MARLBORO-The Brattleboro Concert Choir performs Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem.
There will be two concerts: Saturday, May 16, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 17, at 4 p.m., at Persons Auditorium on Potash Hill in Marlboro.
“The Concert Choir is deeply committed to a high level of musical beauty, emotional expression, and community connection, and this piece reflects that commitment,” says Music Director Jonathan Harvey.“Brahms’s Requiem is one of the most beloved pieces in the choral repertoire, and for good reason. It deftly and tenderly takes listeners on a journey grappling with the aftermath of death.”
Most pieces called “requiem” honor those who have passed away, but Brahms took a different path as he wrote this work which focuses on the living, those left behind, and how we can move forward with loss.
NEWFANE-The Historical Society of Windham County invites you to a special preview of the Michelman Gallery exhibit at the County History Museum in Newfane Sunday, May 17, from 2 to 4 p.m. The 2026 exhibit includes many newly shown paintings by Windham County artists, including Townshend landscapes by Lucy...
BRATTLEBORO-There has been some conversation recently, public and private, about the costs of organizing public events in Brattleboro. As a member of Brattleboro Area Action, which, along with Indivisible Brattleboro has organized No Kings as well as other demonstrations this past year, I want to give people some facts...
Obituaries • Jeane Anne Martin, 92, of West Brattleboro. Died peacefully May 3, 2026, in the comfort of her home surrounded by her family, following a period of declining health. Jeane was born at home in St. Albans, Maine, Jan. 21, 1934, the daughter of George and Lura (Libby) Crocker. She was raised and educated in St. Albans, graduating from Hartland Academy High School in 1953. She went on to attend Sisters Hospital in Waterville and later Augusta General Hospital,
PUTNEY-Cellist, vocalist, and composer Queralt Giralt Soler presents her trio at Next Stage Arts on Friday, May 15, for an evening of intimate, genre-blending music that bridges classical training, jazz improvisation, and Catalan folk traditions. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. with doors opening at 6:45 p.m. at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill. Based between the U.S. and Catalunya, Giralt Soler has cultivated a musical voice that fuses cello and vocals. Her work draws equally from contemporary composition, Mediterranean...
The Windham World Affairs Council (WWAC) will host a talk by Paul Vincent, “Unwrapping the Marshall Plan,” Friday, May 15, at 7 p.m. at 118 Elliot. Vincent, Professor Emeritus of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College, will examine how the United Sstates supported Europe through the Marshall Plan, a timely topic in light of recent U.S. interventions in Venezuela and Iran. In 1948, the United States launched one of the most ambitious foreign policy programs in history: a...
ATHENS-Vermont Friends of Israel supports the House Ethics Panel’s decision to dismiss the complaints against Reps. Sarah Austin, Matt Birong, Gina Galfetti, Will Greer, and James Gregoire arising from their trip to Israel last summer. The committee was right to do so, and public officials should be allowed to participate in legitimate educational travel without being cast as scandalous. Lawmakers were dragged through the mud for choosing to see Israel firsthand rather than through the distorted lens of an antizionist...
PUTNEY-Twilight Music presents singer-songwriter John Gorka in concert Sunday, May 17, at 7 p.m. at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill. Gorka has performed with his baritone voice, songwriting, and storytelling from his early days at the legendary Godfrey Daniels coffeehouse in Pennsylvania to tours across the U.S. and Europe. Organizers wrote in a news release that “Gorka has built a career grounded in authenticity, craft, and emotional resonance.” With 11 studio albums and collaborations with some of the most...
BRATTLEBORO-The Early Learning Express (ELE) Bookmobile, the local literacy enrichment program run by the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development, was a recent recipient of a national in-kind book award donation grant. The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Rev. Martin Luther...
WEST DUMMERSTON-Lydia’s Friends, the friends-of-the-library organization that supports the Dummerston Community Center & Library, hosts the annual “Geranium Festival, Silent Auction, and Book Sale” Saturday, May 16, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine. Geraniums for the event are donated by Dummerston’s Walker Farm. This year’s silent auction is online, and bidding continues through May 16 at 2 p.m. To bid, click on bit.ly/865-geranium. Auction items will be displayed at the library on May 16 and folks may...
Senior lunch in Newfane NEWFANE — The monthly Newfane senior lunch will be served Thursday, May 14, at noon at Newfane Congregational Church. On the menu is meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, green salad, and cornbread, with sliced apples for an appetizer and brownies for dessert. This meal, sponsored by Senior Solutions, is prepared and served by volunteers from the church and community. There is a suggested donation of $4 for this meal; $5 for takeouts. Call Winnie...
