River Singers present annual spring concert on May 18

The 95-member River Singers Community Chorus will perform an eclectic concert of world music on Saturday, May 18, at 7:30 p.m. at The White Church in Grafton.

The River Singers, a multi-generational community choir led by Mary Cay Brass, sings a thrilling variety of community-based music from many diverse cultural and musical traditions.

Brass will be joined by guest conductor, singer, and dynamic gospel piano player Kathy Bullock of Berea, Ky. Bullock, professor of music at Berea College for 21 years, directs the Black Music Ensemble, a 70-voice choir that specializes in performance of African-American sacred music. She performs, lectures and leads workshops in the United States and internationally on music and culture of the African diaspora.

This will be her fourth residency with the River Singers, teaching the choir a wide range of thrilling gospel songs that are then performed with the rest of the repertoire that the choir has studied this session.

Read More

Around the Towns

Beginners Tai Chi series begins in Putney PUTNEY - Tai Chi Chuan (Taiji Quan) can be practiced for recreation and to increase strength, flexibility, and vitality well into old age. It requires a tremendous amount of mental and physical concentration and control. It is often described as a moving...

Read More

Biomass plant: a pig in a poke

RE: “Biomass plant seeks to strike a balance environmentally, economically, socially” [Letters, April 24]: I would like to address each point that Dan Ingold raises about the North Springfield Sustainable Energy Project (NSSEP). • Mr. Ingold states that the industrial park is not in a residential neighborhood. The project...

Read More

More

BMC Performathon benefits local student-musicians

On Saturday, May 18, music will fill the River Garden as students from the Brattleboro Music Center perform a marathon day of recitals to help raise money for student financial aid during “Performathon.” From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., music school students, performing as soloists, duos, and ensembles, will present everything from Bach to traditional Celtic music and Broadway show tunes. The community is invited to enjoy the accomplishments of the Music School's student musicians. The day is presented in...

Read More

Milestones

College news • Rosa Palmeri, a theater major from Putney, graduated from the University of Evansville (Ind.) with the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts on May 4. • Jonah Stoller, a sophomore from Brattleboro, received the Guy Allen Tawny Prize at Beloit (Wis.) College's Honors Day Convocation on May 1. Transitions • Konstantin von Krusenstiern has been appointed Vice President of Strategy and Development at the Brattleboro Retreat. Von Krusenstiern has served as Senior Director of Development since joining...

Read More

Show your kids that democracy still works

Vermont is unique among the states as still holding a Village/Town Meeting Day. Nowadays, it's followed by a voting day to elect officers and perhaps decide some articles, but do not be confused. Village/Town Meeting Day is not just about talk, it's about money. Your money. I know it can be a drag to go after a hard day of work to a meeting about a budget that's not enacted for another fiscal year. But how much is your hard...

Read More

Brattleboro Small Fry league honors Weaver, Underhill with new dugouts

The Brattleboro Small Fry Baseball season started on May 6 at Larry Robinson Field, and thanks to the work of the man whom the field is named for, the players will have new dugouts this year. With help from his friend Bill Christmas, and lots of donated or discounted materials from local lumberyards and hardware stores, Robinson built the dugouts after the end of last season. The finishing touches were put on last month, and they were formally dedicated on...

Read More

Next Stage to show acclaimed documentary on female veterans

To mark Armed Forces Day, the acclaimed film “SERVICE: When Women Come Marching Home” will be screened on Saturday, May 18, at 7 p.m. at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill. The film documents the courage of several female veterans as they transition from active duty to civilian life, following them as they work to overcome psychological trauma, severe physical injury, military sexual assault, and the challenge of receiving care and benefits. “From the deserts of Afghanistan to rural Tennessee, from...

Read More

VSO musicians to perform at West River Valley schools

The Vermont Symphony Orchestra's Fiddlesticks! string trio will present performances at West River Valley schools on May 23. They'll be at Saxtons River Elementary at 9:30 a.m., Grafton/Athens School at 11 a.m., and Townshend Elementary at 1:30 p.m. The VSO's SymphonyKids educational outreach programs are funny, friendly, interactive - and performed by top-level musicians. SymphonyKids is one of the most extensive programs of its kind in the country, reaching children of all ages, through in-school presentations, youth concerts, and other...

