Hearse House Museum to open in Chester

On Saturday Oct. 28, at 3 p.m., the Hearse House Museum in Chester will open to the public.

Attendees will have a chance to see Chester's handsome, horse-drawn hearse, its historic “house” that was saved from demolition and recently rehabilitated, and the new mini museum created inside that building, which features information about the hearse, the nearby Public Tomb, Brookside Cemetery, funeral customs of the times, and the renovation project itself.

While there are a couple of hearse houses in Vermont, no other has been renovated and enhanced to present a museum dedicated solely to one hearse, its use, and mourning customs, according to a news release. Chester's new mini museum is unique and will be an educational and historic attraction for both local residents and visitors to town during good weather.

The opening celebration will take place at the white, clapboarded Hearse House, located at the entrance to Brookside Cemetery across from the Chester Village Green. Visitors will be able to view the museum, as well as the interior of the adjacent Public Tomb built circa 1850.

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Milestones

Transitions • Margaret van den Bergh, a physical therapist, has joined the staff of the Grace Cottage Rehabilitation Department. A practicing physical therapist for over 40 years, she earned her B.S. in physical therapy from the University of Vermont and worked for Tidewater Rehab (Norfolk, Va.); for UVM's child...

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Wanna buy a town hall?

Chesterfield, N.H., is putting their old one up for sale for $1 and a good redevelopment plan

Got a dollar and a dream? That's all that is needed to own a historic landmark in the center of Chesterfield. The Chesterfield Selectmen are hoping someone will see the potential in the circa 1845 building on Route 63 that once was used as the town's offices, and come...

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Renewable-energy grants available once again

The Windham Regional Commission has received a second round of funding to solicit proposals to fund renewable-energy generation projects through the successful Windham County Renewable Energy Program. The second round is made possible through funding set aside within the Clean Energy Development Fund as part of the settlement agreement between the state and Entergy Vermont Yankee. The grant program supports renewable-energy generation projects within Windham County. The Commission received $300,000 towards creating and administrating this second round of the WCREP,

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State OKs $22.7M expansion for BMH

State regulators have approved a $22.7 million expansion project designed to address “current and future facility needs” at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. The project's centerpiece is a new, four-story, 20,180-square-foot building that will house bigger operating rooms, relocated medical offices, and an expanded cardiac rehabilitation area. The changes aren't expected to significantly boost patient numbers at BMH; in fact, the Green Mountain Care Board said the project will slightly reduce the hospital's operating margin for the next several years. But the...

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Halifax company assists Puerto Rico's recovery

A software company born in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene is playing a key role in Puerto Rico's recovery from Hurricane Maria. Halifax-based Storm Petrel LLC, which assists governments with post-disaster financial management, has landed a contract to aid Puerto Rican authorities as they begin recovering from a Category 4 storm that devastated the island last month. It's a large-scale, high-profile application for Storm Petrel's software, which was designed to help communities navigate complex federal funding regulations. “The commonwealth...

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Around the Towns

Library opening delayed BRATTLEBORO - Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., will open at noon (two hours later than usual) on Thursday, Oct. 26, due to a volunteer appreciation event. For more information, call 802-254-5290 or visit www.brookslibraryvt.org. Early voting begins for Act 46 ballot question BRATTLEBORO - Early/absentee ballots for the Brattleboro Town School District special meeting on Nov. 7 are now available in the Brattleboro town clerk's office for those registered to vote in Brattleboro. If you are...

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Sizing up the world

When I was a kid, our hero was Superman, the mild-mannered guy who brought petty criminals to justice while flying around in a cape. Today's heroes are animated, mechanized, robotic superheroes who battle intergalactically for control of the universe. Remember when movies simply had stars we loved to watch? (In my day, it was Bogie and Bacall, Cary Grant, and Sophia Loren.) Now, it seems all actors are superstars, giant novae on screen or stage regardless of talent. We used...

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BCTV announces winners of 2017 Producer Awards

In honor of Community Media Day on Oct. 20, Brattleboro Community Television announced its producer awards for 2017 and the opportunity to vote for BCTV's “People's Choice Award,” a new concept this year that will become part of BCTV's annual awards ceremony. Voting, which is open to everyone, began on Oct. 20 at www.brattleborotv.org/news/bctv-news/vote-bctv-peoples-choice-video-award. The People's Choice Award will have a cash prize and is sponsored by Mondo Mediaworks, a local digital marketing agency. BCTV's annual awards ceremony will be...

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Stone Church Arts presents Celtic folk string quintet, The Fretless

The Fretless, in concert at the Stone Church, 20 Church St., on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m., is “a new approach to folk music that is quickly gaining acclaim around the world.” According to a news release, “this unique band is taking string music to fascinating places as it transforms fiddle tunes and folk melodies into intricate, beautiful, high-energy arrangements.” With the release of their debut album Waterbound in early 2012, featuring collaborations with singers Ruth Moody and Norah...

