Culture story sections
WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 – Vermont was awarded $7.3 million in what is expected to be a $33.4 million, four-year federal grant for pre-kindergarten programs at public schools and Head Start agencies throughout the state.
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) announced the grant today.
On the first day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
A late property tax interest fee.
On the second day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
2 Parking meter tickets,
And a late property tax interest fee.
On the third day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
3 Unpaid utility invoices,
2 Parking meter tickets,
And a late property tax interest fee.
According to this article, linked below, a relatively simple engineering advance has boosted solar cell efficiency up to about 40%. If true, this really would make a big difference in the cost of solar. A BIG difference. Cross your fingers.
Rolf
Are you paying too much to heat your home, business, or rental property, or looking to cut your use of fossil fuels? A new generation of super-efficient electric heat pumps, suitable for northern climates, may be the answer for you. These devices provide heat and domestic hot water using 25-50% less energy than conventional systems. They are environmentally-friendly as well – 87% free of carbon emissions in Green Mountain Power territory. Heat pumps can also be combined with solar electric panels to provide 100% renewable energy.
Today is the 30th anniversary of the runaway truck down the High Street hill, December 8, 1984. It was a busy shopping Saturday in Brattleboro. Margaret MacArthur‘s song, “Stephen Johnson” tells the story. It’s available online at the VermontFolklifeCenter website.
BCTV Ch.8 schedule for the week of 12/8/14
Monday, December 8, 2014
12:00 am Boom Vermont Drum Festival 10/18/14
2:02 am Community Forum on Opiate Addiction 11/17/14
4:00 am Community Briefing – 100,000 Homes Homeless Registry
4:57 am Suds and Science Series: A Discussion on Whip-Poor-Wills
6:00 am Stephen Stearns – 10/27/14
A new king of pop? New hardest workin’ man in show business? Bruno Mars might be that person.
Mr. Mars hails from Hawaii and in his earlier years spent some time doing Elvis, Michael Jackson, and Little Richard impersonations. You’ll see it in the way he moves today.
The 9th Annual Friends of Brooks Memorial Library Holiday Book Sale will be held in the Library on Friday, December 5 from 10 AM to 6 PM and Saturday, December 6 from 10 AM to 2 PM.
Gift quality books and gently used fiction, non-fiction, children’s books and CDs will be on sale. Non-fiction titles include art, cooking and gardening, history, music and more subjects.
Book sale discount coupons are now available from the Front Desk of the Library. In addition to the wide range of books and CDs for sale, the Friends will provide free gift-wrapping of purchased items on Saturday from 11 AM to l PM.
In today’s paper, a Phoenix from 1858, a notice appeared requesting everyone to attend the village meeting next week in order to vote on incorporation of the village of Brattleboro.
Along side the notice was the full text of the state act authorizing incorporation. It describes the boundaries of the town, then outlines how the town is to be organized. I found it interesting to look back at our origins, so to speak, to see what we felt was the bare minimum required to operate Brattleboro on day one of incorporation.
Save the date! Come learn about wages needed for economic security in Windham County, occupational segregation, the gender wage gap and its effects over a lifetime of earnings and hear a personal story from a local woman in manufacturing.
Andi Waisman, Brattleboro Project Director for Vermont Works For Women (VWW) will be offering an “Intro to the Trades workshop” to inform attendees about non-traditional careers that earn a livable wage including an upcoming Brattleboro-based training in skilled manufacturing. The presentation will begin at 5 PM on Wednesday, December 10, in the library’s meeting room.
Brattleboro-West Arts members are collaborating with Strolling of the Heifers to present an art exhibit entitled “Harmony: Health” in the hallways of Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, beginning on Friday, December 5.
Expanding on the agricultural themes featured in twoshows presented by the organizations last summer, the artwork will explore pathways to better health including spiritual pursuit, engagement with the natural world, and through local agriculture.
All of the works are for sale, and proceeds will benefit Strolling of the Heifers as well as the artists.
Middlebury College artist-in-residence Jule Emerson will discuss the fashions worn by Lady Mary and her family in the popular PBS series Downton Abbey in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on December 3 at 7:00 pm.
Her talk, “The Costumes of Downton Abbey,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays lecture series and is free and open to the public.
Emerson has been an Artist-in-Residence, costume designer, and professor at Middlebury College since 1990. Prior to coming to Middlebury, she worked professionally as a costume artist for television, feature films, commercials, and the professional theatre.