Read More

Standing at the top

It's a long way from the hills and fields of Vermont to the stage of the historic Paramount Theater in Springfield, Mass., but the Kurn Hattin Homes Select Choir completed the journey and came away champions. The Kurn Hattin Homes Select Choir was named Top Performer in the children's gospel category after making it through the final round of the choral competition series “Together in Song,” a show produced and aired by public television station WGBY in Springfield. The 40-member...

Read More

AIDS Project to hold 26th Walk for Life on May 18

The AIDS Project of Southern Vermont will be honoring one its own during its 26th annual Walk for Life on Saturday, May 18. This year's walk is in honor of Executive Director Susan Bell, who is retiring this fall after 23 years of leadership at the AIDS Project. Walkers will gather at 10 a.m. at the American Legion, 32 Linden St., for a brief period of remembrance, then a walk up to the Common, down to the Brattleboro Food Co-op,

Read More

Tech@Brattleboro to hold entrepreneur’s networking event on May 22

Are you considering launching a startup? Got a growing business? Looking for interns? Or do you just want to connect with other entrepreneurs and investors? If so, meet up with Tech@Brattleboro on Wednesday, May 22, at the Marina Restaurant in Brattleboro from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. In partnership with the Brattleboro Development Credit Corp., several private and nonprofit investment and economic development organizations from around Vermont are visiting the Brattleboro area to engage and learn from local entrepreneurs, business owners,

Read More

Not just good policy

Fifty years ago this spring, Betty Freidan's book “The Feminine Mystique” was published, and roused a generation of American women to seek equality. Former Vermont Gov. Madeleine M. Kunin was part of that generation. In the early 1960s, she was a young mother living in Cambridge, Mass., and like so many women who read Friedan's book, it spoke to thoughts she had about her life that no one else had given voice to. As the years went by, Kunin was...

Read More

‘Doctor Bebop’ makes a house call at VJC

There is little that jazz master Howard Brofsky has not experienced in his varied and lengthy musical career. Due to his many years of living in Brattleboro, Brofsky's presence is familiar and welcome during his sojourns north. But in New York City, he is a venerated maestro with stellar connections. This year, he has mined one of the finest quintets imaginable, lifting them directly from New York's jazz scene to the Vermont Jazz Center on May 18. The group will...

Read More

Waste we all produce can become a resource we all need

Did you know that each year you produce nearly enough fertilizer to grow one year's worth of food? We're all full of a renewing cycle of liquid gold (and you can read a slim volume, by the same name, subtitled The Life and Lure of Using Urine to Grow Plants, by Carol Steinfeld). There's a great opportunity for community members to recover their long-ago healthy toddler fascination with bodily fluids and immediately benefit the environment at the same time. The...

Read More

Finding a balance

Selectboard Chair David Gartenstein said the board faces a “mammoth decision” on the best way to structure a bond for the $14.1 million police/fire facilities upgrade project. During discussion of the bond at the May 7 Selectboard meeting, held at the Municipal Center, Gartenstein said some residents have expressed concerns about the project's price tag. He hoped residents would educate themselves on the bond and its impact on the property tax rate before the board votes on it at its...

Read More

Feeling left out of the process

As the town prepares to bond for the estimated $14.1 million police/fire facilities upgrade project, some citizens are calling for fiscal temperance. District 2 Representative Town Meeting Member Arlene Distler submitted a petition during the public participation portion of the May 7 Selectboard meeting urging the Selectboard to “scrutinize” the police/fire project budget, its impact on the “burdened” residential tax rate, and to cut costs wherever possible. Distler said the petition's signers wanted to make clear their voice regarding the...

Read More

Town officials track possible rabies outbreak

Rockingham Health Officer Ellen Howard reminds residents to make sure their pets' rabies vaccines are up to date. Howard said that while no animal has tested positive for rabies in Rockingham in 2013, there is concern, as the Rockingham Highway Department has recently dealt with four instances of very ill, disoriented animals. Two incidents involved raccoons on Pleasant Valley Road, one of which was near the Saxtons River Recreation Center. Another ailing raccoon was located at the east end of...

Read More

Clock ticks on bridges linking Brattleboro, Hinsdale

The two bridges that connect Hinsdale, N.H. and Brattleboro safely convey traffic. But this truth does not mean the structures - built the same year that Babe Ruth debuted with the New York Yankees, that Prohibition took effect, and when half the cars on the American road were Model Ts - are functional for today's mega-18-wheelers and SUVs. Hinsdale town officials, state legislators, and members of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT) met last week to discuss replacing the...

