Thelma Sharlow of Brattleboro, 94, poses on her grandson’s motorcycle.
Featured Story

‘We’re all strong’

Thelma Sharlow reflects on life, loss, and a 94-year journey, much of it in Brattleboro

Thelma Sharlow, who has lived in town for 77 of her 94 years, says that her life "has been complicated."

Her story started in the hills of West Virginia where her father cared for Sharlow and her two sisters, Kitty and Eva Ann, after their mother walked away from the family when Sharlow - then Thelma Colleen Facemire - was 5 years old.

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News

Journeying away to see the world — and our connections

A group of Leland & Gray High School students will spend the spring semester exploring food systems and culture here at home, then travel south to several Gulf Coast states, as well as Vietnam and France, to study how food is grown, produced, distributed, prepared, and consumed. To raise money and help pay the estimated $140,000 needed for the 15 students and three teachers expected to participate, the group prepared and served a Community Dinner in Town Hall on Nov.

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In Putney, a housing crisis flies under the radar

People experiencing homelessness live in a range of conditions. Some live in motels, like the more than 93 Brattleboro households participating in the state's General Assistance Emergency Housing Program. Others, largely uncounted, live in tents in the woods, in friends' barns and sheds, in cars, garages, and campers - all situations that do not meet all the human needs for comfort and security. In Putney, approximately 40 people live outside and in campers, according to Fire Chief Tom Goddard, who...

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Westminster names new town manager

After the position has been vacant for 18 months, the town has hired Louis Bordeaux as its new town manager, effective last week. A resident of Bernardston, Massachusetts, Bordeaux has worked in local government for just over a decade. Prior to that, he had a long career in mid- and upper-level retail management. Bordeaux said that he got into politics at the urging of a friend in 2012, when a three-year seat on the Bernardston Selectboard opened up. He ran...

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Can media help solve society's problems?

The public is invited to attend a Media Mentoring panel discussion on Thursday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. on Zoom about a different approach to media that seeks to uncover and report on how people are trying to solve problems - not just the bad news, but what's working and why - offering communities with information they need to participate in a healthy democracy. Leading this global shift in journalism is MMP guest David Bornstein, CEO and co-founder of the...

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‘Talented, humble, and irreplaceable’

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...

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Alternative school expands campus, program

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...

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Village mural gets some repairs

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...

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The toughest job

The number of people in the United States age 65 and older reached 55.8 million in 2020, or nearly 17% of the population. That is estimated to grow to 73 million by 2030, and by 2050, it is estimated that 27 million people will need long-term care. That figure may be low. At some point in their lives, statistics say that 70% of adults 65 and older will require long-term care, with an average stay of 3.2 years. That could...

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