Around the Towns

BRATTLEBORO - United Way of Windham County still has tickets available for their annual event, Handbags for Hope, to be held on Thursday, May 10, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., at the VFW Hall in Brattleboro.

The event includes a silent and live auction, with food provided by local women-owned businesses and a cash bar available. In addition to bags of all kinds, the event features local goods, packages, and experiences such as yoga, spa treatments, and woodworking.

Select auction items may be previewed at www.facebook.com/UWWindham.

Handbags for Hope benefits the Fund for Quality Early Education, which provides grants to early childhood educators and caregivers. The Fund has made over 100 grants totaling $129,000 to providers in Windham County. Tickets are $35, with table reservations for eight available, at www.unitedwaywindham.org or by contacting the UWWC office at 802-257-4011.

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All Souls hatches its first Bloomin’ Spring Fair

All Souls Church in West Brattleboro will hold its first Bloomin' Spring Fair on Saturday, April 28, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Organizers hope to celebrate the start of the growing season with an event that will be fun for the public as well as its presenters. With...

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Windham & Windsor Housing Trust receives challenge grants

The Windham & Windsor Housing Trust recently received three challenge grants from the Thomas Thompson Trust and two anonymous sources. A nonprofit organization, the Trust creates renter and owner-occupied housing opportunities that serve the residents of Windham and Windsor counties who are least served by the prevailing market. The...

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Workshop offers Social Security info for new retirees

As a new generation of retirees prepares to collect benefits, Brooks Memorial Library will host an educational workshop titled “Savvy Social Security Planning: What Baby Boomers Need to Know to Maximize Retirement Income,” on Monday, April 30, at 7 p.m., in the Meeting Room of the library at 224 Main St. Social Security is far more complicated than most people realize. The decisions baby boomers make now can have a tremendous impact on the total amount of benefits they stand...

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U.S. Forest Service plans meeting on proposals for Somerset section of Green Mountain National Forest

The U.S. Forest Service will host a public meeting for anyone interested to learn about the proposed Somerset Integrated Resource Project located in the Green Mountain National Forest, Manchester Ranger District. The meeting is scheduled for May 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Stratton Mountain Resort. The project area includes just over 71,000 acres, primarily within the towns of Dover, Glastenbury, Searsburg, Somerset, Stratton, Wilmington, and Woodford, but also includes small portions of Sunderland and Wardsboro. Named after...

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Nominations open for Rockingham Old House Awards

The Rockingham Historic Preservation Commission will open nominations for its 2018 Old House Awards at a reception Friday, April 27, to honor the 2017 winners. The awards are designed to celebrate property owners in town who are maintaining and restoring their historic homes and commercial buildings. The gathering will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Windham Antique Center, 5 Square, Bellows Falls, and is open to the public. The reception will recognize 2017 winners and provide an...

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Milestones

Obituraries • James Chester Adams Jr., 94, of Jacksonville. Died April 15, 2018 at the Thompson House Nursing Home in Brattleboro. Born in South Windham, Conn., on August 14, 1923, the son of the late James C. and Clara Isabel Allen Adams, he attended local schools and was a graduate of Norwich Free Academy in 1942. He served in the Army during World War II as an aviation engineer. After the war, he worked as a machine operator for many...

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River Singers plan concert of French-Canadian music

The River Singers, southern Vermont's dynamic 90-voice world-music choir led by Mary Cay Brass, will host two members of the French Canadian band, Genticorum, for a Quebecois-focused concert on Sunday evening, May 6, at 7 p.m., at the Grafton Community Church. Each spring, the choir invites guest musicians from a unique music tradition to do a residency with the choir and then lead and accompany the singers in their spring concert. This spring's concert will feature two well-known musicians from...

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Climate change tops agenda at annual meeting of Pinnacle Assoc.

The Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association invites the public to its annual meeting on Sunday, April 29, from 4 to 6 p.m., at Main Street Arts, 35 Main St., featuring a program entitled “Cool the Planet: Food, Water, Soil, Climate, Hope.” In a PowerPoint presentation followed by a question-and-answer session, Henry Swayze and Cat Buxton will discuss the natural systems that allow for planetary cooling and the factors that contribute to understanding healthy soil and watershed functions, as well as how...

