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Unspeakable Saturday Night

by Ezie | Arts

Tomorrow evening, sixteen local residents will perform a public reading of “Project Unspeakable” at 7pm New England Youth Theater.  A facilitated discussion of the play and the issues, questions and feelings it raises for the audience will follow.

The script, with the exception of two Narrators and a young seeker of truth, is made up of actual quotes attributed to each of the dozens of characters portrayed. Saturday’s cast includes Sophie Bady-Kaye, Frederic Noyes, Daniel Cantor Yalowitz, John Ungerleider, Bob Bady, Leo Schiff, Gary and Leslie Sullivan Sachs, Mary Kay Sigda, Greg Moreau, John O’Neal, Paula Green, RylandWhite, Tim Bullard, Debbie Lynangale and Amilcar Shabazz.

After three rehearsals and indivdual sessions with the director and principal playwright Court Dorsey, we are eager to share this moving and motivating story with the public.

Things For The Village Meeting To Take In Hand, 1885

by cgrotke | History

From the Vermont Phoenix, May 1, 1885, an article discussing matters that should be discussed at the upcoming annual village meeting.

Things For The Village Meeting To Take In Hand, 1885

A matter of the first importance, which should receive attention at the annual village meeting next Tuesday evening, is the sanitary condition of the village. With a cholera invasion threatened, and all the great cities of the country fearing an attack of the scourge, more importance will attach to sanitary matters in every community the coming season than ever before.

While Brattleboro as a rule is in clean, wholesome condition, and enjoys a remarkable degree of freedom from epidemic disease, there are plague spots in the village which are too obvious to need pointing out.

Annual “Taste of the Town” Feeds the Winston L. Prouty Center

by cohnpr | Entertainment

The Winston L. Prouty Center for Child Development is pleased to announce that its 25th Taste of the Town fundraiser, will take place May 10th, 6:30-10:30pm at the International Center on the World Learning Campus (One Kipling Road) in Brattleboro.

The $50 ticket to The Taste of the Town gives one a delectable sampling of culinary delights donated from the best chefs and caterers in the area. Once again, the sought after bouquets and arrangements donated by area florists and nurseries that help transform the International Center to the idyllic setting of a spring garden will be given away as door prizes. The silent and live auction will offer great services from area merchants and businesses. There will be musical entertainment provided by the Butterfly Swing Band as well.

Author Tracey Allyson on “Dying & Living in the Arms of Love” and Her Pilgrimage to Tibet

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Join clinical psychologist Tracey Allysson in a talk about her book, Dying & Living in the Arms of Love; One Woman’s Journey around Mount Kailash, at Brooks Memorial Library on Wednesday, April 30, 7 PM in the meeting room on the 2nd floor. Alysson circumambulates Mt. Kailash through prostrations and records her life-altering sojourn at the center of the spiritual universe. Tracey Alysson has a  Ph.D.  and is a clinical psychologist with a passion for the spiritual in human experience and the human in spiritual experience, records her pilgrimage to Tibet in her book.

Alysson’s work is an autobiographical travel book reminiscent of Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer’s bestseller “Seven Years in Tibet.”“I was not aware that circumambulating Mt. Kailash is called khora, and that a very small number of pilgrims will do khora with prostrations,” Alysson recollects.  “It was from within my heart that there arose a fierce longing and devotion to go to Kailash, to lie on the land of Tibet with my heart open wide.

Brattleboro Union High School Board Meeting Agenda

by Not Signed In | Education

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

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The BAMS Committee will meet at 7:45 a.m. on Monday, May 5 in the BAMS Conference Room.

The BUHS Teacher Curriculum Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 5 in the Cusick Conference Room.

Open Source Seed Initiative Includes Vermont’s High Mowing

by cgrotke | Sci-Tech

Here’s something people interested in GMOs and Vermont farming might want to take note of – an open source seed intiative.

You might be familiar with free and open source software. Coders give away the program and underlying source code with the stipulation that others using it do the same. The open source seed initiative is similar. They are releasing seeds in such a way to “make sure that the genes in at least some seed can never be locked away from use by intellectual property rights.”

BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 4/28/14

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 4/28/14

Monday April 28               

1:00 am       The Climate Show – Vermont Gas Pipline 3/6/14

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       Organic Politics – The Answer is Blowing in the Wind

5:00 am       Green Mtn. Vets for Peace – Ep.131 – Military Sexual Harrassment

6:05 am       The Folklorist – Ep.7

Weekend Concert Series: Ian Dury and the Blockheads

by cgrotke | Entertainment

This week we set the time machine to Christmas 1980 at the Dominion Theatre to catch a show by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. As is often the case with the Weekend Concert Series, this is not for everyone, but for those who like Mr. Dury it is sure to be a treat.

Ian Dury was king of naughty new wave. His songs praised sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and frequently took a form similar to dirty limericks you might hear at the pub. The music is often very danceable and had a funky, soulful element. (He worked with Chas Jankel, a british keyboard player who had nightclub hits of his own.)

Brattleboro Historical Society Talk on Slavery in Vermont

by Not Signed In | History

The Problem of Slavery in Vermont 1777-1810 is the subject of a talk to be presented on Tuesday, May 6, 7:00pm, at the new Brattleboro Historical Society History Center located in the Masonic Center building, 196 Main Street.

The speaker will be Harvey Amani Whitfield, an associate professor of history at the University of Vermont and author of a book by this title published recently by the Vermont Historical Society. The program is co-sponsored by Brattleboro Historical Society and Vermont Historical Society with support from the Alma Gibbs Donchian Foundation.

Vermonters have long been rightly proud that our state was the first to outlaw slavery in its Constitution of 1777.

Nye Ffarrabas’ 50-Year Retrospective: Book Launch and Exhibition Opening

by CXSilverGallery | Arts

Brattleboro resident Nye Ffarrabas’ 50-year retrospective of her work is being celebrated in a new exhibtion and book just published through C. X. Silver Gallery.

C X Silver Gallery presents Nye Ffarrabas: A Walk on the Inside, an exhibition May 2 to Saturday August 23, 2014. The accompanying publication, with the same name as the exhibition, is part catalogue, part memoir, part monograph, a tribute to an artist and poet whose creative works span more than fifty years from the heyday of Fluxus Art of the sixties and seventies and continue to the present day. Please join us for the opening reception and book launch Sunday afternoon May 4th, 2014, 1-4pm, at the Gallery, 814 Western Avenue, Brattleboro, VT. Some improvisation, readings, and performance pieces may be part of the event.

The Vermont Jazz Center Presents: Bob Stabach’s CD Release Party

by Not Signed In | Entertainment

Bob Stabach, a “local treasure,” to release his first jazz recording as a leader

On Sunday April 27, at 7:00 PM, Bob Stabach will be celebrating the release of his first jazz CD as a leader. The project, entitled “Light Forms” has been a labor of love for Stabach and his working quartet who include Stabach on saxophone, Eugene Uman on piano, George Kaye on bass and Jon Fisher on drums; the group has been playing together for about 5 years. They have been a kind of “house band” at arts presenter, Wendy Redlinger’s home where she has graciously offered the quartet and other high-level artists an opportunity to present their music in a great sounding, comfortable, welcoming space with a fine acoustic piano. For jazz musicians, Wendy’s Soirees attract a dream audience: listeners who thrive on hearing new compositions and observing the creative process in action. Bob has chosen to release his CD at Wendy’s because her home has been the workshop space where much of the music, now etched on his brand-new recording, was performed for the first time. The concert begins at 7:00; all are welcome to a 6:00 community potluck to meet and greet the artists.

Adult Beginning Violin Class: Starting Next Week!

by Pam Lierle | Music

NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY!  

Instrument provided!

The Adult Beginning Violin Class is a GREAT opportunity to explore learning an instrument, with no pressure or expectations. Just 5 lessons, then you decide if it is right for you.

