BRATTLEBORO-
Out in the Open celebrates Pride month with a weekend of community-building and liberation. The celebration kicks off on Saturday, June 14, from noon to 3 p.m., with the ninth annual Pride Family Potluck, held at a new location: SUSU commUNITY farm, in collaboration with SUSU and The Root Social Justice Center.
They'll provide tofu and meat franks, buns, condiments, chips, soft drinks, and fruit. Participants are encouraged to bring a dish to share, as well as a picnic blankets and lawn chairs. Kids and elders are welcome.
The revelry continues on Sunday, June 15, with the second annual Rural LGBTQ+ Liberation March. Marchers will meet at noon in the High-Grove Lot in Brattleboro, then weave through downtown and end at the Common for a closing gathering.
BRATTLEBORO-In Life magazine's 2015 special issue commemorating the 50th anniversary of The Grateful Dead, an unexpected yet familiar name appears in the byline on page 81 - Sen. Patrick Leahy. The photo accompanying the article reveals its music-loving author and his family sitting onstage, smiling, as Jerry Garcia and...
BRATTLEBORO-Center for Solace, formerly Brattleboro Area Hospice, invites the community to its annual Remembrance Ceremony on Thursday, June 12, from 5 to 6 p.m., at the Memorial Garden in Living Memorial Park, 61 Guilford St. This event offers a space for family and friends to honor and remember those...
BRATTLEBORO-Windham County Prevention Partnership is excited to announce the upcoming Pride Whistlestop event, set to take place on Saturday, June 14, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Brattleboro train station. This event is part of the broader movement, a national initiative inspired by historic "whistlestop" train tours, reimagined to celebrate LGBTQ+ pride, community empowerment, and the ongoing fight for equality. Organizers say Brattleboro's Pride Whistlestop event invites everyone "to stand together in solidarity and welcome the train coming through...
PUTNEY-Twilight Music and Next Stage Arts Project continue the 22nd Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of bluegrass, Americana, world, swing, and pop music summer concerts on Sunday, June 15, with The Emily Margaret Band. The concert begins at 6 p.m. in downtown Putney on the Putney Tavern lawn - attendants may bring lawn chairs or blankets - or at Next Stage at 15 Kimball Hill in case of rain. The Emily Margaret Band creates an R&B groove coupled with...
BRATTLEBORO-The Windham County Branch of NAACP will host a Juneteenth celebration on the Common on Thursday, June 19, from 5 to 7 p.m. This will be an outdoor family-friendly event with entertainment, the history of Juneteenth, and an overview of the community work of the NAACP. "Let's honor the true stories of slavery and freedom," organizers wrote in a news release. "Black history matters." Samirah Evans will perform music that harkens to the spirit of Juneteenth. She'll be accompanied by...
BRATTLEBORO-Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children's Theater presents an interactive and family-friendly production of "Anansi, the Trickster Spider: A West African Folktale" on Sunday, June 15, at 11:30 a.m., at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC). The performance is presented in connection with Carl E. Hazlewood's exhibition "Infinite Passage." Children 6 and up are invited to participate in a pre-performance mask-making and drama workshop at the museum and to be part of the show. Advance registration is required for the workshop,
BRATTLEBORO-On Saturday, June 14, at 3 p.m., ByWay Books & More, 399 Canal St., hosts Walter H. Hunt, the creator of the popular Dark Wing space adventure series. Hunt has worked for nearly 20 years as a software engineer and technical writer in high tech. His writing "reflects an abiding interest in history, but science fiction has been his favorite reading material since he watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon," according to his author page on the Simon &
Twenty-seven Southern Vermont Emerging Leaders were recognized on May 20 during the eighth annual Southern Vermont Economy Summit. The winning leaders from Windham County are Hailee Galandak-Cochran of Bellows Falls; Negina Azimi, Francesca Bourgault, Kayla Brookins, Caz Clark, Ana Mejia, and Maureen Velsor of Brattleboro; George Sprague of Guilford; Nathaniel Scull of Putney; Stacey Reeve of Westminster; and Julie Koehler, Samantha Kondracki, and Luis Lascari of Wilmington. This annual recognition event, conducted by the Southern Vermont Young Professionals and the...
BRATTLEBORO-In Stile Moderno presents "A Garland of Roses: Love Songs from 17th-Century Italy" on Thursday, June 12, at 7 p.m. at the Brattleboro Music Center. This concert will feature baroque guitar, theorbo and archlute, joining forces with voice, cornetto, recorder, and percussion in a celebration of early Italian music. In Stile Moderno welcomes the return of Cameron Welke (theorbo, guitar) and Dan Meyers (recorders, percussion) to build its Baroque rhythm section of percussion and plucked instruments above which voice, cornetto,
On May 29, West River Valley Thrives (Thrives) partnered with Boy Scouts of America Troop 428 to hold their biannual Sticker Shock event to remind adults and older peers (21 or older) that it is illegal to provide alcohol to minors. This year's participating stores include: The Newfane Store, Harmonyville Store, Riverbend Farm Market, West River Provisions, West Wardsboro Store, and the Wardsboro Country Store. According to the 2023 Vermont State Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 66% of high school students...
