Michael Knapp and Green River to host Brattleboro Area Tech meeting February 18

by Not Signed In | Sci-Tech

Michael Knapp, CEO of successful Brattleboro computer firm, Green River, will speak at the February 18 meeting of Brattleboro Area Tech. The meeting will take place at 5:30 pm and is hosted by Green River in its offices at 167 Main Street, Suite 103, in Brattleboro.

Green River builds software for sustainability, environmental protection, school improvement, and public health and is thought to be the largest IT development firm in southeastern Vermont..

Michael will speak about the work of Green River, its choice of technologies and his experience running an IT company in Vermont.

Weekend Creativity Series – Model Trains

by cgrotke | Creative

There is a tremendous amount of creativity when it comes to creating miniature worlds, and model train layouts are often some of the most amazing miniatures around. This video shows a engineer’s view of a model train set in the midwest. The video description says:

“The Hennepin Overland Railway Historical Society is located in Minneapolis, MN, and is one of the largest HO layouts in the Twin Cities, MN area. It also has the largest Helix of any model railroad in the United States that we know of. The Helix comprises 1/4 of the entire layout located in a 4,000 sq. ft. warehouse in South Minneapolis, and the entire Main Line equals 11 scale miles of track. If you are interested in visiting this railroad museum check out their web site for directions and hours of operation: http://hennepinoverland.org/ “

Brattleboro Committee Meetings and Agendas

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at 8:00am in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

The Brattleboro Tree Advisory Committee will meet on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at 7:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.

Brattleboro Parking Lot Snow Removal

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Town of Brattleboro would like to remind everyone that the snow emergency ban is in effect.

Snow and ice will be removed from the parking lots in the downtown area this evening.

Parked vehicles in the downtown parking lots must be removed by 10:30pm or they will be towed at the owner’s expense.

Next WBA Meeting on February 11, with Police and Fire Facilities Discussion

by WBA | Town News

The next monthly meeting of the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) will be held in the Hayes Court Community Room on Garfield Drive (just west of the W Bratt PO) on Thursday, February 11th at 6:00 PM. After a review of the treasury report, the WBA will discuss the status of the welcome signs and hear a report about the BizUp session held in January. On the agenda is also a discussion of the Neighborhoods Fund which heretofore has helped the WBA provide mini-grants to neighborhood groups doing their own service work, improving their grounds, etc.  The question is whether to seek new money to fund this work.

Schedule of Brattleboro March Meetings

by Not Signed In | Town News

March will be a very busy month in Brattleboro with presidential primary elections, two Representative Town Meetings, two informational meetings, and changes in the Selectboard’s schedule. In order to make the schedule clear for the public, attached are copies of the March meetings – in chronological order and by category.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

Guilford Center Stage Announces 2016 Season

by DonInGuilford | Arts

Guilford Center Stage continues into its second year with spring and fall productions of plays with strong connections to Guilford, continuing its mission to present place-based theater on the stage at Broad Brook Grange.  The new theater project debuted last fall with a production of the comedy, Tourists Accommodated, by Vermont author, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, who often visited Guilford.

A pair of one-acts by Guilford playwright Michael Nethercott opens the 2016 season in early June.  At the other end of the season, Charles W. Henry, who was born in Guilford in 1850, will be represented by his only known extant play, performed on the stage with the theater curtains which he painted around 1900.

Brattleboro Committee Vacancies

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Town of Brattleboro is looking for citizens to serve on the following committees and boards:

Agricultural Advisory Board
Arts Committee
ADA Advisory Committee Conservation Commission
Development Review Board (Alternate)
Energy Committee Fence Viewers (by statute, must be legal voters of the Town)
Honor Roll Planning Commission
Senior Solutions Advisory Council SEVCA Board

The River Gallery School on Main Street in Brattleboro Offering Class on Book Making

by Not Signed In | Creative

The River Gallery School is offering a class on book making.

Writers and others who want to learn how to create a physical book using basic book binding equipment.

This class will be made up of a series of smaller technique-specific workshops related to book arts. Along with making paste paper, marbled paper and decorative bookcloth, students will learn how to make books with exposed-bindings, soft covers and hard covers.

Students will also be encouraged to explore sculptural bindings and content driven book structures. The class starts March 25, 2016 and goes to May 20, 2016. It will meet Fridays, from 9:30 to Noon. The class coasts $280. The teacher is Briony Morrow-Cribs. Her website is www.brionymorrow-cribbs.com

February Gallery Walk Set for This Friday

by fomag | Arts

Brattleboro, Vt. – Gallery Walk returns this Friday to liven up the downtown and a few satellite locations within a short drive of Main Street. There are 31 listed venues, many with meet-the-artist receptions.

Official Gallery Walk hours are 5:30 to 8:30, though most venues are open earlier and several remain open later into the evening. Patrons are encouraged to begin their artistic explorations a little early this Friday and stop on the way into town at The Marina Restaurant off Putney Road, where refreshments are offered to Walk patrons from 5 to 6:30. Coming from the west, consider stopping at C. X. Silver Gallery at 814 Western Ave., open 4 to 6:30.

Brattleboro Selectboard Candidate’s Forum, February 11

by ChrisLenois | Media

WKVT and Brattleboro Community Television will co-produce a candidate’s forum on Thursday, February 11 for voters to learn more about the three candidates vying for two seats on the Brattleboro Selectboard.

