Around the Towns

BRATTLEBORO - If fear or inexperience in public speaking are holding you back, or are holding someone in your organization back, then Toastmasters is the answer.

BrattleMasters, the Brattleboro-based chapter of Toastmasters International, meets Thursday, Jan. 24, from 6-7:30 p.m. at Marlboro College Graduate Center, room 2E, 28 Vernon St.

The club meets the second and fourth Thursday of every month at the same time and location. Guests are welcome and refreshments are provided. There is no pressure to speak, and members are working at their own pace and with assigned mentors to help them meet their speaking and leadership goals.

For more information, visit brattleboro.toastmastersclubs.org.

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Landscape photographer will discuss her craft and U.S. history

Jen Morris, of Brattleboro, will look at works of the masters

Vermont-based photographer Jen Morris presents a talk, “Landscape Photography and the USA,” at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) on Thursday, Jan. 24, at 7:30 p.m. Morris plans to discuss the ways in which landscape photography historically has reflected notions of cultural identity in the United States. An...

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Windham Regional Commission completes study of undeveloped waters in southeastern Vermont

The Windham Regional Commission has finished its analysis of 40 lakes and ponds, with shoreline totaling nearly 100 miles, and more than 1,400 miles of rivers and streams in the southern portion of the Windham region and a small area in the adjacent Bennington County region, and published its...

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A worrying update

Ava C., adopted from Asia and raised in small-town America, knew she looked different from her classmates, but no one ever talked about her origins. Over time, she began to withdraw. Following a psychiatric diagnosis of depression, she thought of herself as “mentally ill.” One day, while in a major city's bustling Chinatown, she realized, “All around me were people who looked like me, doing ordinary things. They apparently didn't feel 'sick.' That's when my depression lifted.” People like Ava...

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Galloping onto a bigger stage

Jessie Haas has written more than 36 books. This year, her hard work paid off in a big way. The Westminster West resident was selected by the American Girl Company to write the story for their biggest product of the year: the Girl of the Year. Each year, American Girl, a subsidiary of toy-maker Mattel, selects an author to write about a character “with a story about finding success in the face of challenges today.” The company then produces a...

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Students sought for 2014 Journey East program

An information session for students interested in participating in the 2014 Journey East Asian Studies Academy and month-long performance tour of China will be held in the music room at Leland & Gray Union High School on Thursday, Jan. 24, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Interested students and their parents are invited and encouraged to attend. A second session, for those unable to attend on the 24th, will be held at the same time and place on Tuesday, Jan. 29.

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From hidden history to tourist draw

For a state that has long held the distinction of being one of the whitest in the nation, Vermont has a surprisingly rich place in African-American history. However, that history is not all that well known. Curtiss Reed Jr., executive director of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, wants to change that. Working with the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, the Vermont African American Heritage Trail will provide a self-guided tour for those interested in this chapter of...

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Building a community arts resource

The Next Stage Arts Project, housed in the former United Church of Putney building, has been organizing arts-based community events since its founding in 2011. Now, thanks to a generous grant from the Boston-based Fresh Sound Foundation, the board has selected Westminster West resident Maria Basescu as its new executive director in charge of operations, promotion, and development. Fresh Sound Foundation is committed to building healthy communities through the arts, education, the environment and sustainable economic development. Two years ago,

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Milestones

Obituaries • Katherine R. (Zeno) Campbell, 93, of Brattleboro. Died Jan. 13 at Applewood Rehabilitation Center in Winchester, N.H. Wife of the late Joseph “Vic” Campbell. Mother of Elwin Blood and his wife, Joyce, of Hinsdale, N.H.; Edwin Blood of Avenel, N.J.; Brenda Howard of Putney; and the late Ronald Blood. Predeceased by 12 siblings. Born in Huntington, Vt., the daughter of the late Charles and Gertrude (Clapper) Zeno, she worked as a school bus driver for the town of...

