Gordon Clark and his Vermont Comedy All-Stars return for a night of stand-up comedy at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill Rd., on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 7:30 p.m.
Featured performers will include several contest-winning and touring comedians most often seen in the Burlington area.
• Jessie Baade is a Catskill native who moved to Vermont by way of New York City and Boston. She has appeared in the New York International Fringe Festival and as a comic-in-residence at Boston's Comedy Studio. Among the several festivals she's been in are the Boston Comedy Festival competition and the Women In Comedy Festival. (1)Baade was named as a nominee for the 2019 Audio Verse Award.
She's appeared in Chris Fleming's web series and live shows Gayle as cast super-weirdo, Linda. She's also performed as MC Mama Bang Bang (and occasionally some other people) for Boston's Rogue Burlesque, where she wrote scripted variety, and in independent movies including The Invention Of Lying, The A Plate, and The Polka King....
A Brattleboro Rotary Club Gateway Foundation scholarship awarded to a Community College of Vermont (CCV) student each year aims to address the shortage of child-care workers in Windham County. Rheanna Pare received this year's $2,500 Jesse M. Corum IV Scholarship. In a news release, CCV promoters say it is...
On Saturday, Sept. 30, beginning at 10 a.m., Brattleboro will host the 15th annual Brattleboro Buddy Walk at the town common. The Buddy Walk was established by National Down Syndrome Society (ndss.org) in 1995 to promote acceptance and inclusion for people with Down syndrome and to celebrate Down syndrome...
Vermont Emergency Eats (VEE) continues to distribute meals to flood-impacted Vermonters through September and October in areas of the state where the need continues. Since early August, VEE has been engaging local restaurants in providing prepared meals. Thanks to an extension authorized by the state, the program, which was originally set for 30 days, will continue for up to 90 days. Based on the COVID-era VEE program, this new short-term emergency program is the result of a joint effort between...
The Rock River Players present their production of the classic screwball comedy Harvey, taking the stage at Williamsville Hall this fall. Audiences can witness this timeless story unfold with performances over two weekends, from Sept. 29 through Oct. 8. A Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy by Mary Chase, Harvey tells the story of Elwood P. Dowd and his unlikely companion, an invisible six-foot-tall rabbit. As Elwood's family tries to commit him to a sanitarium, the tale unfolds with delightful humor and heart,
The town is in the process of striping bike lanes onto Western Avenue between its intersections with High Street and Allerton Avenue. The project is expected to be completed this fall. Drivers should pay attention to the lane shifts and are reminded that no parking is allowed in bicycle lanes, Department of Public Works personnel wrote in a news release. The department is marking bike lanes, installing signage, and adding new crosswalks on Western Avenue at Greenhill Parkway and on...
Youth Services is offering a restorative practices program, Circle Up, to provide community conflict support through circle facilitation and training in restorative practices, starting this month. In 2021, the Brattleboro Community Justice Center merged with Youth Services' Restorative Justice programs. "Over the years we frequently received requests for these kinds of services, but haven't had enough staff to respond to most of them," Mel Motel, formerly the Brattleboro Community Justice Center Executive Director and now co-director of Youth Services' Restorative...
The opening of the 2023–24 school year brought great "moos" for hundreds of Vermont elementary and high school students in the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union: new organic milk dispensers in their cafeterias that will not only introduce them to the benefits and great taste of fresh organic milk, but also help the regional economy by providing milk sourced from a local certified organic dairy farm. Miller Farm in Vernon was able to make equipment upgrades needed to provide bulk organic...
Covid will always be with us, and most of us have learned to live with it. Unfortunately, people continue to die from the disease at a rate of 255 deaths per day in the United States. Hospitalizations for the disease are up 8.7%, and the death rate has increased by 4.5%. The U.S. full vaccination rate is 68%. Mask wearing continues to be rare, but it seems to me that a few more people are starting to mask up again,
The Brattleboro soccer teams played host last week to their lower-division neighbors, Green Mountain and Leland & Gray, for a pair of games under the lights at Natowich Field. The boys rolled to a 5-1 win over GM on Sept. 20 as senior forward Ozzie VanHendrick scored three goals. It was a little tougher for the Brattleboro girls, as the defending Division IV champions put up a good fight in a 4-2 loss to the Bears on Sept. 21. •
Allbee discusses 260 years of Vermont agriculture at Athens Meetinghouse ATHENS - On Thursday, Sept. 28, at 4 p.m., former Vermont State Secretary of Agriculture Roger Albee will be sharing research from his upcoming book Turning the Soil: 260 Years of Vermont Agriculture at the historic Athens Meetinghouse. He will speak about the major changes that have taken place in Vermont agriculture since the 1760s, why they have occurred, what is happening today, and why there is a renaissance. The...
