Seven Days, August 25, 2021 by Seven Days

FACING FEARS

Schools debate mask policies

V E RMON T’S INDE P ENDE NT V OIC E AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021 VOL.26 NO.47 SEVENDAYSVT.COM

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n o i s s Pa

New restaurateurs press on with grit and flexibility — even in a pandemic B Y M E L I S S A PA S A N E N , PA G E 2 8

INSIDE!

Back to School issue

MAKE YOUR MEDICINE

E T A PL

PAGE 34

Colchester firm manufactures mRNA

GO, CANADA!

PAGE 40

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18.2 percent WEEK IN REVIEW

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AUGUST 18-25, 2021

FILE: MATTHEW THORSEN

COMPILED BY SASHA GOLDSTEIN & MATTHEW ROY

AIRPORT WORKERS:

FIRE

THE DIRECTOR

UNWELCOME VISITOR

Tropical Storm Henri was downgraded to a tropical depression before dousing southern Vermont. Adieu, Henri.

SENATOR SCRIBE

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has a book deal. The Road Taken is due out in April 2022. Busy guy. Gene Richards

The union at Burlington International Airport is calling for director Gene Richards to be fired. A petition signed by 34 members of AFSCME Local 1343 states that members have “lost all trust, faith, and confidence” in Richards, who has been on paid leave since June 30 over allegations that have not been made public. Richards runs the airport, and his official title is director of aviation. The union represents most union-eligible Burlington employees, including 40 or so airport positions. “We urgently stress that the following signatures is a display of solidarity in saying ‘enough is enough’ and that he be terminated for cause,” the petition reads. Obtained independently by Seven Days, it was sent on Sunday to Mayor Miro Weinberger, as well as members of the Burlington City Council and the Burlington Airport Commission. The petition did not outline specific concerns about Richards, who has run the airport since May 2013. Richards says he has no intention of stepping down before an ongoing human resources investigation into his conduct concludes. The signatures add pressure to that inquiry, which has gone on for nearly two months. The mayor’s office has said only that it was spurred by a “personnel complaint” made to the city’s human resources office.

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In an email on Tuesday, city spokesperson Samantha Sheehan said the petition “is consistent with the airport employee concerns that the human resources investigation has been pursuing since its start.” The investigation is nearly complete, she said, and Weinberger “hopes to have a resolution to share with the public this week.” Reached on Tuesday, Richards said he was unaware of the AFSCME petition, nor had he received the results of the city investigation. “I don’t plan on resigning,” he said. “I am eager to have dialogue about people’s concerns, but I think a fair and transparent process is very important, not only to me but to the entire city.” Richards emphasized that the airport has seen “great results” during his tenure and that no one raised concerns about his leadership when the council reappointed him to his position in June. “If there was trouble, it would have been nice to know,” he said. Deputy director of aviation Nic Longo is currently the airport’s acting director. Read Derek Brouwer’s full story and keep up with developments at sevendaysvt.com.

FILE: JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

Vermont lawmakers are pondering how to tax electric car drivers who pay no gas tax. Can’t escape the tax man.

HELP WANTED

Burlington has posted its police chief job, more than 18 months after the last permanent one resigned. The mayor wants to name a new top cop this fall.

TOPFIVE

MOST POPULAR ITEMS ON SEVENDAYSVT.COM

1. “Tax Burdened: Residents Bear the Brunt of Burlington’s First Property Reassessment in 16 Years” by Courtney Lamdin and Sasha Goldstein. A large majority of homeowners got higher tax bills, while businesses such as hotels will pay less. 2. “Days Before Students Arrive, Schools Are Still Looking to Fill Paraeducator Positions” by Alison Novak. Districts rely on these professionals to provide educational and emotional support to students. 3. “Burlington School Board Considers Sites for a New High School” by Alison Novak. The downtown pit, the Gateway Block and several other sites have been floated as locations for the next Burlington High. 4. “Rainbow Sweets in Marshfield Closes After 44 Years” by Dan Bolles. The business has served as Marshfield’s go-to spot for coffee, conversation and European-style pastries. 5. “A Historic Synagogue in Burlington’s Old North End Is for Sale” by Alison Novak. The city’s first synagogue is listed with an asking price of $650,000.

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WHAT’S KIND IN VERMONT

AFTER THE STORM

The State Office Complex after Tropical Storm Irene

RUNNING ON EMPTY

That’s how many Vermonters reported experiencing food insecurity in March, a UVM survey found, up from 14.8 percent the year prior to the pandemic.

Waterbury residents are commemorating and celebrating a decade of regrowth and recovery on the 10th anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene. In late August 2011, the storm dumped 11 inches of rain in Vermont in a 24-hour period, killed six people, destroyed 500 miles of roads, damaged or washed away 277 bridges, cut off access to 13 communities, flooded 3,500 homes and businesses, and swamped 17 mobile home parks. The Winooski River, which runs through downtown Waterbury, overflowed its banks, flooding the ex-

tensive complex of Victorian-era state office buildings where 1,500 people worked. It displaced 50 patients from the Vermont State Hospital and covered the village’s main drag with mud and silt. It cost millions of dollars to repair the State Office Complex and other buildings, and to renovate the town’s historic library building so that it could accommodate the town’s municipal offices, which were also flooded. Starting on Thursday, Waterbury will celebrate the themes of resilience and transformation with three days of events. Up first: a concert and a moment of recognition. On Friday, Waterbury is closing lower

Stowe Street for live music and guest speakers. The town is celebrating more than just its recovery from the devastating storm, noted organizer Barbara Farr, the town’s transportation liaison. Downtown Waterbury has also suffered through a decade of major road construction projects, including the creation of a traffic roundabout at the north end of town and the replacement of century-old water pipes and other infrastructure on the main road through the village. Meanwhile, the community, like every other, has endured the pandemic. Farr would like to think the event is marking the end of that, too.

“We’re now able to get somewhat back to normal,” Farr said. “We don’t know where it’s going to end up going, but at least the restaurants are open, and people are cautiously optimistic about normalcy coming back to the community.” To Farr, the three days of events are a testament to Waterbury’s citizens, who sprang into action as soon as the flooding began. “The volunteers who stood up to try to bring the community back were strong, they were courageous, and they were determined,” said Farr. For more information, visit waterburyworks.com/celebrate. ANNE WALLACE ALLEN

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

FOOD FOR THOUGHT. founders/Coeditors Pamela Polston, Paula Routly publisher Paula Routly

deputy publisher Cathy Resmer AssoCiAte publishers

Don Eggert, Pamela Polston, Colby Roberts NEWS & POLITICS

FEEDback READER REACTION TO RECENT ARTICLES

editor Matthew Roy

deputy editor Sasha Goldstein

Consulting editor Candace Page

stAff writers Derek Brouwer, Chelsea Edgar,

Colin Flanders, Courtney Lamdin, Kevin McCallum, Alison Novak, Anne Wallace Allen politiCAl Columnist Mark Johnson ARTS & LIFE editor Pamela Polston

AssoCiAte editor Margot Harrison

AssistAnt editors Dan Bolles, Elizabeth M. Seyler musiC editor Chris Farnsworth

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proofreAders Carolyn Fox, Frank Smecker AssistAnt proofreAders

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designers Jeff Baron, Kirsten Thompson SALES & MARKETING direCtor of sAles Colby Roberts

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF ‘GUN GUY’

I’m sorry you were the target of so much ire at the hands of “gun guys” [From the Publisher: “Sounding Off ”; Feedback: “Easy Target,” August 18]. I thought the offending piece [“Shots Fired,” August 4] by Kevin McCallum was balanced and fair. I visited Parro’s range after the article was published. I took my college-bound son for a last father-son hurrah. He’s not a gun guy — I am — but he graduated from a Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department Hunter Safety Course, has a strong foundation of safe gun handling and was willing to humor me. I also think there was a little awareness that he was about to embark on a whole new chapter of his life, one that did not entail proximity to his parents. I pulled out all the stops, and we spent a couple hours shooting half a dozen different handguns and two AR-15s. Most of his gun shooting has been via video games, typical for his age cohort. It was a lot of fun, the staffers at Parro’s were great, and the facility was attractive and welcoming, right down to the baby changing station in the men’s room! Most of my shooting is done outdoors; I was struck by how much louder it was indoors. It was a full-body experience: The concussion, blast and sound were greatly enhanced in the indoor setting, and I was wearing earmuffs that had the highest-decibel sound-reduction rating available from the store where I purchased them. I didn’t want to double up with earplugs and muffs because I needed to hear my son and be able to offer instruction when needed. Long story short, I totally understand McCallum’s reaction to the physical experience of shooting indoors. He wasn’t making any political statement, just relating his kinesthetic experience. Kudos to

CORRECTIONS

Last week’s story “Thy Name Is Woman” misidentified a funding source for the Foul Contending Rebels Theatre Cooperative. The grant for its production of Hamlet came from Burlington City Arts’ Community Fund. The July 28 cover story about the health of Lake Memphremagog, “Beneath the Surface,” misstated where Robert Benoit lives. His home is on Green Bay, not Fitch Bay.

WEEK IN REVIEW

TIM NEWCOMB

masculine, minimize feminine. The report found that this culture particularly inhibits professional growth for women service members. The military is supposed to institutionalize service members to the core values of the unit, and it hasn’t figured out how to eradicate sexism while hanging on to the club. Doris Sumner

MILTON

Sumner is the president of Empowering Gender Opportunities and a former manager of the Equal Employment and Diversity Program for the Vermont National Guard.

THIRD WORLD WAR?

him and Seven Days for publishing the article. You covered it right, IMHO. Bill Agnew

CHARLOTTE

management, that won’t change until hunters, and department leaders, commit to righting the balance. Meanwhile, the need for more nongame resources, according to the department’s own report, is “urgent.” Jim White

OUT OF BALANCE

I want to correct paraphrased words attributed to Vermont Fish & Wildlife Commissioner Louis Porter in my letter to the editor that was published on July 7 [Feedback: “Name of the Nongame”]. Note that the wording I submitted, drawn from memory, “devoting somewhere approaching half of its resources,” was changed in print to “devotes almost half of its resources.” Porter says the paraphrase is not accurate. I have finally tracked down a tape of the 2020 hearing. He actually stated, “I’m confident in saying more than half of our work goes to nongame species. It’s really hard to offer a dollar-by-dollar breakdown.” Porter’s comment motivated me to contact someone on the department’s fiscal staff, who explained enough of the budget to convince me that one-thirdplus of department resources go to game management. I couldn’t determine the upper end because he stopped responding before we reviewed all items. I believe “somewhere approaching half” is, in fact, an accurate summary, given the sketchiness of available information. I am not advocating for “defunding” game management, as another letter writer suggested. It’s clear that traditional hunting is here to stay. I’m pointing out the totally absurd imbalance in distribution of resources for game versus nongame. Game is significantly less than 1 percent of all species. The truth is, nongame funding has always been “defunded.” Given the longterm dominance by hunters of wildlife

SHELBURNE

Editor’s note: We stand by the edit of the original letter. “Somewhere approaching half ” is a wordier, less committal but nonetheless equivalent way of saying “almost half.”

OLD BOYS, NEW TRICKS

[“Green Mountain ‘Good Old Boys,’” August 11] is upsetting because I hear the same old kick-the-can-down-theroad excuses. This is not a slam against the Vermont National Guard but a slam against a club that denies the problem. Not believing a “good old boys” culture exists is a major problem and a serious blind spot. Does anyone realize what a “good old boys” culture is? The club is created by a group of people with a shared interest who do not readily allow others to join them. They breathe superiority, and their egos are fed by the power they hold. It’s a boys’ club because the U.S. military began as an all-male unit. Assimilation is the ticket to success. Women conform to the masculine identity, use femininity to bring favor or become superwomen overachievers just to succeed. Privileged males who assimilate without discomfort give little thought to why minorities are not achieving success at the same pace. Many are in complete denial of the club’s powerful influence on getting ahead. Bias is everywhere. In male-dominated organizations, the cultural norm is: Applaud

[Re “Sound Effects,” July 7]: Words, words, words! These are but letters written on this page flying in formation, spelling the utterances we force out to the air; involuntary armed forces coerce us to volunteer the wages of rebellion, suffering not the slings and arrows but preemptive security of unnatural projectiles as baffled words sung without the dancing vessels of human bodies, passing in the dark, collateral and guilty without cause, effectual in the dream within the nightmare as it, be or not be the Third World War within the F-35s. Eric Johnson Wallace-Senft

WOODBURY

HOUSING RX

Yes, Vermont has a housing crisis [“Nowhere to Go,” August 4]. Vermont is changing and diversifying, and people — from young workers looking for an affordable home to small businesses looking for employees — face new challenges. Zoning regulations need to consider that people work from home, that “family units” have changed and that employers need nearby housing to attract employees. It’s time for an open discussion about what is truly in the public good. FEEDBACK

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contents AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

VOL.26 NO.47

COLUMNS

SECTIONS

FOOD 38

11 14 39 50 56 58 93

26 38 44 50 54 58 60 66 67

Blueberry Bliss

Magnificent Fair Game Side Dishes Art Review Album Reviews Movie Review Ask the Reverend

Life Lines Food + Drink Culture Art Music + Nightlife On Screen Calendar Classes Classifieds + Puzzles 89 Fun Stuff 92 Personals

Learning the art of pie making in instructor Gary Stuard’s Winooski kitchen

Over the Borderline Dining, traveling and seeing friends in Québec again, enfin

STUCK IN VERMONT

Online Thursday

28 COVER IMAGE DARIA BISHOP • COVER DESIGN REV. DIANE SULLIVAN

FEATURES 28

Passion Plate

New restaurateurs press on with grit and flexibility — even in a pandemic

Code Makers

NEWS & POLITICS 13 From the Publisher Mask Mania

A new Colchester firm manufactures the mRNA that’s revolutionizing medicine

CULTURE 44

Within Reach

The seventh annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival is bigger than ever

Community College of Vermont makes higher education more accessible and affordable

Local school boards take the heat over masking policies

Side Street Effects

Who We Are

Scammers use Burlington addresses on phony weed websites. Customers come knocking.

Art review: “New England Now: People,” Shelburne Museum

Hooked on Hydrophonics

Fair Trades

Tom Pearo searches for sounds in the deep

Vermont Works for Women program helps participants break into male-dominated industries

Reel Connections

Globe-Trotters

Theater review: Shakespeare: Completely Unbound!, Vermont Shakespeare Festival

10.00 OFF Tire Change over

FREE

Find a new job in the classifieds section on page 74 and online at sevendaysvt.com/jobs.

Theater review: Queen of the Night, Dorset Theatre Festival

Cocktail confidence... WE SE RVICE A COND IR ITIONIN G!

Jewelry & Gifts

Free Oil-Change with Purchase of 4 New Tires

1691 Shelburne Rd., S. Burlington 951-0290 | Susie Wilson Rd., Essex Junction 879-2707 EXPIRES 9/5/21 7DAYS

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The creemee tour returns! This year, Eva SUPPORTED BY: Sollberger visited the Dairy Creme and Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks in Montpelier. Both family-run spots attract locals and tourists alike. Dairy Creme is open through September 12, and Morse Farm offers the sweet stuff year-round.

8/20/21 4:29 PM

shelburne bay plaza • 2989 shelburne rd 985.9909 • alittlesomethingvt.com next to the Shelburne Meat Market

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COURTESY OF I-JUNG HUANG

LOOKING FORWARD

THURSDAY 26 & FRIDAY 27

Not So Postcolonial Performance artist George Emilio Sanchez returns to the Phantom Theater’s Edgcomb Barn in Warren with his new solo work, In the Court of the Conqueror. A blend of personal narrative, meticulous research, and contributions from Native scholars and activists, the show dives into the 200-year history of the Supreme Court’s antagonism toward tribal sovereignty and explores contradictions and inequalities in the judicial system.

MUST SEE, MUST DO THIS WEEK COMPI L E D BY EM ILY H AM ILTON

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 62

FRIDAY 27

Extra Terrestrial Featuring guest spots from notables such as Kiah Morris, Rusty “the Logger” DeWees, and Ben and Jerry, the Western Terrestrials’ concept film The Ballad of Ethan Alien is about as Vermonty as they come. This rollicking sci-fi music adventure, filmed entirely during the pandemic, plays at Camp Meade in Middlesex before jetting off on the rest of its statewide tour. SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 62

SATURDAY 28

SUNDAY 29

Little City, Big Bash

LOVE AND LYRICS

The 39th annual Vergennes Day takes over the streets of Vermont’s smallest city this weekend. Friends and families grab breakfast at the fire station, peruse the stalls of more than 45 crafters and vendors, enjoy nonstop live music, sweat it out in races and fun runs, catch short films at the Vergennes Opera House, and close out the day with the Lighting of the Falls.

Robert Schumann, it appears, was a true romantic. The pieces he wrote for his beloved wife, Clara, take center stage at the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival’s concert “Love Songs.” Soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano and instrumentalists Gloria Chien, Soovin Kim, Misha Amory and Zlatomir Fung (pictured) bring Schumann’s songs and his Piano Quartet in E-flat Major to life.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 62

SATURDAY 28 & SUNDAY 29

Bee Happy Now

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 64

It’s a bumblebee and butterfly bonanza this weekend at the Billings Farm & Museum in Woodstock. Folks of all ages at the Pollination Celebration buzz over the honey-topped ice cream, Victorian flower language demonstrations, honeybee dances, Sunflower House in full bloom, and a meet and greet with local beekeepers.

Submit your upcoming events at sevendaysvt.com/postevent.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 63

Vibrant Vibes

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 62

L A. BROOKS

Summer Street Music Series presents its first-ever Black Musicians Matter concert at Denny Park in Bradford. New England rhythm-and-rock outfit Kali & Ancestors in Training, Madagascar-born multiinstrumentalist Mikahely, and New Hampshirebased alt-rock group Senayit (pictured) bring the tunes, and local Vermont burlesque performer Golden Mystique acts as Femmecee. Attendees can donate straight to the artists at the event’s GoFundMe page.

COURTESY OF MICHAE

THURSDAY 26

ONGOING

Textured Textiles Vermont fiber artist Julie Crabtree makes a strong case for mixing your media. In “Threads of Image,” her solo exhibition at DaVallia Gallery & Boutique in Chester, she uses traditional and experimental processes to weave together paint, stitching and handmade fabrics to represent earthy, intricate landscapes. SEE GALLERY LISTING ON PAGE 53

THIS IS A SAMPLING OF VERMONT’S IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL EVENTS. BROWSE THE FULL CALENDAR, ART SHOWS, AND MUSIC+NIGHTLIFE LISTINGS AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/EVENTS. SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

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Career Workshops

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Tall Order

A server at Piz zeria Verità in 2014

FILE: MATTHEW THORSEN

Seven Days is lucky to be able to publish the work of seasoned writer Melissa Pasanen, who draws on a seemingly bottomless supply of intel to explore all aspects of Vermont’s food scene, from agriculture to food service. In this week’s cover story, she found a fresh way to write about the pandemic-era challenges facing local eateries: by focusing on a handful of restaurateurs who, against all odds, are opening new places. With five juicy examples, she covers the bad news — staff shortages, supply chain issues and the continuation of pandemic protocols — while also capturing the appeal of the business. “It’s that excitement about putting out good food,” said Jack Pickett, who is getting ready to open his seventh restaurant, Big Fish, at the Commodores Inn in Stowe. He and others also acknowledge that a system overhaul is required to make working conditions in restaurants more humane. Planning for Melissa’s story prompted some emails between us — and longtime food writer Sally Pollak — about the pros and cons of laboring in professional kitchens and dining rooms. The two of them made good points about the low pay, long hours, lack of benefits and potential harassment. Surprisingly, I found myself defending food service, making the case that it can be fun and financially rewarding, at least for a time. In fact, I think everyone should have to work in a restaurant at some point in their lives. No doubt the experience turns out more empathetic customers and bigger tippers. I got my first waitressing job at 16, working the weekend breakfast shift at a Hot Shoppes in Bethesda, Md. It was uncomfortable — especially serving people at the counter, who sat alone, pre-cellphone, watching your every move. Fatiguing, too. While my young legs ached, I wondered how the much older, career waitresses working alongside me must have felt. The pace was nonstop, but at the end of a busy day slinging eggs, I went home with an apron pocketful of dollar bills and quarters, which really added up. The money helped pay my way through Middlebury College, where I continued to waitress at Mister Up’s. A waitstaff job brought me to Wyoming for a summer of indentured servitude in Grand Teton National Park. I worked double shifts at a restaurant in Washington, D.C. — waiting tables at lunch, busing them at dinner — to finance a three-month bike trip in New Zealand. Working in restaurants bought me freedom and helped me develop organizational skills. Anticipating and responding to the needs of a dozen tables at different stages of eating is a lot harder than it sounds. I liked having a reason to approach people, to figure out which customers wanted to chat and which ones preferred to be left alone. I learned to sell — note: women are more likely to say yes to dessert — and how to uncork a bottle of wine in front of an audience. I liked the simple fact that the harder I worked, the more money I made. And when I did well, so did the restaurant, with very little financial investment in me. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement. At times, I got steamed — like when I realized that one place I worked expected its waitstaff to pay out of pocket when Interested in becoming a Super Reader? we accidentally undercharged customers, but when the error Look for the “Give Now” buttons at the top favored the restaurant, the money stayed in the cash register. of sevendaysvt.com. Or send a check with I proposed creating an overcharge fund that would cover our your address and contact info to: occasional mistakes. Instead of thanks, I got fired. SEVEN DAYS, C/O SUPER READERS Of course, I’m more inclined to remember the good times: P.O. BOX 1164 BURLINGTON, VT 05402-1164 When the place was packed and everyone was stretched to the limits of their abilities, the buzz was exhilarating — not unlike For more information on making a financial the thrill of assembling a newspaper. Our individual efforts contribution to Seven Days, please contact contributed to a hardworking team striving to deliver a quality Corey Grenier: product, consistently, on deadline — day after day, week after VOICEMAIL: 802-865-1020, EXT. 136 week. EMAIL: SUPERREADERS@SEVENDAYSVT.COM In short, pretty good training for life.

