Vermont Jazz Center Presents: Alicia Olatuja

The Vermont Jazz Center is delighted to welcome vocalist Alicia Olatuja and her quartet on May 16th at 8:00 PM. This sublime singer is best known for her soaring solo with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Obama’s second inauguration. But even though she grew up in the church, loves the music and draws inspiration from it, Alicia’s voice and persona are expansive. She uses her gospel roots as a springboard to investigate jazz, African music, classical and even well-crafted pop. In a recent interview, Alicia stated, “I blur the lines that some draw between genres.


Weekend Comedy Series: Demetri Martin

“If I…” is the name of the comedy special by Demetri Martin that combines observations, philosophy, and comedy, in form of presentation with slides.

You may not know, this young man was accepted into Harvard Law, but didn’t go. Instead, he went down the path of a legal education at NYU, but became a comedian instead. Probably a wise choice.


Winston Prouty Center Hosts Indoor Mini-Golf Classic Grownups and Families on May 16

Winston Prouty Center for Child Development is hosting its Inaugural Indoor Mini-Golf Classic for grownups and families on Saturday, May 16, 2015 and Sunday, May 17, 2015, respectively. The two-day “FUN-raiser” is open to the public.

Saturday’s tournament for grownups is a black-tie optional evening that will feature light dinner fare, music, and a cash bar. The tournament will be from 6 to 9 p.m. and tickets are $25 per person.

Sunday’s family fun day will take place from 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. The cost is $5 per person, or only $12 for a foursome if you bring your Saturday night scorecard.
Both events will take place at the International Center at World Learning’s SIT campus in Brattleboro.


John Gorka at Next Stage on Saturday, May 9

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present contemporary folk singer/songwriter John Gorka at Next Stage on Saturday, May 9 at 7:30 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. Gorka 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.


“Hey Jew!”

Everyone there had a nickname. His was “Radio.”

“Why is he called “Radio” I asked another prisoner.

“Because he keeps talking, non-stop, all crazy stuff.” 

Radio did seem to be dispensing a steady stream of gibberish. But something about him conveyed intelligence to me. I sat down opposite Radio at one of the tables (which are immovably attached to the floor, as are the benches). The individual cells were on one side. There was a wall of bars on the other and I guess behind those bars was the “free” side. Occasionally a guard would walk by.  


On Exhibit at Brooks Library in May

ON EXHIBIT for the Month of May at Brooks Library

MAIN FLOOR: RAYE ARNAULT Close-up photographs presenting a unique perspective on things in the natural world.

2ND FLOOR CHILDREN: AMY HUNTINGTON Children’s book llustrator of “Grandma Drove the Garbage Truck”.


First Wednesday at Brooks Library: The Duel: Aaron Burr vs. Alexander Hamilton

Join us for First Wednesday on 6 May 2015, 7 pm – 9 pm for The Duel: Aaron Burr vs. Alexander Hamilton. Was it murder or suicide when the vice president of the United States killed the first secretary of the treasury in a duel? Willard Sterne Randall, award-winning biographer of Hamilton and five other Founding Fathers, tells this fascinating story.

Location Library Main Room. For more information contact Brooks Library by phone at 802-254-5290 ext 0, by email at info@brookslibraryvt.org, or on the web at brookslibraryvt.org. Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301. The event is free and open to the public. 


Nellie Bly

was the pen name of American journalist Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman.[2] She was also a writer, industrialist, inventor, and a charity worker who was widely known for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days, in emulation of Jules Verne’s fictional character Phileas Fogg, and an exposé in which she faked insanity to study a mental institution from within.[3] She was a pioneer in her field, and launched a new kind of investigative journalism.[4]


Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas at Next Stage on Thursday, May 7

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present an evening of cutting edge fiddle and cello explorations of Scottish, Celtic and global music by Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas at Next Stage on Thursday, May 7 at 7:30 pm. With a shared passion for improvising on the melody and the groove of traditional tunes, Alasdair and Natalie feature dazzling teamwork, swapping melodic and harmonic lines and trading driving rhythmic riffs.


