The Windham County Natural Resources Conservation District (NRCD) recently completed final design work on a stormwater gully restoration and erosion mitigation project in Dummerston.
Windham NRCD worked with Fitzgerald Environmental Associates, LLC, the Dummerston Conservation Commission, and the town of Dummerston on this project. The successful implementation of these designs will have recreational and water quality benefits to Windham County communities.
"This is a popular site that receives a tremendous amount of visitation," Windham NRCD District Manager Cory Ross said in a news release. "It will be great to restore safe access to the river while protecting water quality."
The Dummerston covered bridge parking lot and access steps are a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. The access allows boaters and swimmers to enter and exit the river and provides great vantage points of the state's longest covered bridge, frequently featured in tourists' photos.
The Governor Hunt House in Vernon, being developed as a community center for the town, is planning their first-ever Festival of Trees and is seeking businesses to participate by becoming tree sponsors. The event, which takes place Friday to Sunday, Dec. 1–3, will feature dozens of beautifully decorated holiday...
On Saturday, Nov. 25, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., in Assembly Hall at the 24 Main Street Community Center, nonprofit organizations associated with the greater Rockingham area will be gathering to showcase their activities and provide the opportunity to turn individuals' generosity into meaningful holiday gift-giving. The public is...
Bellows Falls Pride has invited Vermont's premiere drag queens to perform in a holiday drag show on Friday, Dec. 8, at the Moose Lodge, 59 Westminster St. Hosted by Emoji Nightmare, "Santa's Belles" will take to the stage for an adult-only evening beginning at 9 p.m. Doors open at 8 p.m. for this 18-and-over show. The festivities will include a celebration of local Gay Games Guadalajara participants Roger Barraby (track) of Windsor and Carl Anhalt (water polo) of Bellows Falls.
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets and the Vermont Fresh Network (VFN) once again encourage those planning holiday dinners to remember that Vermont's local farms are ready to help. Ingredients from the turkey to the stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, pies, and local beverages and spirits can be found at a farm, farmers market, or local grocery. "Buying a Vermont turkey supports our rural communities. We are grateful for our farmers for their commitment to producing fresh food...
Next Stage Arts and Twilight Music present singer-songwriters Kat Wright and Brett Hughes with their quartet performing songs of the season at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill, on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Next Stage Production Director Barry Stockwell said in a news release that Wright is "an incredibly versatile and gifted singer. Kat performs with her eight-piece soul band, her rootsy/funky trio, her folk duo with Brett, and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. We're thrilled to bring her back...
Winter parking ban begins in Brattleboro BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Parking Department would like to advise everyone that the winter parking ban is now in effect until April 15, 2024. Overnight parking is forbidden on all streets in the town of Brattleboro. Vehicles parked for longer than one hour between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. may be ticketed and towed at the owner's expense. The ban applies even if there is no snow on town streets, and vehicles may be...
Sandglass Theater's "A Rafter of Crankies" is back at Green Mountain Orchards on West Hill Road for the third consecutive year. Performances will take place on Friday, Nov. 24, at 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday, Nov. 25, at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Once again, the Crankies event will be part of the Putney Craft Tour on Thanksgiving Weekend. Crankies are panoramic scrolls that are hand-cranked using handles on either side of a box that the scrolls wind through. "The effect...
Obituaries • Stephen Sanford Anderson, 91, of Putney. Died at his home on Nov. 6, 2023. He was a beloved husband, father, uncle, grandfather, teacher, mentor, and friend to many. He was born June 19, 1932 in West Orange, New Jersey to Harold Sanford and Dorothy Josephine (Holland) Anderson, when the world was on the cusp of modern transformation, Steve's life journey was marked by his enduring passion for education and knowledge, his unwavering curiosity about the world and its...
Wardsboro Curtain Call cordially invites everyone to attend their performance as they re-tell the heartwarming story about Virginia, her family and neighbors, the difficulties of an immigrant family struggling to live and work in New York City at the end of the 1800s, and the bountiful joys of the Christmas season. The letter to The Sun newspaper that eight-year-old Virginia wrote at the urging of her father in New York City and the editorial response written by Francis Pharcellus Church...
Learn to make holiday huts and gingerbread houses at Co-op BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Food Co-op offers free classes at its Community Room, 7 Canal St., for creating all kinds of edible homes. It is open to all ages and abilities. Tierra Farms has donated dried fruits and seeds for students to use, and inspiring books and photos will be on hand so students can make yurts, round homes, and gingerbread houses. Everything will be held together with tempered chocolate...
Stephen Procter Studios hosts an open house and holiday sale Friday and Saturday, Nov. 24 and 25, at The Cotton Mill, 76 Cotton Mill Hill. The studio will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Artists Beth Armour and Bruce Campbell will show their sculptural work alongside Procter's ceramic vessels. Procter is best known for his human-scale clay vessels. "The bare clay he favors evokes antiquity and the earthiness of stone," reports a news release. "His signature scale...
The 45th annual Putney Craft Tour features glass blowers, potters, jewelers, woodworkers, painters, and artisan cheese and wine makers in their studios. "Every year, the tour draws arts lovers, shoppers and the curious," Ken Pick, one of the founders of the tour, said in a news release. This year, there are 21 working studios open to visitors on tour, which takes place 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 26. The Putney Craft Tour began in...
