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It’s A Mystery To Me

by Vidda | Books

I grew up on a small farm not far from the western shore of the Chesapeake. Summers meant daily hard work, up before dawn and out long after dusk, until the mosquitoes mercifully carried us off the fields. There was little respite for working kids who lived on an organic subsistence long before we ever knew what the word organic meant.

Some leisure time, though, was to be had for me: down at the swimming hole, scampering after the ice cream truck, badminton nets on the grassy lawn, softball with the flirty girls and showoff boys, cookouts under the apple trees; laying on the still-warm grass gazing up at the carpet of stars that blanketed the night sky and using my imagination when my mind was not otherwise occupied with work and play.

A March Meeting, Without Even a Ripple of Excitement

by cgrotke | History

Here is an account of Town Meeting in Brattleboro, as reported March 10, 1899 in an article from the Vermont Phoenix.

Read on for the election of our leather inspector, a defeat for increased Memorial day funds, tax exemptions for the new toy company, a discussion of electric lights on Western Ave., debate over school tuition, and more.

A MARCH MEETING

Without Even a Ripple of Excitement

The Old Board of Officers Re-Elected — the Regulation Tax Voted — the New S.A. Smith Company Exempted from Taxation by a Unanimous Vote

Kurn Hattin Homes for Children To Host 21st Annual Choral Invitational March 20th

by KurnHattin | Music

On Wednesday, March 20th at 7:00 pm, Kurn Hattin Homes for Children welcomes the public to attend its 21st Annual Choral Invitational. The event is in celebration of “Music in Our Schools Month” and will feature performances from seven area choral groups and conclude with an audience sing-along of “America, The Beautiful.” Kurn Hattin Co-executive Director, Tom Fahner, will be Master of Ceremonies.

On Exhibit at Brooks Memorial Library: Award-winning author-illustrator D. B. Johnson

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

On Exhibit at Brooks Memorial Library: Award-winning author-illustrator D. B. Johnson, Children’s Illustrator Book Cases, 2nd Floor
March/April  2013

D. B. Johnson returns to the Children’s Book Illustrators case on the second floor during March and April. Author-illustrator of award-winning picture books, Johnson introduces young readers to notable figures from the literary and art worlds through delightful stories and amazing illustrations.

His latest is “Magritte’s Marvelous Hat,” inspired by the paintings of surrealist artist René Magritte and named a Notable Children’s Book for 2013 by the American Library Association. Subjects of some of Johnson’s earlier books are M. C. Escher, George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” and Henry David Thoreau as an adventurous bear in the popular “Henry” series.

Borrow Newspapers and Magazines at Brooks Library

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Check out the New Magazine and Newspaper iPad at the Main Desk at the Brooks Memorial Library. Many magazines and newspapers have a digital edition available online and some titles are beginning to only be available digitally, such as Newsweek.

In an effort to keep afloat on the changing tides of periodicals, Brooks Memorial Library is offering borrowers access to digital editions of a handful of titles through a library iPad. Not only will this allow more access to popular titles in the library, such as the New York Review of Books, but it will also allow patrons to get to know iPad technology and digital media.

Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln Wednesday March 6, 2013 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM

Douglass and Lincoln—one born a slave, the other born dirt poor—became respectively one of the nation’s greatest orators and one of its greatest presidents. Harvard professor and leading Civil War scholar John Stauffer examines their friendship, the striking similarities in their lives, and their legacies.

John Stauffer is a leading authority on antislavery, social protest movements and interracial friendship. He is a Harvard University professor of English and American Literature and African American Studies, and Chair of the History of American Civilization program at Harvard.

New Filmmaking MFA in Vermont

by cgrotke | Education

The Vermont College of Fine Arts has just announced a new two-year MFA filmmaking program. 

The program uses a “low-residency” format that brings students together for week-long on-campus residencies in Montpelier for workshops, presentations, screenings and chances for collaboration. The rest of the time, students work in their home communities with guidance from faculty.

What caught my eye was that animation is a featured focus of the curriculum.

Please Tune In! Kurn Hattin Homes Select Choir To Perform on 2013 Series Premiere of Public Television’s “Together In Song”

by KurnHattin | Music

The Kurn Hattin Homes for Children Select Choir, the first Vermont music ensemble to compete on the WGBY Public Television series “Together In Song”, will be featured on the season premiere of “Together in Song’s” third season on Saturday, March 23, at 8PM.

“Together in Song” is hosted by Springfield Symphony Orchestra Maestro, Kevin Rhodes, and the children from Kurn Hattin Homes will compete with 37 other non-professional childrens’ and adults’ choruses from Western New England in ten categories according to age and musical genre.

BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules – Week of 3/4/13

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 3/4/13

                          Monday March 4       

12:00 am        From the BCTV Archives: The BCTV Jazz Cruise 1996

1:40 am          Sufi Wisdom Series: The Chick Pea

2:00 am          FSTV Overnight

4:00 am          Resources for Hearing Loss – Subtitled Version

4:30 am          Ethan Allen Homestead Enrichment Program: John Stark – Enigmatic Revolutionary

6:00 am          For the Animals: Adam Steinberg Cooking Show

Call for Singers: A Cappella à la Carte on June 8

by fomag | Music

Brattleboro, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford is beginning rehearsals next week for its “A Cappella à la Carte” concert season finale on Saturday, June 8, which follows its brief annual membership meeting and a community potluck dinner at Guilford Community Church in the Algiers village of Guilford.

The Guilford Chamber Singers will be led again by Tom Baehr, who conducted a group of nearly twenty singers for the organization’s Christmas at Christ Church program in December. Entitled “Melodies Steal Into My Heart,” the proposed spring program begins with madrigals, travels through 19th Century English Part Songs, and also includes some 20th Century tunes, a couple of 21st Century works, and even some Hoagy Carmichael.

Datura Trio with Silk Road’s Shane Shanahan

by fomag | Music

DATURA TRIO & SILK ROAD’S SHANAHAN PERFORM ON MARCH 8

Brattleboro, Vt. – On Friday, March 8, at 7:00 p.m., Friends of Music at Guilford (FOMAG) presents a concert by the Datura Trio with guest percussionist Shane Shanahan, a founding member of Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. Proceeds from the concert and a pre-concert supper, both set at the Vermont Jazz Center on Cotton Mill Hill, will benefit FOMAG’s Music Enrichment Program at Guilford Central School, where the Datura Trio is in residence on March 6-8. Student participants in rhythm and vocal workshops may also make an appearance at the evening concert.

Vermont Leadership Institute Recruits Southern Vermont Members

by Not Signed In | Education

Applications Invited for the Vermont Leadership Institute

The Snelling Center for Government invites members of the private, public and nonprofit sectors to apply for the Vermont Leadership Institute Class of 2014. The application deadline is March 29th; the class is announced in June; the program begins in September and graduates in June. The application process is competitive and includes an application, references and a local interview.

Weekend Concert: the Who at Tanglewood, 1970

by paulgardner | Music

I am beginning my run as iBrattleboro Weekend Concertmaster with the group that got me hooked on rock n’ roll: the Who.

What these guys brought to the music that I loved and still love is a passion and energy that borders on insanity. Watch Keith Moon play the drums or Pete Townsend attack his guitar. At the same time they have fun with the music. The alacrity with which they pull out of bone crushing riffs into quiet, even delicate guitar passages and back to full roar has always been a strength of their music and that ability is on display here.

This concert is from the Who’s Tommy period. In February, 1970 they had recorded a show at the University of Leeds in England which in May became Live at Leeds, one of the best live albums ever made. This concert is essentially the same set and tour.