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Tomorrow’s White Elephants

Driving through the Texas panhandle en route to southern California last March, hundreds of Industrial Wind Turbines (IWTs) stretch to the horizon, a dramatic addition to an otherwise flat, uninhabited, drought seared landscape. Fast forward to Vermont, where David Blittersdorf and company want to ride roughshod over communities and towns to develop two hundred miles of pristine ridge lines yesterday. The big picture, as I see it, calls for prudence in the face of climate change hysteria, and an appreciation of place. The cons outweigh the pros in terms of wind energy in Vermont.


Brattleboro Committee Meetings Scheduled

The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee will meet on Tuesday, November 26, 2013 at 4:30pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.

The Brattleboro Human Services Review Committee will meet on Tuesday, November 26, 2013 at 6:30pm in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.

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


Trust Company of Vermont Helps BMH Open “The New Doorway to Exceptional Care”

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital officials announced that The Trust Company of Vermont has made a pledge in the amount of $25,000 to “The Doorway to Exceptional Care” capital campaign.

With almost three out of every four patients admitted to the hospital first coming through the Emergency Department, BMH is seeking a total of $3.5 million to expand and renovate the 31-year old facility. The additional 2,500 square feet of space will increase the number of treatment rooms and enable the medical staff to provide care with greater efficiency and privacy.


BMH Emergency Department Campaign – Join Us. Give Now

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital employees dance and sing their way through the Emergency Department encouraging the community to “Join Us. Give Now.” Make a secure gift at http://tiny.cc/y1r23w. Learn more about the ED project at http://bmhed.org/.

Or you can mail a check to BMH Office of Development, 17 Belmont Avenue, Brattleboro, VT, 05301. For more information call the Office of Development at 802-257-8314.


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 MEETINGS

The BUHS #6 Finance Committee will meet at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 25 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street (Warrants).

The BUHS #6 Budget Committee will meet at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 25 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street.


Brattleboro Un-burglary

This morning when I started my car, I found three one-dollar bills folded up and sitting in my cup holder. No note, no explanation, and nothing missing from the car that I could notice.

A pleasant surprise!

But more surprising, this is not the first time it has happened. Once before, I found $3.

Wassup?


Post-Thanksgiving Low Cost Massage & Acupuncture in Putney

Come RELAX and Heal at Medicine for the People after the hustle & bustle of Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

We are now taking appointments for our Post-Thanksgiving low cost community clinic on Saturday November 30th 2-5pm. Deirdre Kelley will provide acupuncture and Collin Leech and Julie Fender will offer massage. All 30 minutes treatments are sliding scale $25-$50.


Tix On Sale Now for The Nutcracker at NEYT, Dec 20-22

COMPANY OF MUSES PRESENTS THE NUTCRACKER AT NEW ENGLAND YOUTH THEATER, DECEMBER 20-22.

Brattleboro, VT — (November 18, 2013) — Tickets are on sale now for the Company of Muses presentation of Brattleboro School of Dance’s The Nutcracker at New England Youth Theater. Show time is 7:00pm on Friday, December 20 and Saturday, December 21, with matinee performances at 1:00pm and 5:00pm on Sunday, December 22.

This marks the first time in seven years that Brattleboro School of Dance students, alumni and faculty will perform a full-scale production of the holiday classic. Since that time, BSD has only presented “Excerpts from the Nutcracker” for friends and family members of its students.


Town School Board Grapples With Public Outreach Process

The Town School Board discussed their public outreach efforts again on Tuesday night and found that even deciding on topics was more complicated than they’d expected.  A small group of citizens attended the meeting to participate in that discussion and what emerged was that the issues raised at the first meeting, held in October at the Brattleboro Co-op, needed to be clarified and expanded on before focus topics could be decided.  In short, the board might have to do more outreach before they can properly do outreach.

After the October meeting, the School Board assigned the outreach issue to a subcommittee consisting of David Schoales and Jill Stahl-Tyler who were tasked with determining an outreach process.  Schoales and Stahl-Tyler looked at issues raised at the first meeting, listed and categorized them, and brought them back to the board to decide on next steps.  After nearly an hour of  discussion, it was decided that the subcommittee would need to be expanded and topics decided.  Public meetings centered around the topics are expected to begin in January.


BCTV Video Calendar: 11/21/13 – Sandglass Theater, Brattleboro Women’s Chorus, and more!