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A love of Bach and Marlboro

Renana Gutman is thrilled to be returning to Marlboro College for the first two free concerts in this year's “Music for a Sunday Afternoon” series. After having been invited by her former teacher Richard Goode, Gutman spent three summers in Vermont at the Marlboro Music Festivals from 2006-2008, where she collaborated with celebrated pianists Goode and Mitsuko Uchida. “I fell in love with the place,” she says, “and I really felt part of the community.” The upcoming concerts will give...

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Wildcat girls get back into form with wins over BF, Green Mtn.

Both Twin Valley and Bellows Falls have had trouble hitting their shots in their recent games, so when these two teams met in Wilmington on Jan. 14, it was safe to expect that offense would be at a premium. The Wildcats apparently had just enough as they beat the Terriers, 28-22. Abbi Molner scored 13 points for the Wildcats, with most of her points coming in the second quarter. Jordan Niles added a pair of threes in the second half...

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Brattleboro’s downtown, BaBB at a crossroads

In a grueling, nearly-two-hour train wreck, the Selectboard and members of Building a Better Brattleboro's board of directors engaged in a budget discussion that morphed into a referendum on the designated downtown organization's effectiveness and value. In the end, by a 3–2 margin, the Selectboard rejected BaBB's fiscal year 2014 work plan and budget, which presumes that the organization will no longer be supporting the Robert H. Gibson River Garden and which reduces the executive director's hours from 32 hours...

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Energy Committee prepares RFP for solar energy system

At a Jan. 9 Selectboard meeting, Energy Committee coordinator Daniel Hoviss reviewed a request for proposal for a 50-kilowatt solar energy system that would be installed on town-owned land at the highway garage. The RFP was primarily based on one used by Brattleboro recently for a similar project. Hoviss told the board that the Clean Energy Development Fund has run out of funds and no incentives are being offered at this time. This proposed plan relied on those incentives, he...

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Northern Roots Traditional Music Festival celebrates its sixth year

Southern Vermont's daylong Northern Roots Traditional Music Festival takes place Saturday, Jan. 26, principally at New England Youth Theatre. Now in its sixth year, the Brattleboro Music Center's annual festival brings together local and regional musicians representing the best of various northern musical traditions. This year's festival features more than 20 musicians representing the rich musical heritages of England, Ireland, Scotland, French Canada, and New England. Visitors will find a strong Scottish flavor in the fiddle work of Katie McNally,

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An invasive species’ impact grows

Although the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA), an invasive species whose damage to hemlock trees has been well documented in its infestations all over the East Coast, has yet to kill a tree in Vermont, Windham County residents are still worried about what might happen here. The insect was first discovered in Vermont in 2007. According to James Esden, a Forest Protection Forester with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, nearly every town in Windham County has reported an...

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Beautiful, sweet sharing

RE: “This is what it was like” [Viewpoint, Jan. 16]: What a beautiful and sweet sharing. Thank you. I have been working part time for the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont for over three years, have enjoyed every minute of it, and appreciate and have lived these sentiments.

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An investment in the community

As Town Meeting Day approaches, Wilmington voters will cast ballots on economic and community development issues. The Selectboard approved two related agenda items at its Jan. 16 meeting. The first asks voters whether the town should establish an economic and community development reserve fund. The second asks voters whether the town should earmark monies from the local 1 percent option sales tax for the new fund through fiscal year 2014. Voters will decide the tax's use at Town Meeting March...

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Putney holds steady on library budget

The Putney Public Library had some good news for the Selectboard at its Jan. 2 meeting. “We've got a great budget here,” Library Director Steve Coronella told the board. “We're only asking for a 1 percent increase.” Coronella said the library is level-funding its budget. He explained the requested amount from the town came in at $11,039, and that is down $1,011 from last year due to several staffers' family members electing to go with alternative insurance options. Coronella noted...

