's “German Requiem” Sunday, Oct. 9, in a concert at Marlboro College's Persons Auditorium. The program also features Brahms's “Nänie,” Op. 82. Composed between 1865 and 1868, the “German Requiem” is one of the composer's most beloved works. “While the soaring melodies and rich harmonies of this masterwork had immediate appeal, it was the fact that Brahms wrote it in German, rather than the more traditional liturgical Latin text, that made the work truly...
On Satruday, Sept. 17, Westminster Cares and town residents recognized Westminster's 90-plus-year-old citizens during the annual Celebration of Aging. The event was held outdoors, on the back lawn of the Institute. Guests of honor, their families and members of the community were in attendance on a beautiful, sunny day to honor Westminster's oldest community residents with lunch and a presentation featuring interesting family histories, places they've lived, companies they've worked for, and stories about their lives in the community. This...
The Latchis Theatre, in collaboration with Vidhi's Bollywood Jukebox, will be presenting a Bollywood Spotlight Series for the entire month of October. The local theater will show four different Bollywood films twice every week: Thursdays at 6:30 p.m., and Sundays at 4 p.m. All the films in the series have been curated by journalist Vidhi Salla, host of the radio show, Vidhi's Bollywood Jukebox. Prior to every screening, Salla will present a brief introduction, elaborating on the socio-cultural context of...
The Vermont Everyone Eats (VEE) program, which has provided COVID-19 relief support for Vermont restaurants, farmers, and meal recipients since Aug. 1, 2020, will continue for a few more months. The contract, which was to have expired on Sept. 30, has been extended to allow VEE to continue providing meals through the holiday season and the coldest months, using the remaining available balance of state funds which the Legislature allocated to the program as a component of the COVID-19 emergency...
Next week's newspaper will feature an entire section of election-related letters and commentary. If you'd like to add your views to the mix for consideration, please send submissions by the evening of Friday, Oct. 7, to [email protected]. Please include the town from which you're writing. We apologize for the delay in getting recent contributions into print - we have been overwhelmed with the sheer volume of contributions lately. (As problems go, we suppose this is a good one to have,
Hot Mustard, which will perform with Tony Trischka and Robot Plane on Sunday, Oct. 9, features two couples - Putney's own Bruce and Kelly Stockwell, and Bill and April Jubett of South Bristol, Maine. From 2008 to 2015, this foursome played traditional bluegrass throughout New England. The band centered around Bruce on banjo and vocals - he provides the baritone harmony parts - and Kelly on acoustic bass, with Bill on banjos and lead vocals and April on guitar and...
The public is invited to attend an Election 2022 online workshop sponsored by the Media Mentoring Project on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m., via Zoom. The program, “How To Be An Informed Voter: Cutting Through The Spin and Disinformation,” will explore the impact that disinformation has on elections, how citizens can cut through the noise to find accurate and credible information about the candidates and the election process, and the roles that state officials and the media can play...
Brattleboro Union High School is reporting two of its students were treated last week for drug overdoses in the building. “We experienced two separate medical emergencies on campus involving the use of substances possibly laced with fentanyl,” interim Principal Cassie Damkoehler has emailed the families of 800 grade 9-12 students from the towns of Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, and Vernon. In both instances, the students were seen to be experiencing health problems and, as a result, received immediate medical care,
A $45,070 funding cut to Brattleboro Senior Meals has providers concerned and looking for ways to make up the shortfall without affecting seniors who rely on the program. “We only found out about this six weeks ago, so it still has us scrambling,” executive director Cynthia Fisher said this week. “It has not impacted diners and meal recipients so far, and we're hoping they won't be impacted.” Federal and state money comes to Brattleboro Senior Meals through the Older Americans...
The Republican party in Vermont is trying as hard as they can to muddy the waters about the choice women are able to make regarding keeping a pregnancy. Liam Madden, who is challenging Becca Balint, pretends to support women's right to choose, and yet he wants to get elected to the House of Representatives so he can be yet another man who is not a medical professional telling women what to do with our bodies. I don't know where Madden...
