The Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) presents the Lunar New Year Festival of Vietnam, Korea and China on Sunday, Jan. 30, from 1 -4 p.m., at the River Garden, 157 Main St.
Ushering in the Year of the Rabbit, this annual celebration begins with eating together. It's a potluck, so bring a dish or some refreshments to share, either Asian or non-Asian, whatever you can manage.
There will be a craft and coloring table for younger children, tai chi and kung fu demonstrations, a group calligraphy mural, Chinese exercises, a presentation on Asian medical traditions, a Lunar New Year song, and the always popular is the Korean tug of war. Then, there's the giant Vietnamese Dragon, who forever dances after the heavenly pearl in a community parade along Main Street.
A Rabbit year is promised to be a quiet year after the ferocious tiger year we will be departing. Chinese tradition tells us that the Rabbit Year is a time to catch your breath and calm your nerves. It is also a time for negotiation.
I've covered a lot of different beats in more than 30 years of journalism, but some of the most fun and most rewarding days I've had as a newspaper reporter, photographer and editor have come covering high school sports. I spent most of the 1990s as a sports reporter...
Gov. Peter Shumlin recently declared that he will make it easier for news organizations – and ordinary citizens - to get information from the government. Shumlin outlined a number of improvements in the public records law and made a commitment to set changes in motion that could shift the...
Obituaries Editor's note: The Commons will publish brief biographical information for citizens of Windham County and others, on request, as community news, free of charge. • John Francis DeAngelis, 94, of Forestville, Conn. Died Jan. 17 at his home. Husband of the late Helen (Sadlowski) DeAngelis for 52 years. Father of Philip DeAngelis and daughter-in-law Sandra of Burlington, Conn.; Karen Rouse and son-in-law Andrew of Andover, Mass.; and Christine St. Jean and son-in-law Thomas Heckel of Dedham, Mass. Brother of...
Music • Kris Delmhorst at NEYT: In celebration of the Brattleboro Women's Freedom Center, the new name of the former Brattleboro Women's Crisis Center, a concert featuring singer-songwriter Kris Delmhorst and the Brattleboro Women's Chorus will be presented Friday, Jan. 28, at 6:30 p.m., at the New England Youth Theatre on Flat Street in Brattleboro. Admission to the show is free. Contact the Women's Freedom Center at 802-257-7364 for more information. • Bluebirds play in Saxtons River: After its debut...
I was recently reminded of a story I heard in West Africa. For many years Vermont Partnership resembled Kanté, the son of the blacksmith, tossing stones into the great crevice separating him and the rest of the village from Khadija and her family. After a while, villagers one by one begin to help Kanté accomplish his goal by finding and tossing stones of their own into the great crevice. In many ways, Vermont Partnership was the lone villager tossing stones...
Our community is deeply saddened by the death of Leah Short, and our sympathy and support go out to her family and friends. Suicide can be extremely difficult to understand. Why would someone take his or her own life? We feel sadness, sorrow, grief, guilt, anger, and disbelief - all at once. As the father of a teenager in Leah's class, I worry about my own daughter. What do I really know about her coping skills or how she is...
It was as fitting a contrast as you could get between politics in Vermont, and Washington, D.C. On the same day that the new Republican majority in the U.S. House voted to repeal last year's health care reform bill, Dr. William Hsaio unveiled a proposal that, if adopted, could bring a single-payer health care system to Vermont by 2015. The timing was coincidental, but it was another example of the disconnect between the broken politics in Washington and the possibility...
Voters in the Leland & Gray Union High School District towns of Townshend, Brookline, Jamaica, Newfane, and Brookline will vote by Australian ballot on Wednesday, Feb. 2, to adopt or reject the 2011-12 budget of $6,328,984. The budget had been previously proposed and approved by a majority of members of the union district school board. Polls will be open in town offices in Brookline and Townshend (9 a.m.), and Jamaica and Windham (10 a.m.). Newfane residents will cast their ballots...
Death with dignity? Sounds good to me. But as a matter of health care policy, don't you think that we should get Vermonters on board with advance directives first? We should embark on a legislative dialogue about death with dignity only once we have demonstrated that we have put into place practical and effective options that encourage Vermonters to make informed end-of-life choices. We have not provided the resources or support to do this. And as a result, we are...
