Allison Turner awarded Marlboro College’s Roots Award

The recipient of Marlboro College's second annual Roots Award is Allison Turner (M.S., 1999), who has been teaching laboratory and field techniques in the natural sciences at the college since 2006.

The Roots Award, which recognizes an alumna or alumnus who has been outstanding in their service and commitment to the college, will be bestowed upon Turner during Home Days alumni weekend on Saturday, Sept. 28.

“We are so grateful to Allison for all that she has contributed to the Marlboro campus and alumni community over the years,” said Maia Segura '91, director of alumni engagement, in a news release. “In a learning community where civic engagement and responsibility are part of the culture, Allison provides a model for the rest of us.”

“I am really delighted with this award,” Turner said. “Most of us go through life doing our best, and really trying to make a difference, but we don't always get recognized for it. I highly recommend that everyone find someone to recognize for their contributions, even if it's just to say thank you for some small but specific detail. Those thank-yous can make all the difference.”...

Read More

Rosh Hashanah begins Sept. 29

At sundown on Sunday, Sept. 29, Jewish people in Vermont - and all over the world - will welcome Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year of 5780. Rosh Hashanah begins a sacred period known as the Days of Awe, culminating ten days later on Yom Kippur, the Day of...

Read More

‘It’s very hard to leave. But either way, you have to go. What else’re you gonna do?’

For one woman, an arrest leads to a chain of misfortune that has kept her on the streets in Florida and in Brattleboro

ROnda-Jane, 51, has lived in Brattleboro “a little over 20 years,” on and off. She is an artist and poet who has experienced homelessness and abuse throughout her life. Matthew Whalan: How long have you been homeless? Ronda-Jane: The past two or three years. Off and on. (Pause.) Due...

Read More

More

Legion to honor veterans of Global War on Terror with daylong event

Brattleboro American Legion Post 5 will recognize and honor the veterans who served in the Global War Against Terror, which began 18 years ago with the attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001. On Nov. 2, the Legion will host seminars at various sites in downtown Brattleboro during the afternoon and a banquet in the evening at the Post on Linden Street. The seminars will be conducted by distinguished individuals and will be on various aspects of...

Read More

Milestones

Transitions • Alexi Sotskov, athletic director at Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, was recently elected to the executive board of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC). Sotskov started his career at Vermont Academy in 2002 as director of sports on snow. In 2008, he took a break to be the head ski coach at the University of Maine, Presque Isle (NCAA Division I) from 2009-2010, and serve as an Olympic coach for the New Zealand National Ski Team...

Read More

Vermont Symphony Chamber Orchestra to perform at BMC

The Vermont Symphony's “Made in Vermont” chamber orchestra's statewide tour continues Friday, Sept. 27, with a 7:30 p.m. concert at the Brattleboro Music Center. The visit is especially meaningful to the BMC because of Vermont Symphony Orchestra Conductor Jaime Laredo's role, with his wife, Sharon Robinson as the BMC Artistic Advisers. The program features Ifetayo Ali-Landing, a teenage cellist from the Sphinx Program, playing Haydn's famous C Major Concerto. Ali-Landing began her musical studies on the violin and switched to...

Read More

Dance school hosts open auditions for ‘Nutcracker’

Brattleboro School of Dance will hold open auditions for this season's Nutcracker ballet on Sept. 28. The audition is open to interested community members age 6 and up. The children's audition (ages 6-12) will be from 2 to 3 p.m. Parents and grandparents for the “Party Scene” try out at 3 to 3:45 p.m., intermediate and advanced ballet and character dancers audition from 3:45 to 4:30 p.m., and en pointe dancers from 4:30 to 5 p.m. The school asks that...

Read More

Brattleboro-area artists to take part in statewide Open Studio Tour

The Vermont Craft Council's Fall Open Studio Tour Oct. 5 and 6 will include artists in 13 studios and one gallery in Brattleboro, West Brattleboro, Dummerston, and Newfane. Of those artists, seven are members of Brattleboro-West Arts. Participating studios will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, with many sites offering demonstrations as well as the opportunity to purchase art and talk to the professional artists who made it. The Brattleboro area offers diverse...

Read More

Around the Towns

Brooks Library screens film on the 'Trillion Tree Campaign' BRATTLEBORO - Tree Crop Solutions of Brattleboro will offer a free, public film screening and acorn distribution on Monday, Sept. 30, at 6:30 pm in the Main Reading Room of Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St. The documentary Taking Root, by Lisa Merton and Alan Dater of Marlboro Productions, follows the work of Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement who helped transform the nation...

