While there was no Community Thanksgiving Dinner in Brattleboro this year, the Brattleboro Food Co-op filled the gap with something new: distributing hundreds of free meals within the span of just a few hours.
According to a news release, the Co-op implemented the event "after months of discussing ways to get more food to people in the community who need it most."
The majority of the meals - more than 1,000 - were delivered to unhoused people staying in motels, and about 200 were handed out at the Co-op.
The day before the holiday, "kitchen staff took over the Co-op's conference room to fill hundreds of microwavable to-go containers with generous helpings of mashed potatoes, green beans and carrots, and turkey breast," according to the Co-op. "The ingredients for the meals were donated by one of the Co-op's vendors. Originally thought to be enough food for 800 meals, as they were assembled, the team realized they would be able to offer almost double that amount."...
The Lilac Ridge Farmhouse Gallery opened on Saturday, Dec. 16, with a photography show, "Ames Hill By Jill," by Jill Stahl Tyler. It marked a new chapter for the West Brattleboro farm on Ames Hill Road. Lilac Ridge co-owner Amanda Ellis-Thurber said in a news release it was something...
As usual, The Commons will not publish an edition for the last week of the year. The next issue of the newspaper will appear Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Deadline for news and advertising is Friday, Dec. 29. All of us at Vermont Independent Media wish our readers warm holiday...
Becky Tracy and Keith Murphy, Stefan Amidon and Zara Bode, and Peter and Mary Alice Amidon present their 22nd Brattleboro New Year's Eve concerts on Sunday, Dec. 31, at the Brattleboro Music Center. Two performances - at 5 and 7:30 p.m. - are scheduled for this annual holiday "Smorgasbord of Traditional Song & Dance Tunes," with an evening of New England, Appalachian, Irish and French-Canadian dance music, fiddling from around the world, and a feast of singing. Tickets are $20...
Canal Street Art Gallery, 23 Canal St., presents a pair of solo shows: "Water Way" by MC Noyes, premiering the artist's newest series of ink wash paintings, and Judi Forman, showing the artist's newest work creating one-of-a-kind jewelry. Both shows are on view through Feb. 10. Michael C. Noyes, based in Bellows Falls, has long maintained an oil painting practice which has been influenced by the artist's study of ink wash on paper, and of Chinese calligraphy and painting. The...
"Still Life," a series of recent watercolors by Alice Freeman, is now on exhibit at the Putney Public Library through March 2. "For me painting is all about color and the joy it produces: in the doing of it and in the looking at it," Freeman said in a news release. "Watercolor is my preferred medium because of its unexpected quality and the knowledge that I never have complete control over it. Much of the magic happens on the paper...
Obituaries • Isabelle Gander, 94, of Brattleboro. Died peacefully in her sleep on Dec. 10, 2023 at Vernon Homes. Born Mary Isabelle Salamone in Westfield, New York, on July 6, 1929, she was salutatorian of her high school and throughout her long life carried an abiding belief in the power of education. One of the first members of her family to graduate from college, Isabelle received her B.A. from Skidmore College in 1951. She went on to receive her M.S.
Windham County Prevention Partnership (WCPP) is encouraging the community to go substance-free in January 2024. "Substances can be anything we use out of habit to comfort ourselves in times of stress, uncertainty, loneliness, or boredom," said organizers in a press release. "Examples include alcohol, cannabis, sugar, technology or caffeine." They invite others to join them on "a powerful and transforming journey in the new year, prioritizing substance over substances for the full month of January," which will "reap great health...
The Baker Street Readers will celebrate New Year's by performing An Evening with Jeeves & Wooster on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 30 and 31, at the Hooker-Dunham Theater and Gallery, 139 Main St. The Readers are most known for reading Sherlock Holmes mysteries but are changing things up with another of England's famed literary duos. Bertie Wooster and his trusty valet Jeeves are the creations of P. G. Wodehouse, who wrote 35 short stories and 11 novels about the pair.