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After not meeting financial projections, Brattleboro Food Co-op announces layoffs

Alex Gyori, general manager, sits at a table in the Brattleboro Food Co-op's cafeteria, his hands folded, voice clear but quiet. The Co-op has started 2013 with the announcement that it is laying off 11 employees, cutting an estimated 100 hours for other employees, and cutting expenses. Managers also agreed to take a 3 percent pay cut. “We agonized for several weeks how we were going to get expenses to meet revenues,” Gyori said. “The last thing we wanted to...

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Psalms and fireworks

In an unprecedented collaboration, the Windham Orchestra is set to join forces with the choruses of all four Windham County high schools for two extraordinary performances this month. “Psalms & Fireworks” takes performers, singers, and audiences on a far-flung musical journey that begins with Grieg's “Holberg Suite” for strings, Mozart's passionate Susanna's Aria from “The Marriage of Figaro,” and Handel's rousing “Music for the Royal Fireworks.” For many of the student singers, this will be their first time singing with...

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What’s in a name?

My wife's elderly aunt clips newspaper articles about birds and sends them to me, sooner or later. One arrived and opened an interesting subject: How do we refer to numbers of birds? The newspaper clipping began with: “Many of us know that it's truly bad form when among birders to blurt out, 'Oh, look at that big bunch of crows!'” “'It's a murder of crows!' a prism of bonafide birders will promptly advise you with blood in their eyes. And...

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Made in the U.S.A.

America is the greatest nation on the planet. Period. When we're out shopping and see those three words “Made in America,” there is a small bit of pride that we get out of knowing we are supporting jobs right here at home. Whether it's a small mom-and-pop store or a multibillion-dollar corporation, an American business is still an American business. The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant is run by one of those American businesses, and it supports more than 620...

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VTC announces auditions for ‘Deathtrap’

Vermont Theatre Company announces auditions for the comedy-thriller “Deathtrap” this Saturday, Feb. 2, at noon and Monday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. in the Brattleboro Union High School auditorium. Please enter through the front of the auditorium. Actors will have time to prepare readings of scenes. The script is available at Brooks Memorial Library. “Deathtrap,” (1978) by Ira Levin, holds the record for the longest-running comedy-thriller on Broadway, and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1982...

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Single-payer health care remains a simple idea

Despite the efforts of Hilary F. Cooke [“Health-care letter misses the mark on all counts,” Jan. 16] and his cohort at the health insurance industry front organization Vermonters for Health Care Freedom to make it seem really complicated, single-payer health care remains a simple idea: one entity raises the revenue and pays the bills for health care across the state. The Veterans Administration health-care system and Medicare are two very efficient examples, where our federal government is the single payer.

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Real gun control

A ban on sale of assault weapons would be good. A ban on sale of votes by Congress would be better.

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On education and prosperity

The true challenge that I hear day in and day out is this. At the same time that so many Vermonters need to make more money to make life work, and at the same time that so many families seek to bring their kids and loved ones back to Vermont, our employers, from border to border, are eager to find workers with the right educational skills, and they have good money to pay. We have hundreds of creative, entrepreneurial ventures,

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Looking systematically at guns and culture

The increase in non-gang-related mass shootings over the last several years has spurred the media, lobbyists, and many in the general public to explore causes and formulate solutions for these seemingly random acts of intense violence. What is lacking in the mainstream media, as always, is an examination of the systemic nature of the problem. Anyone interested in exploring this issue might refer to Erich Fromm's 1973 The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness. This fascinating book uses history, anthropology, and psychology...

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Students help forgotten victims of a distant war

Students for RENEW, a Brattleboro Union High School student group, has donated $1,000 it raised over several years to help improve the living conditions of a land mine victim in Đông Hà, the capital of Quang Tri province, Vietnam. The student group is affiliated with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund's Project RENEW, which is aimed at “restoring the environment and neutralizing the effects of war” by aiding in the removal of undetonated land mines. The formal donation is to be...

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