Read More

Hike for the Homeless benefits Groundworks

Groundworks Collaborative will hold the ninth annual Hike for the Homeless fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 5, on Mount Wantastiquet. “Groundworks is an organization of dedicated people working passionately every day to meet people's basic needs with dignity,” Executive Director Josh Davis said in a news release. “This event aims to call attention to the need and help us raise the funds we need to do the work.” The hike will begin at 10 a.m., with check-in beginning at 9:30 a.m.,

Read More

Fall water-main flushing begins Sept. 26

Brattleboro Utilities Division crews will start fall flushing of the town water mains on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 10 p.m. and continue through Saturday, Oct. 12. Some daytime flushing will continue throughout the weeks of Oct. 15 and 21. Water-main flushing will occur night and day. Customers are asked to check the flushing schedule closely, as flushing causes water discoloration, low water pressure, and, in some areas, periods of no water. Night flushing will take place from 10 p.m. to...

Read More

Community discussion in Putney looks at end-of-life options

The public is invited to attend a free community discussion to learn more about Vermont's medical-aid-in-dying law, Act 39, which enables adult, state residents who are facing a terminal illness to obtain a prescription allowing them to choose their time of death. On Monday, Sept. 30, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Putney Community Cares, Inc., Patient Choices Vermont, and Brattleboro Area Hospice will co-sponsor “Your Options, Your Autonomy, at End of Life.” The discussion will take place at the Putney...

Read More

NEYT delivers 30 plays in 60 minutes

New England Youth Theatre proudly presents “Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind,” or TMLMTBGB (as it is affectionately known). Written by the Neo-Futurists, and directed by NEYT fan favorite Jane Baker, TMLMTBGB became the longest running show in Chicago and the only open-run Off-Off-Broadway show in New York. Starting in 1988, the show ran 50 weekends of the year until 2016. Curtain time for this show is 7 p.m. on Oct. 4, 5, 11, and 12, and 2...

Read More

BMC’s ‘Singing Strong’ program for older singers resumes Oct. 1

The Brattleboro Music Center's popular “Singing Strong” program for older singers resumes Tuesday, Oct. 1. Sessions are held Tuesdays, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., through Nov. 12. The cost is $85 for seven weeks. No auditions or performances are required. “Singing Strong” is for people who want to have fun and learn more about their voices along the way, according to a news release. Susan Dedell will lead a joyful hour of singing songs chosen from a variety of musical...

Read More

Marlboro College Home Days features alumni dance showcase

Marlboro College will present an action-packed performance by nine alumni dancers on Friday, Sept. 27, as part of the college's Home Days alumni weekend. The free performance will begin at 7 p.m., in the Serkin Center for the Performing Arts Dance Studio, and will be followed by an informal reception in the Serkin Center lobby. The show is free and open to the public. The alumni dance showcase will feature nine alumni who studied dance at Marlboro and are still...

Read More

Nature Museum hosts annual Fairy House Festival

Fairy schools, fairy libraries, fairy pirate ships, and fairy hot air balloons are some of the sights that will be on display at this year's Fairy House Festival. Each year, The Nature Museum welcomes thousands of visitors from Vermont, New England, and beyond to the Fairy House Festival, a family-friendly celebration of nature, creativity, inspiration, and community. The 11th annual Fairy House Festival at The Nature Museum in Grafton will welcome the fairies in their forests once more for this...

Read More

Osher lectures look at kingship and authority in selected Shakespeare plays

The Brattleboro Area Osher Lifelong Learning Institute presents their fall 2019 lecture series, “Kingship and Authority in Selected Shakespeare Plays.” Led by Geraldine Pittman de Battle, this course will consider the cultural context of the plays such as the belief in the Great Chain of Being, the belief in the Divine Right of Kings and the practice of Witchcraft. Emphasis will be placed on those qualities so necessary for an enlightened and safe community: the importance of truth and language,

Read More

Colonels, BF sit atop Division II football rankings

We are now at the midpoint of the Vermont high school football season, and Brattleboro and Bellows Falls are atop the Division II standings. Brattleboro (4-0) is in first place and the only undefeated team left in Division II after a 56-26 pounding of the North Country Falcons at Natowich Field on Sept. 20. After losing to Brattleboro on opening night, Bellows Falls has won three straight games and moved into second place in Division II on Sept. 21 after...

Read More

Five new exhibits to open at BMAC

Five new exhibits open at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center on Friday, Oct. 4, with an opening reception at 5:30 p.m. The new exhibits explore the essence of birch trees, the concept of inherited trauma, the personalities of tables, the tarot, and more. Several of the exhibiting artists are expected to attend the opening reception, which is free and open to all. Three of the exhibits will remain on view through Feb. 9, 2020, while the other two will...