The Adult Beginning Violin Class, is for true beginners interested in “trying out” an instrument.  The ever patient and enthusiastic Michelle Liechti will lead this adult class on Thursdays, from 9:30-11 am, starting May 1, at the BMC. Tuition for 5 sessions is $50 and loaner violins are available.  

Women in Music Gala Features Opera & Chamber Music by Elise Grant

by fomag | Music

Marlboro, Vt. — Friends of Music at Guilford presents its 5th Annual Celebration of Women in Music, the organization’s signature season fundraiser, at a private home atop Ames Hill in Marlboro on Saturday, April 26. Guests are treated to a generous buffet of hearty hors d’oeuvres and salads to enjoy on arrival, then are offered a sampling of desserts after the concert program, which begins at 7.

Life Coach Training in Brattleboro

by Not Signed In | Education

Got self?

That’s the question that lies at the heart of a new nationally certified life coach training program. “The Will to Grow: Transformational Life Coaching” will be the subject of a free informational session this Sunday, April 27th from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. in Brattleboro.

The new course will be offered in two formats: a “live” training program this summer for local residents and a teleconference training starting in the fall that will enroll students across the U.S. and internationally. Students who complete either program are eligible to become a Board Certified Coach through the Center for Credentialing & Education.

Muslim Journey: Literary Reflections on Islam: The Conference of the Birds

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Muslim Journey: Literary Reflections on Islam: The Conference of the Birds by Farid al-Din Attar, translated by Dick Davis and Afkham Darbandi. Wednesday 23 April 2014, 7 – 9 pm. Please join Marlboro scholar and Professor of Religious Studies, Amer Latif, in a journey through the literature of Islam. Islam has long provided a source of inspiration through which Muslims experience, understand, and guide their everyday lives.

The readings for this theme can be seen as literary reflections on Muslim piety and communal concepts such as ethics, governance, knowledge, and identity. Each one reveals transformations in faith and identity, as Muslims living at different times and in different places have interpreted Islamic traditions to meet their distinctive cultural realities and spiritual needs.

Early Childhood Education Matters

by cohnpr | Education

by Chloe Learey

Today, there is a focus at both the national and state level on how best to support early childhood education and services so that our youngest citizens have the best possible foundation to develop optimally. President Obama talked about early childhood education in his state of the union address, Governor Shumlin commissioned an Early Childhood Framework and Action Plan which was published on March 28th, and the state of Vermont is the recipient of a Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant which will bring $36.9 million dollars to the state over the next four years to bolster the infrastructure of early childhood services and education.

The High Street Nuisance of 1881

by cgrotke | History

Here’s an interesting story from April 22, 1881. It seems that the F.W. Childs company came through one day and put up telephone poles along High Street on behalf of the Bell Telephone Company. The “boys” doing the work did a lousy job of it, leaving a mess of unfinished (ie, natural growth, not sawed or turned) poles up the street.

This upset residents, but there was a new statute allowing for poles to be placed for private telegraph and telephone lines, and the Selectmen had given the company permission. Asked later, the Selectmen said they didn’t know what they were signing.

Free Spanish Classes in Brattleboro and Putney

by Not Signed In | Education

Express Fluency- a new language school offering Spanish classes in Brattleboro and Putney– is offering free intro classes over the coming weeks.

The way that they teach language is so radically different from the way most of us were taught language in school that you have to experience one of these classes for yourself to see what it feels like to pick-up a language easily.

“Project Unspeakable” at NEYT May 3

by Ezie | Arts

“Project Unspeakable” Reading Explores Why Our Leaders Died 1964-1968

A dramatic reading of “Project Unspeakable,” a new play about the 1960’s assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Robert F. Kennedy, will be presented on Saturday, May 3 at 7:00pm at New England Youth Theater.

“Project Unspeakable” was inspired by James Douglass’ groundbreaking and meticulously researched book, JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters.  It was written by playwright Court Dorsey and associate playwrights Debbie Lynangale and Steve Wangh (author of The Laramie Project), based on extensive research.  Like the book, the script focuses not on how the four leaders died, but why.