Business - The Commons

Transcription

RO C K ING HAM/ B E L L OW S F ALLS
Ousted library director seeks to halt hiring of successor
Tensions flare with search committee process; candidates square off in forum
By Allison Teague
The Commons
BELLOWS FALLS—The
attorney representing the former director of the Rockingham
Free Public Library said that
he has filed an injunction to
halt any further action by the
library’s search committee to
hire a new director to replace
Célina Houlné.
Houlné’s lawyer, Richard
Bowen, told The Commons on
Tuesday that he expected the
injunction would be “filed today
and served either later today or
first thing tomorrow.”
Houlné, who was terminated
last August, has already filed suit
against the library trustees and
the Town of Rockingham, seeking reinstatement, back pay, and
unspecified damages.
Bowen said the injunction
asks the court to “maintain the
status quo by preventing the
board of trustees from hiring any
replacement.”
According to a Windham
Superior Court clerk who declined to identify herself, depending on “what the injunction
is asking for,” the injunction
could go before the court immediately and a decision rendered
by the judge.
Even if the injunction is not
immediately granted, Bowen
said, it would be “imprudent”
for the search committee to continue to move forward in the
hiring process “before the court
has an opportunity to hear the
motion and rule on the motion
since it would affect everyone,
[including] anyone applying for
the job.”
Bowen explained that the
judge “can grant an injunction
without a hearing if satisfied”
the “complaint clearly shows
that immediate and irreparable
■ SEE LIBRARY, A7
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Brattleboro, Vermont
Wednesday, February 12, 2014 • Vol. IX, No. 7 • Issue #241
WINDHAM COUNTY’S AWARD-WINNING, INDEPENDENT SOURCE FOR NEWS AND VIEWS
Business
West
Dover
native
earns a
silver
TROPHY GOES FROM
GARAGE TO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
JIM VERZINO
What will the
next economy
look like?
page C1
ENTERPRISE
Marijuana
dispensary
set to open
in Brattleboro
Devin Logan
makes history in her
Olympic debut with
honors in slopestyle
page C1
A slow rebirth
for downtown
Wilmington
businesses
By Randolph T. Holhut
The Commons
page C1
Voices
VIEWPOINT
Journalists in
Sochi should
whine less and
report more
page D1
MEMOIR
Climbing Mt.
Washington
with grit, love,
and teamwork
page D1
The Arts
TO BE...
Theater
companies
to team up
for ‘Hamlet’
at Latchis
Members of Vermont Independent Media
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Visit http://donate.commonsnews.org.
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page B1
COURTESY PHOTO
The Class of 1960’s prize-winning float was a replica of the former A&W Root Beer drive-in restaurant
in Brattleboro.
Piece of BHS/BUHS Alumni Association
history preserved after nearly 20 years
The Commons
BRATTLEBORO—For
nearly two decades, it was sitting in Merrill Yeaw’s garage in
West Chesterfield, N.H.
Now, it has a place of honor
at the Brattleboro Historical
Society.
The Henry B. Allen Trophy
Cup was awarded annually at
the BHS/BUHS Alumni Parade
to the class that built the best
overall float. But when the
Brattleboro Union High School
Class of 1960 won the trophy
at the 100th annual parade in
2006, it turned out that they
would be the last class to win it.
Yeaw said that “The Golden
Oldies” was the theme for that
parade, and his class decided
that their float would be a replica of the former A&W Root
Beer drive-in restaurant on
Putney Road.
“The A&W’s are all gone
now, except for the one up in
Waterbury,” he said. “We went
up there to get the dimensions
and measurements right.”
The float was a hit, and
they won the Allen Trophy.
However, it was the last time a
class would win it.
The alumni parade was discontinued, and the Class of
1960 ended up keeping the
Allen trophy.
That’s how it landed in
Merrill Yeaw’s garage, tucked
away and temporarily forgotten.
“It got boxed up with
the class banners and other
awards,” said Yeaw, a member
of the Class of 1960.
But, last year, Yeaw and
some of his classmates decided
the Allen trophy deserved a better fate.
“A bunch of us went out to
breakfast last spring and we
talked about it,” he said. “We
all agreed the trophy would
be better off at the Historical
Society than in my garage.”
So, after checking in
with BHS/BUHS Alumni
Association president Sue
Strong, they decided to donate the Allen Trophy to the
Historical Society.
Changing times
The BHS/BUHS Alumni
Association has been struggling
with a lack of interest and a lack
of money for the past decade.
COURTESY PHOTO
When members voted in The Henry B. Allen Trophy was presented to the
2006 to make the 100th parade Brattleboro Historical Society by the last BUHS
■ SEE ALUMNI, A5
class to win it, the Class of 1960.
Move over, Kelly Clark.
There’s a new Olympic medalist in West Dover.
Devin Logan made history on
Tuesday when she earned a silver medal in the Olympic debut
of slopestyle skiing at the 2014
Sochi Games.
The event is a hybrid of snowboarding and freestyle skiing,
with competitors performing the
stunts and spins that snowboarders do in the halfpipe — only on
skis instead of a board.
Logan, who also became
Twin Valley High School’s first
Olympic medalist, shot into second place with a solid first run.
She finished behind Canadian
Dara Howell, who scored an impressive 94.2 in her first run and
went on to win the event’s firstever gold medal. Teammate Kim
Lamarre took the bronze.
Conditions were extremely
slushy at Rosa Khutor Extreme
Park, which slowed skiers and
made the event even more
challenging.
“I was really happy with my
run and couldn’t have asked for
anything better,” Logan said
after the event. “I skied one of
my best days today even with
everything: the conditions, the
slushiness, seeing a lot of girls
go down. I put it down and
wouldn’t take it back.”
Logan also had high praise for
the winner.
“Dara had the sickest run of
the day,” Logan said. “I’m so
happy she was the one to beat
me. I was up on the podium with
my friends, and I couldn’t have
asked for a better day. She killed
it and we deserve it, especially after [ESPN’s] X Games.”
The event completed a long
comeback for Logan, who celebrates her 21st birthday on
Feb. 17.
In 2011, she won the U.S.
halfpipe skiing title. In 2011 and
2012 she landed the Association
of Freeskiing Professionals overall championship.
But in the fall of 2012, she
blew out her right knee. After
surgery to repair a torn ACL
and meniscus, she missed the
2012-13 season and her Olympic
dreams were in jeopardy. While
■ SEE LOGAN WINS, A5
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NEWS
A2
A publication of
Vermont Independent Media
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139 Main St. #604, P.O. Box 1212
Brattleboro, VT 05302
(802) 246-6397 • fax (802) 246-1319
www.commonsnews.org
Office hours by appointment
9 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday–Friday
EDITORIAL
Jeff Potter, Editor
—
Randolph T. Holhut, News Editor
Olga Peters, Staff Reporter
John Snyder, Copy Editor
REPORTERS
Allison Teague, Thelma O’Brien,
Richard Henke
EDITORIAL VOLUNTEERS
Lee Stookey, Proofreader
Elizabeth Julia Stoumen,
Calendar Editor and Proofreader
David Shaw, Photographer
STUDENTS & INTERNS
Eben Holderness • Brattleboro Union H.S.
Keith Carr Walsh • Brattleboro Union H.S.
ADVERTISING
Nancy Gauthier, Advertising Mgr.
Tad Dedrick, Advertising Sales
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O P E R AT I O N S
Mia Gannon, Office Manager
Chris Yost, Bookkeeper
Bill Proctor, Distribution
Tom Finnell, Distribution
Chris Cristiano, Distribution
DEVELOPMENT
Carolyn Braunius,
Fundraising Manager
Deadline for the Feb. 19 issue
Friday, Feb. 14
VIM’S MISSION
To create a forum for community
participation through publication
of The Commons and Commonsnews.
org; to promote local, independent
journalism in Windham County;
and to promote civic engagement
by building media skills among
Windham County residents through
the Media Mentoring Project.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Barry Aleshnick, Jerry Goldberg,
Jane Noyes, Olga Peters, Peter
Seares, Daryl Pillsbury, Carolyn
Taylor-Olson, Richard Witty.
ABOUT THE NEWSPAPER
The Commons is a nonprofit, weekly community newspaper published since 2006
by Vermont Independent Media, Inc.,
a nonprofit corporation under section
501(c)3 of the federal tax code.
The newspaper is free, but it is
supported by readers like you through
tax-deductible donations, through advertising support, and through support
of charitable foundations.
SUBMITTING NEWS/TIPS
We welcome story ideas and news
tips. Please contact the newsroom at
[email protected] or at (802)
246-6397.
Most press releases and announcements of upcoming events appear on
www.commonsnews.org, where they
can be made available sooner.
VOICES
The Commons presents a broad range of
essays, memoirs, and other subjective
material in Voices, our editorial and
commentary section. We want the paper to provide an unpredictable variety
of food for thought from all points on
the political spectrum.
We especially invite responses to
material that appears in the paper.
We do not publish unsigned or anonymous letters, and we only very rarely
withhold names for other pieces. When
space is an issue, our priority is to run
contributions that have not yet appeared
in other publications.
Please check with the editor before
writing essays or other original submissions of substance.
Editorials represent the collective
voice of The Commons and are written
by the editors or by members of the
Vermont Independent Media Board of
Directors.
The views expressed in our Voices
section are those of individual contributors. Bylined commentaries by
members of the Vermont Independent
Media board of directors represent
their individual opinions; as an organization, we are committed to providing a forum for the entire community.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization,
Vermont Independent Media is legally
prohibited from endorsing political
candidates.
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Your advertising directly supports a
better newspaper. The display advertising rate is $13.50 per column inch, and
The Commons offers discounts. To place
your ad, contact the advertising coordinator at [email protected].
Advertising files can be saved as PDF
(press-ready setting), EPS (with fonts
converted to outlines), or as TIFF (600
pixels per inch), or printed as black-andwhite hard copy. We can design your ad.
DISTRIBUTION
The Commons distributes 7,800 copies
per issue to 150 drops in almost every
Windham County town weekly. Get in
touch if you would like us to consider
adding your business.
SINCE SOME HAVE ASKED...
Despite our similar name, The Commons
is not affiliated with Vermont Commons,
a website that is linked with a movement
advocating Vermont’s secession from the
United States.
—————
Without our volunteers, this
newspaper would exist only
in our imaginations.
Special thanks to:
Editorial support:
Chris Petrak, Ashley Blom,
Emily Cox, Henry Rathvon,
Henry Hook, Charles Marchant,
Leah McGrath Goodman
Operations support:
Simi Berman, Chris Wesolowski,
Diana Bingham, Jim Maxwell,
Bill Pearson, Menda Waters,
Bevan Quinn, Dan DeWalt, Alan Dann,
Barbara Evans, David Evans, May Yost,
Leona Holcomb, Susan Avery,
Shannon Albritton
THE COMMONS
• Wednesday, February 12, 2014
BR AT TLEBORO
Brattleboro’s newest
police officers
are sworn in
By Olga Peters
The Commons
BRATTLEBORO—At the
Police Department’s first public swearing-in ceremony, held
during the Feb. 3 Selectboard
meeting, four cadets solemnly
swore to protect the people
of Brattleboro, and joined the
ranks.
They are cadets Caleb Currie,
Matthew Petlock, Steven Chase
Stanley, and Colby Kerylow.
The four, graduates of the
Vermont Police Academy’s 16week training course, will now
ride for the next 12 weeks with
seasoned members of the BPD as
part of their field training.
According to Police Chief
Eugene Wrinn, the cadets’ certification through the Vermont
Criminal Justice Training
Council, which operates the
Academy, means that they’re
full-fledged police officers.
Wrinn added that field training helps new officers learn
the procedures and protocols
specific to their new department.
Town Clerk Annette Cappy
officiated.
Such ceremonies typically are
held at the Police Department,
but Interim Town Manager
Patrick Moreland suggested the
change of venue to give citizens
a chance to meet their new officers, and Wrinn agreed.
In taking on the four new officers, the department is in what
Wrinn called “a great position”
with staffing, with only one open
position.
He characterized hiring officers as a balancing act that can
take a year: Although the department accepts applications
throughout the year, the Police
Academy’s training sessions occur only twice a year, in January
and August, said Wrinn.
He added that identifying a
promising applicant is only the
first step. Following that are numerous tests and background
OLGA PETERS/THE COMMONS
checks. Completing the training
at the Police Academy is the final Caleb Currie, Matthew Petlock, Steven Chase Stanley, and Colby Kerylow are
sworn in as Brattleboro’s newest police officers at the Feb. 4 Selectboard meeting.
crucial hurdle.
Selectboard sees detailed plans
for new police, fire facilities
By Olga Peters
The Commons
BRATTLEBORO—In anticipation of a Feb. 11 Development
Review Board (DRB) meeting,
the project manager and architect behind the Police-Fire
Facilities Upgrade project provided the Selectboard with an
project update on Feb. 4.
The upgrade project will make
needed improvements to the
town’s two fire stations and its
police station. Many of the improvements fall into the area of
life-safety issues such as air quality and structural repair.
Paying for the more than $14
million project, however, has met
with controversy as construction
will raise property taxes in a town
already feeling the pinch.
According to Project Manager
Steve Horton, designs for the
town’s two fire stations have
progressed quickly, with plans
within proximity of the $11.3
million construction budget for
the three stations.
Construction will begin in
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DRB, added Horton, of Steve
Horton Construction Consulting
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Plans for the Central Fire
Station and West Brattleboro
Station have progressed quickly
as well. Complications with repairing the portions of the police
station located in the Municipal
Center’s basement have slowed
the initial plans for that station.
All the stations must meet
high standards for seismic events
and other disasters because they
provide essential services, said
Raymond A. Giolitto, architect
with Northeast Collaborative
Architects, with offices in
Connecticut and Rhode Island.
These standards presented
a problem for the early police
station plans, which called for
rehabilitating the basement
and putting in an addition,
said Giolitto. Digging out the
Municipal Center’s basement
to bring it up to seismic code
proved too complicated and
expensive.
Instead, Giolitto said the design team identified parts of the
police department that are vital
in an emergency, and located
them in the addition. These areas included booking, computer
data banks, and dispatch.
Functions of the police department that did not serve a vital role were located inside the
Municipal Center.
Other changes in the design
called for switching the locations of portions of the police
department, on the first floor,
with planning services, now on
the second floor.
The plans also call for
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Raymond A. Giolitto, an architect with Northeast Collaborative Architects,
points out some of the design features of the new fire station.
reworking the Municipal
Center’s rear entrance to screen
members of the public from police activities. The plans call for
a common lobby area and public
restroom but keep the booking
area and cells in a secure wing.
Currently, a public hallway
bisects the police department
on the first floor, and the general public often encounters folks
who have dealings with the police department, which presents
privacy and security concerns,
said Giolitto.
An added challenge for the design team: maintaining the historical integrity of the Municipal
Center. The building is on the
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National Register of Historic
Places and its historic details
must be preserved.
“What you’re asking me to do
is design a secure facility against
a historic structure,” Giolitto
explains.
To preserve the Municipal
Center’s historic details, the architects have built in a separation
between the building’s existing
wall and the new addition.
Although invisible to the passive visitor, the separation will allow the addition to be removed
if necessary, and without damaging the historic building, said
Giolitto.
The police department designs
are about 30 percent complete,
agreed Giolitto and Horton.
Still to be resolved: parking.
The new extension that will
house the police department
Brattleboro
Winter
Carnival
will take about 34 parking spots.
The town will reclaim about
20 spaces it had previously allowed workers at the nearby state
building to use. The parking solution and traffic flow through
the Municipal Center’s back
parking lot are not ideal.
At this stage, the design team
is suggesting making the parking
lot one-way to funnel traffic from
Grove Street to Main Street.
“We’ll finesse it,” said Giolitto.
“We’ll try to make it work. We
will not present you a project
that’s over budget.”
The Police-Fire Facilities
Building Oversight Committee
will hold a public presentation
and take public feedback on
Thursday, Feb. 27, at 5:30 p.m.
in the Selectboard Room, on the
second floor of the Municipal
Center.
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DINNER
Sunday, February 16
6:00 pm
American Legion Post #5,
Linden St, Brattleboro
$35/person or $300/table of 10
(reservations required)
What happens at the Legion, stays at the Legion… well at least
when this year’s theme is ‘Murder in Las Vegas’! Take a roll
of the dice and see if you can figure out who the murderer is
before all is revealed! You can bet it’s going to be a great dinner,
with lots of friends and a fabulous show! The Vermont Theater
Company will be our entertainment and dinner will be served by
Brattleboro’s One and Only BMH Ladies Auxiliary. Get your
tickets early to be sure you get a seat for this evening of fun, you
won’t want to miss it!
Tickets can be purchased at the Brattleboro Recreation & Parks
office from 9-12 and 1-5, Monday-Friday and at The Shoe Tree,
135 Main ST, Brattleboro, both locations will accept cash and
checks only. The deadline for purchasing tickets is Friday, February 14
and only a few tickets will be on sale at the door that night.
THE COMMONS
NEWS
A3
Consensus: Town is fiscally strong,
but with too small a Grand List
Brattleboro town employees
provide budget overview
to business community
By Olga Peters
The Commons
BRATTLEBORO—Members
of the Brattleboro Area Chamber
of Commerce received a side of
finance with their scrambled eggs
at the chamber’s monthly breakfast series.
Town Finance Director John
O’Connor gave an overview of
the proposed $16.3 million fiscal year 2015 budget and the
proposed 8.5-cent increase to
the property tax increase.
Interim Town Manager
Patrick Moreland followed
O’Connor’s presentation with
an outline of the services and
infrastructure the town budget
supports.
“If we want to preserve the
life that we have here, we’ve
got to grow our Grand List,”
Moreland said.
Moreland said that to reduce
property taxes the town needs
to find new revenue streams. He
touched on enacting a 1-percent
local-option sales tax.
At the prompting of Chamber
Executive Director and
Selectboard Vice-Chair Kate
O’Connor, Moreland also discussed the town’s push for recognition as a regional economic
hub.
The chamber held its breakfast series in the Education
Conference Room at the
Brattleboro Retreat on Feb. 11.
For fiscal year 2015, the town
has a balanced budget with $16.3
million in revenue and $16.3
million in planned expenses,
O’Connor said.
She added that property taxes
will comprise 87 percent of the
upcoming budget.
The municipal property tax
rate will increase by 8.5 cents
per $100 of assessed value. A
property worth $100,000 will
pay an additional $85 in property taxes in fiscal year 2015, said
O’Connor.
The increase in taxes is due to
increases in business costs, such
as insurance and special projects
like the wastewater treatment
plant, in its final stages, and
the police-fire facilities upgrade
project, which is in the planning phase.
Also last year the town used
a portion of a surplus to offset
property tax increase for fiscal
year 2014. The town will not
do so this year, said O’Connor.
She also provided highlights
from fiscal year 2013, which
ended in June, describing it as
“a solid year for the town of
Brattleboro.”
Of the $15.5 million in revenue, the town expended $14.6
million, O’Connor said. Most
of the budget funded employee
salaries and benefits.
Property taxes funded over
half of the town’s fiscal year 2013
budget, she said.
Starting the
year strong
On a positive note, said
O’Connor, the town is slated
to close out fiscal year 2013 on
strong financial footing. For example, the town exceeded its
goal of maintaining a minimum
surplus of unassigned funds of
at least 10 percent of the town’s
overall expenses.
Surplus funds, called the unassigned fund balance, can prove
crucial during emergencies.
After Tropical Storm Irene
blew through the state in 2011,
Brattleboro’s unassigned balance
provided bridge funds until federal aid kicked in.
Last summer’s washout on
Elm Street, the sudden repairs
needed to the Strand Avenue
retaining wall, and Tropical
Storm Irene-related expenses
were some of the town’s fiscal
year 2013 unplanned expenses.
Moreland said the town budget translates into services, programs, and infrastructure that
benefits residents.
“A budget is an abstraction of
a plan expressed in numbers,”
he said.
In fiscal year 2015, between
the daily governmental activities
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of running the town to revenue
activities like the parking fund,
the town’s total activities will
value around $22.9 million, said
Moreland.
“That’s a heck of an operation,” he added.
Most of the budget goes toward staff, he said.
The town is analogous to a
service-oriented business rather
than a manufacturer that produces widgets. It takes staff to
provide services, he added.
According to Moreland, these
services encompass ordinary
daily operations such as maintaining records; community enrichment such as arranging youth
hockey leagues; and the extraordinary, such as extinguishing
structure fires.
For example, in 2013, the
police department responded
to 9,950 calls and made 5,960
motor vehicle stops. The department of public works maintained
82 miles of roads as well as 1,500
storm drains, and served 3,500
water and wastewater customers. Brooks Memorial Library
staff answered 15,373 reference
questions. Parking Enforcement
issued 15,311 citations.
The town will undertake numerous special projects in the
coming year, including upgrades
to its police department and two
fire stations, and rewriting its
zoning ordinances for the first
time in 30 years.
The Police-Fire Project
Oversight Committee will
hold a public presentation on
plans for the police and fire stations on Thursday, Feb. 27 at
5:30 p.m. in the Selectboard
Meeting Room, second floor of
the Municipal Center.
Grand List not
keeping pace
According to Moreland, the
estimated fiscal year 2015 Grand
List is $1.15 billion, from 6,200
separate parcels. Although a substantial number, the Grand List
has not kept pace with expenses.
Moreland said, in the long
term, the town needed new revenue sources that relieve some of
the burden on taxpayers.
The 1-percent option tax is
one revenue stream the town
has sought to enact. According
to O’Connor, the town could
potentially net $650,000 from
the sales tax.
Town Meeting Members
voted against the tax in 2012.
Selectboard members attempted
to use the tax as a method to pay
for a portion of the $14.1 million
Police-Fire Facilities Upgrade
Project.
The 1-percent option tax is
a tariff on consumer items, and
does not pertain to “essential”
items such as food, clothing, agricultural equipment, residential
fuel, or computers.
A non-binding ballot question
will appear on the March 4, town
ballot asking voters whether they
supported establishing the 1-percent tax. The same question will
go to Town Meeting Members
at the March 22 Representative
Town Meeting.
INDEX to ADVERTISERS this issue
Acrecona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4
Agnes Sebille . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A1
American Legion Post 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . S5
Amys Bakery Arts Cafe . . . . . . . . . . . . . S5
Atamaniuk Funeral Home . . . . . . . . . . . S8
Be Heard Sound Productions . . . . . . . . . S2
Berkley & Veller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D2
Biologic Integrative Healh Care . . . . . . .B4
Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center .
S16
Brattleboro Food Co-op. . . . . . . . . . . . .B3
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital . . . . . . . .A3
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital . . . . . . . S16
Brattleboro Museum of Art . . . . . . . . . .A7
Brattleboro Pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2
Brattleboro Primary Care . . . . . . . . . . . .A8
Brattleboro Subaru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B1
Brattleboro Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A7
Brattleboro Winter Carnival . . . . . . . . . .A2
Brattleboro Winter Carnival . . . . . . . . . S15
Brattleboro Winter Carnival . . . . . . . . . S18
Burton Car Wash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S18
Cabinetree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A1
Central New England Attack-A-Crack . . . .A1
Cersosimo Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . .A1
Cersosimo Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . .A1
Chelsea Royal Diner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B3
Chelsea Royal Diner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A1
Chimney Doctor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2
China Buffet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A5
DMI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A4
Early Education Services . . . . . . . . . . . .D4
Elizabeth Julia Stoumen . . . . . . . . . . . .A2
Elks No. 1499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S14
Falls Area Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A3
Fearless Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D2
Forty Putney Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S12
Goldberg Creative Marketing . . . . . . . . . C4
Grace Cottage Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . .A3
Interim Town Manager Patrick Moreland outlined Hawk and Brush/Paul Gardner . . . . . . . .A8
the town budget to the Brattleboro Area Chamber
of Commerce at a Feb. 11 breakfast meeting at the Hilltop House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A5
Holiday Inn Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S2
Brattleboro Retreat.
Hotel Pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S12
But the cost of these services pointed to the cities of Barre Hotel Pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2
and other benefits are borne and Rutland as comparable to Inn at Sawmill Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A3
solely by Brattleboro prop- Brattleboro’s situation.
Inner Well. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A1
erty owners, said Moreland.
Although others benefit, they
don’t pay in.
Other towns in Vermont also
experience economic challenges
from being hubs. Moreland
The Brattleboro Selectboard
has met with members of the
Legislature to see if changes can
be made at the state level to resolve the issue, Moreland said.
Integrated Solar Applications Corp. . . . S18
Integrated Solar Applications Corp. . . . . C4
Jewett Plumbing & Heating, Inc. . . . . . .A4
Keene Cheshiremen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A3
Ker-Westerlund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A4
Kingdom County Productions . . . . . . . . .A1
Kingdom County Productions . . . . . . . . .D2
Kingdom County Productions . . . . . . . . S20
Lawton Floor Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A4
Linda Strom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S18
Loose Ends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3
Matt Skove/Audio Design . . . . . . . . . . .A5
Members 1st Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . .B3
Members 1st Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . S13
Miller Brothers Newton . . . . . . . . . . . . .A1
Momaney Painters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3
NeighborWorks of Western Vermont. . . . .B4
New England Center for Circus Arts . . . . . S3
Northside Subs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A1
One Stop Country Pet Supply . . . . . . . . .A5
Outer Limits Health Club . . . . . . . . . . . S16
Post Oil Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B3
Refilling Your Well Wellness Cntr. dba Curves
S13
Renaissance Fine Jewelry . . . . . . . . . . .A1
Rescue, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S13
River Valley Credit Union. . . . . . . . . . . S15
SEVCA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A1
Stone Church Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A3
Taylor for Flowers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S3
The Commons advertising . . . . . . . . . . .D2
The Commons advertising . . . . . . . . . . .A2
The Gathering Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A7
The Marina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A1
The Marina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S3
The Marina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A8
The Outlet Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S14
The Shoe Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A1
Union Institute & University . . . . . . . . .A1
Vermont Jazz Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D3
Vermont Staple Goods Co., Inc. . . . . . . .B4
West Hill Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A1
Windham & Windsor Housing Trust . . . . .A4
Windham & Windsor Housing Trust . . . . . C4
Windham Ob-Gyn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S8
Winged Productions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B3
WKVT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B3
WYRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S15
Our advertisers help make The Commons a
reality, and we appreciate their business.
Please tell them you saw their ads!
CORRECTION
The Brattleboro Development
Review Board (DRB) has not
yet approved a site plan for the
proposed new home of the New
England School for Circus Arts
(NECCA) on Town Crier Drive,
as was reported in the Feb. 5
edition.
According to DRB member
Spoon Agave, the board said at
its Jan. 22 meeting that the plan
looked feasible, but more details
were needed. NECCA is expected to return to the DRB with
that information in the spring.
What it means
to be a regional
economic hub
Kate O’Connor asked
Moreland to discuss
Brattleboro’s role as a economic
regional hub.
She added that property taxes
in Brattleboro are higher than
neighboring towns and that some
people felt the tax rate reflects
services that the town provides
to the entire county.
Moreland said that Brattleboro
is a regional hub for jobs and economic activities. The town provides services and infrastructure,
like Brooks Memorial LIbrary or
downtown shopping, that benefit
residents and non-residents alike.
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NEWS
A4
THE COMMONS
MILESTONES
Births, deaths, and news of people from Windham County
College news
Low interest home repair loans are available for
energy efficiency, well & septic, roof, and health
safety repairs.
Loans are available to income eligible homeowners.
For more information
Contact 802-246-2116
www.w-wht.org
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57 High Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301
(802) 254-5655 • www.newenglandgreenfunerals.com
Beth Perkins, Funeral Director/Manager
Country Western Jamboree
Sunday, February 16, 2014
1:00pm - 6:00pm
NEW LOCATION: VFW Post 1034
40 Black Mountain Rd Brattleboro
Admission $7.00
No one under 10 admitted
NEW LOCATION, NEW Host Band,
SAME old good times!
Time to tap into your country roots and
come on down to the Country Western
Jamboree, this year at the VFW on
Black Mountain Rd!
This year the host band is “Playin’ Possum”
so you know that it will be hard to keep
your toes from tapping and your fingers
from snapping!
See you there…and don’t forget your
cowboy hat, too!
Winter Carnival begins on Friday Feb. 14th
help us give it a big kick off with a
Scavenger Hunt
through downtown Brattleboro.
Registration begins at 5:00pm at the Brattleboro Rec and Parks Dept.
After registering your team we’ll walk up to the Wells Fountain to light our
Carnival torch. You’ll receive your scavenger list there and off you go.
There will be cash prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.
Everyone who participates will receive “Carnival Bucks” that can be used at
certain events throughout Carnival.
The cost for this event is $5.00 per team.
Your local sources for home improvement
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To advertise, call
802-246-6397 or email [email protected]
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1090 Western avenue
West brattleboro
New Haven (Conn.) for the fall
2013 semester.
• Leland Hayford, a senior
majoring in accounting and economics from Wilmington, has
been named to the Dean’s List
for the fall 2013 semester at
Nazareth College in Rochester,
N.Y.
• Rachel Schleimer of
Springfield was named to the
Dean’s List for the fall 2013 semester at the State University of
New York at Brockport.
• The following local students
have been named to the Dean’s
List for the fall 2013 semester at the University of Rhode
Island: Jennifer Spero of
Londonderry, Dustin Powell
of Westminster, R a c h e l
Hill and Sarah Lagasse of
Brattleboro, and N a t a s h a
Cummings of Windham.
• Abigail Thomas of West
Dummerston, a member of
the class of 2016 at Skidmore
College in Saratoga Springs,
N.Y., earned term honors for the
fall 2013 semester.
• The following local students have been named to the
Dean’s List for the fall 2013
semester at the University of
Vermont: Carlyn Madden of
Brattleboro, a undeclared major;
Jamie Martell of Brattleboro,
a civil engineering major; Cleo
Rohn of Brattleboro, an English
major; Nicole Thomas and
Rachel Tseng of Brattleboro,
both psychology majors; Eben
V i e n s of Brattleboro, an
Anthropology major; Jordan
Wyckoff of Brattleboro, an
Early Childhood Preschool
major; Chelby Nystrom of
Brookline, a business administration major; Rebecca Potter of
Guilford, a global studies major;
Jonah Ullman of Jamaica, a
music major; Jillian Blaisdell
of Londonderry, a communication science & disorders major;
Devin Brown of Londonderry,
an undeclared major; Rachel
Peloquin of Londonderry, an
Elementary Education K-6 major; William Nupp of Newfane,
an undeclared major; Marion Obituaries
Major of Putney, an environmental studies major; Shad
• Thomas R. Abare, 79, of
Payne-Meyer of Putney, a ge- Saxtons River. Died Feb. 1 at
ography major; Kailey Rinder Maplewood Nursing Home in
of Putney, a studio art major; Westmoreland, N.H. Husband
Guillaume Sparrow-Pepin of Jeannine (Dion) Abare for 56
of Putney, a computer science years. Father of Kimberly Cuiffo
major; Janne Yang of Putney, of Bayville, N.J., Reginald Abare
an engineering major; James of Westminster, Michael Abare
Morton of Saxtons River, a of Ventura, Calif., Christopher
mechanical engineering major; Abare of Los Angeles, and
Jacqueline Dezendorf of Jason Abare of Springfield.
Townshend, an Anthropology Born in Barre, the son of the late
major; Katherine Amidon Reginald T. and Eloise (Rickert)
of Vernon, a biochemistry ma- Abare, he was a graduate of
jor; Elizabeth Doiron of Spaulding High School in Barre.
Vernon, an animal sciences He attended the Massachusetts
major; T h o m a s O r n e r of Radio & Telegraph School in
Vernon, a business administra- Boston for two years, gradtion major; Shannon Lozito uating with a Certificate of
of Wilmington, a biology ma- Completion. He worked for
jor; and Jenny Newton of New England Telephone as
Windham, a psychology major. a toll tester, owned and oper• Kerry A. Howard, a mem- ated Saxtons River Cable Co.
ber of the Class of 2015 from and Vermont Amusement, and
Londonderry, was named to worked as a DJ with WOOL-FM
the Dean’s List for the fall 2013 in Bellows Falls. He was a memsemester at Stonehill College in ber of the American Legion, the
Easton, Mass.
BPOE 1619, Polish American
• The following local students Club, and the Moose Lodge, all
at the Community College of in Bellows Falls. He was a great
Vermont were named to the fall ham radio operator and was a
2013 President’s List: Abigail former member of the Bellows
Wicker of West Townshend, Falls Fire Department. He was
O w e n D i a m o n d s t o n e - the president of the former local
K o h o u t of Dummerston, Junior Chamber of Commerce
Genevieve Pennington- and served as a Bellows Falls
Fitzgerald of Putney, Ella Trustee. He also served in the
Young of Vernon, Patricia National Guard. MEMORIAL ING i l b e r t o f J a c k s o n v i l l e , FOR M ATION : A funeral Mass
and A l l i s o n Pa q u e t t e of was held at St. Charles Church
Brattleboro,
in Bellows Falls on Feb. 4, with
• The following local stu- burial in St. Charles Cemetery.
dents at the Community College Arrangements were under the
of Vermont were named to care of Fenton & Hennessey
the fall 2013 Dean’s List: Funeral Home in Bellows Falls.
Abigail Storm of Brattleboro,
• Bernice E. Barton, 79,
Bridget Dale of Brattleboro, of Putney. Died Jan. 31 at her
Rebecca Bird of Vernon, home. Mother of Gary Barton
Emmy Bascom of Guilford, of Putney; Tony Barton and his
Karley Basinger of Putney, wife, Stacy, of Lakewood, Colo.;
Ju s t i n G a r c i a d e a l b a of Jeannie Quest and her husGrafton, Alison Cornellier band, Benjamin, of Putney; and
of Brattleboro, Lisa Moll of Elaine Howard and her husband
Brattleboro, and Sarah Miller Kevin of Deltona, Fla. Sister of
of Vernon.
the late Arthur Page. Born in
• M e g a n W a l k e r o f Springfield, Mass., the daughBrattleboro was named to the ter of the late Pearl Vielleux, she
Dean’s List at the University of was a longtime Putney resident.
She was employed for more
than 30 years at Basketville
in Putney. She also worked at
DJ’s in Brattleboro and in the
deli at the old Putney General
Store, where she was known as
“Ma Barton.” She loved spending time with her grandchildren
and her cat Clyde. She enjoyed
shopping with her daughter,
bowling, doing crossword puzzles, watching football and loved
attending the Masterbatters
softball games in Putney. She
will be best remembered by
her family as a great mother,
grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. MEMORIAL
INFOR M ATION : A celebration
of her life was held Feb. 8 at the
Elks Lodge in Brattleboro, VT
05301. Burial will be private.
Donations to the Windham
County Humane Society, P.O.
Box 397, Brattleboro, VT 05302.
• Larysa Lisai Howard,
93, of Bellows Falls. Died Feb.
2 at Springfield Hospital. Wife
of the late Edward Howard Jr.
Mother of Edward Howard III
of Bellows Falls, David Howard
of Bennington, Ellen Howard
of Saxtons River and the late
Gregory Howard. Sister of Clara
Wylie of Verona, Va., Barbara
Shufeldt of Hurley, N.Y., and the
late Leonard and Pauline Lisai.
The daughter of the late Anthony
and Lena (Kissell) Lisai, she
was a 1938 graduate of Bellows
Falls High School and a 1942
graduate of Simmons College
School of Library Science in
Boston. She worked in the reference and children’s sections
at the Fitchburg (Mass.) Public
Library. She was librarian at
the Winchester (Mass.) High
School and, during World War
II, she was assistant librarian at
Chelsea (Mass.) Naval Hospital.
She later became librarian at
the Central Elementary School,
Cherry Hill School and Saxtons
River Elementary School. She
was a Girl Scout leader for 10
years, and served two years as
secretary for the YMCA. She
was a member of the Bellows
Falls Woman’s Club and the
Bellows Falls Country Club, and
served as trustee for Rockingham
Free Public Library and Justice
of the Peace for the Town of
Rockingham. She was former
chairman of the State Library
Board. After retirement, she
enjoyed traveling, including
trips to Russia, Europe and the
Caribbean. She also enjoyed
watching movies. MEMOR I A L
INFORMATION : A funeral Mass
was held at St. Charles Church
in Bellows Falls on Feb. 7, with
burial in St. Charles Cemetery.
Donations to to Rockingham
Free Public Library, for benefit of the children’s section,
65 Westminster St., Bellows
Falls, VT 05101. Arrangements
were under the care of Fenton
& Hennessey Funeral Home
in Bellows Falls. • Stanley E.