BELLOWS FALLS-Lieutenant General Todd Semonite (retired) has been named the grand marshal for the 2025 Bellows Falls Alumni Parade, scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 15. A proud member of the Class of 1975, his graduating class was the first to attend Bellows Falls Union High School for all four years and remains one of the most active float-building classes in alumni history, according to organizers. A Bellows Falls native, Semonite was deeply involved in school activities, sports teams,
DUMMERSTON-Scott Farm and Center for Solace, formerly Brattleboro Area Hospice, are partnering for a Crêpe Night on Wednesday, June 18. Crêpe Nights are family-friendly monthly gatherings, held the first and third Wednesdays of each month at Scott Farm, 707 Kipling Rd., from May through August. These events celebrate the harvest, good, simple food, and community in a picnic-style setting. Local musicians provide accompaniment. Outdoor and indoor tables and chairs are provided, as well as a sprawling grassy hillside for picnic...
Manitou healing walks begin June 13 WILLIAMSVILLE - The Manitou Project will hold its first Healing Walk of the season on Friday, June 13, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Meet at the parking lot at 4 p.m. The walk will be led by Fred Taylor and will include poems or other readings and chances to share about the experience. Rain or shine. Healing walks will be held the second and fourth Friday of each month until October on its 235-acre...
NEWFANE-Come see Newfane Anew's next Music at Union Hall concert on Saturday, June 14, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on the town common. In case of rain, the show will be at Union Hall. This month's performers are the Demolition String Band, The Cucumbers, and Bard Owl. Band duos Elena Skye and Boo Reiners, Jon Fried and Deena Shoshkes, T. Breeze Verdant and Annie Landenberger - all seasoned performers and creators - are coming together to swap songs, styles, and...
College news • Patrick Donnelly of Brattleboro recently graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences in creative studies and an advanced certificate in creative writing. • The following local students were honored for academic excellence during the spring 2025 semester: Kaley Mola, a psychology major from West Dover, was named to the Trustees' List. Mola, as well as Jayden Crawford of Wilmington and Nicholas Petronic of Townshend, were named to...
BELLOWS FALLS-The Great Falls Regional Chamber of Commerce is calling on residents, business owners, and community partners to help shape its direction through a brief community survey. The Chamber is seeking feedback from individuals and organizations across its service area - including Alstead, Charlestown, and Walpole, New Hampshire; and Athens, Bellows Falls, Grafton, Putney, Rockingham, Saxtons River, and Westminster - to identify which services, events, and initiatives matter most to the people who live and work there. "Our goal is...
WESTMINSTER-Wojcicki, a group featuring longtime members of the independent music scene of Brattleboro and western Massachusetts, has just released a third album, Wetmarket Scratch. To celebrate the six-song EP, the local three-piece band is playing an album-release party on Thursday, June 19, at the Stone Church in Brattleboro. The band is comprised of songwriter and bandleader Matt Sharff on vocals, guitar, bass, and keyboards; Bethanie Yeakle on lap steel, guitar, and vocals; Re Sheppard, who recently joined Wojcicki, on bass;
BRATTLEBORO-I try to temper my outrage at the Trump regime for my own well-being. But then the latest filters through. The latest travel ban aimed at Haiti and several African and Islamic majority countries smacks of overt racism. The obliteration of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) is a celebration of straight-white-male (fake) Christian supremacy. The Gestapo. Secret police of ICE rounding up our sisters and brothers is sickening. The rewriting of history to exclude the Harvey Milks, Cesar Chavezes, and...
PUTNEY-Richard Evers, in his irate letter, doesn't understand why Jews in America feel unsafe. Well, a young Jewish couple was recently murdered in public in Washington by someone who felt that these two should die because of what Israel is doing in Gaza. The irony is that these particular people (as well as a large number of those killed on Oct. 7, 2023) were trying to find ways that Palestinians and Israelis might live together in peace. Many, many Jews,
BRATTLEBORO-On Saturday, June 14, at 7:30 p.m., the Vermont Jazz Center (VJC) presents The Convergence Project at the VJC's second-floor home at 72 Cotton Mill Hill. This year's iteration of the group, first created in 2009, features VJC Director Eugene Uman (piano and all compositions), Anabel Gil Díaz (flute), Michael Zsoldos (saxophone), Mimi Jones (bass), Samuel Torres (percussion), and Brian Shankar Adler (drums). French horn legend John Clark will also appear on a handful of compositions. "Together," says a VJC...
Mike Mrowicki has served since 2007 in the Vermont House of Representatives, where he represents Putney and Dummerston in the Windham-4 district. PUTNEY-Seeing pictures of armed men in black masks used to bring terrorists to mind. Or bank robbers. Or rapists hiding in the bushes waiting for their next victim. Now, in Donald Trump's regime, the armed men in masks are doing the president's bidding: snatching people off of our streets. And who are these people being taken? I see...
