The Brattleboro branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) has awarded college scholarships to three local women in memory of longtime member Adelaide "Addie" Minott, who died May 2.
Abigail Towle graduated from Leland & Gray Union High School and plans to study physics, astronomy, and creative writing at Stonehill College.
Brattleboro Union High School graduate Magdalena Keppel will pursue studies in nursing at the University of Vermont, with an interest in pediatrics and childhood development.
Alisa Arroyo of Brattleboro, in the Mature awardee category (age 25 or older), is entering her senior year at Keene State College, where she is majoring in safety and occupational health applied sciences.
A public forum to unveil plans for a new primary care clinic building at Grace Cottage will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 23, at 5 p.m., at the NewBrook Fire House on Route 30 in Newfane. Attendees will learn how Grace Cottage is planning for the future of primary...
The state was given an unusual task in a last-minute legislative deal brokered in June that extended publicly financed motel-based shelter for more than 2,000 unhoused individuals. It was charged with attempting to rehouse or shelter everyone by April 2024, and required to report back to the Legislature on...
When I think about labor movements and unions, two favorite stories come to mind, and both are true. The first one is about a group of girls and young women known as the Lowell Factory Girls. They worked in the mills and factories of Lowell, Massachusetts in the 19th century. Little more than children who labored for long days doing dangerous and exhausting work, they revolted in 1836 when their dismal wages were cut while their factory-owner-mandated living expenses went...
Award-winning chef Erin Bevan, formerly of the Four Columns Inn and The Hermitage Inn, is coming to Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) on Saturday, Aug. 26, at 6 p.m., offering a rare opportunity for guests to dine amid works of art currently on view in the museum's galleries. Diners will enjoy a four-course meal among the (1)upcycled plastic sculptures in "Aurora Robson: Human Nature Walk" and a table arrangement inspired by the still-life paintings in "Alec Egan: Drawing Room."
College news • Kade Perrotti of Vernon recently graduated from Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology with a B.S. in computer engineering. • Haley Covillion of Bellows Falls was named to the spring 2023 Dean's List at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts. • Spencer Butynski of Brookline, William Frank of South Londonderry, Samuel Thibault of Williamsville, and Caroline Mehner of West Wardsboro were all named to the Dean's List for the spring 2023 semester at the University of Hartford in West...
The Windham County Humane Society (WCHS) is holding its Pet Remembrance Night & Luminary Ceremony to honor the pets who have been loved and the lives they've shared with their humans on Monday, Aug. 28. "We thought, 'they are our favorite friends to snuggle with after a long day, are often present during our important life moments, and for many of us, helped us cope with the pandemic,'" WCHS Executive Director Maya Richmond said in a news release, "and when...
Disaster Recovery Center now open in Jamaica WILLISTON - A Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) is now open in Jamaica to help Windham County residents affected by the July severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides. The joint recovery center, a temporary facility established in partnership between the town, the state of Vermont, and FEMA, will help survivors apply for FEMA assistance, upload documents and answer questions in person. It is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and...
The Brattleboro Camerata is currently seeking new members of every voice part for its upcoming third season. It especially invites BIPOC singers and singers of all gender identities to join. The Camerata is a small select choir specializing in both Renaissance-era and Renaissance-inspired music, and this fall, it will be preparing a program titled "Treasure Hidden Within" to be presented on Sunday, Dec. 10. The concert will include four pieces that use pre-existing tunes hidden carefully within their overall musical...
The Actors Theatre Playhouse (ATP) presents Nia Vardalos's adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's popular memoir Tiny Beautiful Things on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, Aug. 17 through Sept. 2, at 7:30 p.m. Described as "a celebration of the simple beauty of being human," this play is based on Strayed's (Wild) journey as the beloved anonymous advice columnist "Dear Sugar." Over the years, thousands of people turned to Sugar for words of wisdom, compassion, and hope. At first unsure of herself, Sugar finds...