Noga, Sr., 87, of Montague,
Mass. Died Feb. 3 at Baystate
Franklin Medical Center in
Greenfield, Mass. Husband of
the late Gladys A. (Kurtyka)
Noga. Father of Stanley E. Noga
Jr. and his wife, Patricia, of
Brookline; Gary B. Noga and
his wife, Sharon, of Greenfield,
Mass.; and Pamela J. Guilmet
and her husband, Thomas,
of The Villages, Fla. Born in
Montague, the son of the late
John and Michalina (Nonacki)
Noga, he attended Turners
Falls High School. He joined
in the Army as World War II
was ending, obtaining the rank
of Technician Fifth Grade. He
served as railroad manager for
the 22nd Railroad Division. He
worked as a shipping manager at
the Strathmore Paper Company
for 45 years, where he was
Employee of the Year. He was
a communicant of Our Lady of
Peace Church in Turners Falls,
Mass. He loved making birdhouses and was best-known as
“The Birdman.” He and his wife
would spend many weekends at
the Newfane Flea Market selling
his birdhouses and other various
items. He enjoyed playing Bingo
and was a New England Patriots
fan. MEMORIAL INFORMATION:
A funeral Mass was held Feb. 6
at Our Lady of Peace Church
in Turners Falls, with burial in
Mater Dolorosa Cemetery in
Greenfield. Donations to the
American Lung Association of
Western Massachusetts, 393
Maple St., Springfield, MA
01105. Arrangements were under the direction of the Kostanski
Funeral Home of Northfield,
Mass.
• Br uce Edward “Bub”
S t r a t t o n , 7 2 , of Weston,
W.Va. Died Jan. 30 at his home.
Former husband of Ellen Fuller
of Townshend. Father of Angela
Stratton of Wardsboro, Wilma
Stratton and her companion,
Brian Robertshaw, of Jamaica,
Rebecca Stratton-Goodband
and husband, Asa, of Windham,
Jode B. Howe and his wife,
Wanda, of Jamaica, and Melissa
Towle and her husband, Wayne,
of Spofford, N.H. Brother of
Merilyn Brown of Agawam,
Mass., and the late Shirley
Stratton. Born in Brooklyn
N.Y., the son of the late Aubrey
Edward Stratton and Wilma
Pence Stratton, he grew up on
his family’s farm in Townshend.
He later graduated from Leland
and Gray Seminary and he spent
time in the Vermont National
Guard. Throughout the years, he
worked in road construction and
maintenance and spent years as a
self-employed logger. He retired
to his property in West Virginia.
He will be remembered by those
who loved him for his kindness,
intellect, ingenuity and inquisitive nature. He loved sitting next
to a fire smoking his pipe, discussing politics, religion and the
meaning of life. He was a natural
storyteller. Those who knew him
will remember his self-deprecating humor and the twinkle in
his eye. His children will always
remember the long hikes and
many picnics they enjoyed with
him over the years. MEMORIAL
I NFOR M ATION : Condolences
may be mailed to P.O Box 162
Townshend VT 05353, in care
of Ellen Fuller. His family will
announce arrangements for memorial services to be held in the
spring for his friends in West
Virginia as well as his family and
friends in Vermont.
Valentine’s Day event to raise awareness
of suicide epidemic in Vermont
BRATTLEBORO—On
Friday, Feb. 14, the Vermont
Suicide Prevention Coalition
and State Rep. Anne Donahue,
R-Washington, sponsor a luncheon event, “Supporting
Suicide Prevention and Positive
Mental Health Strategies in
Vermont,” with support from
Rep. Joanna Cole, D-Chittenden.
Lunch and a brief panel presentation are set for noon to
12:30 p.m. in State House Room
10. All are welcome, and there is
no charge.
During the luncheon, panelists will present Vermont suicide
data, perspectives of suicide survivors, and prevention efforts of
the Vermont Suicide Prevention
Coalition (VSPC) and the
Vermont Suicide Prevention
Center.
The VSPC consists of representatives from public health,
education, state agencies, suicide prevention advocacy groups,
youth leadership, Vermont 2-1-1,
mental health services, and survivors throughout the state.
“On Valentine’s Day, traditionally celebrating love and
friendship, we will take time to
recognize how many loved ones
have been lost to suicide,” Nicole
Miller, mental health program
specialist with the Center for
Health and Learning (CHL) in
Brattleboro, said in the event’s
invitation.
According to the American
Foundation for Suicide
Prevention, an organization
composed of scientists, survivors
of suicide loss, people with mental disorders and their families,
and a network of business and
community leaders, more than
80 percent of people are on track
to have been personally touched
by suicide loss.
Suicide is the 10th leading
cause of death in the United
States, and approximately
922,725 Americans attempt
suicide each year, the organization says.
Miller noted: “The large numbers and percentages of deaths
and attempts can make it difficult
to grasp the heart of this issue.
… The message that can strike
home the hardest is that in the
United States one suicide occurs
on average every 14 minutes.”
Miller added that more than
90 percent of people who take
their own lives have had an underlying mental health disorder
at the time of their death that is
often unidentified, which is why
cultivating strong mental health
early and throughout the lifespan, and removing the stigma
from mental illness, is essential
to prevention.
Vermont is taking the necessary steps to bring suicide prevention beyond watching for
warning signs after they occur,
she said, and called for greater
awareness of the warning signs,
so immediate action can be taken
as needed.
Know the signs
The warning signs of suicide
can appear in anyone and at any
age, Miller said. Depression,
mood swings, and intense anger are strong indicators, but
signs are often subtle: an abrupt
apparent emotional lift after a period of sadness and withdrawal
can signal concern.
As well, loved ones should be
alert to repeated statements of
hopelessness, isolation, failure,
feeling trapped, or increased talk
about death or dying.
Miller said that a common
myth, that people who talk about
killing themselves won’t do so,
is untrue. “Many attempts are
preceded by references to death,
suicide, and wanting to die,”
she said.
Vermonters at risk
JoEllen Tarallo-Falk, executive director of the Center for
Health and Learning (CHL), and
a key coordinator of the Vermont
Suicide Prevention Center, says
Vermont’s suicide rate is higher
than the national average.
CHL, the Vermont state recipient of the Garrett Lee Smith
Memorial Suicide Prevention
grant from the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services
Administration, helps coordinate suicide prevention efforts
statewide, including training
of schools and communities in
its Umatter Suicide Prevention
program.
Belonging is key
Tarallo-Falk said in the event
invitation that research indicates
a primary contributing factor in
suicidal thoughts and behaviors
is an ongoing, or sometimes sudden, lack of a sense of belonging.
“Depression and anxiety,
substance use and abuse, and
other mental health challenges
are not well understood, nor are
the contributing factors to these
circumstances, and how best to
support people who are struggling,” she added.
“Our task with suicide prevention is to refocus the discussion
on what is good mental health
and what are signs that someone
needs support, intervention or
treatment, and how to respond.”
Here is help
• Anyone feeling suicidal or
who is concerned about a loved
one is asked immediately to call
the National Suicide Prevention
Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or visit
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org to
chat. Anyone may contact the
Lifeline at any time.
• Veterans also have the confidential Veterans Crisis Line at
800-273-8255, option 1. Chat is
available at www.veteranscrisisline.
net.
• If you and/or your loved one
are part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer/questioning community, specific and
immediate help is available at
the confidential Trevor Lifeline,
866-488-7386 and through online chat at www.trevorspace.org.
• For mental health assistance,
contact your local mental health
agency or provider, ask your general physician for a referral, or
visit www.UMatterUCanGetHelp.com.
• For training information
on suicide risk factors, warning signs, and prevention, write
[email protected] or
visit www.healthandlearning.org.
T he C o m m ons
• Wednesday, February 12, 2014 n Trophy
the last one, only about one in
10 BHS/BUHS alumni were
dues-paying members and there
simply wasn’t enough money to
continue having a annual parade
down Main Street each June.
The association pared back its
activities to a golf tournament at
the Brattleboro Country Club
and smaller, more informal gatherings around the BUHS graduation in June.
Last year, the Alumni
Association decided it would no
longer sponsor events during the
graduation weekend.
“Times have changed and the
connection of most of our recent
graduates to their high school is
just not as strong as ours was
and still is,” wrote Strong last
year on buhs-alumni.com. “The
loss of the parade and the ability to send an annual newsletter
certainly have contributed to the
situation we now find ourselves
in. Attendance is down, money
is in short supply and our ability
to continue diminished. It truly
is time to ‘throw in the towel.’”
However, the association will
continue the six scholarships
that it awards to BUHS graduates each year.
I
f you don't try to win,
you might as well hold
the Olympics in somebody's
backyard.
—Jesse Owens
A5
from SECTION FRONT
Courtesy photo
Members of the Brattleboro Union High School Class of 1960, seen here at a
recent alumni gathering.
n Logan wins
she rehabbed her knee, she enrolled in college and got certified
as a freeskiing judge, which she
credits as giving her new insights
in how to improve her technique.
Logan grew up three miles
from Mount Snow, and was on
skis by age 2. She was the little
sister tagging along when her
older brothers, Sean and Chris,
were competing in freeskiing
events. Eventually, she took up
freeskiing herself, and soon surpassed her brothers.
Her mother, Nancy Logan,
was at Rosa Khutor to see her
daughter make history.
“I get my craziness from her,”
Devin told The Associated Press.
‘‘She hasn’t seen me ski for two
years now (because of work). It
makes me cry and just experiencing this, all the all the long
hours and sacrifices she put in.
Hopefully, I make her proud.’’
West Dover’s other Olympian
will get her chance to add to her
lengthy resume starting on Feb.
12. Snowboarder Kelly Clark,
a gold medalist in 2002 and a
bronze medalist in 2010, is trying for her third Olympic medal
in the halfpipe.
With 70 career victories in
from SECTION FRONT
national and international competition, there is not much left to
prove for the 30-year-old Clark.
Win or lose, she stands alone as
one of the greatest halfpipe competitors of all time.
And now, Clark has some
company in the O lympic
Medalists of the Deerfield Valley
club.
Material from the U.S. Ski and
Snowboard Association (www.ussa.
org) was used in the preparation of
this story.
Earned Income
Tax Credit qualifies
working families
for 3SquaresVT
Hunger Free Vermont (HFV)
encourages anyone who earned
less than $52,000 in 2013 to
see if they qualify for the state
Earned Income Tax Credit, as
doing so might open the door to
valuable food benefits.
HFV, an education and advocacy organization aimed at “ending the injustice of hunger and
malnutrition for all Vermonters,”
says the EITC can amount to
as much as $6,044, which can
make life easier for working
Vermonters struggling to make
ends meet.
Faye Conte, the group’s
3SquaresVT advocate, says the
credit can also position families
with dependent children to automatically qualify for food benefits
through her program.
“It means their [the family’s]
income and resources don’t
count,” Conte explains in a press
release.
She adds that the Internal
Revenue Service estimates one
in five eligible taxpayers could
miss out on EITC because they
are unaware of this valuable tax
credit.
She also says many people will
qualify for EITC for the first time
this year because their income
declined, their marital status
changed, or their families grew.
“With the connection to
3SquaresVT, these same families not only save money with
the tax credit, but also put more
nutritious food on the table,” according to Conte.
She estimates the average
monthly 3SquaresVT benefit is
more than $200 for a family with
children. A bonus, she says: children who get 3SquaresVT benefits also qualify for free school
meals, stretching families’ food
budgets further.
EITC is a financial boost for
working people hit hard by economic times while also providing
economic stimulus for the state.
In 2013, 45,000 Vermonters received EITC bringing more than
$83 million in federal funds into
the state at an average credit of
$1,800 per household.
Hunger Free Vermont is formerly the Vermont Campaign to
End Childhood Hunger.
Mount Snow group
tickets, express bus
still available
Brattleboro. To ride the bus
without a parent, riders must be
in the seventh grade or above.
Updates on the group
are posted on Facebook
at “Brattleboro Mt. Snow
Group.” For more information on the Brattleboro
School Endowment, visit www.
brattleboroschoolendowment.org.
To learn whether you qualify for the
EITC, call 800-829-1040 or visit
www.irs.gov. For free help preparing
your taxes, dial 2-1-1. For information about 3SquaresVT, dial 2-1-1
or visit www.vermontfoodhelp.com.
AROUND THE TOWNS
B R A T T L E B ORO —
BrattleMasters, the Brattleborobased chapter of Toastmasters
International, meets the second and fourth Thursday of the
month from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on
the second floor of Marlboro
College Graduate Center, 28
Vernon St.
The club’s next meeting is
Thursday, Feb. 13, and three
speeches and evaluations are
planned, as is the meeting’s
popular table topics challenge
on off-the-cuff speaking. Guests
are welcome, and refreshments
are provided. There is no pressure to speak, and members are
working at their own pace and
with assigned mentors to help
them meet their speaking and
leadership goals.
For more information, visit
brattleboro.toastmastersclubs.org.
Debra V. McQuade, unit chief
for the Retreat’s new Emerging
Adults Unit, will present the concept and growing science around
Emerging Adulthood.
On Thursday, Feb. 27, Dr.
Karl Jeffries, staff psychiatrist for
the LGBT Inpatient Program,
will speak on “Mental Health
Treatment for Transgender
Individuals Across the Lifespan.”
On Tuesday, March 11, Kurt
White, LADC, LICSW, and
Susan Balaban, Ph.D., will present “Cultivating Psychological
Flexibility in Combat Veterans
and First Responders.”
The luncheons will be held
in the Education Conference
Center in the administration
building at the Brattleboro
Retreat, 1 Anna Marsh Lane,
Brattleboro. Reservation is required. Contact Gay Maxwell
at 802-258-4359 or gmaxwell@
brattlebororetreat.org to reserve
space. Leave detailed information regarding name and
credentials.
New Chamber head
to speak to WBA
Early/absentee ballots
now available
WEST BRATTLEBORO —
On Thursday, Feb. 13, from 6 to
7:30 p.m., the West Brattleboro
Association (WBA) will hold its
monthly meeting at The New
England House, 254 Marlboro
Rd.
Special guest is Brattleboro
Area Chamber of Commerce’s
new Director Kate O’Connor,
who will share her goals and
plans for the Chamber and
also listen, learn, and participate in a discussion about West
Brattleboro, including some of
the initiatives of the WBA.
WBA president Michael
Bosworth will share discussion by the trustees at a meeting in January as to plans for
the WBA this year. There will
also be a report of the treasury.
The group will review the various projects undertaken by the
WBA including traffic safety, the
Neighborhoods Project, signage,
police/fire facilities, and the status of the Brattleboro West Arts
and West Brattleboro Partners
projects.
Also on the agenda: discussion of topics for the March
Q&A session with the District 1
Town Meeting members, an initiative started a couple of years
ago, and this year scheduled for
Thursday, March 6 (with March
13 as a snow date).
BRATTLEBORO — Early/
absentee ballots for the Annual
Town and Town School District
election to be held on March 4
are available in the Brattleboro
town clerk’s office.
Anyone wishing to vote prior
to March 4 may apply for an
early/absentee ballot until 5 p.m.
on Monday, March 3. Early/
absentee ballots may be voted
in person in the clerk’s office,
mailed to the voter by the clerk’s
office, picked up by the voter, or
delivered to the voter’s residence
by two justices of the peace.
All voted ballots must be received by the clerk before the
Continuing education
midwinter lunch series
begins at Retreat
BRATTLEBORO — The
Office of Continuing Education
at the Brattleboro Retreat offers a
series of three continuing education luncheons for mental health
professionals, starting Feb. 13.
Brattleboro Retreat staff will
present different topics about
behavioral health and addiction treatment at each one-hour
event. Lunch is free and starts at
11:45 a.m. Presentation are noon
to 1 p.m. CEUs will be available
for most professions.
On Thursday, Feb. 13, Dr.
polls close on election day in order to be counted. Early/absentee
ballots remain sealed until election day. Absentee ballot envelopes are opened at the polling
place and ballots are processed
through vote tabulators in the
same manner as those voted in
person that day. For more information or to request an early/absentee ballot, call 802-251-8157.
Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 5 p.m.
is the deadline to register to vote
in the Town and Town School
election. If you are registered to
vote in the town you reside in
you do not need to register again.
If you are unsure if your name
is listed as a registered voter in
your town, or for more information about voter registration and
early/absentee voting, contact
your town clerk.
Voting, on March 4, will be
held on at the BUHS gym on
Fairground Road. Polling hours
are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Ice fishing day at the
Retreat Meadows
is Feb. 15
Sportsmen Inc. of Guilford, a local hunting, fishing, and shooting
club, invites all area children to
an introductory ice fishing day.
This fun and instructional
event is set for Saturday, Feb.
15, from 9 a.m. to noon on the
Retreat Meadows on Route 30,
directly across from the Grafton
Village Cheese plant. Look for
signs to the fishing area.
Dress in warm clothes for a
morning on the ice. Hot chocolate will be available, and equipment is provided. For more
information, call Lee at 802-2584709, Art at 802-254-1580, or
Don at 802-257-5442.
MATT SKOVE/AUDIO DESIGN
Home Stereo/Flat Screen TVs
Home Theater Installation
Car Stereo/Remote Car Starters
Sales and/or Installation
“I’ll come to you!’’
802-257-5419
www.audiodesignvt.com
Help Wanted
Hilltop House
Brattleboro, VT
Seeking On Call/Per Diem
Registered Nurses
Please submit a resume with 2 references to:
[email protected]
or
Hilltop House
65 Harris Ave
Visiting day at Union
Institute is Feb. 15
BRATTLEBORO — Union
Institute & University (UI&U),
a nonprofit, private, accredited
university designed for busy
adults, hosts a visiting day for
the master of arts with a concentration in counseling psychology program on Saturday,
Feb. 15, from noon to 2 p.m. at
the university’s New England
Academic Center, 28 Vernon
St., in the Marlboro College
Graduate Center.
Visiting day offers prospective
graduate students the opportunity to attend faculty presentations and classes and join current
students for their winter residency weekend. The afternoon
includes an overview of the counseling psychology program, information about sitting for the
National Counseling Exam while
in the program, and the new embedded Certificate in Alcohol
and Drug Abuse Counseling.
Admissions staff will also be
available to answer questions
about the application process.
The master’s degree with a
concentration in counseling
psychology curriculum fulfills
state counseling licensure requirements and includes 60
credit hours and an internship.
Students may enroll in the program on a full- or part-time basis. For more information or to
register for Visiting Day, contact Hanna Thurber at 802254-0152, ext. 8905, or hanna.
[email protected].
Continuing through the rest of
the ski/snowboard season, the
Brattleboro School Endowment
offers group tickets for Mount
Snow on Sundays. Ten participants are needed in order to secure group rates.
To reserve a ticket, call
802-254-2879 or write jill@
vermontfascination.com before
Saturday at 6 p.m. for the following Sunday’s/next day’s tickets.
Reservations will be confirmed
later that night via email.
Transportation on the express bus is available through the
Brattleboro School Endowment
for the remainder of the season. The school bus leaves from
Academy School on Sunday
mornings at 9 and arrives at
Mount Snow at 10. The return
trip departs Mount Snow at 4
p.m. and returns to Academy
School by 5. This service is
open to all, not just those from
Solzhenitsyn talk at
Brooks rescheduled
to March 28
BRATTLEBORO — Due
to the Feb. 5 snowstorm, the
Vermont Humanities Council‘s
First Wednesdays lecture with
conductor and pianist Ignat
Solzhenitsyn at Brooks Memorial
Library has been rescheduled to
Friday, March 28, at 7 p.m.
The talk, “Aleksandr
Solzhenitsyn: Writing the Red
Wheel in Vermont,” is part of the
Vermont Humanities Council’s
First Wednesdays series. For
more information, visit www.
vermonthumanities.org.
CHINA BUFFET
Chinese Restaurant Dine In & Take Out
1.00 OFF
Lunch Buffet
or
$
1.50 OFF
Dinner Buffet
$
Dine In Only Exp. 3/31/14
Good only at China Buffet, Brattleboro, VT
Toastmasters meets
Feb. 13 at Marlboro
Grad Center
801 Putney Road, Brattleboro, VT
802-254-8888 • www.chinabuffetVT.com
Available Pets for Adoption
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humane SoCiety
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This space is graciously sponsored by:
648 Putney Road
Brattleboro, VT
802.257.3700
onest o p c o u n t ryp e t .c o m
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603.352.9200
SECTION B
TOWN &Sewer
VILLAGE
Service Area Detail
Wednesday, February 12, 2014 • page A6
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Bellows Falls & Saxtons River
Rockingham, Vt.
SAX
TO N S RIVER
April
2010
JAMAICA—The Selectboard
is looking into sources of funding, and seeking bids from engineers, to arrange for permits
to site and dig a well to provide
Town Hall with potable water
and to test for contamination
from nearby septic systems.
Two engineers have been
identified, but bids were not
complete in time for discussion
and vote at the board’s Jan. 27
meeting.
Currently, Town Hall depends on a running spring for potable water, but that water source
isn’t always reliable, Board Chair
Lexa Clark told The Commons .
She explained that often people must bring bottled water in to
drink, and when water is in short
supply staff and visitors have had
to rely on portable toilets.
The recently restored Jamaica
Town Hall was built in 1851.
Selectmen renew
contract with
Rescue Inc.
By unanimous vote Jan. 27,
the Selectboard renewed the
town’s contract with Rescue
Inc. for emergency medical
transportation.
The contract is level-funded,
roughly $13,000, Board Chair
Lexa Clark told The Commons.
Brattleboro-based Rescue
Inc. is a nonprofit, independent
service with ambulances and
emergency medical technicians
responding to calls in 15 communities in southern Vermont
and New Hampshire.
The organization says on its
website that it handles more
than 5,000 emergency responses
per year, trains approximately
1,000 people a year in first aid
and CPR, promotes child safety
through its Windham County
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WINDHAM REGIONAL COMMISSION
Village households, academy consider
options for upgrading wastewater plant
easement donation.
The couple decided to con"
T Pumpstation
serve their land to keep it a large
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block of working forest. They
accomplished this by donating
Sewer lines
a conservation easement, a legal
tool that limits development and By Allison
Teague
CL
Canal Street pump station of $96,297.
subdivision. Landowners who The Commons
The second, the one that the
IL
Industrial Park line
have conserved their land contrustees recommended, would
NWL
North Westminster line
tinue to own, manage, and pay
SAXTONS
RIVER—A pro- install a new treatment process
Rockingham Street Pump Station
RL
taxes on the property and can cess that
uses
ultraviolet (UV) using sequencing batch reacGravity flow line
GL
sell it; however, the conservation light instead of chlorine chemi- tors (SBR), at a capital cost of
Depot Street line
easement permanently remains cals DtoL treat wastewater
before it $2,439,382, and an annual opForcemain
FM
on the land.
enters the Saxtons
River is being erating cost of $89,989.
line expensive
P
Productive forests keep local considered
asPrivate
the least
The third option would be
YYYYY
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Y Existing line (detailed info n/a)
Y
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loggers and mills in business, Yoption
a conversion of the treatment
Yfor
YY
YY the village’s treatment
provide necessary habitat for plant upgrade.
plant to a pump station, an idea
many wildlife species, and help
About 250 Saxtons River the trustees had considered but
1,000 households, 0plus Vermont1,000
2,000because of
keep Vermont the rural, scenic,
abandoned, mostly
working state it has long been. Academy, use the wastewa- cost.
ter treatment system, which
The capital cost for the
Scale 1:12,000
The Vermont Land Trust is a state- has been online since the early pump station option would be
wide, member-supported, nonprofit 1970s.
$3,317,032, with an annual opland conservation organization.
Experts say the facility needs erating cost of $134,181.
Since 1977, the Vermont Land to be either upgraded or reAs the potential engineerTrust has permanently conserved placed. An evaluation of the ing contractor who would overmore than 1,775 parcels of land plant in 2007 found the plant see the project, Gary A. Leach,
covering 535,000 acres, or nearly 9 to be nearing the end of its use- P.E., of Tata & Howard of St.
percent of the private, undeveloped ful life.
Johnsbury, presented the SBR
land in the state. The conserved
Currently, according to the alternative as the most viable fix
land includes more than 775 work- handout from the Trustees at for the village.
ing farms, hundreds of thousands of the meeting, the plant is now in
acres of productive forestland, and poor condition and needs to be Higher fees
numerous parcels of community upgraded to ensure waste water
Current user fees average
lands. For more information, visit is adequately treated.
about $1 a day per household, at
www.vlt.org.
Several options were com- $385 a year. Under the scenario
pared, but it was the UV alter- recommended by the trustees,
native that made the most sense, those fees would almost double
Trustee Ben Wallace told vil- to $722 a year.
lage residents at a meeting last
While no one objected to the
Saturday.
higher costs for residents at the
Now, the trustees wanted to meeting, Wallace responded to
know which of the alternatives requests for staggering the billing
the public liked.
of property taxes and waste water
The trustees paid $11,500 user fees so they did not clump
to the Bellows Falls engineer- together, saying he did not see
Safe Kids Coalition, and oper- ing firm Marquise & Morano to why that could not be arranged.
ates a Technical Rescue Team prepare estimates and then to
One of the main features of the
that provides high-angle and present the alternatives to the recommended alternative is the
swift-water rescue services.
public. The village received a use of ultraviolet light as a disIt also has approximately loan from the state to cover the infectant, rather than chlorine,
40 nationally certified EMTs plan, which will be repaid by vil- which is used currently. UV disworking 12- and 24-hour shifts lage sewer fees.
infectant eliminates any chance
throughout each month.
The plan outlines three mini- of chemicals entering the stream
mum upgrades to the current through the outlet line.
Board can’t close
plant.
Disinfection is considered
Pikes Falls Road
The first uses the current treat- to be the primary mechanism
Acknowledging — and ef- ment process with an upgrade for the destruction of pathofectively denying — a traveler’s that would cost $3,057,210, genic organisms to prevent the
request, Selectboard member with an annual operating cost spread of waterborne diseases
Paul Fraser said the town can
not close Pikes Falls Road, a
Vermont Class 2 road and one
of the major routes to and from
TO WN SH EN D
Stratton Mountain.
Evidently there have been issues with some operators being
led astray by GPS and not driving with the road conditions in
mind, selectmen noted.
TOWNSHEND—At their contractual matters with Kathy
“Whether or not the GPS Jan. 20 meeting: the Selectboard Hege of Rescue Inc. No acgoes out somewhere in the val- approved the following war- tion was taken on the matter
ley isn’t our municipal concern. rants: 120-06 General Fund, afterward.
If somebody’s GPS goes out and $5,241.72; 120-05 Equipment
The second was an eight-minthey stop, as opposed to going Fund, $6,065.18; 120-04 ute meeting to discuss legal maton where the GPS tells them, Highway Fund, $6,027.87; 120- ters. On emerging, Selectboard
isn’t really our concern either,” 03 General Fund, $7,667.81; assistant Craig Hunt was inFraser said.
120-02 Payroll Tax, $4,484.57; structed to seek clarification
“People just have to realize it’s and 120-01 Payroll, $10,600.82. of a settlement proposal from
winter, and if you come up here All were unanimous.
the town’s attorney regarding
without snow tires, and you don’t
According to approved meet- Marazoff Assessing Services.
know how to slow down, there’s ing minutes, Selectmen also
Delivering the highway report,
a good chance you’re going to get discussed two matters in closed highway commissioner David
in trouble,” he added.
executive session: the first was Dezendorf said that engineering
Board Chair Lexa Clark put a 12-minute meeting to discuss bid proposals for the West Hill
in: “Get a paper map. A paper
map is always good to have.”
roads.
hearing from Road Foreman
Sander sought for
At the Jan. 27 Selectboard Keith Hazard:
shorter roads
meeting, selectmen acknowl“When snow comes it builds
According to Board Chair edged the diligence of town up over time. When ice comes,
Lexa Clark, Road Foreman workers in tending to this sea- it’s really, really fast, and there’s
Keith Hazard is investigating son’s road conditions, and ac- no way anybody can get to all
getting a small sander to attach knowledged that one or two the roads at once and clear them.
to a town truck to tend to winter residents asked for speedier ser- Somebody’s got to be last.”
sanding on shorter roads.
vice to clear Cole Pond Road and
Fraser said town road crews
Hazard reportedly is gather- Coleman Hill Road.
“certainly are not slacking off
ing information on three possiTo that, Selectboard mem- by any means. They have a full
bilities. Currently a large town ber Paul Fraser offered an ex- team, and there’s another gentlevehicle is dispatched for shorter planation he said he appreciated man that’s joined us.”
Town seeks solutions to
Town Hall water woes
By John Snyder
ary
St
JAMA IC A
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!
!
?
Hts Rd
ndary
GUILFORD—George and
Joan Weir, longtime Windham
County residents, have donated
a conservation easement on 287
acres of woodland in Guilford.
The property, a large working
forest managed for long rotations
of hardwood timber, abuts previously conserved lands and borders the Green River just below
the historic Green River covered
bridge and crib dam.
The couple have a long history of working with forestland
in southeastern Vermont.
George, a private consulting
forester, has helped landowners manage southern Vermont
woodlands for more than 40
years.
Joan worked in regional planning for the Windham Regional
Commission for more than 10
years before joining Vermont
Land Trust in 1999 as the regional director for southeastern
Vermont. Over the years, she has
worked with landowners to conserve farms, family woodlands,
town forests, and community
lands such as recreational, historic and scenic sites.
The Weirs’ belief in the value
of protecting Vermont’s working
farms and forests was made further evident by this conservation
und
e Bo
ou
Village B
County couple
conserves forestland
ag
Vill
?
!
?
!
Pleasant
this is the only time before the
vote for the public to meet and
hear the candidates all at once.
Those interested in declaring
as a write-in candidate should
take this sole opportunity to appear before a group of voters.
There is a one-year school board
seat with no candidate on the
ballot, so a write-in candidate
receiving just 18 votes could be
elected.
Town Meeting itself will
be held, as usual, on the first
Tuesday of March, which this
year is March 4, commencing at
10 a.m. in the gym of the Central
School.
Broad Brook Grange is in
Guilford Center, four miles west
of the Country Store. The meeting ends with refreshments.
Data sources:
- Sewer lines and associated attributes digitized by
Town of Rockingham based on road centerlines and
town utility maps.
to downstream users and the control of the concrete from
environment.
which the plant would be built,
In 1999, the EPA described as that would greatly determine
advantages of UV as disinfec- the estimated 50-year lifespan of
tion of most viruses, spores, the proposed plant.
and cysts.
Wallace and Leach told resThe process eliminates the idents that the facility would
need to generate, handle, trans- be completed in three steps, in
port, or store toxic, hazardous, or which “the state has already been
corrosive chemicals. It has no re- included” to this point.
sidual effect that can be harmful
An engineering study needs
to humans or aquatic life,Wand
to and approved
I Nit D to
H be
A submitted
M
3,000
R E G I ObyNthe
A state,
L
is
also user-friendly for operators.
which will consider
C O M M I S S I O N
Feet
UV
disinfection
has a shorter whether the design is sound and
139 Main St Suite 505 Brattleboro, VT 05301
contact time(802)when
compared whether this option would rep257-4547 www.rpc.windham.vt.us
with other disinfectants (approx- resent the lowest cost for the
imately 20 to 30 seconds with village.
low-pressure lamps), and UV
The second phase would be
disinfection equipment requires to get a final design approved,
less space than other methods. and the third phase would build
Because of the shortened pro- the facility.
cessing time, the new facility
Leach recommended that
could handle nearly 100,000 gal- voters approve 10 percent more
lons a day.
than the cost estimate to ensure
The lower elevation of the adequate funding, noting that
plant, according to Leach, would costs could come in under the
only improve the site line to the estimate as well, and the money
river.
would not need to be spent.
Conversion to the SBR facility
He noted that cost estimates
would not require any shut down would be refined throughout the
time of the current facility, and process.
“flipping a switch” when the time
Village Trustee Louise Luring
comes is all it would take to bring told residents any approval of
it online, Leach said.
grants from the U.S. Department
Leach explained the existing of Food and Agriculture to cut
oxidation ditch would be filled the bond costs was contingent
in, the control building and on census surveys of village user
sludge holding tank would be incomes.
slightly expanded.
At present, the census
A generator would be added data show that the village is
for continuous operation dur- too wealthy to qualify for the
ing a power outage and sit above program.
the tanks and the current ditch,
Luring and Wallace said they
and the 20 foot deep concrete would be getting a new survey
tanks would rise some 15 feet done, as they questioned that
above the 500 year flood mark, outcome. But according to a
having been sunk 7 to 8 feet into Vermont Academy attendee,
the ground.
their surveys showed an income
The facility was offline and level jump in the last year.
under about 5 feet of water
The trustees said they planned
during Tropical Storm Irene to put the bond vote before
in 2011.
the voters at the April 4 village
Some residents expressed con- meeting.
cerns about oversight of quality
!
!
Board takes up legal matters behind closed doors
Vi
Recycle Tank
?
!
P leasant
GUILFORD—Broad Brook
Grange will hold its annual PreTown Meeting on Thursday,
Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. at the Grange
hall.
This is the only opportunity
for voters to hear details of the
articles which will be presented
at the Town and School District
meetings, and to meet and discuss issues with the Selectboard
and School Board all in one
evening, in advance of Town
Meeting.
Candidates for town and
school board offices are urged
to attend to introduce themselves
to the voters.
State law prevents any campaigning by candidates at Town
Meeting when an Australian ballot is used, as in this instance. So
Village of Saxtons River
Water Plant
at Pond
RL
Pre-Town Meeting
forum set for Feb. 20
Wes
tmin
ster
St
GUIL F O R D
Sew
area e
ind
(s
page A6
Road bridge would be requested
in the next week.
Delivering the treasurer’s report, Joe Daigneault informed
the board that the assessment
from Keene Mutual Aid was going up about $2,500 this year.
In a review of board correspondence, Dezendorf moved
to authorize the board chair to
sign a lease agreement permitting the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers to use the Dam Road,
seconded by Scott Chase and
carried unanimously.
Hedy Harris moved to
authorize the chair to sign an
agreement with the Department
of Taxes for the Listers to use the
Marshall Swift assessment software programs until June 30,
2014, seconded by Dezendorf
and carried unanimously.
In old business, board members briefly discussed the rightof-way from Leland & Gray to
the rear of Town Hall, the completion of the fire door project
in Town Hall, and the upcoming Town Meeting on March 4.
Two named
to Route 30
traffic-calming
committee
Fraser and Town Clerk Patricia
Meulemans.
The Selectboard unanimously
approved two volunteers to
serve on a Route 30 trafficcalming committee coordinated by the Windham Regional
Commission.
On the committee representing Jamaica as of Jan.
27: Selectboard member Paul
This story reported with the
help of Brattleboro Community
Television’s staff and volunteers,
who make these public meetings
available to all. Watch on channel
10, or at brattleborotv.org.
Bell
TOWN & VILL
AGE • Wednesday, February 12, 2014 A7
n Library
from SECTION FRONT
The search committee held
its first meeting at the Faith
Christian Church on Jan. 28 and
did not warn the meeting or allow
the public to attend. According
to Amy Howlett, librarian and
consultant to the Vermont
Department of Libraries, in an
email exchange with Deputy
Secretary of State Brian Leven,
trustee Ray Massucco, and
Arnold Clift, Mitchell-Love subsequently “changed her mind
about whether these search committee meetings were exempt
from the Open Meeting Law,
and plans to warn them, allow
public comment and so forth after Tuesday’s meeting.”
Leven determined that the
search committee is considered a public body as defined
by state law.
“All public bodies must comply with the requirements of
Vermont’s open meeting laws,”
Leven wrote. “These requirements include proper notice,
allowing for public comment,
minutes, etc.”
Leven also noted that under
these circumstances, the search
committee has the right to enter
executive session “to consider
the ‘appointment or employment
or evaluation of a public officer
or employee.’”
The Jan. 31 committee meeting two days later was warned.
Minutes were taken, and the
public was allowed to speak.
The search committee has
been a bone of contention and
heated debate among trustees
since Houlné’s termination, and
heated up even more when the
board moved to go ahead with
the search for a successor.
The first bone of contention
was who would be on the search
committee, which consists of
Mitchell-Love, Pat Fowler, and
Laura Senes as the only trustees.
At the Jan. 14 Trustees’ meeting, Mitchell-Love denied seats
to other board members who
volunteered, including Carolyn
Frisa, proprietor of Works on
Paper, who lacked “enough experience,” and Ray Massucco,
because it was her “understanding” that he would not be on the
board after elections.
Massucco, an attorney who
served on the RFPL board for
12 years, seven as chair, is seeking re-election.
Instead of more trustees on
the committee, Mitchell-Love
and the personnel committee, which she chairs, named
“members from the business
and local community” — Cathy
Bergmann, Barbara Ternes,
Torin Brooks, and David Gould
— to round out the committee
membership.
Gould is also running for one
of the four open seats on the
trustees.
