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Living story sections

A Word for Wilder

by cgrotke | Obituaries

Gene Wilder. Don’t know the guy at all, other than through his work, but his passing made me think again of how much I’ve been entertained by Mr. Wilder throughout the years.

For me, Willy Wonka is perhaps one of the more inspirational movies from childhood that I return to over and over in my life. A poor nothing of a boy gets a lucky break, explores a highly creative manufacturing establishment, and ends up being given the chocolate factory. Wilder’s Wonka is the only one worth watching.

A few guiding lessons that stick with me from lyrics and lines in the film:

1. If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it. Anything you want to, do it. Want to change the world? There’s nothing to it.

BMH Offers Free WRAP Wellness Workshop Series

by BMH | Health

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is offering a WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) workshop series scheduled on September 23rd (3PM – 8PM), 24th (9AM – 6PM) and 25th (9AM – 5PM) in Brew Barry Conference Room 2. This free workshop, conducted in three sessions, provides participants with tools to deal with life’s complications and to plan for the inevitable bumps along the way.

WRAP was developed in 1997 by a group of people searching for ways to overcome their own mental health issues and move on to fulfilling their life dreams and goals. It is now used extensively by people in all kinds of circumstances, and by health care and mental health systems all over the world to address all kinds of physical, mental health and life issues.

Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire’s Wings of Hope Butterfly Release event

by Not Signed In | Family

SEVENTH ANNUAL WINGS OF HOPE BUTTERFLY RELEASE FLUTTERS ONCE AGAIN ON SEPTEMBER 10
Purchase of Butterflies Raises Money for Hospice Programs

Lebanon, New Hampshire, August 29, 2016 – On Saturday, September 10th, hundreds of majestic Monarch butterflies will take flight simultaneously during the Wings of Hope butterfly release event to be held in Colburn Park in Lebanon from 1-3 p.m. The annual fundraiser, now in its seventh year, is presented by Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire (VNH) and is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the non-profit organization. Purchase of a butterfly for release is $20 and proceeds help support hospice care programs, patients and their families.

Gnarcissus on Olympus

by spinoza | Recreation & Sports

Skateboarding is Coming to the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020. The “sport”, was chosen along with a handful of others, (surfing, baseball, climbing, karate) for inclusion in the next set of Games. Some serious mixed and polarizing feelings have been engendered on all sides by this decision.

While this post pertains to skateboarding, I’m sure there’s crossover spill for each of these lifestyle activities that have deep personal and often iconoclastic attachments, with corps of aficionados who eschew commercialization. There is even an , asserting skateboarding is not a “Sport”, and should not be set up for exploitation and subjugation to Olympic formats.

Coffee Break Fundraiser

by BAJC Shir HeHarim | Family

The Brattleboro Area Jewish Community will be hosting a “Coffee Break”  all day Friday September 2, 2016 at the Welcome Center in Guilford, Vt. on I-91 to kick off the Labor Day weekend holiday.   Starting at 7:30am, we will offer hot coffee and tea; bagels; hot oatmeal, apple cider donuts; an assortment of homemade muffins, pastries, and other home-baked goods; egg salad, tuna salad, and cheese sandwiches; tastes of various flavored challah; Vermont-made yogurt;  a variety of cold drinks, including freshly squeezed lemonade. 

VFW Lunch Menu for 8-29 to 9-2

by LisaL | Food

Menu for Aug. 29th to Sept. 2nd

Mon – soup and a sandwich

Tues –  liver & onions w/ mashed potato

Wed – spaghetti w/ homemade meatballs & a salad

Thur – cheese & spinach stuffed pork loin w/ couscous

Fri – baked stuffed haddock w/ rice & veg.

Get Out Your Credit Card and Join Our Revolution

by Lise | Activism

Our Revolution is being touted by progressives as the “future of our political movement” and features participation by our own revolutionary sweetheart, Bernie Sanders.  Bernie himself will be speaking at a kickoff forum tonight in Burlington, VT.  This seemed noteworthy, so I decided to stop into the OurRevolution.com web site to see what it was all about.  My first surprise was that it was a dot.com.  I had been expecting a dot.org.  But there you are, everything  is commercial these days, even “our revolution.” (Fine print reveals that “Our Revolution will operate as a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization.”)

Stroll the Grounds & Join Us for A Community Shabbat Dinner

by BAJC Shir HeHarim | Spiritual

On Friday August 26, come mark the shift from summer to fall with a stroll on the Brattleboro Area Jewish Community’s land followed by a delicious Shabbat dinner with songs, blessings, and a story. Dinner will be supplied by Cantor Kate Judd, Chelsa Roy of Monkey Moon Challah & Catering, and others.

At 5 pm Kate will lead a reflective walk on the land with prayer and song. At 6 we’ll gather to light candles, share blessings, and sit down to eat together. Following the dinner we’ll enjoy our dessert accompanied by a story from Rebecca Golden. We’ll wrap up with Birkat HaMazon (blessing after the meal) and some z’mirot (Shabbat evening songs).