The Brattleboro Literary Festival organizers invite everyone to join them in downtown Brattleboro for the 22nd annual Brattleboro Literary Festival, set for Friday through Sunday, Oct. 13 through 15. All events are free. "The festival this year is the story of us - about who we are, how we are surviving, and what issues are we facing as humans with a focus on people who are marginalized," organizers wrote in a news release. "Life is overwhelming and we find comfort...
Named "Best Folk/Soul Artist" at the 2022 Richmond International Film & Music Festival, Stone & Snow is an Americana pairing of songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Karen Bridges and Clint Thomson. "Their collaboration is filled with close harmonies and thoughtful lyrics, with a name that nods to mountain landscapes of the West," notes the artists' (1)website. Their latest album, Delicate and Wild, released this year, was recorded with (2)producer David Mayfield. Stone & Snow are on tour and, through a late-breaking unexpected...
Epsilon Spires, in collaboration with Vidhi Salla of "Vidhi's Bollywood Jukebox," will host a special screening of Last Film Show (2021), also known as Chhello Show on Friday, August 18, at 7:30 p.m. In this film, a nine-year-old boy, Samay, lives in a remote village in western India and harbors dreams of becoming a filmmaker after watching his first Bollywood film. Last Film Show was India's official entry to the 95th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.
A family-friendly community dance featuring traditional New England dances (squares, contras, circles, waltzes, and polkas) will be held at the new Guilford Community Park Pavilion, 24 Church Drive (behind the Country Store, next to Guilford Community Church) on Sunday, Aug. 20, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. All dances will be taught; no partner needed. All are welcome and admission is by suggested donation of $10 per person with a family limit of $20 (but no one will be turned away).
This planet is getting crowded, and it's getting hot. There is no free lunch; there is no free ride. The prices are going to keep rising. The rules are going to keep changing. It is not a good time to hide your head in the sand. Every freedom has a cost. Each of us will end up paying something for everyone else's freedom. Your personal pursuit of happiness had better not mess things up for everyone else. Sharing is not...
Gee. Who would have thought? A better headline for Joyce Marcel's thorough and revealing story on homelessness might have pointed to the actual conclusion of the studies of researchers Colburn and Aldern: Homelessness is one of the consequences of institutional racism. "Systemic discrimination across multiple systems, education, housing, criminal justice, etc. produce these disproportionate outcomes [...]," as Colburn said in the state treasurer's forum. In all aspects of our society, people of color fare worse than whites. Discrimination in hiring...
At a meet-and-greet town hall hosted by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders at the Senior Center in Brattleboro on Aug. 10, Action Corps Vermont presented him with a petition signed by almost 900 people across the country, including many Vermonters, asking for his leadership in the Senate - now - to end endless wars, starting with the U.S.-backed Saudi war and blockade on Yemen. Bernie met the December setback in his efforts to force a vote on his Yemen War Powers...
Something has gone terribly wrong. In a world of increasing uncertainty, climate chaos, and political polarization, we're shutting out the voices of the most vulnerable citizens of Brattleboro. Instead of listening to them, we are amplifying the voices of those who already enjoy the most resources, power, and privilege. I attended the Brattleboro Community Safety Fair on Aug. 8 in a spirit of curiosity as well as anxiety. The event, co-sponsored by the town of Brattleboro, the Brattleboro Area Chamber...
New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) just keeps growing, it seems, stretching its sinews to embrace an expanding universe of dramatic and kinesthetic arts. This Sunday, Aug. 20, NECCA hosts North Star Puppets to present Hot Jam Puppet Slam Festival, an event of puppetry, music, theater, crafts, and food. From 4 to 7 p.m. under the circus tent, a family-friendly festival will feature an all-ages puppet show, silkscreening, live music, and a craft workshop. Festivalgoers will hear singer-songwriters Stephen...
As unhoused people - some nursing children, some nursing pets - camp in tents during this rainy summer, they are deluged by more than water. There is a sense of hopelessness, because even with the best of intentions - and with the Vermont Treasurer's Office making $85 million available for investment in housing, climate, and social equity initiatives - construction can not happen soon enough. And as the state wrestles with homelessness within its borders, the number of the unhoused...