Town Meeting in March 2024 will be my last as Newfane town moderator. The time has come to hand the gavel to someone new. I will not be seeking reelection. Town moderator is an elected position with a one-year term. To be on the ballot, candidates for the position must submit a petition with 15 signatures of Newfane voters to the town clerk no later than 5 p.m. on Jan. 29, 2024. I thank Newfane voters for allowing me the...
This year, Epsilon Spires presents a Christmas event worthy of its reputation. Pop culture, satire, and unusual music fill the bill on Friday, Dec. 22, when the downtown arts organization will screen the comedy-horror hit, Gremlins. Guests are encouraged to wear their best - or worst - ugly holiday sweater to win gift certificates to local businesses and other prizes. Mulled cider, eggnog, and other seasonal treats will be served. Before the movie begins, Synthesizer Santa, a.k.a. Jolly Olde Synth...
Brattleboro native Ian Diamondstone has done a lot of traveling through his work buying certified organic specialty spices in Central America, but he's found a second home. "You know how it is," he says, smiling. "You travel to a country where you […] feel at home, you want to spend more time there, and over time you find yourself returning. Along the way, you make friends and then it feels even more like home." About six years ago, in Chichigalpa,
The Twin Valley boys' basketball team swept last week's Green Mountain Holiday Tournament in Chester to take the trophy as champions. In the opening round on Dec. 12, Bellows Falls rolled to a 70-38 win over Mount St. Joseph. A 15-0 run in the first quarter set the tone, and despite some improved play by the Mounties in the second quarter, the Terriers had a 29-11 lead at the half. BF scored 24 points in the third quarter to take...
When the Vermont Legislature reconvenes on Jan. 3, state lawmakers, having already served the first year of their two-year terms, will hit the ground running. A lot of legislation from the last session is still waiting to be dealt with. According to Sen. Nader Hashim, D-Windham, "Last session, the House introduced 523 bills and the Senate introduced 157 bills. The cutoff date for new bills was Dec. 1, so we will know how many new bills will be introduced this...
Nancy Braus, until recently an independent bookseller, is a longtime activist who contributes often to these pages. So we now have a House of Representatives with a large majority, in passing a resolution on Dec. 5, willing to back the totally bogus and dangerous statement "anti-Zionism is antisemitism." Reading the list of Democrats who voted in favor, it includes some who are thought of as progressives, such as Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.). Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), who...
David Blistein, a scriptwriter for documentary films and an author, publishes a Substack newsletter, Fields of Vision, where he is writing "Street Cred," a series of essays that profile the lives and circumstances of his unhoused neighbors in downtown Brattleboro. (Note that he's changed the names he uses here.) Some of these stories were featured in the Voices section on Sept. 20. "This is a big topic, and I welcome comments, corrections, and criticism," he says. I was happy to...
Many will remember the space as the former Brattleboro School of Dance. Along the three flights of stairs at 22 High St. is the familiar dark gray, worn a bit more, but with cool signage - made from wood, of course - pointing to HatchSpace. Consisting of five shop spaces in 8,000 square feet, the nonprofit states its mission is "to celebrate and advance the learning, practice, and cultural varieties of woodworking. We provide anyone with access to the tools...
I don't care that Dan DeWalt founded this "newspaper"; I'm sick of hearing from him. And I'm also sick of Nancy Braus, "who contributes often to these pages." (Too often!) These people hate Israel, and they hate America. Then you print two full pages of "poetry" regarding the Israel-Hamas war. Actual poets must be rolling their eyes. Elayne Clift is the worst columnist ever. All she does is bash Republicans every chance she gets. She calls Trump "morbidly obese." Isn't...
Beverly Jelley woke Monday to fears of yet another surge of stormwater. Twenty-four hours later, the 81-year-old local business owner gave thanks for something else: a torrent of community support. The three-decade operator of Jelley's convenience store on Route 100 - having rebuilt from top to bottom twice, after 2011's Tropical Storm Irene and last summer's record rains - watched Tuesday as dozens of family members and friends put back nearly $300,000 of equipment they had pulled out the morning...