Montreal-based acrobatic circus duet Agathe & Adrien is set to wow Brattleboro audiences with their show N.Ormes on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 7:30 pm. Brought to New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) through a grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts, this acrobatic duo will share their show that found acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and the MICC circus festival in Montreal. "It has become more and more important to us at NECCA that...
Obituaries • Scott C. Bovat, 53, of Brookline. Died on Sept. 7, 2023. He was born on Dec. 27, 1969 in Saratoga Springs, New York. Everything he did, and was, made a huge impact on the lives he touched. From his warm smile to his big bear hugs, he had a way of making people feel important and loved. He was impressive. Scott and Sam (Samantha) were high school sweethearts, together for 36 years and married for 31. Their love...
Surprising word histories, regional dialects, ancient linguistic roots, and modern slang are explored with Martha Barnette, co-host of public radio's popular A Way with Words in the main reading room of Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. The show about words and how we use them - including word and phrase origins, writing well, books and reading, and that weird thing Grandma used to say - is heard each week by listeners of...
The Brattleboro Music Center's Juno Orchestra presents a program set for 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, at Persons Auditorium in Marlboro. The performance will feature the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as works by his son, Carl Phillipp Emanuel Bach, and by Georges Frideric Handel. As Juno Founder and Music Director Zon Eastes explains, "This concert recalls the wonder of the New England Bach Festival, often presented this same weekend years ago, and created by Brattleboro Music Center...
AARP Foundation has kicked off volunteer recruitment for its Tax-Aide program, the nation's largest volunteer-based tax preparation service, according to a news release. Volunteers may sign up to assist taxpayers either in person or virtually, with a number of roles available. In addition to tax preparers the program will train, Tax-Aide needs people who can provide technical and communications assistance, interpreters, and program leaders. Volunteers come from a variety of industries and range from retirees to university students. All levels...
The statewide Vermont Crafts Council's Fall Open Studio Weekend on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 will include four artist studios and two galleries in the Brattleboro area, as well as others in southern Vermont. Participating sites will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, and visitors will have the chance to see demonstrations, purchase handcrafted items, talk to the professional artisans who made them, and see the environment where they create their work. The...
Representative Town Meeting approved a motion in 2023, calling on the Selectboard to allocate American Rescue Plan Act funds only after engaging with the public as to its preferences for use of those funds. In Selectboard meetings before and after, members of the public asked - really, begged - the board not to obligate ARPA funds until the public had been given a meaningful chance to register its priorities, and we were given assurances that such a public process would...
"Here We Are: Brattleboro's Community Talk Show" recently celebrated the airing of its 200th episode on Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV). Host Wendy O'Connell started her show in August 2017 with the aim of connecting the community through the simple act of conversation. The 200th episode features poet and songwriter Wyn Cooper, who has co-created award-winning songs for TV series and individual artists, including(1) lyrics for Sheryl Crow's hit "All I Wanna Do." The episode is currently airing on Comcast Channel...
What makes politicians publicly embrace a lie when the truth is staring them in the face? "There is an apartheid state here. In a territory where two people are judged under two legal systems, that is an apartheid state." A simple statement of fact - in this case made recently by Tamir Pardo, a former head of Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, referring to Israel's current system of treatment of Palestinians. Pardo is not the only Israeli official to say so.
Sam's Outdoor Outfitters has long advertised itself as "The Biggest Little Store in the World." But such hype will likely morph into history when the nearly century-old family-owned business leaves its 30,000-square-foot Main Street location at the end of its lease next spring. "With a lot of thought, and with huge regret, we have decided that we must close the Brattleboro store," third-generation head Brad Borofsky recently wrote in a letter to employees. Two satellite locations - one in Swanzey,
Rail enthusiasts from around New England rolled into town on the morning of Sept. 23. They soon rolled back out again - this time, riding in one of four rail passenger cars pulled by Green Mountain Railroad's Engine 405, the F. Nelson Blount. This rail fan trip for 150 was part of a daylong excursion chartered by Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts, Inc. The engine traveled from Bellows Falls to Rutland, passing a number of notable sights, including covered bridges, train...
When Jon Potter, director of downtown's Latchis business block, first heard the weather forecast this past July, his brain flooded with flashbacks as historic as the predicted precipitation. Potter knew his predecessors had to postpone the formal opening of the Art Deco landmark's anchor theater 85 years ago during the Great New England Hurricane of September 1938. Years later, they had to shutter the adjacent hotel and storefronts for weeks after Tropical Storm Irene wreaked $500,000 in damage in 2011.