At the same meeting, trustee
Elayne Clift pleaded with Search committee
Mitchell-Love to slow down sends letter
the process in light of the pendAt the Feb. 7 search commiting lawsuit by Houlné. She re- tee meeting, members discussed
minded the board that should the content of a letter to be sent
Houlné be reinstated as a result to candidates for the library diof any potential mediation pro- rector job and whether the full
cess between the parties — a con- board of trustees would see the
clusion that would, according letter before it was sent.
to Bowen, “make the lawsuit go
According to the minutes, the
away” — any candidate would letter as drafted does include the
have given up a prior job and per- phrase: “We feel it necessary to
haps even relocated to the area. share with you a situation that
She then asked how Wright and exists around the dismissal of
Mitchell-Love would feel if that our previous Library Director.
were them.
There is an ongoing lawsuit in
Wright replied, if it were her, the case. Currently, the library
she would feel bad, but that at and the community it serves are
this point, the lawsuit was just beginning a period of healing,
“hypothetical.”
and the hiring of a new director is
The lawsuit, which Bowen an integral piece of that process.”
had threatened during Houlné’s
At one point, according to the
public appeals process, was filed minutes, Mitchell-Love said that
the next day.
the letter would be sent to the
Clift continued to insist that trustees and discussed at the next
any letter to candidates include meeting. The minutes also indireferences to the pending law- cate she reiterated that, while the
suit by the former library direc- search committee “owns the protor, and mention the possibility cess,” the letter would be shared
of Houlné’s reinstatement. She with the full board.
said that letter should be apThe letter was sent to job approved by the full board before plicants last Friday, promptit was sent out.
ing a letter of objection from
Wright and Mitchell-Love Arnold Clift.
told Clift that Houlné getting her
job back was “not going to hap- Trustees’ debate
pen.” Wright said she was told by
Open meeting law took centown attorney Stephen Ankuda ter stage on Monday at the
that “only damages could be Citizens For Participation in
awarded,” and Mitchell-Love re- Rockingham candidate forum,
iterated the same to Clift.
featuring Rockingham Free
On Tuesday, Ankuda told The Public Library’s five trustee
Commons that he is “not aware candidates and hosted live by
of any law that would say that a FACT-TV.
court could order her reinstated
In response to a question
when monetary damages would about Mitchell-Love’s previous
be sufficient.”
open meeting law violations,
“Steve is wrong,” Bowen said. Massucco noted that “another
Typically, Vermont law violation of open meeting law
awards financial damages if civil had occurred” referring to the
performance (defined by Bowen first unwarned, secret search
as the “I want my job back” op- committee meeting .
tion) is not possible.
He stated, “This cannot be
But Bowen said that it would allowed to continue” in the new
still be possible for his client to board term.
get her job back during the manMitchell-Love was censured in
datory mediation that accompa- a November letter sent to her by
nies such civil lawsuits.
the Assistant Attorney General
Bowen also noted that pur- Bill Reynolds last fall following
suing a claim based on “the an eight-month investigation, for
constant violations of the open six “unintentional” violations of
meeting law over a period of open meeting law.
time,” could provide “a remedy
Without incontrovertible
that would be appointment of proof that violations are intenher job back.”
tional, censure — a consequence
He further said that because that Reynolds said amounted to a
of a “complete violation of open slap on the wrist — is the state’s
meeting law” at the Aug. 29 only recourse.
Standing Ad 1 for Commons:Layout 1 1/6/2014 2:38 PM Page 1
Trustees’
meeting where Houlné
This search committee open
Candidates
respond
Responding to a question from
the audience regarding the responsibilities of a chair, should
any of them be voted into that
position in the new term, Wright
responded, in part, “I would
want and expect respect from
the audience as well as from the
other side.”
She emphasized the ability of
the board to conduct the business of the board as a goal.
Massucco said, “I would put
the emphasis on running respectful meetings that take the spotlight and focus off the library
(which has had attention this past
year) for all the wrong reasons.”
He also said that he would
TGP provides short-term and
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Rockingham’s Annual Town
Meeting takes place Monday,
March 3, at 7 p.m. in the Bellows
Falls Opera House at the Town
Hall. Voting for officers is Tuesday,
March 4, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Commons CRossWoRD
BY GEORGE by Henry Hook
“By George”
Crosswords
January 19, 2014
BYCRooked
GEORGE
by Henry Hook
Across
1
2
3
4
5
1. Group of 1000
8. Newton’s inspiration
18
13.ofFlat
Group
1000
18. Spanish steps?
Newton’s
inspiration
22
19. “Everybody Loves Raymond”
Flat surname
25
26
21. Cut
off
Spanish
steps?
22. .45 of a sort
“Everybody Loves Raymond”
30
31
23. Music for actor George?
surname
25. Pair of pills, perhaps
36
37
38
Cut26.
off Greek vowels
number
.4528.
of aAntiknock
sort
42
29. CLVIII septupled
Music
for actor George?
30. Stethoscope inventor
46
Pair of pills,
perhaps
Laennec
32.vowels
Engage in histrionics
Greek
55
56
34. Particle
accelerator, e.g.
Antiknock
number
36. Put the squeeze on director
59
60
CLVIII septupled
George?
Stethoscope
inventor Laennec
40. Thanksgiving
veggie
64
65
66
41. Raw
rock
Engage
in histrionics
42. Set of instructions
Particle
accelerator, e.g.
69
43. Back biter?
Put44.
the Ming
squeeze
on director
of basketball
72
46. Apolo Ohno’s middle name
George?
47.
Tarzan’s
transport
Thanksgiving veggie
79
48. Okra, e.g.
Raw51.
rockFilm company known for
84
85
Set of instructions
farcical horror
Apollo’s destination
Back55.biter?
88
89
90
91
56. In custody
Ming
of basketball
57. “Commedia dell’__”
95
96
Apolo
name
58.Ohno’s
Deed middle
signatory
59. Flamboyance
Tarzan’s
transport
99
100
61.e.g.
Supply boxer George’s
Okra,
wardrobe?
Film64.company
108
109
Skill known for farcical
horror
67. Cat first seen on TV in 1928
113
68. Home
of DDE’s library
Apollo’s
destination
69. Seedy singer George?
In custody
116
71. Host of truTV’s “Upload”
“Commedia
dell’__”
72. Cat-__-tails
73.signatory
Earring style
Deed
74. Disregard, in a chat room
Flamboyance
Down
75. Gillette razor name
1. Crime-based cable channel
Supply
George’s
wardrobe?
79. boxer
Tom Joad
portrayer
11. One
2. taking
Sceneinventory?
stealers
Skill80. Kippur lead-in
3. Coach
George’s handheld
12. Sicilian
commune
Sally
Cat81.
firstAyn
seenand
on TV
in 1928
appliance?
13.
Cistern
83. “Quiet!”
Home
of DDE’s library
4. Meadow (var.)
84. Nabokov heroine
attendees
5. Starlet’s
role
Seedy
George? latest inspiration14. Reunion
86.singer
Dan Brown’s
15.
Blanket
with
big hole
in it?
6.
Closer
toa being
right?
Host87.of Wrap
truTV’s “Upload”
7. Lisbon
lady
16.
“The
nerve!”
88.
Glutton
Cat-__-tails
8. “Wipeout” airer
91. List-ending abbr.
17. Long
Earring
9. Lugs
93. style
Material for general George? 18. Rival
of 1-800-FLOWERS
10. SAT
overseer
Disregard,
in a chat room
95. Inconvenient,
and then some
11.nitesimal
One taking inventory?
20. Infi
97. Like
Gillette
razor600f
nameus
12. Sicilianwhile
commune
24. “...rosebuds
__”
Chalet backdrop
Tom98.
Joad
portrayer
13. Cistern
99. Hobble
27.
Runner-up’s
ranking
14.
Reunion
attendees
Kippur
lead-in
100. “Be a voice, not __”
31. Disney-owned
channel
15. Blanket with
a big hole in it?
102.
follower
Ayn
andAb
Sally
16. “The nerve!”
33.
Pertinacious
one
104.
Priest
from
the
East
“Quiet!”
17. Long
108. Friendliness from comic
35. Ovid’s
“Ars __”
NabokovGeorge?
heroine
18. Rival of 1-800-FLOWERS
36.
Stroller
20.
Infinitesimal
Dan
Brown’s
111.
First latest inspiration
37. Setting
for bettingwhile __”
24. “...rosebuds
113. Sputnik rider
Wrap
27. Runner-up’s
38.
Outside
(prefix) ranking
114. Really rainy day
Glutton
31. Disney-owned channel
115. Capt. Corcoran’s ship
39.
“South
Pacifi
c” role
33. Pertinacious one
List-ending
116. Log abbr.
45.
Author
George’s
autobiography?
35.
Ovid’s
“Ars
__”
117. Insinuating
Material
for general George?
36. Stroller
47.
Wallfl
ower-like
118.
Part
Inconvenient, and then some
37. Setting for betting
Across
1.
8.
13.
18.
19.
21.
22.
23.
25.
26.
28.
29.
30.
32.
34.
36.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
46.
47.
48.
51.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
61.
64.
67.
68.
69.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
79.
80.
81.
83.
84.
86.
87.
88.
91.
93.
95.
97.
98.
99.
100.
102.
104.
108.
111.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
Like 600f us
Chalet backdrop
Hobble
“Be a voice, not __”
Ab follower
Priest from the East
Friendliness from comic George?
First
Sputnik rider
Really rainy day
Capt. Corcoran’s ship
Log
Insinuating
Part
Down
1. Crime-based cable channel
2. Scene stealers
3. Coach George’s handheld
appliance?
4. Meadow (var.)
5. Starlet’s role
6. Closer to being right?
7. Lisbon lady
8. “Wipeout” airer
9. Lugs
10. SAT overseer
48.
49.
50.
52.
53.
54.
56.
57.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
70.
71.
74.
Cost, in Calais
Giant great
Renders harmless
Where not to tread
Intend
Education Secretary Duncan
Antipathy
Slightly
Citric quenchers
Jalopy
Will Smith title role
Toe the line
Starting
Sherwood’s “There Shall __
Night”
Hasn’t left the office
Out of
Exceedingly
Utah city
Chant
Open daily except Tuesday
www.brattleboromuseum.org
go a long way to get things on an
even keel and let the board fade
into the background and stop being a focus of attention.”
Aldrich concurred.
“I do think we have to function together as a board and,
being new, I think we can accomplish that,” she said.
When asked what they valued
most about the library, responses
were varied, from the library being a sanctuary (Wright), to staff
of the library (Wood, Aldrich,
and Gould).
Aldrich also appreciated
the staff’s courteousness, but
said she loves the “beautiful
building.”
henRY hooK
Brattleboro Museum
& Art Center
Come in and warm up
your heart, mind, fingers, and toes!
“establish better financial controls” to be implemented over
the next three to five years.
When the question was asked
what the candidates would do
to reduce the inflammatory culture of the board over the past
year, Wright responded, “Well,
for one thing, there will be a seat
vacant held by one inflammatory
personality that will be leaving,”
referring to Elayne Clift, who is
not seeking reelection.
“I would have open discussion and be respectful while discussing and get everyone to calm
down and get back to the task at
hand,” Wright added.
Aldrich and Wood emphasized functionality.
Wood responded, “Get the
functionality and trust back. I
would run meetings with absolute honesty.” She added,
“There is nothing wrong with
keeping a copy of Robert’s Rules
of Order on the table. That could
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
19
20
23
16
17
52
53
54
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102
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103
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Last issue’s solution
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Massucco, Aldrich,
Blackwood, and Gould are running as a bloc, using the slogan
“Trustees You Can Trust.”
CRooked Crosswords January 12, 2014
Building a search
committee
meeting violation so soon on the
heels of this censure prompted
Massucco to bring up the example at the forum.
“At what point does violation
[of open meeting law] become
intentional?” Massucco said to
The Commons.
“I believe in open meeting
law,” Deb Wright responded.
“I’m totally sunshine and
transparency.”
David Gould, a retired pastor
who is running unopposed for a
two-year term, responded, “If we
do not follow the open meeting,
if we start moving into a secretive
situation between the board and
public with secretive operations
between other trustees, as soon
as that happens, the trust level
deteriorates, and the work becomes so much harder.”
Wright, Massucco, and two
other candidates — Town Clerk
Doreen Aldrich and physician
Carol Blackwood — are running
ON’T DO IT by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon
injury, loss, or damage will re- was fired, that meeting and the
sult to the movant before the vote could be declared “null
adverse party can be heard in and void.”
opposition.”
"
The Commons
VT State VT State Inspection
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NowNow
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A8
THE COMMONS
Brattleboro Town School Board rejects
move to develop new anti-bullying policy
LGUHS
towns reject
FY15 budget
PLEDGE DRIVE
The Leland & Gray School
Board is faced with trying a
new tack on a proposed fiscal
year 2015 budget after voters
from the district’s five member towns on Feb. 5 shot down
the board’s nearly $7 million
spending plan by Australian
ballot, 132-122.
That budget called for a 2.8
percent increase over the current year’s spending plan.
An Australian ballot is
conducted without discussion, and was registered at
each of five polling places: in
Brookline, Jamaica, Newfane,
Townshend, and Windham.
School Board members
were left looking for public
input as to why the proposal
failed and what voters would
support.
In December, Dorinne
By Olga Peters
The Commons
Dorfman, L&G principal,
in collaboration with Steven
John, superintendent, and
Franklin Rucker, CFO, produced a budget rationale for
2014-15, which is posted at
www.lelandandgray.org.
The L&G Annual Report
summary notes, in part, that,
“The proposed budget invests
in opportunities for student
growth and learning to graduate both college and career
ready. Dr. Dorfman led her
faculty and staff to carefully
consider every detail of the
proposed 2014-2015 budget.”
Another budget vote will
be scheduled. State statute
requires that a new budget
be in place by the end of the
district’s fiscal year, which is
June 30.
still
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BRATTLEBORO—Citing
advice of their attorney, the
Town School Board and supervisory administrator have
decided against developing an
anti-workplace bullying policy
for Brattleboro town schools.
According to Superintendent
of Schools Ron Stahley, legal
counsel considered the district
need not duplicate existing state
anti-bullying policies and protections in the negotiated teachers’
union contract.
The discussion about bullying in the schools was scheduled
business for the board meeting held at Academy School on
Feb. 10.
Eight teachers and residents
attended, saying they are concerned with bullying. They queried the board and Stahley about
counsel’s advice for a Windham
Southeast Supervisory Unionspecific anti-workplace bullying policy.
“It’s covered, but is it enforced?” asked educator Lauren
Ashley.
“That would be a different
question,” answered Board Clerk
Jill Stahl Tyler.
Stahl Tyler and fellow board
member David Schoales also
reported on early findings of a
survey sent to parents, students,
and teachers, which led the conversation back to the subject of
bullying.
Although most of the early
feedback was positive, some
students had responded they
wished there was less bullying
in the schools.
Stahl Tyler described the results as preliminary, and said
she is still compiling survey
responses.
According to board members, only 64 parents returned
the survey. The board hoped to
find additional methods of engaging parents.
“No matter what, it’s not a
good percentage,” Stahl Tyler
said of the low number of parent responses.
An audience member noted
that bullying was a big topic for
WSESU students and teachers.
Circling back to the meeting
with legal counsel, board ViceChair Mark Truhan said that
the supervisory union’s lawyer
felt that state had protections,
Town School Board members Jill Stahl Tyler, left, and Peter Yost look over an
anti-bullying proposal at a Feb. 10 meeting.
like the Attorney General’s Civil
Rights Unit, that adequately supported people who had experienced bullying.
Schoales added that, should
the WSESU enact its own antibullying policy, that policy might
conflict with or impede anti-bullying or -harassment policies already negotiated into teachers’
union contracts.
Referencing the conversation with attorneys, Stahley
said the Vermont School Board
Association has also avoided
developing policies that could
open school districts to costly
litigation.
The board has a number of
community forums in the works,
one of which might focus on bullying in the schools.
Ashley said the topic of bullying was very hard for parents
whose kids had experienced bullying and who may already feel
disenfranchised from the school.
She suggested the board use
language for a forum on bullying that would invite parents of
bullied children.
“You want to target the population and their situation,” she
said. “It’s about making it [the
message] really targeted.”
Ashley raised the issue of
teacher bullying (allegedly by
administration) to the board last
year. During a step-three grievance hearing before the board,
Ashley told the board members
that she had been bullied by the
school administration after she
refused to take early retirement.
Ashley pointed out that staff
and parents had no path to
bring concerns about principals
and other school administrators forward to the board without going through those same
administrators.
“How is it that you can make
yourself people-friendly (and)
parent-friendly?” Ashley characterized the question she believed
the board ought to consider.
The board started a process
last fall to solicit community
feedback regarding school priorities and educating students
COMM-0232
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COMM-MEMB.form06.indd
Brattleboro Primary Care
THERMOMETER
Keeping Our Community Healthy
We all love ads with fundraising thermometers,
particularly when they’re steadily rising, as ours
has been. (Oh, make no mistake — we wish it
were rising faster. We also want world peace and
a pony.) The truth is, we are grateful for all your
in the 21st century.
The board held one of its first
community forums last month.
Audience members discussed
what they felt the Brattleboro
elementary schools did well and
what needed improvement.
Stahl Tyler and Schoales also
provided a list of potential community forums that included topics such as behavioral programs
in the schools; social challenges
students face (such as homelessness); addressing the needs
of all learners; how to partner
with community organizations
on extracurricular programs;
and standardized testing at the
elementary schools.
The forums will resume after
Representative Town Meeting
in late March. The board’s next
few meetings will focus on preparations for bringing the fiscal
year 2015 budget before Town
Meeting Members for approval.
The board will discuss the
$15.5 million budget at its upcoming Feb. 26 meeting as well
as the Town Representative
Information Meeting on March
19.
Board member Peter Yost said
that a community forum on bullying may be warranted.
Citing student survey comments, Yost said that students
report bullying often occurs during recess. These same students
asked that more teachers be present during outside breaks.
Yost said that as an adult,
hearing kids talk about bullying
and giving solutions, “That was
like a ‘d’oh!’ slap.”
support, particularly during a harsh winter.
Our stalwart office manager, Mia, is out of the
A
office, so we really have no way of telling exactly
lot of people are afraid to tell
the truth, to say no. That's
where toughness comes into play.
Toughness is not being a bully. It's
having backbone.
—ROBERT KIYOSAKI
how much we’ve raised. Yet here we are, with an
ad to do and printers drumming their fingers!
We could make something up. We could even really bluff and show you a graphic of toxic mercury
Visit donate.commonsnews.org or call 802-246-6397 to help support your nonprofit newspaper
exploding
all over the page, but in environmenProof generated November 12, 2013 10:54 PM
tally sensitive Windham County, that would be
off-putting to some donors.
Instead, we ask you to imagine a thermometer
surging toward the top of our fundraising goal.
Because that’s what needs to happen if you want
to see The Commons continue its good work.
We already have run another ad on page C2 in
our brand-new Business Monthly section, with
a form that’s larger and easier to fill out. So we
encourage you to check out this new section and
help raise that old mercury.
We r e l y o n o u r
BUSINESS
C2
members and do-
The Commons
nors (and advertisers, too) to keep the
lights on here. So
stay tuned for one
of our usual ads —
a nd, to ever yone
who has donated
recently, all of you
who do what you
do to support this
improbable local
news operation, two
simple words: thank
RANDOLPH T. HOLHUT/COMMONS FILE PHOTO
WKVT Operations Manager Peter Case.
BRATTLEBORO—One of
Brattleboro’s two AM radio stations is broadening its coverage area.
WKVT AM-1490 recently received approval from the Federal
Communications Commission
to rebroadcast the station on a
low-power FM translator station.
W262CL is rebroadcasting
WKVT-AM’s programming on
100.3 FM. The 105-watt signal is
broadcast from a directional antenna attached to WKVT-FM’s
tower in West Brattleboro.
WKVT AM-FM is owned
by Michigan-based Saga
Communications Inc., which
also owns stations in Keene,
N.H., and in Greenfield,
Northampton, and Springfield,
Mass., among others in its New
England group.
“The reach of the signal will
be roughly the same as the AM
signal, it will just be able to be
heard on FM too,” said WKVT
Operations Manager Peter Case.
“These signals are referred to [by
Saga] as a ‘Metro FM,’ which fill
the ‘Brattleboro Bowl’ in which
we live.”
The daytime signal of
WKVT-AM, a 1,000-watt Class
C station, reaches Wilmington
to Keene, east to west, and from
Bellows Falls to Greenfield,
north to south. During the evening hours, when atmospheric
conditions change, WKVT’s
coverage area is greatly reduced
to about a five-mile radius of
Brattleboro.
Hinsdale off-track betting
facility set to open by May
By Tom Herzig
Special to The Commons
HINSDALE, N.H.—Despite
numerous snags and delays,
longtime Hinsdale resident and
entrepreneur William Faucher
is hopeful that his effort to open
an off-track betting (OTB) facility on Route 119 will cross the
finish line.
Faucher said he was planning
a soft opening in January, but
that his filing for a OTB license
with the state was delayed.
“It’s in the attorney general’s office, and it is in their
hands to decide whether we get
the license,” Faucher said late
January. “They’ve got 90 days
to make a decision, and I don’t
know if they’re going to use the
full 90 days to do so.”
This means he won’t be able
to open until around April 1,
but he said if the state decides
quickly, he’ll get started sooner.
“We had hoped to start off
without any fanfare while we
make sure we’ve got things
sorted out. Now, I’m planning
for a grand opening and festivities on Kentucky Derby weekend,” Faucher said.
The 140th Kentucky Derby at
Churchill Downs in Louisville,
Ky., is set for Saturday, May 3.
Faucher has spent more
than 40 years in harness racing as an owner, trainer, driver,
and official, including 15 years
as a United States Trotting
Association director and DriverTrainer Committee chairman.
He was an accomplished
driver-trainer during Hinsdale
Raceway’s heyday in the 1960s
and 1970s. The track ceased live
harness racing in 1985, closed
altogether in 2008, and has recently been demolished. In 1993,
Faucher was inducted into the
New England Harness Writers
Hall of Fame.
The new, 2,800 square-foot
OTB parlor is situated on Route
119 one-half mile east of the
former track and Walmart. It is
projected to be open six days a
week once a regular schedule is
established as dictated by daily
attendance.
Faucher first attempted to
construct a facility adjacent to
the race track, but ran into deed
restrictions over the use of the
property.
Hinsdale OTB will be the third
off-track betting location in New
Hampshire, joining — but not affiliated with — Rockingham Park
in Salem, and Seabrook Park,
which had greyhound racing,
as did Hinsdale Raceway. It will
have five terminals connected to
live satellite feeds on the Roberts
Communications Network.
United Tote, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Churchill Downs,
rents the equipment used to
place wagers electronically.
“We are going to focus on
harness racing with some thoroughbred racing, which will
eventually be expanded,”
Faucher said. “You have to
make arrangements with each
track to get all wired in. At first
we’ll be working with Yonkers,
The Meadowlands, Saratoga
Harness, Harrah’s Chester
Downs (in Pennsylvania),
Pocono Downs, Dover Downs,
Pompano Park, and Suffolk
Downs.”
Patrons will be able to wager at the OTB or create an account that accommodates phone
wagering.
“We’ll always have a teller,
possibly two on site,” Faucher
said. “When you make a wager
at Yonkers, for example, it will
immediately be reflected on their
tote board. If you were the only
person to place a bet, your wager
would be shown at the track.”
Hinsdale OTB is owned by
Hinsdale Harness LLC, of which
Faucher has controlling interest.
His partners include members
of the Western New England
Harness Horseman’s Association
(WNEHHA), on which he serves
as a director. As stated on its
website, WNEHHA strives to return live harness racing to New
Hampshire.
Live harness racing ended at
Rockingham Park in 2009 and
at the Rochester Fair in 2007.
Faucher has remained active
in the sport, primarily as an official starter at state fairs in Maine,
New York, and Virginia.
“I’ve seen the best and the
worst of the industry,” he said.
“It’s now a niche sport rather
than a major one. There are still
important races for big purses
and some key tracks, but many
purses are subsidized by casino
dollars with no long-term guarantees. Nobody wants to invest
back in the business. If the OTB
can help create an opportunity
for live racing in New Hampshire
with our profits, it will be a good
thing.”
Fix-it man
Faucher has a history of reviving Hinsdale businesses, including Route 63 Country Store at
220 Old Northfield Rd. and Ed’s
Tire at 13 Canal St.
“Bill is an intelligent, personable straight-shooter, an accomplished horseman who’s done a
lot of things well in our industry,” Saratoga Hall of Famer
and Bennington native Kim
Crawford said. “He’s a class act.
If you were going to pick someone to accomplish a revival of the
sport in the region, you couldn’t
pick a better person.”
“There used to be a lot of
people who traveled to Hinsdale
Case said the translator will
make a difference in filling in
the gaps of the AM-1490 signal’s reach.
“FM translators certainly will
bring our AM to new listeners,”
he said. “As with all media, we
are finding new ways to present our products to new people
while retaining those we’ve always had.”
Part of that process is WKVT’s
coverage of the Brattleboro
Colonels, a return to its coverage of local high school sports
following a years-long absence.
WKVT is splitting coverage of
boys’ and girls’ basketball with
WTSA Radio.
Case said he recognizes that
WTSA is the frontrunner with
Colonels’ sports, “but if we go
back many years, WKVT used to
be the sole provider of Colonels
coverage in the Brattleboro area.
So for us it’s where they’re supposed to be on the community
radio station. It just feels right
having them back home again.
Case said listeners’ feedback
is positive: ”Gil Burns and Chris
Lenois call a spirited game, and
we feel they do an excellent
job with play-by-play, which
translates to exciting listening
experience.”
As for getting WKVT’s programming beyond radio, Case
said that streaming broadcasts
online is a “front-burner” project, and that the station is seeking sponsors to help underwrite
the expense.
Putney consignment shop
spreads out to three floors
PUTNEY—Lisa Taylor began her adventure with Swirl
by working for the consignment store for two years before she became its owner.
to go to the horse races,” local
Now, after 10 years at her
horseman Ron Merton said. “It
present location, she gets a
was a family-like atmosphere:
chance to “put her fingerprint
They brought dollars to the town
on it” at a new location, she
and shopped at the local stores,
said, with the business’s Feb.
gas stations, and restaurants.”
1 move to the old Saw Mill
Merton added that “a lot of
building at 52 Main St.
my friends have been asking
The building, next to River
when the OTB is going up. I
Valley Credit Union, is a far
think you’ll see a lot of the oldcry from her humble singletimers from New Hampshire,
room renovated gas station
Vermont, and Massachusetts
beginnings and boasts three
there. There will be a lot of local
floors.
support. It’s a good way to proThe 900-square-foot basemote horse racing.”
ment level houses furniture
Town of Hinsdale Road Agent
consignments and antiques
Frank Podlenski, a veteran horseman who’s enjoyed a successful
season at Saratoga Harness with
his 3-year-old pacing filly Venus
Delight and his 7-year-old trotter
Mr. Invincible, is also optimistic Faucher will make a go of it.
“I’m glad to see he’s made it
BRATTLEBORO—Just
this far,” Podlenski said. “I’ve
So Pediatrics is moving to a
talked to quite a few people who
new location in the Medical
are looking forward to having the
Office Building at 19 Belmont
place open. It’s a form of enterAvenue, Suite G102 on the
tainment — a chance to go see
ground floor, at Brattleboro
Memorial Hospital.
the horses at different tracks and
try to get lucky.”
Situated just across the
One of Faucher’s reclamation
street from their old location
projects when he was active as
at 16 Belmont Ave., the new
a trainer/driver was the pacer
office provides larger space
and updated facilities, includSeatrain. “He was the only gelding to win the Little Brown Jug
ing five exam rooms instead
as a 3-year-old, but he wound
of four.
up barred from tracks because
The move will take place on
he became wild and unmanageFriday, Feb. 14, with the office
able,” Faucher said.
reopening in its new location
“I found a trick to keep him
on Monday, Feb. 17.
well-mannered and we raced
Just So Pediatrics offers
at The Meadowlands and incomprehensive care to infants,
creased his lifetime winnings
children, and adolescents. The
from $300,000 to $825,000. We
pediatric group includes Dr.
were two crazies, Seatrain and I.”
In September 2013, another
3-year-old gelding — Vegas Vegas Vacation paid $3.40 for
Vacation — won the 38th Little a $2 win ticket while earning
Brown Jug at the Delaware $265,220.
County Fair in Delaware, Ohio,
The Little Brown Jug is
with driver Brian Sears in the one of harness racing’s most
sulky. Sent off at odds of 3/5, prestigious events along with
from local dealers, while the
main floor features what
Taylor bills as “first-rate, secondhand” clothing, vintage
apparel, and jewelry. Upstairs
is a menswear room.
Sharing space on the third
floor is Get Out, which will
offer outdoor adventure gear,
horse tack, and kayaks.
Funky and fun artwork by
John Smith and other local artists graces the walls.
A grand opening party
will take place in mid- to late
February, and plenty of gallery
nights are planned.
Hours remain the same:
seven days a week, 11 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
Just So Pediatrics moves
to new, larger location
Valerie Rooney, Dr. Jane Katz
Field, and certified Pediatric
Nurse Practitioner Cynthia
Howes. Along with their staff,
they share the goal of making a
child’s visit a comfortable one.
“We are excited to have a
new, roomier, and warmer
space for patients and staff,”
says Dr. Rooney. “We plan to
continue providing the homey
atmosphere and personal relationships that are so important
to our families."
Just So Pediatrics is a member of Brattleboro Memorial
Hospital’s Physician Group,
a multi-specialty group practice of primary care and specialty care physicians, nurse
practitioners, and physician
assistants.
the Hambletonian for 3-yearold trotters and the Breeder’s
Crown, harness racing’s 12race, $5 million year-end championship which returns to The
Meadowlands this November.
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HOLD EVERYTHING!
T h E C o m m o N S • Wednesday, February 12, 2014
New FM translator extends reach
of WKVT’s AM radio station
(l to r): Rebecca Hill NP, Dr. Eric Pofcher, Jeff
Meckling PA, and Dr. Kathleen Sheffield
Underwriting of one page in this week’s paper courtesy of Ker-Westerlund Funeral Home • 57 High St., Brattleboro • 802-254-5655 • newenglandgreenfunerals.com.
you.
Offering Evening Hours
Wednesdays Until 6 PM
Celebrating
Valentine’s Day on
Thursday February
13th!
Beat the crowds!
Special Valentine’s Menu,
Flowers & Chocolate PLUS
our Thursday Prime Rib,
and OPEN MIC 7-10
Traditional? Specials
available on Fri, 2/14, too!
802-257-7563
Putney Rd, Brattleboro VT
VermontMarina.com
SECTION B
The ARTS
Wednesday, February
C A L12,
E N D2014
A R . . . .•. page
. . . . . . .B1
.B2
T A I L S O F B I R D I N G . . . .B5
page B1
Actor/playwright
Chiquita Mullins
Lee comes to
Next Stage Arts to
perform her
one-man play
about folk artist
Elijah Pierce
Celebrating an
ARTISTof COLOR
“Assassinated,” depicting John and Robert Kennedy
and Martin Luther King Jr., by Elijah Pierce.
By Richard Henke
The Commons
P
UTNEY—For the first
time, a new drama
about one of the 20th
century’s greatest folk
artists will be performed by the author herself.
In honor of February’s Black
History Month, Next Stage Arts
Project will present on Saturday,
Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m., a staged
reading of Pierce to the Soul, a
one-man play about Elijah Pierce
(1892-1984) written and performed by Chiquita Mullins Lee.
Pierce to the Soul tells the story
of the life of the son of a former
Mississippi slave who became
America’s foremost wood carver
of 20th century folk art, according to Robert Bishop, the founding director of the Museum of
American Folk Art.
Elijah Pierce’s art is now
shown in exhibits worldwide,
and more than 300 of his woodcarvings are contained in the the
world’s largest collection of his
work at the Museum of Art in
Columbus, Ohio, the city that
became the artist’s home for
most of his life.
Yet Pierce to the Soul shows
that besides being an exceptional
artist, Pierce was also a preacher
and a barber, seemingly disparate
careers that he combined in unusual ways.
Chiquita Mullins Lee’s drama
focuses on Pierce’s roots as an
artist and the challenges he faced
in the decades before he became
famous in the early 1970s, when
Boris Gruenwald, an Ohio State
University graduate student and
sculptor, discovered Pierce’s art
and began championing it.
Pierce was born on a farm
in Baldwin, Miss., and began
to carve at the age of seven. In
1920, he was issued a preacher’s license.
In 1923, he moved to
Columbus, and during the 1930s
and 1940s, he preached throughout the Midwest and South during the summers at carnivals and
fairs, when he often brought his
carvings along with him to use as
teaching tools.
Mullins Lee, originally from
Atlanta, now lives in Columbus.
“I feel a special bond with
Elijah because we are both transplanted Southerners who subsequently lived and worked in
Ohio,” she says.
Mullins Lee’s plays have
been presented as part of
the Shorts Festival 2000 and
2004 at CATCO, formerly
the Contemporary American
Theater Company, in Columbus.
Mullins Lee has received
Individual Artist Fellowships
in fiction writing and play writing from the Greater Columbus
Arts Council and the Ohio Arts
Council (OAC), as well as a 2007
Individual Creativity Excellence
Award in nonfiction from the
OAC.
“I was one of those kids who
wrote her first play in the fourth
grade and got all my classmates to perform it,” she says.
“However, I am not just a playwright. I have several novels in
progress, as well as poetry, a
memoir, and some other creative
nonfiction.”
“I just love to write,” Mullins
Lee says. “I always have.”
Initially, she did not know how
to make a career out of being a
writer, so she took an academic
track in college, which prepared
her for being a teacher.
But she never gave up writing. Only after winning several
writing awards and several years
of attending the International
Women’s Writing Guild
Conference at Skidmore College
in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., did
she begin to gain confidence
and see there could be a place
for herself in a community of
woman writers.
At the conference, she connected with two other writers,
and together they created a stage
project based on each of their life
experiences: Diary of a 12-YearOld Girl: A Woman’s Story, which
is almost universally promoted
COURTESY PHOTO
simply as 12.
Playwright Chiquita Mullins Lee will do a staged reading
■ SEE PIERCE, B3
of her play, “Pierce to the Soul,” at Next Stage.
The play’s the thing
The ‘greatest play ever written’
gets a lavish staging by two top
theater companies at the Latchis
By Richard Henke
The Commons
B
RATTLEBORO—
The greatest play ever
written by the greatest
writer in the English
language is coming
to southern Vermont.
That is how highly William
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is regarded
by Ian Belknap, the stage director of this lavish world-class touring production.
On Thursday, Feb. 20, at
the Latchis Theatre, two Tonywinning theater troupes, New
York’s The Acting Company
and The Guthrie Theater from
Minneapolis, team up to present
two performances of this classic
tragedy.
“I loved directing Hamlet,”
says Belknap, who besides directing this production is also
Artistic Director of The Acting
Company. “It is a play with infinite possibilities, and if I could
re-direct it tomorrow I would
find new things to discover in
the very rich play.”
As described on Wikipedia,
“the enduring tale of treachery,
revenge, incest, and moral corruption dramatizes the revenge
Prince Hamlet exacts on his
uncle Claudius for murdering
his father, then succeeding to
the throne and taking Hamlet’s
mother as his wife.”
On his website, filmmaker
Jay Craven writes that “Prince
Hamlet is set on a journey
seeking personal meaning
and coming to grips with his
own mortality. It vividly portrays overwhelming grief and
rage while exploring themes
of danger, revenge and moral
corruption.”
The play, he writes, “is among
the most powerful and influential tragedies in English literature, one of Shakespeare’s most
popular works — and still among
his most performed.”
Hamlet in Brattleboro will take
place in the Elizabethan time period, the world in which the 1603
play came to life.
“Our reason for this was
MICHAEL LAMONT/COURTESY PHOTO
that there was a very long time John Skelley, Grant Fletcher Prewitt, and Ian Gould are among the performers in
■ SEE HAMLET, B3
The Acting Company/Guthrie Theater production of Hamlet.
B2
THE COMMONS
arts & community C A L E N D A R
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
15 16
Performing arts
Music
PUTNEY "Pierce to the Soul: A
Songs of Divine
Chemistry: Music director Susan
Dedell leads Winged Voices, the
Jubilee Girl's Choir, the Limbic
System Percussion Ensemble, and
Matt Hensrud, tenor. "The voices of
children, an adult chorus, tenor soloist, and a percussion ensemble of
marimba, vibraphone, ethnic drums,
bells, gongs, and other percussion
instruments combine to sing praises
of the romantic life of prairie voles,
compassionate monks, neuromodulators, sweet crushed angels, and all
things love."
▶ 4 p.m.
▶ $15 suggested donation (as able).
▶ Centre Congregational Church, 193
Main St. Information: 802-348-7735.