Paula Routly

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

FAIR GAME

OPEN SEASON ON VERMONT POLITICS BY MARK JOHNSON

A Plague of Problems

Arrival of the F-35 sowed division, hurt morale in the Vermont National Guard

TIM NEWCOMB

hen the National Guard Bureau released the damning results of its investigation into the Vermont Natural Guard two weeks ago, news coverage focused on how poorly the Vermont unit had handled allegations of sexual assault and harassment, and how a “good old boy” network allowed those problems to flourish. Unfortunately, that’s only part of the story. The outside investigators found broader problems in 2020 as they reviewed internal documents, conducted interviews with dozens of officials and surveyed 1,650 Guard members. Their report paints a picture of an organization in disarray. That’s concerning because the Vermont National Guard does more than fly the controversial F-35 fighter jets. Guard members have provided crucial pandemic-related help with food distribution, construction of hospital overflows and contact tracing. The Guard played a pivotal role after Tropical Storm Irene. Its internal health matters for Vermont. According to the report, morale overall had plummeted, and resentments and divisions festered within the Air Guard’s F-35 program. Most of the Air Guard personnel didn’t trust their leaders, some didn’t feel part of the team, and an “us vs. them” mentality divided those working directly on the F-35 mission, including the top gun fighter pilots, and the rest of the Air Guard. The report by the National Guard’s Office of Complex Investigations found that the Army side of the Vermont Guard had its own set of problems. Members felt uncertain about the Guard’s changing military role and had basic questions about who reports to whom. That created friction. Adj. Gen. GREG KNIGHT and Wing Commander Col. DAVID SHEVCHIK, leader of the Air Guard, downplayed the report of divisions and morale problems as old news, noting that the interviews with Guard members are more than a year old. A more recent survey of Air Guard personnel, they said, showed a major improvement. Knight promised to release those survey results in the near future. Knight took over as adjutant general in 2019, shortly after VTDigger.org published the seven-part series “The Flying Fraternity,” which described a culture that allowed Guard members

to mistreat women — including fellow members — abuse alcohol and violate the rules, sometimes with impunity. Knight, a Guard veteran who served in the Iraq war, soon requested the federal investigation. “I knew I had issues,” he told me in an interview last week from North Macedonia, where Vermont has a partnership with that country’s national guard. “I wanted to get it out in the open and make the organization better. I think any commander takes command with that intent, but I can’t fix the things that I can’t see.” A review of the F-35 program, Knight said, was not part of his request, but when investigators found problems there, he told them to include those concerns in their report. Bring it on, he said. And they did. In the investigators’ survey, Air Guard members in particular raised issues that they said led them to mistrust their leaders: inconsistent discipline, favoritism, poor sharing of information. In addition, many Guard members felt they weren’t part of a team and were just the support crew for the F-35 program. The report found that “past commander transgressions” had damaged morale and led to a distrust of leaders. While the Guard report did not name names, the Digger series highlighted a case widely known within the Air Guard: the 2015 demotion of wing commander colonel THOMAS JACKMAN. He flew an F-16 to Washington, D.C., for a work trip that

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

doubled as a romantic rendezvous with a female Army colonel who worked at the Pentagon. Jackman reportedly flew the plane in a snowstorm that shut down the airport where he initially planned to land. Digger reported that Guard leaders gave Jackman a heads-up about his impending punishment and allowed him to resign and avoid the loss of retirement pay and benefits.

FEW AIRMEN, OTHER THAN THOSE DIRECTLY INVOLVED WITH THE NEW F-35 MISSION,

FEEL GOOD ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF THE ORGANIZATION.

NATIO NAL GUAR D BUR E AU R EP O R T

That move caused some Guard members to believe Jackman had received favorable treatment. The investigators’ report said morale worsened as the Air Guard brought on the new F-35 fighter jets. The first two of the planes arrived in Burlington in 2019, and some Guard members believed that leaders gave priority to the F-35 program at the expense of the rest of the organization.

They worried that the outfit would “lose its National Guard identity” as the home for the citizen-soldier with such a focus on the F-35 program. As the fleet expanded toward its full complement of 20 jets, tension increased between those working on the F-35s and the rest of the 158th Fighter Wing. On top of that, air personnel reported that they didn’t feel comfortable going to their superiors with their concerns, because they didn’t believe complaints would be properly reported up the chain of command. “As a result, morale within the Wing has continued to plummet further,” the report concluded. “This further adds to credibility and trust issues with leadership that continue to be prevalent among Airmen. Despite recent changes in leadership, few Airmen, other than those directly involved with the new F-35 mission, feel good about the direction of the organization, and believe that positive changes will take place.” “In general, there is a sense of uncertainty with the new F-35 mission across the entire VTANG [Vermont Air National Guard]; this adds to the diminishing morale as Airmen lack clarity [of ] what will be expected of them and if their efforts would even be valued or recognized,” the report says. In separate interviews, Knight and Shevchik told me angst and low morale were not surprising, given that the Air Guard was switching over from three

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Belong and be well • Amazing facility + equipment decades of flying and maintaining F-16s to the new, more sophisticated F-35s. Vermont was the first Air Guard unit in the country to receive the nextgeneration jets, and the change took some adjustment. “People were unsure about how the transition was going to go, where did they fit in,” said Shevchik, who took command of the Air Guard in early 2020. He said he has worked to be sure that every member “understood where their place was and that they have an important role.” He said he’s widened the group of personnel at regular leadership meetings to foster inclusion. Knight agreed: “There were a lot of stressors, and I think part of that was driven by the uncertainty. Now that we’ve got the jets, I think that unit has really got its feet under it.” Beyond the specific complaints about the F-35 transition, both Air and Army personnel complained about poor communication, which they said hurt morale. Too often, they saw high-profile disciplinary cases handled behind closed doors, raising questions of favoritism, and heard about scandals and bad news from the media, not from Guard leaders. And when members provided negative feedback, leaders were defensive. Many commented about “passive-aggressive leadership” across the organization. Guard members also said their leaders needed to make their expectations clearer. “Better defining and communicating its priorities, expectations, and responsibilities to both Commanders and VTNG personnel will provide the necessary transparency and clarity that currently seems to be contributing to a culture of mistrust and low morale,” the report said. Guard members also complained to investigators that the Guard’s chain of command was “confusing and convoluted” and that they sometimes didn’t know who was supposed to make final decisions. This confusion delayed decisions on matters such as hiring and discipline. Decisions were often made at a low level, and members were hesitant to appeal to higher-ups. Knight said providing clearer expectations and being more transparent are exactly where he and Shevchik have

focused. Knight said he didn’t wait for the final report to start making changes. (He received a draft in May and the final report, which was undated, about one month ago, he said.) Knight knew the Guard was going to “get bruised” by the report, he said, but that was not his worry. What is crucial, he said, are the recommendations included to help drive change. Among steps he’s already taken, Knight said, are instituting a promotion system that relies on what you know, not who you know; offering training programs so people have more opportunities to move up; and applying discipline that is more evenhanded, consistent and transparent — including sharing with troops the offenses and outcomes of disciplinary investigations. Knight also said he has started sending lawmakers a regular Guard update after concluding, “We’ve circled the wagons for way too long.” Shevchik, a Springfield native and Rice Memorial High School graduate, insisted that the mood of Air Guard members has much improved. He and Knight described a recent training exercise in Nevada as a success that boosted morale. That training, Knight said, “tells me a lot about the direction of the organization, because if we went to that exercise and we were deficient, it would become very quickly apparent” that the Guard still has big problems. “And that’s not the case,” he said. How ironic that the F-35 program — hailed by local, state and federal officials as crucial to the Air Guard’s future — has fueled so many problems. When I shared my doubts that morale could be so quickly restored, particularly in such a large, bureaucratic organization, the adjutant general raised a flag of caution. “We’ve come a long way, but I don’t think we’re there yet,” he said. Let’s hope Knight’s right, that there’s less internal turbulence today. At $78 million a plane and a cost of $33,000 per flight-hour to operate — not to mention fierce local opposition to the ear-shattering flights — the F-35 program can’t afford low morale, dissension and resentment among the troops. There’s already enough division between the Guard and a big chunk of the community that hates hearing the jets roar. m

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news

MORE INSIDE

HERE COME COLLEGE STUDENTS PAGE 18

HEALTH

TECH COMPANY EYES WATERBURY PAGE 21

Weinberger Considers Mandates for Burlington as COVID-19 Cases Rise

TRAINING FOR THE TRADES A HIT PAGE 22

Mask Mania

B Y D ER EK B R O U WER derek@sevendaysvt.com

As kids head back to class, local school boards take the heat over masking policies B Y K E V I N MCCAL L UM • kevin@sevendaysvt.com

SARAH CRONIN

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Washington County, said Brigid Nease, superintendent of the Harwood Unified Union School District. She has received voicemails from people enraged by her decision to require masks for all students again this year, she said. Others have endured more disturbing feedback. “One of my superintendent colleagues has received a death threat,” Nease wrote in a letter to parents outlining the district reopening plan. “Some principals are receiving letters from groups threatening to storm the schools on the first day.” She declined to identify where such threats were made, saying it was up to those officials to come forward if they chose. Fellow superintendents recommended that the officials contact local law enforcement, Nease said.

K TO

SCH O

presentation by a pediatrician, Dr. Rebecca Bell. An exasperated Niles briefly suspended the meeting as maskless residents shouted questions at the masked board aimed at the legitimacy of Bell’s testimony. “Why we are dismissing her level of expertise is beyond me,” Niles said. Marlene Hambleton, meanwhile, praised board members for endorsing superintendent Lynn Cota’s plan to require all students, teachers and visitors to wear masks when school starts. “I personally would not send my preschooler to school without there being a mask mandate for everybody,” Hambleton said. “Thank you for doing what I consider to be the right thing.” After Hambleton spoke, others in the audience heckled her. A similar erosion of public discourse has taken place across the state, including in

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my Wood stepped to the microphone at the Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union school board meeting last week and slammed officials’ plans to require her kids to wear masks when they start school. “We’re here today to say, ‘No more. We’ve had enough!’” the Richford resident said, wagging a finger toward board members. “We pay taxes. We pay salaries. You work for us, not the other way around!” Board members lack the authority to impose a mask mandate absent a state of emergency, she claimed. The idea that school staff would enforce a policy she considered harmful to her children’s social and emotional health made her “sick to my stomach.” The recent spike in COVID-19 infections, just as 79,000 Vermont K-12 students are preparing to go back to the classroom, has thrust local school boards and superintendents into the center of a polarizing public health debate over masks in schools. Without a statewide mask mandate, local leaders have been scrambling to draft their own back-to-school safety protocols, with what they complain is limited time and scant guidance from state officials. Add in a healthy dose of public fear, pandemic fatigue and confusion, and school officials say they’re facing some of the most challenging decisions in memory. “In some communities, there is strong pushback on requiring masks in schools,” said Sue Ceglowski, executive director of the Vermont School Boards Association, “to the point where ... it has become uncivil and intimidating to local school officials.” So far, Vermont has avoided some of the fierce, highly partisan battles playing out over the issue in places such as Texas, where the state’s Republican governor issued a contested executive order banning mask mandates in schools. Nevertheless, tensions are high. At the Franklin Northeast meeting, one resident accused school board members of being “either cowards or … ignorant.” Board chair Mary Niles urged frustrated residents to be respectful, but several repeatedly disrupted the meeting, which included a

MASK MANIA

» P.20

Burlington’s mayor is enacting new COVID-19 prevention measures as cases in Chittenden County have spiked. Mayor Miro Weinberger last Friday announced that Burlington city workers must get vaccinated by October 8 or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. More than 90 percent of city employees are vaccinated already. As of Monday, city workers must wear masks when interacting with members of the public indoors. Weinberger is also considering an expanded mask mandate. He plans to discuss the subject at a town hall meeting with businesses this week. “To achieve that, we would need the partnership of local businesses and organizations,” he said during a virtual COVID-19 briefing last Friday, his first in months. The city, along with many other Vermont municipalities, adopted a universal mask mandate for indoor public spaces last year during the state of emergency, before Gov. Phil Scott imposed a statewide equivalent. But on Tuesday, Scott said municipalities lack such authority, as the state of emergency was rescinded in June. “A municipality has control to put a mandate out there for municipal properties, but they can’t be doing that for individual businesses,” Scott said during his weekly COVID-19 briefing. Scott’s comment was spurred by a question about the Town of Brattleboro, where the selectboard recently voted to reinstate a town-wide indoor mask mandate. The measure required approval from the state health commissioner. Scott’s deputy chief of staff, Brittney Wilson, sent a letter to town officials in Brattleboro on Tuesday asking them to withdraw their request and consider a policy similar to the one in Montpelier that governs only town buildings. “We have no objection to Montpelier’s more narrow jurisdictional approach,” Wilson wrote. Weinberger had not heard about Scott’s position on local mandates, a spokesperson said. Samantha Sheehan went on to write in an email that local leadership has bolstered the public health response to the pandemic. The Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus has brought a new wave of infections and hospitalizations across Vermont, including in Chittenden County, though the state’s high vaccination rate has tempered its effects. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends that people wear masks in counties with substantial or high rates of transmission. Chittenden County and many others in Vermont fall into those categories. m

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ver time, baristas learn to decode the signs of a customer in need — the searching squint for the Wi-Fi password, the meandering quest for the sugar station. At Onyx Tonics, the specialty coffee shop in downtown Burlington, staff have also learned to spot what owner Jason Gonzalez dubs “the Mega Marijuana look.” Mega Marijuana Store does not exist, but the Mega Marijuana Store look is very real. It’s a look of confusion, frustration and disappointment. It’s the look of embarrassment after realizing you’ve just been duped. Ever since Onyx Tonics opened in 2016, Gonzalez recently told me, people have shown up looking for weed. They are sent there by websites that purport to take cannabis orders online and that have claimed Burlington-area addresses in web directories to seem more legit. It happens once or twice a week, Gonzalez said — enough that he’s joked about changing his shop’s name to “Chronyx Tonics.” I was skeptical at first. Who could possibly fall for it? “I would just think you’d have to be pretty fucking stupid,” Vermont Cannabis

Solutions attorney Tim Fair said when I later showed him one of the websites. “It’s kind of like answering a Nigerian prince email, in my opinion.” Onyx Tonics is one of many tenants at 126 College Street, a four-story office building with street-level retail and a bar. In the suite next door, Debbie Safran has also learned to identify the “look.” Not long after Safran opened Houndstooth pet boutique in late 2019, an older woman wandered inside and started fidgeting with the racks of dog collars and chew toys. The woman eventually confessed that she wasn’t interested in pet products at all. “I’m looking for the dispensary,” she told the shopkeeper. These encounters with cannabisseeking clientele initially struck Safran as merely a little odd. But the misguided visitors kept coming, and Safran soon learned, like the other tenants at 126 College Street, that the location has been randomly caught up in an online weed scam.

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HEALTH

A Pandemic Semester Looms, but the Outlook Has Changed B Y A N N E WAL L AC E ALL E N anne@sevendaysvt.com

This year, in the second autumn of the pandemic, masks are still recommended indoors. But about 90 percent of the students are returning fully vaccinated to their campuses, said Financial Regulation Commissioner Mike Pieciak, who is handling COVID-19 modeling for the state. With 13 of 16 institutions of higher ed reporting, said Pieciak, only 350 students have received exemptions from vaccination requirements. “Higher education is in a really good position to start the semester as it relates to vaccination status,” he said. Like other states, Vermont has seen its share of breakthrough infections — cases in which vaccinated people test positive for COVID-19. Among 420,000 vaccinated people in the state, 915 of them, or 0.22 percent, have tested positive for COVID-19. Twenty-three of them, or 0.006 percent, have been hospitalized, and 10 have died, officials said. “There’s been this major uptick in late July and early August in these cases, no denying,” said Health Commissioner Mark Levine. He noted that there are far more people who are vaccinated than not. “So yes, if we’re going to see cases in Vermont, the cases are going to be in the vaccinated people,” he said, “because that’s almost everybody in the state.” m

FILE: JAMES BUCK

The University of Vermont campus

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

MATTHEW ROY

The return of about 25,000 college students to Vermont will look very different this year compared to last, state officials said during Gov. Phil Scott’s regular weekly press conference. Last year, masking, testing and social distancing dominated the beginning of the fall semester. In Burlington and elsewhere, residents worried about the return of college students, many from faraway states where the pandemic was surging. Vaccinations had not been approved for the public.

The web is rife with fake e-tailers that entice customers to fork over their money with the promise of good kush shipped to their doorstep. There is, however, no pot — only customers left with harshed vibes and lighter wallets. Even if the deals were real, such online businesses would be illegal in the United States. In Vermont, only medical marijuana patients can legally buy weed, at least until retail, adult-use shops open next year. The grifters have succeeded by creating convincing websites that feature interactive product menus and customer service chat boxes. As a sort of finishing touch, the sites often list a business phone number and a physical address. For years, the brick commercial building at 126 College Street, near the Church Street Marketplace, has been listed as the business address for various iterations of weed delivery scams. The address appears not just on the websites themselves but also on various online directories. When I googled “Buy weed Burlington Vermont,” the second result was a Yelp directory that features a mix of real medical dispensaries and phony businesses, including one of the latter at the College Street location. Safran estimated that two dozen weed seekers have stopped by since she opened her store. Many strike her as confused outof-state visitors looking to get high during their trip to the Green Mountain State. But online reviews suggest that some visitors are also scam victims looking for answers. “Out $160,” a customer named Sabrina wrote in an online review of Mega Marijuana Store last October. “Wish I could do more to hurt them. Doubt they are in VT, I plan to stop by and check as I’m from New England and visit often.” In their assumed roles as bearers of bad news, the College Street shopkeepers have learned to be direct. “We’re pretty blunt,” Gonzalez said. “We just say it’s a scam; it doesn’t exist here.” Some disappointed customers plead that they drove several hours to find the store. Some ask, hopefully, if the good stuff is in the back. Others only become more suspicious. “They get really paranoid on me, like I’m lying to them,” said Safran, who noted that she’s never even “done pot.” The College Street address is one of at least five local ones to have appeared on the phony sites in recent years, I discovered. Mega Marijuana Store, which, according to customers’ frustrated reviews, coaxed them to pay using nonrefundable methods such as Bitcoin or Walmart gift cards, had its web domain suspended sometime in the last year. It also has been the subject of a fraud alert issued by the Better Business Bureau.

But a new site, weadic.com, is now also using the College Street address. Asserting a Vermont location is one way that the sites’ creators can add a sheen of legitimacy for ill-informed consumers. Similar scams have used addresses in weed-friendly Colorado, the alt-weekly newspaper Westword reported in 2017. “If I’m trying to think like a scammer, I would pick a state that has some association with cannabis in a positive way,” said Dave Silberman, a Middlebury attorney who has pushed for legal, regulated weed in the Green Mountains. “Vermont certainly has that association.” 126 College Street

IT’S KIND OF LIKE ANSWERING A NIGERIAN PRINCE EMAIL, IN MY OPINION. TIM FAIR

Silberman emphasized that even when retail licenses for recreational pot stores are issued next year in Vermont, online sales will still be illegal. Some medical dispensaries do offer online preorders, but payment still takes place face-to-face. Weadic.com hardly plays up its supposed Vermont connection. The site’s “About” page lists headquarters in Seattle, Wash., plus offices in five other cities — but none in Vermont. Its phone number was not in service as of last week, and no one from Weadic responded to my email asking whether I could pick up an order at the College Street address. I had a little more luck reaching somebody with a site called Mega Bud Dispensary. The home page for megabuddispensary. com advises that “due to covid-19, we deliver at your address.” Just below that banner, the site lists a New Jersey phone number and a physical location of “Pine Haven Shores, Shelburne, VT 05482, USA.” My phone call to the Jersey number went to voicemail, where a stilted voice told me in a feminine British accent that no one from Mega Bud was available.

