Halloween Costume Ideas From Previous Years

It’s almost time for Halloween, and here on Cedar Street that means hundreds of kids in costumes of all varieties.

For many years, we’ve kept a list of the costumes that were worn to our door. If you are having trouble thinking up a costume, perhaps a look through some of the older lists will spark some ideas. I’ve provided some links below.


Menopause – The Climacteric Cause of Female Life Extension and the Freedom of Newfound Sexuality

My sister-in-law told me that when she was menstrual and having babies she had little to no interest in sex. It was more obligatory to please my brother than necessary for her.Yet, after her divorce, and when she reached menopause, she said that she was really horny all the time, but because she was older and in her opinion, less attractive and post mid-forty, her opportunities to meet men to satisfy the newly acquired sexual urges were diminished. She complained that the sexual frustration was difficult to bear. I found her candor fascinating and I immediately understood that she was not alone.


VFW Lunch Specials 10-24 to 10-28

The Brattleboro VFW is open to the public for lunch. Lunch is served Mon.-Fri. from 11:30 – 1:30. Specials are only $5.50 a plate. Burgers, fries, onion rings, chicken wings, soups and sandwiches are also available.

Mon – handmade chicken cordon bleu w/mashed potato & veg.

Tues – chicken lo mein w/ homemade egg rolls

Wed – shepherd’s pie w/ salad

Thur – roasted pork loin w/ mashed potato & veg.

Fri – clam roll w/ chowder

If you have more than 4 people in your group, please call ahead of time at 257-0438. Take out orders are available, and some specials sell out fast.


Death Cafe

The Death Café Comes Back to Brattleboro!

Brattleboro, Vermont . On Thursday evening, November 3rd, from 6:00pm-7:30pm, Brattleboro Area Hospice will host a Death Café at The Restless Rooster, at 134 Elliot Street, in Brattleboro. This free event is part of an international movement begun in Europe (www.deathcafe.com ), and is dedicated to taking death out of the closet in order to discuss it publicly.

Previous events that have taken place throughout Windham County have been met with tremendous praise. People have reported them as comfortable, supporting a full range of emotions – from tears to raucous laughter, easier than anticipated, energy charged, inspirational and fun.


VFW Lunch Specials 10-17 to 10-21

The Brattleboro VFW is open to the public for lunch. Lunch is served Mon.-Fri. from 11:30 – 1:30. Specials are only $5.50 a plate. Burgers, fries, onion rings, chicken wings, soups and sandwiches are also available.

Mon – grilled ham & cheese w/ soup

Tues – mushroom swiss burger w/ fries

Wed – fried chicken sandwich w/ fries

Thur – beef stew w/ salad & a roll

Fri – beer battered haddock w/ fries & slaw

If you have more than 4 people in your group, please call ahead of time at 257-0438. Take out orders are available, and some specials sell out fast.


C 10 Over Brattleboro Today?

While at the Brattleboro Literary Festival I head a loud plane, sounded like it was going down Main St. Then a little while later there was another plane that was low flying over the River.  Chris Nutting captured this image of the plane over Putney Road. 


Phone Scam?

If you receive a text message from “Brattleboro Savings and Loan Association” saying “Alert for (your phone number). Call 347-218-4082.” YOU PROBABLY SHOULD NOT CALL BACK. I think it’s a scam. The phone # is listed as an NYC number, and the recording told me that my ATM card is frozen. I do not have an ATM card with BSnL. It asked me to type in my account number.

If you need to contact BSnL, it’s probably best to call the number they list in the phone book or online, not the number in this text.


Powerwall Battery Workshop in Brattleboro Oct. 26

For homes (and businesses):  Tesla Powerwall Pilot Program from Green Mountain Power.

Do you want to safeguard your home (or business) against outages?  Would you like to have some reserve power when you need it?  If you already have some solar panels, would you like to extend their life?

Come to a workshop to learn about one advanced option for on-site battery storage.


Sufferage(sic)

Fittingly enough, it was during this election cycle my mother received her dementia diagnosis. Thanks to her stroke, she’s moved fairly quickly through the levels, like a pro-gamer unlocking ever more complex realms of challenge. When she was unable to feed herself or attend to hygiene, memory care became inevitable. My periodic visits have become studies in both specific and general cognitive atrophe, in addition to whatever else it is when a son becomes the elder to his parent.