MARLBORO Concert by Renana
Gutman: Pianist Renana Gutman
offers a diverse program of music
by Schulhoff, Brahms, Beethoven,
and Chopin.
▶ 3 p.m.
▶ Free.
▶ Marlboro College/Serkin Center
Dance Studio, 2582 South Road.
Information: 802-251-7644; marlboro.
edu.
Staged Reading": See story, B1.
▶ 7:30 p.m.
▶ $10 suggested donation.
▶ Next Stage Arts Project, 15
Kimball Hill. Information: 802-3870102; nextstagearts.org.
Music
THURSDAY
The 1979 film Over the Edge plays in Putney.
for Seniors: This is a 2-week intermediate class (participant understands
computer basics such as turning the
machine on, where to find programs,
etc.), but would like more instruction.
Continues on Feb. 20.
▶ 10:30 a.m. - 12 noon.
▶ Free.
▶ Gibson-Aiken Center, 207 Main St.
Call to reserve space: 802-257-7570.
Discussion Series: With Vermont
Humanities scholar Richard
Wizansky. Today's selections are
the 1970 Nobel Lecture and the 1978
Harvard Class Day Address.
▶ 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. in the Memorial
Library Meeting Room.
▶ Free.
▶ Brooks Memorial Library, 224
Main St. Information: 802-254-5290;
brookslibraryvt.org.
B R A T T L E B O R O "Meet Your
Columnist": Becca Balint and
Bethany Thies: Balint writes about
history, education, and culture in the
Reformer. Thies, a mother of four,
writes the "Bad Parenting Moments"
blog and in The Commons.
▶ noon - 1 p.m.
▶ Free.
▶ Brown Bag Lunch Series, River
Garden, 157 Main St. Information: 802490-6366; strollingoftheheifers.com.
Recreation
Kids and families
BRATTLEBORO Scrabble Club: Fun,
GRAFTON "Winter Insects": This
Music
BRATTLEBORO Kevin Parry Open
Mic: Performers get half-price meal.
▶ 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. every Thursday.
▶ No cover.
▶ Marina Restaurant, 28 Spring
Tree Rd. Information: 802-257-7563;
vermontmarina.com.
Instruction
BRATTLEBORO Computer Classes
friendly, competitive play. All levels
and all equipment provided.
▶ 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
▶ $3; free for first-time players.
▶ Marlboro College Graduate
Center, 28 Vernon St. Information: 971344-8730; [email protected].
Government
Free Tax Help
(AARP): Thursdays through Apr. 10.
▶ 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
▶ Bellows Falls Senior Center,
18 Tuttle St. Call for appointment:
802-463-3907.
W A L P O L E Ambassador Paul
Bremer: "America Still Needs a
Robust Foreign Policy": Ambassador
Bremer served as Ambassador to the
Netherlands, Exec. Sec. of the State
Department, and as Ambassadorat-Large for Counterterrorism. In
2003-2004 he was the Director of the
Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.
The theme of this presentation is what
he sees as overly facile neo-isolationist
reasoning in our current political discourse. Following his talk and during
the Q&A period, he is open to discussing his experiences in Baghdad and
his current perspective on Iraq and
on the region.
▶ 7 p.m. meet and mingle; 7:30 p.m.
talk begins.
▶ Free.
▶ Howells Studio, 250 Old Keene
Road.
BELLOWS FALLS
The written word
Aleksandr
S o l z h e n i t s y n : Rea d i n g a n d
B R AT T L E B O RO
hands-on science program for homeschoolers age 7 to 12 and their families
is led by naturalist Lynn Morgan and
VT Dept. of Forests, Park, and Rec. forester Jim Edsen. Explore the surprisingly active world of insects during the
winter months. Learn the meaning of
"diapause," track down evidence of
summer insect activity, and conduct
a survey of the invasive wooly adelgid
-- all in and around the museum. Dress
for the weather and bring a bag lunch
and water bottle.
▶ 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
▶ $20 per child; up to $40 per family.
Financial aid available.
▶ Nature Museum, 186 Townshend
Rd. Information: 802-843-2111;
nature-museum.org.
Well-being
Women in
Transition: A Group Meeting (Eight
Sessions): Facilitators Emily MegasRussell and Taina Lyons offer a group
experience for women going through
transition or wanting to make a
change in areas of work, relationships, health, spirituality, identity, etc.
The intention is to create a safe space
for women to share personal experience, set intentions, and create ritual
together. A meal and childcare are
provided. (Continues Feb. 20, 27, Mar.
27, Apr. 24, May 29, June 26, July 24.)
▶ 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
▶ $1 to $20 suggested sliding scale
for use of space and meal.
▶ The Root Social Justice Center, 28
Williams St., 1st fl. Pre-registration required: 802-254-3400; therootsjc.org.
BRATTLEBORO
13
Dance
PUTNEY Gentle International Folk
Dancing: Move to the lilting melodies of dances from countries around
the world.
▶ 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
▶ $8.
▶ Putney Cares Activities Barn, 54
Kimball Hill. Anne: 802-387-4330;
[email protected].
Celebrations,
festivals, community
meals
BRATTLEBORO After School Cafe:
Chocolates and Valentines: Make
chocolate treats and valentines for
friends that are good enough to eat.
▶ 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. in the Cooking
Room.
▶ $8 ($6 shareholders).
▶ Brattleboro Food Co-op, 2 Main
St. Pre-registration required: 802257-0236; brattleborofoodcoop.coop.
BRATTLEBORO February Birthday
Luncheon Celebration: Appetizers,
Punch, Herbed Roast Beef, Baked
Potato, Cauliflower and Snow Peas,
Cake and Ice Cream. Those with
birthdays in February are invited to
celebrate the occasion by sitting at
the birthday table (waiving their donation, and may invite a guest to sit
with them, who is encouraged to make
the regular donation.) Entertainment
provided.
▶ 11:30 a.m.
▶ Suggested donation: $4 seniors
over 60; $6 all others.
Call to make reservations and state if
you are celebrating a birthday and
how many spots to reserve at the
Birthday table: 802-257-7570.
Film and video
"Over the Edge": This
'79 coming-of-age film is part of The
Future Collective's Righteous Youth
Rebellion Movie Series, continuing
on Feb. 20, 27.
▶ 7 p.m.
▶ $5 suggested donation.
▶ Next Stage Arts Project, 15 Kimball
Hill. Information: 802-387-0102;
nextstagearts.org.
PUTNEY
Woodshed Wailers:
Blues trio.
▶ 8 p.m. in the Phelps Barn Pub.
▶ Free.
▶ Grafton Inn, 92 Main St.
Information: 802-843-2211;
graftoninnvermont.com.
W I L M I N G TO N Kevin Parry:
Acoustic guitar and mandolin.
▶ 7:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
▶ No cover.
▶ Pizzapalooza, 19 S. Main St.
Information: 802-464-7702.
BRATTLEBORO Ingrid Jensen
Quintet: Jensen, a trumpeter,
is a featured soloist in Maria
Schneider's
Grammy
Winning
ensemble.
She will perform with
her sister,
Christine
Jensen, on sax, bassist Matt Clohesy,
drummer Jon Wikan, and Ben
Monder on guitar.
▶ 8 p.m.
▶ $20; $15 students.
▶ Vermont Jazz Center, 72 Cotton
Mill Hill, #222. Information: 802-2549088; vtjazz.org.
E. ALSTEAD The Folksoul Band:
New Orleans-style merriment for a
Valentine's Dance and Mardi Gras
Runup. Featuring Fred Simmons
on trombone, Leslie Vogel on piano and accordion, Karl Wilson on
tuba, Tara Greenblatt on drums,
Walden Whitham on saxophone
and flute, Phil Sherwood on guitar
and Barbara Levy on balafon and
percussion.
▶ 8 p.m.
▶ $10 ($20 family).
▶ Mole Hill Theatre, 789 Gilsum
Mine Road. Information: 603-3522585; [email protected].
GREENFIELD Samirah Evans
Jazz Quartet: Evans, a jazz and
blues vocalist and a fixture on
the New
Orleans
s ce n e fo r
more than
15 years
before relocating to
Brattleboro,
presents
swingin'
classics and
love songs. She is joined by pianist
Bob Merrill, bassist Peter Concilio,
and drummer Claire Arenius.
▶ 7:30 p.m.
▶ $15; $18 at the door.
▶ The Arts Block, 289 Main
St. Information: 413-774-0150;
theartsblock.com.
GRAFTON
Farmers' markets
Brattleboro
Winter Farmers' Market: Shop
for farm products fresh baked
goods, crafts.
▶ 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. through March
on Saturdays.
▶ Brattleboro Winter
Farmers Market, 153 Main St.
BRATTLEBORO
Local opinion
writers Becca
Balint and
Bethany Thies
will speak.
farmersmarket@postoilsolutions.
org.
Kids and families
DOVER Self-Guided Scavenger
Performing arts
BRATTLEBORO Royal Flush: A Drag
Queen (and King) Valentine's Day
Party: See story, B4.
▶ 8 p.m.
▶ $12; $15 at the door.
▶ Brattleboro Museum & Art Center,
28 Vernon St. Information: 802-2570124 x 101; brattleboromuseum.org.
Music
WEST DOVER Kevin Perry: Classic
Rock: Takes requests on guitar and
mandolin.
▶ 8 p.m. - 11 p.m.
▶ Free.
▶ West Dover Inn, Rte. 100.
kevinparrymusic.com.
W. BRATTLEBORO Western Wind
Concert and Singing Workshops:
See story, B4.
▶ Through Monday, February 17.
▶ $350 (scholarships and discounts
available).
▶ All Souls U.U. Church/West
Village Meeting House, 29 South St.
Information: westernwind.org.
W. BRATTLEBORO "A Musical
Valentine": See story, B4.
▶ 8 p.m.
▶ $15; $10 students/seniors.
▶ All Souls U.U. Church/West
Village Meeting House, 29 South
westernwind.org.
B R AT T L E B O R O Brattleboro
Women's Chorus: Serenade to celebrate Valentine's Day.
▶ noon - 1 p.m.
▶ Free.
Garden, 157 Main St. Information:
802-490-6366; strollingoftheheifers.
com.
BELLOWS FALLS Sound, Music &
Healing Retreat: Explore and experience the cross-cultural healing elements of acoustic sound and music.
Learn why and how sound and music
has been used as a healing science
and art throughout human history.
Using our voices, discover the natural power of vowels and consonants,
learning how to use your voice for
self-care. Discover the therapeutic
power of the primary elements of
music: melody, rhythm, and harmony-immersed in the magic and beauty of
simple melody, song and chant as profound prayer. No musical experience
necessary. Bring your instrument if
you play one. Melinda Gardiner is a
Certified Music Practitioner, singer
and harper.
▶ 4 p.m. Feb. 14. - 1 p.m. Feb. 16.
▶ Through Sunday, February 16.
▶ $150 (meals and overnight
additional).
▶ Immanuel Retreat Center, 14
Church St. Information: 802-463-3100;
immanuelretreat.org.
Fundraising and
awareness events
Trailer Park:
Valentines' Day Benefit for Big
Brothers Big Sisters of Franklin
County:
▶ 9 p.m.
▶ $10; $13 at the door.
▶ The Arts Block, 289 Main
theartsblock.com.
GREENFIELD
Kids and families
Taco Night
and Concert with Cinematica:
WEST TOWNSHEND
FRIDAY
14
Cinematica, Chris Clark and Laura
Molinellii playing and singing original
songs, indy-rock with intricate vocals
and a country feel.
▶ 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.; music starts at
7 p.m.
▶ $9 for a taco plate.
▶ West Townshend Country Store,
Rte. 30. Information: 802-874-4800;
[email protected].
Dance
BRATTLEBORO Aparicion de Tango
Valentine's Day: Music and dancing. Brattleboro's own milonga with
DJ Karla.
▶ 8:30 p.m. - 1 a.m.
▶ $10 milonga; $15 with class (students $5 off ).
▶ Stone Church in Brattleboro,
210 Main St. Information:
brattleborotango.org.
Celebrations, festivals,
community meals
Wine and
Appetizers with WRSI Radio:
▶ 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
▶ Free.
brattleborofoodcoop.coop.
BRATTLEBORO
Trailer Park
(“The right
band for
the wrong
people”) plays
in Greenfield.
Hunt: Find all the clues, solve the
puzzle and earn a prize sure to warm
your heart. All ages.
▶ anytime between 11 a.m. 1 p.m.
▶ Free.
▶ Dover Free Library, 22 Holland
doverfreelibrary1913.org.
Well-being
BRATTLEBORO Vermont Health
Connect Enrollment Assistance
Meeting: Get help finding health
coverage. Work with a certified
Navigator to find out if you qualify
for financial help to make coverage
more affordable, compare your options, and sign up.
▶ 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. in Room 123F.
▶ Free.
▶ Brattleboro Union High School,
131 Fairground Rd. Daniel Jacobs:
802-338-4820.
Dance
Salsa Dance
Lessons / Salsa Dance Party / Food
Bank Fundraiser: Hosted by dance
instructor Michael Rodriguez every
Saturday.
▶ 7 p.m. beginners; 8 p.m. intermediates; 8:30 p.m. advanced; 9
p.m. open dancing.
▶ A check or non-perishable food
donation for local food bank Project
Feed the Thousands is welcome.
▶ McNeills Brewery, 90 Elliot St.
Michael: 802-362-1819.
BRATTLEBORO
Ideas and education
Visiting Day:
Featuring an M.A. with a concentration in Counseling Psychology,
students get the flexibility of online learning along with the camaraderie and support of face-to-face
meetings each term with faculty
and fellow students. Fulfills state
counseling licensure requirements
and includes 60 credit hours and
an internship.
▶ noon - 2 p.m.
▶ Union Institute and University,
28 Vernon St., #210. Registration
with Hanna Thurber: 802-254-0152
x 8905; [email protected].
BRATTLEBORO
To submit your
event:
calendar@
commonsnews.org
BRATTLEBORO
different recipes. She'll also show
how to freeze the meals along with
the best packaging and reheating
techniques.
▶ 1 p.m. in the Undercroft.
▶ Free.
▶ Immanuel Episcopal Church, 20
Church St. Pre-registration required:
802-869-2141.
Music
SAXTONS RIVER German Potluck:
BRATTLEBORO Musician Jonny
Share food, practice the language and
learn something of another culture.
Informal; all levels of proficiency.
▶ 6 p.m.
▶ Free.
▶ Main Street Arts, 37 Main
mainstreetarts.org.
BRATTLEBORO Country Western
Jamboree: No one under 10 admitted.
Food available for purchase.
▶ 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.
▶ $7.
▶ Veterans of Foreign Wars, 40
Black Mountain Rd. Information:
802-257-0438.
Film and video
"Footloose":
Kevin Bacon exhorts a small middle
American town to follow their hearts
and dance.
▶ 4 p.m.
▶ By donation.
▶ Latchis Theatre, 50 Main St.
Information: 802-254-1109; latchis.
com.
B R AT T L E B O RO
Cooking and
Freezing Local Food: In this handson workshop with Rachel Ware of
AlpineGlo Farm, participants prep
and cook as well as sample the foods
being prepared. Rachel demonstrates
the best way to cut up broccoli and carrots, how to simply freeze them, from
blanching through the freezing process, and then how to cook blanched
vegetables by adding them to three
BELLOWS FALLS
and Alison Hale of Serenata
Bossa Nova: Performing traditional Brazilian Bossa Nova and
original material written by Lepkoff,
a vocalist and guitarist. Specializing
in the songs of Tom Jobim and other
Bossa Nova composers, they bring
to life the poetry, swaying rhythms,
seductive melodies and lush harmonies of the repertoire. Accompanying
Lepkoff is flutist Alison Hale.
▶ noon - 1 p.m.
Garden, 157 Main St. Free 802-4906366; strollingoftheheifers.com.
Government
F r e e Ta x
Assistance (AARP): Mondays through
Apr. 14.
▶ 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
▶ Brattleboro Senior Center, 207
Main St. Call for appointment 9-noon:
802-257-7570.
BRATTLEBORO
Kids and families
BRATTLEBORO Domino Toppling
Extravaganza: See story, B3.
▶ 5 p.m.
▶ $5; $3 for BMAC members; free for
children 8 and under.
▶ Brattleboro Museum & Art Center,
28 Vernon St. Information: 802-2570124; brattleboromuseum.org.
DOVER Pizza Party: Pizza-themed
books and activities.
▶ 5:30 p.m.
▶ Free. Reservations appreciated
(first come, first served).
B R AT T L E B O RO Downhill Ski
Races: Open to all school-age children. Ribbons will be awarded to the
first five finishers in each category.
Brattleboro Rec. & Parks hosts this
Jr. Olympics during Winter Carnival
Week.
▶ 9 a.m. registration; 9:30 a.m.
races begin.
▶ Free.
▶ Living Memorial Park, Guilford
St. Ext. Information: 802-254-5808.
BRATTLEBORO Homemade Hot
Pretzels: Make edible food art with
TUESDAY
18
Music
W. DOVER Kevin Parry: Guitar and
mandolin sings classic rock and blues
requests.
▶ 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
▶ Free.
▶ Last Chair Bar & Grill, 267 Rte.
100. Information: 802-464-1133;
Government
Free Tax Help
(AARP): Tuesdays through April 15.
▶ 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
▶ Veterans of Foreign Wars, 40 Black
Mountain Rd. Call after 1:30 p.m.:
802-257-9509.
BRATTLEBORO
Kids and families
Wild Walkers: The
Museum has formed a partnership
with the Vermont Wilderness School
leading to the creation of a program
called Wild Walkers for ages 10 to 14.
Kids build self-confidence and resiliency outdoors while learning ancient
wilderness skills. Come dressed for a
day spent outdoors and bring a bag
lunch and water bottle.
▶ 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
▶ $35 (if space remains).
▶ Nature Museum, 186 Townshend
nature-museum.org.
BRATTLEBORO Open House: Try
a Sample Circus Class: Trapeze and
fabric only.
▶ 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
▶ Free; ages 7+; children must have
signed waiver. See website.
▶ New England Center for
Circus Arts, 74 Cotton Mill Hill
#300. Information: 802-254-9780;
necenterforcircusarts.org.
G R A F TO N
Sheehan: Sheehan plays a mix of
folk and Americana from Richard
Thompson to Emmylou Harris,
Warren Zevon to Lucinda Williams.
▶ Noon - 1 p.m.
▶ Free.
com.
BRATTLEBORO Brattleboro
Winter Carnival Chili Cookoff:
Kevin Parry will provide musical
entertainment.
▶ 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
▶ Marina Restaurant, 28 Spring
Tree Rd. Information: 802-257-7563;
Instruction
BELLOWS FALLS Research Your
Genealogy: Learn the basics of
online genealogical research with
Wayne Blanchard. Discover local
histories using Heritage Quest. Bring
your own laptop and follow along,
or come to take notes. (Continues
Feb. 26, Mar. 5.)
▶ 10 a.m. to noon in the 3rd fl.
Meeting Room.
▶ Free.
▶ Rockingham Free Public Library,
65 Westminster St. Information: 802463-4270; rockinghamlibrary.org.
Government
BRATTLEBORO Free Tax Help:
MONDAY
BRATTLEBORO Jesse Lepkoff
19
Celebrations,
festivals,
community meals
Instruction
Performing arts
WEDNESDAY
17
pretzel dough. We'll twist, shape,
bake, and eat.
▶ 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. in the Cooking
Classroom.
▶ Free.
brattleborofoodcoop.coop.
BRATTLEBORO Winter Explorers
Vacation Camp: Art for Animals:
Create edible arts and crafts to leave
as gifts for birds and animals at BEEC
and at home. For kids in grades 1-4.
▶ 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.; program also runs
Feb. 18, 19, 20.
▶ Members: $35/day, $120 for 4
days; non-members: $45/day, $160
for 4 days.
▶ Bonnyvale Environmental
Education Center, 1221 Bonnyvale Rd.
Information: 802-257-5785; beec.org.
Dance
BRATTLEBORO Ballet Class Series:
Fundamentals of placement, rhythm,
physicality, line, and cultivating performance quality. Donlin Foreman,
former dancer for Martha Graham,
incorporates the Alexander Technique
and Pilates.
▶ Mondays: 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
(Low Intermediate/Intermediate); 5
p.m. - 6:30 p.m. (High Intermediate/
Advanced).
▶ Through Monday, June 30.
▶ $250.
▶ Headroom Stages, 17 Elliot St.
Film and video
Monday Movie
Matinee:
▶ 10 a.m. Mondays through March.
▶ Free.
BRATTLEBORO
Vacation Camp: Tracking the
Delirious Duck: Nature detectives
follow clues left by animals to solve
tracking mysteries. Learn to recognize tracks and signs of animals.
Then embark on an adventure to
find the duck. For kids in grades 1-4.
▶ 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.; program also runs
Feb. 17, 19, 20.
days; non-members: $45/day.
Education Center, 1221 Bonnyvale Rd.
Information: 802-257-5785; beec.org.
Well-being
NAMI Vermont
Connection Recovery Support
Group: Individuals who live with mental illness share experiences and learn
about opportunities and challenges
regardless of diagnosis.
▶ 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
▶ Free.
▶ Turning Point, 112 Hardwood
Way. Information: 800-639-6480;
namivt.org.
BRATTLEBORO
Community building
BRATTLEBORO Brown Bag Lunch
River Garden Series Introduces
"Meet Your Columnist" Michelle
Stephens: Meet the author behind
"Juicebox Confession" (juiceboxconfession.com), a blog and bimonthly
Reformer column.
▶ Noon - 1 p.m.
▶ Free.
com.
Dance
BRATTLEBORO Shall We Dance?:
East Coast Swing: No partner
needed. Five-week series or individual classes.
▶ 6:30 p.m. beginner lesson; 7:30
p.m. intermediate lesson.
▶ $10/$15 drop-in both classes.
▶ Stone Church in Brattleboro, 210
[email protected].
Wednesdays through Apr. 9.
▶ 9 a.m. - noon.
▶ Brattleboro Senior Center, 207
Main St. Call for appointment 9
a.m.-noon: 802-257-7570.
BRATTLEBORO Free Tax Help:
Wednesdays through April 9.
▶ 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
▶ Community Bible Chapel, 107
Atwood Street. Call Alice for appointment: 802-257-1594.
The written word
Spanish Poet
Federico Garcia Lorca and
Vermont Poet Philip Cummings:
Patricia Billingsley offers a slide talk
about the friendship between the
Spanish poet and Cummings, whom
he visited in 1929 for 10 days and
who influenced his poetry.
▶ 7 p.m. in the meeting room (Feb
22. at 3 p.m. snow date).
▶ Free.
▶ Brooks Memorial Library, 224
brookslibraryvt.org.
GUILFORD Talk About Books:
"Long Walk to Freedom": This is an
autobiography of Nelson Mandela,
one of the great moral and political
leaders of our time.
▶ 6:30 p.m.
▶ Free.
▶ Guilford Free Library, 4024
Guilford Center Rd. Information:
802-257-4603; sover.net/~wilken/
guilfordlibrary.
BRATTLEBORO
Kids and families
DOVER Book Olympics Storytime:
Listen to some award-winning children's books read by the librarian
and power up for games and crafts.
Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult.
▶ 10:30 a.m.
▶ Free.
BRATTLEBORO Skating Races:
Open to all school-age children.
Ribbons awarded to the first five finishers in each category. Brattleboro
Rec. & Parks hosts this Jr. Olympics
during Winter Carnival Week.
▶ 2 p.m. registration; 2:30 p.m.
races begin.
▶ Free.
▶ Nelson Withington Skating
Rink, 61 Guilford St. Information:
802-254-5808.
GRAFTON Snowy Adventures:
Naturalist Lynn Morgan leads children ages 6-9 to a 600-ft. tubing hill.
Discover how snowflakes come to be
and why no two are alike. Explore
the snowshoe trails in search of
signs of woodland animals.
▶ 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
▶ $20.
▶ Grafton Ponds Outdoor Center,
783 Townshend Rd. Information:
802-843-2400; graftonponds.com.
Vacation Camp: (See Feb. 17)
Education Center, 1221 Bonnyvale
Rd. Information: ..
Vacation Camp: Lessons from the
Frozen Forest: How do animals
keep warm through the cold winter? What animals live in this forest
and what do they eat? Explore how
animals survive freezing temperatures and try out these strategies
ourselves. For kids in grades 1-4.
▶ 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.; program also
runs Feb. 17, 18, 20.
days; non-members: $45/day, $160
for 4 days.
Education Center, 1221 Bonnyvale
beec.org.
Well-being
BRATTLEBORO Yoga in an Art
Gallery: Relax and reinvigorate -the best of both worlds. Postures
are accompanied with conscious
breathing. Crystal bowl sound healing, some chanting. Dante leads
each class.
▶ 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
▶ By donation.
▶ Gallery in the Woods, 145 Main
St. Information: 802-257-4777.
Dance
West African
Dance Class: All levels. Wear loosefitting clothing and bring a water
bottle. Class accompanied by live
drumming. Jai Fuller trained under
world-renown teachers from backgrounds in Senegalese, Congolese,
Malian and Guinean dance.
▶ 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
▶ $12 to $15 sliding scale (work
exchange available for low income).
▶ Stone Church in Brattleboro,
210 Main St.
BRATTLEBORO
THE COMMONS
THE ARTS
B3
■ Hamlet
FROM SECTION FRONT
since there was a full country
tour of Hamlet, so we wanted
a production that would serve
Shakespeare’s intentions best,”
says Belknap.
“In this production, we have
focused on the development of
language and clarity of thought
in a clean context and staging,”
he adds. “If we do this, we believe we will make Shakespeare
relevant to modern audiences
who will find those contemporary meanings for themselves.”
Developing
classical actors
JEFF WOODWARD/BMAC
A look at part of the layout for last year’s Domino Toppling Extravaganza at the
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. The domino event is coming back to the museum
on Feb. 17.
Annual Domino Toppling
Extravaganza set for Feb. 17
BRATTLEBORO—The
Brattleboro Museum & Art
Center (BMAC) presents
its Seventh Annual Domino
Toppling Extravaganza on
Monday, Feb. 17, at 5 p.m.
Doors open at 4:30 p.m. for
audience members to choose
their vantage point and inspect
the fanciful, colorful domino
course before it all comes tumbling down. Admission is on a
first-come, first-served basis:
free for kids 8 and under, $3 for
BMAC members, and $5 for everyone else.
Every audience member will
have a chance to guess how many
dominoes make up the course;
whoever comes the closest will
start the chain reaction.
A popular annual spectacle,
BMAC’s domino topplings
began in 2008, when Mike
and Steve Perrucci, brothers
from Perkasie, Pa., traveled
to Brattleboro to build, and
then topple, a course created
specifically for BMAC.
The Perruccis returned to
Brattleboro each of the next four
years, creating bigger and more
elaborate courses each time.
In 2011, the brothers enlisted
the help of another dominotoppling enthusiast, 14-year-old
Shane O’Brien, from Rockland
County, N.Y. In 2013, O’Brien
and two other teenage topplers
took the helm as the Perruccis
retired from domino duty.
This year O’Brien, now a
17-year-old high school senior,
heads a builder/toppler team
with three other teens.
O’Brien, who began domino
toppling in late 2006, says he
most enjoys “the combination
of creativity and organization. A
huge creation requires hours of
scrupulous planning to go along
with the strenuous building. It’s
awesome that with a bit a work
and determination I can turn
dominoes into a true spectacle.”
The domino whiz kids
will arrive in Brattleboro the
Saturday before the event; it will
take them at least 24 hours of
solid work to fill the floor of the
museum’s Wolf Kahn and Emily
Mason Gallery. The toppling itself will last about five minutes.
“By far, the most stressful part
of this event each year is the final hour, when all the dominoes are set up, ready to fall,
and audience members arrive
and jockey for good viewing
position,” said BMAC director
Danny Lichtenfeld. “It’s always
very exciting — and a great relief — when the toppling finally
begins.”
YouTube videos of BMAC’s
past domino topplings have
been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, and the event attracts attention from topplers
worldwide. For video links and
more information, visit www.
brattleboromuseum.org.
The art of
classical theater
Hamlet will be performed in
Vermont in collaboration with
another Tony-winning troupe,
Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater
(guthrietheater.org).
Six years ago, the Acting
Company began a fruitful association with this resident acting
and education company, which
describes itself as performing
classics in rotating repertory with
“the highest professional standards” as “a prototype for an
important new kind of theater in
contrast to the commercial environment of Broadway.”
Alumni from its education
programs have become a major resource for recruiting annual members of the Acting
Company, which each year ends
its touring season play with 16
performances at the Guthrie in
Minneapolis.
“Our company wants to get
people excited about the art
of classic theater, especially
Shakespeare, who has remained
central to all we do here,”
Belknap says.
“I remember reading
Shakespeare in school — and
even then I knew I was going into
theater — and I found myself so
bored,” he recalls. “I had to remind myself that Shakespeare
is not a book, not a novel, but a
living piece of theater.”
“Shakespeare is meant to be
heard and performed,” Belknap
says. “That is what we hope to be
bringing to Brattleboro.”
Hamlet is the final presentation of the first year of Kingdom
County Productions’ arts season
in Windham County.
“Hamlet is one of the two the
most ambitious and expensive
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will be performing the complete play.
“Bomar Jones was wonderful
in the part and his portrayal was
one of the reasons the show was
such a success,” Chiquita says.
How Mullins Lee ended up
playing Pierce was rather by
chance.
“When we were still in development of the work, I was
invited to read an excerpt at
something called ‘Conversation
and Coffee,’ sponsored by the
Columbus Cultural Exchange,”
she says. “This turned out to be
quite successful, and I came back
several times and did other sections. So when Next Stage suggested I do the entire show, I
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FROM SECTION FRONT
Folk artist, preacher, and
barber Elijah Pierce is
the subject of a new play,
“Pierce to the Soul,” to be
presented at Next Stage in
Putney in a staged reading
on Feb. 15
Tickets for the 7 p.m. performance
of Hamlet at the Latchis Theatre
at 50 Main St., in Brattleboro on
Thursday, Feb. 20, are now on sale
by phone (888-757-5559) or online (KingdomCounty.org). Tickets
will also be available at the door.
Advance tickets range in price
from $14 to $33. Tickets for the
free matinee will be available at
the door or by advance reservation
to producer Jay Craven (jcraven@
marlboro.edu).
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presentations of our entire
year,” says Craven, founder of
Kingdom County Productions
and a Marlboro College professor of film studies. It will cost
$25,000 to produce the play
here.
“But I am committed to bringing quality theater like this to
southern Vermont,” Craven
says. “We are working hard to
make this successful. It has already proven successful in the
Northeast Kingdom, where our
big annual commitment to professional Shakespeare reaches
more than 1,000 high school kids
— and many adults.”
To encourage students on
spring break and to introduce the
region to the performing arts that
Craven is bringing to the region,
his company will offer a 35-percent discount on ticket prices for
the evening shows.
Admission for the matinee on
Thursday, Feb. 20 is free, thanks
to support from the Thomas
Thompson Trust and the
Kingdom County Productions
Windham County Fund.
Other sponsors include Chroma Technology,
Brattleboro Subaru, Brattleboro
Retreat, Brattleboro Savings &
Loan, Blue Cross Blue Shield
of Vermont, and more than 30
local families.
Breakfast Special ~ Mon - Fri
5:30am – 10:00am
■ Pierce
Chiquita co-wrote and has
often performed in the threewoman show about girls on the
threshold of womanhood with
Jeannetta Holliman and the late
Rodlyn Douglas.
Also at Skidmore, she met a
woman who would turn out to
be instrumental in the direction
of her artistic career, Elayne
Clift, a longtime columnist to
The Commons.
Mullins Lee took one of Clift’s
workshops about humor in women’s writing. “We became very
close,” says Mullins Lee. “Soon
we were sharing our poems and
short stories, and although we
never have actually collaborated
on anything, she has become a
huge part of my life.”
Around 2004, Geoff Nelson,
the artistic director of CATCO,
suggested to Mullins Lee that she
write a play about Pierce’s life.
As Bill Childs explains in an
discussion of the origins of Pierce
to the Soul at CATCO’s website,
Pierce became an institution in
Columbus, where he was respected as a barber, a preacher,
and an artist.
And since Pierce was a local
man who had won international
acclaim, Nelson thought that
story might be interesting to explore for audiences in Central
Ohio and beyond.
Although Mullins Lee initially
thought of having multiple actors on stage, she soon changed
her mind, and the play became
a one-man performance.
Played by Alan Bomar Jones,
a celebrated actor in the Ohio
area, Pierce to the Soul opened to
rave reviews and ran for the entire month of April 2010, as well
as subsequently touring through
the Ohio region.
The Next Stage performance
is the first time the author herself
The Acting Company
(theactingcompany.org), based in
New York City, is dedicated
to presenting classical works of
theater.
“We were founded in in the
early ’70s by John Houseman
and our current producing director, Margot Harley, along with
members of the first graduating
class of [the] Juilliard [School]’s
Drama Division, although we are
no longer affiliated with Juilliard
but are a separate nonprofit,”
says Belknap.
Belknap has previously directed the Acting Company’s
national tours of The Comedy of
Errors and Of Mice and Men, and
he has served as associate producer of five national tours for
the Acting Company in association with the Guthrie Theater.
The Acting Company has
been on the road and in schools
since 1972, touring to 48 states
and 10 foreign countries and
earning a Tony Award for
Excellence in Theater. Kevin
Kline, Patti LuPone, and David
Ogden Stiers are but a handful of
performers who began their careers on tour with the company.
The troupe tours nine months
of the year, from September until
May, this year going to 35 cities
and towns with 75 performances
of classic theater.
“Our mission remains twofold,” says Belknap. “The first
component is the development
of classical actors. All our actors are professionals, but many
have only graduated from acting
school two or three years before
joining our touring company. We
believe that touring helps actors
hone their craft.
“The second part of our mission is to bring classical drama
to areas that do not have easy
access to theater. The Acting
Company goes to places that
may be hundreds of miles away
from a regional performing arts
center, where we make the magic
of live performance available to
thousands of people each year. In
fact, 70 percent of our audiences
have never before seen a play.”
figured I had some experience
to tackle it.”
She finds the task of portraying Pierce a little daunting because she is asked to perform
the role of a man who became
famous in his seventies.
“Pierce is both of a different gender and age than I am,”
she says.
Yet she did connect with his
character.
“I feel an affinity with him,”
she adds. “The stories he tells
are rich for me. When I was writing the play, I would get lost for
hours in the wording of it.
“You see, Pierce was much
more than an artist. He was a
beloved figure in Ohio for his
preaching, too. And his barber
shop became a focal meeting
place in Columbus, where people
would gather to hear him tell his
Bible stories and to see his work.
“He was hardly an acclaimed,
world-famous artist at first, and
he often gave away works of art
that are worth a lot of money
these days. My play tries to capture all these facets of this remarkable man.”
How does Mullins Lee find
the stamina to get through an
80-minute play on stage by herself alone?
“I take a deep breath and try
to connect with an audience,”
she says. “I have so much respect
for a good audience, who I hope
will hear what I have to say, feel
it, and laugh with it.
“Am I nervous? Yeah! If I
weren’t nervous, I would be nervous that I wasn’t.”
Admission for Pierce to the Soul,
on Feb. 15 at Next Stage, 15
Kimball Hill in Putney, is by donation ($10 suggested). Tickets are
available at the door.
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Music and libretto by Paul Dedell
Music direction by Susan Dedell
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THE ARTS
B4
THE COMMONS
BUHS Music Department
presents ‘The Boy Friend’
BRATTLEBORO—The Brattleboro
Union High School Music Department
presents the popular musical “The
Boy Friend” on Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday, Feb. 13-15, in the BUHS
auditorium.
The show is directed by Robert
Kramsky, stage director; Stephen Rice
and Anthony Speranza, music co-directors; and Mitch Davis, producer.
It also marks Rice’s 26th year with the
BUHS musical — and Speranza’s 20th
affiliation with BUHS. This is Kramsky
and Davis’ 38th year of collaboration on
BUHS musicals.
The production staff also includes
Mary Linney, 14 years as costumer;
Aimee Johnston, stage manager;
Melanie Zinn, 10 years as choreographer; and Seth Richardson, 19 years
helping with sound.
More than 160 years of combined
experience is uniting to bring this production to the BUHS stage.
“The Boy Friend” opened at
London’s Players’ Theatre Club on
April 14, 1953. It then opened in the
West End at Wyndham’s Theatre on
Jan. 14, 1954, and ran over five years
for 2,078 performances.
The Jazz Age lives on in this light,
romantic spoof of 1920s musical comedy. The setting is the French Riviera.
The BUHS production features
Kristina Meima as Polly Browne; Ian
Epstein as Tony; Vanessa Brown as
Madame Dubonnet; Clark Hamm as
Percival Browne; Elijah Taylor as Lord
Brockhurst; and Abby Sherlock as Lady
Brockhurst.