This week’s edition of the video calendar launches BCTV into the 2013 holiday season with Guilford’s Holiday Art Show, the highly anticipated Fall Concert from the Brattleboro Women’s Chorus, and the acclaimed experimental original production ‘Beyond the Light’ as it makes its way to the Sandglass Theater in Putney.


Attaining The Heavens and The Earth – Latchis Campaign Reaches Goal

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Campaign for The Heavens and The Earth has reached the $550,000 goal!

Recent support from Against the Grain Gourmet, Trust Company of Vermont, and the Cherry Street community – who got together to buy a chair (great idea!) – gave the final push that landed us over the top. Enormous thanks!

What a marvelous accomplishment for our small town, with most of the funding coming from right here at home. And of course, we had help from great friends around the corner in Boston (Thomas Thompson Trust), up the road in Montpelier (State of Vermont, Vermont Arts Council and Vermont Cultural Facilities Coalition), through the woods in Grafton (Windham Foundation)…and a little spur to the south, USDA out of Washington, DC.


Circus Arts and Puppetry Come Together at Sandglass Theater This Weekend!

Sandglass Theater’s New Visions series presents, Leila Ghaznavi with Pantea Productions: Beyond the Light. This new work, a theatrical exploration of dance, aerial acrobatics, light effects, and puppetry, was conceived by Leila Ghaznavi, a 2012 recipient of the Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grant and the 2012 Puffin Grant.  Beyond the Light is an elegant hybridization of dance, puppetry, shadow work, aerial acrobatics, lighting effects, all set to the poetry of Walt Whitman and Emma Lazarus.  Creator Leila Ghaznavi blends these media to create an epic journey of a soul that is torn in two, seeking to reunite itself.


McLean Book Sparks Available

We had a great book publication event in Guilford Nov. 2 for my just-issued Sparks, the collected writing of my mother, Jean Stewart McLean, on the 50th anniversary of her death.  (In fact, BCTV recorded the program and it’s being shown several times this week on the cable station.)

The book came out really nicely; its 368 pages include short stories, poems, four one-act plays and other of my mom’s writings, not to mention extensive editorial commentary and notes by her son (that’s me.)


Brattleboro School Endowment Will Run “Mt. Snow Express Bus” to Mt. Snow This Year

MT. SNOW EXPRESS BUS SERVICE OFFERED THROUGH BRATTLEBORO SCHOOL ENDOWMENT

Looking for a ride up to Mt. Snow to ski or snowboard on Sundays in December?

The Brattleboro School Endowment is organizing a bus, driven by First Student personnel. The “Mt. Snow Express” will leave from Academy School’s parking lot at 9 AM on Sundays in December (December 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29). It will make a return trip back to Academy School’s parking lot, leaving at 4.15 PM, arriving back at 5 PM.

The Mt. Snow Express will cost $5 roundtrip, or $2.50 each way, per person.


I-91 Brattleboro Bridge Replacement Project Update – Week of November 24, 2013

I-91

Northbound I-91 traffic has been relocated onto the southbound bridge. Traffic will remain reduced to one lane in each direction on I-91 until completion of the new bridge in the Fall of 2015.

There will be no night work the week of November 24th. Night work will resume the week of December 2nd, and will continue Sunday through Thursday nights for the next several months, until demolition is complete.


Old-Time Gospel Hour at Dummerston Community Center

An old-time Gospel Hour is planned in West Dummerston on Sunday Dec. 1st.,from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Dummerston Community Center. Guitar and vocals will be by GinMillBill.

There will be no preacher and no preaching, just music and singing. Songbooks will be available. Light refreshments will be available. Donations will be accepted for the Community Center’s heating and maintenance fund.


Learn How To Videoconference at Brooks Memorial Library

Brooks Memorial Library is one of fourteen Vermont libraries across the state that now is offering videoconferencing, thanks to a grant from Google. The Library will be offering monthly orientation sessions on the new equipment beginning on Wednesday, November 20, at 7 PM in the Library’s Meeting Room.

It will be taught by the library’s e Vermont computer intern, Justin Polnack. There is no registration necessary and the workshop is free and open to the public. The 90 minute session will demonstrate steps on setting up the equipment and using Google hangout. There is no charge to use the equipment, but people wanting to reserve the equipment must register for a Google+ account, attend a workshop, or schedule a one-on-one session with the trainer.