Vermont Comedy All Stars return to Next Stage Arts

Gordon Clark and his Vermont Comedy All-Stars return Friday, June 17, at 7:30 p.m. for a night of stand-up comedy at Next Stage Arts, following their enormously successful shows in November and March. Featured performers will include several contest-winning and touring comedians most often seen in the Burlington area.

“We all need reasons to laugh, and the Vermont Comedy All Stars do an outstanding job,” Keith Marks, executive director of Next Stage Arts, said in a news release. “Comedians will be coming from all around the state to perform - partnering with the All-Stars allows them to reach a new audience in the southern part of the state and build a new following.”

The cast of stellar performers includes:

• Jessie Baade, a long time stand-up performer, hailing from the Catskills of New York but now located in Brattleboro. She performs regularly at venues throughout the Northeast, and has been featured in the Women In Comedy Festival, Boston Comedy Festival (2021 competition), Chris Fleming's Gayle web series, and the New York International Fringe Festival.

Read More

Around the Towns

Senior meal served in Dummerston DUMMERSTON - Senior Solutions and Evening Star Grange will present a meal of “comfort food” on Wednesday, June 22, at the Grange hall in Dummerston Center. Take-outs are available from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and in-house seating/serving available at noon. The menu will...

Read More

Derby elected board chair of Brattleboro Savings & Loan

Carmen Derby was recently elected as Brattleboro Savings & Loan new board chair, replacing Tom Wallin, who has retired from the board after 22 years of service. Derby has been a force for good in our community for many years as the former executive director of the United Way...

Read More

More

‘Cornstock’ fundraiser for Youth Services grosses $11,000

Despite an unusually hot spring day on May 21, Youth Services' new fundraiser, “Cornstock: Cornhole for a Cause!” was successfully launched at Retreat Farm in Brattleboro. Presented by Chroma Technology, the inaugural event, which celebrated Youth Services' 50 years of building community, grossed $11,000 to support its 20 programs in Windham County and in neighboring New Hampshire towns. Teams of four or more, totaling 125 individuals with names like “The Hole Denominators,”“Creamed Corn,” “Lieutenant Frank Drebin,” and the “Senior Holymolycornholies,”

Read More

BFUHS student wins Jr. Iron Chef Competition

On April 2, Joey Jacques of Bellows Falls Union High School competed in the Junior Iron Chef VT competition and took home the Mise en Place award cooking by himself. His winning dish was Portobello Katsu over a Sweet Potato Curry and Coconut Rice. Jr. Iron Chef VT is a statewide cooking competition for middle and high school students. Teams are invited to create healthy vegetarian dishes using seasonal ingredients and to show off skills formed in after-school clubs. The...

Read More

Mrowicki seeks re-election to Vermont House

There isn't a time when I go outside Vermont, that something doesn't spark me to think of calling it a “Vermont appreciation trip.” I can't think of better people or a better place to be, or of better work to do, than helping keep Vermont moving forward. That's why I'm running for re-election to continue working for the people of the Windham-4 District of Putney and Dummerston, in the Aug. 9 Democratic Primary. With Vermont's part-time citizen Legislature having adjourned...

Read More

Legion baseball season begins this week

The high school baseball season in Vermont wrapped up this week, which means the American Legion Baseball season is not far behind. The seven Southern Division teams from last season all return this year with Brattleboro Post 5 and Bellows Falls Post 37 competing along with Bennington Post 13, Manchester Union Underground, Lakes Region, Rutland Post 31, and White River Junction Post 84. Brattleboro, the state runner-up in 2021, began its season on June 14 at Manchester Union Underground, and...

Read More

Avant-garde jazz artists present multi-genre concert

Next Stage Arts presents avant-garde jazz legends William Parker and Hamid Drake in “Sutras for a Suffering World,” setting the poetry of David Budbill to music. The concert is Sunday, June 19, at 5 p.m., at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill. “Vermont's artistic treasures know no bounds. David Budbill was an enigmatic artist and poet who had strong connections to the national and international arts stage,” Keith Marks, executive director of Next Stage Arts, said in a news release.