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New play digs into myths and mysteries of Joan of Arc

A Mighty Outcry, the fourth of a set of mystery plays written for young people with words and music by Paul Dedell, will premiere on Saturday, April 28, at 7 p.m. and on Sunday, April 29, at 4:30 p.m., at St. Michael's Episcopal Church. According to an news release, A Mighty Outcry explores the complex young woman known popularly as “Joan of Arc.” Although Joan is now an icon of French identity, this play seeks to discover the young woman...

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BMC recital features Beethoven, Thuilles, Mendelssohn

The Brattleboro Music Center presents a Faculty Duo Recital with cellist Paul Cohen and pianist Nicholas Burns. The concert - set for Sunday, April 29, at 4 p.m., at the BMC Auditorium - will feature Beethoven's Sonata in F Major for Piano and Cello, Op. 5, No.1; Thuille's Sonata in D Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 22; and Mendelssohn's Sonata No. 2 in D Major for Piano and Cello, Op. 58. Tickets are $30 for patrons, $20 general admission,

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Walk for Amber StorySlam is April 28

Strolling of the Heifers and the Walk for Amber Committee present the fourth annual “Walk for Amber StorySlam” hosted by Tracy Dolan, a Vermont Comedy Club finalist. The StorySlam will be on Saturday, April 28, at 7 p.m., at the River Garden on Main Street. StorySlam is a spontaneous and funny, heartwarming and entertaining evening of personal sharing. StorySlam is a storytelling “open mic” similar to the popular Moth Radio Hour on public radio, according to a news release. Contestants...

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Poetry contest urges writers to hit the trail

Vermont is a place with a literary tradition as rich and evocative as the mountains and streams that serve as the backdrop of the state. This spring, Antidote Books in Putney and the Putney Mountain Association are holding the Putney Mountain Poetry Contest, seeking poems inspired by the natural landscape of Vermont. In honor of National Poetry Month, Vermont writers of all ages are encouraged to submit up to three pages (one poem per page or one poem no longer...

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Christy Foote-Smith is featured artist at Wardsboro library

Christy Foote-Smith is an art quilter whose work is inspired by the natural world. She retired to Wardsboro with her husband Bob Stupp three years ago after a long career in Massachusetts in environmental planning and management. Throughout her life, Foote-Smith has spent time outdoors hiking, kayaking, skiing, and snow shoeing. This immersion in nature is reflected in her art. Time spent traveling in the Southwest has also provided inspiration. Foote-Smith has taken art and photography classes throughout her life...

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Labor board need a voice for all Vermonters

A recent decision of the Vermont Labor Review Board (VLRB) clearly shows severe cracks in our system of democracy in Vermont. Under the administration of Governor Phil Scott, Karen O'Neill - a retired corporate attorney - was seated at the last minute to this board who then voted against the interests of many hard-working Vermonters. This seat was supposed to be a “neutral position,” meaning “not connected to any labor organization or management position and who can be reasonably considered...

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Winter weather is over as spring slowly surges

Good day to you, denizens of southeastern Vermont! While you can never completely rule out wintry precipitation until May has come and gone, we're leaving the winter pattern behind. I know for this writer, that news is most welcome. I love snow and the winter season, but it was getting long in the tooth through last week. So let spring commence, and let's jump into the details! For Wednesday, we will be tracking a rainstorm that will have pushed east-northeast...

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VTC presents musical 'The Last Five Years'

Vermont Theatre Company presents The Last Five Years, a heartfelt musical by Jason Robert Brown and directed by Ryan Buck. The show runs April 27-29 and May 4-6. Evening performances at 7:30 p.m., Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. Performances will be held at the Dummerston Evening Star Grange, 100 East-West Rd., East Dummerston. The Last Five Years premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and was produced off-Broadway in March of 2002. Since then it has had numerous productions both...

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‘His robbery stole my peace’

The Facebook post about the young man's death hit me hard. He, who had torn all the drawers out of our bureaus and desks, dumping everything into huge piles on our dining room floor, was gone. I envisioned him and his girlfriend kicking over and through everything, looking for anything of value, anything that would buy them the heroin they so desperately needed. In the few minutes of looting my home, they stomped on ceramics from the 19th century and...

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Tales and Tunes

“Tales and Tunes,” a benefit performance for Cynthia Payne-Meyer, will be held on Sunday, April 29, at 4 p.m., at the New England Youth Theatre on Flat Street. This event features a dozen professional storytellers and musicians from throughout New England. Payne-Meyer experienced a life-altering accident last year, and this fundraiser will help with the cost of much-needed physical therapy equipment. Her background as a storyteller and educator makes this a particularly appropriate fundraiser. The performers from throughout New England...