Additional players include Corinne
Epstein, Julia Waldron, Anja Alden,
Bonnie Hart, Natasha Diamondstone,
Jason Guerino, Mycroft Stone, Malcolm
Toleno, Zeb Hathaway, Liam Reynolds,
and Devon Rinaldi.
The pit orchestra is composed of
BUHS student musicians and several
area musicians: Rowan Hawthorne,
Carley Wainwright, and Tom Nasiatka
on clarinet); Ben Janis, Claire Thomas,
and Tom Nasiatka on saxophone; John
Sawyer-Shaw and Kyra Johnston on
trumpet; Tyson Pond on trombone;
Sally Fletcher on bass; Michelle Liechti
and Heather Sommerlad on violin; Patty
Meyer on piano; and Jacob Gartenstein
on percussion.
pronounce and define.
Author Archer Mayor
makes his triumphant return
to pass judgment on each
team’s spelling effort, with the
able assistance of Little Bee
Lucy Flynn and the bicycle
horn. Alfred Hughes, Jr. will
again announce the rounds.
It is a rollicking good time
of spelling frenzy. Many teams
come every year to strut their
spelling stuff on the main
stage of the glorious Latchis
Theatre.
Register your team at latchisarts.
org. For more information, write
[email protected].
hen our spelling is perfect, it’s invisible. But
when it’s flawed, it prompts strong negative associations.
—MARILYN VOS SAVANT
Chiropractic
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Naturopathic Medicine
Nutritional
Assessment/Individualized
Programs
Physical Therapy
Psychotherapy
OPEN 365 DAYS A YEAR
802 365 4600
Happy Valentines Day
Flowers, Balloons, Cards, Candy & Chocolates
for your loved ones
Located on Scenic Rt 30
In Townshend, Vermont
BRATTLEBORO—March
introduces a daytime educational
series for adults at Brattleboro
Music Center, including monthly
music appreciation gatherings, a
chorus for seniors, and a beginners’ violin class.
According to the BMC’s Pam
Lierle, the adult daytime track “is
a direct response to the region’s
decidedly older adult population and mounting evidence that
engagement in music as we age
has significant positive health
benefits.”
Lierle says in a program announcement those benefits include elevated mood, relief of
pain, reduction in stress, improvement in long-term memory, a greater sense of well-being,
the stimulation of positive interactions, improved cognitive
function, and a boosted immune
system.
The programs are structured
for maximum accessibility and
require no previous musical experience. Tuition ranges from $5
to $10 per session.
“Our goal is to create well-being by getting everyone listening,
singing, and playing,” Lierle says.
Music appreciation monthly
gatherings, featuring music and
discussion, are scheduled for the
second Monday of each month
from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the BMC,
38 Walnut St. in Brattleboro.
Drop-ins are welcome, and each
session is $5 at the door.
• March 10 — Pianist Hugh
Keelan explores the music of
Debussy and Wagner.
• April 14 — Peter and Mary
Alice Amidon share traditional
American sacred songs.
• May 12 — Cellist Zon Eastes.
Singing Strong Chorus, designed for seniors, is led by
Choral Director Susan Dedell
on Tuesdays from 1:30 to 2:30
p.m. at St. Michael’s Episcopal
Church, which is fully accessible. The first session runs from
March 4 through April 8; the
second session from April 22
through May 27.
Dedell will lead the choir in
songs chosen from a variety
of musical styles, mostly from
the great song repertoire of
the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
No singing experience or music reading skills are necessary.
Tuition is $35 per six-week session, and advance registration is
required.
Adult Beginning Violin is for
beginners interested in trying out
an instrument. Michelle Liechti
leads this first series of adult instrument classes on Thursdays,
starting March 6, from 11 a.m.
to noon at the BMC. Tuition for
five sessions is $50, and loaner
violins are available.
“It is such a gift to have
opportunities to learn something
new and expand throughout our
lives,” Lierle adds. “We hope
many people will take advantage
of this new adult daytime track
and reap the benefits.”
Each year, the Music Center
enriches the lives of more than
10,000 residents of southeastern
Vermont and neighboring New
Hampshire and Massachusetts
counties. Hundreds of classes,
workshops, concerts, and other
events bring people together to
learn, listen, and join together
in celebration of music and
community.
To register for any or all of these
adult music education programs,
and for more information about
BMC’s programs for all ages,
call the Brattleboro Music Center
at 802-257-4523 or visit www.
bmcvt.org.
Western Wind presents singing workshops
Acupuncture
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Organic
M-F 6 AM-9 PM • SAT 7 AM - 9 PM
SUN 8 AM -9 PM
Pet Food, Bird Seed, Equine,
Pet & Stable Supplies, Tack, Hay, & Shavings
Open Monday – Friday 9:00-5:30, Saturday 10:00-2:00
802-365-7800
Tony (Ian Epstein)
and Polly Browne
(Kristina Meima)
share a romantic
moment in a scene
from the BUHS
Music Department’s
production of “The
Boy Friend,” which
will run Feb. 1315 in the school’s
auditorium.
BMC launches adult daytime programs
W
205 Main Street
Phone. 802.275.4732
Fax. 802.275.4738
[email protected]
www.biologichealthcare.com
Tickets are available at the BUHS front office on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.,
and at the door. For more information, call
the BUHS Ticket Desk at 802-451-3407.
The Thursday performance begins at 4
Teams sought for
‘Spell Check’ to
benefit Latchis
BRATTLEBORO—
Latchis Arts is looking for
teams of spellers to mount the
stage on April 5 for Latchis
Arts’ popular game show
“Spell Check! A Spelling Bee
for Grown Ups” at the Latchis
Theatre.
Each team has three spellers, and three teams appear on
stage at a time.
Master of Ceremonies,
author and humorist Tom
Bodett of “Wait Wait...Don’t
Tell Me” fame will weave the
spelling words into fanciful
tales, while lawyer/local radio
host/Beekeeper Jim Maxwell
will use his radio voice to
p.m. Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 7 p.m. Admission is $6
for all seats at Thursday’s show; $10 for all
seats at Friday’s and Saturday’s evening
shows. Senior citizens’ tickets are $6 for all
performances.
Located on Riverdale Road (Just off Rte 30, Behind River Bend Farm Market) Townshend VT
BRATTLEBORO—On
President’s Day weekend, The
Western Wind vocal ensemble presents its annual “Winter
Wonderland” Workshop in
Ensemble Singing at All Souls
Unitarian Universalist Church.
These workshops are opportunities for singers at all levels
to experience the joy of ensemble singing.
Focusing on the small group
experience, participants sing
music from a diverse repertoire:
medieval, Renaissance, Baroque,
Early American; 19th and 20th
century part-songs, rounds,
hymns, and folk songs; jazz, pop,
doo-wop, and improvisation.
Coaching in vocal style, performance practice, and ensemble
techniques enhances the interpretation of this wide range of
musical genres.
Enrollment is open to everyone from professionals to amateurs, soloists and ensemble
performers, conductors and
music teachers. For workshop
information, visit the Western
Wind website at www.westernwind.
org. Scholarships and discounts
are still available for last-minute
enrollees.
The workshop begins with
a Western Wind concert, “A
Musical Valentine,” on Friday,
February 14, at 8 p.m. at All
Souls Church. The program includes music about the pains
and joys of love by Renaissance,
early American, and contemporary composers including Luca
Marenzio, Orlando di Lasso,
Orazio Vecchi, Thomas Bateson,
John Dowland, William Billings,
Kurt Weill, Duke Ellington,
Lionel Bart, James Taylor and
more.
Tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 for students and
seniors. For tickets and information, contact The Western Wind
at [email protected], or 800788-2187, or visit their website.
Since 1969, this internationally acclaimed vocal sextet has
devoted itself to the special
beauty and variety of a cappella
music. The ensemble’s repertoire
reveals its diverse background:
from Renaissance motets to
Fifties rock ’n’ roll, from medieval carols to Duke Ellington,
from complex works by avantgarde composers to the simplest
folk melodies.
In addition to a demanding performance schedule, the
COURTESY PHOTO
The Western Wind vocal ensemble returns to Brattleboro this weekend for its annual
workshop and performance series.
group runs a highly acclaimed
arts-in-education program for
the New York public school system and presents an annual series of singing workshops in New
York, Northampton, Mass., and
Brattleboro and Woodstock in
Vermont. They have also produced a series of holiday programs broadcast over National
Public Radio and Public Radio
International, and to date have
released 19 recordings, one of
them nominated for a Grammy.
Members of the group are
currently Michele Kennedy,
soprano; Linda Lee Jones, soprano; Todd Frizzell, tenor;
Elliot Z. Levine, baritone; David
Vanderwal, tenor; and William
Zukof, countertenor.
Their various backgrounds
all include extensive choral and
solo singing with renowned ensembles large and small; each has
also some combination of other
experience and skills, among
them choral conducting, composition and music arranging,
instrumental performance, and
serving in a range of production
roles for opera and music theater.
All Souls Church, which is
handicap accessible, is located
at 29 South Street in West
Brattleboro, just across the
road from the West Brattleboro
fire station and village green.
Head up the wooded drive to a
large parking area by the building. For further information
about All Souls Church, call
802-254-9377.
Valentine’s Day drag show at museum
BRATTLEBORO—
Brattleboro Museum & Art
Center (BMAC) will be the setting for “Royal Flush: A Drag
Queen (and King) Valentine’s
Day Party,” presented in collaboration with The Harral
Show, on Feb. 14.
Led by Brattleboro native Harral Hamilton, The
Harral Show is a collection of
Brattleboro-area theatrical talent committed to showcasing
alternative, experimental, and
original performances.
Best known for his turn as
Hedwig in “Hedwig and the
Angry Inch” at Headroom
Stages in 2011, Hamilton will
serve as host as BMAC’s KahnMason Gallery is transformed
into the Double Deuce Lounge
and the stage is filled with
Killer Queens, Goblin Kings,
and local talent.
Performers Candi Schtick
and Lavie Putain will take
turns at the mic, as will the likenesses of David Bowie, Freddie
Mercury, the Mona Lisa, and
other “glittering goddesses
and steamy kings decked out
in their finest,” according to a
news release from the museum.
“Join them in drag if you wish,”
the museum writes.
The evening will feature live
cabaret performances, a dessert buffet, and a cash bar by
Windham Wines.
“Royal Flush: A Drag Queen
(and King) Valentine’s Day
Party” takes place on Friday,
Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. at BMAC,
10 Vernon St. Admission is
$15 ($12 in advance). Ages 18
and over. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit
brattleboromuseum.org or call 802257-0124, ext. 101.
SECTION B
C
BUSINESS
Wednesday, February 12, 2014 • page C1
■ ON
THE
MOVE
• Oak
Meadow,
which provides homeschooling
curriculum
for students
in grades
K-12, reLorenz
cently
added two new members
to its staff at its offices in
Brattleboro: Steve Lorenz
as School Liaison and Ben
Mitchell as Director of
Admission. Lorenz is
the former head of The
Grammar
School in
Putney, and
a member
of the Oak
Meadow
Advisory
Board. He
has been
Mitchell
involved
with independent and public educational institutions, for-profit
and nonprofit organizations, and community service projects in Vermont
for over 30 years. Mitchell
is the former Director of
Admission at Landmark
College. He has taught writing and English Literature
at the high school and college level, and he has published over 50 poems and
stories. He also has presented nationally and internationally on topics of
alternative education.
• World Learning rec e n t l y
n a m e d
K e v i n
Comerford
as its new
chief financial officer, as well
a s C a r o l Comerford
Jenkins as
its executive vice president
for global development.
John Lucas was elevated
to executive vice president
for academic affairs, in addition to provost of SIT (the
School for International
Training).
Jenkins
Lucas
• James A. Valente of
Brattleboro was elected
to the presidency of the
Brattleboro law firm
Costello, Valente &
Gentry. He is a graduate of
Brattleboro
Union High
School
and Drew
University.
He clerked
in the firm
from 2006
to 2010 and
Valente
passed the
Vermont Bar Examination
and was admitted to the
Vermont Bar Association
in 2011. He is also admitted in the Federal District
and Second Circuit Court
of Appeals.
• Thom
Dahlin of
page C1
■ ENTERPRISE
■ B U S I N E S S H O W- T O
What will the
next economy
look like?
Local business and shopping
as we know it are in the
process of changing forever
W
RYAN MERCER/BURLINGTON FREE PRESS
Shayne Lynn is on the verge of opening a medical marijuana dispensary on
Putney Road in Brattleboro.
Marijuana dispensary
set to open in Brattleboro
Amid shifting state and federal policies,
a Townshend native will operate
Southern Vermont Wellness on Putney Rd.
By Emily Aprea
The Commons
B
RATTLEBORO—
With the opening of
a medical cannabis
dispensary this week,
Brattleboro will join
Burlington, Montpelier, and
Brandon as locations that provide marijuana under the provisions of a new state law.
Shayne Lynn of Southern
Vermont Wellness plans on opening the new clinic on Thursday
in the Vermont Building at 1222
Putney Rd., next door to the
North Brattleboro post office,
the Internal Revenue Service,
Brattleboro
E’VE GOT to talk.
With the holidays behind us
and the serious
work of economic development
for the next half century clearly
in our sights, it’s a great time
to discuss how we can keep
our Main Street and local businesses viable for the long term.
Leading up to the holidays,
Jacob Roberts and Bethany
Thies wrote excellent articles
touting both the benefits of
shopping locally and the challenges with executing such a vision in a community of limited
means.
Locally and nationally, people are discussing how local
business can survive and thrive
— but they’re having the wrong
discussion. The work of the
buy-local movement is very important and needs to continue,
but that is only one piece of a
larger puzzle.
Local business and shopping
as we know it are in the process
of changing forever. Counting
on movements of a few percentage points of people’s total
income to save the local economy is like using a garden hose
to fight a forest fire.
Instead, we need to look at
the changing landscape of retail and local business and create businesses that will thrive
in the new economy of the next
50 years and longer.
JIM VERZINO is a
Brattleboro-based environmental and quality consultant who serves on the
board of Building a Better
Brattleboro and is a former
member of the Brattleboro
Planning Commission. You
can read more of his work
on business and the environment on his blog, Inspired
Business (www.jimverzino.
com). This piece is written in response to the backand-forth in these pages in
December about both the
need to keep money local
and the reality that some
people can’t afford to.
agricultural economy, then we
had an industrial economy. We
are now moving into an era
that some are calling the “connection economy.”
several insurance agencies, and the people coming in for mediThe connection economy is
other medical offices.
cine really do need it,” Lynn said.
a broad concept showing that
According to the Vermont
Lynn, a Townsend native
mass-produced goods (virtual
Criminal Information Center, whose parents ran a farm sumand physical) will quickly de106 patients who qualify un- mer camp for more than 20
crease in price — if not free,
der the law as living with “de- years, began his career as a ski
then to a cost so low that only
bilitating medical conditions” racer and coach at the Stratton
retailers that can scale and sell
were registered in Windham Mountain School.
in very large quantities will
County as of last August to leHe runs a photography busibe able to do so without addgally buy marijuana for thera- ness out of Burlington and serves
ing value. Goods will not be in
peutic purposes.
as director of cultivation for
short demand.
Marijuana has been legal un- Champlain Valley Dispensary in
Yet, many of the chalder state law since 2007, but Burlington, a dispensary which
lenges of the connection econuntil further legislation in 2011, has seen success in seven months
omy simply cannot be met by
which created a mechanism for of operation.
big-box and Internet retailers.
legally growing and distributing
Burlington neighbors of the
Connection to community, to
the drug for patients, patients dispensary have responded WHAT WILL the next economy people, to nature, and to our
were on their own.
with “nothing but support,” look like?
inner selves is the currency of
“This is really medicine, and
■ SEE DISPENSARY, C3
Commodity products bought the coming generations. This
in stores from local vendors
new economy consists of three
will never be price-competitive primary drivers.
with companies like Amazon
1. Connection: People are
or giant retailers that can scale eager to connect; small busitheir operations to sell massive nesses can facilitate that conquantities cheaply. Attempting nection to attract and retain
to sell the same stuff as everypaying customers.
one else at a higher price is a
At the core of every hurecipe for failure.
man being is the need to conThis is particularly true
nect with other human beings.
given the shrinking piece of the Unfortunately, the more we’ve
economic pie available to the
connected with the vast informiddle and lower classes. For
mation available to us via the
85 percent of the population,
Internet, the less connected
complicated by Tropical Storm
In recent months, however, money is in short supply. For
we’ve been with one another.
Irene in 2011.
the village has seen strong most families the calculation is
There is a reason coffee
At a point after Irene, the movement.
(whether consciously or not),
shops and other “third places”
downtown had more than 20
Four buildings in the village “do I give this dollar to a lo(home being the first, work the
vacant buildings, said Adam center have been bought, and cal business or my child?” One second) have sprung up as rapGrinold, executive director of the the new owners plan to reno- doesn’t need to be a parent to
idly as the Internet has prolifMount Snow Valley Chamber of vate them, including the for- know how most will respond.
erated in our work spaces and
Commerce.
mer Poncho’s Wreck restaurant
The good news is that the
homes: people feel more isoNot all those buildings were building on South Main Street, landscape of the future is not
lated than ever. The more time
empty due to the flood. Some said Grinold.
necessarily stacked against lothat individuals spend in front
businesses had closed prior to
The Vermont House was cal businesses. It is, however,
of computers, the more they
Irene because of a tight econ- purchased last week by the stacked against those who try
need to meet their innate, tribomy. Others closed only tempo- Hermitage Inn Real Estate to continue on the same path.
alistic need for connection to
rarily after the storm.
For centuries, we had an
■ SEE WILMINGTON, C4
■ SEE NEXT ECONOMY, C3
Positive changes in
Wilmington downtown
Village sees an uptick in new businesses
By Olga Peters
The Commons
WILMINGTON—After
standing vacant for months,
or sometimes years, a number of properties have sold in
Wilmington’s historic village,
including the grande dame of
West Main Street: The Vermont
House.
Recent property sales mark
a positive trend for the village
socked by a down economy
■ BY THE NUMBERS
Unemployment statistics,
seasonally adjusted,
comparing Windham
County, the state as a
whole, and the United
States.
Newfane
has joined
Berkley
& Veller
Greenwood
Country
Realtors as
Dahlin
a real estate agent. Dahlin, a native Vermonter who grew
up in Newfane, is a wellknown and successful restauranteur in Brattleboro,
first with Tafts at 142 on
Elliot Street in the 1980s,
then with Peter Havens
on Elliot Street, which he
ran with his partner, Gregg
Van Iderstine, for 23 years
before Dahlin sold the restaurant and retired in 2012.
He is a 1972 graduate of
Leland & Gray Union High
School and a 1977 graduate
of Castleton State College.
• Two Vernon growers recently placed in the
■ SEE ON THE MOVE, C4
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS; CHART FROM GOOGLE PUBLIC DATA
Underwriting of one page in this week’s paper courtesy of KER AMBULANCE SERVICE • 802-258-6500 • www.kerambulance.org.
BUSINESS C2
T h e C o m m o ns
New FM translator extends reach
of WKVT’s AM radio station
The Commons
Randolph T. Holhut/Commons file photo
WKVT Operations Manager Peter Case.
BRATTLEBORO—One of
Brattleboro’s two AM radio stations is broadening its coverage area.
WKVT AM-1490 recently received approval from the Federal
Communications Commission
to rebroadcast the station on a
low-power FM translator station.
W262CL is rebroadcasting
WKVT-AM’s programming on
100.3 FM. The 105-watt signal is
broadcast from a directional antenna attached to WKVT-FM’s
tower in West Brattleboro.
WKVT AM-FM is owned
by Michigan-based Saga
Communications Inc., which
also owns stations in Keene,
N.H., and in Greenfield,
Northampton, and Springfield,
Mass., among others in its New
England group.
“The reach of the signal will
be roughly the same as the AM
signal, it will just be able to be
heard on FM too,” said WKVT
Operations Manager Peter Case.
“These signals are referred to [by
Saga] as a ‘Metro FM,’ which fill
the ‘Brattleboro Bowl’ in which
we live.”
The daytime signal of
WKVT-AM, a 1,000-watt Class
C station, reaches Wilmington
to Keene, east to west, and from
Bellows Falls to Greenfield,
north to south. During the evening hours, when atmospheric
conditions change, WKVT’s
coverage area is greatly reduced
to about a five-mile radius of
Brattleboro.
Hinsdale off-track betting
facility set to open by May
By Tom Herzig
Special to The Commons
HINSDALE, N.H.—Despite
numerous snags and delays,
longtime Hinsdale resident and
entrepreneur William Faucher
is hopeful that his effort to open
an off-track betting (OTB) facility on Route 119 will cross the
finish line.
Faucher said he was planning
a soft opening in January, but
that his filing for a OTB license
with the state was delayed.
“It’s in the attorney general’s office, and it is in their
hands to decide whether we get
the license,” Faucher said late
January. “They’ve got 90 days
to make a decision, and I don’t
know if they’re going to use the
full 90 days to do so.”
This means he won’t be able
to open until around April 1,
but he said if the state decides
quickly, he’ll get started sooner.
“We had hoped to start off
without any fanfare while we
make sure we’ve got things
sorted out. Now, I’m planning
for a grand opening and festivities on Kentucky Derby weekend,” Faucher said.
The 140th Kentucky Derby at
Churchill Downs in Louisville,
Ky., is set for Saturday, May 3.
Faucher has spent more
than 40 years in harness racing as an owner, trainer, driver,
and official, including 15 years
as a United States Trotting
Association director and DriverTrainer Committee chairman.
He was an accomplished
driver-trainer during Hinsdale
Raceway’s heyday in the 1960s
and 1970s. The track ceased live
harness racing in 1985, closed
altogether in 2008, and has recently been demolished. In 1993,
Faucher was inducted into the
New England Harness Writers
Hall of Fame.
The new, 2,800 square-foot
OTB parlor is situated on Route
119 one-half mile east of the
former track and Walmart. It is
projected to be open six days a
week once a regular schedule is
established as dictated by daily
attendance.
Faucher first attempted to
construct a facility adjacent to
the race track, but ran into deed
restrictions over the use of the
property.
Hinsdale OTB will be the third
off-track betting location in New
Hampshire, joining — but not affiliated with — Rockingham Park
in Salem, and Seabrook Park,
which had greyhound racing,
as did Hinsdale Raceway. It will
have five terminals connected to
live satellite feeds on the Roberts
Communications Network.
United Tote, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Churchill Downs,
rents the equipment used to
place wagers electronically.
“We are going to focus on
harness racing with some thoroughbred racing, which will
eventually be expanded,”
Faucher said. “You have to
make arrangements with each
track to get all wired in. At first
we’ll be working with Yonkers,
The Meadowlands, Saratoga
Harness, Harrah’s Chester
Downs (in Pennsylvania),
Pocono Downs, Dover Downs,
Pompano Park, and Suffolk
Downs.”
Patrons will be able to wager at the OTB or create an account that accommodates phone
wagering.
“We’ll always have a teller,
possibly two on site,” Faucher
said. “When you make a wager
at Yonkers, for example, it will
immediately be reflected on their
tote board. If you were the only
person to place a bet, your wager
would be shown at the track.”
Hinsdale OTB is owned by
Hinsdale Harness LLC, of which
Faucher has controlling interest.
His partners include members
of the Western New England
Harness Horseman’s Association
(WNEHHA), on which he serves
as a director. As stated on its
website, WNEHHA strives to return live harness racing to New
Hampshire.
Live harness racing ended at
Rockingham Park in 2009 and
at the Rochester Fair in 2007.
Faucher has remained active
in the sport, primarily as an official starter at state fairs in Maine,
New York, and Virginia.
“I’ve seen the best and the
worst of the industry,” he said.
“It’s now a niche sport rather
than a major one. There are still
important races for big purses
and some key tracks, but many
purses are subsidized by casino
dollars with no long-term guarantees. Nobody wants to invest
back in the business. If the OTB
can help create an opportunity
for live racing in New Hampshire
with our profits, it will be a good
thing.”
Fix-it man
Faucher has a history of reviving Hinsdale businesses, including Route 63 Country Store at
220 Old Northfield Rd. and Ed’s
Tire at 13 Canal St.
“Bill is an intelligent, personable straight-shooter, an accomplished horseman who’s done a
lot of things well in our industry,” Saratoga Hall of Famer
and Bennington native Kim
Crawford said. “He’s a class act.
If you were going to pick someone to accomplish a revival of the
sport in the region, you couldn’t
pick a better person.”
“There used to be a lot of
people who traveled to Hinsdale
to go to the horse races,” local
horseman Ron Merton said. “It
was a family-like atmosphere:
They brought dollars to the town
and shopped at the local stores,
gas stations, and restaurants.”
Merton added that “a lot of
my friends have been asking
when the OTB is going up. I
think you’ll see a lot of the oldtimers from New Hampshire,
Vermont, and Massachusetts
there. There will be a lot of local
support. It’s a good way to promote horse racing.”
Town of Hinsdale Road Agent
Frank Podlenski, a veteran horseman who’s enjoyed a successful
season at Saratoga Harness with
his 3-year-old pacing filly Venus
Delight and his 7-year-old trotter
Mr. Invincible, is also optimistic Faucher will make a go of it.
“I’m glad to see he’s made it
this far,” Podlenski said. “I’ve
talked to quite a few people who
are looking forward to having the
place open. It’s a form of entertainment — a chance to go see
the horses at different tracks and
try to get lucky.”
One of Faucher’s reclamation
projects when he was active as
a trainer/driver was the pacer
Seatrain. “He was the only gelding to win the Little Brown Jug
as a 3-year-old, but he wound
up barred from tracks because
he became wild and unmanageable,” Faucher said.
“I found a trick to keep him
well-mannered and we raced
at The Meadowlands and increased his lifetime winnings
from $300,000 to $825,000. We
were two crazies, Seatrain and I.”
In September 2013, another
3-year-old gelding — Vegas
Vacation — won the 38th Little
Brown Jug at the Delaware
County Fair in Delaware, Ohio,
with driver Brian Sears in the
sulky. Sent off at odds of 3/5,
Case said the translator will
make a difference in filling in
the gaps of the AM-1490 signal’s reach.
“FM translators certainly will
bring our AM to new listeners,”
he said. “As with all media, we
are finding new ways to present our products to new people
while retaining those we’ve always had.”
Part of that process is WKVT’s
coverage of the Brattleboro
Colonels, a return to its coverage of local high school sports
following a years-long absence.
WKVT is splitting coverage of
boys’ and girls’ basketball with
WTSA Radio.
Case said he recognizes that
WTSA is the frontrunner with
Colonels’ sports, “but if we go
back many years, WKVT used to
be the sole provider of Colonels
coverage in the Brattleboro area.
So for us it’s where they’re supposed to be on the community
radio station. It just feels right
having them back home again.
Case said listeners’ feedback
is positive: ”Gil Burns and Chris
Lenois call a spirited game, and
we feel they do an excellent
job with play-by-play, which
translates to exciting listening
experience.”
As for getting WKVT’s programming beyond radio, Case
said that streaming broadcasts
online is a “front-burner” project, and that the station is seeking sponsors to help underwrite
the expense.
Putney consignment shop
spreads out to three floors
PUTNEY—Lisa Taylor began her adventure with Swirl
by working for the consignment store for two years before she became its owner.
Now, after 10 years at her
present location, she gets a
chance to “put her fingerprint
on it” at a new location, she
said, with the business’s Feb.
1 move to the old Saw Mill
building at 52 Main St.
The building, next to River
Valley Credit Union, is a far
cry from her humble singleroom renovated gas station
beginnings and boasts three
floors.
The 900-square-foot basement level houses furniture
consignments and antiques
from local dealers, while the
main floor features what
Taylor bills as “first-rate, secondhand” clothing, vintage
apparel, and jewelry. Upstairs
is a menswear room.
Sharing space on the third
floor is Get Out, which will
offer outdoor adventure gear,
horse tack, and kayaks.
Funky and fun artwork by
John Smith and other local artists graces the walls.
A grand opening party
will take place in mid- to late
February, and plenty of gallery
nights are planned.
Hours remain the same:
seven days a week, 11 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
Just So Pediatrics moves
to new, larger location
BRATTLEBORO—Just
So Pediatrics is moving to a
new location in the Medical
Office Building at 19 Belmont
Avenue, Suite G102 on the
ground floor, at Brattleboro
Memorial Hospital.
Situated just across the
street from their old location
at 16 Belmont Ave., the new
office provides larger space
and updated facilities, including five exam rooms instead
of four.
The move will take place on
Friday, Feb. 14, with the office
reopening in its new location
on Monday, Feb. 17.
Just So Pediatrics offers
comprehensive care to infants,
children, and adolescents. The
pediatric group includes Dr.
Vegas Vacation paid $3.40 for
a $2 win ticket while earning
$265,220.
The Little Brown Jug is
one of harness racing’s most
prestigious events along with
Valerie Rooney, Dr. Jane Katz
Field, and certified Pediatric
Nurse Practitioner Cynthia
Howes. Along with their staff,
they share the goal of making a
child’s visit a comfortable one.
“We are excited to have a
new, roomier, and warmer
space for patients and staff,”
says Dr. Rooney. “We plan to
continue providing the homey
atmosphere and personal relationships that are so important
to our families."
Just So Pediatrics is a member of Brattleboro Memorial
Hospital’s Physician Group,
a multi-specialty group practice of primary care and specialty care physicians, nurse
practitioners, and physician
assistants.
the Hambletonian for 3-yearold trotters and the Breeder’s
Crown, harness racing’s 12race, $5 million year-end championship which returns to The
Meadowlands this November.
Supporter of community
•
Award-winning news and views
for Windham County
—
In print weekly and online
at commonsnews.org
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Underwriting of one page in this week’s paper courtesy of Ker-Westerlund Funeral Home • 57 High St., Brattleboro • 802-254-5655 • newenglandgreenfunerals.com.
THE COMMONS
■ Next economy
■ RESOURCES
VBSR to open branch
for southern Vermont
BRATTLEBORO—
Vermont Businesses for Social
Responsibility (VBSR) is excited
to announce the formation and
launch of a Southern Vermont
VBSR Chapter.
Designed to give forwardthinking professionals an ongoing forum to network with
like-minded peers, learn about
operating their businesses in
a socially responsible context,
and discuss issues unique to the
region, the chapter is open to
VBSR members and guests from
Rutland, Windsor, Windham,
and Bennington counties.
“VBSR Chapter meetings
are a great, informal way for
our members to stay connected,” said VBSR Executive
Director Andrea Cohen. “We
are thrilled to be working with
C.S. Wurzberger, known as
‘The Green Up Girl,’ to organize
and launch these meetings, and
provide our Southern Vermont
members with opportunities to
advance their commitment to
socially responsible business
practices and address issues of
importance to the region.”
The first Southern Vermont
VBSR Chapter Meeting was held
Feb. 11 at the Marlboro College
Graduate Center in Brattleboro.
Additional meetings are scheduled for March 11 and April 8.
The events are free to attend and
RSVPs are appreciated.
To learn more, RSVP or become a chapter sponsor for $100,
visit vbsr.org.
Workforce training
offered to employers
BRATTLEBORO—Trying
to sustain a stable, productive,
and enthusiastic workforce?
The Working Bridges Employer
Workgroup, convened by United
Way of Windham County, offers vital training on Monday,
Feb. 24, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the
Marlboro College Graduate
Center, 28 Vernon St.
“Working Bridges Concepts”
costs $25 per person, and includes training, materials,
and light refreshments. Preregistration is encouraged, as
space is limited.
The training is co-sponsored
by Employer Workgroup members Chroma Technology,
Omega Optical, and Economic
Services (Brattleboro district).
This session is intended for senior managers, human resources
professionals, supervisors, and
employees of organizations with
economically diverse workforces.
This training continues the work
of the regional Working Bridges
Lynn said, and he hopes that
Brattleboro will offer support
for his new endeavor.
The new dispensary will
share resources with Champlain
Valley Dispensary’s cultivation
facility in Chittenden County,
which grows 18 strains of the
two major types of cannibis
plants (Indica and Sativa), each
optimized toward treating certain ailments. The Brattleboro
dispensary will rotate these
strains six at a time.
Each approved dispensary,
under the regulation of the
Department of Public Safety,
can also have a cultivation facility to have on hand 28 mature plants, 98 immature plants,
and up to 28 ounces of cured
product.
He describes the facility as
state-of-the-art, one that makes
use of plasma lighting, highpressure sodium lighting, LED
lighting, and CFL florescent
lighting. Running 1,000-watt
lights on plants with climate
control, quality is of the utmost
importance. The facility uses a
soil-less system.
Lynn does not have plans for
a such a facility in Brattleboro.
Patients can expect to see
strains such as White Rhino,
an Indica used for chronic
pain and sleep disturbances,
or Arjan’s Haze, a Sativa cross
used primarily for muscle
spasm relief in multiple sclerosis patients.
Cannabis is not only offered
as whole flowers but also as
tinctures of concentrated cannabis oils. One such product,
change like never before. These
new reporters inevitably bring
together people, businesses,
and government.
Educational institutions
that are willing and nimble
can work with local employers to customize curricula to
meet the needs of local businesses, ultimately benefitting
the schools, the students, and
the community.
Municipalities are making
their information public, allowing software applications
to be written by individuals
and companies that facilitate government running more
smoothly at lower cost.
These are just a few examples of new ways in which collaboration across industries is
changing business at the local
and national levels.
By applying one or more of
these attributes — connection,
collaboration, customization/
uniqueness — we will create a
local business community that
is financially sustainable for the
next 50 years.
SOME LOCAL BUSINESSES
out there right now survive and
thrive by using the principles
of the connection economy, either as a completely new business model or, more popularly,
in a combination of selling
commodity goods with some
aspect(s) of connection, collaboration, customization, and
uniqueness.
Here are just a few examples
of either combining commodity products with connection
economy ideologies or creating whole new local businesses
based on those principles.
• More Than Words (MTW)
is a wonderful independent
bookstore in Waltham, Mass.
While living in Somerville,
Mass., I could walk to multiple
adequate bookstores that sold
exactly the same books as every
other bookstore and Amazon.
Yet I would regularly get in
my car and battle Boston traffic
for 30 minutes to go to MTW.
Although I didn’t know it at the
time, I went there because the
store was using aspects of the
connection economy.
MTW organized book
groups right at the store and
connected me to people with
similar book interests in my
Employer Workgroup, which
began in November 2012 and
meets bi-monthly in Brattleboro.
Working Bridges is an employer collaborative that’s dedicated to improving workplace
productivity, retention, advancement, and employees’ financial
stability.
Employers know the success
of their businesses and economic
health of our community depends on employee retention and
enhanced productivity. Through
Working Bridges, they also recognize a steady job is one’s most
reliable ticket out of poverty.
C3
■ Dispensary
FROM SECTION FRONT
other people.
2. Customization/uniqueness:
Businesses can give people
something unique that simply
cannot be acquired through a
big retailer or web store.
Customization can come in
the form of products or services. As products become hyper-commoditized, people’s
desire for the unique increases.
Even though the middle class
is cash-strapped, they are often willing to pay a little bit
more for something out of the
ordinary.
And, thanks to new technology and tools, local people can
produce custom products (and
services) cheaper than ever
before.
Uniqueness can come in the
form of place. (There is only
one southern Vermont, or one
Grand Teton National Park,
or one New York City). It can
come in the form of connection to a group of individuals
with similar interests, or with a
common interest in an unusual
speaker or author.
There are unlimited possibilities for uniqueness. The key
to lies in offering something
that cannot be done elsewhere
at scale.
We are lucky to live in a supremely unique place. We have
a thriving arts community with
a natural beauty, and we are a
day trip from any one of three
large, metropolitan cities. We
must find a way to capitalize on
this good fortune, and attract
more people here as visitors
and permanent residents.
3. Collaboration: Businesses
can bring together multiple
communities that have heretofore been in separate silos.
Traditionally, education,
business, government, and media were completely independent entities that rarely, if ever,
interacted. These days, the
lines between all of these are
blurring.
Blogging has allowed journalism to be done by anyone,
freeing voices to be heard that
otherwise would have been
missed and reducing the power
of the traditional gatekeepers
of news. While the quality of
this input to the public sphere
is debatable, like it or not, it’s
here — and it has the power to
influence the public and drive
BUSINESS
community. I would go to the
store to meet others like me,
and then I would buy books
and coffee. I surely spent more
money there than at those
bookstores closer to home.
MTW’s business model is
based on collaboration. It is a
not-for-profit that works with
at-risk youth to show them how
to run a business and become
responsible working adults.
The executive director is
not a bookstore owner per se.
She affiliates herself with the
schools, local social-service
agencies, and philanthropic organizations, in addition to running the bookstore.
