On Sunday night, the Brattleboro area lost a contributor to the community.
I first met Alan Dann through the Estey Organ Museum where we served together on the board. In this capacity, I learned of his musical abilities. Alan played organ, but also loved to sing. He would frequently be telling me of impending trips to foreign lands to sing with his college alumni choir.
This weekend we present the ska-punk-funk-rock of Fishbone, live in Amsterdam at the Melkweg Theatre in 2002.
They first caught my eye with a video for a song called Modern Industry. The group was literally bouncing off walls to a reggae-ska dance number, and shouting out names of radio stations. Very unusual, I thought.
I first saw them live in the 1980’s in Cleveland opening for the Beastie Boys, who were touring to promote a new record called Licensed to Ill. Before the show, Angelo Moore, Fishbone’s singer, wandered the big hall carrying a cane with him as he slowly made his way through the audience. None of us knew who he was, but we all noticed the well-dressed cane-carry gentleman. A while later, he was on stage. Great show.
I’m about to swap out our old car for a slightly less old car, and the newer one is a 5-speed manual transmission. Driving manual doesn’t bother me, but my manual driving was also done long ago in a flat state – Florida. Hills are a bit new to me, and I’d like some advice.
The Brattleboro Selectboard had several important decisions and announcements at their regular Tuesday meeting. A new Town Manager will soon be hired, a new Police Chief has been sworn in, a skatepark site has been selected, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be henceforth recognized in Brattleboro.
The police will also get new equipment, and Brattleboro is being recognized for energy efficiency achievements. Read on for all the important details, and then some.
If you were in Brattleboro on September 1st, 1902, there is a good chance that you might have worked your way downtown to the train station late in the afternoon in expectation of the arrival of a notable visitor.
Arrangements had been in the works for months for a visit to Brattleboro by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Young Men’s Republican club had sent an invitation and had been forming committees to schedule the visit, arrange a program of activities, decorate the parade route, and welcome him to town. As the President’s plans changed (his time available was increasingly short), so did Brattleboro’s. The reception banquet was cancelled and a more simple ceremony substituted.
The visit, Roosevelt’s welcome, and his speech made headlines, and he spoke to those assembled on the topic of good government and Abraham Lincoln.
Let’s check in with Steve Earle, shall we?
Here he is with his guitar in 1991, live at McCabes. Where is McCabes? I do not know. Oceanside? Austin? I suppose it doesn’t matter much.
I’ve never seen Mr. Earle perform, but have heard a few of his albums, all of which seem smart, interesting, and worthy of multiple listens. He’s a good counterpart to Billy Bragg in many ways. They would make quite a pair for a double bill.
What to do about Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and where to site the town’s skatepark will be the main items up for discussion at the next regular Tuesday meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard.
You may also be interested in the budget, grants, hazard plan, and other routine business to come before the board. You can attend in person, comment on agenda items, or bring up other issues not on the agenda during Public Participation. Watch on BCTV, and read all about it the day after right here.
Alex Gyori, a staple item at the Brattleboro Food Co-op for many years, has announced his intentions of retiring. The news comes in the latest issue of Food for Thought, the Co-op’s newsletter to shareholders.
He says in part, “In ten months, and the end of this fiscal year, I will be moving on to another phase of life after 33 years of service to the Co-op. This phase is often referred to as retirement, but I am hoping it will be a lot more than that – I still have plenty of energy and enthusiasm! Nevertheless, the Co-op will benefit from new directions and fresh eyes, so to speak.”
Because we can never discuss skateparks enough, and reaching over 100 comments can be hard on readers, here is a new story to continue the conversation.
To review, Brattleboro is in search of a site (or sites) for a skatepark. There are four official sites chosen by the selection committee, and a fifth potential site discussed at Living Memorial Park during Selectboard visits. There is also a possibility that no site will be selected, as well as suggestions that more than one site be allowed.
As no decision has been made yet, discussion and debate continues…
Rebecca Balint and Jeanette White received the most votes for the Democratic primary today in Brattleboro. Balint had 699 votes; White received 751.
Roger Albee garnered 269 votes and Joan Bowman had a total of 128.
Shumlin and Welch received solid support.
By informal request, Billy Bragg is our featured performer this weekend. Here he is playing live for a small audience in Austin in 2013 on radio station KEXP during a SXSW.
I chose this one because it was filmed quite nicely, but better performances can be found elsewhere on the internet. Consider this a simple introduction that can lead to further study.
The Brattleboro Selectboard, what remained of them, heard all about emergency plans at their Tuesday meetng. Plans for schools, plans for employees, and plans in general for disasters, mass casualties, and other situations everyone agrreed would be best if we never faced.
Read on for the details.
Emergency response capabilities for tragic events at schools will be the primary topic of discussion for the Brattleboro Selectboard at their next Tuesday meeting at the Municipal Center. The board will hear how Brattleboro’s response plan is “unlike any other in the state.”
In addition to the school response plan, the board will learn more about our general response plan for disasters and emergencies, will conduct staffing level reviews triggered by resignations of a dispatcher for the police department and an account clerk at the library, and will discuss forming a regional economic hub issue committee.
Attend in person or watch on BCTV.
Why The Moody Blues? Well, it seems like they have been coming up in conversation a lot lately.
For all of you who need to have the Blues this weekend.
Starting in 1978, the class clowns had fresh, new material. That is, certain kids were handed popularity on a plate. The reason? They were able to imitate Mork from Ork.
Marty was one of those kids in my school. He was one of the fortunate ones that was able to deliver a well-timed Shazbot or Nanu Nanu, rendering the rest of us in giggles.
New York City, early September, 1981. Newspapers and posters around town have announced that Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel will be performing together in Central Park next week.
A half million people showed up for the free benefit concert. Even more watched it on HBO, and money was raised to restore portions of Central Park. It didn’t matter that the two really didn’t like one another, or that Paul was a bit mean to Art during the show. The crowd loved it.
Brattleboro’s recognition of MLK, Jr. Day remains unresolved, with the Selectboard asking for more information to compare the options of adding and swapping holidays for employees.
The board had a long conversation about the future of the Melrose property, and specifically whether it would or could become a burden on the town. The Brattleboro Housing Authority said they didn’t want it to be a burden, but the board wanted further clarification before approving the PUD for Red Clover Commons.
The Entergy Funds committee is looking at their options, the skatepark visits nearly led to fisticuffs, town finances are preliminarily good, and the Selectboard approved goals. All this and more below.
Will there be free parking on Martin Luther King Jr. Day? The Brattleboro Selectboard will receive holiday observance options from the Interim Town manager at their first Tuesday meeting of August. They will also hear a preliminary report of the financials of 2014, discuss Entergy funds, hold public hearings for zoning changes, accept grants, and more.
Attend in person or watch on BCTV, and feel free to bring up items not otherwise on the agenda.
Be’la Dona is an all-woman DC go go band.
I think I would have liked to have been at this show.
With everything digital, what do the kids sell when they need some quick cash nowadays?
In the olden days of, say, the 1990s, we had physical CD’s, albums, books and such that cold be sold relatively easily for cash. The quick cash would often help us young folk survive a few more days until payday.
Increasingly, everything is on hard drives. What do young people do now when they need a few dollars to smooth their cash flow issues?
