Living

Living story sections

The Vermont Way

by RDavis | Living

It was a small event in the overall scheme of things. But small events are what our daily lives are made of. When those events take on special meaning our lives become richer.

Labor Day and the heavy traffic of years past as cars streamed down Weatherhead Hollow Road in Guilford on their way to the Guilford Fair was replaced with silence. A few cars trickled by and I’m sure that “the hollow” missed the echoes of loudspeakers calling for the horse show entrants or for announcers telling the hillside crowd how far the horses had pulled the stone boat.

I was taking an afternoon nap in my hammock when my wife Roberta summoned me to the road in front of our house. It was a windy day and a large tree branch had fallen across the road, only allowing for one car at a time to barely pass.

Boys & Girls Club Programming Update

by rlwoliver | Family

The Boys & Girls Club Brattleboro will be operating two program sites this fall.

The Boys & Girls Club Brattleboro and Retreat Farm and are delighted to jointly deliver Kids Club, a licensed after school care program that supports healthy social-emotional development, outdoor skills, and respect for the planet and each other. This program begins September 8, 2020 and will operate at Retreat Farm. Learn more: https://bgcbrattleboro.com/programs/after-school-care/

The Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro is making plans to reopen its doors on September 14. The Club has been closed since March due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Brattleboro and Vermont COVID-19 Dashboard Numbers – September 2020

by cgrotke | Health

Welcome to September. Here is the continuation of daily COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro.

You can find the August numbers here,  July numbers here, the June numbers here, the May dashboard reporting here, and the April numbers here.

VFW $7 Lunch Specials Open to the Public 8-31 to 9-4

by LisaL | Food

Our hours are Mon-Fri from 11am-7pm. Sat & Sun from 1pm-7pm. We will be serving lunches Mon-Fri from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm, with doors opening at 11 am. Lunches will be served on our hall side due to social distancing restrictions. Entrance will be through the glass doors, and the public is welcome. Per town ordinance, masks must be worn while walking around the hall, but not while seated at your table. Everyone must sign in at the bar with the bartender.

Bupkis

by RDavis | Health

The literal meaning of the Yiddish word bupkis is nothing. But as is the case with many Yiddish words, bupkis can add richness and nuance to the description of situations. For example: I got bupkis for presents from my friends on my 70th birthday. Bupkis implies disappointment and some degree of anger, as well as an expectation of a specific kind of behavior from friends.

As the current pandemic unfolded in this country it became clear that the American health care non-system is not meeting the needs of a large segment of the population. It was not exactly a revelation, but it should have been a wakeup call.

Politicians offered their usual meaningless rhetoric and there was no legislation put forward to address the sickness of the health care system. In fact, the pandemic legislation that passed became a financial windfall for obscenely rich Americans while the rest of us were thrown a few crumbs: political bupkis.

VFW $7 Lunch Specials Open to the Public 8-24 to 8-28

by LisaL | Food

Specials listed below are only $7 a plate.

Our hours are Mon-Fri from 11am-7pm. Sat & Sun from 1pm-7pm. We will be serving lunches Mon-Fri from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm, with doors opening at 11 am. Lunches will be served on our hall side due to social distancing restrictions. Entrance will be through the glass doors, and the public is welcome. Per town ordinance, masks must be worn while walking around the hall, but not while seated at your table. Everyone must sign in at the bar with the bartender.

Brattleboro Senior Meals

by KathrynT | Food

Brattleboro Senior Meals Menu August 24 to August 28
IMPORTANT INFORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MENU

Aug 24 Roast Pork
Mashed Potatoes
Brussel Sprouts
Applesauce

Whew !

by tomaidh | Travel

The temperature reached 130 degrees yesterday in California’s Death Valley.

(The hottest temp on earth since 1913)

Two Plagues, One Cure

by RDavis | Activism

I am trying to see all of the positive things that have come about as a result of the pandemic. We have more time to do the things we have been putting off for so long, we can read all of those books that have been on our reading list and we have time to connect with family and friends even though in-person contact is rarely an option.

But it seems to me that most people have had enough of the pandemic and they have run out of patience. After all, most people are not taking the long view because their lives have been so disrupted and they are struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table. It didn’t have to be this way and that is the greater pandemic tragedy that Americans have been subjected to.

VFW $7 Lunch Specials Open to the Public 8-17 to 8-21

by LisaL | Food

Specials listed below are only $7 a plate.

Our hours are Mon-Fri from 11am-7pm. Sat & Sun from 1pm-7pm. We will be serving lunches Mon-Fri from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm, with doors opening at 11 am. Lunches will be served on our hall side due to social distancing restrictions. Entrance will be through the glass doors, and the public is welcome. Per town ordinance, masks must be worn while walking around the hall, but not while seated at your table. Everyone must sign in at the bar with the bartender.

Election Season 2020

by RDavis | Activism

No handshaking and very few face-to-face encounters. Those are some of the major changes to political campaigning during a pandemic. The use of social media will be valuable as we head toward the first Tuesday in November.

Money will still rule because advertising on all levels gets a candidate’s name out there and television, print and other media ads do work. But there is also a potential for lower voter turnout because people may not be bombarded with the usual campaign activity of former years.

My hope is that, on the national level at least, voter turnout will be high because a majority of sensible Americans want to end the great American nightmare and make America sane again.

VFW $7 Lunch Specials Open to the Public 8-10 to 8-14

by LisaL | Food

Our hours are Mon-Fri from 11am-7pm. Sat & Sun from 1pm-7pm. We will be serving lunches Mon-Fri from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm, with doors opening at 11 am. Lunches will be served on our hall side due to social distancing restrictions. Entrance will be through the glass doors, and the public is welcome. Per town ordinance, masks must be worn while walking around the hall, but not while seated at your table. Everyone must sign in at the bar with the bartender.

Hand made burgers, fries, chicken wings, chicken fingers, sandwiches, etc. are still available. Take outs also available by calling 257-0438.

Isaias Heading Toward Vermont

by cgrotke | Nature

Tropical Storm Isaias is pounding the Mid-Atlantic as I type this, and is heading our way. And although it is centered over Maryland right now, we’re getting hit with the outer bands of rain already. This storm stretches from Virginia to Canada at the moment.

Originally it was tracking to the east of us, then directly over us. Unfortunately for this area, the storm track has shifted west and the center is aiming at Albany. That puts us in the “worst” quadrant of the storm – the 12-3 o’clock positions. The heaviest rain and winds are usually in this section of a storm like this.