Narcissus on Olympus

by spinoza | Recreation & Sports

As the story is presented to us…Not as it comes down, goes down, went down, but as it’s presented..that’s how we remember.  The details are left for each imagination no matter how many renderings, angles or replays. They will resonate within each viewer’s minds eye and take hold, get forgotten, drip slowly, or gush from adrenals as needed. Torch carried and passed, the flame of inspiration fed.

A hunter with unrivaled prowess, and beauty, which includes grace, stamina, inventiveness, perseverance, arrives at last on high at the image of himself. His broadcasted self. Reflected in a hundred million screens and more, he cannot look away. So entranced is he by his victory, by his own ascendance, it’s a transfixing moment, a defiance of time. And the hunter, as hero, he can’t look away. Nor can we without effort.

SeVWA’s 2016 E. coli Monitoring of Local River Sites Continued August 17th

by sevwa.wqmp | Nature

The Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance (SeVWA) had the penultimate day of our monitoring program for the summer of 2016 on Wednesday, August 17th. Volunteers collected samples from 30 sites on eight rivers and streams and will conclude monitoring on August 31st. This year, we have sites on the West River, Rock River, North Branch Ball Mountain Brook, Williams River (including South Branch and Middle Branch), Saxtons River, Sacketts Brook, and Whetstone Brook.

The drought continues in our area with our entire sampling area remaining under moderate drought conditions and parts of eastern New Hampshire and Massachusetts being upgraded to extreme drought conditions. It’s hard to imagine the contrast in weather to our south in Louisiana where historic floods are devastating the southeastern part of the state. They received over two feet of rain with the most recent storm; it is the second rain event this year that received over 20 inches of rain. Many rivers have shattered previous flood stage records by 4-6 feet. If you are interested in donating to help flood victims in Louisiana, you can visit the United Way of Southeast Louisiana (). Unfortunately, as our climate continues to change, we can expect more extreme weather events throughout the world like the drought in New England and the flooding on the Gulf Coast.

New Providers Join Cardiology and Family Medicine at BMH

by BMH | Health

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Medical Group Director, Dr. Tony Blofson announced three recent additions to the hospital’s staff.

is joining BMH’s . Dr. Fleet received his BA from Columbia College of Columbia University and his M.D from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He served his internship and residency at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, as well as a fellowship in Cardiology at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, MA. Dr. Fleet is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine, Nuclear Cardiology, and Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. Most recently a member of Senior Staff at Lahey Clinic in Burlington and Peabody, MA, Dr. Fleet has also served on the medical staff at Beverly Hospital in Beverly, MA and Union Hospital in Lynn, MA.

VFW Luncheon Menu

by Not Signed In | Food

The Brattleboro VFW is open to the public for lunch. Lunch is served Mon-Fri. from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm. Specials are $5.50 a plate, and burgers, fries, onion rings, chicken wings, soups and sandwiches are available each day.

The menu for Aug. 22nd – Aug. 26th

Mon – Sloppy Joe’s w/ French fries
Tues – country fried steak w/ gravy, mashed potato, and vegetable
Wed – cheese stuffed manicotti w/ a salad
Thur – meatloaf w/ mashed potato and veg.
Fri – coconut shrimp w/ French fries

Tobacco Cessation Workshop at BMH Starts September 7

by BMH | Health

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is offering a Tobacco Cessation Workshop starting on September 7, 2016.

The Tobacco Cessation Workshop is a FREE quit smoking program that meets for an hour each week in a caring and encouraging group format. Each week you will be given concrete strategies to use on working toward your goal of tobacco-free living. Together, the group will develop an understanding of the dynamics of tobacco addiction and the ability to choose alternative behaviors to tobacco use. The role of nutrition and healthy habits is covered as well as goal-setting and follow-through.

InnerWell Integrative Counseling Services Welcomes Body-Mind Psychotherapist from Boulder

by innerwell | Health

InnerWell is delighted to welcome Heather Kuhn, MA, RSMT, R-DMT, to join InnerWell Integrative Counseling Services in Brattleboro. A warm and skillful body-mind psychotherapist, Heather holds a Master of Arts in Somatic Counseling Psychology from Naropa University. She is relocating here from Boulder, Colorado, and begins seeing clients at InnerWell this month. Specialties include anxiety, depression, trauma, life transitions and relationship issues. With the addition of Heather, InnerWell is again welcoming new clients for adult individual psychotherapy and counseling.

Community Shabbat Dinner at BAJC!

by BAJC Shir HeHarim | Spiritual

Join Brattleboro Area Jewish Community Friday evening, August 26th, for a community Shabbat.  Starting at 5 pm we’ll have some time to enjoy our beautiful land in late

summer with a Shabbat walk. At 6 pm we’ll gather for an end-of-summer dinner, with blessings, candle lighting, and songs. Donations are requested in advance for the dinner that will be provided, but no one will be turned away. Please let Cantor Kate know you (and how many others) are coming.

Dog Lexi In Search of Foster Care

by ttabach | Pets

We are seeking a temporary (two months or more) foster home for our dog Lexi and offering a stipend of $180 per month toward expenses. Lexi is a sweet, super smart, affectionate, and playful mix of Springer Spaniel, beagle, and harehound. She loves attention, to go on hikes, to play fetch with toys, and to cuddle at night. She’s a terrific companion dog who benefits from lots of love and attention. Ideally, she would love to have a fenced in yard as well.