The arrangement not only
allows the youths to learn reallife skills, but it also reduces the
pressure of meeting monthly
expenses by having philanthropic funding available in
low-sales months. That’s real
connection and collaboration
at its best.
• Green Fleet Bicycle Shop.
In many ways, Green Fleet
Bicycle Shop is like any other
local bike store in the country. It sells brand-name bicycles and accessories, and its
staff does repair and maintenance work.
What makes Green Fleet
special is that it supplements
the business with tours of
Nashville, Tenn., where it’s located. In this way, the shop
uses connection and uniqueness to increase revenue.
From a connection perspective, customers can take tours
with other people with an interest in biking and the local area.
Uniqueness plays a role because the Nashville area is, in
and of itself, very unique.
Many business communities around the country, and
certainly in southern Vermont,
could make such a model
work, whether it be in bicycles,
theaters, tattoo parlors, or just
about any enterprise that can
capitalize on the uniqueness of
its products, surroundings, and
culture.
• Community-supported agriculture (CSA). Although the
concept of the modern CSA
has been around for centuries, it fell out of favor as the
Industrial Revolution grew and
mass-produced food became
more popular.
Now, CSAs are thriving
again. Collaboration, and to a
lesser extent connection, are
the characteristics that make a
CSA an example a connectioneconomy business.
In the industrial food system
model, the financial risk lies
with the small farmer, who can
be really hurt in a bad-weather
year.
To register for the “Working Bridges
Concepts” training or for more information about the Working
Bridges Employer Workgroup, visit
www.unitedwaywindham.org. For
more information than that, contact
Sue Graff, community investment
director, United Way of Windham
County, at 802-257-4011, ext.
113, or [email protected].
Rick Simmons Oil, is geared
especially toward the reduction
of cancer and seizures.
Currently, cannabis is tested
through third-party means,
which can be expensive, but
Lynn is excited about the purchase of a new liquid chromatography machine, which will
allow both dispensaries to test
the strains for the levels of two
active compounds, cannabidiol
(CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
The cultivation facility relies on donated seeds and luck
to develop strains high in CBD
and lower in THC.
Security and
discretion
Vermont’s regulations were
written by the Department of
Public Safety to ensure the
safety of Vermonters.
A dispensary must be a nonprofit entity, and its business
plan must make provisions for
security.
The dispensary is discreetly
tucked into a corner with no signage. Neighboring businesses
were unaware of the new addition to the building.
Behind a front door armed
with a doorbell, security camera, and phone is a reception
area. Only patients will be allowed past that point, and they
must be escorted through with
a pass card to the clinic itself.
State regulations also require
patients to pick up and transport the marijuana in a lockbox.
Because the business is nonprofit and investors do not
By collaborating, the farmer
and the customers share the
risk and the rewards. In a bad
year, the farmer still makes a
living wage because the customers accept somewhat less
food for their money. If it’s a
bumper-crop year, the farmer
might make a little less profit
than if s/he sold the large yield
on the open market.
Particularly in larger cities,
the connection aspect of a CSA
is apparent. People there enjoy seeing their neighbors and
fellow food friends at the local pickup stops. Bustling cities
can be incredibly lonely places,
but the pickup gives people a
chance for connection to their
neighbors and, to some extent,
their farmers. In a smaller community like ours, where the
farmers are local, there is no
question that a direct connection to the farmer is a wonderful benefit for all involved.
• Green Mountain Marketing
Group. A great example of a
Connection Economy business is happening right here
in southern Vermont. Green
Mountain Marketing Group
(GreenMountainVermont.com)
is the company behind the
Green Mountain Adventure
Challenge and the Independent
Television and Film Festival
(ITVFest). These initiatives involve collaboration and combine uniqueness of place
with connection-economy
marketing.
The Green Mountain
Adventure Challenge is a treasure hunt that takes place in
Wilmington and the surrounding mountains. People come
from up and down the East
Coast to do the challenge.
The ITVFest is an annual
event to highlight independently produced, original and
unaired television pilots, webseries, films, and other video
content.
Green Mountain Marketing
Group owner Phil Gilpin collaborates with local inns, restaurants, and retailers to bring
them business. He uses the
uniqueness of place to bring in
visitors for this special event.
Finally, he markets to people in
Boston, New York, and other
regional hubs almost solely via
social media.
THE TERM “disrupted industry” has been used extensively over the last two decades
to describe those industries
that have been completely
or partially upended by new
technologies.
We can already see how
some disrupted industries have
responded to the connection
economy.
FROM SECTION FRONT
share a stake in the company,
“finding investors has been difficult,” Lynn said.
With the help of several
professionals and lawyers,
Southern Vermont Wellness
passed the application process.
Each application for dispensaries requires a $2,500 application fee and $25,000 fee
for the first year of business.
Subsequent years will run the
dispensary $30,000.
“Like-minded individuals”
who share a passion for medical cannabis and the relief it
can provide to those in need
provided backing to the enterprise, Lynn said.
Southern Vermont Wellness
faces another kind of risk: federal penalties for cultivating
medical cannabis.
The federal Controlled
Substances Act (CSA) classifies cannabis as a Schedule I
drug with no accepted medical
value in treatment. Although
Vermont supports the medical
value of cannabis, the federal
government still does not.
Although U.S. Attorney
Tristram Coffin, the federal prosecutor for Vermont,
warned during the dispensary
debate that the U.S. government would aggressively continue to enforce federal law,
U.S. Deputy Attorney General
James M. Cole stressed in a
memo last year that limited
government resources should
be used to go after “criminal
enterprises, gangs, and cartels.”
As Lynn prepares to open the
dispensary, which will be open
by appointment Tuesdays and
Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m., more legislative activity
is taking place in Montpelier.
On the legislative front, a
bill introduced in the Vermont
Senate by state Sen. Jeanette
White, D-Windham, proposes
to eliminate the 1,000-patient
statewide cap established in the
current law.
This bill, if passed, would
allow clinics to cultivate more
plants per patient. It also would
add post-traumatic stress disorder as a condition for which
marijuana may be prescribed
and waives a six-month waiting period in cases of terminal
diagnosis.
As of last July 1, possession
of small amounts of cannabis has become a civil infraction. Vermont Sen. David
Zuckerman, P/D-Chittenden,
has further proposed a bill to
legalize the recreational use of
cannabis and establish a system
of retail sales and taxation.
Lynn, however, is in favor of
taking it slow.
“Vermont has taken the right
steps [and we need to] watch
Colorado and Washington to
see the mistakes they make
and what they do right,” he
said. “This is a big change, and
[taking it slow] gives the communities a chance to get used
to this.”
News organizations are a primary example of a disrupted
industry. As information has
become free to consume over
the Internet, news organizations have had to change their
revenue model. Although
they still have the responsibility of distributing news, many
now earn a significant portion of their profits through
events such as conferences and
summits.
Their readers tend to have
similar interests, and live events
allow them to connect with
other like-minded people (connection). At these events there
are often well-known writers or
thought leaders (uniqueness).
Music is another example of a disrupted industry.
Musicians used to make most
of their money by selling records. As music has become
free over the Internet, they now
make their money through live
performances.
These live events provide
connection and uniqueness
and, when planned properly,
they also demonstrate a collaborative spirit by making
space available for nonprofits, local community organizations, or local choral groups,
for example.
From a systemic perspective,
the effect on a business owner
in a disrupted industry is similar to the total disconnect suffered by a person who’s been
“dumped” from a long-term
relationship.
To the person feeling victimized, at first the relationship
problems come as a total surprise. Then the person holds
on to the status quo by every
means possible but finally recognizes that the relationship in
its current state is over.
This acceptance can be incredibly freeing. Now the couple can decide together to try
and give it a go in a new way,
or end it altogether.
The key to making a transformation to the next phase
is both parties facing the reality that the old way of being is
over forever. Until then, it is
anything but liberating for the
person who feels they have no
control over the situation.
The shock to the system is
the same for a disrupted industry, where the market is the
spouse who requires change.
No matter what the business
owner wants (such as keeping
things the same), s/he needs
to go through the painful process of denial, admission, and
acceptance before arriving at
the point of liberation and new
opportunity.
Sometimes that new opportunity means closing the
business and moving onto
something completely different
(breaking up, if you will).
Sometimes it means adjusting the business to a new
model that works financially
and psychologically for the
owner (staying together in a
different way).
Main Street and local businesses are not going away. The
ones that survive will adjust
and embrace the aspects of the
connection economy.
THE ROAD on which we must
travel to adapt local businesses
to the Connection Economy
model will be a rocky one.
As a community, and as
business owners, we must be
patient with ourselves and take
appropriate risks. This is a
marathon, not a sprint. Change
will happen slowly, over one or
two decades.
Some of the attempts at
change will fail at first. Failure
and learning is the nature of innovation. There should be no
chastising a business or community organization that tries
a new initiative, only to see it
flop. It’s about learning from
the experience, adjusting, and
moving on in an improved
state.
We need to start charting a
new map — a map that provides direction on how to succeed as local businesses in the
next 50 years. Then we must
start going down some roads
on that map. Many roads will
lead to dead ends and perhaps
even cliffs. But eventually, we
will find some on-ramps to
the highway of the connection
economy.
When we do, we will have
put in place a major puzzle
piece to functioning as a vibrant, sustainable community.
THE WORK OF the buy-local movement is important because it educates people on the
effect that their spending has at
both the local and global levels.
That puzzle piece is important
and needed.
But let’s change our discussion to a more realistic set of
criteria that looks at local business as a disrupted industry
with a need to adjust to the
connection economy.
The sooner we “break up”
our relationship to the old
model of selling commodity
goods with little or no added
value, the sooner we can move
on to a healthier relationship
where people are connected —
and our communities are rebuilt tighter than ever before.
Dependable Service
to Support Elder
Independence
lo o se en d s
Betsey Yetter, BSW, MBA
(413) 624-0150
[email protected]
Underwriting of one page in this week’s paper courtesy of KER AMBULANCE SERVICE • 802-258-6500 • www.kerambulance.org.
Evolving
public policy
BUSINESS
C4
B
THE COMMONS
usiness is never so healthy as when, like a chicken, it must do a certain amount of scratching around for what it gets.
—HENRY FORD
What’s your story?
Everyone has
And that goe a story, right?
every busines s especially for
know it or n s. Whether you
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sure that it o why not make
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strategically should be —
creatively! and of course
—Jerry
The former Poncho’s Wreck restaurant.
FLICKR USER ROLLINGRCK/CREATIVE COMMONS (BY) LICENSE
■ Wilmington
FROM SECTION FRONT
restaurant’s breakfast and chili
fans to rejoice.
Isabelle and Roger Alvarado
have bought and are renovating a property at 20 West Main
St. that they plan to open later
this year.
The professional building
across the street from the town
T 802.246.1616 | C 802.490.4904 | E [email protected]
offices sold earlier this month.
Also under renovation: the
historic Parmalee and Howe
Building, 4 N. Main St., overlooking the Deerfield River. The
two-story brick building will
house a farm-to-plate restaurant
called Cask & Kiln Kitchen.
Grinold added that other new
businesses are up and running,
such as Pizzapalooza, a pizza
Apartments
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IF YOUR HOUSEHOLD INCOME IS
businesses focus on food or retail, said Grinold. He explained
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GOLDBERGCREATIVEMARKETING
Holding Co, LLC (HIRE), according to land records at the
Town Clerk’s office.
Jim Barnes, the main force behind HIRE, also owns the former
Haystack ski area, which he has
converted into the Hermitage
Club at Haystack Mountain, a
private luxury resort.
After extensive renovations
and flood-proofing measures,
Dot’s Restaurant re-opened
in December, leading the
ForFOR
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up to $26,940 (1 person), $30,780 (2 people)
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Wonderful,
view of Whetstone Brook.
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Grinold agrees that, overall,
the region’s economy should diversify. The chamber and other
economic development organizations, such as the Southeast
Economic Development Strategy
(SeVEDS), work together on expanding the region’s economy.
Grinold points to the Southern
Vermont Sustainable Marketing
Initiative, a collaboration of organizations based in Windham
and Bennington counties, as an
example of coordinated regional
action.
Expanding the area’s broadband capabilities, and improving workforce development are
enhancements Grinold suggests
can attract investors and businesses to the region.
Some weekends as many as
12,000 people visit the Mount
Snow Resort, said Grinold. And
riding those ski lifts are CEOs,
entrepreneurs, and small business owners who gaze across the
valley and imagine how great it
would be to live and do business
here, he said.
The region needs to reach
those people and help them realize that Southern Vermont is
a great place to do business, he
added.
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■ On the move
FROM SECTION FRONT
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The growers earned two of the
266 state titles won by growers
planting Pioneer hybrids. The
NCGA awarded 433 state titles
in this year’s contest.
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VOICES
SECTION B
D
Wednesday, February
S P 12,
O R T 2014
S . . . . . •. .page
. . . . . . D1
. .D4
OPINION • COMMENTARY • LETTERS • ESSAYS
COLUMNS • MEMOIRS • EDITORIALS
Join the conversation: [email protected]
page D1
VIEWPOINT
When in SOCHI...
Journalists at
the Olympics
complain about their
accommodations
when they should be
reporting and learning
in the context of a
complicated culture
I
Dummerston
’M QUITE surprised
how American journalists are acting in Russia
as they cover the Winter
Olympics in Sochi. They’re
taking it out on Twitter about
poor hotel conditions, dirty water, dual bathrooms, rudeness,
and this, that, and the other
thing.
It doesn’t
CHRISTIAN AVARD edits the Message for the Week, a
community weekly in Chester. His opinions — expressed first on
Facebook and extracted and edited for print with his permission
— are solely his own.
matter what kind of international sporting event this is. It’s
going to be chaotic and unpredictable. It’s in Russia. Don’t
expect things to go smoothly.
What is happening is no different from what happened in
Beijing, Sarajevo, Athens especially, and many Olympics before that. But these journalists
■ SEE SOCHI, D3
Mountains near Sochi.
IVANAIVANOVA/WIKIPEDIA
MEMOIR
VIEWPOINT
Domestic
violence affects
all of us at work
But we also can use the
workplace as a venue to
confront the problem
W
COURTESY PHOTO
The writer with her parents, Frank and Doris Dearborn, on Mount Jackson in New Hampshire.
Frequent bearings
A family faces Mount Washington’s volatile
weather with grit, teamwork, and love
I
Chester
SAW DAD sitting next
to the piano in the nursing home dining room.
At first glance, he looked
like my dear, old dad, with a
fresh shave, recent haircut, and
wearing his favorite blue plaid
shirt.
I stooped down and gave
him a hearty bear hug. As he
kissed my cheek, he squeezed
me with his strong right arm,
his paralyzed left arm and wrist
contorted in permanent flexion. With his muscles long ago
atrophied in his motionless
left leg, he was unable to walk,
even stand.
DONNA DEARBORN, grew up in an active family in
Brattleboro, which she chronicles in her new memoir, Every
Sunday: A Father and Daughter’s Enduring Connection
available from WW Publishing (everysunday.net) and from
which this piece is excerpted. Dearborn is the daughter of Doris
Dearborn and Frank Dearborn (1928–2009), who served for 33
years as superintendent of recreation and parks for the town.
Was this truly Frank
Dearborn, the vigorous man
who skied with me through
snowy Vermont woods, hit
scorching forehands on the
tennis court, and threw long
bombs for touchdowns on the
football field?
Was this my adventurous
father who hiked the highest
mountain in the Northeast and
braved whiteout conditions
with Mom and me?
I THOUGHT BACK to that day
when Dad, Mom, and I hauled
ourselves up yet another steep
section of the Lion Head Trail
in the White Mountains, using sturdy roots for handholds.
Cooler air and breezes refreshed us.
“It’s the middle of July!”
Mom said to me. “I can’t believe there’s that much snow
and ice here.”
“Well, this is Mount
Washington, Mom — it’s another world up here.”
At least we were within sight
of the impressive ravine. My
ruddy-complexioned dad sat
there in awe of our surroundings, a model of pure contentedness. In his royal blue
shirt, navy blue Milford Track
■ SEE MOUNT WASHINGTON, D2
Brattleboro
E’LL NEVER
KNOW how many
victims do the
best they can at
work or anywhere else, even
with domestic violence woven through every part of their
lives.
But what’s clear from national headlines and our local
experience is that a batterer’s
violence doesn’t always stay
home when victims leave the
house. Each of us actually has
the issue woven through our
lives, whether visibly or not.
Here in the U.S., one in five
employed adults is the victim
of domestic violence, and 74
percent of employed battered
women say they’re harassed by
their partners while at work.
In fact, in a recent national
survey, 44 percent of all employees reported that their
workplace was impacted by
domestic violence, mostly because a coworker was a victim.
But it’s important to realize
the full scope of a workplace
connection — including that
perpetrators, too, might also
be colleagues. Another recent
study found that over 75 percent of perpetrators used their
own employer’s resources and
time to continue harassing or
threatening behavior.
So aside from being a critical
social issue, for businesses it’s
a financial issue, too — regardless of which partner they’ve
employed.
BECAUSE batterers tend to be
insecure and extremely controlling, they might go to great
lengths to check up on, stalk,
or scare a victim.
Or they might even sabotage
her chance for some workday
independence. Beyond direct
contact, a batterer might include disabling a victim’s car,
hiding her keys, making her
late, or ultimately forbidding
her to work at an outside job.
THE WOMEN’S
FREEDOM CENTER
(womensfreedomcenter.net)
is the local organization in
Windham County working
to end domestic and sexual
violence. You can reach an
advocate on a 24-hour crisis
line at 802-254-6954. The
advocates there, who collectively wrote this piece, “welcome opportunities to have
such dialogue in community settings, and encourage
calls from employers, congregations, and clubs, both
large and small.” To schedule a presentation, call the
Women’s Freedom Center
non-emergency office number at 802-257-7364.
Most disturbing is that in a
2011 Vermont study, offenders themselves reported that
their partners had to take an
average of 20 days off per year
due to outright violence, and
at least four domestic violence
homicides in Vermont have occurred in connection with the
victim’s job.
Clearly, anyone employed
anywhere has a stake in raising
this topic and raising our collective bar on safety.
YET AS SOBERING as these
statistics are, they shed light on
enormous potential, too.
To the extent that we’re all
touched by domestic violence,
we have many places to impact
it in return: to model gender
equity and respect and to help
shape the norms that affect everyone in the room.
Places of work and worship,
as well as clubs and teams,
can offer us all portals to ongoing education and ideas,
and they can be influential as
a reality check from the wider
community.
Whether it’s through a
■ SEE WORKPLACE, D2
VOICES
D2
Reformer 2 column_Reformer 2 column 1/30/14 9:48 AM Page 1
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baseball cap with matching navy socks,
he was a strikingly handsome man of the
mountains.
Dad and Mom had first hiked Mount
Washington 44 years earlier, a few months
after I was born. At ages 69 and 68, they
stayed strong and lean, even fitter than
they were in their earliest hiking days.
“Mom, over here, hang on to this
knob,” I suggested to my mother.
“I need longer legs for this!” she
lamented.
She always wished she had longer legs,
and here is where being taller than 5 feet,
2 inches would have helped. Yet my feisty
mother didn’t let her short stature keep her
from scaling the rock slabs and scampering up steep, slippery gullies. Rugged calf
muscles set off her well-toned legs, which
propelled her steadily up any incline.
I looked down the slope to see her bobbing head of gray, perfectly permed hair,
red bandana in one hand, and two-waterbottle fanny pack around her waist. She
thrived in the mountains, and she was free
of worries and easy to be with.
We had more than 4,000 feet of elevation to gain from Pinkham Notch, where
we had spent the previous night at the
Joe Dodge Lodge and enjoyed a sumptuous family-style dinner feast. Dad happily
swapped stories with six enthusiastic hikers from Georgia and North Carolina.
At 6:30, we had loaded up at the
Pinkham Notch breakfast buffet and
started up the mountain to reach the
6,288-foot-high summit of Mount
Washington. We had reservations at Lakes
of the Clouds Hut, a 90-bunk Appalachian
Mountain Club facility situated on a
5,000-foot shelf near the foot of Mount
Monroe.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if you weren’t
with us, Donna,” Mom added, revealing
confidence in me, her Outward Bound instructor daughter. Besides, Mom and I
had had an understanding for a long time
— I would carry her sleeping bag and extra clothes if she would continue to go on
overnight outings.
“I’m glad we can do this!” I added. I
had the perfect window of opportunity between Outward Bound courses, the chance
to have an adventure with my most faithful
hiking partners.
“This is a good spot to put on another layer,” I suggested, as we reached
the Alpine Garden, winds whipping and
temperature dropping. We donned our
windbreakers.
Respecting the unforgiving nature of
this mountain, we had filled our packs
with extra clothes, food, and emergency
gear: whistles, headlamps, matches, a
lighter, Swiss army knife, an Ensolite pad,
space blanket, and a first-aid kit easily
accessible.
“Did you notice what they were wearing, Dad?” I whispered, after we passed a
couple in cotton T-shirts and sandals.
“Yes, can you believe it?”
We passed many hikers who were not
prepared with proper clothing and footwear, as many people flock to the White
Mountains with the solitary goal of climbing the prestigious highest peak, vastly underestimating the strenuous nature of the
climb.
Later, a father hunched over his shivering daughter, whose hiking boot had broken apart. With my roll of tape, he cinched
her boot together so she could resume the
climb and get warm.
Straight ahead loomed the ominous
sign, a reminder that many hikers have
died on Mount Washington, perhaps victims of the unpredictable changes in temperature, wind, or precipitation that are
commonplace on this mountain.
“Stop,” the sign warns. “The area ahead
has the worst weather in America. Many
have died there from exposure. Even in the
summer. Turn back now if the weather is
bad.”
We didn’t have to turn back, for we
could see for miles on this unusually clear
day, enabling us to identify some of the
other peaks of the Presidential Range:
Madison, Adams, Jefferson and (one of
our favorites) Eisenhower.
“We’re almost there!” I shouted.
We carefully made our way over false
summits and loose rocks until we reached
the summit.
“Five hours — that’s not too bad,” Dad
said.
Even though we had been to the summit numerous times, it remained a thrill
to climb the tallest peak in the Northeast,
where the highest wind speed in the world,
231 miles per hour, was recorded in 1934.
WE STEPPED from the rugged rocky trail
and peered out from under our windbreaker hoods to see a sharp contrast to
our world of the previous five hours.
The summit held buildings, cars, kids in
FROM SECTION FRONT
strollers, women in high heels, and license
plates from all over the country.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” Dad said. “We
sweated and climbed for five hours, and
these people just drove up.”
Leaving the summit pandemonium behind, we followed giant rock cairns 1.4
miles south on the renowned Crawford
Path, passing hikers going in all directions
on the extensive network of trails on the
flank of Mount Washington.
Thick, gray clouds suddenly filled the
sky, just as we reached the hut. We gladly
set down our packs as we gained protection from the imminent storm.
“I’ll go check us in,” I said.
After I confirmed our reservation, I hurried into one of the bunkrooms to claim
the coveted, easy-access bottom bunks for
both Mom and Dad. Triple bunks reached
to the ceiling.
Heavy rain and high winds soon battered the hut. Hikers continued to burst
through the doorway until the hut’s capacity of 90 was reached.
Consistent with the unpredictability of
Mount Washington weather, the storm
dissipated. We were able to go back outside and explore the alpine environment of
lakes, fragile plants, and rock outcrops.
Dad enjoyed conversing with many fascinating people, especially a friendly, older
man from Rhode Island who had taken
13 teenage kids for a weeklong trip. A shy
mother, there with her young daughter
and a friend, had never looked out upon
such a spectacular scene. Experienced and
well-equipped hikers shared the bunkrooms with novices on their very first hut
trip.
The skies cleared, enabling us to see 100
miles west into Vermont and New York.
Dad, Mom, and I lingered outside the hut,
captivated by the views and brilliant setting sun.
IN THE MORNING, we awoke to yet another weather change: winds of more than
50 miles per hour pummeling the hut.
Completely socked in with clouds, visibility was 5 feet at best, the exact opposite of
the clear skies we observed when we went
to bed.
We decided to wait for the 8 a.m.
weather report from the summit observatory and carefully consider our options.
Unfortunately, the report only confirmed
what we already knew, plus the dismal
forecast that no immediate improvement
in the weather was predicted.
We talked over our options, my parents
a stark contrast in personality and style.
Dad was ready to sit at the table, sip hot
chocolate, observe the weather a bit longer, and go through our options one more
time. Mom paced nervously, anxious
about the harsh conditions awaiting us.
I felt immense responsibility.
“Are you comfortable heading down?” I
asked them.
“We’re ready — whatever you think is
best,” Dad confirmed their complete faith
in me.
“Let’s go,” said Mom, halfway to the
door already and glad to finally be under
way.
Even though it was the middle of the
summer, we dressed for winter in our
warm hats and gloves with a rugged windproof shell covering two layers beneath it.
Inching east from cairn to cairn into the
pea-soup fog and clouds, within seconds
we could no longer see the hut. The visibility was 2 to 3 feet at best.
The severity of the situation hit me.
We were three little bundled-up, huddled
souls in a sea of uniform gray, surrounded
by clouds, fog, and gray orthoclase granite.
I relied solely on compass and map to
navigate us. We walked hunched over,
closer to the ground so we could brace
ourselves against the wind gusts and hang
on to a cairn or rock outcrop for balance.
I turned around and couldn’t see my
mother, who was last in line behind my father. I felt a chill race down my spine.
She liked to be last in line, so she could
feel comfortable walking her own pace.
This day, I wanted us in a compact column, close enough to be able to reach out
and touch one another at any time.
“Mom!” I shouted. It was difficult to
hear words amidst the deafening wind
blasts.
“I’m here,” came the faint reply.
“Mom, I’m putting this whistle around
your neck. Blow it immediately, loudly if
you can’t see Dad.”
I took frequent bearings using the map
and compass to ensure that we were heading the right direction. They could see
that even I was challenged to the utmost.
Another gust of wind nearly blew us flat.
Mom was silent. My usually talkative dad
was subdued.
I knew my mother was still there when I
heard her say, “This feels like an Outward
Bound course!”
I took Mom’s words as a signal that she
felt out of her comfort zone, that place we
encourage Outward Bound students to
venture into, just beyond the familiar and
comfortable in order to be challenged and
grow. Mom’s idea of fun was to avoid survival mode.
Dad tended to get cold easily, so I kept
a close eye on him and made sure he
wasn’t shivering. It was imperative that we
stay together, look after one another, and
quickly navigate to lower elevations.
This experience was beyond an
Outward Bound challenge, for there was
much more at stake. These were my parents, my treasured parents who put their
complete trust in me.
Three fuzzy forms appeared in the distance, like apparitions moving toward us.
Three young kids garbed in skimpy, cotton
street clothes made their way to the summit, without packs, extra clothes, or food.
Disappearing before we could even say a
word, they seemed determined, foolhardy,
and oblivious to the dangerous and potentially life-threatening conditions ahead.
We immediately focused back on our
own task, plodding steadily down Mount
Washington, which was certainly living up
to its reputation.
“Here’s the Davis Path! We’re doing well!” I said. “Are you warm enough
Mom, Dad? Are you okay?”
Our threesome rejoiced at each junction
with a trail sign, relieved we were on our
way to lower elevations. Eventually, the
Davis Path led us to the prominent rock
outcrop, Boott Spur. Careful to avoid the
edge of Hanging Cliff, we steadily dropped
to the Boott Spur Link.
Not until we had descended to an elevation of nearly 4,300 feet at Split Rock did
we finally dip below the ferocious cloud
cap and extricate ourselves from the scary
windblown environment.
“Can you believe it’s this clear and
sunny down here?” I asked, ecstatic in
relief.
What a sharp contrast as we crossed
over the dividing line between the stormy
summit above and the green valleys of
Shangri-La below. Smiles replaced solemn, serious looks.
“That was really something. It’s good
to finally sit down and take a break,” Dad
said, in his typical understated way. He
was starting to relax, yet was still shaken
by the intensity of our ordeal.
“Well, you always wanted to stay at
Lakes of the Clouds Hut. We did it,” I
said. “That’s not quite how you envisioned
it. You never know what will happen in the
White Mountains.”
For the previous two hours we had not
been able to stop or relax, so we sat on the
Split Rock promontory and let the tension
flow out of our muscles.
The three of us drank water, snacked,
and savored distant views for the first time
that day, relieved and grateful.
I LOOKED BACK at the man across from
me who couldn’t possibly be my father.
But his plastic wrist bracelet — “Frank
Dearborn 107-1 Shafer” — confirmed that
he was. Like a statistic, a prisoner.
It seemed as if he’d been sitting in a
wheelchair forever, two years feeling like
an eternity. Could this be the same man
who had counseled and mentored me, the
charismatic leader and expert communicator who had a special touch with people?
My weekly Sunday visits brought to
mind our letter-writing tradition that we’d
started when I went away to college and
continued for more than 30 years — every Sunday — no matter where we were or
what we were doing.
I always looked forward to Dad’s
Sunday epistles. I write your letter, he
penned, as a matter of priority instead of
waiting until I have time, for I don’t usually
have much time and you — yes, you — are
prime priority, like the State of the Union message. Or: Just a few thoughts this morning for
our talented, creative, energetic daughter. We
love you and are proud of you. If you weren’t
our daughter, we’d adopt you.
I took his right hand, the one that wasn’t
paralyzed, and squeezed it.
“Dad,” I said again. “I brought you two
clippings from one of your old letters to
me.”
He turned his eyes to meet mine and
squeezed my hand back. After a few long
minutes, he said my name, which he
seemed to retrieve from somewhere deep
inside. Even though he didn’t talk much
these days, he never failed to know who I
was.
As a recreation director and in retirement, he’d been always on the go: walking,
hiking, exploring, playing, traveling, loving
life and all it had to offer.
Was this what life had to offer?
■ Workplace
discreet one-on-one conversation, or an organized group
training, we can all inspire social change.
Domestic violence can
certainly wreak havoc on a
victim’s attendance and performance, and not all employers are supportive or informed
about the issue, or even their
own legal obligations.
Still, it’s promising that we
do hear from women who first
confided their story not to family or to us, but to the coworkers and employers they see
every day, and whom they have
learned to trust, or to the pastor or sponsor who seemed
especially alert and approachable on this topic. People who
offered them not just time,
compassion, and our hotline
number, but also, for those
who were ready, maybe their
first safe place to make that
confidential call.
We get these stories enough
to know that proactive community members in that initial role
can literally save lives.
AND THE SAME might be
true when batterers encounter
a workplace culture that proactively addresses the issue,
through information and policies, as well as meaningful consequences for violating them.
In the 2011 Vermont study,
more than 77 percent of those
male offenders felt that workplace policies that addressed
domestic abuse would be an
FROM SECTION FRONT
effective deterrent to violence.
For employers interested in
exploring some resources, the
Vermont Attorney General’s
website (www.atg.state.vt.us) offers samples of model practices.
And one project, the Small
Business Initiative, which offers
additional perspectives at www.
safeatworkcoalition.org, was created in 2000 by a group of employers, unions, advocates, and
government organizations to
educate businesses and to help
address what was traditionally
seen as a private problem.
Clearly, as advocates, we’re
inspired by these concurrent
efforts, because their reach is
so vast. While offenders are
solely responsible for their own
behavior, we can all help foster
a just and vibrant workplace or
civic group that increases safety
and solidarity with victims,
one that adds a measure of accountability for batterers who
no longer coast so easily under
the social radar.
Of course, it’s been easier
for society to blame women
or make them responsible for
their own safety rather than for
all of us to confront the root
problem: patriarchy.
But as statistics around the
country bear out, this group silence is risky business for us all,
because domestic violence still
thrives on it, because it is epidemic, and because victims
themselves never really get a
day off.
T h e C ommo n s
• Wednesday, February 12, 2014 D3
LETTERS FROM READERS
How are we going to pay for ShumlinCare?
S
en. Peter Galbraith,
D-Windham, has introduced S.252 in the Vermont
Senate as proposed financing of ShumlinCare (Green
Mountain Care). It seems
Sen. Galbraith is calling Gov.
Shumlin’s bluff.
Act 48, Sec. 9 of the state
health-care reform law, passed
in 2011, directs that financing
plans be prepared and submitted to the legislature by Jan. 15,
2013.
This is a law which the
Governor continues to ignore. He continues to refuse
to release a study paid for by
taxpayers which, reportedly,
shows that Shumlincare is not
fundable. Unfortunately, when
a legislative body is of the same
party as the governor, they set
aside their responsibility to
the public to demand that the
law be obeyed. The governor
is, essentially, free to continue
breaking the law.
By Sen. Galbraith’s calculations, financing of Shumlincare
will require a minimum of $1.6
billion.
To extract this sum from
Vermont residents will require
one of several tax proposals:
• An employer-paid 11-percent payroll tax on all employees, including out-of-state
employees, plus a 2-percent tax
paid by employees. This would
include schools and municipal
governments (which, of course,
would pass these expenses to
taxpayers), and businesses
that are self-insured under
Employee Retirement Income
Security Act, IBM, GE, C&S).
In addition, non-wage income (interest, rent, dividends, and capital gains) would
be taxed at 10 percent. Selfemployed people would pay
13 percent. The cap would
be the same as it is for FICA,
$113,700 (although the FICA
cap increases to $117,000 for
2014). There would be no deductions for home mortgage
interest, charitable contributions, etc.
• Or a 19.5-percent sales tax
(including the present 6-percent sales tax) but with no exclusion for food or clothing
and expanded to include all
services.
• Or an income tax starting
at 15.5 percent and rising to
24.4 percent.
It’s almost as though our
neighbors to the east helped
write Green Mountain Care.
Any of these proposed funding mechanisms will drive businesses to New Hampshire
and certainly will discourage
new businesses from coming to Vermont. Businesses
along the border will lose business as more people cross the
border (on all four sides) to
avoid a 19.4-percent sales tax.
Wealthier seniors will relocate
their legal residences to Florida
or other non-income-tax states.
Those who think Vermont
would be a better place to live
with a smaller population will
get their wish. However, the
few left will have a bigger burden to pick up to make up for
those who leave.
It seems that Gov. Shumlin
owes us a detailed explanation of his proposal to fund his
health-care plan without delay.
Dart Everett
Brattleboro
Vermont policy
causes rapid exodus of
citizens, volunteers
A
s an active member of
the Manchester/Dorsetarea community and a person
deeply involved with a number
of not-for-profit entities, I have
had the privilege over the years
of working with some of the
state’s older, more committed,
and certainly generous citizens.
Many of these individuals have had a great impact on
their local communities in a variety of different ways and, unfortunately, we might quickly
be losing this vital section of
Vermont’s population.
Not only are we losing their
good-natured presence and
contributions to our local
economy, we are also losing
the time and effort they provide — voluntarily — to make
Vermont a better place.
So why are we losing these
folks?
While I think this problem
giving us all the chance to comThe songs we sang against
is influenced by multiple varimunicate. Power and energy
the war have been sung over
ables, there is no question that
are building, but something
and over in the ongoing fight
Vermont’s deteriorating ecostill has to happen. We are
for human rights. At 7, I barely nomic outlook, cost of living,
connected around the world
understood these songs, but I
and unreasonable tax landthrough our iThings, but there knew they spoke some fundascape are three major drivers of
are nuances about being humental truth about justice and this rapid exodus. I’d also asman, things we need but don’t the meaning of democracy.
sume that these factors are not
completely understand that are
And most of these songs
encouraging young and midnot served just by photo, video, were sung by and/or written by dle-age Vermonters to remain
or email.
Pete Seeger.
in the state as well.
Scientists know that blood
I wonder. I wonder when we
Sure, many retirees head
pressure drops from the human will start singing again.
to warmer climates to avoid
touch, but poets know more
Rebecca Jones, MD Vermont’s harsh winters and
than that. There is a special
Brattleboro return for spring, summer, and
connection we create to each
fall. That has been a standard
other through art, especially
for many for years. However, I
the art of song.
am talking about the relocation
of their legal primary residence,
which strips our communities
Songs connect our hearts in a way that our iThings cannot
P
ete Seeger, 94, died on
Jan. 27. His passing has
been on my mind since then,
but his songs and his legacy
had been in my thoughts even
before he died.
Our country is facing human
rights crises — in health care,
income equality, racism, and
climate change — and Seeger
in his last years was still singing
about these issues.
Some of my earliest memories are of singing protest
songs. I was born in 1963 and
grew up in Lexington, Mass.
My parents were both active
in the Civil Rights Movement
and, by the time the Vietnam
War protests were heating up,
I was old enough to participate in the gatherings, which
included songs about freedom,
justice, the environment, and
peace.
Music was recycled from
the Labor and Civil Rights
movements. The songs made
me think of open skies, green
Rotary
fundraiser
a success
T
hank you for your support
of the annual Brattleboro
Rotary Club Christmas Tree
fundraiser.
