Culture story sections
Monday, May 29, 2023
5:15 am Jamaica Selectboard – Jamaica SB Mtg 5/22/23
7:00 am Brattleboro Planning Commission – Brattleboro PC Mtg 5/15/23
8:00 am The David Pakman Show – The David Pakman Show – Weekly Broadcast
9:00 am Guilford Selectboard – Guilford SB Mtg 5/22/23
11:00 am Dummerston Selectboard – Dummerston SB Mtg 5/17/23
The Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series presents a salsa and reggae dance party with Jacksonville, FL-based 10-piece salsa ensemble and Toronto-based modern roots reggae band The Human Rights, on Saturday, June 24 at 6:00 pm at The Putney Inn, 57 Putney Landing Rd, in Putney, VT.
“This is one we’ve been dreaming about – a double bill with a reggae band and a 10-piece Salsa orchestra,” says Keith Marks, Executive Director of Next Stage Arts. “The double bill showcases a lot of Caribbean influences in one day of dancing and fun. LPT was meant to perform in March of 2020, and with a lot of stops and starts, we’re glad to be able to pair them with our Reggae friends to the north.”
Brattleboro Community TV (BCTV) and the Town of Brattleboro each received a 2023 Hometown Media Award from the Alliance for Community Media. The awards program was established to honor and promote community media, community radio, and local cable programs that are distributed on Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) access cable television channels.
BCTV was recognized for “Overall Excellence in Public Education or Government (PEG) Access.” The award honors all of the programming of the station, not just one show. BCTV won the national award for coverage of community programming in 2022 in the budget category of $300,000 or less after submitting a 20-minute montage of videos produced by staff and volunteers. This is the fifth time BCTV has won the overall award. Staff will attend the awards ceremony on June 28, 2023 in Brooklyn, NYC.
On May 30 at 7:00 pm, the Brattleboro Literary Festival, Brooks Memorial Library and the Words Trail will celebrate live the newly released collection of short stories by Brattleboro author Mary E. Wilkins Freeman with her initially intended title Green Mountain Stories.
Published originally in 1887 as A Humble Romance and Other Stories, this new edition features an introduction and critical commentary by Freeman scholar Brent Kendrick, who will talk about Mary and the book. Mary was inspired to become a writer in high school…she would go to her father’s dry goods shop in downtown Brattleboro every day after school, which was fortuitously located next door to a bookstore. She graduated from high school in Brattleboro and later moved away after her father died, but she maintained her connection to Vermont.
The Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series presents Guinean musical artist Sia Tolno and international musical collective Afro Dead, live at Cooper Field on Sunday, June 18, 2023, at 6:00pm. Sia Tolno will perform both solo and as the lead vocalist of Afro Dead, which reimagines the music of the Grateful Dead in an African style.
Sia Tolno is an award-winning global touring & recording artist, vocalist and songwriter, from Guinea/Sierra Leone, steeped in Afrobeat, Afro-blues, Mandinga and Soukous styles of African popular music. Her music is both personal and universal, singing about her unique past while making it relevant to the global masses. She has worked with Tony Allen (Musical director for Fela Kuti) and Lusafrica records, and her new album is being recorded in Barcelona produced by Aaron Feder in collaboration with Slow Walk Music.
Bearing Witness, a retrospective exhibit of watercolors, pastels, and prints, by Brattleboro artist Karen Becker, is currently on view at the All Souls Church in the West Village Meeting House., through June 30. Becker’s artwork focuses on the beauty she finds in nature, and she represents the animals and trees that are all bearing witness to the devastation of climate change.
The public is invited to an artist’s reception on Saturday, June 10, from 3 – 5 pm. All Souls Church is located at 29 South St, West Brattleboro. The exhibit is open Sundays, 12 – 2 pm, or by appointment (802-257-4710).
Monday, May 22, 2023
7:15 am Vernon Selectboard – Vernon SB Mtg 5/16/23
8:00 am The David Pakman Show – The David Pakman Show – Weekly Broadcast
9:00 am River Valleys Unified School District – RVUSD Special Mtg 5/17/23
9:05 am VT Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel – VT NDCAP – 5/8/23 Mtg
The Next Stage Bandwagon Summer Series is thrilled to announce that acclaimed singer-songwriter and accordionist, Gregorio Uribe, will be performing live at Cooper Field on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at 6:00pm. The event promises an evening filled with unforgettable music and a celebration of cultural diversity.
Gregorio Uribe, known for his passionate performances and musical versatility, has captivated audiences around the world. From prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden to the streets of Tierra del Fuego, his talent knows no bounds. Uribe has collaborated with renowned artists across various genres, including Rubén Blades, Carlos Vives, Paquito D’Rivera, and Martina Camargo, to name just a few.
A premiere garden designer, Gordon’s books and writings on horticulture illuminate and inspire, while his own gardens, which he’s created with his wife Mary, are jewels of elegant beauty and delight.
Policy wsesdF35AnimalPolicyAdopted4-25-2023.pdf was adopted by the WSESD Board on April 25, 2023.