For generations Vermont has banned billboards. For us and for visitors to Vermont from other states and around the world, the lack of billboards sets the tone of our beautiful rural state and its quiet countryside. I am concerned that this tradition is threatened. Large political signs have been put up around Vernon and Guilford. I don't know what the limits are for a sign to be banned, but these very nicely designed signs have, in my opinion, gone beyond...
A half-dozen buildings in his new hometown form the core of the oil paintings artist Ricky McEachern will display for a month in one of those buildings, with an opening reception Friday, Oct. 7, from 6 to 9 p.m. at 26a Main Street, aka The Cute Red Building. McEachern has titled the show “Wood & Light,” and calls it a celebration of the many interesting manmade structures found in New England and their play with natural light. “I think of...
The Brattleboro Literary Festival and Brattleboro Words Project will feature South Newfane poet William Mundell (1912–97) in a two-part program on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro. The evening begins with a 6 p.m. roundtable discussion and continues with a 7 p.m. lecture and reading of Mundell's poetry. This is the fourth program in the Words Project series on area authors from the past. In previous years, the Project has featured Lucy Terry Prince, Mary and Royall...
Closed due to safety concerns in 2009, the Vilas Bridge, which connects Walpole, N.H. with Bellows Falls across the Connecticut River, may yet be rebuilt and reopened. New Hampshire has earmarked $17.7 million for the project and recently included it in the state's 10-year highway plan. With 7% of the bridge in Vermont, Vermont will be paying 7% of the costs. The schedule is for preliminary bridge engineering and design to begin in 2023, and construction to begin in 2028.
The Crowell Art Gallery, 23 West Street, celebrates Halloween all October long with Dennis Ciancimino's “Goosebumps in Vermont'' series. A reception with the artist is planned for Oct. 15 from 1 to 3 p.m. Ciancimino invites visitors on a mystical journey deep into the Shadowland of Vermont using folk horror art and personal narrative to tell the lesser-known stories of the forces that go bump in the night. His paintings of familiar fears of the unknown draw viewers deeper into...
In partnership with Green Mountain Spinnery, the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) presents a felted gnome workshop with Kathleen Meeks on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 2 p.m. Meeks will lead adults and children ages 10 and up in making needle-felted gnomes. All materials will be provided, including needles and enough hand-dyed wool to make two gnomes. Meeks has been needle felting since 2004. She and her daughter raise Shetland sheep on the farm where Meeks' mother was born, and...
The fine-line copperplate nature etchings of Sheryl Steiger Young and the imaginative drawings of Linda Baker-Cimini are on exhibit at Gallery in the Woods, 145 Main Street, for the month of October with an opening reception on Friday, Oct. 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. Sheryl Steiger Young first began etching nearly 50 years ago when she wanted to duplicate her art and keep her beloved works. Inspired by masters Albrecht Dürer and Martin Schongauer, her process is much the...
A former Brattleboro Union High School student is speaking out, alleging that Principal Steve Perrin made unwanted sexual and romantic advances over several years at the high school starting in 2010. Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) Superintendent Mark Speno has remained silent for months about whether Perrin - who was abruptly placed on paid leave last spring days after the former student reported the pattern of behavior to authorities - will return to his duties. The Commons has confirmed the...
Internationally recognized glass artist Josh Simpson, who started his career in Vermont, will be signing copies of his new book at Vermont Artisan Designs during the Oct. 7 Gallery Walk from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Simpson, whose “possibly inhabited planets” and “megaworlds” are staples of his outer-space-inspired artistry, wrote the book with co-author Sue Reed to celebrate his first 50 years of turning glass into art, according to a news release. “It's a treat for us to host Josh at...
The Vermont Center for Photography (VCP) has brought back a popular annual event, thwarted twice in recent years by the pandemic. Now through the end of this month, one can see the VCP's Sixth Open Juried Exhibition, an eclectic, engaging display of works by nine photographers from around the country, each with its own micro-exhibit. The VCP's bright new home on the second floor of 10 Green Street is sparse and elegant and offers a library of books of and...