So instead I opened the site’s convenient live chat feature and quickly got the attention of a representative named “Steve Daniels.” A photo of “Steve” appeared next to his name, but his facial features were partially obscured by an impressive puff of smoke. First I asked Steve to explain how Mega Bud’s delivery service worked. In response, he asked for my location. When I told him Vermont, he replied curtly: “Put in your order.” Steve went on to explain that I could not pick up my order at Mega Bud’s physical store because I didn’t have a medical marijuana card. Delivery was my only option. I pressed Steve to tell me more about Mega Bud’s location, explaining that I was unsure about his company because I’d read some complaints on the Better Business Bureau site. Steve assured me that those customers were actually complaining about the defunct Mega Marijuana Store — “which isn’t us but a similar business” — and had posted their complaints about the wrong business. Eventually, Steve gave me an actual street address: 28 Hinesburg Road. The Shelburne street was Mega Bud’s original location, he explained, but it had since moved. I searched the South Burlington address on Google Maps. Up popped a grainy photo of a woman walking into a shop with the word “DISPENSARY” emblazoned on a sign above. The photo had been uploaded in September 2019 by a user named “dgre rtgr.” Something about it didn’t look right. So, I took a drive … and ended up in a parking lot for a liquor store at 26 Hinesburg Road. The street number Steve had given me — 28 — doesn’t exist. After I popped back into our virtual chat room to tell him this, Steve stopped responding. Debunking Weadic isn’t quite as straightforward. Its address is real, and the offices above Onyx and Houndstooth include numerous unmarked suites. “Is it possible,” as Fair’s partner Andrew Subin initially speculated, that the website is merely “a menu for some other way to order?” Could the stash of Alien OG, said on Weadic’s site to be able to tend to my problems “in a very effective way,” be stored discreetly behind one of those unmarked doors, waiting to be purchased the old-fashioned way? Ann Heath of Investors Corporation of Vermont, which owns 126 College Street, said she once encountered someone who did go door-to-door through the building’s narrow halls in search of a “dispensary.” She assured me, however, that none of the tenants inside 126 College Street sells marijuana. If I’d spent hundreds of dollars on flower that never arrived, though, I might go knocking, too. m

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

8/22/21 6:11 PM

news Mask Mania « P.16

FILE: ANNE WALLACE ALLEN

She said she is making the threats public to discourage residents from taking out their frustrations on school leaders. In her view, officials are just doing their best to keep children safe. Her district is also requiring all staff to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. “The pandemic has exhausted people,” Nease said. “I think people are very confused.” Several factors appear to be contributing to the muddle, including conflicting guidance from state and national sources, and the overlapping state and local authority to manage public schools. When Gov. Phil Scott lifted Vermont’s state of emergency on June 14, the mandates that accompanied it went away, too. This included rules about wearing masks inside buildings, social distancing and limits on the size of public gatherings. Scott stressed that wearing masks was a “personal choice” people needed to make based on their own risk assessment. On August 4, with case counts on the rise, the state issued a two-page memo explaining that it appeared another state of emergency “will not be justified this year.” That compares to 40 pages of guidance issued at the start of last school year. The recent document, signed by Education Secretary Dan French and Health Commissioner Mark Levine, explained that instead of issuing mandates, the state would create nonbinding “advisory memos.” Unlike last year, hybrid learning is not an option, and students are expected to return to the classroom five days a week. The document advised districts to require masks for all children under 12, a group that is not yet eligible to be vaccinated. For those 12 and older, masks should be required for the first 10 instructional days of school to give districts time to gather vaccination data. If, after this period, the districts conclude that 80 percent of the eligible students are fully vaccinated, then mask wearing should be optional. Masks would still be required on buses, per federal rules. But the memo raised as many questions as it answered, including ones about an apparent conflict with guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC continues to recommend universal indoor masking for all students, staff and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. French followed up by clarifying, in an August 18 memo, that school districts have broad authority in statute to “take any action that is required for the sound administration of the school district.” School districts “owe students a duty of ordinary care to prevent students from being exposed to unreasonable risk, from

Education Secretary Dan French

which it is foreseeable that injury is likely to occur,” he wrote. Therefore, French stressed, school districts have the power to require masks at schools and may even bar students from attending if they refuse to comply. He likened it to requiring proof of residency or childhood immunizations. The mixed messages — Scott stressing that mask wearing is a personal choice while many school boards move to make it mandatory — appear to be at the heart of much of the confusion around the issue. He

THE PANDEMIC HAS EXHAUSTED PEOPLE. I THINK PEOPLE ARE VERY CONFUSED. BR IGID NE AS E

said on Tuesday he still believes mask wearing is a personal choice, but that in school settings students should be required to wear them, as outlined in state guidelines. Dozens of parents turned out at the Missisquoi Valley School District board meeting last week to protest its mask mandate, with residents vowing to return until the decision was rescinded. Highgate resident Kim Delorme’s voice cracked as she recounted her daughter’s experience in kindergarten wearing a mask, the communication challenges it created and Delorme’s feeling of failing as a parent. She begged the board to reconsider. “Why mandate?” she asked. “Leave it up to the parents and the children to choose what is right for them.” In Canaan, in the northeast corner of the state, residents last week cited the lack of a state of emergency to question whether the school board even had the

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

power to require masks, according to board chair Dan Wade. The board voted 5-0 to reject superintendent Karen Conroy’s recommendation to follow state reopening guidance. Explaining why, Wade cited the town’s size of just over 900 people, geographic isolation and low infection rate. “I think it’ll be OK,” he told Seven Days. “We’re a small school.” As of last week, surrounding Essex County did have the lowest number of new infections in the state in the previous 14 days — just six. All told, it has recorded 316 positive cases since the pandemic began and no deaths. That’s compared to 8,582 infections and 109 deaths in Chittenden County. Because of rural Essex County’s small population, however, the rate per 10,000 people is the fourth highest in the state, at 505. And to date, at least 6,241 children statewide ages 19 or under have tested positive for COVID-19. About 4,071 of those were between 10 and 19, while 2,170 were 9 or younger. None of the 270 Vermonters who have died of COVID-19 were children. The youngest fatalities were three people in their thirties, according to Department of Health data. When children contract COVID-19, they typically experience less severe symptoms than older adults — usually a runny nose, cough, headache and fatigue — and recover more quickly, an average of five days compared to eight for adults, according to the state. Superintendent Conroy said she was surprised by the Canaan board’s decision. But she noted that the district draws students from New Hampshire, and the school district there does not require masks, which may have played a role in the decision. “I think it’s mask fatigue. It’s not an ‘I don’t want to follow the rules’ thing,” she said. “People are tired. They’re looking for a return to normalcy.”

Kate Larose said she thinks the board made its decision partly because, due to teleconferencing problems, the majority of meeting participants were parents who attended in person in a “small space without windows with people yelling.” Her 8-year-old son is immunocompromised, and the lack of empathy for his vulnerabilities was striking to her, she said. “I’ve gotten comments like, ‘Don’t ask me to set my kid on fire to keep yours warm,’” Larose said. Canaan isn’t alone in its mask stance. The Windham Southwest Supervisory Union says masks are optional. It’s not clear how many districts have rejected state guidance — either by adopting rules that are more or less restrictive. Agency of Education officials said they expect that most will follow the guidance. Gov. Scott finds it “unfortunate” that Canaan chose not to follow the “prudent approach” in the guidelines, a spokesperson, Rebecca Kelley, said in an email. “Our education system does allow for local control, and without a state of emergency — which is not warranted at this time — we know some schools may make different choices, but we expect most will see the wisdom in our recommendations,” she wrote. Lawmakers jumped into the fray on Tuesday, with House Speaker Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington) and Sen. President Pro Tempore Becca Balint (D-Windham) both issuing statements pressuring Scott to do more. “Parents and teachers are very concerned right now, and this school-byschool and town-by-town strategy isn’t helping,” Krowinski said. Scott dismissed their critique as “playing politics.” Anne Sosin, a rural health researcher and policy fellow at Dartmouth College’s Nelson A. Rockefeller Center, said the current guidance from the state is “really, really muddled.” State leaders are rightly proud of Vermont’s nation-leading 85 percent vaccination rate, she said. But with the evidence that breakthrough cases are rising, the state should broaden its approach and get off its high horse, she said. The vaccination rate in Essex County is 60 percent — 25 percentage points below the state average, and Vermont’s lowest, Sosin noted. Allowing kids to go back to school unmasked in a community with an under-vaccinated population and a more contagious variant is reckless, not just on the part of the school board but also the state leaders who left the decision up to them. “The administration is doubling down on a success narrative when we need to be doubling down on protecting our unvaccinated kids as they head back to school,” Sosin said. m

BUSINESS

CEO Says $6 Million State Grant Is a ‘Secondary Priority’ BY A N N E WA L L A C E A L L EN • anne@sevendaysvt.com COURTESY OF MTX

MTX’s Frisco, Texas, office and staff in April

The cofounder and CEO of a Texas company that’s been approved for a $6 million state incentive to open an office in Waterbury said he would have chosen Vermont even without the promise of state money. Das Nobel, whose company MTX Group has worked for several Vermont state agencies in the past few years, said he was drawn to the Green Mountain State because it’s close to Albany, N.Y., where he lived for many years, and it reminds him of Bangladesh, where he was born and raised until he was 15. “The incentive is a secondary priority for us,” he said of the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive, which provides newly arrived companies grants if they meet targets for job creation or other investment. MTX was approved for the VEGI grant in July, though the money won’t be available until the company’s Waterbury office has met employment targets outlined as part of the grant. Asked whether he would have opened the Vermont site without the grant, Nobel said he would have, based on his desire to bring good jobs to a state that needs them. “Absolutely,” he said on Monday. “I made up my mind before.” The VEGI program is aimed at promoting business growth that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. According to the program’s 2020 annual report, VEGI has paid companies $27 million in incentives since it started in 2007. State Auditor Doug Hoffer regularly criticizes VEGI and its administrators, the Vermont Economic Progress Council, saying it’s impossible to show that a company wouldn’t have moved to Vermont or expanded in the state were it not for the grants. In the case of MTX, Economic Development Commissioner Joan Goldstein said on Monday that Nobel had clearly stated to Vermont officials that he was considering several Northeastern cities for the company’s new site. “They represented to us that Rhode Island, New Hampshire and other states

were in the running for this Northeast headquarters, or hub,” Goldstein said. A press release from MTX said the company chose Vermont after the VEGI grant was authorized. MTX helps public agencies in 32 U.S. states set up programs such as disease transmission tracking and unemployment insurance claims services. Nobel, who lives and works in Frisco, Texas, is a fast-moving entrepreneur with big ambitions — including a plan to buy the Dallas Cowboys someday, according to the Dallas Morning News. That paper also reported this summer that Dallas awarded MTX a 27-month, $295 million contract for services such as COVID19 contact tracing, though it was later reduced to about $65 million. The New York Post reported in June 2020 that New York City had awarded MTX a $46 million no-bid contract for contact-tracing technology. Vermont’s Department for Children and Families and Agency of Transportation both have used MTX tech, according to Nobel’s wife and cofounder, Nipa Nobel. The state increased its use of MTX during the pandemic, enlisting the company to help the Department of Labor as it was swamped by its new and unforeseen job of funneling much more cash to Vermonters through its unemployment claims system. MTX now employs 1,100 people around the country, Nipa said. But the pair expect rapid growth. In May, Das announced the opening of an Asia-Pacific base for the company in Australia, with the expectation that MTX will have 2,500 jobs in that country within 10 years. The global activity is a far cry from what’s expected in Waterbury, where Das said he hopes to have 100 people within a year and 250 within five years. The promised salaries are high by Vermont standards — $85,000 to $185,000, Nipa said — and many of the jobs will be remote, though company officials have said those remote workers will need to reside somewhere in Vermont in order for MTX to qualify for the VEGI grant. m

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

7/21/21 3:09 PM

news

BAC

Vermont Works for Women program helps participants break into male-dominated industries

K TO

SCH OOL

Fair Trades O

n a Saturday morning in late July, seven adult students gathered in a South Burlington garage for a lesson on bending conduit. Wearing steel-toed boots, work pants and bright-orange Vermont Works for Women T-shirts, the group encircled instructor Danielle Bombardier, an experienced electrician, as she demonstrated the process. Conduit, Bombardier explained, is just a fancy name for pipe. “But we call it conduit, not pipe,” she said matter-offactly, prompting several laughs. Gripping a long tool with a metal hook at its end, Bombardier bent the metal into a 90-degree angle, then used a hacksaw to cut it and a metalworking tool called a reamer to smooth out a sharp edge. Her fluid work prompted several exclamations of “Whoa!” and “Cool!” from the students. “We love tools!” one said enthusiastically, eliciting a few more chuckles. Members of the group then dispersed, each grabbing their own piece of conduit and a set of tools to try it themselves. The students were several weeks into Trailblazers, a program that aims to give women and gender-nonconforming individuals hands-on experience in construction, electrical, plumbing, HVAC and solar installation — industries that have been historically dominated by men. Vermont women make up only 3 percent of the workforce in these sorts of jobs, according to a 2016 report from Change the Story VT, an initiative to improve women’s economic status. And high school technical centers, which prepare young people for careers in the trades, currently average less than 12 percent female enrollment, with some as low as 6 percent. With its Trailblazers program, Vermont Works for Women — a nonprofit dedicated to helping women and girls pursue work that leads to economic independence — is trying to boost female representation in the trades. During the 10-week program, participants learn to use power tools and complete small construction projects. The most recent graduates built a chicken coop and an outdoor play kitchen for a local preschool. Classroom lessons, taught by women who are veterans in the trades, cover topics such as construction math, blueprint reading and material handling. Students also 22

GLENN RUSSELL

B Y A L ISON NOVAK • alison@sevendaysvt.com

Graduates and staff from the Vermont Works for Women Trailblazers program posing for a photo after a graduation ceremony

undergo 10 hours of Occupational Safety Health Administration training, which is recommended for entry-level construction workers. Trailblazers was established in 2019 and initially funded through a federal Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations grant. That support has ended, but Vermont Works for Women continues to fund the program — and make it free for all who attend — through a combination of private philanthropy and financial support from the Vermont Department of Labor and the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation. To date, 68 students have graduated from the program, which costs roughly $30,000 per session. And the program is growing. In September, Vermont Works for Women — which also runs trades and career exploration programs for middle and high schoolers — will launch its first Trailblazers program in Rutland. The nonprofit is also working to design a session next year focused exclusively on the solar industry. This summer, participants attended classes in July, then spent the bulk of August gaining workplace experience through three-week internships with local

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

businesses — from small makers of custom cabinetry to large organizations such as the Vermont Agency of Transportation. Before hosting interns, employers must participate in training on gender equity and bias to ensure a supportive environment. Though it’s not explicitly a “job-feeder program,” Vermont Works for Women executive director Rhoni Basden said that around 65 to 70 percent of those who complete Trailblazers eventually find work in the trades. A variety of life circumstances brought the most recent participants — the sixth cohort to go through the program — to Trailblazers. Jamie Curtis, a single mom from Burlington, recently left a childcare position after 17 years in that field. She loved working with children, but the job didn’t pay well, she explained. Curtis’ father worked as a contractor, and as she grew up, she said, she “dabbled” with his tools. She’s also a good problem solver. She’s hoping to find a job in the trades so she can buy a home for herself and her son. Franklin County resident Christie Fletcher has held jobs as a home-based

childcare provider, a train dispatcher and a baker. For the past 14 years, she’s also worked on and off as a framing assistant for a local contractor. Fletcher said she likes the work, but it’s hard on her body. Plus, she said, “the men in the [construction] industry do not tend to be teaching-oriented.” Fletcher spent much of her time during the pandemic caring for her two young kids. “COVID brought me to my breaking point of staying home,” she said. “You lose your identity,” she said. “You’re just Mom.” Trailblazers is a chance for Fletcher to build her skills, she said, with an eye to a new, more lasting career. Lily Lukaszevicz, the self-described “baby of the group” at 22 years old, came to Vermont from Massachusetts to attend Champlain College but left after a year and a half. For the last two and a half years, she’s worked full time at Starbucks, where she’s now a shift supervisor. Lukaszevicz said that, growing up, going into the trades wasn’t even on her radar. Now she’s hoping to parlay her experience with Trailblazers into a carpentry position. “I need to find a big-kid job and a career path,” Lukaszevicz said. “Office work

absolutely is not what I’m interested in. I work better with my hands.” Tammy Ellis, the lead instructor for this group of Trailblazers, spent more than three decades working for VTrans in construction, engineering and maintenance before recently retiring. Ellis said there’s a shortage of labor in all trades, one that’s been exacerbated by the pandemic. During the last few decades, she said, people were told they could only get a good job if they went on to higher education. Instead, many of them just ended up with huge amounts of college debt. Ellis sees programs such as Trailblazers as part of the solution. Jobs in the trades can be lucrative and lead to long careers, she added. “You don’t need to be a guy to be a plumber or an electrician or a carpenter,” she said. “You just have to be an ablebodied person who is able to learn.” Lynn Wood, another instructor in the program, agrees. She started cleaning boilers 30 years ago, coming home at the end of the day with soot on her hands and up her nose. For the past decade, she’s worked at the University of Vermont, where she’s currently in charge of operations for 100 buildings as a zone manager in the Physical Plant Department. TAMMY Wood said it’s been difficult recently to fill jobs in her department. There are multiple vacancies, and positions that are posted sometimes don’t even attract applicants. “With trades lacking people, there is, in my opinion, a really untapped resource, which is women and younger people, as well,” Wood said. As part of the course, Wood took the Trailblazers group to UVM’s Davis Center, where she showed them how to clean and maintain the building’s huge air-handling units. Last Saturday afternoon, she planned a lesson on low-voltage circuits, which are used in security systems and fire alarms. The summer program includes both classroom instruction and internships. Participants said the program stretches both mind and body. Rachel Boehr, who worked as a teacher in the correctional system in New York before moving to Vermont to attend Trailblazers, said her internship with Wooden Hammer, a woodworking shop in Monkton, exposed her to a wide variety of tasks — from building kitchen cabinetry to constructing an addition on the woodshop. “I’ve had a really interesting balance of yin and yang — very fine details and sanding, where every mark matters, and then

putting up windows and panels, none of which I’ve done,” Boehr said. “So it’s all been a lot of growth.” “Handling materials up a ladder and drilling above your head — I mean, you don’t know how to do it until you do it. And then you look back and I’ve, like, drywalled a whole ceiling on a building,” she added. Lukaszevicz, who interned with Richmond-based Birdseye Construction, got to experience four different job sites, where she was exposed to framing, window installation, woodworking, plumbing and more. “They have done a really good job of realizing that I’m not just being sent to them for labor; I’m being sent there to learn,” she said. “They really are making an effort to show me as much as they can in three weeks.” Lukaszevicz said she’s hoping to sharpen her skills by finding employment with a smaller contractor after the program ends. And Vermont Works for Women will be there to aid in her job search, and beyond. “Once you’ve been in a Vermont Works for Women program, you can go back anytime — forever,” program manager Missy Mackin said. Mackin helps Trailblazer graduates polish their résuELLIS més and set up interviews with potential employers. And if a job doesn’t work out, she said, the organization will help grads find another one. “It’s amazing to have just this organization as a resource forever,” Lukaszevicz said. On August 21, Lukaszevicz and her fellow Trailblazers celebrated their graduation with certificates, speeches and a sheet cake from Costco. Boehr delivered a message to the instructors on behalf of the group. “When you enter the trades, there’s so many skills and so many details and so many practical things to learn, and your mind sometimes feels like it’s exploding,” she said. “But I think what is so unexpected is the other things we learned: believing in yourself, supporting each other, pushing through when it’s hard and knowing when to relax and not push, and just knowing that we can do it, and there’s a community where you can share things that come up for you.” As the ceremony wrapped up, Mackin shared some final words of encouragement. “Just go out and be more awesome than you were when you walked in,” she said. “And stay in touch.” m

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

8/20/21 12:31 PM

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Vermont must rethink the way regulation affects access, affordability, and where and how people are allowed to live. Even with heroic efforts by nonprofits and creative use of the $150 million infusion of federal funds for housing, much-needed projects face uphill regulatory challenges. Vermont should adopt smart-zoning reforms that are beginning to ease restrictions, increase supply and house diverse populations nationwide. • Eliminate single-family zoning. Allow more multifamily units, co-ops, SROs, boarding houses, tiny homes and mobile home communities. • Allow higher density, smaller parcels and reimagine zones that restrict housing, like industrial, agricultural and forest zones. • Adopt inclusionary zoning that provides affordable units in all developments, including college and property taxexempt development projects that place significant pressure on the housing market. • Streamline Act 250 review for projects that comply with voter-approved community plans. What is being protected with zoning and Act 250, and at whose expense? The income-secure often say Vermont cannot afford to compromise environmental and community values. But let’s ask the homeless, young families, farmworkers, seniors, employers and working people: “What matters most to you?” Paul Ralston NEW HAVEN

MIDDLE-CLASS SQUEEZE

monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday 24

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

4v-daily7-cmyk.indd 1

3/1/11 5:54 PM

WEEK IN REVIEW

[Re “Nowhere to Go,” August 4]: Reading about people priced out of the housing market because landlords decide to sell their rental property makes me wonder how many of the buyers are out-of-state corporations eager to make a killing. That’s right, a killing. They get richer, and everybody else, including local businesses that can’t find employees, suffers. What is the use of having plenty of jobs available, and even somewhat higher wages, if people can’t afford to live here? In the past, businesses and colleges had solutions. My father-in-law worked for the Bell Telephone Company. Its employees lived in homes the company bought and rented to them. In the 1990s, Westmont College in Montecito, Calif., found that professors could not afford housing there anymore, so the college built housing on land it owns, and professors are provided with homes. Champlain Housing Trust does not seem to be helping. It has bought up affordable neighborhoods, making outside rent much steeper due to less competition, and it doesn’t help ordinary people. Indeed, it

is possible to get kicked out of affordable housing if you get a raise or change jobs and earn more than your contract with the trust allows. So the middle class is getting squeezed from both ends in Vermont. Lori Wilson

HINESBURG

HOUSING ‘SYNDROME’

It is encouraging to see an emerging public understanding of why housing has become so expensive [“Nowhere to Go,” August 4; “Tax Burdened,” August 18]. Economists tell us the problem is one of simple supply and demand. For those of us who have been following this issue for decades, “investment syndrome” is a more accurate explanation. The housing bubble, its collapse and the ensuing Great Recession were largely driven by the transformation of residential housing into an alternate stock market. At the same time, waterfront property, ski area properties, country view lots, trendy urban condos, academic environs and foreignowned “ghost” properties were largely bought as investments. Following the 2008 collapse, corporate owners scooped up the casualties and turned them into expensive rentals, aided by short-term rental entities. A basic human need — shelter — has been turned into a volatile casino by an ignored syndrome raising prices, raising rents and greatly reducing available supply. It is natural to choose from among the emerging “culprits” based on politics. But those unwittingly responsible run the gamut: “bad” guys, “good” guys, the clueless and the indifferent. Anyone with the power to intervene is vested themselves. Supply is not the problem. Appropriation and upgrading of supply for investment purposes is the problem. Increasing construction of affordable homes will not help. Unless armored with ironclad protections, new construction will simply be sucked into the maw. Meanwhile, no commercial builder is going to waste their time building affordable homes when demand for luxury homes continues to rise. The syndrome itself, a product of lopsided wealth, must be challenged. F.P. Jagels

CABOT

OUR POLICE, OURSELVES

Mark Johnson’s August 4 Fair Game column [“Cops Out?”] quotes an anonymous officer saying: “The job used to be fun and occasionally satisfying and rewarding but now it’s constantly miserable.” Why was it so great before? The police department had more officers, but people petitioned the Burlington City Council to

cut its numbers, which makes it harder for the police who remain. Can our police have a satisfying job? Was it really fun and satisfying before? Do they feel people don’t respect them? Do they deserve respect? What I think: The police should get to know the people in the community. Police tend to cluster and avoid casual conversation with citizens. If they’re friendlier, people might like it, and the officers might like it, too. Are they miserable because we, the citizens, are miserable? Folks, give the police a chance to improve. I don’t know who first said, “Defund the police,” but that’s not a solution. If we have no police, we have to be the police. We have to be vigilantes. Perhaps you’ve heard how badly that works out. We need police to help us. They are needed to be firm, honest, kind and helpful, rather than seeming like an occupational force. They should live here. They are us. We must make it satisfying to be in the Burlington Police Department: enforcing laws, treating people fairly and helping them when they need help. There’s a way out of this predicament, so let’s find one. Charlie Messing

BURLINGTON

JUDGE NOT

[Re Soundbites, August 18]: Once again, another Battle of the Bands is behind us, and, once again, the judges were picked from the Burlington scene and have ties to some of the bands. How about picking objective judges? It was fairly obvious as a member of the crowd that there was a bit of familiarity, especially when one band called out to a judge and said, “Hey, we are playing this song next because of our conversation last night.” Also, what’s with the judges not being consistent with the scoring? They ripped apart one band for how it dressed when most were wearing shorts. It’s obvious that none of the judges has made it outside the Burlington circle as an artist. That’s just one of the many such observations noted about the judging. One judge even reduced points from a band because it had a fivestring bass, like that’s not harder to play. It was obvious that the winner was not who was picked, and even the MC shouted out to who he and the crowd thought was the winner. All you had to do was watch the crowd. Who had everyone up and dancing? Who had them excited and cheering at the end of the set? I guess objectivity isn’t a prerequisite in the Burlington music scene. Mark Robinson

MILTON

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lifelines OBITUARIES Carol Dansky

Want to memorialize a loved one?