Flash Fiction writers who have written pieces on the theme of hope will be reading their stories at the Blue Dot Studio in the Hooker Dunham building on Friday, Dec 5 at 7 PM. The prizewinners of Write Action’s writing contest, Anna Blackburn, Stephanie Greene and Helen Neswald will read as will other talented writers, including Olivia Howe, Jennie Reichman, Pamela Mandell, and Elayne Clift.
After these readings, there will be 20 minutes reserved for anyone who wants to read a flash fiction piece on the theme of hope. Bear in mind that all readers are limited to no more than 5 minutes to read. This is about excellence, hope, and brevity.
The Vermont Jazz Center will present its annual big band swing gala on Friday, December 5th at 8:00 PM. This year’s event celebrates the swing music of the 30s, 40s and 50s, when big band jazz served as North America’s popular music and provided the pulse for social dancing. The 17 piece Vermont Jazz Center Big Band will be joined by Rebecca Holtz and Rob Fletcher, two exquisite singers with strong affinities to Swing. For one exceptional evening, their voices will ride on the waves of the authentic big band sound, bringing to life the allure of glitter and fantasy that characterized the musical diversion we still cherish.
BCTV Ch.8 schedule for the week of 12/1/14
Monday, December 1, 2014
12:00 am Paul Winter in Concert: Latchis – 10/25/14
2:15 am TED Talks: Ameenah Gurib-Fakim: Humble Plants that Hide Surprising Secrets
2:30 am Michael Nerney: Adolescent Brain & High Risk Behaviors
4:30 am Flemming Museum of Art: Special Artists of the Civil War
5:38 am Common Good VT: Shelagh Cooley – Progressive Thought
On Monday, December 1 at 7 pm, the Library will host a reading and book signing for Vermont author Gary Lee Miller’s short story collection Museum of the Americas. The event will be in the Meeting Room on the Library’s 2nd Floor, and is free and open to the public.
Praised by Vermont Poet Laureate Sydney Lea as “art in its truest sense,” as well as in Seven Days and on WDEV Radio’s Mark Johnson Show, Miller’s debut collection explores the mysteries of the past—and of the human heart. Miller is well known in Vermont as the co-producer of the documentary films Rookies at the Road, which tells the story of Barre’s Thunder Road racetrack, and Act of Faith, which explores the making of the Jay Craven feature film Disappearances.
According to prominent scientists at the University of Brattleboro, there will be a “visitation” to Brattleboro on the Saturday closest to the solstice. With realtive pinpoint accuracy, they predict that it will be seen some near Elliot Street or Flat Street, sometime after Sunset, probably close to 6 O’clock.
So, I’m in Boston and my friends want to go to a Holiday Inn to listen to a DJ. I’m not looking forward to it, but we get there and the music was really good. At one point, a song comes on that sounds like an old funk number… maybe something by a James Brown spin-off? Some female soul singer? I had to find out who it was.
It was Jamiroquai, said the DJ. I asked if it was from the 70’s or 80’s. He said it was current, in the late 90’s and the female singing wasn’t female. I was musically disoriented, and went to the record store to get the CD at my next opportunity.
Brattleboro, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford invites singers and music lovers in the Tri-State region to start their holiday season at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 6, with the 44th annual Community Messiah Sing, a benefit for the homeless. Centre Congregational Church, at 193 Main Street in Brattleboro, has been home for the Sing since 1982 and for a few prior seasons as well.
This year marks the return of conductor Terry Larsen for an eighth season at the helm after a few years’ hiatus. A music teacher in private and public schools for twenty-five years, Larsen was a member of the famed Chanticleer singers and director of the Napa Valley Symphony Chorus when he lived on the West Coast. Now a resident of Southampton, Mass., he has directed the Manchester (Conn.) Symphony Chorus and the Pioneer Valley Symphony Chorus, and is director of the Schola Nova choral ensemble.
16th Annual Cotton Mill Open Studio and Holiday Sale at 74 Cotton Mill Hill, Brattleboro, VT on Saturday, December 6, 10am-6pm and Sunday, December 7, 10am-4pm.
It’s that time of year again to share in the holiday spirit with family, friends, and artists at the much anticipated 16th Annual Cotton Mill Open Studio and Holiday Sale, Saturday and Sunday, December 6 and 7, 2014.
Everyone is invited to experience the hospitality of 25 resident artists, musicians, bakers, cooks, dancers, circus performers, and craftspeople of the Cotton Mill, and an additional 32 juried, local participating artists and artisans. Putney Grammar School’s K – 8 student art will also be on display. This is a festive event for the entire family. So much to see, so much to do, so much to sample and to buy!