Read More

Leland & Gray Players present HATS OFF!

The Leland & Gray Players end their 17th season with HATS OFF 2013! on May 24 and 25 in the Dutton Gymnasium on the Leland & Gray campus on Route 30 across from the Townshend Common. An eclectic parade of music, song, dance, comedy - and a smattering of drama - HATS OFF affords Leland & Gray Players in grades 7-12 an opportunity to select what they want to perform, to display their strengths, to hone new skills, and to...

Read More

Keep the RFPL open!

Our community has one of the best libraries in the state of Vermont, staffed by a highly qualified director and staff. The construction company that is finishing the renovation project is prepared to work while the library stays open. All facts and logic lead to keeping the Rockingham Free Public Library open. Let's support the library, which continues to bring excellent service to the community, and follow the advice of the library staff, the Selectboard, community members, and some of...

Read More

‘Mommy bloggers’ come together for reading in Brattleboro

Raising kids is hard work. Everyone knows the pay stinks, your boss picks his nose, and the working conditions can be pitiful. There are times you can't even take a bathroom break without being interrupted with an outrageous demand. At one time or another, every mother has wailed, “I just want to pee alone!” Kansas-based mom and founder of the popular blog “People I Want to Punch in the Throat,” known to readers only as Jen, gathered 36 other mom...

Read More

Disagreements, political theater delay campaign finance reform

The state Senate is clashing with recent House-approved campaign finance measures and called for a conference committee to resolve the disputes. Senate Government Operations committee chair Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, called some aspects of the House version “troubling.” She cited House approval of unlimited donations from political parties to candidates, no limits on how much one person can give to different races within one election cycle, and a cap on Super PAC donations, among other problems. Rep. Donna Sweaney, D-Windsor,

Read More

Shumlin to be commencement speaker at Marlboro College's 66th Graduation on May 19

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin will address the 61 graduates of the Class of 2013 at Marlboro College at its 66th graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 19. “Gov. Shumlin is an ideal choice to address our thoughtful, motivated, and well-prepared graduates this year,” said college president Ellen McCulloch-Lovell. “He is keenly aware of the talents our graduates possess and the importance of utilizing those precious skills in a democratic society." Shumlin was first elected governor in 2010, and re-elected in 2012.

Read More

WSWMD to hold hazardous waste collection day

Residents of Marlboro, Putney, Vernon, and Whitingham are invited to bring household hazardous waste to collection sites on Saturday May 18. Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) Executive Director Bob Spencer said that residents of the four towns, as well as any resident of Windham County, can participate in the collection events, which will be open from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Marlboro Elementary School, Putney Fire Station, Vernon Town Garage, and Whitingham Town Garage. Residents of those towns...

Read More

Mount Snow bans local musician for letter on Facebook

Colby Dix knew there was a risk to posting his letter criticizing Mount Snow's new employment policy on Facebook. Mount Snow responded by banning him from performing at the ski resort. “It's a real true-colors moment,” Dix told The Commons, adding the resort has unapologetically “burned a lot of locals.” In a confidential March 15 memo, Mount Snow, owned by Missouri-based Peak Resorts, stated effective April 21, “staff or volunteers of the Hermitage, The Haystack Club, their golf course, real...

Read More

Homecoming for a clown

Troy Wunderle is like that proverbial boy who ran away to join the circus. Only Wunderle wasn't so little when he left. And he's brought his circus home with him. Wunderle is the founder, in 2006, of Wunderle's Big Top Adventures (WBTA), based in Chester. WBTA promotes safe and intriguing world-class circus programming and entertainment for all ages. Its primary programs include circus shows, big top workshops, school residencies, and strolling entertainment. The Women's Community Club of Grafton has arranged...

Read More

USAID Deputy Administrator Steinberg to lead World Learning

World Learning has selected Donald Steinberg, deputy administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development and a former ambassador, to be the organization's next president and CEO. “Donald Steinberg is a true leader in the field of international development. He brings invaluable experience, energy, enthusiasm and an impressive record of achievement to World Learning from his many years of public service,” said Rosamond Delori, chair of World Learning's board of trustees. “We look forward to working with him to continue...