JANUARY 9, 1946AUGUST 4, 2021 EASTHAM, MASS.

Carol Dansky, 75, of Eastham, Mass., died on August 4, 2021, of cancer. She died at home surrounded by family and friends. She was born on January 9, 1946, in the Bronx, N.Y., to Ann and Morton Dansky. She grew up in the Bronx and Long Beach, Long Island. Carol graduated from the University of Rochester with a degree in biology. She married Alan Wertheimer, and the two moved to Burlington in 1967, where Carol worked for IBM. She gave birth to her daughter, Rachel, in 1971. Carol and Alan divorced in 1972. Carol then volunteered for the Burlington Free Clinic and the Women’s Health Center. There she found her calling in health care and community health. Like many exiles from New York to Vermont, Carol spent the mid-1970s living communally, first in Burlington and then in a lesbian collective called Redbird in Hinesburg. In later years, she would recount the adventures of the nine women and three children who lived together, including the construction of a 10-sided, two-story post-and-beam house with no heat, running water and electricity on a flood plain. Carol moved to Boston in 1979. After spending a few years using the computer programming skills she developed at IBM, she returned

We’re here to help. Our obituary and in memoriam services are affordable, accessible and handled with personal care. Share your loved one’s story with the local community in Lifelines.

to graduate school at Northeastern University to become a physician assistant. In the 1980s and ‘90s, she worked as a PA at the Martha Eliot Community Health Center in Jamaica Plain and Davis Square Family Practice in Somerville. It was in Boston that she met her wife, Mary Nicolini, a librarian and English teacher. Carol and Mary moved to Eastham in 2007, where Carol worked for Outer Cape Health until she retired in 2012. Carol loved her retirement, spending time on the beaches, birding, cooking and reading the New York Times. She also loved spending time with her grandson, Eliot, born to Rachel in 2007. Carol was diagnosed with cancer in 1996. She showed amazing strength and perseverance as she lived with the disease for 25 years. In her last months, she benefited from the extraordinary care of Broad Reach Hospice. Carol is survived by her life partner and wife, Mary Nicolini; her daughter, Rachel Wertheimer; her grandson, Eliot Wertheimer; and many loving friends. She was deeply loved for the remarkable, intelligent, warm, honest, generous person she was throughout her life and the many communities she worked within. Donations can be sent to Lower Cape Outreach, 19 Brewster Cross Rd., Orleans MA 02653, or WCAI, 3 Water St., P.O. Box 82, Woods Hole, MA 02543. A memorial service will occur at a later date.

IN MEMORIAM

Susan F. Smith

Ann Livingston

Please join us for a celebration of life for Susan F. Smith, MD, on Saturday, August 28, 2021, 2 p.m., at All Souls Interfaith Gathering, 291 Bostwick Farm Rd., Shelburne, Vt. Update: This will be a masked event. If you are unvaccinated or prefer, please join us remotely: tinyurl.com/susanfsmith.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, the Ann Livingston memorial has been changed to livestream only. The service is still scheduled for Saturday, August 28, 2021, at 2 p.m., and can be accessed at uusociety.org (choose “featured events,” then “Ann Livingston Memorial Service”). Please email gary.golden5@gmail.com with any questions.

1944-2021

lifelines

Post your obituary or in memoriam online and in print at sevendaysvt.com/lifelines. Or contact us at lifelines@sevendaysvt.com or 865-1020 ext. 110.

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

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1925-2021

Jean Oliver Koch 1937-2021

A memorial service will be held on Friday, September 3, 11 a.m., at Our Lady of the Snows in Waitsfield, Vt., with a reception to follow at Mad River Glen. Masking and social distancing encouraged. Read her full obituary here: tinyurl.com/jeanoliverkoch.

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Sushi made by Kazutoshi “Mike” Maeda

n o i s s a P

PLATE New restaurateurs press on with grit and flexibility — even in a pandemic B Y M EL I S S A PA S A N EN • pasanen@sevendaysvt.com

n Friday, August 6, Claudia Amparo was sitting in a booth at her Parkside Café in Hinesburg making calls to suppliers of the small eatery she bought 10 months ago. While she coordinated incoming orders of tomatoes, bread and paper goods, employees served outgoing orders of crispy chicken wraps and her signature Baba’s Tacos with housemade jalapeño-tomatillo salsa. Earlier that morning, Amparo had received news that underscored her looming anxiety about the business. The jazz musicians she’d scheduled for the café’s first live event under her ownership had canceled due to mounting cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant in Vermont. “What to do? What to do?” Amparo asked rhetorically. “Today is the first day I am really worried.” Six days later, Amparo, 38, told Seven Days about her decision to build on the success of her Baba’s Tacos food truck and invest in her first brick-and-mortar restaurant — seven months into a global pandemic. The next day, instead of the planned concert, Parkside Café hosted a free COVID-19 vaccine clinic. When the musicians had canceled the previous week, “It hit me like, It’s starting

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

again,” Amparo said with a sigh. “Business was just starting to pick up a little bit, and now we are back to insecurity.” It would be hard to find a tougher time to operate an eatery than the past year and a half. The National Restaurant Association called 2020 “the most challenging year ever experienced by the restaurant industry” — and the trend has persisted. Pandemic lockdown was followed by an industry-wide shift to takeout. As restrictions gradually eased, seated dining inched up but was still well below capacity. In early summer, after Vermont reached Gov. Phil Scott’s requisite 80 percent vaccination threshold, diners flooded back to restaurants. But most of these establishments desperately needed time to get their groove back. Many restaurants were and still are critically understaffed; all of them face supply chain issues and ballooning costs for everything from flour to takeout containers. And then the Delta variant emerged. “The entire restaurant industry has been on swivel, pivoting back and forth, dealing with constant changes,” said Amy Spear, vice president of tourism for the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. She confirmed that staffing shortages are at an

all-time high and that commodity prices jumped, on average, almost 10 percent from last June to this one. Cost increases of center-of-the-plate ingredients such as meat and other staples are even steeper: Beef and veal are up more than 40 percent and grains up almost 90 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index. Add in the roller coaster of consumer confidence and, Spear said, “it’s almost a perfect storm” for Vermont’s roughly 1,500 restaurants and bars. The hurdles have never been higher, and yet Amparo is just one among many Vermont restaurateurs who still have a passion for the food and hospitality business. The image of one of her early food truck customers sticks in Amparo’s head: “When he ate my tacos, he, like, started dancing,” she recalled with a smile, shimmying her shoulders to demonstrate. “I knew I was doing something right.” Since the start of the pandemic, the Vermont Department of Health’s Food & Lodging Program has completed opening inspections for 325 new restaurant licenses and new owners of existing restaurant licenses. The number also includes reopening inspections for established restaurants that moved to a new

PHOTOS: DARIA BISHOP

location. This number is down just 13 percent from the seasonal 16-month equivalent, mid-March 2018 through early August 2019. (See visual, page 30.) Data on Vermont restaurant closures are harder to pin down. But Spear said that the state has not seen “a huge number” so far. A combination of federal and state programs — including Vermont’s robust economic recovery grants and Everyone Eats, which paid restaurants to provide free meals to those in need — have kept many afloat. Spear also pointed to the deep commitment of restaurant owners and operators. “Passion is a key part of the industry, and it definitely lends to the resiliency that we’ve seen,” she said. Seven Days checked in with the teams behind five new restaurants, from Hinesburg to Stowe, Burlington to Bristol, to learn how they’re navigating the industry — and even trying to transform it — during an unprecedented time.

‘CLOSE TO HOME’

Parkside Café, 10240 Route 116, Hinesburg

Amparo and her husband moved to Hinesburg from the Bronx in 2016, when their oldest son was 9 months. He’s now 6 and has two younger brothers. “We were just looking for a house and a better life and better education for our kids,” Amparo said. Her grandmother had done the same years before, moving from the Dominican Republic to the Bronx and gradually sending for each of her 10 children and their families. Amparo came when she was 9. She often cooked with her grandmother and, at 16, landed her first job in the kitchen of a Mexican restaurant. Her paychecks helped Amparo fund a paralegal associate’s degree, and she started doing some immigration legal work. Amparo said she was happier cooking, but practicality eventually won out: She did a one-month training to become a phlebotomist and got a job in a hospital. “The pay was better, and you get benefits, you know?” she said. When the family moved to Vermont, Amparo looked forward to being a fulltime mom. She bought two goats to provide her growing family with fresh milk. But cooking kept calling to her, so, with her husband’s support, Amparo pulled $23,000 from her 401k to launch Baba’s Tacos food truck in 2018. The business grew, and, despite the pandemic, the summer and early fall of 2020 were busy with small, private events. Amparo shuttled between home and a shared commercial prep kitchen in South Burlington. In October, her husband noticed that Parkside Café was for sale. They quickly

Claudia Amparo at Parkside Café

applied for a business loan, putting their house up as collateral. “It went fast. Like, in three weeks, everything was done,” Amparo said. “We were so excited to bring the business close to home.” Amparo considers herself a positive person, but she admitted to some moments of doubt about her decision. She declined to share what she and her husband invested to buy Parkside Café’s equipment, furnishings and name. “I just don’t want to say the price because then people will really think I’m crazy,” Amparo explained. “Who will invest that amount of money — and in the middle of the pandemic?” When she took over Parkside Café, Amparo added her tacos to the existing menu of breakfast scrambles, panini and wraps. She is especially proud of her pork carnitas, which marinate overnight in an 80-year-old secret family spice and herb blend. Then they cook, low and slow, in just their own fat in a copper pot. Amparo initially worked in the kitchen with a remaining Parkside employee, but that woman left in March 2021 to stay home with her kids. Amparo understood: “My mom is with my kids. If I didn’t have that, there would be no business,” she said. For three long months, Amparo cooked alone every day; she would have hired anyone who walked in the door, she said. She’s still hurt by an anonymous Yelp review from a customer who was upset that the carnitas tacos were not

available. “Carnitas take a long time to make,” Amparo said. “I needed to save the business by cooking the rest of the menu.” In May, Amparo finally found a cook, but the woman had no transportation. “I was driving to Bristol twice a day to pick her up and bring her home,” Amparo said. To house the employee, she and her husband decided to buy a mobile home in a Hinesburg trailer park for $30,000, not including monthly park fees and utilities.

If you’re gonna go into the business for money,

then don’t do it. C L AUD IA AMPAR O

Two cooks and one cleaner for the restaurant now live there. “It was worth it,” Amparo said. “I can go to sleep knowing they will come to work.” Parkside Café serves breakfast and lunch daily, and Amparo heads out to events with the Baba’s Tacos truck a couple times a week. She sold the goats because she had no time to milk them. “Since I started here, I haven’t made [any] money, just enough to keep the business going,” Amparo said, noting that her

husband’s online sales job supports the family. “But we are here surviving.” Amparo heard about the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, the latest federal program to help restaurants. But when the May 24 application deadline came, she had her hands more than full. “I was not even thinking about that. I was just in the kitchen all day,” she said. Theoretically, she would have had priority for funding as a woman and a person of color, but she “didn’t have enough information,” she said, “and by the time somebody was willing to help me … all the funds were gone.” Indeed, the RRF quickly ran out of money, leaving many applications unfunded, including 61 percent of Vermont restaurants that applied. It remains to be seen whether Congress will replenish the fund. (See “Tale of Two Restaurants,” page 39.) Still, as Amparo sipped her favorite orange soda outside her tidy café, she said she mostly focuses on appreciative customers and future dreams. “I want to franchise. I want to do things. I’m coming out with Baba’s Burgers — another food truck,” she said enthusiastically. Amparo expects to make money eventually, but she cautions those considering her profession: “If you’re gonna go into the business for money, then don’t do it,” she said. “I do it because I enjoy making that food.” PASSION PLATE

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DARIA BISHOP

Passion PLATE « A HOT START

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The Café HOT., 198 Main St., Burlington

Travis (left) and Allan Walker-Hodkin with BMO the dog outside the Café HOT.

Opening Restaurant Health Inspections

New Restaurant and Change-of-Owner Opening Inspections

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

SOURCE: VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH FOOD & LODGING PROGRAM | DATA ANALYSIS: SOPHIA HODSON

On a recent Monday morning, Travis Walker-Hodkin, 35, was painting a neonyellow custom color he called “cheese” around the new takeout window of the Café HOT. in Burlington. He co-owns the precisely capitalized and punctuated breakfast spot with his brother Allan, 38. The Café HOT. is due to open in a few weeks in the storefront that Mirabelles Bakery & Café occupied before moving to South Burlington in early 2020. That bright-yellow window frame can’t be missed, but the Main Street spot was already high-profile. Soon after Allan, a longtime restaurant professional, and his wife moved from Brooklyn to the Burlington area in November 2020, he started thinking about opening his own restaurant there. He had eaten at Mirabelles on previous visits and knew its solid reputation. “No one knows me here. Visibility is very important,” Allan reasoned. That Mirabelles had been a popular breakfast destination also supported the brothers’ plan to focus on a meal they could handle without help. They will serve breakfast sandwiches on house-baked buttermilk biscuits and sesame seed-sprinkled milk buns made from a soft, rich dough that Allan describes as “sexy as a brioche bun can be.” Textural variety is big for the duo: Crispy wonton skins, fried rice paper and golden hash browns will crunch up the sandwiches, too. The brothers drink a lot of coffee, much of it decaf, which often gets short shrift. “Our decaf will be as cool as the caf,” Travis promised. Before the pandemic, Allan was culinary vice president for the Grey Dog restaurant group in Manhattan. The company was set to open a fifth location on March 25, 2020, but then the city shut down due to the coronavirus on March 15. It’s “a date I won’t forget,” Allan said. “We all got laid off.” He immediately busied himself raising money and delivering food to many of the company’s 150 employees. Every week for more than two months, Allan made 45 food drop-offs in his Toyota 4Runner. “It was terrifying,” Allan said. “I lost friends and coworkers” to COVID-19. He reopened Grey Dog’s original four restaurants by June 2020 and then resigned in September. Allan, a Long Island native, came up through the ranks, starting at 17 as a server in diners and catering halls. He was waiting tables at Five Points in lower

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Notes: 1. Restaurant licenses are for establishments that prepare and serve food for on-premise consumption or offer prepared food at lodging facilities. They include sit-down restaurants, as well as snack bars, coffee shops and some general stores. Convenience and grocery stores were excluded from this analysis.

2. The August 2020 spike represents a backlog of pending on-site inspections that were done virtually mid-March through mid-June 2020.

JUL.

JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

Manhattan when he saw a chef butchering a whole pig. “I begged them to make me a prep cook,” the former vegan said. “The first week, I put my hand through a mandoline [slicer]. I went to the ER, got 12 stitches in my right index finger and went right back on the mandoline.” Blood and bravado aside, Allan said, “I fucking love restaurants. It’s all about people: the people who walk through the door, the people you work hip to hip with.” But he was done with New York City, as was his brother, whose career as a commercial and music video producer took a hit during the pandemic. The two have always been close; as soon as Travis and his partner moved from Queens to Vermont in early 2021, a fraternal food business was in the works. “I dream about restaurants 24-7,” Allan said. “I’ve always wanted a restaurant.” The brothers have sourced almost all their equipment secondhand and are doing as much of the work themselves as possible on the 1,200-square-foot space. Outlaw country music — from Johnny Cash to Lil Nas X — and Allan’s dog, BMO, have been their constant companions. Other family members came from Pennsylvania and Oswego, N.Y., to help out for four days. The crew took the whole kitchen apart and put it back together. “We’ve been raised to fix things,” Travis said. After first declining to specify their financial investment in restaurant setup, the brothers reconsidered and provided the exact amount spent as of 1 p.m. on August 16: $50,319.91 — “obviously, not including sweat equity,” Travis qualified. They had run that decision by their valued advisers from SCORE, a U.S. Small Business Administration-supported network of volunteer business mentors. Sharing the figure is their small way of increasing financial transparency in an industry that is known for huge pay disparity and related power inequities, they explained. “There needs to be a cultural shift,” Travis said, “and we’re going to do our best to be a part of that positive change.”

Glory Salad at Big Fish in Stowe

Big Fish’s Jack Pickett

It’s that excitement about putting out good food. JAC K P IC K E T T

FISH TALES

Big Fish, Commodores Inn, 823 S. Main St., Stowe

Jack Pickett was surprised by the success of the drop-in job fair he held on August 13, about two weeks before he hoped to open Big Fish in Stowe. Seven prospective applicants stopped by, six of whom seemed promising. “We’re giving food out. I don’t know if that has anything to do with it,” Pickett said, half joking. He was sitting at the

Tiramisu

restaurant’s new zinc bar in the center of the 80-seat dining room. Samples from the menu were spread across the bar: spicy calamari, sweet-and-sour meatballs, peppery fries that remained miraculously crisp even as they sat. The name of Pickett’s new spot, which looks out over a small pond, alludes to its seafood emphasis, but it could refer to the man himself: Pickett, 68, is a mainstay of the Stowe restaurant community. A lot has changed since the chef started his first job there, at Ten Acres Lodge, in

the late 1970s: “We’d put an ad out for a sous chef, and six culinary school grads would apply,” he recalled. In 1992, Pickett opened Blue Moon Café, a pioneer of locavore cuisine. In 2001, he was burned out and sold it to his manager, who kept it going another decade. Pickett took a break from ownership and worked as a carpenter and for other local restaurants until he launched his next enterprise, Frida’s Taqueria, in 2009. It did well, he said, until landlord issues caused its untimely demise in 2014. The restaurateur jumped immediately into a new venture, Phoenix Table and Bar, which was undercapitalized from the start, he said, and lasted only two years. Pickett served as general manager and executive chef of von Trapp Brewing Bierhall Restaurant from its opening in September 2017 until November 2020. The fall 2020 virus surge had slowed restaurant traffic to a crawl. When the owner of the Commodores Inn approached Pickett about taking on the hotel’s restaurant space, he just couldn’t help himself. The bierhall had offered good compensation and a fun challenge, he said, “but it wasn’t mine.” The chef felt like he had at least one more restaurant in him. At the end of his seventh decade, Pickett knows he’s pushing it a little to be opening the seventh restaurant of his career. Still, he said, “I’m a pretty highenergy person.” Plus, he added with a grin, “I’m not sane.” He also had a silent business partner ready to underwrite a restaurant project. Pickett is known for steering operations with a firm, supportive hand and a sense of humor. “I knew I could learn more from him,” said Big Fish sous chef Jacub Burton, who worked for Pickett at the bierhall. In fact, Pickett said, he had a harder time finding construction workers for the roughly $400,000 renovation than kitchen staff. He’s always done a lot of the construction work on his own restaurants. “This time, I said, ‘I’m just gonna be the guy who sits in the office.’ Didn’t happen. I had cooks doing carpentry.” Pickett’s reputation was likely a factor in drawing potential employees. Jen Grant, who applied for a serving position, grew up in Stowe. The 33-year-old remembered working with Pickett when she was 16. “Jack’s been around a long time, and he was always nice,” she said. Grant was happy to hear that Big Fish servers will start at $10 an hour plus tips. “This is what I do best,” she said. “If you can make good

PASSION PLATE

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» P.32 31

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money and if you’re in a respectful work environment, it’s a good job.” Pickett recognizes that restaurants are going through what he described as “an industry reckoning” right now. “Why do you think nobody wants to work in restaurants?” he asked, then answered himself. “Eighteen-year-old women get raped. Young cooks get screamed at. I get it. We’ve got to reinvent the systems.” As Pickett and his team buttoned up Big Fish last week, he was also dealing with basic issues such as the cost of flour, which was up sevenfold, to about $70 for a 50-pound bag, and the lack of crab for crab cakes. “They can’t find people to pick the crab,” he lamented. Distribution is unreliable, too. Trucks that used to show up by 8 a.m. are rolling in way too close to service at 4 p.m. due to a lack of drivers. Rising COVID-19 cases were also keeping him up at night, Pickett said, even though Big Fish has a 60-seat pondside deck and will offer takeout. “The food service industry is at the top of the heap in terms of trouble right now,” Pickett said. Despite all the challenges, the veteran restaurateur said, “I’m sort of eternally optimistic.” He always comes back to the fact that this is what he loves to do. “I’ve tried other stuff. It’s so hard to get it out of my system,” Pickett said. “It’s that excitement about putting out good food. This morning when I got here, all I had to see was people cooking in the kitchen, and I felt it again.”