Since 1965, the Brattleboro
Rotary Club has sold
Christmas trees to raise money
for local student scholarships. Four hundred Vermontgrown trees were sold and
netted $5,500 for Gateway
Foundation, a local fund to
support scholarships awarded
annually to Brattleboro-area
students pursuing college.
We will give $18,000 this
year to graduating seniors at
Brattleboro Union, Hinsdale,
Leland & Gray high schools
and at the Austine School.
For more info about
Brattleboro Rotary Club or
Gateway Foundation, visit
brattlebororotaryclub.org.
Marty Cohn
Brattleboro
The writer is the immediate
past president of the Brattleboro
Rotary Club.
rolling hills, happy children,
strength, hope, and unity.
For all the access to one another that the Internet can provide, something is missing.
We see and hear one another,
but we are separated by infinite space and missing a third
dimension.
It is poignant that during the
Arab Spring, which relied so
heavily on Twitter, that when
Internet access was blocked
and people were forced to find
one another in the streets, the
uprising exploded.
Twitter, YouTube, Google
groups, and Facebook are
Heroes and heroines wanted
I
s there an unsung hero in
your community? We need
your help so that we can tell
their story.
At its first-ever Heroes
Breakfast, the Vermont &
New Hampshire Upper Valley
American Red Cross will honor
community members who have
demonstrated heroism through
extraordinary acts of courage
or kindness.
The Heroes Breakfast will
celebrate a celebration of spirit
and community. Whether
it’s helping someone escape a
burning building or changing a
life through acts of generosity
and caring, examples of heroism happen in our community
every day.
Honorees will be recognized
at a celebration on April 29.
But first, help us learn about
the heroes in our community
by nominating someone to receive an award in one of the
following categories: Armed
Forces/Military Hero, Animal
Hero, Youth Good Samaritan,
Adult Good Samaritan, First
Responder, Community
Impact, Blood Services/Gift
of Life, and Spirit of the Red
Cross.
The heroic act or activities must have occurred in
the past 16 months, occurring
September 2012 or later, to
be eligible for an award at the
April event. Nominations will
be accepted through Feb. 24.
To nominate a hero and for
more information, please visit
Yet another local business
closes its doors in Jamaica
O
ur community has lost
The writer is regional executive for
yet another local staple.
the Vermont & New Hampshire At noon on Friday, Feb. 4, the
Upper Valley Region chapter of
Jamaica Coffee House closed
the American Red Cross.
its doors, never to open again.
For eight years, Jamie and
Dave Phillips were pillars of
what remains of the downtown
Jamaica business community.
hero is an ordinary individual In good weather and bad, they
who finds the strength to per- opened up to serve hot bevsevere and endure in spite of over- erages and food to locals and
whelming obstacles.
tourists alike.
—Christopher Reeve
They weathered Irene with
A
us. The paid their taxes. They
hosted community meetings.
They extended credit to the
regulars. They served strangers, friends, and neighbors alike
until they could serve no more.
Now they are gone. They
were everything a small town
could want in local coffee
shop, and their presence will be
greatly missed.
Ryan Hockertlotz
Townshend
Voting in Rockingham for the
‘Trustees You Can Trust’
am so looking forward to votBetter ways to address climate issues IMarch
ing on Town Meeting day,
4, in Bellows Falls.
R
E: “Post Oil Solutions receives grant for Fossil Fuel
Resistance Project” [Life and
Work, Jan. 29]:
With comments like “Time
is running out on us as a species” and we have “five minutes before midnight,” Tim
Stevenson reminds me of that
pastor who insisted the world
was going to end in May of
2012 because of an interpretation of the Mayan calendar and
even posted billboards about it.
When that date came and
went, the pastor changed it to
Dec 21, 2012. We all woke up
on Dec 22, 2012, and he was
totally discredited.
In much the same way,
Stevenson is trying to use fear
to get people to join in his beliefs, much as some religious
zealots do to convince you to
follow their beliefs. We have
been told for years that everything we do — turning on a
light switch, driving a car, buying food at a store, and more —
are all killing us, but it has yet
to happen.
I am a little surprised climate alarmists don’t focus their
efforts to help promote the
idea of population control: reduce the population explosion,
n Sochi
really are making it about the
country they are staying in.
I spent 4½ months in St.
Petersburg, Russia. I can’t explain my deep connection to
that country. It just is. It was
the toughest experience of my
life, but it was also the most
rewarding.
There’s more to the world
than just U.S. or western
Europe destinations, and I
wish these journalists would
leave their entitled expectations
and their Western standards at
home. Just because it’s an international event doesn’t mean
the same ideas of customer
service and treatment can or
should be expected in a host
country.
As it happens, there is no
concept of customer service in
Russia. Western ideas of hospitality are non-existent there.
Russians treat waste differently than what we are used
to. Things break down a lot,
and things are always changing
unexpectedly.
The conditions at the hotels where the journalists are
staying are no different from
the majority of — if not all —
Russian hotels. Other than the
few that really cater to the one
percent, you can’t expect the
same treatment or the same
kind of amenities that you
www.redcross.org/vermontheroes or
call (802) 660-9130 ext., 111.
Larry Crist
Burlington
of some of our most knowledgeable, wise, and committed
residents.
For example, Walter
Freed, a former speaker
of the Vermont House of
Representatives, is a longtime
Dorset resident who is moving his primary residence to
Florida. Freed and his wife,
Margery, who recently resigned
as a Dorset Selectboard member, have cited the multiplicity
of Vermont taxes as the primary reason.
I fear that we are witnessing,
before our very eyes, a demographic and locational shift of
many of Vermont’s best away
from the Green Mountain
State for greener pastures.
Campaign for Vermont has
recently offered up a variety of
sensible solutions to many of
Vermont’s greatest challenges.
This a great start, but we need
more. We need action on these
proposals from those in decision-making positions.
It is time our elected and appointed officials in Montpelier
put away the smoke and
mirrors, face some of our
most-pressing realities, and implement public policy and government programs that attract
and retain retirees, limit taxes,
lower cost-of-living numbers,
promote business, incite job
growth, encourage sound economic development and strong
communities, and persuade
our best and brightest to stay in
Vermont.
Bob McCafferty
Dorset
get at American or western
European resorts.
And why would you want
to stay at a place like that?
It doesn’t represent the real
Russia that I experienced.
Studying abroad there was
fascinating. It’s hard, it’s uncertain, it’s different, but it
was also beautiful — and it
was also miraculous. The most
peaceful moment of my life
was standing in the middle of
Red Square in Moscow — by
myself.
I used to live across the
street from the Lenin Library
in St. Petersburg. My homestay family told me they started
construction around 1985. Ten
years later, it still wasn’t near
completion! I doubt it ever has
been.
Sochi is not the best venue,
and corruption and incompetency at government levels are
compromising these Olympics
and compromising the completion of these facilities.
The incomplete state of the
Olympic Village living quarters
is nothing new from when I
was there. The real reason why
nothing is finished is because
of corruption in Russia, which
is like the Big Dig on crystal
meth. It’s just as bad as it was
during Soviet times.
That’s why tourists — and
now sadly, journalists — should
have been briefed before they
went. There is no concept of
customer service and hospitality in Russia. Period. Things
are there one day and gone the
next. I don’t know what else to
say other than I learned this the
hard way.
But those kinds of conditions
make me miss Russia. It was
just all part of that experience.
I think these journalists are
acting like entitled children
because they expect a certain
kind of treatment when they go
abroad.
Complaining about the living situations in Russia is not
reporting, especially when it’s
done on Twitter. That’s a big
difference.
Journalists should by all
means talk about corruption
and other important issues. I’m
all for that. But they need to
do it in context, and they cannot make it only about Russia
being such a shitty place to be
covering an international sporting event.
If these journalists don’t like
where they’re staying, then
they should pack up their bags
and go home.
I blame the networks
and outlets that they are
community to be heard.
“Trustees You Can Trust” is
their campaign slogan, and it
I will be filling in those litsure rings true.
reduce future demand on
tle ballot bubbles and castI hope you will join me in
resources.
Bellows Falls on Election Day,
I also wonder why they never ing my vote for the new slate
of trustees running for the
or obtain a absentee ballot.
champion shaming celebriRockingham Free Public
Your vote counts. This is
ties — including the greatest
hypocrite, the five-home-own- Library: Doreen Aldrich, Carol how we can make a positive
Blackwood, David Gould, and change for our library.
ing, private-jet-flying Al Gore
Debbi Wetzel
— into living lives of much less Ray Massucco are the names to
remember.
Saxtons River
excess.
Finally, a way for the
Trying to scare the average
American has not worked so
far, and there are better ways
to really try to help the environment. Too bad they cannot see it.
Sandy Golden
Hinsdale, N.H.
s a former employee of the for trustees who have the pubRockingham Free Public
lic in mind, not their own priLibrary, I would like to express vate agendas. It is urgent that
my concern regarding the cur- Rockingham residents vote for
rent trustees of the library.
trustees we can trust to manage
I feel the trustees have not
the library with competence,
from SECTION FRONT
shown good management and concern for its patrons, and
representing for not explainthat they have disregarded the support for the staff.
ing to their employees what
wishes of the majority of the
Finally, I would like to add
they would encounter in this
public. I have attended some
how impressed I am with the
culture.
of the public hearings, and the library staff. They have been
That’s the right thing to do,
more I see and learn, the more working under difficult circumwhether you go abroad for
I feel the public needs to take
stances, and never once have I
business, pleasure, or to study.
seriously the upcoming election seen them fail to greet the pubPublicly complaining is the
on March 4.
lic with a positive outlook.
antithesis of what journalists
Voters have a responsibilAlicia Kelly
are supposed to be doing there
ity to be informed and to vote
Bellows Falls
in the first place.
I understand they’re not
there to immerse themselves
in Russian culture. I just wish
they would understand that
what they’re going through resembles a lot of what I remember when I stayed in Russia.
Instead, journalists covering
the Olympics should be inquisitive and curious about about
The Tri-state region’s premier center for jazz.
where they are going. They
should see things with their
Saturday
15,
2014
atp8pm
eyes open and write about the
S a t u r February
d a y, M a r c h
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them will ever get a chance
with The Harrison/SchullerQuintet
Sextet
to visit Sochi again, let alone
featuring Marty Ehrlich
Cameron
Brownsoloist in
Russia. That is a privilege. Why
A&
featured
trumpet
are they making fun of where
Masterful improvising
and
killer
arrangements
Schneider’s Grammy
with TheMaria
Harrison/Schuller
Sextet
they are?
Winning
big
band
who
possesses
I’ve been wanting to go back
featuring Marty
Ehrlich & Cameron Brown
“enviable control and a cauldron
to Russia for the last 19 years.
If they can’t stand being where
of contemporary
ideas”
Masterful improvising
and killer
arrangements
they’re at, then let me go. I’ll
kiss the tarmac the minute I
72 C otton M ill H ill
arrive at Sochi International
B r attleBoro, Vt 05301
www.vtjazz.org
Airport.
(802) 254-9088
o ff e xit 1, i nterstate 91
Former library employee urges
voters to address RFPL
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Whirrr! The Music of Jimmy Giuffr
SPORTS
SECTION B
Wednesday, February 12, 2014 • page D4
page D4
Rebel girls
hang on
to defeat
Terriers
T
he Leland & Gray
Rebels and the
Bellows Falls Terriers
are both going
through down seasons in high
school girls’ basketball. But
when these two schools play
each other, the result is usually close, and the action usually intense.
And that’s how it was Feb.
6 in Townshend as the Rebels
squandered a big second-half
lead, getting it together at the
end to hold off a scrappy, determined Terrier squad for a
46-43 win.
Bellows Falls was coming off their highest-scoring
game of the season, a 68-23
rout of Poultney on Feb. 3.
Chelsea Wilder (17 points),
Stephanie Parsons (16), and
Molly Dufault (10) all reached
double figures for the Terriers,
while Hannah Kelly and Emily
Dufault chipped in nine apiece.
It was the third consecutive victory for Bellows Falls.
Leland & Gray had snapped
a five-game losing streak with a
44-42 win at Green Mountain
on Feb. 1. Rachel Borgensen
led the Rebels with 12 points,
while Haley Buffum had 10
points, 11 rebounds, and four
steals. GM’s Maddie Huntley
scored her 1,000th career point
in the loss.
But the Rebels lost a close
one, 40-31, to Arlington three
nights later, and first-year
coach Terry Merrow said he
had no idea what to expect
against the Terriers except that
“it would be a physical game,
as it always is against BF.”
Freshman guard Jessalyn
Stockwell had the hot hand for
the Rebels as she scored seven
of her team-high 14 points in
the first quarter as Leland &
Gray took a 13-8 lead.
BF rallied back to cut the
Rebels’ lead to 25-23 at the
half as Parsons hit a pair of
3s and Wilder chipped in five
points. Both would finish with
a team-high 12 points.
The Rebels looked like they
had put the game away when
they went on a 10-0 run in the
first 3:40 of the third quarter. But Leland & Gray only
scored 11 points after that as
the Terriers cracked down on
defense.
“We knew how important it
was to get off to a quick start in
the second half,” said Merrow.
“But you can never count out
BF.”
“Our girls never give up;
it’s not in their nature,” said
BF coach Joe Goodhue. “Our
problem was getting off to a
slow start in the first and third
quarters, and that’s been a
problem all season.”
BF went 6-for-6 from the
RANDOLPH T.
HOLHUT
Sports Roundup
free-throw line, and Wilder
hit a key 3-pointer, but the
Terriers ran of time to complete their comeback. Buffum
converted on a 3-point play,
and Borgenson sank a freethrow in the final minute
to help the Rebels hang on.
Leland & Gray improved to
5-12 with the win. BF fell to
5-11.
Boys’ basketball
• The Twin Valley victory
train kept rolling as this team
got its 14th straight win with a
67-45 victory over Black River
on Jan. 30. Colin Lozito led the
Wildcats with 16 points. Dal
Nesbitt scored 14, and Eli Park
added 12.
But the Wildcats’ dream of
an undefeated season died in
Poultney on Feb. 3 with a 5954 overtime loss to the Blue
Devils. At 19 points, Nesbitt
was the high scorer for Twin
Valley.
• Mount Anthony tried to
use a full-court press on defense to stop the Colonels, but
the Colonels were unfazed in a
raucous game, and held on to
win 77-64 at the BUHS gym
on Jan. 31.
The Colonels got balanced
scoring from Chris McAuliffe
(18 points), Sam Siegel (16
RANDOLPH T. HOLHUT/THE COMMONS
points), and Isaac Roach (13
Leland & Gray guard Stevie Roberts (13) drives to the basket as Bellows Falls guard Chelsea Wilder (3)
points) as the three keyed a
tries to block her shot during the first half of their game in Townshend on Feb. 6.
21-8 run in the final minutes to
clinch the victory.
from a 10-point halftime deficit Withington Rink on Feb. 1.
will be downhill ski races
International Skiing Federation
Girls’ basketball
to win, 45-41.
The Colonels trailed 3-2
at Living Memorial Park.
FIS Cup Series. The event also
• Mount Anthony needed
Harrison scored 16, the only after the first two periods on
Registration starts at 9 a.m.,
serves as a stop on the USA Ski
overtime to beat Brattleboro,
Brattleboro player in double
goals from Braxton Lynn (asand races start at 9:30.
Jumping U.S. Cup series.
68-61, on Feb. 4 at the BUHS digits. But Megan Siggins,
sisted by Declan Lonergan,
On Wednesday, Feb. 19,
Competition each day starts
gym to snap the Colonels’ win- Maddy Derosia, and Devin
who leads the team with nine
skating races will be held at the at 11 a.m. and concludes by 4
ning streak. The Colonels
Millerick each hit 3-pointers
goals and seven assists on the
Nelson Withington Skating
p.m. Tickets at the gate are $20
played one of the best overall
for the 13-5 Colonels.
season), and Jon Curtis (asFacility at Living Memorial
for adults, $15 for kids 6-12;
games of the season, but it was
• Twin Valley ran their win- sisted by Philip Perkins).
Park. Registration begins at
kids 5 and younger are free.
a 9-for-12 performance at the
ning streak to eight and their
• The Brattleboro girls’ went 2 p.m., with races starting at
Payment at the gate is cash or
free-throw line in overtime by
record to 14-4 with a 50-36
0-for-5 on the power play and
2:30.
check only.
the Patriots that won the game. win over Green Mountain in
had no answers on defense as
Both events are open to all
Tickets are also sold at www.
BrattleboroTix.com (full rate apThree-point shooting was
Wilmington on Feb. 6.
Rice cruised to an 8-0 win on
school-age children. Ribbons
another factor in the game.
Kirra Courchesne hit three
Senior Night at Withington
will be awarded to the first five plies) and can be purchased at
MAU made 10 of them, and
3-pointers to key a 25-6 burst
Rink on Feb. 1.
finishers in each of several cat- a discounted rate ($15 adults,
built up a 13-point lead early in in the third quarter by the
Honored before the game
egories. For more informa$12 youth) in advance through
the third quarter. But Arianna Wildcats. She finished with 12 were seniors Alex Fellows (who tion, call 802-254-5808 or visit Feb. 14 at Galanes Vermont
Harrison, Kayla Savage, and
points, Colton Butler added
faced 30 shots in goal against
Recreation & Parks at www.
Shop, Zephyr Designs, Avenue
brattleboro.org.
Abbie Lesure responded with
14, and Savannah Nesbitt
Rice), Madison Doucette,
Grocery, Brattleboro Area
plenty of big plays to bring the chipped in with 10 points, nine Meyru Bhanti, and Dorothy
Chamber of Commerce,
Colonels back into contention steals, seven rebounds, and six Kinney-Landis.
Harris Hill tickets
Brattleboro Savings and Loan,
now on sale
and force overtime.
assists.
Burrows Specialized Sports,
Harrison finished with 21
Rec. Dept. hosts
• The annual Harris Hill ski
and Grafton Village Cheese in
Junior Olympics
points, 13 rebounds. Savage
Hockey
jump competition is this week- Brattleboro; and Mount Snow
had 18 points, 10 rebounds,
• Too many turnovers killed
• The Brattleboro Recreation end in Brattleboro. Saturday’s Valley Chamber of Commerce
and Lesure added 11 points.
the Brattleboro boys’ chances
& Parks Department will host
Pepsi Challenge and Sunday’s in Wilmington.
The Colonels lost another
as St. Johnsbury broke open a
the Junior Olympics during
Fred Harris Memorial
For more information, visit
close one, this time in Rutland, close game with five goals in
Winter Carnival Week.
Tournament will be the only
www.HarrisHillSkiJump.com.
on Feb. 6. The Raiders rallied
the final period for a 8-2 win at
On Monday, Feb. 17, there
domestic stop in the nine-event
EARLY
EDUCATION
SERVICES
EARLY
EDUCATION
SERVICES
Infant Toddler/Preschool Teacher – $500 Hiring Bonus Applies!
PART-TIME KITCHEN ASSISTANT NEEDED
Value relationships? Passionate about the impact of high quality early childhood
education on the development of very young children? Our classrooms presents the
opportunity to support the growth & development of children aged birth to three
in partnership with families. Many opportunities for professional growth within a
supportive, progressive atmosphere. Competitive salary & excellent benefits package!
Requirements: CDA, Associates or Bachelors Degree in ECE /Child Development or a
related field. Screenings will begin immediately and continue until position is filled.
Early Education Services is looking for someone who can assist the cook in our Birge
Street kitchen. The position is 10 hours weekly (Generally Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday mornings).
Duties would be prepping food for functions, preparing snacks for children, occasionally
shopping and other duties assigned by the cook. Must be well organized, be willing to
work as part of a team, have a valid driver’s license, High School diploma or GED, and
be able to lift 50 pounds.
Send resume, letter of interest, college transcript copies
and three written references to:
Child Development Manager
Early Education Services
130 Birge Street
Please go to www.ees-vt.org for application.
Submit application and 3 references to:
Health/Nutrition Manager
Early Education Services
130 Birge Street
Please visit our website: www.ees-vt.org or call (802) 254-3742 to request an application.
Applications will be accepted until position is filled.
Early Education Services is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage applicants who could
add diversity to our educational community.
Early Education Services is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage applicants who could
add diversity to our educational community.
THE
58
th
Annual
Brattleboro Winter Carnival
FEBRUARY 14 - 23, 2014
S10
58 t h A n n u a l B r a t t l e b o r o W i n t e r C a r n i v a l
2014
Winter CARNIVAL
CONTESTANT #1
CONTESTANT #3
Katie Burroughs
Katelyn Donovan
Katie is currently a Sophomore at
Brattleboro Union High School. After
High School, Katie plans to go to
Southern Vermont College. She hopes
to someday work as a pediatrician.
Sponsor: Kelly's Dance Academy
Talent: Tap Dance
Katelyn is a senior at Brattleboro
Union High School and Windham
Regional Career Center. After
graduation Katelyn will be attending Coastal Carolina University
where she will major in business.
She would like to one day have a
job in hospitality management or
corporate event planning.
Sponsors: Renaissance Fine Jewelry,
and Brattleboro Savings & Loan
Talent: Singing
CONTESTANT #2
CONTESTANT #4
Israel Cavanagh
Nicole Koziara
Israel has been dancing since she
was three years old, and began
her competitive dance career with
Kelly's Dance Academy four years
ago. Other interest include art, field
hockey, ice skating, and violin. After
graduation Israel plans to obtain a
Bachelors Degree in dance, and one
day hopes to share her love of dance
with children through instruction.
Sponsor: Oak Meadow Curriculum
& School
Talent: Lyrical Dance
Sponsor: Whetstone Station
Talent: Cake Decorating
Nicole enjoys to bake, she also
loves to decorate cakes. She is
happiest when she is outside in the
sun. Her goal for the future is to
become an animal cop, and save
the lives of innocent animals.
S11
QUEEN Delegates
CONTESTANT #5
CONTESTANT #7
Jenna Martin
Kara Walsh
Jenna is a senior at BUHS and plans
to attend college in the fall to major
in Tourism and Hospitality for event
planning. She hopes to one day ravel
and see the world. In her free time,
she enjoys baking, shopping and
painting finger nails.
Sponsor: Pieciak & Company
Talent: Singing
Kara is a 20 year old sophomore at
the community college of Vermont
where she is working towards her
bachelors degree in business administration. Kara is also part of the
management team at Leggs Hanes.
While still teaching part time at
Kelly's dance academy. When Kara
has free time she likes to spend it
with her friends and family.
Sponsor: Dandrea Painting
Talent: Jazz Dance
CONTESTANT #6
CONTESTANT #8
Marissa
Semenovich
Taylor Wyckoff
Marissa Semenovich is a senior at
BUHS and WRCC. She is 18 years
old and the Historian for the Future
Business Leaders of America. After
high school she plans to go to college
to pursue a degree in Business in hopes
to become the CEO of a business or
own her own company.
Sponsor: Hotel Pharmacy
Talent:Singing & Playing Piano
Taylor Wyckoff is a 17 year old
senior at Brattleboro Union High
School. After she graduates, Taylor
hopes to attend Greenfield Community College and take general studies
to figure out her passion in life.
Sponsor: Flatter Me Hair Salon
Talent: Lyrical Dance
S12
Shoe Tree, 135 Main ST,
Brattleboro, both locations
will accept cash and checks
only. The deadline for
The Brattleboro Figure
What happens at the LeSkating Club is pleased to
gion, stays at the Legion… purchasing tickets is Friday,
present our annual Winter well at least when this year’s February 14 and only a few
tickets will be on sale at the
Carnival Ice Show, “Wild
theme is ‘Murder in Las
door that night.
About Animals.” This after- Vegas’! Take a roll of the
Pancake Breakfast
noon we will showcase the dice and see if you can fig- ..........................................
Sunday, February 16th
talents of all our skaters.
ure out who the murderer
8:00 am - 11:00 am
Please join us Sunday, Feb- is before all is revealed! You Country Western
The Elks Home
Jamboree
ruary 16th, 2014 at 2pm at can bet it’s going to be
75 Putney Road
Nelson Withington Skating a great dinner, with lots
Adults $5, Children 6-12 $3,
1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Rink (Living Memorial
of friends and a fabulous
5 & under Free
Park). Admission is $7.00
show! The Vermont Theater VFW Post 1034
40 Black Mountain Rd
Start your day out with
Annual Figure
for adults, $5.00 for senior Company will be our
Brattleboro
family and friends at our
citizens, and children are
entertainment and dinner
Skating
Club
Ice
$7 admission
delicious all you can eat
$3.00. Preschoolers are
will be served by BrattleNo one under 10 admitted
Show
pancake breakfast. Come
always free. Please dress
boro’s One and Only BMH
Sunday,
February
16th
visit Frosty, while our own
New location, new host
warmly.
Ladies Auxiliary. Get your
2:00 pm
Winter Carnival Chefs
.......................................... tickets early to be sure you band, same old good times!
prepare fresh hot pancakes, Nelson Withington
Time to tap into your
get a seat for this evening
Skating Facility
Murder Mystery
country roots and come on
of fun, you won’t want
down to the Country WestDinner
to miss it! Tickets can be
ern Jamboree, this year at
purchased at the BrattleRhonda Calhoun
the VFW on Black Mounpm
boro Recreation & Parks
Innkeeper 6:00
tain Rd! This year the host
American Legion Post #5,
office from 9-12 and 1-5,
Linden St, Brattleboro
Monday-Friday and at the band is “Playin’ Possum”
192 Putney Road
served with Vermont Maple
Syrup, sausage, bagels, fresh
fruit, orange juice, and hot
coffee. Enjoy a great breakfast to get you energized
for a day full of Winter
Carnival activities for the
whole family.
..........................................
Adults $7.00
Senior Citizens $5.00
Children $3.00
Brattleboro Vermont
(802) 254-6268
(800) 941-2413
&
Forty Putney Road Bed
Breakfast
www.fortyputneyroad.com [email protected]
Rhonda Calhoun
Innkeeper
192 Putney Road
Brattleboro Vermont
(802) 254-6268
(800) 941-2413
www.fortyputneyroad.com
[email protected]
$35/person or
$300/table of 10
(reservations required)
The Hotel
Pharmacy
so you know that it will be
hard to keep your toes from
tapping and your fingers
from snapping! See you
there… and don’t forget
your cowboy hat, too!
For more years than we
can remember,
Will MacDonald has
been our “Go To Guy”
for the Winter Carnival
Country Western Jamboree. We knew it was as
simple as one phone call
to Will and the job was
done and done well. He
and the Swingin’ Doors
Band have been the host
band for as many years.
Will was a quiet man
who was very easy to
work with. He will be
missed.
..........................................
20 Elliot St, Suite 1
802-254-2303
fax 802-257-0023
hotline 802-258-3008
FREE DELIVERY
to Surrounding Towns
Text when Ready!
Curbside Delivery!
Locally Owned and Operated for 32
30
Years by the Giamartino Family!
Located in the Historical Methodist Church on Elliot Street
Movies at the
Latchis
Monday - Friday,
February 17th - 21st
11:00 am
The Latchis
Cost: $1 per person
The Latchis Theatre will
be opening at 11:00 am
each weekday of Carnival
and showing three different movies, which will be
announced. For details
please call 802-246-1500
for more information.
S13
five grade groups for each
event; grades 1-2, 3-4, 5-6,
7-8, and 9-12. Each event
will have a boy’s division
and girl’s division. Ribbons will be awarded to the
first five winners in each
division and participation
Junior Olympics
ribbons to all. Register for
Monday, February 17th
each event the morning
9:30 am
of the event. Carol LoWednesday, February 19th
latte, Recreation and Parks
2:30 pm
Director, and Tom Cote
Young Olympians of the
future are invited to partici- Program Coordinator will
pate in the Brattleboro Rec- direct the Junior Olympics.
These events are co-sponreation and Parks Departsored by the Recreation
ment Jr. Olympic Races.
and Parks Department and
Monday, February 17th
Winter Carnival. Special
9:30am. Downhill Races
thanks goes to Living Me(Living Memorial Park).
Wednesday, February 19th morial Park Snow Sports
for operating the Ski Lift
2:30pm. Skating Races
on Monday for the down(Living Memorial Park).
hill races.
Students from school
grades 1-12 are eligible and ..........................................
are encouraged to enter
Brattleboro Food
the events. All events are
free of charge; there will be Co-op Cooking
Classes
Monday, February 17th &
Friday, February 21st
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Join us in the Brattleboro
Food Co-op's Cooking
Classroom for food and art
creation on Monday and
Friday from 1:00-2:00pm!
Monday, February 17th:
Homemade Hot Pretzels.
Twist, shape, bake, and
eat. Friday, February 21st:
Pizza Party. Make your own
pizza and have fun with
toppings. Each session is
free and includes hands-on
time in the kitchen and
an art project. Limit of 20
participants. Registration is
required.
Please call Vicky at 2462842 or email eocbfc@
sover.net to register. ..........................................
Variety Shows
February 17th & 18th
7:00 pm
BUHS Auditorium
131 Fairground Road
$6.00 General Admission
The Variety Show is back
once again! Come see some
favorite veterans as well
as new acts!!
..........................................
On Tuesday, February
18TH, children are invited
for a day of bowling at the
Brattleboro Bowl from
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
This event is open to all
ages. Children under the
age of 10 must be with
an adult. The fee for this
activity is $8.00, which
Carnival Bowling
Day
includes two games, shoes,
a hot dog, and a drink.
$1.00 per person will be
donated to the Winter Carnival Committee. For more
information, please contact
the Brattleboro Recreation
& Parks Department at
254-5808.
MEMBERS 1ST
CREDIT UNION
Tuesday, February 18th
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
$8.00
We put the member FIRST
The SMALL Credit Union with a BIG HEART
www.members1cu.com
Savings
Checking
Personal & Auto Loans
CD’s
Home Equity
Mortgages
Christmas Clubs
Vacation Clubs
Direct Deposit
IRAs
802-380-9900
www.lindakstromlicsw.com
Congratulations on
58 years of Winter Carnival!
Just north of the roundabout on Rt. 5 across from CocoPlum
ATM
Open 24 Hrs.
Monday & Tuesday,
10 Browne CT., P.O. Box 8245
N. Brattleboro, VT 05304
802-257-5131
NCUA
Insured to
250,000
HOW DO YOU
KICK START
WEIGHT LOSS
Your Emergency Medical Provider for 47 years
.
IN JUST
30 MINUTES?
Learn Why You Should Choose
CURVES WORKOUTS
with JILLIAN MICHAELS
Bring a friend & get
75% OFF
COACHING FOR EVERYONE,
EVERY WORKOUT
RESULTS AT ANY FINESS LEVEL
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your enrollment!
CURVES WORKOUTS with JILLIAN MICHAELS
464 Putney Rd, Brattleboro
802-257-3500
541 Canal Street. PO Box 593
802 257-7679
Local and Not-for-Profit,
Wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable carnival
See us at Harris Hill
www.rescueinc.org and visit us on FaceBook
S14
Friends Ski and
Snowshoe Free With
a Member
Wednesday - Thursday,
February 19th - 20th
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Brattleboro Outing Club
Upper Dummerston Rd.
The Brattleboro Outing
Club (BOC) invites the
community to discover the
freedom and fun of cross
country skiing and snowshoeing. To introduce winter enthusiasts to our trails,
"Friends Ski Free" at the
BOC on Wednesday and
PANCAKE BREAKFAST
at The Elks Home
Sunday, February 16
8:00-11:00am
Adults: $5 Kids 6-12: $3
5 & under FREE
Courtesy of the Elks Lodge No. 1499
75 Putney Rd, Brattleboro, VT
15-16
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
14,
Thursday of Winter Carnival Week. Simply register at
the trail board, deposit the
$10 guest fee in the honor
box, and your friend may
ski and snowshoe FREE
on these days. Guests are
welcome to enjoy our trails
up to three times a season
before club membership is
required.
BOC members may bring
all their guests for FREE on
these days. Members can
also access ski and snowshoe equipment for themselves and their guests at no
charge with advance notice.
BOCXC Trails are located
at the Brattleboro Country
Club on Upper Dummerston Rd. The Ski Hut is not
operating this winter so we
offer no rentals or warming
facility for 2014. Updates
on trail conditions, grooming, and program status can
be found atwww.facebook.
com/bocxc. To learn more
about our winter programs
and all the BOC offers to
our community to draw
more of us outdoors to play
in sync with the seasons,
visit www.brattleborooutingclub.org.
Chili Cook-Off
On Thursday, February
20TH at 10:00 A.M. there
will be a Children’s Concert
starring “Bill Shontz at the
Gibson Aiken Center, 207
Main St. Admission for this
Come out and support
great concert will be $3.00
your favorite restaurant,
Grand Day Lunch
per person, 60 and over
and see if you can guess
Thursday, February 20th
free.
which chili is theirs. The
11:30 am
Bill has performed at such
Annual Brattleboro Winter Brattleboro Senior Center
Carnival Chili Cook-Off is 10:00am – Children’s Per- notable places as the White
House, Fenway Park for the
a fun evening where local
formance by Bill Shontz.
restaurants compete for
Admission $3.00 Children/ Boston Red Sox, Disneyland, Bush Gardens, and
the honor of “Best Chili”
Adults, Ages 60 & older
John Anson Ford Theater
that you vote for. $5.00
free. 11:30am – T-shirt
in LA. The list goes on and
will get you samples all the decorating. Free. Noonon. He has 12 CDs and
different chilis, and a ballot Lunch – $3.00 Children,
three videos to his credit,
where you can vote for
$6.00 Adults, Seniors 60
has sold over 750,000
your top 3 choices. The res- & up suggested donation
taurant with the most votes $3.50. On this special day, recordings, won over 3
goes home with the title.
grandparents, aunts, uncles, dozen national awards,
and was nominated for an
Participating Restaurants,
or friends may invite a
Emmy. He has appeared
Marina, Vermont Country young person to a day of
on the Today Show, Live
Deli, Chelsea Royal Diner, fun at the Senior Center.
Guilford Country Store
Reservations are requested with Regis and Kathy Lee
and much more. He has
and Delightfully Delicious. and may be made by callaffectionately been called
Over flow parking at the
ing the Senior Center at
by his peers, “the GranCurves/ WTSA Parking
257-7570.
Lot!!
.......................................... daddy of Contemporary
Children’s Music”, and by
Children’s Morning critics the “Hero of the
Concert
Family Revolution”. He is
truly an innovator in the
10:00 am
Children’s Music world.
Gibson Aiken Center Gym
His most recent innovation
207 Main Street
is a new web business the
$3:00
“Children’s Music Hall of
Fame”.
It is a child-safe, family
and educator friendly site
that has music downloads
custom CDs, games, a
newsletter for teachers and
MUCH more. Artists
from the United States,
Canada, and soon to be
all around the world are
featured! Check it out by
clicking here: www.childrensmusichalloffame.com.
..........................................
Wednesday February. 19th
At The Marina
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
$5.00 Per Person
Hosting this popular event
is The Marina. Music will
be provided by Kevin Parry
again this year. Come out
and join the fun!!!
..........................................
Shakespeare's
Hamlet
Thursday, February 20th,
Latchis Theater, Brattleboro
7:00pm
Reserved seats: $52, $44,
$34, $24. Student $12
S15
Add to this, a unique array
or food will be allowed into The Annie's Music
of zany handmade pupthe dance. Chaperones will & Puppets
pets and the result is family
be provided by the Winter
entertainment at its finest!
Carnival Committee.
10:30 am
The Annies have been de.......................................... Brooks Memorial Library
lighting audiences throughGet ready to laugh, sing
out New England since
and boogie on down with
1995 and their CD ‘Crazy
The Annies and their pup- Stew’ has become a favorite
Kingdom County Producpet friends on Friday, Feb- of children of all ages.
tions will be presenting
ruary 21 at 10:30 a.m. at
Hamlet written by William Winter Carnival
This is a free performance
Brooks Memorial Library.
Shakespeare and performed
Days
at
Mount
for all ages. Brooks Memoby Tony-winners, The ActNOTE: Brooks Memorial rial Library is located at
Snow
ing Company and Guthrie
Library opens at 10:00 a.m. 224 Main St Brattleboro
Thursday - Friday,
Theater, Thursday Feb.
on Fridays.
Vermont.
February 20th - 21st
20th, 7:00 PM at Latchis
9:00
am
Th
e
Annies
Music
and
For more information, call
Theater, Brattleboro. TickPuppets will perform in
254-5290 x110. Sponsored
ets at the door. Or through Winter Carnival particithe Main Room of the
by the Children’s Room
KingdomCounty.org or by pants are invited to ski at
library to accommodate
and the Winter Carnival
calling 888-757-5559 (toll- Mount Snow in West Dotheir many fans. The duet
Committee.
free). Use code: BJM to
ver, Vermont on Thursday
receive 35% ticket discount and Friday, February 20TH of Annie Frelich and Annie ..........................................