Read More

Snow jobs

Given a bit of time to think on it, it seems clear to me that the local workforce is the only victim in the edict handed down in March from Mount Snow's human resources department. In light of the recent public proposal to give the Hermitage Club at Haystack Mountain resort-district status in terms of zoning, I can see the intent behind Mount Snow's letter to staff, and it's obvious that they feel threatened. Threatened by competition in a time...

Read More

Governor, has the gun lobby gotten to you?

Governor Shumlin, your stance on gun control does not make sense. In fact, it is not even congruent with the way you govern on other important issues facing our state and nation. On Town Meeting Day, I was very pleased that you came and gave your home town an update on some critical goals of your administration. I have been a supporter and am very pleased with many of the initiatives you have worked on thus far. I was, however,

Read More

Ignoring the talent in our own backyard

When I heard that the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC), a regional development nonprofit that brokers investment money to local startups and artisans, was on the verge of signing a $500,000 deal for a Colorado-based company to market Brattleboro, I couldn't restrain myself any longer. Here I've been as the founder of Brattleborology, laboring nights and weekends to do my little part to promote Brattleboro, and the BDCC allocates a half-million dollars to a company half a world away! I'm...

Read More

VY is a tool for us to use, and we'll need it

As a member of and communications director for the Vermont Energy Partnership, I have been vocal in my support for the continuation for Vermont Yankee. Regarding the negative impact of Vermont Yankee closure: what Gary Sachs [“As Vermont moves to green power, VY won't be missed,” Letters, May 8] dismisses as PR spin, I regard as prudent energy planning. VY provides something no other single, in-state power generator supplies: a large quantity of market-cost, low-carbon electricity. As Vermont progresses toward...

Read More

Vermont Theatre Company presents ‘Deathtrap’

Vermont Theatre Company presents “Deathtrap” from May 17 to 26 at the Evening Star Grange in Dummerston. “Deathtrap,” by playwright and author Ira Levin, best known for films based on his novels “Rosemary's Baby,” “The Stepford Wives,” and “The Boys from Brazil,” is Broadway's longest-running comic thriller. It's the story of a writer of comic thrillers who schemes to revive his career by stealing a former student's manuscript and calling it his own. The action takes many twists and turns,

Read More

On Armed Forces Day, let’s remember women in war

Now that qualified women can enter combat officially, it's a good time to remember the many roles that women have played during wartime, whether those roles were military or civilian. Writer Frank Moore dubbed classical women during the Civil War “Angels of Mercy” as they rolled bandages and patriotically waited for their men to come home. But he also understood that “the story of war will never be fully or fairly written if the achievements of women in it are...

Read More

Volunteers create new gardens at Exit 1

In an effort organized by the Exit 1 Gateway Project and Green Up Vermont, a visiting AmeriCorps team and local volunteers expanded the Exit 1 gardens on May 4, Green Up Day, and May 9. They tended to the Exit 1 end of Canal Street, turning over fresh ground to prepare more garden space. They planted a bank of daylilies, brightly colored pansies, and other annuals that are blooming now. Laura Schairbaum, volunteer coordinator for the Southeastern Vermont Long-Term Recovery...

Read More

Crowded field for BF Board of Trustees

In a year when many boards are finding it difficult to fill seats around the county, Bellows Falls is seeing three candidates for the one-year seat of president and five for the two open two-year trustee seats. The Village election is Tuesday, May 21, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Masonic Temple, 61 Westminster St. Incumbents Roger Riccio, president, and Deborah Wright, as well as former trustee Lance Allen, are vying for the presidential seat. For the two...

Read More

Firm defends data despite uproar

Widespread public anger regarding the recent preliminary property reappraisal letters sent out late last month dominated the Selectboard's May 6 meeting. The reappraisals, overseen by David Marazoff and his company, Marazoff Assessing Services, are being performed in preparation of the town's new Grand List, as well as for calculating property taxes and town expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year. According to the town's initial contract with Mazaroff, reappraisals should have been completed by May 1, but Selectboard chair Henry “Kit”

Read More

The Mount Snow memorandum

The purpose of this memo is to clarify our policy regarding conflicts of interest with respect to employment and volunteering at The Hermitage, Haystack, and their associated businesses. In general, working at other businesses in the Valley does not constitute a conflict of interest; however, the Hermitage and Haystack have been at times in conflict with Mount Snow's business interests. Therefore, we do not believe it is in Mount Snow's best interests to have our employees and volunteers working simultaneously...

Read More