ROLL WITH IT

Sushi Maeda, 152 Cherry St., Burlington

Since the fall of 2017, white lettering on the glass doors of the former Outdoor Gear Exchange on Cherry Street in Burlington has promised that Sushi Maeda is “coming soon.” Close to four years later, the lettering has finally been scrubbed off, and “soon” will be here within a few weeks, promised Patrick Dougherty, the restaurant’s general manager. Sushi Maeda’s original timeline ran into contractor issues, which Dougherty declined to detail. A new contractor came on board in early 2020 but couldn’t get started “in earnest” until earlier this year due to the pandemic, he said. People will know the day has finally arrived, Dougherty said, when he cuts his hair to celebrate the long-awaited opening. It currently reaches his low back, when not pulled back in a ponytail with a backward baseball cap jammed on top. 32

DARIA BISHOP

Passion PLATE «

The team behind Sushi Maeda on Burlington’s Cherry Street. From left: Reiko Maeda, Patrick Dougherty, Kazutoshi “Mike” Maeda, Shane Hardy-Johnson and Minori Ueki

Dougherty, 38, moved to Vermont from Baltimore in 2001. He taught snowboarding in the winter and cooked in the summer. For a decade, he has worked and trained with Kazutoshi “Mike” Maeda, owner of the long-planned Sushi Maeda and also of tiny Bento on College Street. Dougherty was also part of the opening team alongside Maeda at Chris Russo’s San Sai Japanese Restaurant, which operated from 2011 to 2015 in the Lake Street building that is now Foam Brewers. For the last few years and throughout the pandemic, Maeda has been crafting his pristine jewels of deep red tuna with pickled daikon or yellowtail with fragrant shiso leaf within a protective plexiglass cubicle at Bento. According to Dougherty, “Mike-san,” as he calls his mentor and boss, prefers to work rather than talk. “He’s the kind of guy who needs to work every day, very passion-driven,” Dougherty said. “He takes his sushi very seriously.” There’s ample proof of that in the rear of the new restaurant, near the kitchen where the team will make ramen, rice bowls and dumplings. Dougherty showed off a pile of press clippings. They included a 2006 Saveur magazine featuring accolades for Tsuki, a previous restaurant Maeda owned in New York City. In 2002, the New York Times praised Tsuki along with another of Maeda’s restaurants, also named Sushi Maeda, and its “veteran sushi chef” for being “several cuts above the ordinary.”

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

On a recent tour through the massive 9,400-square-foot space, Dougherty showed off the 40-foot bar and several eating areas including a reservation-only omakase (chef ’s choice) sushi bar and another 16-seat robatayaki bar. There, diners will receive their food on paddles hot off special grills that burn Japanese oak charcoal. Dougherty declined to share the total investment Maeda has made into the new restaurant. “I can share that it was four times more than we thought,” he divulged, due to skyrocketing prices of building materials in the pandemic. The pandemic also means that customers will have to wait at least until fall to sit in any of the eatery’s 150 seats. Initially, Sushi Maeda will open only for takeout and delivery, due to the industry’s current staffing shortages and also to protect the health of Maeda, who is in his seventies, Dougherty said. On the flip side, Dougherty asserted that Sushi Maeda’s limited initial opening could actually be “a blessing in disguise on an ambitious project like this.” He feels pretty solid as a sushi chef after his years of training with Maeda, but he’ll do what it takes to get the restaurant up and running. “I’m gonna be the dishwasher for now,” Dougherty said. “My hope is, when college students are back, staffing will be easier. A lot of people like working in a brand-new restaurant.”

REROUTED AND ROOTED

The Tillerman, 1868 N. Route 116, Bristol

In the spring of 2020, Kate Baron and Jason Kirmse were poised to move to Spain with their sons, Henry and Oliver, now 8 and 6. Kirmse had sold most of his ownership stake in the small San Francisco restaurant group he had cofounded; the family had plane tickets and a visa appointment at the Spanish consulate. The couple had zeroed in on Spain for its rich food and wine culture and affordability. Baron and Kirmse figured they had enough money saved to qualify for the country’s nonworking visa program and hoped to find the right spot to invest in their own food- or beverage-related business. The pandemic canceled that plan, and the family found themselves locked down in their Marin County rental home amid “too many fires and too many people,” Baron said. When COVID-19 restrictions eased a little, Baron, 46, and Kirmse, 43, packed up their car and, with their kids, embarked on a road trip across the country. They sought an escape route from climate disasters, overcrowding and sky-high real estate prices. They also wanted to be closer to family in New York and Florida. Baron had attended the University of Vermont, which put the Green Mountain State on their short list.

rocking chairs on the porch. They share a deep love of food and hospitality, they explained, though each came to it from different angles. Baron, who is originally from Westchester, N.Y., has worked in sustainable agriculture and catering and as a personal chef. As a kid, she said, “my favorite game was ‘restaurant.’ I’d print out menus and force my family to be my guests.” Her go-to offering? Tuna melts, she said. Kirmse started his hospitality career at Bennigan’s, a chain restaurant in his home state of Florida. He took to it immediately:

in 2010. He poured her a glass of sauvignon blanc and, after a month of bar-side flirtation, they went on their first date. The couple became known for throwing elaborate dinner parties. “It was where we came alive and where we thrived,” Baron said. “We work really well together.” The Tillerman is their first joint business venture. And the pandemic has provided them some extra challenges. Baron spent four or five weeks, she said, calling contractors in Addison and Chittenden counties. She estimates that 15 to 20 told her, at best, they couldn’t fit in the

CALEB KENNA

Among the potential properties they found for sale was Mary’s Restaurant and the Inn at Baldwin Creek on Route 116 in Bristol. Over nearly 40 years, founders Linda Harmon and Doug Mack had built the business into a farm-to-table dining and event destination. Baron and Kirmse made an offer on Mary’s but were outbid. When that sale fell through, they had a second chance. On June 11, they closed on the property. For $675,000, the couple had bought a home for their family along with 12 and a half acres and a rambling inn and restaurant

Mary’s Restaurant at the Inn at Baldwin Creek will soon become the Tillerman. New owners Kate Baron and Jason Kirmse with their sons, Oliver (left) and Henry

in need of a significant update. To get started, they planned to add a room to the five-room inn and open a casual restaurant by the end of the summer. The new business will be named the Tillerman, after the couple’s favorite Cat Stevens album, Tea for the Tillerman. When Seven Days visited on a warm early August morning, Henry and Oliver were busy rescuing frogs from the old swimming pool behind the family’s house. Inside the inn and restaurant building, a crew was finishing up the kitchen flooring around a newly installed wood-fired pizza oven and repairing some of the 18th-century framing. A truck backed into the driveway to maneuver a large dumpster into place — “our third,” Baron said. Navigating past boxes of tile stacked in the walkway to the inn, she and Kirmse sat down for a rare quiet moment in

We need to reimagine restaurant culture.

It’s not sustainable. K ATE BAR O N

“It’s fun. It’s lively. It’s different,” he said. “I liked the culture and the community at restaurants. And I like to drink and eat.” He later worked in sales and real estate but always came back to restaurants. Kirmse even applied to culinary school but decided the cost was too high. Baron was Kirmse’s first customer at Fat Angel Food & Libation, a San Francisco neighborhood restaurant he cofounded

project until the end of the year. The couple eventually found a crew of two from South Carolina who came for five weeks this summer. “Without them, we’d be dead in the water,” Kirmse said. By early August, Mountain Builders of Bristol found some time to keep the renovations moving along. The Tillerman’s projected opening is now late September.

Baron and Kirmse declined to share specifics of their budget, but they did reveal that the pizza oven alone cost $25,000 with installation. That oven is at the heart of the Tillerman kitchen and its menu. Baron and Kirmse are pairing up with chef Justin Wright, who also relocated from the Bay Area during the pandemic. Wright previously headed up the kitchen at the pandemic-born and now-shuttered Ç’est Ça in Burlington and later cohosted a weekly fish-focused pop-up market in Bristol. In addition to pizzas, the trio envisions offerings such as woodoven-roasted shellfish and composed vegetable plates. Groups of diners will be able to dig into whole roasted porchettas and whole fish. Baron and Kirmse thought they’d dodged the COVID-19 bullet with this project, but given the surging Delta variant, now they’re not so sure. On a tour through the first floor of the building, Baron paused by a small pantry that has a door to the outside. “We could do takeout from here, depending how COVID behaves,” she said. “We thought our timing was brilliant,” Kirmse admitted. “We’re just like, Oh, this is great. By summer everybody will get the vaccine, and by September it’s gonna be gangbusters, and we’re just going to be the smartest people on Earth. Now, we’re looking at it like, Oh, man.” At least their loan payment is manageable and they don’t have investors to please, Kirmse remarked. The hurdle of staffing comes next. Baron and Kirmse are hoping that they can draw employees by offering a healthier work environment than is typical of the industry. “We know the life of running restaurants: It’s seven days a week, and it’s stressful,” Kirmse said. The Tillerman will likely not be open daily and will close for owner and staff vacations, he noted. “Jason spends a lot of time thinking about how we need to reimagine restaurant culture. It’s not sustainable longterm,” his wife added. Kirmse believes that extended unemployment benefits have given people time to reconsider how they want to reenter the workforce. Whether prioritizing pay equity, work schedules or personal safety, “I think some people are reinventing their lives,” he said. But, Kirmse added, “I think some people will eventually come back to restaurants because, when it’s in you, it’s in you. And maybe they’ll come back to a place like ours where we’re considering the things that drove people away in the first place.” m

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Code Makers

A new Colchester firm manufactures the mRNA that’s revolutionizing medicine B Y K E N PI CA RD • ken@sevendaysvt.com

PHOTOS: BEAR CIERI

ive years ago, when Christian Cobaugh had the idea of starting a biotech company to manufacture mRNA, the genetic term wasn’t in the vernacular of most nonscientists. COVID-19 changed that and much more for Cobaugh, a 49-year-old pandemic refugee from Massachusetts. Given the groundbreaking success of mRNA-based vaccines in protecting against the virus, he had no trouble convincing investors of his product’s value or his company’s growth potential. The Colchester-based biotech firm of which he’s founder and CEO, Vernal Biosciences, manufactures high-purity mRNA for medical research and therapies. Messenger ribonucleic acid, or mRNA, is the genetic blueprint that our bodies’ cells produce and use to make specific proteins. But mRNA also can be synthesized in a laboratory by rearranging its four nucleotides, or building blocks. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use mRNA to enable the body’s immune system to recognize and defend against spike proteins on the surface of SARSCoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Though the technology may be news to COVID-19 vaccine recipients, synthetic mRNA has been around for decades. In the last 10 years, it’s been used to create treatments for certain cancers and blood diseases, some of which the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has already approved. Synthetic mRNA has also been used to develop experimental vaccines against other microbes. Last week, Moderna announced that it’s starting human trials of the first-ever mRNA vaccine against HIV. Although mRNA technology has demonstrated its extraordinary potential for preventing disease and extending lives, only about a half dozen firms worldwide specialize in making it in a highly pure form, Cobaugh said. Most of those are in the business of “drug hunting,” or developing marketable medicines that will earn them hefty profits. “So if you’re just a random … biotech or even an academic researcher, and you want somebody to make your mRNA — which is probably a good idea, because it’s hard to make — those guys aren’t an option,” Cobaugh said. “You’re going to need double-digit millions to get their attention, and even then you’ll have to take a number.”

TECHNOLOGY

Intern Hana Kibe-Chartier watching senior scientist Lynda Menard prepare samples

It’s difficult to synthesize large volumes of mRNA that are pure, stable and consistent; even a tiny inaccuracy can ruin months of research. Cobaugh’s goal is to sell high-purity mRNA to anyone who needs it — from cell and animal researchers to small pharmaceutical firms — without a waiting period of months. “Everybody who needs mRNA should have a chance to get it,” he said. “So that’s what Vernal is all about — democratizing access.”

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Cobaugh met a reporter last month on Water Tower Hill in Colchester, where Vernal Biosciences leases commercial space formerly occupied by the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. In November 2020, the college announced that, after years of steadily declining enrollment, it would close its satellite campus in 2021 once all of its Vermont-based students had completed their studies. Though expensive, the space was a fortuitous find, Cobaugh said. Larger cities

such as Boston, New York, Seattle and Philadelphia have what are called “launch labs” — low-cost, low-risk incubator spaces for life-science startups that offer shared resources such as offices, laboratories, freezers, cafeterias and seed capital. Vermont has none. The nearest launch lab is the Dartmouth Regional Technology Center in Lebanon, N.H., home to 20 companies ranging from Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs to Javelin Oncology. Fortunately for Cobaugh, the former pharmacy school space was “move-in ready” and outfitted with cold-storage units, laboratories and a clean room previously used as a formulary for teaching students to compound medicines. Vernal Biosciences took occupancy in mid-April and was up and running with its first purchase order by mid-May — three months ahead of schedule. “That’s good and bad,” Cobaugh said. “You’re not quite ready, but you also have revenue much earlier.” To a visitor touring Vernal Biosciences, it was clear that Cobaugh and his staff of seven have plenty of room to grow — and are still settling into their new digs. The company had just installed a new $40,000 imaging station. The size of a computer printer, the device separates mRNA molecules according to their size and electrical charge and measures their purity. Another comparably pricey piece of equipment, a purification station, sat on a pallet in bubble wrap awaiting the vendor who would set it up. Notwithstanding the unopened boxes and yet-to-be-installed lab equipment, Cobaugh is no newcomer to the world of life-sciences manufacturing. The St. Louis native earned his master’s degree in molecular pharmacology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., in 1999 and his PhD in cell and molecular biology at the University of Texas at Austin in 2007. In 2014, while in California for a postdoctoral fellowship, Cobaugh landed a job with Alexion Pharmaceuticals, a global firm that specializes in therapies for rare diseases. He was hired for his expertise in monoclonal antibodies, which, he noted, “are [in] some of the top-selling drugs in the world right now.” In addition to their use in treating conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and Crohn’s disease, monoclonal antibodies are being studied as a prevention aid and treatment for COVID-19.

From left: John Evans, Peter Roy, Christian Cobaugh, Elias Joslin, Lynda Menard and Hana Kibe-Chartier

When Cobaugh came on board, Alexion had just partnered with a brand-new biotech firm called Moderna, and he was the first scientist recruited to work with its mRNA technology. Alexion was interested in mRNA, Cobaugh explained, because many rare diseases are caused by genetic defects involving a dearth or absence of specific proteins. The idea was to give patients mRNA to replace the proteins their bodies don’t produce naturally. By 2015, the Alexion-Moderna partnership wound down, and Cobaugh’s employer shifted its focus from earlystage drug research to later-stage research that was more commercially viable. Cobaugh moved on to other biotech firms — Arcturus Therapeutics, Translate Bio, Omega Therapeutics — that worked on drug discovery and mRNA technologies. But, as Cobaugh explained, some mid- to large-size pharmaceutical firms are more interested in reducing their financial exposure than in investing in bold but risky scientific research. They can be leery of the uncertainties inherent in early-stage research: While scientists may achieve exciting results in cell samples, those results are far less likely to pan out in mice or monkeys. “It’s 50-50 every step of the way, and by the time you get to human trials, sometimes you’re down to the single-digit

success rates,” Cobaugh said, noting that this is especially true of mRNA therapies. “The lengths of time needed for it to pay off are really long, [and] the odds of success are really low.” Last year, Cobaugh was overseeing mRNA manufacturing for Omega Therapeutics in Cambridge, Mass., when he and his family spent a month in Stowe, “just for fun.” But the combination of the

FROM A COMPANY-INVESTOR PERSPECTIVE,

MRNA IS THE GOLD RUSH. D AVID BR AD BURY

pandemic, Vermont’s natural appeal and its entrepreneur-friendly environment convinced Cobaugh to put down roots in the ski town. He forged a relationship with Errik Anderson, founder and CEO of Alloy Therapeutics and an experienced biotech investor from the Upper Valley. In July 2021, Vernal Biosciences announced that Alloy had become a chief investor in the company. Another investor is the Vermont Seed Capital Fund, administered by the

nonprofit Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies. David Bradbury, VCET’s president and seed fund manager, lives in Stowe and met Cobaugh last December. Impressed by Cobaugh’s experience and company vision, Bradbury decided to provide technical and financial assistance. “He may not toot his own horn, but there are not many people around the globe who know how to set up an mRNA manufacturing line like Christian,” Bradbury said. “We’ve been looking for a lifescience company in an exciting sector for a decade now, and we finally found one with an outstanding vision [and] world-class talent.” With the success of the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, Bradbury said, “the genie is out of the bottle” for mRNA technologies. He’s excited for Vermont to be part of that biomedical revolution. As Vernal Biosciences grows and attracts more talent, Cobaugh expects to hire at least one new employee every six to eight weeks through the end of the year. The company will create partnership opportunities with the University of Vermont, Middlebury College, Dartmouth College and research institutions in Montréal. “From a company-investor perspective, mRNA is the gold rush,” Bradbury said, “and these [technologies] are the picks and shovels you have to use.”

Researchers and clinicians at UVM expressed similar enthusiasm about having a high-purity mRNA manufacturer in their own backyard. Infectious disease specialist Dr. Beth Kirkpatrick is chair of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at UVM. In an email, she said it’s “fantastic” to have a local mRNA manufacturer that can produce to the exacting standards the FDA requires for human drug trials and clinical therapies. Kirkpatrick also sees opportunities in Vernal Biosciences for attracting talented researchers to Vermont and providing scientists at UVM and other local colleges and universities with potential jobs and internships. “Seems like a complete winwin!” she wrote. Dr. Randall Holcombe, the new director of the UVM Cancer Center and chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology in the UVM Department of Medicine, agreed. He explained that mRNA is a critical component of cutting-edge cancer research, and its role is only expected to grow. Holcombe said mRNA technology is already used therapeutically to manufacture chimeric antigen receptor T-cells, one of the main immune cells in the human body. CAR T-cells have been approved by the FDA for treating leukemia, lymphoma and some pediatric diseases; they’re also being tested for their effectiveness against blood malignancies and solid tumors. “I think there’s an opportunity to create other vaccines using this mRNA technology that could be used for cancer prevention or maybe even cancer treatment,” Holcombe said. If Vernal Biosciences can bring cancer vaccines and therapies to the clinical trial stage, he added, “We’d be happy to partner with them in those sorts of endeavors.” For his part, Cobaugh hopes that his investment in Vermont will be a long-term venture. “I think that entrepreneurially friendly mindset here has been very supportive … I’m not sure I could have pulled this off in Boston,” he said. As for the pipeline of experts in biochemistry, medicine and engineering that he needs, “We’ve got it all right here.” m

INFO Learn more at vernal.bio.

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Within Reach

Community College of Vermont makes higher education more accessible and affordable B Y CA ROLYN SHA PIRO • shapiro@sevendaysvt.com

PHOTOS: LUKE AWTRY

or more than 30 years, Carley Stevens-McLaughlin worked full time as a photographer and high school teacher. When the COVID19 pandemic hit, she decided to retire and seek a part-time job to supplement her social security income. But she found that options were limited for someone with her background, particularly during lockdown. This fall, at age 63, Stevens-McLaughlin enrolled at Community College of Vermont to update her technology skills with graphic design courses. A state program that paid for two of her three classes gave her the final push to go back to school, she said. “The world is changing,” said StevensMcLaughlin, who lives in Winooski not far from CCV’s largest academic center. “I need professional development, and I need continued learning and skill building.” Stevens-McLaughlin was one of nearly 1,700 new students who had enrolled at CCV for the fall semester as of last Friday. That’s a 40 percent increase over new student enrollment last year at the same time and even bests the pre-pandemic 2019 tally by 54 percent, according to the college’s data. As of Friday, the total number of enrolled students, including those returning to CCV, was 17 percent higher than on the same date in 2020 and 15 percent higher than in 2019. Approximately threequarters of CCV students typically register in the next few weeks, just before classes start on September 6, so overall enrollment may far surpass that of previous years. Katie Mobley, CCV’s dean of enrollment and community relations, attributes the increase largely to new state financial assistance programs designed to make higher education more affordable to more Vermonters. Those programs — supported by federal pandemic-relief funds — include free classes or fully covered tuition for applicants who meet certain criteria. “We got to say to these students, ‘College is attainable. You can be successful,’” Mobley said. “It gave them the confidence to know they can do it.” Other Vermont colleges and universities are seeing similar spikes in enrollment this year compared to 2020. The University of Vermont, Champlain College, Middlebury College and Vermont Law School have experienced big jumps in the number of applicants and the size of incoming classes.