Current Chair David Gartenstein, former chair Richard DeGray and businessman Avery Schwenk are all seeking election to one-year terms when Brattleboro residents go to the polls on Tuesday, March 1. No other elected position in the town has more than one candidate. 

David Bowie Film Night at Next Stage on Friday, February 5

by Not Signed In | Entertainment

Next Stage Arts Project will honor the late David Bowie on Friday, February 5, showing ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDER FROM MARS (1973), at 7:00pm, plus Bowie music videos. Costumes welcome!

Documentarian D.A. Pennebaker focuses his lens on a 1973 concert by David Bowie, who performs under the moniker Ziggy Stardust with his glam-rock backing band, the Spiders From Mars. While some backstage footage of the theatrical singer-songwriter is featured, the majority of the film is devoted to the music played onstage, which includes hits, album cuts and covers of Rolling Stones and Velvet Underground songs. Bowie also shocks fans by announcing his intention to drop the Stardust persona.

Brattleboro Area Hospice to offer Seven Week Grief Support Group

by Not Signed In | Health

Brattleboro, VT. Brattleboro Area Hospice will offer a Seven Week Bereavement Support Group for adults begins on February 10th and will meet each Wednesday from 5:00-6:30 pm, ending March 23rd. The group is free of charge and open to anyone in the community grieving the death loss of a loved one, no matter when or where the loss occurred.

Bereavement Support Groups offer a safe, mutually supportive environment for sharing experiences through discussion, readings, simple activities, and suggestions for moving through grief. This group will meet at the hospice office at 191 Canal St. in Brattleboro. No prior connection with hospice is necessary in order to participate. The group size is limited to 8 people. Please call Connie Baxter, group facilitator at (802) 257-0775 x104 for a pre-group appointment if you’re interested in joining.

Selectboard Meeting Notes – Really Big Numbers and Dangerous Animals

by cgrotke | Town News

The Brattleboro Selectboard reviewed a variety of bond options in anticipation of a special Representative Town Meeting deciding the future of Brattleboro’s police facility. No decision was made, but the total cost of 20, 25, and 30 year bonds (including interest payments and funds already borrowed) was provided for comparison.

The board also held a first reading on changes to ordinances that will impact pets and their owners in town. One which may be of particular interest to readers here (hi Zippy) is that police will be able to rescue dogs from hot cars. Other changes include new rules for “dangerous” animals and more clarity in the rules and appeals process.

Brattleboro Early/Absentee Ballots, Voter Registration and Town Clerk Hours

by Not Signed In | Politics

Early/absentee ballots for the Presidential Primary and Annual Town and Town School District election to be held on March 1, are now available in the Brattleboro town clerk’s office. Anyone wishing to vote prior to March 1, may apply for an early/absentee ballot until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, February 29.

Early/absentee ballots may be voted in person in the clerk’s office, mailed to the voter by the clerk’s office, picked up by the voter or delivered to the voter’s residence by two justices of the peace. All voted ballots must be received by the clerk before the polls close on election day in order to be counted. Early/absentee ballots remain sealed until election day. Absentee ballot envelopes are opened at the polling place and ballots are processed through vote tabulators in the same manner as those voted in person that day. For more information or to request an early/absentee ballot call 251-8157.

Tech Help at Brooks Library

by Brooks Memorial Library | Sci-Tech

Tech Help is available at Brooks Memorial Library! Cal books half-hour appointments on Mondays between 3-5:00 and 5-6:00.

To book time, contact Cal at (802) 254-5290 x104 or cal@brookslibraryvt.org.

Tech Help with Cal is available every Monday when the library is open. Please note that Brooks Memorial Library is CLOSED for Presidents’ Day on Monday 15 February 2016.

Mexican-Americans: Experience & Identity – A Reading-Discussion Series at Brooks Memorial Library

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Brooks Memorial Library continues its Vermont Humanities Council program on Latino-Americans with a reading and discussion series ‘Mexican Americans: Experience and Identity.” The series will deal with the experiences of Mexicans living in the United States, from the struggles of migrant farmworkers and day laborers in California to coming of age stories of Chicanos as U.S. citizens. Books are available for checkout at the main circulation desk. Remaining books in the series are: February 17, (Under the Feet of Jesus); March 16, (The Tortilla Curtain); April 20, (Days of Obligation)

Facilitated by Patricia Pedroza Gonzalez Ph.D. who teaches at Keene State College at Keene, NH., Dr. Gonzalez’s international expertise has shaped her research experience and her current teaching involves Chicana/U.S. Latina, and Latin-American Studies, American Studies, Feminisms by Women of Color, and Transnational Education. Her research focus is on politics of knowledge construction and social identities. She is the current Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies Department at Keene State College.

First Wednesday Lecture Series : Allen Koop The History of Health Care in the US

by Brooks Memorial Library | History

Dartmouth professor Allen Koop will discuss the history of America’s troubled, promising, and unique health care system in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on February 3 at 7 pm. His talk, “The History of Health Care in the US,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays lecture series and is free and open to the public. Koop will discuss how America’s health care system has been shaped not only by developments in medicine but also by social forces, economics, politics, and historical surprises.

Koop graduated from Dartmouth College and then earned his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. He teaches courses in the History Department at Dartmouth College, primarily on 20th century European history and on the American health care system.