Buzz Schmidt is stepping down as president of Retreat Farm's board of directors and Lisa Whitney will take that leadership role. "It's a big moment for the farm, for sure," says Schmidt, the organization's founder. "I feel very good about the transition; I think it's the right thing to happen." He says it "makes total sense because we have a really good team in place, and it's really important that they have the latitude to do what they have to...
The Vermont Principals' Association has announced that Brattleboro Union High School senior Eva Gould is one of two students in the state named a 2024 United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) delegate. Annually, two students from each state are selected for a $10,000 cash scholarship and an all-expenses-paid, week-long trip to Washington D.C. This year's selected student delegates to represent Vermont are Gould and Chris Alfano, a senior at Burr & Burton Academy in Manchester. A Vermont Principals' Association press...
Samia Abbass is a Palestinian American who lives in Brattleboro. She invites you to find out more about Palestinian food and culture, including the keffiyeh, at a tabling event at the Brattleboro Food Co-op later in December, on a date to be determined. As a Palestinian American, some of my earliest memories involve the black-and-white Palestinian scarves called keffiyehs. My sister and I were photographed in them as babies. They covered our strollers in rallies and protests before we could...
Vermont officials began assessing damage Tuesday after several inches of rain fell on many parts of the state the day before, flooding towns, closing roads and prompting several rescues. Following July's devastating floods, the rain caused widespread anxiety as state and local officials watched rivers jump their banks, in some cases flooding businesses and basements. By Tuesday afternoon, most waterways had receded, though many remained swollen. "Some rivers are still at flood stage and most have extremely strong currents," Public...
School board members have decided to temporarily shutter Windham Elementary School after administrators struggled to fill staffing positions at the tiny school. The three-person Windham School Board voted on Dec. 14 to close the 15-student school and send kids to Townshend Elementary, roughly 10 miles away. Students will continue to attend Windham Elementary through this week and will begin at Townshend in the new year. "This is a short-term emergency measure," said Windham Central Supervisory Union Superintendent Bob Thibault at...
As noted in this article, extra benefits for food stamps were given during the Covid years, but those benefits are no longer available. The average food stamps per senior is only about $180 a month. The fact is, benefits are exhausted within three weeks depending on if a family is cooking a big meal for the holidays. In Massachusetts, the Healthy Incentives Program offered limited produce to Food Stamps recipients due to the floods this year. Although farmstands do provide...
I'm writing to express my frustration with President Biden and, in particular, his Israel policy, which seems to be "Israel, no matter what." While I agree that Hamas needs to be ousted as ruler of Gaza, that is something that can only be accomplished politically. It's been many years since Palestinians had the opportunity to vote Hamas out. In fact, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was supporting Hamas. It has been written and stated by those who've been reporting from Gaza...
Owen B. McLaughlin has lived in Vermont for 17 years. He is a preschool teacher, an avid cyclist and camper, and he loves to whittle wooden spoons to give at Christmas. I love the holidays and always have. My mother and I typically took the lead to deck the halls, create artistic presents for others, and most notably, decorate the Christmas tree together. Don't get me wrong in thinking that my dad and two older brothers weren't in the holiday...
Rain hit hard and early on Dec. 18 in Windham County for a soggy start to the week before the Christmas holiday, at a time when things had barely been cleaned up from the big July flood in some towns. The National Weather Service reported county rainfall between 2.44 inches (in Rockingham), and 5 inches (in Guilford). Had the rain come in the form of snow, the accumulation would have totaled between 2 and 4 feet. "I know this is...
The Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) and Greater Rockingham Area Services (GRAS) are two of 11 applicants in Vermont to receive Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Recovery Housing Program (RHP) federal funding awards through the Vermont Community Development Program. Governor Phil Scott and the Department of Housing and Community Development announced the recipients of a total of $4,591,000 on Dec. 14. In Brattleboro, WWHT is the sub-grantee that will receive a $440,000 CDBG supplemental award to administer the...