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Vermont Theatre Company to host murder-mystery dinner

Enjoy a special night out with dinner and a theater experience with The Vermont Theatre Company on Friday, Nov. 3, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., at the NewBrook Firehouse on Route 30. According to a news release, “it's Mardi Gras in New Orleans and the Krewe of Midas is holding their annual masquerade ball. Old scores are settled and family secrets are exposed when Pierre Dupre, the King of the Krewe, is murdered. Who strangled the Mardi Gras King with...

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‘Groovetastic Tale of the Phantom of the Forest’ theme of this year’s Forest of Mystery

The forests of the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center will soon become enchanted once again for the 23rd Forest of Mystery, an interactive theatrical performance on Friday, Oct. 27, and Saturday, Oct. 28. This year, the mystery returns with the writing and directing team of James and Jessica Gelter. According to a news release, “The Groovetastic Tale” is set in 1970, and the small town of Cooperdalefield is spooked. Everyone in town knows the local Nighthill Woods have long been haunted...

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Turning Point offers new writing group

Turning Point of Windham County is offering a new writing group where people in recovery can explore their thoughts and feelings. The group will meet at Turning Point, 39 Elm St., Mondays from 1 to 2:30 p.m., starting Oct. 30. Facilitator Laurie Tigan is a recovery coach as well as a language arts educator. According to Tigan, writing is a therapeutic opportunity to have a creative outlet to work on sobriety; it helps people make sense of their own lives,

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Me, too

I learned lessons as a very young girl that have colored my life as a woman - for better or worse. The neighborhood I grew up in was teeming with kids. That was what everyone had the most of: kids. On most days - especially in summer - the six-block radius of my neighborhood was loud and busy and rowdy with kids of all ages playing, fighting, yelling, roller skating. But not on Sundays. On Sundays, all of the kids...

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BMAC to host 10th annual Lego Contest & Exhibit

The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center invites creators of all ages to design and build original Lego sculptures and display them at the museum in BMAC's 10th annual Lego Contest & Exhibit, Nov. 9-12. This popular annual event is sponsored by People's United Bank, Brattleboro Ford Subaru, G.S. Precision, Inc., and Don Robinson Builder. Prizes include gift certificates to Toy City in Keene, NH. Every entry submitted will be displayed at BMAC. A panel of judges will award prizes based...

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Terrier teams to begin title defenses at home

The fall high school sports season is over. Now, it's time for the playoffs and the chase for a championship. The pairings for the soccer and field hockey tournaments were announced by the Vermont Principals' Association on Oct. 23. Buckle up and get ready for an exciting fortnight of athletic drama. Football • Bellows Falls clinched a home game for the first round of the Division II playoffs with a 56-18 beatdown of the U-32 Raiders on Oct. 20 at...

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Vernon church highlights 500th anniversary of Reformation with film series

On Friday, Oct. 27, the Mountain View SDA Church in Vernon will kick off a new series discussing the future of the Christian church and what is happening with world events. This free, three-part series, called “A Pale Horse Rides,” will involve both documentary-style and live elements, featuring local moderator Pastor Art Miller. The video documentary portion is hosted by Voice of Prophecy speaker/director Shawn Boonstra. “A Pale Horse Rides” begins Friday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. at Mountain View...

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Put kids first by voting no on merger

There is no such thing as a free lunch - and those who are trying to convince you otherwise are going to hurt the Brattleboro school kids if you believe them. I'm talking about the school mega-merger on the ballot for Nov. 7. The big merger plan calls for equity between the schools in Brattleboro and the smaller schools in Guilford, Putney, and Dummerston. In a nutshell, equity means that the smaller schools will get the special programs currently enjoyed...

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Supervisory union has been pulled apart by Act 46 process

The Act 46 Study Committee keeps repeating the same unsupported claims about the proposed school mega-merger. Their financials on this merger are unclear and incomplete. The “leadership councils” they tout will have no legal decision-making authority and no real responsibility. Their claim that such councils will function has never been supported with any evidence. Our supervisory union has served us well for many years. Now it has been pulled apart by this merger proposal. Vernon has left, and many citizens...

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Why would we want to terminate existing supervisory union for the unknown?

I, for one, am unable to support the Act 46 Study Committee's proposal that is being put to the voters on Nov. 7. I recognize that many people have worked hard to develop a plan that they hope is supported in the voting booth. The plan, as most of you know, is for a full merger of the school districts in the four towns in the current supervisory union. The proposal would (1) merge the districts in the three small...

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Preserve local control over local schools

As a longtime resident of Dummerston, I am very concerned about the proposed school consolidation for many reasons. One is the fact that if we merge, we will no longer own our school building and property that we have spent years building and maintaining. Our school can be closed without a vote of our town. The Act 46 Study Committee says it is guaranteed to be kept open only for 5 years. Another is losing our elected School Board. If...

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Dartmouth professor looks at Protestant Reformation 500 years later

Dartmouth religion professor Randall Balmer will look at the legacy of the Protestant Reformation in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. His talk, “Luther and the Reformation: A 500-year Appraisal,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council's First Wednesdays lecture series and is free and open to the public. Martin Luther's posting of the 95 Theses on the cathedral door at Wittenburg 500 years ago launched a movement that utterly transformed...