III Policy discussion
Policy WSESDF42DressCode.pdf
In attendance: Ruby McAdoo, Robin Morgan, Michelle Green
I. Call to Order / Introductions / Recognition of Visitors
The meeting was called to order at 9:33
II. Establish chair, clerk & minutes expectations
CALL TO ORDER—6:01 p.m. – Anne Beekman, Chair
On a motion by Tim Maciel the board approved the minutes of April 12, 2023.
On a motion by Deborah Stanford the board approved the Warrants of April 12, 2023 in the
amount of $843,957.90; April 26, 2023 in the amount of $1,310,582.83; and Payroll of April 21, 2023
in the amount of $576,979.59.
The Town of Brattleboro is pleased to announce the launch of its first-ever podcast, “Town Matters.” Hosted by Town Manager John Potter, this new series will provide listeners with brief updates about town government. The show aims to inform the public and encourage active participation in local affairs.
“Town Matters” will be published during the week between Selectboard meetings and provide a brief overview of the previous meeting along with a preview of the next one. As the show develops, staff hope to incorporate other updates from around town and feature guest hosts, all while delivering the news in under 10 minutes.
The Windham Southeast Supervisory Union Board will meet at 6:00PM on Wednesday,
May 10, 2023 in the WRCC room 194 and remotely via Zoom.
Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present contemporary folk singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Gorka, plus folk duo Lizzy Mandell and Barry Stockwell, at Next Stage on Sunday, June 4 at 7:00 pm.
John Gorka is perhaps the quintessential iconic singer/songwriter of the 1980’s folk scene. Hailing from New Jersey, he honed his craft and persona as a shy, wry and insightful singer/songwriter in the Greenwich Village “Fast Folk” and Boston music scenes. John got his start at Godfrey Daniels, a neighborhood coffeehouse in eastern Pennsylvania, which is one of the oldest and most venerable music institutions in the country. After releasing his first album with Minnesota-based Red House Records in 1987, he recorded five albums with Windham Hill’s Will Ackerman’s High Street Records between 1989 and 1996. Since then he has released five more solo albums on Red House, plus one with label-mates Lucy Kaplansky and Eliza Gilkyson under the name Red Horse. He continues to tour, playing festivals, theaters and clubs all over North America and Europe.
Designed as a fundraiser, volunteers from the Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary Club have created a walking history tour of downtown Brattleboro. With the help of the Brattleboro Historical Society and the Brattleboro Words Project, Sunrise Rotary volunteers pooled their collective knowledge to put together a great introduction to Brattleboro, Vermont’s illustrious history.
Tours will be scheduled on a rolling basis for select Saturdays at 11 am in summer and fall 2023. The first tours will take place Saturdays, May 13, June 3 and June 24.
Tours walk from one end of Main Street to the other (approximately 7/10 of a mile) with about 10 stops explaining Brattleboro’s history and culture. The tour will last approximately 1.5 hours and will go from Plaza Park (across from the Co-op) to the Brattleboro Common. Kids are welcome, but the tour is designed for adults.
A notion presented itself when walking on the narrow bends of the West River Trail. I’m writing it and putting it out there to help me see if it’s valid. Since the path funnels everyone onto its slender and shared byway, I was wondering about people’s concept of consideration for others.
The gist of it is, society can be divided into four types of people:
1)People without dogs
2)Those who have dogs but let them go unleashed
3)Those who walk their dogs leashed, but with so much slack in the line they may as well be a mime holding an imaginary rope
4)Those who respectfully use the leash to keep their dog in control and within a proximity to themselves.
Celebrate Asian American Heritage Month with us! On Friday, May 12, the Brattleboro Literary Festival’s A Literary Cocktail Hour will present award-winning author Kathryn Ma and her book The Chinese Groove. This event is online and free…you can register at https://bit.ly/LitCocktail30
One of their 12 Books to Read Right Now, the New York Times says of The Chinese Groove: “A comedic take on the trials of immigration, Ma’s latest novel follows a Chinese man who is woefully unprepared for his move to America…” Eighteen-year-old Shelley, born into a much-despised branch of the Zheng family in Yunnan Province and living in the shadow of his widowed father’s grief, dreams of bigger things. Buoyed by an exuberant heart and his cousin Deng’s tall tales about the United States, Shelley heads to San Francisco to claim his destiny, confident that any hurdles will be easily overcome by the awesome powers of the “Chinese groove,” a belief in the unspoken bonds between countrymen that transcend time and borders.
Next Stage Arts is proud to announce that Kiran Ahluwalia will perform at The Putney Inn on June 2, 2023, as part of the Bandwagon Summer Series. The event will start at 6:00 pm, and tickets are available for $20 in advance or $25 at the gate. Children under 12 can attend for free. The show is also included in the Bandwagon Series Pass.
“Indian vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia is doing something revolutionary inside the medium of Indian music – giving it a modern take while presenting the power and vibrancy of thousands. of years of tradition, ” says Keith Marks, Executive Director of Next Stage Arts. “Kiran’s band is a who’s who of jazz and world music luminaries. The audience that sees this show won’t soon forget it. The virtuosity and depth of musical knowledge will be impressive.”
II. WSESD Board Update
F35 – School Animal Policy (re-adoption 4/25/23)
III. Schedule of policies for discussion – subject to change
2:35-3:00 H7 Leadership Councils (edits and updates from community)
3:00-3:25 F42 Student Dress Code (with flexibility to accommodate student schedules)