Read More

Milestones

College news • The following local students at the Community College of Vermont earned associate degrees in spring 2022: John H. Clark, Alejandro S. Toledo Cornman, Rena Tian Dimes, Griffin Scott Lynde, Art J. Miess, Alyssa Anne O'Brien, Brooke Paquette, and Amanda Rae Tuttle of Brattleboro; Morgan Lynn Stevens of Grafton, Mark Geno and Cecil Warren McLaury of Guilford, Emma Paige Lane of Jamaica, Eva Reneé Paré of Londonderry, Nolen William Donovan of Rockingham; Lauren Bridget Shott of Stratton, Evan...

Read More

Canal Street Art Gallery celebrates expansion

Canal Street Art Gallery presents the fourth annual Vermont Summer Group Show. This year's show is opening in the gallery's newly expanded space on the 3rd Friday Gallery Night, June 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. Celebrate and meet new artists, enjoy live music from Asante, and see new artwork. The event is free and open to the public. The new gallery is adjacent to the existing location of 23 Canal Street. The expansion will open both spaces, and it...

Read More

WSWMD receives state grant for household hazardous waste disposal

In May, the Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) re-opened its household hazardous waste (HHW) Depot for the season. The HHW Depot first opened in May 2021 and in the six months it was open last year, it served 326 households from 16 district towns. WSWMD says that in the past, handling and disposal of HHW at special, one-day collection events were costing them as much as $200 per vehicle served. Last year, the average cost per vehicle served was...

Read More

Japanese sound artist to perform

Japanese sound artist Yosuke Fujita, who performs under the moniker FUJI ¦¦¦¦ TA, will take the stage at the multimedia arts venue Epsilon Spires on Tuesday, June 21. Supporting him on the bill is id m theft able, a prolific veteran of the noise music scene from Windham, Maine. Funding for this event is provided in part by an Arts and Culture Grant from The Japan Foundation of New York. In 2009, Fujita hand-fabricated a pipe organ with eleven pipes...

Read More

VTC, Retreat Farm to present ‘The Servant of Two Masters’ outdoors

The Vermont Theatre Company and Retreat Farm will collaborate on a production of Carlo Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters, a modern Italian commedia, adapted from the 1743 play by Jeffrey Hatcher and Paolo Emilio Landi. “This classic is a hilarious and convoluted story of mistaken identities, disguises, miscommunications, and matters of honor by which true lovers are kept apart and then, as if by clockwork, are finally brought together,” states Jessa Rowan, the director, in a news release. She...

Read More

Library event to celebrate Joyce and ‘Ulysses’

On Thursday, June 16, the public is invited to join in a celebration of the literary holiday Bloomsday at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St. People around the world celebrate June 16 as the fictional date in 1904 when characters Leopold and Molly Bloom, Stephen Dedalus, and a host of other Dubliners from all walks of life in James Joyce's novel Ulysses experience the full range of human events and emotions. Jon Mack will lead the celebration by following the...

Read More

Athena Giving Circle funds Bradley House

The Athena Giving Circle, a group of 10 Brattleboro area women, made their third annual award in the amount of $5,000 to Garden Path Elder Living, the organization that runs Bradley House, a residential home providing community living for elders in Southern Vermont. Bradley House can house up to 35 residents. While the stately mansion was recently renovated and updated, it became apparent during the pandemic that its internet service required a major upgrade in order to support the needs...

Read More

‘Flush: The Documentary’ makes a splash

Rich Earth Institute and the People's Own Organic Power (POOP) Project are co-hosting a film screening of Flush: The Documentary, followed by a panel discussion on Saturday, June 18, at 2 p.m., in the Epsilon Spires Community Room, 190 Main St. According to a news release, the film tells the story of what happens after we “go,” and of a growing movement to change the way we think about waste. “Director Karina Mangu-Ward has a hunch that the unprecedented damage...

Read More

Legislature OKs funding for Vermont Everyone Eats beyond July 1

Thanks to a $1.3 million allocation included by Vermont legislators in the final version of bill S.11, signed by Governor Scott on June 8, the groundbreaking Vermont Everyone Eats (VEE) program now has the necessary funding to continue to leverage FEMA support in providing Covid relief support for Vermont restaurants, farmers, and meal recipients. Everyone Eats is a multisector Covid relief program providing economic support to local restaurants, economic benefit to farmers, and restaurant-prepared meals for food-insecure Vermonters affected by...