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Sign of conflict

I write in response to questions about why I chose to vote against proposed signage intended as a public service announcement on the topic of panhandling in Brattleboro. The idea to develop a sign came out of an informal committee that has formed itself in response to downtown concern about the issue. Frustrations have reached a tipping point, and those living and operating businesses in the downtown area wanted some action from the town about how to address the byproduct...

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Humane Society hosts animals from disaster areas

If you recently adopted a dog or cat from the Windham County Humane Society, and it speaks Spanish or has a Southern accent, there's a good reason for that. This fall, the WCHS has received pets from Puerto Rico, Florida, and Texas in an effort to help communities affected by hurricanes Harvey and Irma - and to ensure the WCHS kennels have enough animals to offer locals. St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, New Jersey, is the WCHS's transport...

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Brattleboro looks to ‘instigate’ small business

A few months ago, Chelsea Nunez quit her job and dove “headfirst” into the hard-knocks world of startup entrepreneurship. But she's had some assistance in getting her Brattleboro event-planning company - playfully called Nacho Average Events - off the ground. Nunez was one of several entrepreneurs graduating from a new “Startup Lab” in Brattleboro. It's part of a larger effort, called INSTIG8, aimed at encouraging and nurturing small businesses as the region attempts to recover from the loss of the...

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Groundworks moves ahead with relocation of overflow shelter

Administrators are pushing ahead with plans to relocate Brattleboro's cold-weather homeless shelter, though it will begin operations a bit later than initially planned. The town's overflow shelter is scheduled to open Nov. 13 at the Winston Prouty campus, a few miles from the shelter's former longtime home in the First Baptist Church on Main Street. Organizers say the recent spate of relatively warm weather has given them a few extra weeks to hire staff and finalize details. And they're pledging...

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From silence to the big screen

Two local organizations, Planned Parenthood Defenders and the Women's Action Team, have teamed up with Latchis Arts - which is offering theater space at no cost - to present a fundraising event to support access to reproductive services. The event, on Sunday, Oct. 29, begins at 4 p.m., with a screening of the documentary film Break the Silence. The film, directed by Willow O'Feral, features interviews with 17 Brattleboro-area women about their sexual and reproductive-health histories. A facilitated question-and-answer period...

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‘Clowntown at its finest’

New England Youth Theatre, 100 Flat St., presents Clowntown's Newsreels of the 1930s, written and directed by Doran Hamm with Stephen Stearns, to be performed at 7 p.m., on Oct. 27 and 28 and Nov. 3 and 4, and at 2 p.m. on Oct. 28 and 29 and Nov. 4 and 5. NEYT's Clowns are at it again. Clowntown's Newsreels of the 1930s will take some of history's most famous events for reenactment in typical Clowntown fashion. The flight of...

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Autumn deepens as cooler air arrives

Good day to you! We had quite the windy rainstorm yesterday, thanks to a deep trough in the eastern U.S., and a stubborn ridge over the western Atlantic Ocean that produced rain and wind for the region. For the record, troughs are large atmospheric areas that feature lower pressures aloft descending closer to the surface as compared with an average height. Conversely, ridges are large atmospheric areas that feature higher pressures aloft ascending away from the surface as compared with...

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For the NRA, there’s no good time to talk about guns

Another massacre, another time to not talk about gun control. At least, that's what the National Rifle Association and other gun lobbies always say. Why talk about gun control while it is on everyone's mind and the direct consequences of having lax laws about guns are so obvious? “Guns don't kill people,” they tell us. “People kill people.” OK, then, let's only let guns own guns and restrict people, who seem to be putting us in danger. I'm not against...

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The Mammals, Brian Dunne coming to Next Stage

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present roots, old time, and Americana quintet The Mammals (featuring Mike & Ruthy), plus folk-rock singer/songwriter Brian Dunne, at Next Stage on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m. Woodstock, N.Y.-based Ruth Ungar and Mike Merenda founded The Mammals with Tao Rodriguez-Seeger (grandson of the legendary folk singer Pete Seeger) in 2000, and after touring the world for seven years with the likes of Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger, emerged as “one of acoustic...

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New season, new goals

Now in his sixth year as music director of the Windham Orchestra, Hugh Keelan recently sat down with The Commons to talk about his orchestra, its new season, and the joy of making music. “My mission as leader of the Windham Orchestra is nothing less than to keep people exploring,” says Keelan, with enthusiasm, “and by that I mean both our audiences and those musicians who play music together with us.” Born in Kingston-upon-Thames, an area of southwest London, Keelan...

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Former ambassador looks at ‘Axis of Evil’ 15 years later

In his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush coined a new phrase to describe Iran, Iraq, and North Korea: the Axis of Evil. Fifteen years later, is the world any safer? Former U.S. ambassador and Townshend resident Peter Galbraith attempted to answer that question in his annual talk before the Windham World Affairs Council on Oct. 20. “States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the...

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