PUTNEY-Next Stage Arts continues its 2025 Bandwagon Summer Series when The Gaslight Tinkers and Sammy & Brothers take the stage Saturday, Sept. 13, at Cooper Field, 41 Sand Hill Rd. Gates open at 4 p.m., with music beginning at 5 p.m.
The Gaslight Tinkers fuse African, Caribbean, funk, reggae, and Latin grooves with traditional fiddle music.
Since forming in 2012, the band has played for audiences across the U.S. and the Caribbean, headlining festivals and clubs with a sound the Valley Advocate praised as "music that consistently fizzes and pops with unexpected textures and turns."
Individually, Peter Siegel, Garrett Sawyer, I-Shea, Eliezer Martinez, and Clara Constance-Stickney have performed with Pete Seeger, Noel Paul Stookey, the Soca Monarchs of the Caribbean, The Alchemystics, and more.
BRATTLEBORO-The Windham County Humane Society (WCHS) presents their annual "Walk for Animals" fundraiser at the Brattleboro Common on Saturday, Sept. 13. Registration begins at 9:15 a.m. At 10 a.m., participants and their canine companions will walk a 1.3-mile loop through downtown Brattleboro before returning to the Common for treats,
Obituaries • Avis Bettis, 96, of Keene, New Hampshire, formerly of Brattleboro. Died peacefully on Aug. 28, 2025. Avis was hardworking, independent, and dedicated and had a feisty side. She always wanted to be helpful all the way until the end. She lived in her own home until June...
Rabies clinic in Brattleboro BRATTLEBORO - There will be a rabies clinic on Saturday, Sept. 13, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the lobby of the Windham County Sheriff's Office at 185 Old Ferry Rd. Vaccines are $25 each, and available for both dogs and cats. Call 802-365-4942 for further information. Watercolor exhibit at All Souls Church WEST BRATTLEBORO - Twenty artists from the Connecticut River Chapter of Vermont Watercolor Society are exhibiting their work at All Souls Church...
MARLBORO-The Silverback Swing Band will perform at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 314 Upper Houghton Rd., rain or shine. If the weather is inhospitable, the concert will be indoors in the Thrush Hill Studio at the same location. The band plays music from French cafés of a bygone era - also known as Jazz Manouche or Hot Club music, in the style of the French Romani guitarist Django Reinhardt. Silverback Swing's repertoire includes classic instrumentals of Django's band,
WEST BRATTLEBORO-The Good Trouble Street Choir and its leader, Becky Graber, will host a musical fundraiser for the active organizing group Indivisible Brattleboro Friday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. at All Souls Church, 29 South St. They'll be joined by The Bakers For Democracy, who will offer baked goods for sale by donation. This event combines performances by Lisa McCormick, The MacArthur Family, Big Woods Voices, and George Carvill, with sing-along opportunities, using music as a tool for community-building, connection,
BENNINGTON-Bennington College is now accepting submissions from high school students around the world for its 2025–26 Young Writers Awards (YWA). This annual competition, which accepts entries in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, is free to enter and open to all high school students in grades 9 through 12. A first-, second-, and third-place winner is selected in each of the categories, with cash prizes up to $2,000 awarded. YWA finalists and winners are also eligible for undergraduate scholarships at Bennington. Winners...
BRATTLEBORO-"Constitution Wrangler" Meg Mott, who holds a doctorate of philosophy in political science and government, continues her exploration of how the Constitution is designed to make the United States "a more perfect union" on Wednesday, Sept. 17 - the 238th anniversary of its signing - at 6:30 p.m. at Brooks Memorial Library. The event is free. No registration required. The topic for discussion is, "What the Constitution Means for Us," a variation on Heidi Schreck's one-woman show, What the Constitution...
BRATTLEBORO-Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) has received the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines - Heart Failure Rural Bronze recognition for its commitment to improving outcomes for patients with heart failure, which means reduced re-admissions and more healthy days at home. According to a news release, the award is earned by hospitals that demonstrate a commitment to treating patients according to the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines for heart failure care as outlined by the American Heart Association. "Our providers work...
NEWFANE-The Windham County Sheriff's Office invites the public to attend their Regional Policing Initiative's public meeting, Monday, Sept. 22, at 5:30 p.m., at the Windham County Courthouse, 7 Court St. This meeting will also be available online via Zoom at bit.ly/831-policing. The meeting ID is 840 2457 6405. The passcode is 390256. Sheriff Mark Anderson will present his proposal, which seeks to improve access to rural law enforcement through shared services across municipalities, and invite discussion on the initiative. Anderson...
Elayne Clift (elayne-clift.com) has written this column about women, politics, and social issues for almost 20 years. BRATTLEBORO-I remember the days when school was about to begin for another year. Kids went to the five-and-dime store to buy new pencil holders, good erasers, and tablets before carefully covering their new schoolbooks with brown paper bags from the grocery store. Sometimes we got new saddle shoes, too. It was exciting, and, thankfully, our parents didn't have to worry about funding cuts...