Carley Stevens-McLaughlin

Quinn O’Reilly

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Enrollment at CCV, though, has remained steady since the pandemic began, even as its community college peers nationwide experienced significant declines in student numbers this past spring. Among an overall 3 percent drop in enrollment across all higher education, community college registration fell by 9.5 percent, according to the nonprofit National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which collects and reports data on U.S. education and student outcomes. (Nationwide enrollment figures for the 2021 fall semester are not yet available.) It’s unclear why CCV has bucked that trend. Mobley touted its favorable reputation among a growing number of potential students. “The idea that CCV is a great place to start — we used to call that the best-kept secret in Vermont,” Mobley said. “But I think the secret is getting out.” Across CCV’s fall, spring and summer semesters each year, an average of about 10,000 students come through the school, and 93 percent are Vermont residents. They attend classes via 12 physical locations around the state and the college’s online learning center. CCV offers 11 associate’s degrees and 22 certificate programs. Its courses cover a wide range of subjects, including the arts, biology, business management, computer science, criminal justice, economics, education, English and other languages, environmental science, health care, humanities, math, social sciences, and political science. Even before the pandemic, 50 percent of the school’s classes were offered solely online. That allowed a student near Bennington, where the CCV center is small and the course list more limited, for example, to access courses offered through other CCV locations, Mobley said. Due to COVID-19 restrictions in the spring of 2020, CCV went fully remote, along with most colleges and universities. Now, based on fall course registrations, about one-quarter will take place in person, and the rest will be remote, Mobley said. About 80 percent of CCV’s students go to school part time and have jobs or kids, so they embrace the flexibility of online learning, she added. CCV is working to appeal to a broad swath of the population, Mobley said: “a high school junior who wants to take a dual-enrollment course; a woman who

The Vermont legislature stepped up this fall with the help of the private nonprofit Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, or VSAC, to replace the McClure offering with the Green Mountain Grad Gift. The program allows high schoolers graduating in 2020 or 2021 TUESDAYS > 6:30 P.M. to take a free class at any school in the Vermont State Colleges System: CCV, Castleton University, Northern Vermont University or Vermont Technical College. It aims to give graduates a taste of college as they consider their future. Other state scholarships and grants support students ready to commit to16t-vcam082521.indd 7/27/21 16t-vcam-weekly.indd 1 11/2/20 higher education. The Critical Occupations Scholarship provides free tuition to pursue studies in fields with high employment needs, such as childcare, health care, bookkeeping and information technology. When combined with other federal Spread the word and state money, the 802 Opportunity in the Seven Days grant, a state legislative initiative in Classifieds. collaboration with VSAC, provides free tuition for CCV students whose family CONTACT income is $50,000 or less. It covers two KATIE FOR academic years for new and returning A QUOTE AT students, aiming to prepare them for 865-1020 x110 desirable jobs and career advancement. katie@sevendaysvt.com A program launched in mid-July was so popular that it filled up in just two days. The Upskill Vermont Scholarship Program channeled state pandemic-relief 16T-ClassFiller.indd 1 6/1/21 funding through UVM’s Continuing and Distance Education for Vermonters to take free courses for professional development at UVM or CCV — whichever better fit students’ needs. Nearly 500 people signed up. (Anyone still interested can join an email list for updates on future program offerings.) Vermont’s 1st Board Game Café Stevens-McLaughlin took advantage of a similar CCV workforce development program designed for Vermonters whose careers were curtailed by the pandemic. Those eligible can sign up for two free classes at any Vermont Over 600 tabletop games state college. CCV administrators worked with Stevens-McLaughlin to find alternate financial assistance for military & first responders free with id the third class she wanted to take this FULL MENU ›› BEER & WINE fall. WEEKEND BRUNCH This is Stevens-McLaughlin’s second turn at CCV; she earned her associate’s Tue.– Thu. 5pm-10pm; Fri. 5 pm-12am; degree there in the 1980s after an educaSat. 12pm-12am; Sun. 12pm-8pm tional pause to raise her kids. She said 3 Mill St., Burlington 802.540.1710 she’s grateful that CCV enables students www.theboardroomvt.com like her — late in their careers but eager to learn more — to expand their opportunities. “They work really hard,” she said, “to make it easy for people to attain their life dreams and goals.” m

STREET SIGNS

Hosting virtual or in-person classes?

SCH O

ALL I HAD TO DO WAS PUT IN THE WORK.

K TO

THEY GAVE YOU THE TOOLS TO SUCCEED.

At the time, O’Reilly didn’t realize that CCV worked closely with UVM to smooth the transfer process for students who want to pursue bachelor’s degrees at the university. CCV offers 30 “transfer pathways” to UVM, which will also match CCV’s tuition for its students who have earned associate’s degrees, Mobley said. So, after a year at CCV, O’Reilly filled out the paperwork, and CCV administra-

BAC

stays at home with the kids and wants to go back to work; someone who’s worked a low-wage job for 10 years and is like, ‘This isn’t working. I need to do something else’; someone who’s mid-career and says, ‘I want to be an IT person.’” Mobley said she hopes “that more and more people can see themselves here as successful CCV students.” At age 18, Quinn O’Reilly joined the military because he wasn’t ready to jump into four years of college. After he completed his service with the U.S. Marine Corps in February 2020, O’Reilly returned home to Colchester and planned to study nursing. Even then, the idea of sitting in a big lecture hall, where his professor would barely know his name, had no appeal. At CCV, he could get more personalized attention while completing the math, writing and other courses required to pursue a bachelor’s degree, he said. “I wanted to go somewhere where I can easily talk to my professor one-onone, get the help I need,” O’Reilly said. That doesn’t mean CCV lets students coast, O’Reilly added. His professors made sure he finished his first year prepared for the next step in his education. “They put in a lot of work for their students, and they gave great feedback, timely feedback,” O’Reilly said. “They gave you the tools to succeed. All I had to do was put in the work.”

QU INN O’RE IL LY

tors took care of the rest, he said. He starts next month at UVM’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences. In spring 2020, soon after the COVID19 pandemic set in, the Vermont-based J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation paid for Vermont high schoolers who graduated in 2020 to take one CCV class for free. In that program alone, CCV enrolled 500 students last year, Mobley said, though many may have moved on to another institution after taking the single class.

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food+drink

Blueberry Bliss

Learning the art of pie making in instructor Gary Stuard’s Winooski kitchen S TORY & PHOT OS B Y MARGARET GRAYSON • margaret@sevendaysvt.com

Blueberry pie

ary Stuard maintains the tidiest kitchen I’ve ever seen, down to the nearly crumb-less interior of his oven and the orderly row of some three dozen cookbooks and food magazines standing sentinel on the countertop. So I was a little surprised when he forgot to add the cornstarch to our blueberry pie filling, which was already heaped into the pie pan. But Stuard, unfazed, sprinkled a few spoonfuls of cornstarch onto the filling and stirred it in. “Sometimes little things happen,” he said, “or you forget, and it’s not the end of the world.” This exemplifies the pie-making philosophy I learned after spending a few hours in Stuard’s Winooski kitchen last week. Make a plan, follow a recipe but roll with the punches. Such wisdom, served with a hefty helping of practical how-tos, is what the 63-year-old Texas transplant hopes to offer in the baking parties he’s started advertising on Front Porch Forum. For $40 per person, groups can spend a few hours with Stuard learning the art of the tart — or pie, torte or rustic cake — with all ingredients, tools and recipes provided. “The art of making pie has somewhat faded over the years and many folks feel

Blueberries

intimidated by the idea of making anything from scratch,” Stuard wrote in his posting. “Happily, with simple guidance and good ingredients, pie making is rather easy, even fun.” He said he’s received some interest, and though he hasn’t hosted a party yet, he hopes to make them a side gig on top of his

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

job as a cashier at City Market, Onion River Co-op. He’s even expanding his repertoire by researching and practicing gluten-free baking. Stuard grew up eating pies made by his mother and grandmother, who once ran a roadside café in Breckenridge, Texas. Often lonely as a child, he found comfort

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in his grandmother’s baking. “Eating her pies was like eating love,” he said. “Her meringue pies were a work of art.” But Stuard was an observer, not an active participant, of these women’s baking. He didn’t learn to cook and bake until he was living on his own. For a Christmas party in college, he made a dark-rumginger-pumpkin pie, a recipe he still makes to this day. He began baking more regularly for friends. “After a while, people knew I was the pie guy,” he said. Later, Stuard became an activist. He’s a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, he ran on the Green Party ticket for U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions’ (R-Texas) congressional seat in 2016, and he’s been arrested twice while protesting the Keystone XL pipeline. He found that gathering around food helped build sustainable movements. “One of the most important things is creating community,” Stuard said of activism work. “[Cooking is] a way of saying, ‘I love you. You mean a lot to me.’” Burned out on activism and his career as a social worker, Stuard and his husband, Fred Patchen, left Texas for Vermont nearly two years ago. They think of themselves as political and climate refugees. When I contacted Stuard to set up a private baking session, he told me about the blueberry-lavender pie he had created after seeing a similarly flavored salad dressing in the grocery store. I was intrigued. That was the recipe I wanted to try. Stuard has tested many piecrust recipes, and for our pie he turned to the 1998 cookbook Great Pies & Tarts by Carole Walter. Crust recipes are generally pretty simple — flour, water and fat — but Walter’s uses a combination of unsalted butter and non-hydrogenated vegetable BLUEBERRY BLISS

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SIDEdishes SERVING UP FOOD NEWS BY M EL I SSA PASAN E N PHOTOS COURTESY OF BUTCH + BABE’S

Tale of Two Restaurants BUTCH + BABE’S CLOSES WHILE PENNY CLUSE FIGHTS ON

Last Thursday, KORTNEE owner of BUTCH + BABE’S in Burlington’s Old North End, announced via email newsletter and social media that the restaurant had permanently closed due to “operational challenges.” Butch + Babe’s had operated on a takeout-only model from early May 2020 until this past July 8, when it reopened for seated dining. During a phone interview, Bush elaborated on the challenges of the last year and a half. She said she had applied to every federal and state program for financial assistance, including the recently launched Restaurant Revitalization Fund (administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration). Butch + Babe’s was among the 39 percent of Vermont restaurant applicants that received RRF funding before the $28.6 billion fund ran out. Three hundred and sixty-six Vermont restaurants received a total of more than $77 million. They range from the Tygate Motel Corporation, which runs the WINDJAMMER RESTAURANT and UPPER DECK PUB in South Burlington and received almost $4.2 million, to FARMERS & FORAGERS, which operates a food truck on the Burlington lakefront and received $2,909. Congress is currently considering a bill to add more money to the fund. Bush estimates that

BUSH,

Jackie Major (left) and Kortnee Bush at Butch + Babe’s

Wednesday & Thursday 4:30-9 Friday & Saturday 4:30-10 A hopeful message from Butch + Babe's on March 19, 2020

No Reservations First come, First served 802-497-2587 55 Main Street | Burlington restaurantpoco.com Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for updates

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Butch + Babe’s has received a total of about $350,000 to help cover pandemic losses once she adds up all the different assistance programs, including compensation for cooking free community meals for the EVERYONE EATS program. That includes the RRF grant of $76,665, which she spent on payroll to staff up and train new people. “It kept us chugging along for a minute,” she said. Bush opened her small neighborhood restaurant on December 26, 2014. Almost five years to the day after her opening, Butch + Babe’s signature macand-cheese pancakes and elote corn dogs were featured on Guy Fieri’s Food Network show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” No more than three months later, the

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pandemic shuttered restaurants nationwide. By early July 2021, Bush said, “It felt like things were safe-ish” with Vermont’s high vaccination rate. But increasing cases of the Delta variant eroded that feeling. “We were losing staff,” she said. The remaining employees, including herself, were stretched too thin. “I physically couldn’t do it,” she said. She also faced the psychological challenge of bracing yet again for rough times ahead. “You watch the news, and it’s like, We’re gonna have to do this again?” Bush said. “There’s never stability in the restaurant world, but this is just, you know — the overused word is ‘unprecedented.’” SIDES DISHES

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Over the Borderline Dining, traveling and seeing friends in Québec again, enfin BY MO L LY ZAP P • zapp@sevendaysvt.com

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

I packed the bottle of rhubarb wine I’d made for Fred, tuned my radio to Ici Radio-Canada and began the 55-minute drive to the West BerkshireFrelighsburg border crossing. Québécois radio and speaking to my dog in French are the main ways in which I’ve continued to practice the language. Although I’ve lost vocabulary over the pandemic, the radio maintains my cultural connection to the province where I lived for a year and a half a few years ago. As I drove over the hills of Route 108, in the last 10 miles of Vermont, the radio played a song by a former Montréal neighbor of mine: “Travailleur Autonome,” (“Freelancer”) by Comment Debord. The melodious sing-along seemed auspicious. Not normally one to feel nervous in the presence of law enforcement or border agents (yep, white, U.S.born privilege), I nonetheless had a rumble in my stomach and shaky hands as I pulled up to the border station. I was the only traveler there. Officer Grenier responded in kind to my greeting in French as I slipped him my passport and vaccination card. He asked me the usual questions and asked to see screenshots of my ArriveCAN confirmation and proof of my negative test. He also confirmed that quarantine plans are no longer required to enter Canada and that the authorities are working on changing this language on ArriveCAN. Some Americans crossing the border for a day trip, Grenier said, have listed the addresses of grocery store destinations as their “quarantine sites”; for him, that sufficed. He noted that border agents always make the final decisions on which foreign nationals to allow into the country at their station. (U.S. policy is the same.) Grenier finally bid me a bonne journée. Slightly in shock, I thanked him, pushed the button to change my speedometer from miles to kilometers and Food and drink at Brasserie Dunham entered the land I’d sorely missed. Driving on QC-237, windows down, I hollered a series of “Woo-hoos!” like someone who should perhaps have been questioned more rigorously. Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up to Fred’s sister’s home in Saint-Armand, delirious with happiness. I gave Fred an extended, teary Big American Hug, the chest-squishing type that Francophones who don’t have American friends tend to find as awkward as many Americans find the updated negative test result, with my correct birthday, in a French double-cheek-kiss greeting. She squeezed back, few hours. laughing. Fred’s 11-year-old niece, Anouk, gave us a walking tour of Americans traveling to Canada no longer have to quarantine there or need a plan to do so — technically. However, the quaint village and suggested a swimming hole in nearby ArriveCAN won’t let them complete the required pre- Frelighsburg. Then it was time to eat. Fred and I went to my favorite microbrewery in the Eastarrival information without including a detailed plan and an address for their potential quarantine. I FaceTimed Fred, ern Townships, Brasserie Dunham, and spent a languid and we came up with a plan that involved staying at her lunch on the remodeled terrace, where old windows had Montréal apartment should I come down with COVID-19- been flipped on their sides and drilled into the middle of the picnic tables to separate parties. like symptoms. COURTESY OF BRASSERIE DUNHAM

ost picnics are casual affairs. The one I had with four friends in June was anything but. These close friends live in Montréal; after the Canadian border was closed to most Americans for more than a year, I was desperate to see them again. I scouted out the area around the Haskell Free Library & Opera House, which straddles Derby Line, Vt., and Stanstead, Québec. The affable border agent I consulted there told me that the authorities didn’t prevent people from meeting up on the international border, as long as they didn’t touch or exchange goods. A few days later, I received a notification that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had viewed my LinkedIn profile, which unsettled me; I’d never given the agent my name. My friends and I were undeterred. A couple weeks later, we picnicked two meters apart on the library lawn, experiencing tears, laughter and no real hassle from border agents. Nonetheless, we felt the limits of not being able to embrace or clink our wine glasses with a proper santé. When the Canadian government announced that vaccinated Americans would be able to drive into Canada for travel purposes as of August 9, I joined a cadre of Vermonters celebrating this new freedom. Local foodies have been dreaming of a time when we’d once more be able to sample Indian street food in Québec, enjoy traditional dishes at a cabane à sucre in the Laurentian Mountains or shop at Montréal’s JeanTalon Market. Shoppers should know that Americans can still bring back personal amounts of most food from Canada, although many types of produce are not allowed across the border. (Check the USDA’s website for details.) For now, my friend Frédérique and I made a simple plan. She’d come down from Montréal, I’d drive up from Vermont, and we’d meet in the Eastern Townships for a day trip and a couple of meals. Finally. Making the trip happen took serious planning because American citizens going to Canada for travel purposes have new hurdles to clear. They must show proof of having been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at least two weeks before their crossing and proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours. These proofs and all travelers’ arrival information (location, date and time of border crossing) must be uploaded to the Canadian government’s ArriveCAN website or app within the 72 hours preceding their arrival. Not knowing whether my results would come back in time, I scheduled my arrival for 71 hours after my test. I received the result by email after about 30 hours — but it listed my date of birth incorrectly. I called the Vermont Department of Health to explain the situation and beg for assistance. By what felt like an incredible stroke of luck in the face of bureaucracy, I received an

OVER A PALE ALE, WE CONVERSED

WITH AN INTIMACY AND GRANULARITY THAT IS ONLY POSSIBLE IN PERSON.

food+drink wondering what was keeping me from being allowed back into my country. When I called the border station, the agent said that particular crossing had closed at 8 p.m. (A few other small crossings also now close early; check online to verify hours.) Driving to the Highgate SpringsSt. Armand crossing, I decided that being stuck in Canada for an extra 20 minutes was a good problem to have. Again, I was the only person crossing the border. The agent asked a few questions, handed back my passport and told me to have a good night. Three agents were milling around the closed entry lanes; I asked one of From left: Vanessa Girouard, Molly Zapp, Hilda Karugabira and Lesley Trites at the border of them whether he thought Canadians would Derby Line, Vt., and Stanstead, Québec be allowed in soon. Fred planned to come to Vermont the last weekend in August, when I wanted to throw a Happy Belated EveryThat day would have been the 39th birthday of the poet thing party. April Freely, a dear friend of mine and former program coor“I really doubt it, but you’ll know when I do,” he said. dinator of the Vermont Studio Center, who passed in July. At A week later, when the U.S. government announced Auberge Sutton Brouërie, we toasted to April, aware of the our land border would remain closed to Canadians until breadth of loss and depth of grief that so many have felt this at least September 21, I was already back in Montréal, past year and a half. meeting welcoming arms with rib-crushing hugs. m When we parted that evening, tired but full of warmth, I issued an earnest invitation to Fred’s family to visit anytime. INFO We had hoped that the land border might reopen to Canadi- Brasserie Dunham, 3809 rue Principale, Dunham, Québec, 450-295-1500, brasseriedunham.com. ans as soon as late August. Back at the West Berkshire-Frelighsburg crossing, I Learn more about crossing the border at canada.ca or download waited at the closed gate for six stomach-churning minutes, the ArriveCAN app. COURTESY OF PATRICK PEARCE

Brasserie Dunham reopened early in the summer. Simon Gaudreault, co-owner of the brewery, said Québec had a “really intense and complete lockdown” that included a curfew and a prohibition of indoor dining for six months. Pre-pandemic, the brewery had frequent international visitors, Gaudreault said. Since the border reopened, he’s seen just a handful of Vermonters. “The Green Mountain State [license] plates are pretty easy to recognize,” he said, noting an affinity between the craft beer and local food cultures of Québec and Vermont. Fred and I shared fresh, crispy fries, agreeing not to double-dip in the homemade mayo. Over a light and lively session pale ale ($6.50 CDN) and an excellent guédille ($17 CDN), a brioche-like roll split and stuffed with tiny Nordic shrimp, we conversed with an intimacy and granularity that is only possible in person. We spoke of relationships begun, ended and partially processed; of careers that finally felt stable and fulfilling; and of a sense of expansiveness after a long constriction. I bought a T-shirt from the brewery, wanting a tangible souvenir as I wondered how long the border would stay open. Driving together through the Eastern Townships, Fred and I cooed over lovely houses. She and her sister said the region saw a dramatic increase in home sale prices during the pandemic. Rural poverty seemed far less visible there than in many Vermont border towns.

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Blueberry Bliss « P.38 shortening. The butter is for flavor, Stuard explained, while the shortening helps build a flaky texture. Shortening has a higher melting point, a desirable trait because a key to obtaining a flaky crust is keeping the fat cold. Some recipes call for frozen butter, but Stuard keeps his in the fridge and grates it into the flour with a cheese grater. He does, however, keep his flour and sugar in the freezer to help keep the fat cold as the crust is mixed. On a hot day in Texas, he would even put his mixing bowl in the freezer before making piecrust. When the grated butter and shortening were fully mixed into the flour, Stuard slowly added water, mixing with the other hand until the dough held together and was smooth but not sticky. He separated it into two balls, put them in an airtight bag and set them in the fridge. Then we went to work on the filling: four boxes of small, jewellike Maine blueberries; sugar; and the secret ingredient — dried lavender. Stuard added the lavender gradually, stopping periodically so we could taste a bit and smack our lips thoughtfully. We aimed for enough lavender to lend a hint of flavor that would linger, but not so much that the filling tasted like a candle. When the filling was prepped, Stuard sprinkled the counter with flour and rolled out the pie dough so quickly and efficiently that I barely realized what was happening until it was done. When he placed the dough into the ceramic pie pan, the crust ripped in a few places, but Stuard just patched it with extra dough. I mounded in plenty of filling — Stuard said he liked his pies to “look pregnant” — and then stirred in the forgotten cornstarch. Stuard dotted the top with a few pats of butter for flavor, and we gently stretched the top crust over the pile of berries.