Read More

Foodworks: a new lease on (shelf) life

Foodworks, the new food shelf on 141 Canal St., looks just like a neighborhood market. And that's by design, said Christine Colascione. Colascione is the coordinator of Groundworks Collaborative's food shelf program, which made the move last month from the cramped quarters of the Drop-In Center on 60 South Main St. to the former site of Domino's Pizza. “We wanted people to come inside and feel comfortable,” she said. That was a hard thing to do at the Drop-In Center,

Read More

Gentle weather continues to preside as fall begins

Good day to you, fine southern Vermonters! I hope a good week is in store for you in every way possible over the next seven days. For our sensible weather, we'll deal with light impacts that will feature seasonable temperatures, reasonable humidities, and some rain spritzes intermingled with generous amounts of sunshine. Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday into early next week looks pleasant and fair. Thursday and Saturday, however, should feature frontal passages that will bring clouds and scattered showers during...

Read More

Brattleboro makes a bid to shift power

A coalition of towns is trying to shift some authority from the state level to the towns in the upcoming legislative session. Brattleboro and other interested towns, along with the nonprofit Vermont League of Cities and Towns, are spearheading the effort. “It's going to be a really heavy lift in the House,” said Gwynn Zakov, the nonprofit League's municipal policy advocate, who updated the Brattleboro Selectboard on the effort to create a municipal self-governance pilot program at the board's Sept.

Read More

Selectboard rejects proposal to declare climate emergency, approves renewable-energy funding

The Selectboard voted 3–2 against a proposal for a Declaration of Climate Emergency after the third hearing on the proposal by a local grassroots organization, Brattleboro Common Sense, and an international coalition, The Climate Mobilization, to declare a climate emergency in town. In contrast, later that evening, the Selectboard authorized using $16,333.12 to fund local renewable-energy projects in response to a resolution from the 2018 Annual Representative Town Meeting, a resolution also put forward by Brattleboro Common Sense. Mark Tully,

Read More

Anti-nuclear groups begin New England tour on issues surrounding high-level waste

Citizens Awareness Network and other anti-nuclear activist groups have begun a tour through New England exploring the issue of high-level nuclear waste. According to a news release, the tour will address “the abdication by the federal government and the nuclear industry of their responsibility for HLNW stranded at nuclear sites throughout the country.” After kickoff events on Oct. 1 in Burlington and Montpelier, the tour will make stops in the Connecticut River Valley on Oct. 2 with an afternoon news...

Read More

Conservancy focuses on removing plastic in annual river cleanup

The Connecticut River Conservancy hosts their 23rd annual Source to Sea Cleanup on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27 and 28. In addition to annually coordinating thousands of volunteers to clean up trash in our rivers, CRC said in a news release that it continues to work toward solutions to the persistent problem of trash pollution. Plastic bags, bottles, and polystyrene (Styrofoam) are consistently the most found items during the Source to Sea Cleanup and these items never fully break down...

Read More

Community comes together to find a beloved companion

Four years ago, I met and adopted Gypsy, a medium-sized beagle hound, from the Windham County Humane Society. My wife had died the year before, and I was seeking some companionship. Although my building, the Brooks House, does not allow pets, its management did make an exception for Gypsy when I produced a note from my doctor confirming my need for a companion dog. Gypsy was one of 12 dogs sent from Puerto Rico to Brattleboro from the nonprofit rescue...

Read More

Vermont Jazz Center Sextet returns to Main Street Arts

The Vermont Jazz Center Sextet makes a return visit to Main Street Arts in a performance Friday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m., featuring the music of some of the greats of jazz. Works by Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Art Blakey, mixed in with some original music and arrangements written by members of the ensemble, promise an up-tempo experience for lovers of jazz. The sextet is the VJC's outreach ensemble that brings live jazz to a wider audience in less...

Read More

Unwinnable war

In 1995, two brothers, Raymond and Mortimer Sackler, were made honorary Knight Commanders of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in honor of their “professional, humanitarian and exploration” achievements - an award that has been bestowed on an eclectic assortment of luminaries, including Mother Theresa, Bono, and J. Edgar Hoover. The same year, Purdue Pharma, a company owned by the Sacklers, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for OxyContin. This new extended-release...

Read More

Hundreds march in Brattleboro as part of Global Climate Strike

Young people carrying signs chanted, “The planet is changing, so why aren't we?” and “No more oil, keep the carbon in the soil!” The youths - hundreds of them, and by some estimates, more than 1,000 of them - converged on Pliny Park and High Street, joined by protesters of all ages and from multiple communities in the biggest protest here since a 2012 march opposing the re-licensing of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Later, a crowd of all...

Read More