BRATTLEBORO-With so much music happening in recent decades at 22 High St., one could argue it may be Brattleboro's version of Manhattan's Brill Building. Unlike the storied New York City office tower, this four-story brick structure is not where Carole King, Burt Bacharach, and scores of other hit makers arguably defined the sound of 1960s popular music. But its current and recent tenants certainly have contributed to decades of song and dance in and around town. Practice space for bands.
Jeff Potter has edited The Commons since 2008 and has been working in and around newspapers and other publications for more than 40 years. He's still learning. BRATTLEBORO-Every time we publish material by a writer who takes a stand either way on the war in Gaza, even in passing, we take heat from activists on the opposite side. We have engaged, and will continue to engage, with readers who are critical of our editorial processes and decisions, and we always...
-It would have been unthinkable back in the days when Jayne Barber prowled the sidelines in the 1980s and 1990s that a Bellows Falls field hockey team would have eighth-graders on the roster. But field hockey participation keeps declining in Vermont. Girls can play soccer or run cross country instead. They can work at an after-school job. Or they just do something else with their time. This means that even a successful field hockey program like Bellows Falls is having...
EAST DUMMERSTON-Read and Malah Miller have been running the Dwight Miller Orchard for more than three decades, and they planned to start passing the operation on to his children this apple season. "This was going be a transition year for us," said Malah Miller. "We didn't expect it to be this way." A three-alarm fire on Aug. 16 destroyed the orchard's packing house building that was home to their cold storage and produce coolers, their cider press and apple packing...
BRATTLEBORO-The Windham County Heat Fund, with the help of a $20,000 matching grant, is kicking off a major fundraising campaign and a benefit concert to support people who have relied on federal fuel assistance that will no longer be available. The Heat Fund - founded by Richard Davis and Daryl Pillsbury, both Brattleboro residents, in 2005 - was intended to help county residents who fell between the cracks of this social safety net, and the two friends have prided themselves...
JACKSONVILLE-After overseeing the senior meals program for 10 years, Terrie Dumaine is stepping down from her post as director, where she oversaw the distribution of delivered meals as well as the serving of in-person lunches two days a week. The position, which is a volunteer post, was a labor of love for Dumaine. She told The Deerfield Valley News that the decision to leave was a difficult one. "It was devastating," said Dumaine. "These people are like family to me,
Meg Mott is professor emerita of Marlboro College and Emerson College and describes herself as a "Constitution Wrangler." She will be discussing the paradoxes in the Constitution on Constitution Day (Wednesday, Sept. 17) at 6:30 p.m. at Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main St., Brattleboro). PUTNEY-Everywhere I go I'm asked if we still have a Constitution. The actions of the current administration, people tell me, are so egregious that its pages must be shredded with the force of its misconduct. I...
BRATTLEBORO-The Vermont Jazz Center is honored to host Grammy-nominated jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran to launch its 2025–26 season of concerts. This solo piano performance, with the theme of "Ellington in Focus," will take place at the VJC on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m. In addition being a Grammy Award nominee, Moran has been named DownBeat Critic's Poll Artist of the Year, and he has received a MacArthur Fellowship ("Genius grant"). Moran's work blends music with performance art,
BRATTLEBORO-I have lived and voted in Brattleboro for 45 years, and I am writing about the upcoming votes on Town Meeting. I will vote to keep the Representative Town Meeting. I think it is a suitable and adaptable way to do business in a town this size. For many years prior to this, the names on my ballot for Town Meeting representative did not change much from year to year. Over the years I became acquainted with many of these...
BRATTLEBORO-The Selectboard will host a listening session to kick off the fiscal year 2027 budget process on Thursday, Sept. 11, starting at 6:15 p.m. at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St. This in-person event is an opportunity for the public to share their ideas about priorities for spending for the next financial year, which begins on July 1, 2026, directly with the Selectboard outside the typical meeting format. There will be no Zoom or livestream option for this meeting, but...
BRATTLEBORO-As the provisos of this year's education reform law set in, the Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) and Windham Southeast Supervisory Union (WSESU) have each sent resolutions to the Vermont School District Redistricting Task Force advocating for supervisory union (SU) consolidation. "At the moment, we find ourselves in the interesting position of simultaneously moving forward as if things will stay the same and as if they are about to change," WSESU Chair Anne Beekman told The Commons. "The board will...
NEWFANE-The Crowell Art Gallery at Moore Free Library will present "Painting with Pastel" in September, featuring pieces from the Vermont Pastel Society. The exhibit of the works in pastel - versatile dry, chalk-like pigments that can be used for drawing or blending - is currently up and on display through Friday, Sept. 26. The exhibit will present artwork from Lesley Heathcote, Deedee Jones, Carol Corliss, Carroll Durand, Cath Stockbridge, David Brown, Matt Peake, Matthew Beck, and Lee Anne Parker. The...
Pablo Bose is a professor in the Department of Geography and Geosciences at the University of Vermont, where he is director of the Global and Regional Studies Program, and Thomas Huddleston is university partnerships advisor with ECDC Vermont. For more information or any inquiries about their report, contact Bose at [email protected]. BURLINGTON-Vermonters are proud of their reputation of being good neighbors and welcoming to strangers. The latest Vermonter Poll (2024) from the Center for Rural Studies at the University of...