On Saturday, June 14, local organizers, activists, partners, and leaders from across pro-democracy and pro-worker movements will come together for more than 25 "No Kings: A Nationwide Day of Defiance" events across Vermont. It's part of more than 500 events nationwide on Flag Day, which also coincide with President Trump's birthday and a planned military parade in Washington, D.C., to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army. The largest event in the state will be a...
BRATTLEBORO-The Legislature usually retires for the year in early May. Yet it is early June, it has not adjourned, and the legislators are at home. What is going on? The roadblock is the education bill, and that is why the Legislature is taking a two-week break before returning to Montpelier. On June 7, four of Brattleboro's legislators - Rep. Emilie Kornheiser of District 7, Rep. Mollie Burke of District 8, Rep. Ian Goodnow of District 9, and Sen. Nadir Hashim,
Tim Maciel is a director on the Windham Southeast School District board and a member of the Rural School and Community Alliance. He emphasizes that "the opinions made here are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of the [WSESD] board." BRATTLEBORO-The narrative that began with Gov. Phil Scott's education transformation bill, H.454, continues to echo across Vermont, from legislative halls to local school board meetings: Our education system - with its high per-pupil spending and low student-to-staff ratios...
BRATTLEBORO-The Commons has recently published a number of commentaries and letters to the editor regarding the sad situation for Palestinians in Gaza. The general tenor of these articles is that Israel and the Israeli Defense Forces are responsible for death and starvation in Gaza and as an apartheid state in the Middle East. This is an outright lie and misconception of historical facts! It comes on the heels of the brutal murder of a beautiful couple, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah...
-Last week was a busy one for Vermont's high school athletes as they cris-crossed the state for the opening rounds of the playoffs. There's a lot to cover, so let's get to it. Baseball • Bellows Falls earned the No. 3 seed in Division III and hosted the No. 14 Windsor Yellowjackets in a first-round game on June 3 at Hadley Field, and advanced with a 6-1 victory. Steve Joslyn was the winning pitcher. That set up an epic quarterfinal...
BRATTLEBORO-The MicroMoo bus service is being discontinued by Southeast Vermont Transit (SEVT), which runs the Holstein-decorated MOOver buses, leaving many people unable to get to and from work during hours when regular buses do not operate. The MicroMoo bus, launched as a pilot project in April 2024, was running weekdays from 5 to 11 p.m. as an on-demand service as opposed to a fixed route, so that riders could go directly from one point to another within the town. Its...
Dan DeWalt, a frequent contributor to these pages and one of the founders of this newspaper, writes that if he didn't love his country, he "wouldn't spend so much time trying to get it to live up to its purported principles." NEWFANE-Although tariffs have crowded out the Gaza genocide in Western media, the continuation of Israel's destruction of Gaza proceeds at a horrifying pace. Sensing that they are close to realizing their dream of erasing Palestinians and establishing their apartheid...
Taryn Heon is a clinical social worker, social justice/peer advocate, and writer. GUILFORD-As a graduate student in clinical social work, my training included analysis of social welfare policies, writing policy briefs, thinking about issues on a range of levels from national policy to community organizing to my own clinical training. But we weren't given diplomas just to do therapy. We were change agents, in a field that is ambiguous, ever-changing, and - as of right now - in peril. In...
ATHENS-It is fair to say that Richard Evers' rhetorical attack on "a group of local Jews who call themselves the Shalom Alliance" - whose plea for civility somehow offended him - did not age well. Less than one day after tarring these Jews as "self-involved" fearmongers focused on their own "chose-ness," one of Mr. Evers' comrades in the "Free Palestine" movement used the same rhetoric as he, and a firearm, went to murder two innocent Jews on the streets of...
BENNINGTON, VERMONT / ZIKHRON YAAKOV, ISRAEL-The Shalom Alliance is working to advance the cause of peace and justice and combat the very intolerance that Richard Evers displays. Evers' letter is filled with absurdly spiteful suppositions and mendaciously venomous rhetoric from start to finish. The fact that he is a Jewish atheist, as he proudly proclaims, has no bearing on his purported subject. Many other Jewish atheists, some of them citizens of Israel, support its right to exist free of terrorist...
Details about the event appear in a news story this issue. BRATTLEBORO-On June 14, Flag Day, Brattleboro and our surrounding communities will come together to make the collective statement: Let freedom fly! Our community has been amazing in the months since we have understood the threat to our lives from the Trump regime - threats to our natural environment, and to the moving target of those who are in the crosshairs of the current government. All communities are unique, but...
Kris Pavek, a 71-year-old retired midwife and photographer, has often stayed in Brattleboro in summer months, in the van she calls her home, since 2021. This post originally appeared on her Substack site, where it was "written in the dark, in bed, at a Love's Truck Stop in Nevada." NEVADA-When the weather changes, I have to move. I travel south in the winter, north in the summer. I have favorite towns that welcome me back. It might be because they...