Read More

Foodworks reopens for in‑person shopping

Groundworks Collaborative's Foodworks food shelf program reopened to in-person shopping as of June 13, after more than two years of curbside pickup and deliveries. The program has been located at 141 Canal Street since September 2019, but had to quickly reorganize operations in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the safety of shoppers and staff alike. “We are excited about giving people the opportunity to choose their own groceries again,” Andrew Courtney, Foodworks's new director,

Read More

Twilight on the Tavern Lawn series begins its 19th season

Twilight Music begins its 19th Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, zydeco, rock, and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, June 19, with roots and world music quintet The Gaslight Tinkers. Co-presented with Next Stage Arts Project, the four-concert series continues on Sundays. The Gaslight Tinkers' blend of global rhythms creates what organizers call “a joyous world beat sound around a core of traditional New England old time and Celtic fiddle music, merging boundless positive energy with...

Read More

Military women do face astounding levels of sexual harassment, assault, and rape

Dan Jeffries asked for Anna Mullany's sources for the statement [“We aren't more civilized in our behavior,” Response, June 1] that “One in three women in the military are raped by fellow service members.” I don't know what Mullany's source is, or whether the correct figure is “one in three,” but there's a lot of evidence that military women face astounding levels of sexual harassment, assault, and rape. Two examples: • In 2008, CNN reported that U.S. Rep. Jane Harman,

Read More

Welch spurning debate shows 'disregard for Vermonters' curiosity and intelligence'

During an election cycle, candidates running for office show respect for their fellow Vermonters by participating in debates. An important working aspect of our democracy, these events are an effective way for contenders to present their points of view, defend their actions to the present moment, and acknowledge their responsibility to represent constituents while in office. Questions from the audience are another point of engagement, providing each Vermont voter with the equivalent of a spot at the podium. When the...

Read More

Not how things are done in Brattleboro

I've covered a lot of stories that were difficult to report, but after weeks of covering now-former Town Manager Yoshi Manale's resignation and associated events, I have to say that this has been the most challenging. Part of the reason? No one will talk on the record, except to say nice, innocuous things. That's because everyone who knows what happened between Jan. 1, when Manale began work, and June 1, when his contract ended after a resignation clause in his...

Read More

Columnist's gathered thoughts speak the truth

MacLean Gander certainly wrote a reality check for all of us who insist we are OK when we are not. This Covid time of strangeness has affected everyone. His burnout or lack thereof revealed some wonderful literary quotes. Referring to great stories and quoting great authors help in the healing we need. Shakespeare's memorable words in King Lear: “The weight of this sad time we must obey/Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.” His gathered thoughts spoke...

Read More

Putney library must say goodbye to two staunch maples

We want to let all Putney residents and other tree lovers know that on Thursday, June 23, we will bid farewell regrettably to the two staunch maple trees that have graced our library since it opened in 2004. The trees, estimated to be about 100 to 150 years old, were part of the beloved Aiken Nursery, which occupied the area originally. We want to reassure the public that his decision was not made lightly or without serious input from arborists.

Read More

Armed bystanders can stop mass slaughter

Thank you for including the balanced and insightful response of Liam Madden in the discussion of gun violence in the U.S. Since his column, at least two more incidents of mass slaughter have occurred. We can continue to breathlessly rant our indignation. We can continue to debate what the Founding Fathers actually meant when they drafted the Second Amendment while also avoiding discussions of what a disarmed citizenry can face from both inside political tyranny, as well as outside threats...

Read More

Congressional representation matters to Vermont

As a student of Vermont history and especially that pertaining to agriculture, land use, and the environment, I know of the importance of sending a person to Congress who understands Vermont. Next year, it will be the first time in my lifetime that Vermont, with the retirement of Sen. Patrick Leahy, will not have anyone in a senior position on the agriculture committees of the U.S. Congress during consideration of the next five-year farm bill. These farm bills are critical...

Read More

What if?

What if 50 people were murdered at the NRA convention before the killer was shot? What if there was a mass shooting at the school Ted Cruz's children attend? What if every town in the United States had a memorial to children killed at school? What if, instead of arming teachers, there were three times as many mental health counselors in schools as there are now? What if firearms were not the leading cause of death in American children and...

Read More

Artists of color converge for ‘Multidisciplinary Artist Salon: Transcendence’ this summer

On Friday and Saturday, July 29 and 30, five artists of color from across the country will meet in southern Vermont for a series of events organized by the nonprofit art space Epsilon Spires. The gathering “Multidisciplinary Artist Salon: Transcendence” will feature an evening of music, poetry, and visual art in the sanctuary, followed the next day by creative workshops and artist talks in and around the idyllic Green River Bridge Inn in Guilford. All events are open to the...