As a way of holding on to the rail when the seas get rough, I have begun to look at the memory care facility, and mental disability, in an anthropological light. I’m always on the look out, in my mother’s case, to see what parts of personality persist, and which patterns remain as a kind of behavioral bedrock. Observing which of her symptomatic responses were there all along in nascent form. Seeing her surrounded by her ‘peers’, each with their own expeditions underway, it forces me to wonder about the so-called sanity of us all.


VFW Lunch Specials 10-10 to 10-14

The Brattleboro VFW is open to the public for lunch. Lunch is served Mon. – Fri. from 11:30 am – 1:30 PM. Specials are only $5.50 a plate. Burgers, fries, onion rings, chicken wings, soups and sandwiches are also available.

Mon – open faced hot pork sandwich w/ gravy & veg.
Tues – ham steak w/ homemade mac & cheese
Wed – beef stroganoff w/ noodles & veg
Thur – stuffed chicken breast w/ mashed potato, gravy & veg
Fri – salmon pea wiggle

If you have more than 4 people in your group, please call ahead of time at 257-0438 for a reservation. Take out orders are available, and some specials sell out fast.


Seasonal Overflow Shelter Set to Open at First Baptist Church

BRATTLEBORO – Groundworks Collaborative will be coordinating this year’s Seasonal Overflow Shelter (SOS) in downtown Brattleboro at the First Baptist Church, 190 Main Street. The shelter – open each winter from early-November through the end of April – provides a safe and warm place to stay for individuals experiencing homelessness during the winter season. Dinner is provided on a nightly basis.

Groundworks is committed to providing the Overflow Shelter every winter, and is currently entering into the tenth season, however this will be the last year located at the First Baptist Church. According to Groundworks Collaborative’s Executive Director Josh Davis, the organization has “struggled for the past two years with finding a permanent home for the shelter within the downtown footprint, particularly after deciding this past summer not to pursue a project planned for 39 Frost Street.”


West Brattleboro Chicken BBQ October 8th

The West Brattleboro Association and the West Brattleboro First Congregational Church are co-sponsoring a chicken barbeque on Saturday, October 8th, starting at 11 a.m. and lasting until it’s all gone.  Plan to get to the event in front of the First Congregational Church on Western Avenue in West Brattleboro in plenty of time to enjoy the chicken and fixin’s.  

The WBA will be supplying and cooking the chickens and the Church will be supplying the baked beans and coleslaw.  The chicken only will cost $7 and the full meal $10.  The Church will also be supplying baked goods.

Proceeds from the BBQ help defray the expense of the projects undertaken by the West Brattleboro Association and by the First Congregational Church.


VFW Lunch Specials 10-3 to 10-7

Mon – meatloaf sandwich w/ French fries
Tues – spaghetti w/ homemade meatballs and salad
Wed – cheese tortellini w/ chicken & broccoli
Thur – marinated steak tips w/ mashed potato
Fri – coconut shrimp w/ sweet potato fries

The Brattleboro VFW is open to the public for lunch. Lunch is served Mon. – Fri. from 11:30 am – 1:30 PM. Specials are only $5.50 a plate. Burgers, fries, onion rings, chicken wings, soups and sandwiches are also available.

If you have more than 4 people in your group, please call ahead of time at 257-0438 for a reservation. Take out orders are available, and some specials sell out fast.


Grief for Beginners

Most of us are unsure of what to say and do when someone we know has experienced a death loss. And the more traumatic the death, in our opinion, the more awkward we feel. This leads us to procrastinate or even fail to reach out to the bereaved person. Unfortunately, what the person almost always needs is to know that others are thinking of him or her.


Brattleboro Senior Meals Breakfast Menu

OCTOBER BREAKFAST MENUS

October 4th – Greens, Eggs & Ham, Home Fries, Fruit, Yogurt, Juice, Coffee.

October 7th – Cheese Omelets w/Tomatoes, Onions & Peppers, Home Fries, Fruit Salad, Muffins, Yogurt, Juice, Coffee

October 11th – French Toast, Home Fries, Sausage, Fruit, Yogurt, Juice, Coffee


What Draws You to iBrattleboro?

I lived in Putney for twelve years and watched iBrattleboro grow to the strong site it is. I’ve since moved away to a similar sized city withOUT a citizen journalism/community portal site. I tried to sit by idly and pretend I didn’t care, but alas, I really wanted something similar. So, what did I do? I created my own site for my new city, it’s called Ashland Talks.

Ashland Talks has been live for almost two months and we’ve received some community member submissions, but it is still largely me posting news. I don’t expect the site to take off over night, but it did get me to start wondering: what is it that draws people to iBrattleboro.com? What do you all like to publish here that you don’t just post on Facebook or Nextdoor?