Quest deliver a brilliant
by phone or online -- or
& 21ST . The discounted
request at the door. 10:30
price is $49.00 per person. repertoire of original award Splish, Splash, and
winning children’s music
Swim
AM at Latchis Theater,
Located in West Dover
brimming with clever
Brattleboro.
approximately 35 minutes lyrics, rich harmonies and
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Free admission, thanks to
from Brattleboro, Mount
rockin’ rhythms.
Colonial Inn & Spa
Kingdom County Produc- Snow offers skiing and ridtions, Marlboro Coling for all abilities on 102
River Valley Credit Union
lege, Brattleboro Retreat,
trails serviced by 12 lifts.
Brattleboro Savings and
Limited number of vouchLoan, Blue Cross Blue
ers available.
Shield of Vermont, Brattleboro Ford and Subaru and Pick up vouchers at Brattleboro Recreation & Parks
dozens of local businesses
Department only!
and individuals.
.......................................... Located at the GibsonAiken Center, 207 Main
Teen Dance
Street, Brattleboro, office
hours are Monday through
7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Friday from 9:00am –
Boys & Girls Club
12:00pm and from 1:00pm
17 Flat St., Brattleboro
– 4:00pm.
Grades 7-12
Admission $5.00
You can redeem your
Are you ready to get out of vouchers at any ticket
booth at Mt. Snow.
the house and have some
fun? Are you bored being at For more information,
home? How about going to please call the Brattleboro
the Teen Dance at the Boys Recreation & Parks Office
and Girls Club?
at 254-5808.
Come to the dance and
have a good time with The
Keystone Club D.J.
All Students in grades 7 –
12 are welcome.
The future of banking...now
Refreshments will be avail%$$"
$"$ #
able, no outside beverages
Enjoy Brattleboro’s
Winter Carnival!
TM
rivercu.com 802-254-4800
On Friday, February 21ST,
there will be an open swim
program at the Colonial
Inn & Spa from 11:00 a.m.
to 11:55 a.m. and 12:05
p.m. to 1:00 p.m. (2 Sessions).
Children under seven must
be with an adult.
The cost of this program
is $5.00 for children and
$7.00 for adults.
You may sign up for one
session only.
Please pre-register by
contacting the Brattleboro
Recreation & Parks Department at 254-5808.
Space is limited so don’t
delay!
58th Annual
Meeting
Thursday, April 24th
The Gibson Aiken
Center
Dinner at 6:00pm
Meeting to follow
RSVP at
[email protected]
Tune In To
Hot Country 104.9
throughout the
Winter Carnival
for updates on all the activities!
And join us for 5 hours of Great Live
Entertainment at the
COUNTRY WESTERN JAMBOREE
Sunday, Feb. 16th
from 1-6 p.m.
at the VFW, Black Mountain Rd.
off Putney Rd., Brattleboro, VT
Hot Country 104.9 will be
broadcasting live 12-3 p.m.
Today’s Hot New Country &
Your All-time Favorites
S16
Queens Pageant
7:30 pm
Brattleboro Union High
School Auditorium
Admission $6.00
Hurry Hurry Hurry Folks!
Step right up! Don't miss
your ticket to the greatest
show at Winter Carnival,
The 2014 Brattleboro
Winter Carnival Queen’s
pageant.
The Queen’s Scholarship
Pageant is a time honored
winter tradition, and this
year, it's celebrating its
58th anniversary.
Join us as we bid farewell
to our 2013 Queen, Alison
Cornellier, and crown a
new young lady who will
represent Brattleboro Winter Carnival for 2014.
With special guest Kelly's
Dance Academy, Brattleboro Area Batons, & New
England Center for Circus
Arts, this is an event you
won’t want to miss. outer Limits
heaLth
cLub
(802) 257-b-Fit (2348)
Ice Fishing Derby
year is the Ice Shanty
Decorating Contest. Our
Fishing Derby Runs from
6:00AM to 3:00PM at
the Retreat Meadows on
Rte. 30. We are going to
be judging any decorated
Ice Shanty on the Retreat
Don’t let the cold keep you Meadows. You DO NOT
have to be in the Fishing
away! Grab your fishing
Derby to be in this contest.
gear, a thermos and your
Construct and decorate a
lunch and head to the
Retreat Meadows for a fun Shanty just for the contest
if you want. There will be
day of Ice Fishing. Prizes
will be awarded. Registra- prizes including a gift card
tion will begin promptly at to Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters. Judging will be at
6:00am. For any further
questions please contact El- noon.
lyn Ladd at 1-800-GRAF- Join in and have fun!
TON.
..........................................
..........................................
Saturday, February 22nd
6:00 am - 3:00 pm
Retreat Meadows Rt. 30
Adults $7.00
Juniors (12 & Under) $3.00
Sponsored By:
Grafton Village Cheese
Ice Shanty
Decorating Contest
Saturday, February 22nd
6:00 am - 12:00 pm
Retreat Meadows Rt. 30
Carnival Family
Day
We have 9 young ladies
between the ages of 7-9
competing for the title.
Saturday, February 22rd
They are judged on a per10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Brattleboro Area Middle
sonal interview, play outfit,
School Gymnasium
talent and party dress.
This is great fun for the
There is an award for an
family.
essay they have the opportunity to write, a Director’s
Held on Saturday Feb.
Award and a Talent Award
22nd from 10:00AM to
as well as 2nd Runner Up,
1:00PM “Inflatable Fun “
is there with several differ- 1st Runner Up and our
ent things for CHILDREN Princess.
3 AND UP to enjoy.
Come meet our new Princess and say farewell to our
There will be concessions
there to re-coop your ener- 2013 Princess, Miss Kyla
gy. This event is Co-Spon- Brown.
sored by C&S Wholesale
Admission is $6.00.
Grocers and Brattleboro
..........................................
Recreation and Parks.
New this year is a cost
of $2.00 per child 3 and
up. There is NO cost for
parents.
..........................................
New to our Carnival this
76 Cotton Mill Hill Brattleboro, VT
Withington
Memorial Cup
BrattleBoro MeMorial Hospital
• Fully Equipped Weight Room
• Cardiovascular Equipment
• Women’s Weight Room
• Ongoing Individualized
Programming
• Spacious Locker Rooms
• Sauna Rooms
24-hour
emergency
room care
Ca n Be
u
o
Y
t
s
e
B
Be Th e
n i va l !
r
a
C
r
e
t
n
i
At T h e W
is just a hop,
skip and a ski
jump away.
Princess Pageant
Sunday, February 23rd
3:00 pm
BUHS Auditorium
Admission $6.00
SEE PAGE 19 FOR
CONTESTANTS
Please join us on Sunday,
February 23rd at 3:00pm
at BUHS for our annual
pageant.
The Brattleboro Hockey
Association will be presenting the 17th Annual
Withington Memorial Cup
Game on Sunday, Feb.
23RD at 4:15 P.M at the
Facility.
WINTER EXPLORERS
VACATION CAMP
Stop in for a tour of
our facility or call for info:
February 17th - 20th, 9am - 3pm
Mon: Art for Animals
Tues: Tracking the Delirious Duck
Wed: Lessons from the Frozen Forest
Thurs: My Side of the Mountain
(802) 257-B-Fit (2348)
open seven Days a Week
www.outerlimitshealth.com
Sunday, February 23rd 4:15 pm
Facility
17 Belmont Avenue | Brattleboro, VT 802-257-0341 | www.bmhvt.org
www.beec.org
802-257-5785
All kids grades 1-4
Come for one day or all four.
WINTER EXPLORERS
VACATION CAMP
www.beec.org
802-257-5785
All kids grades 1-4
WINTER EXPLORERS
VACATION CAMP
www.beec.org
802-257-5785
All kids grades 1-4
WINTER EXPLORERS
VACATION CAMP
www.beec.org
802-257-5785
All kids grades 1-4
WINTER EXPLORERS
VACATION CAMP
www.beec.org
802-257-5785
All kids grades 1-4
S17
58 t h A n n u a l B r a t t l e b o r o W i n t e r C a r n i v a l Supporter of community
•
Award-winning
news and views
Yes!
My NAME ________________________________________________________
ADDRESS ________________________________________________________
for Windham County
—
In print weekly
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STATE_____ ZIp ___________ pHONE _________________________________
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$100–$249
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$250+
I enclose a check.
NUMBER
and online at
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EXp. MM/yy
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COMM-0189/wc
S18
Add Some Sparkle to
WINTER CARNIVAL! ...
Wash ‘n Wax Your Vehicle!
PERSONALIZED
PAMPERING
24 HR. TOUCH FREE
SERVICE
802-254-2086
802-257-5194
201 Canal St.
Brattleboro, VT
873 Putney Rd.
Brattleboro, VT
www.burtoncarwash.com
802-380-9900
www.lindakstromlicsw.com
BRATTLEBORO WINTER CARNIVAL
Your Local Renewable Energy Provider
Since 1975
802.257.7493
BRATTLEBORO WINTER CARNIVAL
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 27TH
is hostingWINTER CARNIVAL
BRATTLEBORO
FUNraising
event at Friendly’s!
ALL DAY
www.isasolar.com
Come join the fun on
20%
THURSDAY,
FEBRUARY 27TH
ALL DAY
20% of all sales will be donated
toFRIENDLY”S
our
organization
THURSDAY
FEBRUARY
27TH
Come join
PUTNEY
RDus at:
ALL DAY
FRIENDLY’S
Brattleboro VT (802) 257-4004
Putney Road, Brattleboro VT
802-257-4004
20%
FRIENDLY”S
PUTNEY RD
Brattleboro VT (802) 257-4004
n
o
s
a
Se
y
er
Ev
THE POWER IS ALL YOURS TO:
HARVEST THE SUN
S19
PRINCESS PAGEANT CONTESTANTS
Sunday, February 23rd, 3:00 pm
Brattleboro Union High School Auditorium
Admission $6.00
Please join us on Sunday, February 23 rd at 3:00pm at BUHS for our annual pageant. We have 9 young ladies between the ages of 7-9 competing for the title. They
are judged on a personal interview, play outfit, talent and party dress. There is an award for an essay they have the opportunity to write, a Director’s Award and a
Talent Award as well as 2 nd Runner Up, 1 st Runner Up and our Princess. Come meet our new Princess and say farewell to our 2013 Princess, Miss Kyla Brown.
Admission is $6.00.
CONTESTANT #1
CONTESTANT #5
brooke whelan
althea Holzapfel
Sponsored by: Kelly's Dance Academy
Sponsored by: Applewoods Studio
2013 WINTER CARNIVAL
PRINCESS
CONTESTANT #8
avery bennett
kyla brown
Sponsored by: Woodward Photography
CONTESTANT #2
CONTESTANT #6
Sponsored by: Meaghan Fagley Photography
& Whetstone Studio for the Arts
Sponsored by: Tri-State Asphalt Sealing
& Sweet Pond Maple Farm
ava cutler
katie tustin
CONTESTANT #3
CONTESTANT #9
mariah fellows
morgan houghton
Sponsored by: Thin Crust Pizzeria
Sponsored by: C&S Wholesale Grocers
CONTESTANT #4
CONTESTANT #7
riley lawyer
madeline wilson
Sponsored by: Pieciak & Company, P.C
Sponsored by: Tender Corporation
S2
President’s Welcome
Bob and Wayne wish all the best
to the Brattleboro Winter Carnival
in their 58 th year!
www.BeHeardSoundProductions.com
Enjoy a Carefree Stay While
Visiting Brattleboro Vermont
Great
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Holiday Inn Express & Suites Brattleboro
100 Chickering Drive • Brattleboro, VT 05301 • 802-257-2400 • www.hiexpress.com
Welcome to the 58th Brattleboro Winter
Carnival! My name is Debbie Partrick
and I am this year’s president. As I have
worked my way up the ranks from volunteer to 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st VP and at
last the president, I have been amazed by
the dedication of the volunteers and the
committee. The 10 days that we share
with our community takes a great deal of
hard work and planning so that we can
bring fun filled events for kids of all ages.
This year we have added a couple of new
events, Snowball Softball Tournament, Ice Shanty Decorating
Contest on Retreat Meadows, and a Craft Fair at the Pancake
Breakfast!
We, of course, still have many of our old standbys such as Sugar
on Snow, Outdoor Fun Day, Movies at the Latchis, Indoor
Family Fun Day, Teen Dance and much more. Please check our
schedule as well as this program for ten fun filled days.
I also would like to remind everyone to ask for Friendly Coupons
at our events. Brattleboro Friendly’s will be giving Winter Carnival 20% of each total order for anyone that turns in a coupon.
The date to use the coupon is Thursday, February 27th for the
whole day. So, please, help us out and go have a night out and
share 20% of your total order with BWC.
Another exciting event sponsored by Brattleboro Winter Carnival
is Rusty Dewees as ‘The Logger.’ He is coming to town, so please
join us at BUHS on March 21st at 7:00 pm for an absolutely fantastic and funny show. If you’ve never been to see Rusty, please
join us...you won’t regret it. For those who have attended one of
his shows...come again! Tickets are $20.00 and can be purchased
at brattleborotix.com. Please remember there is a service fee for
purchasing tickets on-line.
We look forward to seeing all of you at many of our events.
Without you, Winter Carnival wouldn’t be possible!
—Debbie Partrick, President
58th Brattleboro Winter Carnival
S20
KINGDOM COUNTY PRODUCTIONS AND MARLBORO COLLEGE PRESENT
THE GUTHRIE THEATER AND THE ACTING COMPANY
TONY-WINNING THEATER - LIVE ON STAGE!
LAVISH COSTUMES AND SETS
Special Free Matinee!
To Celebrate Winter Carnival
10:30am at the Latchis
Ticket at the door
35% off for 7pm show!
Discounted prices: $16 to $34
Use discount code: BJM
at KingdomCounty.org
or call 888-757-5559
S3
2014
Program Dedication
TBoutique
The Bridal
At
BY DEBBIE PARTRICK
58TH PRESIDENT OF THE BRAT TLEBORO WINTER CARNIVAL
I moved to Brattleboro in 2006 to take a position at BMH as manager of the Birthing Center. It is
very difficult to move to a new area, start a new job, not know anyone and leave your husband behind!
My friend and mentor, Laurie Kuralt, took me under her wing (literally) and introduced me to Winter
Carnival. I was a volunteer that year and got to meet so many great people who are such a vital part of
this committee. That fall I received a phone call from the Nominating Committee asking me to be 5th
VP; I was so excited and honored at the same time. When I began my VP trip up the ladder my wonderful husband, Nick, had finally moved to Brattleboro and he was there to help me and soon became
our official photographer. We have taken this journey together and it has been a sometimes stressful
trip but mostly a lot of fun with a lot of wonderful people.
I could say something flip like “I have a lot of men in my life” but that could
be portrayed in a negative light. Besides my husband who I love deeply and
is my best friend I have someone else who has known me my whole life.
He has taught me so much over my life time. He was a wealth of knowledge
with many life experiences to share. He makes me so happy and proud. A
World War II Veteran, an employee of GLF/Agway for 40 years, a husband
of 69 years, and a father of four. I began each and every morning for six
years, at 6:30 AM, with a brief phone call to see how he was and to talk
about the weather and other trivial things, but I knew he was safe and my
day could begin and so could his. My Dad, Harold Dennison, has never
been to Vermont nor to a Winter Carnival event but he saw the pictures and
knew my involvement. He left us on July 13, 2013 and I miss him so very
much. I love him deeply, always have and always will and it is with extreme
pride I dedicate a portion of this program to him.
2 services...............
one location...........
to serve you better.
15 Elliot St., Brattleboro
802-254-5255
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Lunch & Dinner Daily...
Plus! Sunday Brunch
Winter Carnival Chili Cookoff
Wed, 2/19 6:30-8:30 with music by Kevin Parry
Of course I have yet another man in my life that needs to take
the other half of this program! This person is a true gentleman
in every facet of his life. When I first came to Brattleboro he
and his wife welcomed me with open arms. We have shared
many meals, laughed about numerous stories, froze together
at Sugar on Snow, gone through hip surgery and the list goes
on. He is a well known man in our community who has always
been an active part of Winter Carnival. He was our 15th
President back in 1971. He worked for the Town Crier as well
as BMH. He had a really cool band, The Solid Gold Cadillacs.
He has been married for 50 years to his “older” wife, Linda, and they have two daughters and four
grandchildren. He has become very special to me and it is an honor to dedicate one half of the 2014
Brattleboro Winter Carnival program to Bill Bedard.
Putney Road, Brattleboro, VT 802-257-7563
VermontMarina.com
Saturday March 8, 7:30pm
Sunday March 9, 1:00pm
Latchis Theatre, Brattleboro, VT
Tickets $10-$50
802-254-9780
www.necenterforcircusarts.org
S4
2014
President: Debbie Partrick
1st VP: Jamie Howard
2nd VP: Belinda Lashway
3rd VP: Carol Lolatte
4th VP: Dawn Ravenna
Secretary: Dawn Ravenna
Treasurer: Wayne Warwick
Program: Rosemary Harris
Photographer/Publicity: Nick Partrick
The 58th Winter Carnival Committee (from left to right): Dawn Ravenna, Debbie
Partrick, Jamie Lynn Howard, Belinda Lashway, Carol Lolatte
Directors:
Lynn Patno
Miraya Young
Emily Mulherin
Brattleboro Winter Carnival Officers 2013-2014
Ex-Officio: Nancy Doyle
Program
Associate Directors:
Steve Dix
Jackie Dix
Bonnie Carr
Tom Cummings
Lisa Johnson
Nancy Durborow
Jeff Durborow
Gabby Carpenter
Kathleen Saunders
Jennifer Carpenter
Bruce Lawrence
Honorary Directors:
Helen Harris **
George Bemis**
Barbara Switzer**
Verne Switzer**
Robert Randall**
John Brosnhan**
Dorothy Bemis Lampman**
Mary Casey**
Jim Alexa**
BRATTLEBORO WINTER CARNIVAL PAST PRESIDENTS
Nancy Doyle
Terri Barrett
Carol Lolatte
Laurie Kuralt
Rosemary Harris
Kathleen Saunders
Jackie Dix
Deb Heller
Samantha Houle
Lisa Johnson
Belinda Lashway
Bruce Lawrence
Carole (CJ) Cummings
Patty Walior
Steven Dix
Steve Patch
Emilie Thomas
Bonnie Carr
Marlene Jameson
Peggy DeAngelis
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
57th
56th
55th
54th
53rd
52nd
51st
50th
49th
48th
47th
46th
45th
44th
43rd
42nd
41st
40th
39th
38th
Carol Lolatte
Charlotte Harrington**
Craig Bengtson
Michael McKenzie
Dana Nelson
Linda Dierks
Gene Krisher
Bruce Corwin
Ken Heile
Greg Worden
Fred Noble
John Enola
Desi Lane**
William Bengtson**
Jack Dempsey
Gary Ferguson
John Godfrey
Dave Pearson
Richard Waite
Richard Rousseau
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
1979
1978
1977
1976
1975
1974
37th
36th
35th
34th
33rd
32nd
31st
30th
29th
28th
27th
26th
25th
24th
23rd
22nd
21st
20th
19th
18th
Andrew W. Wind
William M. McCarty
William P. Bedard
Francis Speno
Robert G. Abel**
David E. Parnigoni
David H. LaMarche
Robert H. Jones
Donald E. Long
Roger Miller
Robert H. Gibson**
W. Robert Johnson, Jr.
Fred H. Harris**
Pliny N. Burrows**
Peter Van Iderstine**
Robert C. Clapp**
Robert C. Clapp**
1973
1972
1971
1970
1969
1968
1967
1966
1965
1964
1963
1962
1961
1960
1959
1958
1957
17th
16th
15th
14th
13th
12th
11th
10th
9th
8th
7th
6th
5th
4th
3rd
2nd
1st
S5
The Brattleboro Winter Carnival Committee Thanks the Following
Individuals and Businesses for Their Contributions and Efforts
Toward a Successful 58th Winter Carnival
C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc.
Entergy Nuclear-Vt. Yankee
Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Dept.
Brattleboro Savings & Loan
Casey Storage Solutions
The Commons
Silver Direct, Inc.
40 Putney Rd Bed & Breakfast
Amber Gouin
American Legion Post #5
Amy’s Bakery
Applewood’s Studio
Bob Kramsky
Bonnie Carr
Brattleboro Area Baton
Brattleboro Area Chamber
Brattleboro Area Middle School
Brattleboro Department of Public Works
Brattleboro Figure Skating Club
Brattleboro Fire Department
Brattleboro Food Co-op
Brattleboro Hockey Association
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital
Brattleboro Outing Club
Brattleboro Pharmacy
Brattleboro Police Department
Brattleboro Rotary Club
Brattleboro Senior Center
Brattleboro VFW
Brooks Memorial Library
Brown’s Sugar House
Bruegger’s Bagel Bakery
BUHS
Corky Elwel
Craig Bengtson
Dandrea Painting
Eileen Shuman
Elk’s Home and Members
Flatter Me Hair Salon
Gary Ferguson
Grafton Village Cheese Company
Guilford Welcome Center
Holiday Inn Express
Hotel Pharmacy
Howard Printing, Inc.
Jessica’s Closet
John L. Glick, MD
John Cutler Maple Syrup
Ben Kaufman
Kelly’s Dance Academy
Key Bank
Ladies Shriners
Latchis Theatre & Hotel
Meaghan Fagley Photography
Merrill Gas Company, Inc
Milt Gilmore
MMY Entertainment Group, LLC
Mt. Snow
Newton Business
New England Center for Circus Arts
Oak Meadow Curriculum School
Piecak & Co.
Price Chopper Supermarket
Ralph Ellis
Rentals Plus
Renaissance Fine Jewelers
River Valley Credit Union
Robb Family Farm
Roger & Faith Evans
Sam’s Outfitters
Sarah Fisher
Shear Designs
Sprague & Sons Sugar House
Studio 20 Hair Salon
Suburban Propane
Sweet Pond Maple Farm
Taylor for Flowers & Gowns
Tender Corporation
Tim Johnson
Timothy Slate
The Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro
The Marina
Thin Crust Pizzeria
Tri State Asphalt Sealing
Vermont Artisan Design
Vermont Bread Co
Vernon Trail Breakers
Whetstone Studio for the Arts
Windham County Community
Advisory Committee Blue Cross/Blue Shield
Whetsone Station
Windham County Safe Kids Coalition
WKVT
WTSA
WYRY
Woodward Photography
Thank
You
Y
Y
Delicious
Artisan
Breads,
Cakes
& Pastries
Delicious
Artisan
Breads,
Cakes
& Pastries
Gourmet
Daily
Lunch
Specials
GourmetCoffee,
Coffee,
Daily
Lunch
Specials
m
the River
Viewfrom
from our
EnjoyEnjoy
the River
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Café
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Monday–Saturday 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
Monday –Sunday
Saturday
8 amp.m.
- 6 pm
9 a.m.–5
Sunday – 9 am - 5 pm
113 Main Street, Brattleboro ( (802) 251-1071
Y
m
113 Main Street Brattleboro, Vermont 05301
(802) 251-1071
Congratulations
to the 58th Annual
Brattleboro Winter Carnival!
Brattleboro American Legion
32 Linden St. 802-257-1872
S6
2014
Brattleboro Winter Carnival Schedule
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14
5:30pm
5:00pm-7:30pm
Brattleboro Winter Carnival Torch Lighting at Wells Fountain with Frosty.
Scavenger Hunt, at Gibson Aiken Center. Registration starts at 5:00pm. $5.00 per team. See program for details.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15
10:00am-4:00pm
12:00pm-2:00pm
12:00pm-4:00pm
1:00pm-4:00pm
Winter Carnival Outdoor Fun Day at Living Memorial Park Snowmobile Rides, Tug Of War, Snowball Softball Tournament, $1 Skating,
$5 Skiing and much more!! See Program for times.
Sugar-on-Snow at Living Memorial Park, $3. Hosted by the Brattleboro Rotary Club.
Retreat Petting Farm located on Route 30 in Brattleboro. Children $5 Adults $6. For more information, please call 802-257-2240.
Sleigh/Hay Rides at Fairwinds Farm on Upper Dummerston Road, Adults $8, Children ages 12 & under $4.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16
8:00am-11:00am
12:00pm-4:00pm
1:00pm-4:00pm
1:00pm-6:00pm
2:00pm
6:00pm
Pancake Breakfast & Craft Fair at The Elks Home, Putney Road. Adults $5, ages 6-12 $3, 5 & under FREE. Sponsored by Price Chopper
Country Western Jamboree at the VFW, Black Mtn. Rd. $7. Age 10 and under not admitted.
Brattleboro Figure Skating Club Ice Show at the Nelson Withington Skating Facility. Adults $7, Students $3.
Murder Mystery Dinner ‘Murder In Vegas’ at the American Legion $35 per person $300 for a table of 10. Tickets Available At The Shoe
Tree and M-F at the Brattleboro Rec. Dept. 9am-12pm & 1pm-5pm. Phone 254-5808. Reservations required. See Program for details.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17
9:00am
11:00am
12:00pm-4:00pm
1:00pm-2:00 pm
1:00pm-4:00 pm
7:00pm
Jr. Olympics Downhill Ski Races at Living Memorial Park. Registration 9:00 am SHARP.
Winter Carnival Movies at Latchis Theatre, all seats $1. Movie title TBA. For more information call 246-1500.
Brattleboro Food Co-op Cooking Classes. Homemade Hot Pretzels pre-registration required. Call 246-2842. FREE.
The Variety Show is back once again. Come see some favorite veterans as well as new acts!
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18
10:00am-4:00pm
11:00am
7:00pm
Carnival Bowling Day at the Brattleboro Bowl, $8.00* includes 2 games, shoe rental & lunch. *$1.00 donation to Winter Carnival.
The Variety Show is back once again. Come see some favorite veterans as well as new acts!
S7
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19
9:00pm-4:00pm
11:00am
2:30pm
5:30pm-7:30pm
“Friends Ski/Snowshoe Free with a member at the Brattleboro Outing Club. For more information Call 254-4081. See program for details.
Jr. Olympics Skating Races at the Nelson Withington Skating Facility. Registration 2:00pm SHARP
Chili Cook-off, hosted by The Marina. Music by Kevin Perry $6 for Adults, ages 10 and under $4.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20
9:00am
9:00pm-4:00pm
10:00am
10:30am
11:00am
11:30am
1:00pm-4:00 pm
7:00pm
7:00pm-11:00 pm
Mount Snow Carnival Ski Day. Stop by Rec. and Parks Office, 207 Main St. for $49 per person voucher.
“Friends Ski/Snowshoe Free with a member at the Brattleboro Outing Club. For more information Call 254-4081. See program for details.
Children’s Concert with Bill Shontz, at Gibson Aiken Center 2nd floor gym all seats $3 & 60 and over FREE.
Kingdom County Productions presents Shakespeare’s Hamlet at Latchis Theatre. FREE. See program for details.
“Grand Day” Lunch at the Brattleboro Senior Center. Must be with someone 60 or older. $3 for Children, $6 for Adults, Seniors 60 & UP
suggested donation $4. Call 257-7570 for reservations. Lunch will be served at Noon.
Sleigh/Hay Rides at Fairwinds Farm on Upper Dummerston Road. Adults $8, ages 12 & under $4.
Kingdom County Productions presents Shakespeare’s Hamlet at Latchis Theatre. See program for details or call 888-757-5559.
Teen Dance at the Boys & Girls Club with The Keystone Club DJ grades 7 – 12, $5. Refreshments available. Co-Sponsored by The Boys &
Girls Club.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21
9:00am
10:30am
11:00am
11:00am-1:00pm
12:00pm-4:00pm
1:00pm-2:00 pm
1:00pm-4:00 pm
7:30 pm
Mount Snow Carnival Ski Day. Stop by Rec. and Parks Office, 207 Main St. for $49 per person voucher.
“The Annie’s Music & Puppets” perform at Brooks Memorial Library, FREE.
Swimming at the Colonial Motel & Spa. Pre-registration at 254-5808. Adults $7, Children $5.
Retreat Petting Farm, Route 30, Ages 12 & older $6, 2-11 $5. For more info. call 802-257-2240.
Brattleboro Food Co-op Cooking Classes. Pizza Party pre-registration required. Call 246-2842. FREE.
Queen’s Pageant at the BUHS Auditorium, $6 General Admission.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22
6:00am-3:00 pm
10:00am-1:00 pm
12:00pm-4:00pm
1:00pm-4:00 pm
Ice Fishing Derby at the Retreat Meadows, Adults $7, Juniors $3. For more information call Ellyn Ladd at 1-800-Grafton. Sponsored by Grafton
Village Cheese Company. Ice Shanty Decorating Contest!. Judging at Noon.
*Carnival Family Day at the Brattleboro Area Middle School Gymnasium. *FOR AGES 3 and UP!! Co-Sponsored by C & S Wholesale
Grocers and Brattleboro Recreation and Parks Department. $2 per child.
Retreat Petting Farm, Route 30, Ages 12 & older $6, 2-11 $5. For more info. call 802-257-2240.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23
3:00 pm
4:15 pm
Princess Pageant at BUHS Auditorium, $6 General Admission.
Withington Memorial Hockey Cup, Nelson Withington Skating Facility, FREE.
COMING IN MARCH!! THE LOGGER. BUHS AUDITORIUM 3/21/14 7:00PM
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL THE WINTER CARNIVAL HOTLINE AT 802-348-1956
OR VISIT US AT WWW.BRAT TLEBOROWINTERCARNIVAL.ORG
S8
the annual lighting of the
Winter Carnival Torch! The
58th annual Winter Carnival torch will be lit by this
year’s President, Debbie Partrick. The torch will remain
lit throughout the week of
Winter Carnival and this
year will be one of the stops
on the Scavenger Hunt, too!
Come share the fun!
............................................
Torch Lighting
Friday, February 14th
5:30 pm
Wells Fountain
Main Street, Brattleboro
Join us in kicking off the
2014 Winter Carnival at
Scavenger Hunt
Friday, February 14th
5:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Gibson Aiken Center
Take a tour around down-
town Brattleboro and see
some great businesses and
some neat buildings and
maybe even win some hard
cold cash! The scavenger
hunt begins by registering
at the Brattleboro Rec and
Parks Dept. at 5:00PM
then take a walk up to the
Wells Fountain receive you
list of questions and watch
us light the torch to begin
Winter Carnival 2014! The
Scavenger Hunt ends and
you must be back at the
Brattleboro Rec and Parks
Dept. at 7:30PM. Cost per
team is $5.00.
..........................................
WINDHAM OB-GYN
Have Fun
at the
58th
Winter
Carnival!
Cheri A. Brodhurst, M.D.
H. Artie Carrasquillo, M.D.
Tami Morse, C.N.M.
Total Obstetrics, Gynecology & Fertility Care
387 Canal Street
Brattleboro, VT
802-254-2324
New Patients Welcome
www.windhamobgyn.com
Carnival Outdoor
Fun Day at Living
Memorial Park
Saturday, February 15th
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Admission is Free of Charge
Sponsored by the Brattleboro Savings & Loan
Several interesting and fun
activities are being planned
for this special day at Living Memorial Park.
There is something for
everyone, take your pick.
There will be skating at the
Facility, the Ski Lift will be
in operation (weather permitting), snowball softball
tournament, snowmobile
rides, tug-of-war competition or you can display
your creativity by participating in the Snow Sculpture Contest.
Prizes will be awarded. Free
hot dogs and hot chocolate
will be served during the
Family Day Events at the
Park.
Gather up your friends and
family and join in on the
fun at the Park!
10:00-4:00pm – Skiing
$5.00 and Snowball Softball Tournament.
10:30-12:15pm – Skating
$1.00 – Rentals $3.00.
10:30-1:30pm – Snowmobile Rides with Vernon
Trail Breakers.
10:30-1:30pm – Snow
Sculpture Contest.
12:00-2:30pm – Sugar-onSnow.
12:30pm – Tug of War
Competitions among local
Fire Depts.
..........................................
Sugar on Snow
Saturday, February 15th
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Living Memorial Park
$3.00
Hosted by The Brattleboro
Rotary Club
Come try one of the sweetest treats of the season.
Golden brown syrup
warmed to the perfect temperature. Pour this amazing
liquid onto a clean bowl of
snow and it magically turns
into the most scrumptious
taffy like snack. Served up
with a donut and pickle
to cut the sweetness (if
need be) this is a treat that
MUST be tried. A Winter
Carnival favorite held at
the Brattleboro Living Memorial Park. Hosted by the
Brattleboro Rotary Club.
Cost $3.00.
..........................................
Petting Farm
Saturday - Monday,
February 15th - 17th,
& Friday - Saturday,
February 21st - 22nd
12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Retreat Farm
Route 30. Brattleboro
Children $5.00
Adults $6.00
Once again we welcome
back the Brattleboro
Retreat Petting Farm for
another year of Carnival
Fun.
Come and visit with goats,
ponies and more. Stop in
and visit with the animals
and have some family fun!
For more information,
please call 802-257-2240.
..........................................
Sleigh Rides
Brattleboro’s Only Family-Owned Funeral Home
Congratulations
on the 58th Anniversary
of Winter Carnival!
We’ve been chosen by families who have lived here
for generations- folks who have come to
know and trust us over the years.
40 Terrace St. • Brattleboro
802-254-8183
www.atamaniuk.com
Saturday - Monday,
February 15th - 17th,
Thursday - Saturday,
February 20th - 22nd
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Fairwinds Farm
Upper Dummerston Rd
Adults $8.00
12 and under $4.00
On Upper Dummerston
Rd you will find Fairwinds
Farm. There you can climb
aboard a traditional rustic
sleigh pulled by two beautiful rugged horses.
This event will happen with
or without snow. Cost is
$8.00 for adults and $4.00
for children 12 and under.
S9
The Brattleboro Winter Carnival Presents
THE 2014 QUEEN PAGEANT
2013 WINTER CARNIVAL QUEEN
ALISON CORNELLIER
Throughout this past year I have had so many great experiences as the 2013 Brattleboro Winter
Carnival Queen. I am so incredibly grateful for all of the opportunities I was given and I’m very
glad I participated in them. Currently, I still attend CCV in Brattleboro where I am a full-time
student. My plan is to graduate in the spring of 2015 with an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood
Education. I work two jobs, both of which are working with children. Last year I was the recipient
of the Winter Carnival Queen’s Essay Scholarship. The scholarship has helped me immensely
with my college expenses and I will forever be thankful for that. I would like to thank the entire
Brattleboro Winter Carnival Committee, as well as the community of Brattleboro for their support
and encouragement throughout this past year. It is greatly appreciated. This has been a great year
filled with amazing memories and I am sad to see it come to a close. Good luck 2014 Queen’s
Pageant Contestants!
INTERMISSION
PAGEANT PROGRAM
INTRODUCTION OF THE MC
Opening Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contestants
Introduction of 2014 Princess Contestants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MC
Introduction of Judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MC
Playsuit Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contestants
Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2013 Winter Carnival Princess Kyla Brown
Talent Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contestants
Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2013 Winter Carnival Queen Alison Cornellier,
New England Center for Circus Arts, Kelly’s Dance Academy
Evening Gown Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Contestants
Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly’s Dance Academy
Introduction of 2014 Winter Carnival President Debbie Partrick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MC
2013 Queen Farewell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winter Carnival Queen Alison Cornellier
Miss Congeniality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MC
Miss Photogenic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MC
Winter Carnival Queen Fan Favorite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MC
Winter Carnival Queens Scholarship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MC
2014 Carnival Queen Announcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MC
THE 2014 QUEENS PAGEANT
BUHS AUDITORIUM, 7:30 P.M.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21
PAGEANT COMMIT TEE
AWARDS
Vice President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jamie Howard
Pageant Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emily Mulhenin & Miraya Young
Maters of Ceremonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tanya Eldemir & Wayne Warwick
Technical Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bob Kramsky & Be Heard Sound Productions
Judges’ Chairpersons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nancy Doyle & Rosemary Harris
Flowers & Gowns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taylor for Flowers
Winter Carnival Queen . . . . . . . . . . Cown & Sash . . . . . . . . . Renaissance Fine Jewelry
Silver Bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Newton Business
$500 Cash Prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winter Carnival
First Runner-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300 Cash Prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winter Carnival
Second Runner-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . $200 Cash Prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winter Carnival
Miss Photogenic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 X 10 Photo Sitting . . Meaghan Fagley Photography
Hair & Make Up Make Over . . Shear Designs Hair Salon
Miss Congeniality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silver Bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . Brattleboro Pharmacy
BRAT TLEBORO WINTER CARNIVAL SCHOL ARSHIP $1,000
We would like to send a big thank you to Shear Designs Hair Salon for donating their time backstage to help our 2014 contestants with hair and make-up & a special thank you to
40 Putney Rd Bed & Breakfast and Holiday Inn Express for providing accommodations for our judges’ panel this evening.

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