I have a landline and a rotary phone on my kitchen counter, underneath a kitchen cabinet with an orange sticker on the inside of the door - it's from the 1980s. It has the telephone number for Rescue Inc. I yearn to be able to call Rescue for our next medical emergency but, to quote Bob Dylan, "the pump don't work, 'cause the vandals took the handles." The Brattleboro Selectboard's decision to choose the fire-EMS model and to reject Rescue...
Artist Carol Keiser moved to the area in 1970 to attend Antioch Graduate School and liked it so much she never left. On Saturday, Sept. 30, Keiser will realize a longtime dream: the opening of her own art gallery to showcase her four decades of work. "I'm very excited to have the whole body of my work hanging in one place again," she says. "It's thrilling to see it that way." Keiser paints on canvas and tile and works in...
The problem is the drugs - my father, last time I talked to him, was living in a tent in Brattleboro. I live in Maine, where I see encampments in Portland, too. Recently, 140 people were offered shelter and they declined, choosing to live outside. We can't talk about the homelessness problem without discussing the drug problem - and that these drugs that are out there and are so powerful that withdrawals can kill people, or at best be agonizing.
What is an artisan? An artisan is someone who works with their hands to create unique, functional and/or decorative items using traditional techniques. Artisans are masters of their craft and create products, such as clothes, toys, tools, paintings, furnishings, and many more. The Dummerston Historical Society invites you to view an exhibit representing artwork and crafts of 27 Dummerston residents. The exhibit will be open this Sunday, Oct. 1, from 2 to 4 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 8 during the...
The Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) has joined the Welcoming Network, a global network of local governments and nonprofits committed to making communities more welcoming. Led by the nonpartisan nonprofit organization, Welcoming America, the network provides BDCC access to research, technical assistance, webinars, and collaborative programs with other Welcoming Network organizations. "Joining Welcoming America has long been an aspiration for the BDCC," said Alex Beck, BDCC Welcoming Communities manager, in a news release. "The success of our own Welcoming Communities...
Spring of Hope Church of God in Christ opened their new facility on Sept. 1 at the West Village Meeting House, 29 South St. From their Springfield, Massachusetts, location since 1980, Spring of Hope established a new church and began serving the Brattleboro area. After meeting in hotel spaces since 2021, Spring of Hope will offer weekly worship services and other activities at All Souls. "We are very excited about our arrangement with All Souls and access to a wonderful...
On Friday, Sept. 8, many in the area experienced an amazing thunderstorm - possibly one of the most intense lightning strikes that I can ever remember. We have a very old, very large, disabled dog. Luke generally spends 23 hours a day asleep - he takes an occasional mosey to the brook to lie down in the cool water. He has severe arthritis and diabetes, and is almost blind and likely deaf, but he still likes his food, swims, and...
A judge's denial of a motion for a restraining order has likely sealed the fate of yet another independent Vermont pharmacy - but its former owners, who sought the judicial intervention, say they will open a new pharmacy once they regain control of their commercial space. Greater Falls Pharmacy at 78 Atkinson St. will close at the end of the day on Friday, Sept. 29, and the current operators will be filing for bankruptcy. On Sept. 15, Vermont Superior Court...
Giving young people a chance to see the world through a different lens for 30 years, In-Sight Photography Project now hosts its first annual Youth Photo Contest & Fair. On Saturday, Sept. 30, some 31 young artists from Brattleboro and across the region - including Bennington; Greenfield, Massachusetts; and Keene, New Hampshire - will be celebrated at the Latchis Theatre for their 89 submissions to the contest. Every year, In-Sight Executive Director Emily Wagner notes, the organization has benefited from...
This hearing was supposed to be an opportunity for citizens of Brattleboro to have a voice in their choice for emergency medical care. Instead, those attending were blindsided by a panel of town department heads reading prepared speeches in support of the fire-EMS model. For the attendees, it was a classic bait-and-switch by the town. After we were being lectured to by Town Manager John Potter (to behave) from "we want to hear what you have to say" to Sunday,
Now that it has been confirmed that Sam's Outdoor Outfitters on Main Street will be closing in April of 2024, there are so many ways to think about it. We could think about the big retail hole it will leave on Main Street, where it has been losing business for years. We could think about the dedicated Sam's employees, some of whom have worked for the owners, the Borofsky family, for decades, who will be losing their jobs and their...