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Living story sections

Free Burgers and Dogs for Vietnam Veterans Friday Sept. 17th at the Brattleboro VFW

by LisaL | Food

On Friday September 17th, the Brattleboro VFW Post #1034 located at 40 Black Mountain Road will be offering free hamburgers, natural casing hotdogs, chips and sodas for any Vietnam veteran who come to the VFW from 5pm -7pm. The public is also welcome to come in and purchase burgers and dogs. Again, if you are a Vietnam Vet, this will be free. All others are welcome to come in and purchase food. You do not have to be a member.

Empty Bowls Fundraiser for Foodworks Remains Virtual in 2021

by Not Signed In | Activism

BRATTLEBORO, VT — In recognition of increased COVID case numbers, the Empty Bowls Steering Committee has opted to go virtual again this year as opposed to returning to an in-person dinner.  For 18 years now, local potters have created and donated beautiful and functional bowls to raise funds for the food shelf that has now grown to be Foodworks. In that regard, this year is no different.

“We experienced incredible support last year, putting on Empty Bowls in the time of COVID,” explains Groundworks Board Member and Empty Bowls Co-Chair Beth Kiendl. “The tweaks we made last year—shifting to selling bowls in local storefronts—were so successful due to the community support for our work providing emergency food to all who need it in our community.”  

Some Progress In Climate Legislation

by Kurt Daims | Activism

The Climate Crisis Committee of the Windham Southeast School District is advocating bold legislation..
Two years ago BCS started a Climate Crisis Committee in the school district in order to create a standing forum for climate issues and to keep climate issues in the board directors’ attention. The school district is larger than Brattleboro, and people are more sensitive and protective about it. So, it is a good venue.

In steady times the purpose of education is the transfer of culture and society. The Greta Thunberg Resolution addresses climate crisis through the schools. Realistically, scientifically, in the ultimate crisis the purpose of education must be to prepare students for life in that crisis, and to encourage serious action for survival and rescue. Since we all recognize Greta Thunberg as an exemplary influence on our students and society the WSESD should reduce the school week to four days, so that students have time to pursue climate rescue following Greta Thunberg’s exemplary activism. Many people who say they admire and support Greta Thunberg will oppose the resolution. So, the resolution illuminates latent denial.

Turkey Dinner at the VFW is Back! Public Welcome. Oct. 2nd Let Us Cook For You!

by LisaL | Food

Saturday October 2nd the Brattleboro VFW located at 40 Black Mountain Road is having their turkey meal. Eat in or get a to-go. For $12 you get turkey, mashed potato, gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, roll and pumpkin pie. Serving 3 pm- 6 pm. Public welcome. Call 802-257-0438. When calling in please let us know the time needed for dine in or to-go pick up.

Keeping Windham County Safe for Immigrant Communities

by ESchwartz | Activism

Join the Windham County No Más Polimigra campaign and Migrant Justice for an on-line information session on loopholes in the county’s Fair and Impartial Policing Policy that allow the Sheriff’s Department to collaborate with federal immigration authorities–and what we can do to close those loopholes. We will be joined by a farmworker from Migrant Justice who will talk about why this is important to the human rights of their community and we’ll hear about how this affects our local asylum seekers. Aug. 30, 6:30-8:30

Register at bit.ly/KeepWindhamSafe to get the Zoom link.

No Easy Way To End A War

by RDavis | Activism

I am not a military strategist. I am not a diplomat and I make no claim to knowing anything about how to end a war. I do possess a functioning level of common sense and I use that as a guide to try to understand the events that have unfolded in the last few weeks as the United States withdraws its troops from Afghanistan.

Most estimates indicate that over 80,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan as the Taliban seize complete control of the country. I have to wonder what the American evacuees were thinking over the past year or so when it became clear that the United States was on the brink of pulling all of its troops out of Afghanistan.

Batten Down the Hatches

by tomaidh | Nature

Early Friday, the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for parts of New England. Tropical Storm Henri will likely develop into a hurricane before making landfall on the northeastern U.S. coast this weekend, bringing strong winds and heavy rain.