I am not going to comment on this commentary by Robert Fritz, as it simply plays the same old tune that has been kicked around for a long time. But it made me think. If people watch the man we now call president and believe he has any kind of grip on reality, then we are fooling ourselves or we are blinded by our hate for the former president. There are better, younger, and more qualified folks out there who...
Robert Fritz delivered the basic democratic line that the 2020 elections was the freest and fairest election to date, and without a doubt Joe Biden was fairly elected. As someone with an interest in the discipline of philosophy, and who has respect for the principles of epistemology (the study of how we know), I find this claim quite amusing. It has always been my position and remains so to this day that neither the Trump cult, who insist that the...
The village of South Newfane on the Dover Road, 7 miles west of Route 30 and 8 miles east of Route 100, might seem an unlikely spot for a cosmopolitan art event. But look again. This village, population around 380, is replete with artists - fine, graphic, literary, and performing - and the locus of the annual Rock River Artists' Studio Tour. At Willow Retreat, proprietors Tom Concannon and Ravi Shimpi fit in well, with their offerings and intentions to...
The Brattleboro High School/Brattleboro Union High School Athletic Hall of Fame recently announced its Class of 2023 inductees. The induction banquet will be held on Oct. 28 for new members Beth Juscen (1978), Denny Robinson (1966), Diedrich Stolte (Coach), Don Robinson (1966), Donna Dearborn (1971), Hugh Barber (1968), Jeff Dixon (1999), John Dimick (Coach), Kyle Henry (2003), Pam Packard (1974), Pete Beebe (1956), Phil Natowich (1966), and Scott Nadeau (1983). Here, in alphabetical order, are capsule biographies of the inductees:
"I've never been so proud to be a member of the Maui community. They are leading the searches because we don't have enough emergency service personnel on the island," says Crystal Rollins, 34, a native of Stratton. Rollins moved to Hawaii after graduation from Castleton State College in Vermont and has lived in Maui since 2011. She says she is "most fortunate" that she lives in Kihei, 23 miles to the east of the hardest-hit town, Lahaina. While Rollins is...
I also appreciated the article by Joyce Marcel on housing supply and homelessness. In 2022, for family reasons, I tried to find an apartment in Brattleboro with zero responses to inquiries. Now, I've been there enough to know you are not rude. Inundated? Call this a casual data point on your supply constraints. I can only imagine how hard it is at lower incomes. Another angle on housing is transportation. My sense of Vermont is that, despite the concern to...
On behalf of the board of directors at the Brattleboro Ski Hill, we would like to acknowledge the death of Timothy Barbour of Brattleboro and express our tremendous condolences to his family. This untimely death has shaken our community deeply. Our thoughts are with the family as they mourn the loss of someone they love. With heavy hearts, This Voices Letters from readers was submitted to The Commons.
This piece weaves an elaborate tale of Shakespeare's Othello and draws a comparison to Trump and his insistence he won in 2020. Regardless of how one feels about Trump, let's recall there are others who refused to accept election results. Remember Al Gore vs. George W. Bush, endless court tie-ups, and people saying Bush was not their president? Stacey Abrams never conceded the 2018 Georgia governor's race and filed multiple lawsuits. Hillary Clinton (and many of her supporters) refused to...
This is the definition of a NIMBY ("not in my backyard") debate. It's harmful, and I really wish it would come to an end. But since it's not going to, let's not pretend that it's something other than what it is. This Voices Letters from readers was submitted to The Commons.
Kellie D'Elia-Laskin is a shining example of what true mettle really looks like. The widowed, single mom and entrepreneur was on the cusp of opening her new cannabis shop at 2022 North Main St., when a state of emergency was declared in Vermont as epic flooding engulfed Londonderry on July 10. All D'Elia-Laskin's hard work since she signed a lease on April 20 with Center Merrill for the old service station, where she planned to open Green Mountain Therapeutics, was...