Elayne Clift (elayne-clift.com) has written this column about women, politics, and social issues for two deecades. BRATTLEBORO-A little girl learning to read sits in a chintz chair in her bedroom, The Tale of Peter Rabbit in her hands. She found the story in the local library, thrilled that she can read and follow the tale page by page. That little girl was me. I was excited that I could read, and that story launched my weekly visits to the library.
WEST CHESTERFIELD, N.H.-Actors Theatre Playhouse (ATP) announces its 2026 season, bringing an array of stories to the stage, with 10-minute plays, a 20th-century masterwork, a heartbreaking docudrama, an intimate examination of teaching and parenting, and a variety show from yesteryear. The season begins with the 10 Minute Play Festival, ATP’s annual theatrical potpourri, featuring seven mini-plays organizers say aim “to excite, amuse, and move audiences. Can Death get a break? Will a home care nurse cheer a stubborn patient? Can...
BRATTLEBORO-Arts Council of Windham County (ACWC) announces the grantees for the 2026 Brattleboro Town Arts Fund (TAF) program. Sixteen community-centered creative projects were selected from a competitive pool of proposals in the program’s sixth year. TAF supports the development and presentation of projects that strengthen community connection and contribute to the vibrancy and diversity of Brattleboro’s arts and cultural life. Funded projects engage social and quality-of-life issues, foster collaboration, expand access for underrepresented artists and audiences, and celebrate the unique...
BRATTLEBORO-Under the Maple (Brattleboro House Concerts) presents Joe Jencks Friday, May 15, at 7 p.m. Jencks is a 27-year veteran of the international Folk circuit, an award-winning songwriter, and a vocalist based in northern Illinois. He is known for his performances of “musical beauty, social consciousness, and invitational exploration of complex ideas,” wrote event promoters in a news release. “Jencks delivers engaged musical narratives filled with heart, soul, groove and grit,” said promoters. “Blending well-crafted instrumentals and vivid songwriting, Jencks...
PUTNEY-NXT Gallery at Next Stage Arts presents “Forgotten Not Gone,” an exhibition by Brattleboro-based artist Joey Morgan. It opens this week and runs through Aug. 9, with a reception Sunday, May 24, from 5 to 7 p.m. The gallery invites the public to experience this “deeply personal and visually arresting body of work” and to meet the artist. “Forgotten Not Gone” features a suite of 12 mixed media collage works born from the remnants of “Have You Ever Loved Me?”
Ann Manwaring represented Halifax, Whitingham, and Wilmington in the Vermont House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017. WILMINGTON-Vermont's publicly funded education system is a community-based, statewide system tied together by its financing structure. It includes both public and private schools. For any system to serve those who benefit from it and those who pay for it, three things are required: sound financing, effective governance, and transparent accountability. Prior to Act 60 and Act 68, all three conditions existed in every...
Fric Spruyt comes from a long line of people involved in public health, sustainability, agriculture, and support of local democracy. He has been involved with voter registration, neighborhood organizing, Town Meeting, and is a member of the Brattleboro Energy Committee. BRATTLEBORO-For those of us who engage with our democratic process (and therefore can freely complain), competing concerns are everywhere. We have the luxury of being able to focus our attention on one or two pet peeves. Not so...
PUTNEY-Next Stage Arts Summer Bandwagon Series, an area arts offering that evolved during the pandemic, will return this year with some changes. According to Next Stage Operations and Communications Director Heather Ahrenholz, “we’ve re-imagined this season based on community input and what we’ve observed about how audiences gather and engage.” And so the nine programs in the 2026 series will feature four multi-bill events engaging audiences for full “afternoons and evenings of music, food, and community connection.” Next Stage first...
GUILFORD-It’s the time of year when our dreams of a better tomorrow get poured into our gardens. It all starts with the seeds. “One of the secrets of being a successful gardener is knowing where to source your seeds and buy your plants. Local farmers buy seeds that are proven for our neck of the woods because their livelihood depends on it,” says Jack Manix, owner of Walker Farm in East Dummerston. “Farmers need plants that will produce for their...
-The Brattleboro Bears softball team have a 1-5 record, but they are a better team than their record indicates. Their biggest problem seems to be getting to off a good start in their games. In their last three games, the Bears fell behind early and rallied in the late innings. The result was a close 4-3 loss at Burr & Burton on April 29, a 10-5 loss to Bellows Falls on May 1 after trailing 10-0, and a 7-2 loss...