Shopping Day at Swap Shop

by rbrem | Home & Garden

SHOPPING ONLY DAY at Swap Shop at WSWMD on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro on Saturday, August 21, 8:30 am to noon. We are overflowing with donated items and must make room for more! A few of the many items available are dressers, chairs, lamps, kitchenware, puzzles, outdoor furniture, DVDs, books, file cabinets-2 drawer & 4 drawer….ALL ITEMS ARE FREE

SCHEDULE & HOURS:
Shopping Days- 1st & 3rd Saturdays of the month
Donation Days- 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month
If a month contains 5 weeks, the Swap will be closed

Heroes Put It All On The Line

by RDavis | Activism

Shock. Sadness. Anger. Those were some of the emotions that grabbed me as I read the account by Mindy Haskins Rogers in the August 11 issue of The Commons of Brattleboro. She told the story of alleged sexual abuse by a former Brattleboro Union High School English teacher, Zeke Hecker, and the years-long cover up of his behavior.

We hear about sexual abuse nearly every day and we have come to realize that not enough abusers are ever brought to justice. You only have to look as far as a former president to understand that the deck is stacked against the abused.

Silence is one of the best weapons that abusers have. Sadly, there are too many examples of child sexual abuse, including that of the Catholic church.

Town of Brattleboro COVID-19 Response Status – August 11, 2021 – Masks Required in Town Buildings

by Not Signed In | Health

Update to the Community from Brattleboro Town Manager Peter Elwell: 

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) has reclassified Windham County from an area of “moderate public transmission” of COVID-19 to an area of “substantial public transmission” of the virus. 

All Town of Brattleboro government facilities remain open to the public at this time, but we have reinstituted the requirement that anyone inside Town buildings must be wearing a face covering. This applies equally to employees and to visitors. It applies equally to vaccinated people and to unvaccinated people. The CDC guidance on this matter is clear: all “people [should] wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission.” 

Brattleboro Heat Wave Advisory

by Not Signed In | Nature

 The weather forecast for the remainder of this week includes dangerously high heat and humidity. Town of Brattleboro urges everyone to drink plenty of water, wear light clothing, and stay out of the heat as much as possible. 

People who need some cool air can visit the Senior Center at the Gibson Aiken Center (207 Main Street), Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main Street), the Central Fire Station (103 Elliot Street), or the West Brattleboro Fire Station (16 South Street). 

Dealing Rationally With Environmental Apocalypse

by Lise | Nature

Unless you’ve really been living in deep media seclusion, you probably already know the planet is in big trouble. The planet’s troubles, expressed as record heat waves, epic wildfires, prolonged droughts, biblical rainstorms, and erratic weather patterns, have led to all kinds of disruption here below.  Mother Nature isn’t just angry — she’s in crisis.  Which isn’t surprising since humans have been systematically trying to kill her off pretty much since the dawn of mankind.  Clearly she can’t take it anymore.

But elaborate metaphors aside, I’ve been worrying more than usual about the state of the environment and the decline of the natural realm, from the changing climate to the alarming loss of wildlife around the world.  Although it’s easy to forget these things living in Vermont, we do not live in a bubble.

The World Is Too Much With Us

by RDavis | Nature

When the world is too much with us I turn to the birds. Most of us have been in need of some sort of refuge these past few years and I have found the observation of the bird population to be an activity that has helped to clear my head and get a better perspective on the world.

I am not what might be called a birder. I do not count species and I do not make birding treks to look for rare species. Quite simply, I have put up a suet feeder and a hummingbird feeder in my yard so that I can watch the activity from my deck.

At first I wondered if feeding birds year round was a bad thing for birds. My research has shown me that there are pro’s and con’s but that, overall, birds are not usually harmed by having a handout on a regular basis.

IPCC Interactive Climate Map + New Report

by cgrotke | Nature

Here’s a new interactive climate map from the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:

https://interactive-atlas.ipcc.ch

They describe it as” A novel tool for flexible spatial and temporal analyses of much of the observed and projected climate change information underpinning the Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report, including regional synthesis for Climatic Impact-Drivers (CIDs).”