The Nature Museum in Grafton announced the latest phase of its wetland restoration project. The Chapman Meadow behind the museum building has been transformed with the construction of a pond, creation of one-of-a-kind natural playscape features, and pathways. This milestone marks a significant breakthrough after three years of brainstorming and planning by the museum's dedicated "meadow-mittee" and staff. "Reviving a wetland and providing space for both self-guided and staff-led education are key goals with this project," Nikolas Katrick, the museum's...
Artists, ice fishing enthusiasts, and builders of all ages and experience levels are invited to enter the 2024 Artful Ice Shanties outdoor exhibition presented by the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) and Retreat Farm. The exhibition will be held Feb. 17–25, with a closing ceremony on(1) Saturday, Feb. 24, at 3 p.m. The exhibition and closing ceremony will take place on the Retreat Meadows ice across the road from Retreat Farm or, in case of unsafe ice, on the...
The Brattleboro Music Center (BMC) Chamber Series welcomes Musicians from Marlboro Group II Saturday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. This program pairs Ralph Vaughan Williams's "Ten Blake Songs" for tenor and oboe with Scottish composer Helen Grime's Oboe Quartet and the expansive majesty of Brahms's Piano Quartet in A major. Performers joining tenor Patrick Bessenbacher will include Itamar Zorman, violin; Haesue Lee, viola; Brannon Cho, cello; Filippo Gorini, piano; and Mary Lynch VanderKolk, oboe. Musicians from Marlboro tours are noted...
Aliya Farmer has been named the 2023-2024 Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen for Bellows Falls Union High School. The DAR Good Citizen Award and Scholarship Contest, created in 1934, are intended to encourage and reward the qualities of good citizenship. Aliya, a senior, is the daughter of Melissa Jenne and David Farmer of Grafton. This award is given based on the following criteria set forth by the DAR national organization: dependability (including truthfulness, loyalty and punctuality), service (including...
In what for many is an exceptionally difficult year, we asked Commons readers on Facebook to share enduring memories of holiday moments that permanently resonate. * * * Robin Rieske: We always got to open one special gift the night before Christmas that my mom would pick out. And she always wrapped our presents in color-coded paper so we would not try to sneak and figure out what we were getting. She would not tell us until the morning of...
Which holiday is scarier: Halloween or Black Friday? If you answered the latter, you may find comfort and fellowship on Friday, Nov. 24, when arts organization Epsilon Spires screens John Carpenter's anti-consumerist cri de coeur, They Live. Described as a science fiction action horror film, They Live stars Roddy Piper (known to WrestleMania fans as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper), Keith David, and Meg Foster. In addition to directing the film, Carpenter (under the pseudonym "Frank Armitage") also wrote the screenplay, based...
At almost 75 years of age, Lester Dunklee is one of those original kinds of Vermonters who are issued so many words at birth. He tries not to let go of too many of them at one time. And yet, once he gets to know you, the stories, historical facts, words, and laughs just flow out of him. Dunklee is retiring and, on Dec. 31, he plans to close R.E. Dunklee and Sons Machine Shop at 72 Flat St., a...
There could be no predicting the consequences of a 13-year-old junior high school student hearing a public address announcement stating that President John F. Kennedy had been shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. I was captivated by the images on television from Friday afternoon, Nov. 22, 1963, through the president's burial on Nov. 25. The haunting cadence of the funeral dirge is still with me now, 60 years later. I began my classroom instruction of the Kennedy assassination during my...
No matter the feast, we love a variety of side dishes, and sometimes they even upstage the main event. But we want things simple as well as tasty, and having a few tricks up our sleeves at this busy time of year will definitely reduce the stress factor. Whenever possible, make those sides the day before, or bring them to an almost-done stage to reheat them quickly and easily. When I'm cooking a turkey, I use the giblets to make...
I grew up in a family of lemon lovers - the more tart, the better. After a heavy holiday meal, a little slice of a zesty lemon tart is a perfect finish. One of my mother's favorite tarts to make was her sister's lemon tart, only Mom always topped her version with meringue, probably because my aunt never did so with hers, and they were a bit competitive in the kitchen. I've simplified my aunt's recipe and reduced the sugar,
As it approaches a quarter century since it was originally painted, the large mural on the Flatiron Building greeting northbound travelers as they enter the Bellows Falls Square is undergoing repairs and stabilization efforts. Based on original design sketches and paintings by local artist Ezra Veitch, the 32-foot-by-40-foot mural, created in 1999, depicts The Square as it would have looked a hundred years earlier. The town's trolley tracks, now long gone, are visible in the painting. Some of the town's...
Community House has added a high school at 80 Linden St. to its Community School House programs and Oak Street campus holdings. With the acquisition and renovation of the historic, newly renovated Deacon John Holbrook House, day students in grades 9-12 in the program now, for the first time, have a dedicated high school building. According to the organization's website, it provides a short-term residential stabilization and assessment program for children 6–12 years of age, an independent and general special-education...
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Editor's note: Due to technological difficulties, the appropriate signature was omitted from the web version of this letter to the editor. It has been corrected to match the print version. The Commons is addressing the issue urgently so that letters written on behalf of organizations are attributed properly on all platforms. —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— As Abram stood upon the heights of Bethel, God said to Him, "Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward...
As Abram stood upon the heights of Bethel, God said to Him, "Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the...