Six College Collaborative Launches Website

The Windham Region- The Six College Collaborative formerly known as The Windham Higher Education Cooperative recently launched their very own website www.sixcolleges.com featuring local paid internship opportunities for college students, information about cross registration amongst the six participating colleges as well as community offerings at the various college campuses. The collaborative includes Community College of Vermont, SIT Graduate Institute, Vermont Technical College, Landmark College, Marlboro College and Union Institute and University.


BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 5/4/15

BCTV Ch.8 schedule for the week of 5/4/15 

Monday, May 4, 2015

12:00 am Vermont War Memorials, Statuary, and Cemeteries

1:15 am TED Talks: Pia Mancini: How to Upgrade Democracy for the Internet Era

1:30 am BTT: Spring Forward Extravaganza 3/6/15

3:00 am Ethan Allen Homestead: Robert Mello on Moses Robinson, A Founder of VT

4:00 am Vietnam Anniversary Screening and Panel – BUHS 4/2/15


Kitchen Tunks and Parlor Songs

The Friends of Brooks Memorial Library will present Montpelier musician-educator Mark Greenberg’s illustrated talk “Kitchen Tunks & Parlor Songs” on Thursday, May 14, at 7:30 PM at the Brooks Memorial Library on Main
Street, Brattleboro.

Since the 1980s, Greenberg has been interviewing and recording musicians throughout Vermont, tracing the development of the state’s vernacular music from its roots in Anglo-Celtic traditions through the influences of French-Canadian emigrants and the arrival of radio and other electronic technologies. 


Weekend Comedy Series: Chris Rock

Let’s go to D.C. this weekend and see a 1996 show featuring Chris Rock.

The jokes are a bit dated in places — Marion Barry crack jokes, for example. But his insights on race, addiction, violence, education and other issues in America are what the crowds love him for, and much of the routine stands true today. He won two Emmy awards for this show.


Brattleboro Union High School Board Meeting Agenda

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING

The BUHS #6 Planning and Policy Committee will meet at 6:00 pm. on Monday, May 4, 2015 in the WRCC Cusick Conference Room.

The BUHS #6 Teacher Curriculum Committee will meet at 6:15 p.m. on Monday, May 4, 2015 in the WRCC Cusick Conference Room.


Raye Arnault – Reflections and Abstracts in Nature

Local Brattleboro artist Ray Arnault presents her work in the Brooks Memorial Library beginning May 1, 2015 at 224 Main Street in Brattleboro, Vermont. Her artistic photographs will be on view throughout the month of May in the ground floor Main Room of the library.

From the library’s balcony, Arnault’s photos of “Stone People” who pose immobilized and mute yet seemingly alive with a sense of purpose and direction, are some of today’s most unique visual displays from a local artist.


“We Need to Re-Connect with Nature!” – Wayne P. London, M.S., M.D.

“We Need to Re-Connect with Nature!”

“I’m ‘wired’ for visionary thinking — though I’m good at mathematics and abstract ideas, I have enough deep compassion to speak out and say, ‘this is not working; we’re out of touch with ancient and deeply spiritual ideas’.

“So I’m a ‘doc’, helping sick people get better, but I’m also a teacher, reminding people of forgotten and misunderstood history, practices, wisdom, and lore.” 

Wayne P. London M.D., whose oil portrait by Brattleboro artist William H. Hays (at right) will be displayed in the front window of the new Angel Boy Gallery, next to Shin La Restaurant, during the month of May, 2015 and as part of the Friday,  May 1 Gallery Walk.


William H. Hays – He Sees and Paints the Better Angels of Our Nature

William H. Hay’s ‘Local Portrait Series’ will be honored and recognized in the front window of the new Angel Boy Gallery, located next to Shin La Restaurant, for a month beginning this Friday. The exhibit will include a few of the actual portraits!

“I Discovered I Could Express A Person’s Essence!” — William H. Hays

“In the early 2000s, I was in an artist’s ‘dry spell’ similar to a writer’s block. Friends counseled me that I ought to try a different approach. I thought about it, then I took a trip overseas to relax and await new inspiration. So I happened to be at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and saw a Rembrandt; a portrait of an old woman. I was surprised to discover that because of the qualities of the portrait, I knew who she was! Then I immediately had the thought:

”I can do that!” — William H. Hays