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Local runners brave elements in Boston Marathon

April 16 was one of the worst weather days in the 122 year history of the Boston Marathon - rainy, windy, and bitterly cold. Despite temperatures in the mid-30s, slightly more than 95 percent of the people who started the race finished. “It tells you about the people that are passionate about this race and determined to run under any condition and finish,” race director Dave McGillivray said in his post-race news conference on April 17. There were 27,042 runners...

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Shoot The Moon presents ‘Glass Menagerie’

Shoot The Moon Theater Company will open its 2018 season with a production of The Glass Menagerie at the Hooker-Dunham Theater, Friday through Sunday, May 4-6, and Thursday through Saturday, May 10-12. The 1944 memory play that established Tennessee Williams as a major literary voice continues to be a staple in the repertory of most theater companies, including regular productions on Broadway. But artistic director Josh Moyse said the choice is uncharacteristic for Shoot The Moon, which has forged its...

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Putney Library marks Labor History Month

This May, Putney's “Vermont Reads” program invites the community to celebrate Labor History Month by focusing on the themes of this year's community read: Bread and Roses, Too by Katherine Paterson. Paterson's book tells the story of the 1912 “Bread and Roses” strike in the Lawrence, Mass., textile mills through the eyes of an Italian-American girl and a runaway boy. The novel follows Rosa, Jake, and other children as they are sent temporarily out of harm's way to foster families...

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Cuba at a crossroads

The transition of power to a new generation in Cuba last week was an important moment in history. For the first time since 1959, the island nation is led by someone not named Castro. The generation of the revolution is not fading away quietly - Raúl Castro retains control of the Socialist party and the military. Still, his commitment to a transition to a new generation of leadership seems sincere, and also necessary, since he is almost 90. The new...

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Art as activism

When fiber artist Jackie Abrams found herself becoming depressed because of the current political climate in America, she decided to do something about it. “Like millions, I was upset and was feeling bad about what would happen to our country,” Abrams says. But she quickly realized that rather than moping about the situation, she needed to act. “Since the only things I found myself capable of doing were making art and organizing,” she says, “I soon enough figured out a...

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Downtown institution marks three decades

Twice Upon A Time, the multilevel dealer mall and vintage and consignment store on Main Street, recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. And, with the passing of the baton three years ago from former owner Randi Crouse to her daughter Nicole (Nicky) Chase, the shop can continue on as a family-owned, woman-led establishment. Crouse told The Commons, “almost all of my mentors were women,” including her mother, her first influence. “She was a strong, vivacious, independent, and sassy woman,” Crouse said,

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Crossing guards

It was a wet, spring evening when my 6-year-old and I set out to help salamanders and frogs cross the road a few miles from our Brattleboro home. With temperatures hovering in the upper 30s amidst steady rain, it was perfect, early-spring weather for the annual amphibian migration known as “big night,” when adult salamanders and frogs crawl out of their burrowing winter habitat and return to their watery birthplaces to breed. And because roads often come between their winter...

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Mission of friendship

In February, 13 people from the United States - most of them from Vermont - moved very far out of their normal comfort zones and spent five days living among people in the village of Kaiguchu, about two hours north of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. The Guilford Community Church has cultivated a connection with the village over 15 years - a world that, for the most part, is much like life in the American West of the mid-1800s. There...

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Aging well is hard work

“The final chapter of my life might be the richest,” said Bill Schmidt, 82, at the beginning of a panel discussion he was moderating Sunday at the Dummerston Congregational Church on the topic of “Aging Well.” “We begin aging when we're born, and we're aging now,” he said. “Aging well isn't something that just happens. You have to work hard at it.” On the panel were three people who know well of which he speaks: his wife, Mary Lou Schmidt,

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New dairy processing plant: ‘real enough, promising enough’

Peter Elwell, Brattleboro's town manager, sat down to talk the morning after the Selectboard covered a meaty agenda, which ranged from discussing a new dairy processing plant's plans to come to town to fundraising for the skatepark to Act 46. “They had a lot of ground to cover,” Elwell said. We started with the topic that intrigued me the most, because, well, it was my radio show. That topic: a new dairy processing plant: Culture Made Vermont, which plans to...

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