Stuard cut a sunray pattern of slits into the top crust — fruit pies need to vent steam as they bake — and sprinkled a generous layer of sugar over it. A brushing of milk also helps the crust brown, he said, but we didn’t have any. Into the 350-degree oven went the pie, for just over an hour. During a typical baking party, Stuard would offer guests a glass of wine and hors d’oeuvres while their creation baked, but it was the middle of the afternoon, so the two of us settled for sips of Earl Grey tea. When the apartment had filled with the smell of browning butter and the crust had started to take on a golden color, Stuard pulled the pie out of the oven. Recipes typically advise waiting for a pie to cool completely before slicing it, so the filling can fully set. But we were overeager and on a schedule, so we managed to wait only 10 minutes. Stuard cut generous slices and topped each with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and we dug in. The surface of the crust crumbled under my spoon and crunched slightly in my mouth, and the interior offered a satisfying chew. The filling was perfectly sweet, and the lavender gave it an elevated, herbal aroma. It was probably the most decadent thing I’ve ever eaten at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, and when Stuard asked me how it tasted, I could only nod enthusiastically, mouth full. Spending an afternoon making a pie with Stuard and talking about building community was exactly the balm I needed during these stressful and uncertain times. While the pie was baking, we luxuriated in its warm, sweet aroma. “It just screams hospitality, comfort, being cared for,” Stuard said. I couldn’t agree more. m

EATING HER PIES WAS

LIKE EATING LOVE. GARY S TUAR D

INFO

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To learn more about Gary Stuard’s baking parties, contact garystuard123@gmail.com.

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Side Dishes « P.39 Feeling as if she were bailing out a sinking ship, Bush finally concluded, “Let’s get off the boat here,” she said. “It’s too much.” In her announcement of Butch + Babe’s closure, Bush noted that she had a fully equipped restaurant and remaining lease time available. Within 24 hours, she said, she’d received more than a half dozen serious inquiries. (See “Passion Plate,” page 28.) About a half mile from Butch + Babe’s, PENNY CLUSE CAFÉ also reopened in July for seated dining after a year of offering only takeout. The downtown breakfast and lunch destination is among 581 Vermont restaurant applicants to the RRF that did not receive funds, co-owner CHARLES REEVES said in a phone interview. That’s an especially bitter pill to swallow, Reeves lamented, when he submitted his grant application on the day of the deadline and was informed that it was accepted. Several downtown restaurants within blocks of Penny Cluse received hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said.

In Reeves’ view, the administration of RRF funds and the congressional inaction on replenishing them have created a divisive situation of “haves and have-nots” in the restaurant community. “The amount of money the program gave people was stupid,” he said. “It makes sense that the thing ran out of money.” Penny Cluse applied for about $950,000 from the RRF, Reeves said. That’s essentially the difference between the restaurant’s 2019 and 2020 gross revenue, minus the Paycheck Protection Program funds it received. Reeves would have preferred to see the program spread funds around to meet the partial needs of a greater number of businesses, rather than awarding the full amount requested to a limited number of restaurants. “There are some restaurants in Burlington that are fucking fat with

money,” he said. “And then there’s people like us, who are struggling.” Since Reeves and his team reopened Penny Cluse for takeout in June 2020, he said, they have done everything they can to retain their employees and feed customers. “We have worked 70 hoursplus a week,” he said. “We burned through [Paycheck Protection Program] money … We were losing money like crazy, but we stayed open.” All told, Reeves said, the business has received “close to $350,000 in forgivable money” through various government programs. “But the truth is, for that amount of time, losing money month after month, it’s not enough,” he said. “We’re gonna make it because I’m scrappy,” Reeves concluded, noting that he’s using a line of credit and scrutinizing every expense. “We’ve changed our business plan so many times over the last 16 months. We’re just so tired.” m

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8/23/21 12:00 PM

culture

Reel Connections The seventh annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival is bigger than ever B Y T R AVI S W EED ON

FILM

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MIDDLEBURY NEW FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL

Vermont Teddy Bears on display for the annual VTeddy Awards at Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival in 2019

t’s not often these days that gatherings expand rather than shrink. The seventh annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival is an exception. The festival will have more days, more venues, more screens and, most importantly, more films than in years past. The five-day celebration of first- and second-time filmmakers will fan out across Middlebury from Wednesday, August 25, through Sunday, August 29. In addition to holding screenings at Town Hall Theater, the Marquis Theatre (two screens) and Middlebury College’s Mahaney Arts Center, the festival has added an outdoor projection tent at the Swift House Inn to accommodate its abundant slate of 123 films. In a Zoom call with Seven Days, festival producer Lloyd Komesar said he and his team decided back in April to increase their capacity to avoid the typical festival 44

crush and frenzy. “We felt that we should create an extra day and expand the touch points for the festival, so that no one would feel crowded,” he said. Pandemic safety is obviously another consideration. Like many events around the world, the 2020 MNFF was entirely virtual. This year, Komesar said, “All of our social events are outdoors, so that we’re not cramming people into rooms for socializing where there’s beverage consumption or food consumption.” In addition, MNFF will require all attendees, including the many visiting filmmakers and special guests, to be fully vaccinated and show proof of vaccination when entering indoor venues. Vermont filmmaker and MNFF artistic director Jay Craven, who was also on the Zoom call, explained why moving forward with in-person screenings felt so essential

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

to this year’s festival. “We take the view that a filmmaker’s work is not finally complete until the audience makes that connection and completes the cycle,” he said, “and suddenly the film comes alive.” Komesar described the fest as, in many ways, a celebration of “filmmakers who had the perseverance and courage to get the work done over the last 18 months” in the face of so many obstacles. The mission of MNFF is to showcase new voices in cinema, specifically filmmakers who have completed their first or second works in the past 24 months. The opening and closing selections that bookend the festival perfectly encapsulate this year’s theme: in Craven’s words, “connectedness and disconnectedness.” Kicking off the festivities is the documentary Storm Lake, about a small-town Iowa newspaper that won the Pulitzer

Prize for Editorial Writing in 2017. The film examines the economic and ideological challenges facing local journalism and the threat they pose to a free and functioning democracy. Art Cullen, editor of the Storm Lake Times, will be in attendance for a Q&A after the film. He’ll also participate in a panel discussion the following day, discussing the state and function of local newspapers today with five distinguished Vermont journalists. At the back end of the festival, the focus shifts from local to global. The closingnight film, The Ants & the Grasshopper, is a documentary that follows a Malawian activist as she travels to the U.S. to speak to farmers and relay what she and her people are experiencing on the other side of the planet as climate change dries up their crops and ravages their way of life. In the midst of what are sure to be many new discoveries for festivalgoers is a selection of films whose reputations precede them. The directorial debut of Florian Zeller has already garnered its share of accolades. The Father earned two Academy Awards at this year’s ceremony, including Best Screenplay and Best Performance by a Lead Actor for Anthony Hopkins, who plays an aging man whose dementia begins to tear at the fabric of his reality. Fresh off of a theatrical run earlier this year, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s directorial debut Summer of Soul (Or … When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) will bring the sights and sounds of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival to the heart of present-day Middlebury. Another recently released documentary, The Truffle Hunters, follows incorrigible septuagenarians and octogenarians as they trample the Italian countryside in search of culinary delicacies. Some Kind of Heaven concerns a few more irrepressible old-timers — about 130,000 of them — and their semi-curated lives inside the Villages, Fla., the United States’ largest retirement community. Familiar faces will grace the proceedings, as well. Actress Karen Allen will be in attendance for post-screening conversations

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8/24/21 12:23 PM

MNFF artistic director Jay Craven moderating a panel of filmmakers

A FILMMAKER’S WORK IS NOT FINALLY COMPLETE

What would you do with an extra $26 per month?

UNTIL THE AUDIENCE MAKES THAT CONNECTION AND COMPLETES THE CYCLE. JAY CR AVEN

about her iconic roles in Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and John Carpenter’s Starman (1984). Editor and director Sam Pollard, a longtime collaborator with Spike Lee, will receive a special honor for Sustained Vision, Courage and Excellence in Filmmaking. Pollard will be on hand to discuss two films of his showing at the festival: 4 Little Girls (1997), which Lee directed and Pollard edited, and his new documentary, MLK/FBI. These films are just a sampling from a slew of noteworthy selections and special prizes being awarded at the festival, including the launch of a new crosscultural filmmaker exchange with the Bali International Film Festival. A grant through the American Indonesian Cultural and Educational Foundation will enable Indonesian filmmaker Harvan

MNFF artistic director Jay Craven

Agustriansyah to present his film Sugar on the Weaver’s Chair at MNFF. Additionally, American filmmaker Anji Clubb will not only show her film Nomad Meets the City at Middlebury but also travel to Bali to screen it there, as well. Speaking about the exchange, Komesar said, “We may have created something here that is unique to us across the film festival world.” He continued, “For a small regional film festival, we try really hard to diversify.” The proof is in the slate. m

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culture

Globe-Trotters

Review: Shakespeare: Completely Unbound!, Vermont Shakespeare Festival COURTESY OF DOK WRIGHT

B Y J O R D AN A D AMS • jordan@sevendaysvt.com

From left: John Nagle, Susan Palmer, Grace Callahan, Paul Ugalde, Sorsha Anderson and Andrew Cassel

t a rate of one show per month, it would take more than three years to see every William Shakespeare play. But the Vermont Shakespeare Festival has found a clever way to present the entire lot in one night — kind of. Over four oneacts, Shakespeare: Completely Unbound! offers new stories that combine themes and dialogue from all of the Bard’s plays. Each act distills the essence of one of Shakespeare’s four genres: romance, tragedy, history and comedy. Familiar stories are carved out of crisscrossing stanzas. Royals scheme, fools jape, women disguise themselves as men, villains pontificate, monarchies crumble, and lovers quarrel and swoon. But this isn’t the Into the Woods of Shakespeare, nor is it an irreverent satire like The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). It’s an original mashup devised by VSF. And, like the best song mashups, the show finds something new to explore in what was already there. Nine actors pop up in different roles throughout the segments, as well as switch characters within them. They mix and match famous quotes such as “Friends,

THEATER

Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” and “To thine own self be true.” Occasionally, this sounds a bit like text generated by an AI trained on The Tempest, Julius Caesar, Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, etc. But most of the dialogue comes from lesser-known passages. VSF’s co-artistic directors, John Nagle and Jena Necrason, and several other writers painstakingly assembled them into an iambic pentameter stew. Using set pieces and costumes from past VSF seasons, Shakespeare: Completely Unbound! is a technically economical show that emphasizes its cast’s outsize performances. It incorporates live music, stage combat and — typically for Shakespeare productions — chameleonic actors who make seamless transitions. In the Renaissance romance “The Match of Caitiff,” by Orlando Grant and Eliza Pagel, the Queen of Caitiff (Susan Palmer) seeks to marry off her daughter, Terra (Grace Callahan), to military man Kit (Nagle). But the conniving general Turginess (Paul Ugalde), who moonlights as a sorcerer, has designs on the crown.

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

After Turginess blackmails the secretly gay Kit (“I’ve seen you with men,” he says menacingly) and murders the queen with a spell, Terra and the fabulous court jester, Clown (Andrew Cassel), escape his clutches. Five years later, Kit is fully under Turginess’ thrall and forced to debase himself in humiliating ways, including dressing up in a furry bear costume. Elsewhere, Terra and her GBF devise a gender-bending plan to foil Turginess, right past wrongs and save the kingdom. Taking a tragic turn, “Sound and Fury,” by Necrason and Nagle, finds contemporary Italy in the grip of a plague that suffocates its victims and compels people to mask up. (Timely, no?) President Antonio (Jordan Gullikson) plays dirty politics while sycophantic public officials Marina (Chris Caswell) and Hector (Ugalde) manage crises. Antonio’s rabble-rousing daughter, Regan (Maddie Barnes), estranged from him since her mother’s suicide, urges him to quell the troubled populace. The pompous executive shouts down a news anchor

THE SHOW FINDS SOMETHING NEW TO EXPLORE IN WHAT WAS ALREADY THERE.

on live TV, essentially dismissing as “fake news” the claims leveled against him. But he changes his tune when he’s stricken with the plague, and there’s another startling twist to come. Reeling us back into ancient history, “Citizen,” by Margo Anne Whitcomb and Quinn Rol, finds another restless civilization on the brink. A King (Ugalde) and his righthand man, the Duke of Richmond (Palmer), placate nameless citizens who seek an end to foreign war. One vocal advocate of peace (Sorsha Anderson) serves as liaison between the monarchy and the hoi polloi. The King plots the advocate’s death while Richmond plans to usurp the throne. Exploring the philosophical aspects of murder, the political thriller ends in a violent coup. The show concludes on a comedic note with “A Song of Good Life,” by Ginna Hoben. Betrothed lovebirds Julia (Barnes) and Ferdinand (Cassel) conspire to set up Julia’s studious cousin, Ursula (Caswell), with lifelong bachelor/guitar-brandishing hunk Tobias (Gullikson). The couple forges love letters from Ursula to Tobias and vice versa, which elicit playful banter from the will-they-won’t-they pair. But the cousin trap doesn’t go quite as planned. While Tobias is lovestruck, plucking out sickly sweet verses on his acoustic (“I am your spaniel!”), Ursula is committed to her studies and can’t start a love affair until she matriculates. A frustrated Julia and Ferdinand are temporarily stymied. A soul-searching romp through the forest ensues. Each couple, plus meddling butler Oliver (Nagle), schemes to make things right and let love prevail. And that it does. The writers of Shakespeare: Completely Unbound! acquit themselves admirably in the task of choosing digestible passages from 37 texts to create something new. Fans of the Bard will have fun playing “catch the reference” as fragmented favorites flit by in new contexts. Meanwhile, Shakespeare newbies will get a taste of his entire oeuvre in a little more than two hours. m

INFO Shakespeare: Completely Unbound!, directed by John Nagle and Jena Necrason, produced by Vermont Shakespeare Festival, Saturday, August 28, 5:30 p.m., at the Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro. $20 adults; $8 children (dinner options available). Saturday, September 11, 5 p.m.; and Sunday, September 12, 2 p.m., at Isham Family Farm in Williston. $15. vermontshakespeare.org.

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culture

Night Vision

Review: Queen of the Night, Dorset Theatre Festival

COURTESY OF JOEY MORO

B Y A L EX BROW N • alex@sevendaysvt.com

Leland Fowler (left) and Danny Johnson

he play Queen of the Night, by queer Black playwright travis tate, is a conventionally heartwarming story of reconciliation between a father and son, but it’s told in a convention-defying style that stretches theatrical norms. Dorset Theatre Festival is presenting the world premiere at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester. The situation is nothing special. Stephen and his grown son, Ty, go on a camping trip in a state park in Texas. Ty is dressed for the city in sunglasses, kinky orange short-shorts and a slinky tank top. He’s gay and Black, and he opens the play with a short monologue about loving the outdoors. But everything he describes, including the possibility of encountering a bear, sounds like what he wants most to avoid. Stephen has the settled demeanor and slightly slower pace of a man in his late fifties. A tuft of gray hair peeks from under his sun hat; his backpack is filled with well-tended gear. The camping trip is designed to distract Stephen on the weekend that his former wife, and Ty’s mother, remarries. Though the couple’s split is not described in detail, Stephen admits to an anger problem and tells Ty he has been working on it with a therapist.

THEATER

The story is unremarkable but takes a curious approach to theatrical illusion. Stylistically, the script pairs naturalistic dialogue, including sitcom-like snappy rejoinders, with reflective monologues and soliloquies. Perhaps because tate is both a poet and a playwright, Queen blends the lyrical with the mundane. While the juxtaposition is sometimes dissonant, the net effect is an enlargement of expression rather than a contrast. Just as the style of speech varies, so does the play’s realism. While the play is performed on an outdoor stage, with black night as a constant backdrop, events at the campsite occur at all hours of the day. Lighting designer Yuki Nakase Link sometimes approximates natural light and sometimes paints the trees with surrealistic bright colors. From mystical moods created by bold lighting effects and haze, the play veers back to standard illumination and realistic gestures. Scenic designers Christopher and Justin Swader cover the stage with leaves and dirt and employ what appear to be real trees, sometimes gorgeously silhouetted by the lights. Lit wildly, they’re stylized meta-trees; lit naturally, they create a convincing landscape. The company’s decision to perform the play outdoors was based on COVID-19

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

safety precautions. But putting actors and audience under the sky adds a wonderful, startling dynamic to a story about people camping outdoors. The night, the air, the cooking fire and — viewers be warned — the mosquitoes are real. Time and change are expressed unconventionally in the play. Many actions, such as setting up a tent and retrieving camping gear, occur in real time, even to the point of tedium. Scenes last longer than usual, without the usual time compression of drama. At first, it’s a delightful surprise to watch undramatic action unfold in silence. How real, how simple, how true it seems. But audiences tend to demand meaning from a play, if not entertainment, and the time it takes to get binoculars out of a backpack feels wasted when no dialogue or consequences accompany it. Still, there is beauty in simple actions that lack overt dramatic significance. Viewers are asked to pay attention in much the way we perceive nature itself: not as a show performed but as reality unfolding. Director Raz Golden builds scenes of silence and uninteresting physical action, placing the play outside the conventions of drama. As a result of Golden’s directing approach and the script itself, the characters don’t undergo typical heightened moments of realization. Their changes are subtle, interior ones. In Ty’s case, he

moves almost imperceptibly from being a wisecracking millennial disapproving of his old-fogy dad to an anxious man trying to conceal his unease to, finally, a son willing to connect with his father. Stephen acknowledges feeling proud of his son, while Ty only remembers his dad’s shame that he was gay. We never see the triggers for these changes, which drama usually supplies through events. The most graceful part of the play is how small bits of new behavior don’t seem to add up to anything until, at last, they do. Would that tate had stayed the course of subtlety to the end. Unfortunately, he creates a physical crisis for the two men that strives to be thrilling but stalls at the comedic. Bears roam this park. Three times we hear a bear’s growl, and three times Stephen frantically beats two pots together while Ty unconvincingly brandishes a can of bear spray. Golden stages each encounter nearly identically, never organizing the action to indicate whether the men can even see the bear. All they do is panic and turn in circles. Injecting a little comedy wouldn’t be bad, but the final bear fluster is supposed to kick off a dramatic outburst in which both men admit their love for each other. A play that was proceeding quietly and lyrically briefly becomes a farce. The deep question of masculinity is lost in silliness. Leland Fowler, as Ty, and Danny Johnson, as Stephen, have the delicate job of playing some scenes with rich, direct contact with each other, and others as men who are not only estranged but untroubled by their distance. The play is so stylistically variable that only the actors can supply its human grounding, and Fowler and Johnson succeed. They create the core drama tenderly and insightfully. Does this play work? As an experiment in stage silence, perhaps yes. As a heightened theatrical situation, no. A reconciliation story is gratifying, but this one happens to characters who remain shallow to us because so little occurs. The writing is never quite extraordinary enough to take flight or plain enough to make the story gritty and true. Some viewers may find the slow pace meditative; others will consider it frustrating. Yet the constant glide between the real and the poetic is an experience in itself. m

INFO Queen of the Night, by travis tate, directed by Raz Golden, produced by Dorset Theatre Festival at Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester. Through September 4: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m. $45. dorsettheatrefestival.org

Sunday Tickets $55/Adult | $20/Under 21 $10 of every ticket goes to support the Vermont Fresh Network

Featuring over 40 local vendors including: Aqua ViTea, Barr Hill, Black Flannel Brewing, Grafton Village Cheese, Lake Champlain Chocolates, Shelburne Vineyard, Silloway Maple, Vermont Fresh Pasta

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

8/20/21 1:28 PM

Who We Are

COURTESY OF SAMMY CHONG

COURTESY OF COBI MOULES

art

Art review: “New England Now: People,” Shelburne Museum B Y AMY L I L LY • lilly@sevendaysvt.com

“Food of the Earth” by Sammy Chong “Untitled (Rocky Coast of Maine)” by Cobi

“Untitled (Rocky Coast of Maine)” by Cobi Moules

IMAGES COURTESY OF ANNU PALAKUNNATHU MATTHEW

he pandemic forced the Shelburne Museum to close last fall, but it reopened in June with an appropriately celebratory exhibition. “New England Now: People” features positive representations of all sorts of humans. Ten artists created these mostly large-scale works in a variety of mediums. In a series of black-and-white photographs, drag queens help each other primp for a performance; in another set, economically disadvantaged folks party it up in backyards and bars. In one painting, a cleaning woman crouching before a toilet is arrayed in the sparkling headpiece of a Brazilian deity; another depicts an active crowd consisting of dozens of images of the same man, in a red plaid shirt and yellow toque, climbing over and posing along a rocky Maine shoreline. The exhibit is a joyful expression of the richness of identity itself. Yet the show acquires a certain gravity when a viewer considers the context of these artists’ work. The concept of the “New Englander,” with its colonial-remnant name, comes with certain associations and assumptions. The colonies that became the six states we know today began with the founding of Plymouth in Massachusetts by white Puritans fresh off the Mayflower. That the region grew by capturing, enslaving and killing the Native inhabitants is often left off the narrative. Instead, iconic New England paintings such as Winslow Homer’s “Breezing Up (A Fair Wind)” and Norman Rockwell’s “Freedom of Speech” celebrate whiteness, not to mention a kind of ideal maleness. In contrast, this exhibition embraces inclusivity of all kinds. “New England Now: People” is the second in a biennial series the Shelburne

“American Indian With Dot on Face / Indian American With Dot on Face” by Annu Palakunnathu Matthew

Museum launched in 2018. “New England Now” presented landscapes that went beyond the iconic, picture-postcard image of the region. Associate curator Carolyn Bauer, who organized both iterations, said the series is meant to showcase contemporary regional artists whose work “challenges perceptions and misperceptions” about the Northeast. “‘People’ is a big topic,” Bauer declared, guiding a reporter around the current show, “so the focus is on how contemporary artists are challenging traditional portraiture.” She added that the works “are not about physical appearance but inner identities.” In fact, both aspects of identity are conspicuous throughout the show. Bauer explained that “People” represents all six New England states through the artists’ current or former residency. Some state ties are tenuous, she admitted: Cobi