BRATTLEBORO-Like so many community organizations, Brattleboro Little League is an all-volunteer enterprise and has been that way for all its 74 years. A newly renamed concession stand and operations building at South Main Street Field now recognizes one of those volunteers, David Cyr, who has been involved in nearly every facet in his 42 years of service. The renaming was to have taken place at the field, but heavy rain cancelled a scheduled May 9 doubleheader, forcing the party to...
Carolyn North (carolynnorthbooks.com) is a writer of books that address “the interface between matter and spirit.” PUTNEY-I was sitting around the campfire at Red Clover Farm in Putney with friends late one night years ago, and I stood up, only to lose my balance and stumble backwards, landing hard and catching my hand in the metal spring of a folding chair that snapped shut onto my knuckles. It was the very definition of a freak accident. I knew only excruciating...
PUTNEY-Since 1996, the alums of the Putney grade schools have attended reunions — not only to socialize but primarily to raise money to give to two eighth-grade graduates each year. That is in danger of coming to a close unless a minimum of three new board members join the board overseeing the project. Most of the current board has moved away or retired. The last reunion was held Aug. 31, 2019 and was the ninth reunion held since 1996. Now...
BRATTLEBORO-The AIDS Project of Southern Vermont (APSVT) will hold the 39th annual Ron and Shirley Squires AIDS Walk on Saturday, May 23, from 10 a.m. to noon, starting and finishing at Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St. “HIV is preventable and treatable, yet it still affects people in our communities,” wrote organizers. “Many believe HIV is a crisis of the past, but while science has transformed it, the health crisis is not over.” In southern Vermont, people continue to be...
WEST BRATTLEBORO-Arta L. Boutcher’s exhibit, “Journey in Color—A Retrospective: 2000–2026,” is on view at the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in West Brattleboro now through July 31, with a reception planned for Sunday, May 24, from noon to 2 p.m. Boutcher is an American artist of Romanian origin, who has exhibited in many shows in New York and New Jersey. The vivid colors and designs of her artwork are rooted in Romanian folklore. She now resides in Dummerston. Learn more...
BELLOWS FALLS-Three contested races will appear on the ballot in the annual Bellows Falls Village Corporation election on Tuesday, May 19. Voting takes place at the Masonic Temple on Westminster Street from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. For the one-year seat for village president, political newcomer Wendy M. Levy will face Deborah Wright. The position became open when longtime village president Paul Obuchowski chose to not seek re-election. Three candidates are running for two two-year seats for village trustee: incumbents...
VERNON-A Special Town Meeting will reconsider a decision by voters this year that changed the town treasurer position from elected to appointed. In response to a petition signed by 58 voters, voters will weigh two articles to reconsider the issue and specify that such an appointee to the office “have the professional qualifications to serve as finance director.” Vernon postal customers received a flyer with the meeting warning and a message from the Selectboard urging voters to “come out and...
WILLIAMSVILLE-I recently attended a gathering in Guilford to listen to what Amanda Janoo had to say in regards to her bid to be governor of Vermont. She appeared to be very present throughout the event, listening to what was going on, and the thrust of her presentation did indeed appear to be opening a conversation with the attendees as to what they are proud of in their — our — community. Amanda caught my attention when she said that the...
DUMMERSTON-Windham Hill Records founder and Grammy-winning producer and guitarist Will Ackerman has lived and worked in southern Vermont for many decades. You might find him at Brown & Roberts getting his chainsaw oiled, or you might see him at Echo or at the Marina, two of his favorite local haunts. Ackerman says that’s the main thing that stays with him: the sense of home — which inspired the title of his new LP. The Commons caught up with Ackerman to...
WILMINGTON-The most controversial parts of Vermont's Act 181 don't apply to Windham County's efforts to plan for town-center development, housing, or the development of private land, the Windham Regional planning chief told the Wilmington Selectboard on May 5. Chris Campany, executive director of the Windham Regional Commission, outlined frequently asked questions about the law amid expectations that the Legislature will soon repeal measures that regulate landowners' ability to build more than a certain length of road on their property, and...
WEST BRATTLEBORO-We enthusiastically support Wendy M. Levy’s candidacy for president of the Village Trustees in Bellows Falls. A longtime area resident, Wendy is a graduate of Marlboro College. In addition to having being an entrepreneur, Wendy has served as Town Meeting representative in Brattleboro. As a journalist, she has attended and reported on innumerable board and town meetings for The Commons. This broad experience and the insight, knowledge, and appreciation of local government it offers has led to her candidacy...