A recipe often begins life with a flavor combination found in something totally different. I found some beautiful, sweet Italian frying peppers at a local farm stand recently, and they were so lovely and so large, I didn't want to just fry them or chop them up and add them to something else. They asked to be the star. I knew I wanted to stuff them, but I didn't want to use a same-old stuffing, rice, or quinoa or other...
Our wonderful apple season is in full swing and, after a delightful trip to the orchard this week, apple dishes began to dance around in my head as I stared at my abundant haul. I thought about my mother's apple dumplings, made with peeled and cored apples, encased in puff pastry, and adorned with little pastry leaf decorations. They were always delicious, but I also remembered that sometimes the apples were not quite cooked when the pastry was done. As...
From the time the two nonprofits were formed in the early 1980s, the Brattleboro Historical Society and the Estey Organ Museum received gifts of historic musical instruments crafted in town during the Estey Organ Company's heyday. Donations over the years to both organizations have included a tidal wave of organs. About 525,000 were manufactured in town between 1846 and 1955 and sold to customers on six continents. Since 2015, the two historical nonprofits have been doing something that some might...
When reached by phone earlier this week, legendary banjoist, songwriter, recording artist, and educator Tony Trischka was attending an International Bluegrass Music Association meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina. There, he presented three panel discussions and gave out the coveted Banjo Player of the Year award - an honor he himself received in 2007. On Sunday, Oct. 9, at 3 p.m., the Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series and Twilight Music present an afternoon of banjo and bluegrass with Trischka and his...
The Brattleboro field hockey team was winless. The Springfield field hockey team was winless. When the two teams faced each other on Sawyer Field on Sept. 29, one of then was going to walk off happy. Thanks to Erika Favereau's goal with 6:53 left in overtime, it was the Colonels that got to celebrate their first win of the season with a 3-2 victory over the Cosmos. “I didn't think it would go in,” said Favereau of her game-winning goal...
Visitors to town often ask, “What are those huge, old, buildings covered with slate on Birge Street?” Those familiar with local history know that these longstanding structures, considered to be the largest group of slate-sheathed buildings in the United States, were once owned by the Estey Organ Company. At one point, the company was one of the world's largest organ manufacturers, employing more than 700 employees and craftspeople. Each organ they created proclaimed in fine black print that it was...
The southern Vermont Empty Bowls steering committee will hold an in-person Empty Bowls Dinner this fall to benefit Foodworks, the region's most heavily utilized food redistribution program, operated by Groundworks Collaborative. The dinner, which has been replaced with a virtual event for the past two years, will be served on Saturday, Oct. 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Landmark College in Putney. “Empty Bowls is a fun and family-friendly evening celebrating local potters, restaurants, and businesses coming together to...
The first real sign of autumn's arrival here is not the trees changing color. It's seeing the big wooden crates of apples by the doorway of the Dummerston Congregational Church kitchen. When the apples from Dwight Miller Orchards arrive at the church, it means that the Dummerston Apple Pie Festival is not far away. The event has historically attracted hundreds of people on the second Sunday of October since the early 1970s, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the festival to...
A friend texted me last Tuesday: “Did you hear that Ray Massucco died?” The text came in a couple of hours after his death, small-town global communication at its swiftest. “That can't be,” I said. “He just posted on Facebook! Not Ray!” But it was true - and my disbelief of that moment continues. When someone is so dynamic a force, it is hard to think that one day he simply wouldn't be here any longer. I doubt that I...
The unexpected death on Sept. 27 of Attorney Ray Massucco has left a huge hole in the heart of the community, and created quite a stir in social media as Ray is remembered by friends, colleagues and clients. Many, many of us have been all three. The Massucco family has had a strong influence on the Rockingham region for generations, going back to the 1700s. His ancestors ran local shops and stores. His father, Dr. Lawrence Massucco, was the town’s...