Gov. Peter Shumlin ended the suspense last Friday and appointed Selectboard member Matthew Trieber to fill the Windham-4 House seat vacated by longtime former Rep. Michael Obuchowski. After 38 years in the House, Obuchowski stepped down last month to become Vermont's Commissioner of Buildings and General Services. The 30-year-old Trieber, of Bellows Falls, was officially sworn in on Tuesday morning. He joins Rep. Carolyn Partridge, D-Windham, in representing the district towns of Athens, Brookline, Grafton, North Westminster, Rockingham, and Windham.
On Saturday morning at Academy School, 100 Town Meeting representatives met to vote on 33 proposed changes to Brattleboro's Town Charter, the legal document that provides the underpinnings for all town government and its relations with citizens. But after six-and-a-half hours and vigorous debate, the representatives discussed and acted upon only 15 of the questions presented by the Charter Review Commission, and voted to recess until Feb. 5, at 8:30 a.m. Unbeknownst to the people who filed out of the...
I learned orienteering in midtown Manhattan, where the streets run east and west, and the avenues run north and south. Better yet, the streets and avenues are numbered, with the numbers going up to the north and west, and at every intersection, there's a sign, telling you exactly where you are. With the firm grasp of the cardinal points of the compass engraved in my mind from early years, I have great difficulty finding my way around other,
The Brattleboro Music Center's fourth annual Northern Roots Traditional Music Festival will take place on Saturday, Jan. 29. Each year, the festival brings together local and regional musicians representing the best of various northern musical traditions. This year's festival features more than 20 musicians and the rich traditions of Ireland, Scotland, England, Sweden, New England and French Canada. The festival has become a unique opportunity for Brattleboro's vibrant community of traditional musicians to come together to share their music with each...
Beware of the story that begins with “Back in my day.” When I was a child and an elder spoke those words, I felt confused. When exactly was that day? I looked around in search of it and couldn't find it. “Back in my day” often introduced a story with a subtext. “Back in my day, I milked 100 cows, slopped the pigs, and stacked a cord of wood before I walked 10 miles to school in six feet of...
Cost and revenue figures for decommissioning Vermont Yankee are outdated, deficient and incorrect, according to a recently released study by the Legislature's Joint Fiscal Office. The author of the study, Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear expert for Fairewinds Associates, says the Legislature should ask Entergy to hire an independent consultant to recalculate decommissioning costs for the plant before lawmakers discuss the issue this session. Depending on the extent of the contamination of soils at the Vermont Yankee compound, the fund could...
Vermont Department of Health (DOH) officials are considering a recent recommendation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention regarding acceptable dosage levels of fluoride in public drinking water. After it has studied the report and considered the information generated during a 30-day public comment period, the Vermont DOH will make its own recommendations. The EPA now states that the “optimum” fluoride level in public drinking water is 0.7 milligrams per liter (mg/l), down from...
There is no shortage of candidates who want to run for public office in Brattleboro or Rockingham. Monday was the statewide deadline for candidates to turn in their nomination petitions to their town clerks to get on the ballot for Town Meeting Day on March 1. There was a last-minute flurry of candidates turning in paperwork to Brattleboro Town Clerk Annette Cappy. The result is a competitive slate for the Selectboard, with eight candidates on this year's ballot compared to...
The Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF) recently released for public comment its Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the proposed Deerfield Wind Project in the towns of Searsburg and Readsboro. The GMNF is evaluating several alternatives in detail, including the original proposal for a 17-turbine project. Two other action alternatives are also being considered. They include development of a seven-turbine project on the ridge east of Route 8, and development of a 15-turbine project that matches the Vermont Public...
Attendees at the second BEAN (Brattleboro Essential Arts Network) Micro-Grant Dinner at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center on Jan. 23 awarded grants totaling $750 to three local art projects. The winning proposals were submitted by Brattleboro's Neighborhood Schoolhouse, Vermont Theatre Company, and Erica Morse, a teacher at Marlboro Elementary School. According to BMAC Director Danny Lichtenfeld, approximately 75 people paid $10 each to attend dinner at the museum. Over dinner, which was prepared and served by Brattleboro 's Elliot...
Raise your hand if you can name all four of Brattleboro's commercial districts? Not sure? Well, you're not alone. For the record they include Canal Street, West Brattleboro, The North End (a.k.a. Putney Road) and Downtown. And although some of the districts have their own master plans focused on issues of development and economic health, the town has only begun integrating these road maps into the overall Town Plan. As part Plan Brattleboro 2011, the town's effort to write a...