Read More

Moxie headlines Brattrock Festival

Brattrock, a youth festival presented by sponsor Guilford Sound, is returning with its first in-person performances on Saturday, June 18, at Stone Church, 210 Main St., from 6:30 to 11 pm. All ages are welcome. Moxie, a four-piece indie rock band formed in January 2017 in Brattleboro, is headlining Brattrock as part of their Summer '22 Tour and will perform hits from both albums Fall LP and Flow of Color. According to the band, Moxie draws from a wide range...

Read More

Wilmington celebrates completion of community art project

To celebrate the completed installation of the original artwork on the retaining wall along Beaver Street to School Street, join Wilmington Works and Payne and Elise Junker of Payne Junker Studio for a community art opening on Saturday, June 18, from 4 to 6 p.m. According to Wilmington Works, the artists and theme for the artwork were chosen through a community vote in 2020, and work has gone on since then to incorporate community input into the design, engineer the...

Read More

Main Street Arts hosts Carrie Ferguson

Main Street Arts (MSA) is proud to present Northampton, Mass., musical artist Carrie Ferguson with The Grumpytime Club trio in an outdoor concert in Saxtons River on Sunday, June 26, at 6 p.m. Ferguson describes her original music for children and their parents as “creative, positive, upbeat, and catchy as cake!” She says her recent album, The Grumpytime Club, offers children and families welcoming and inclusive messages about accepting feelings, celebrating differences, and loving themselves exactly as they are. As...

Read More

Brattleboro’s EMS plan lacks state license

A plan to drop the town's nearly 60-year contract with Rescue Inc. for a lower-priced emergency medical service lacks a state license just weeks before its scheduled July 1 start. Complicating matters, the current private nonprofit provider says it won't respond to local calls without negotiated compensation after June 30. As part of a presumptive transition plan for the local fire department to take over EMS duties, the Selectboard abruptly entered into a contract with the for-profit Golden Cross Ambulance...

Read More

‘Willa Cox: Abstract Narratives’ opens June 25

Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts, 183 Main St., presents “Willa Cox: Abstract Narratives,” opening Saturday, June 25, at noon, with an artist reception from 5 to 7 p.m. An artist talk is scheduled for Saturday, July 16, at 5 p.m. The exhibition continues through July 31. Monotype, marbling, and watercolor on paper are some of the various techniques and materials which characterize New York-based artist Willa Cox's richly surfaced paintings. For “Abstract Narratives,” the artist has cut sections from previous compositions to...

Read More

Brattleboro shut out in state baseball title

For the second straight year, the Brattleboro Colonels played in the Division I state baseball championship game. Unfortunately, for the second straight year, the Colonels were shut out by their opponents. Last year, it was Champlain Valley who beat the Colonels, 13-0. On June 13 at Centennial Field, the third-seeded Colonels lost to fourth-seeded Essex Hornets by a score of 9-0. It was Essex's sixth state championship and their first one since 2010. The Colonels, on the other hand, are...

Read More

Blooming where you’re planted

In the reshuffling of the Vermont electoral deck that started with the retirement of U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, virtually every officeholder was faced with a question: Do I stay put, or do I try to move up? Two Windham County members of the Vermont House of Representatives whom many thought would take a flier at a run for higher office decided to stay put. Reps. Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro, and Sara Coffey, D-Guilford, both have served two terms. Both are alumni...

Read More

Listen and think for yourself

I asked for my father's MAGA hat, from among the other pieces of his life that we kids were helping Mom clear out of their closet. My father and I loved each other, despite the flaws we shared. Chief among those is stubbornness. A second is the desire to debate politics - hotly and loudly, too often. A third is the tendency towards pessimism. On Jan. 5, before vaccines were widely available and despite the fact my parents took Covid...

Read More

Brattleboro to honor memory of soldiers erased from history

When this former hub town for Vermont's Union troops first debated how to honor its Civil War soldiers a century and a half ago, some locals proposed a plaque listing names, while others promoted and ultimately unveiled one limited to numbers. “This monument commemorates the loyalty and patriotism of the men of Brattleboro, who fought for liberty and the Union in the Great Rebellion of 1861-1865,” its 40-word statement began. “Enlisted 385. Died in Service 31. Erected by a grateful...

Read More