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Moules, creator of those multiplied selfportraits, lives in Philadelphia but conceived of his series, “Bois Just Wanna Have Fun,” while living in Boston 13 years ago. Three of the artists live in Vermont: the skilled Middlebury portraitist Kate Gridley; performance artist Toby MacNutt of Burlington; and photographer Evie Lovett, born in Putney, who shot those drag queens backstage at a Dummerston bar. The artist with the best sense of humor about identity is Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, who lives in Providence, R.I., and teaches art at the University of Rhode Island. Born in England to Indian parents, Matthew grew up in India from age 11. After moving to the U.S., she found that Americans often asked her “what kind of Indian” she is. “An Indian from India” became the title of her fascinating and disruptive series on view. In it, the artist plays on historic photographs of Native Americans, including

REVIEW

those of Edward S. Curtis, who famously Moules staged his portraits, disregarding tribal customs and historical accuracy in favor of romanticized images. Matthew creates diptychs by pairing those photographic portraits with shots of herself. In the latter, she is dressed and posed similarly to the early 20th-century photographers’ subjects but with exaggerated markers of her own Indianness: a large red bindi on her forehead, a sequined head veil. As a commentary on colonialism’s reductive effects, the two “Indians” are presented as interchangeable, minus a few details. (In some, Matthew poses as the colonized man depicted in the historic photo.) “It’s definitely loaded,” Bauer said of Matthew’s work. At the same time, she adds, the artist refers to her diptychs as “handshakes” across cultures — an acknowledgment of their parallel experiences. A kind of reverse mythologizing is going on in Massachusetts-based artist Sammy Chong’s three canvases. Each of them shows what we now call essential workers, as Bauer pointed out — immigrants performing the difficult and often unrecognized work of cooking, harvesting and cleaning — while wearing masks of their native countries’ mythological figures. Chong paints his subjects’ portraits on top of silk-screened photographic collages that depict their rich cultural histories. In “Water Queen,” for instance, the face of the woman cleaning the toilet — hidden by the headpiece of a Yoruba water spirit — is roughly parallel with a silk-screened image of Pelé, the Brazilian soccer phenom, on the wall behind the toilet. Chong’s “Food of the Earth” shows a Mexican farm laborer in a Mayan mask striding through a field; images of Chichén Itzá and other ancient pyramids are integrated into the sky and mountains behind him. The exhibition includes one video installation: a 15-minute compilation of excerpts from a much longer performance by MacNutt. On their website, MacNutt

ART SHOWS

identifies as a “queer, nonbinarytrans, disabled multidisciplinary artist, author and teacher.” Their work explores, among other aspects of their identity, “the unique aesthetics of disabled dance.” MacNutt experiences chronic pain from a connective-tissue disorder. Yet only joy of movement comes through in the video, in which they wield arm stilts while draped with a purple cape. MacNutt pivots as if on another pair of legs, the fabric swirling in the air. A commissioned work for “New England Now: People” is its most visually impactful: the 106-by-108by-10-inch circular hair weaving, titled “Oculus,” by Nafis M. White. In outsize proportions, the work references the traditionally minuscule Victorian-era weaving of loved ones’ strands of hair into jewelry or mourning wreaths. “Oculus” uses synthetic hair in a variety of colors, woven in swirling patterns of braids, cornrows and other Black hairstyles. White, who lives in Providence, honors all three strands, as it were, of her identity with this piece: African, African American and English Scottish. The exhibition’s most moving works are eight black-and-white portraits by Erik Williams, a street photographer from Hartford, Conn. His series “On the Outside” features the kind of residents who are often unseen: the disenfranchised and neglected, for whom daily life can be a struggle. And yet, remarkably, Williams’ crisp, often spontaneous portraits — made after he gets to know his subjects through conversation — convey a dignity and validation that society does not necessarily accord them. He captures individuals and the beauty they embody, albeit sometimes marred by hard living. In one vertical portrait — the photographer doesn’t title his works or identify the subjects by name — an attractive young Black couple gazes at the camera with an assured and contented look. And that’s enough for Williams. “I’m drawn to people that radiate energy and great character,” he explains in an online artist statement, “because that’s all that truly matters.” m

NEW THIS WEEK

Shop & Gallery, Waterbury, Friday, August 27, 5:30 p.m. Info, 244-7801.

chittenden county

‘A SINGULAR THEY’: Vermont artist Toby MacNutt presents a screening of brief selections from their solo performance and talks about the creation of the piece exploring nonbinary gender and intersectionality, followed by a brief audience Q&A. MacNutt is a queer, nonbinary-trans, disabled multidisciplinary artist, author and teacher. Register for Zoom webinar at shelburnemuseum.org. Shelburne Museum, Monday, August 30, 6-7 p.m. Free.

INFO

PHOENIX RISING GRAND UNVEILING: Waterbury Arts and the community commemorate a decade of resilience and transformation, the end of a downtown reconstruction project, and the 10th anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene with a public mural. Axel’s Frame

“New England Now: People” is on view through October 17 at the Shelburne Museum. shelburnemuseum.org

JIM SQUIRES: “Splash!” underwater images of fish and other ocean animals by photographer Jim Squires. September 1-30. Info, 985-8922. Village Wine and Coffee in Shelburne.

stowe/smuggs

MARYA LOWE: “Vibrantsee/d,” a solo exhibit of wall-hung works by the fiber artist. August 31-October 30. Info, kyle.minemagallery@gmail.com. Minema Gallery in Johnson.

brattleboro/okemo valley

CLARK DERBES: Illusionistic sculptures carved from blocks of wood and painted. August 28-November 28. Info, vermont@hallartfoundation.org. Hall Art Foundation in Reading.

outside vermont

NEW EXHIBITIONS: “Rocks to Galaxies,” paintings and sculpture by Winkie Kelsey; “A Collection of Memories,” encaustics by William Peabody; “From Then to Now,” wood and bronze sculptures by Jay Singh; and “Plant Stories,” oil paintings by Coralea Wennberg. August 27-October 1. Info, 603-448-3117. AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, N.H.

ART EVENTS ARTIST TALK: SARA STERN: The artist-in-residence gives a presentation about her recent moving-image projects in which she makes architecture, historical objects and photographs speak and perform. She’ll also share some of her CSSC works in progress. COVID-19 guidelines enforced. The Carving Studio & Sculpture Center, West Rutland, Thursday, August 26, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 438-2097. BCA ARTIST MARKET: More than 25 Vermont artists and specialty product vendors show and sell their wares in the outdoor market. Burlington City Hall Park, Saturday, August 28, 2-7 p.m. Info, 865-7166. BENCHART COMMUNITY STREET ART PROJECT: The unveiling of 42 public art Telescope Casual Furniture Bazza benches retrofitted by Brookside Woodworking and painted by local artists includes eats from Rollin’ Rooster food truck and music by Steven Wilson. Chaffee Art Center, Rutland, Friday, August 27, 6-7:30 p.m. Info, 775-0356. A CONVERSATION WITH TWO ARTISTS: Mixed-media painter Jessica Scriver, on exhibit at GreenTARA, and printmaker Elise Whittemore, on exhibit at Soapbox Gallery, hold a discussion as a closing event for both shows. GreenTARA Space, North Hero, Saturday, August 28, 2-3 p.m. Info, 355-2150. GALLERY WALKTHROUGH: ‘EXPEDITION’: Artist John Newsom takes visitors on an in-person tour of the current exhibit. The New York City-based painter is known for combining multiple painting strategies on large-scale canvases, focusing on dynamic spectacles from the natural world. Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Wednesday, August 25, 7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 257-0124. HOOD HIGHLIGHTS TOURS: What’s new on view? What have you missed while the museum was closed? To join this staff-led tour, meet in the Russo Atrium five minutes before the start time. No registration necessary. Unvaccinated visitors must wear face masks. Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, Hanover N.H., Thursday, August 26, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Free. Info, 603-646-2808. IN CONVERSATION: MELEKO MOKGOSI AND UGOCHUKWU-SMOOTH NZEWI: The current exhibiting artist and the curator at the Museum of Modern Art discuss the work in the exhibition “Scripto-visual.” Masks required inside the gallery. The Current, Stowe. Saturday, August 28, 5:30-7 p.m. Free. Info, 253-8358.

‘WATER IN THE WOOD’: The outdoor showcase is the culmination of a monthlong collaborative process among artists of various disciplines who have been living and working together off the grid. Featuring immersive art installations and performances, the event takes audiences through the gardens, into the woods and across the Sable land. Afterward, there’s wood-fired pizza from Fat Dragon Farm. The Sable Project, Stockbridge, Saturday, August 28, and Sunday, August 29, 4-7 p.m. $25.. Info, info@thesableproject. org. WEEKLY DROP-IN OPEN STUDIO: Care for your creativity and get inspired in the company of others as we create independently together. See poartry. org for more information and one-time registration for Zoom link. Friday, August 27, 6-8 p.m. Free; donations appreciated. Info, poartryproject@gmail.com. WETLAND SKETCHING TREASURE HUNT: Susan Abbott and ecologist Allaire Diamond lead a drawing and nature workshop, starting at MAG to learn sketching techniques and then at a nearby wetland on a conserved farm for a guided “sketching treasure hunt” of the plants and animals of this ecosystem. A picnic lunch and discussion follows. Milton Artists’ Guild Art Center & Gallery, Sunday, August 29, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. $5 MAG and VLT members; $10 nonmembers; $15 families. Info, 891-2014.

ONGOING SHOWS burlington

‘BUBBLEGUM POP’: Pip & Pop, Matt Neckers, Jon Rappleye, the Smittens and Kathryn Wiegers contribute to this exhibit inspired by popular and consumer culture with fantastical themes. KAYLYNN SULLIVAN TWOTREES: “Falling into Language: A Travelogue,” an immersive installation of paintings, soundscapes and video featuring contemporary vocables (a sequence of sounds and syllables without literal meaning), created in collaboration with musicians from Vermont, India and Japan and rooted in the oral tradition of the artist’s Native American and African heritage. Through October 9. Info, 865-7166. BCA Center in Burlington. ELISE WHITTEMORE: “Traces,” a solo exhibition of works on paper that explore the way hand and machine work together in the physical act of printmaking. Through August 28. Info, 324-0014. Soapbox Arts in Burlington. HOWARD CENTER ARTS COLLECTIVE: A summer art show by collective members in memory of Christine Pemberton. Through August 31. Flynndog Gallery in Burlington. ‘HUMAN PLUS: REAL LIVES + REAL ENGINEERING’: A hands-on exhibition showcasing how engineers innovate to help humans extend their abilities. Through September 6. Info, 864-1848. ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain in Burlington. ‘IT’S SMALLER THAN I THOUGHT’: A group exhibit of works by 16 local and international artists inspired by one of the world’s most famous paintings, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” Through August 31. Info, vip@ safeandsound.gallery. Safe and Sound Gallery in Burlington. ‘SHE SUSTAINS US: HONORING AND PROTECTING MOTHER EARTH’: An eco-art exhibit presented by a collective of eight Vermont artists: Elena Brotz, Melanie Brotz, Annie Caswell, LaVerne Ferguson, Kara Greenblott, Emily Metcalfe, Colleen Murphy and Kelley Taft. Themes are related to environmental protection, honoring the Earth and the beauty of the natural world. Through August 31. Info, 540-8152. Chandler’s Dry Goods in Burlington.

SHELTER CULTIVATION PROJECT: The Burlingtonbased arts collaborative, founded by Shawn Dumont, celebrates the culmination of a yearlong arts project with a gallery exhibition and pop-up shop featuring artwork and handmade goods by local and international artists. Through November 1. Info, 343-4767. Karma Bird House Gallery in Burlington.

chittenden county

DEB PEATE: An exhibition of watercolors, pastels, silk screens, etchings and 3D wall art. Through August 31. Info, 425-6345. Charlotte Senior Center. ‘A. ELMER CROWELL: SCULPTOR, PAINTER, DECOY MAKER’: Drawing from Shelburne Museum’s renowned decoy collection, the exhibition features milestones in Crowell’s prolific artistic career, from the earliest miniature goose he carved in 1894 to the very last bird he made before retiring in the early 1940s. Online only at shelburnemuseum.org. Through October 31. ‘NEW ENGLAND NOW: PEOPLE’: The second exhibition in a biennial series featuring multimedia works by 10 contemporary artists from New England’s six states, celebrating the communities and peoples of the region. Through October 17. ‘PATTERN & PURPOSE: AMERICAN QUILTS FROM THE SHELBURNE MUSEUM’: The museum presents 20 textile masterpieces from its collection dating from the first decades of the 1800s to the turn of the 21st century, organized by associate curator Katie Wood Kirchhoff. Online only at shelburnemuseum.org. Through February 1, 2022. ‘REVISITING AMERICA: THE PRINTS OF CURRIER & IVES’: On loan from the Joslyn Museum in Omaha, Neb., the exhibition explores how the largest printmaking company in 19th-century America visualized the nation’s social, political and industrial fabric. Though known for lushly colored, nostalgic lithographs, the company also touched on social and political issues of the day. Through September 5. PETER KIRKILES: “At Scale,” mixed-media sculptures of common objects, such as a clock, a ruler and a truck, in unexpected sizes. The works are scattered around the grounds of the museum. Through October 17. Info, 985-3346. Shelburne Museum. TODD LOCKWOOD: “One Degree of Separation,” large-scale black-and-white portraits by the local photographer. Through October 14. Info, 846-4140. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall.

barre/montpelier

‘ART ROCKS!’: An exhibition of paintings and photography by 15 members of the Paletteers of Vermont. Through September 30. NAN CARLE: “Notable Sculptors of Barre Gray Granite,” photographs that celebrate and explore sculptors keeping the stone arts alive in Barre. Through October 30. Info, 476-4605. Vermont Granite Museum in Barre. BARRE ART SPLASH: An installation of painted fiberglass sculptures of cats, dogs and race cars by local artists sited along Main Street, to be auctioned off at exhibit’s end at the Vermont Granite Museum as a benefit for the Barre Rotary Club. Through September 18. Info, 479-0124. Various Barre locations. BARRE ART STROLL: Take a self-guided sculpture tour and discover North America’s largest zipper made from local granite, a pair of granite gargoyles (a sculptural bike rack) and many more contemporary and historic sculptures throughout downtown. Guides available in the gallery and downloadable at studioplacearts.com. Through August 31. Studio Place Arts in Barre. ‘THE CATAMOUNT IN VERMONT’: An exhibition that explores the feline symbol of Vermont through the lenses of art, science and culture. Through May 31, 2022. Info, 479-8500. Vermont History Museum in Montpelier. DELIA ROBINSON: “Fragmented Glances,” a retrospective of work by the longtime Vermont artist. Through September 30. Info, robinson.delia@gmail.com. Montpelier City Hall. GROUP SHOW 44: Artworks by members of the collective gallery. Through August 29. Info, info@thefrontvt. com. The Front in Montpelier. BARRE/MONTPELIER SHOWS SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

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JENNIFER BRYAN: “Liquid Mind,” abstract paintings by the NU alumna ’05. Through December 10. Info, 485-2183. Sullivan Museum & History Center, Norwich University, in Northfield. MERYL LEBOWITZ: “A Way from Reality,” abstract paintings by Meryl Lebowitz. Through November 30. Info, 479-7069. AR Market in Barre. PAT MUSICK: “Exploring Technology: An Artist and an Astronaut Look at the Future,” mixed-media sculptures and works on paper inspired by the words astronauts have used in describing how they feel seeing Earth from space; in collaboration with former astronaut Jerry Carr. Through August 31. Spotlight Gallery in Montpelier. PATTY HUDAK: A solo exhibition of large-scale installation, painting and botanical ornaments inspired by woodlands. Through October 30. Info, 262-6035. T.W. Wood Gallery in Montpelier. SUSAN BULL RILEY: Paintings depicting moments in nature, both flora and fauna. Through August 26. Info, 229-6206. North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier. SUSAN CALZA: “Story Times ‘how you cut it,’” a multimedia installation that speaks to these exceptional times. Visitors are welcome to add content to the site. Through September 26. Info, 498-3509. Susan Calza Gallery in Montpelier. SUSANNAH GRAVEL & CARA ARMSTRONG: Landscape paintings and works by the children’s book illustrator, respectively. Through August 31. Info, 279-5048. ART, etc. in Northfield. TUMBLING BLOCKS COMMUNITY QUILT PROJECT: Montpelier Alive exhibits the Capital City’s newest piece of public art, a project intended to help “stitch together” the community during the pandemic. More than 250 individuals, including more than 100 students, contributed designs for panels that Sabrina Fadial collated and made into a “quilt.” Through December 31. Info, 488-4303. Montpelier Transit Center.

stowe/smuggs

‘EXPLORING EARTH’: An exhibition that reflects on the intersection of spirituality and art, celebrating Earth magic, spirit animals, and plants and transcendence; work by Isaias Crow, Jennifer Herrera Condry, Will Kasso Condry, Amy Hook-Therrien, Gilbran and Harlan Mack. Presented in participation with “2020 Vision – Reflecting on a World-Changing Year,” a statewide initiative of the Vermont Curators Group. On view by appointment. Through October 31. Info, gallery@sprucepeakarts.org. Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, Stowe Mountain Resort. EXPOSED 2021: The annual outdoor sculpture exhibition highlights artists who focus on current political and social constructs/issues/systems through the relationship of language, sculpture and installation; and language as culturally specific, ideological, controversial, challenging, identifying, uniting and separating. Artists are Tomas Vu, Tony Tasset, Lynn Sullivan, Mildred Beltre, Oasa DuVerney, Jonathan Gitelson, Daniel Bejar, Aya Rodriquez-Izumi and Gabriel Spsa. Through October 23. MELEKO MOKGOSI: “Scripto-Visual,” small and large paintings paired with different kinds of text; the Botswanaborn, New York-based artist investigates the links between these elements in relation to the politics of representation. Through November 13. Info, 253-8358. The Current in Stowe. ‘ICONIC VERMONT’: A group show of paintings that highlight the most scenic Vermont locations by New England landscape artists. ‘MADE IN VERMONT’: A group exhibition of paintings that showcase the resourcefulness and creativity of Vermonters. Through September 6. Info, 644-5100. Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville.

‘A Life in Lists and Notes’ You really have no excuse to miss

an exhibition at the Museum of Everyday Life in Glover: Each one lasts for a whole year. And the reward when you get to this Northeast Kingdom museum-in-a-barn is seeing not only the current show but items from previous ones — pencils, keys, bells, knots, even toothbrushes. The growing archive serves as both a reminder and a prelude to this year’s chosen specimens. Year after year, proprietor Clare Dolan has demonstrated that an “everyday” object can inspire a fascinating, entertaining and unexpected collection. The very quotidian nature of thing universally human. While this year’s exhibition can’t be called colorful — most white paper — it is certainly varied. A note taped to a

‘PRIDE 1983’: Through interviews with organizers, photographs and scanned images of historic documents, the exhibit, curated by Meg Tamulonis of the Vermont Queer Archives, explores the origins and lasting legacies of Vermont’s first Pride March on June 25, 1983, in Burlington. Online only at vermontfolklifecenter.org. Through October 31. Info, 388-4964. Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury.

five-gallon bucket promises “Perfectly good old peanut butter.” An 1899 Family Hand Laundry list itemizes clothing to be cleaned, from “shirts with bosoms” to “butcher frocks.” There’s a display of notes left behind in library books; a bird-watcher’s list of 2016 backyard sightings; an intubation checklist (Dolan is an ER nurse); and an invitation — complete with a smiley face — suggesting “Pants off at lunch?” For visitors who might be inspired to compose a list on the spot, signage at a writing station informs us that list-making is a spiritual exercise. Amen. “A Life in Lists and Notes” is on view through July 2022. JAMES RAUCHMAN: “Self: Reflection,” paintings that push the boundaries of portraiture. NITYA BRIGHENTI: “Of Openness and Closeness,” drawings and paintings. Through October 29. Info, 888-1261. River Arts in Morrisville.

BILL BRAUER RETROSPECTIVE: A collection of paintings and prints by the late New York-born, Warren-based artist and teacher, best known for his sensual oil paintings. Through October 11. Info, 496-6682. Festival Gallery in Waitsfield.

KASEY CHILD: A solo exhibition of contemporary abstracted landscapes that documents the climate emergency by the Burlington artist. Through August 31. Info, info@vermontframegame.com. Vermont Frame Game in Stowe.

‘LANDSCAPES & INSCAPES’: Figurative landscapes in watercolor from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s by Adolf Dehn and large-scale abstract-expressionist works by Virginia Dehn. The pair were a vital part of the postwar art community in New York City. Open by appointment only. Through October 10. Info, 777-2713. The Bundy Modern in Waitsfield.

mad river valley/waterbury

‘AFTER IRENE – THE FLOODGATES ART PROJECT, REVISITED’: An exhibition of works created by community members to commemorate Vermont’s devastating tropical storm in August 2011. Through September 25. Info, 244-7801. Axel’s Frame Shop & Gallery in Waterbury.

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PAMELA SMITH AND ANNE CADY: “Holding Ground,” folk-style portraits of women, and vivid landscapes, respectively, by the Addison County painters. Through September 30. Info, 877-2173. Northern Daughters in Vergennes.

lists and notes are written on

f MATT NECKERS: “Self-Guided Missile,” large-scale sculptural installation by the Eden-based artist. Reception: Thursday, August 26, 3-5 p.m. Through September 23. Info, 635-1469. Julian Scott Memorial Gallery, Northern Vermont University, in Johnson.

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

VISUAL ART IN SEVEN DAYS:

‘KEY TO LIBERTY: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN’: An exhibition that explores local connections to the nation’s fight for independence; also “Nebizun: Water Is Life,” featuring works by Abenaki artists about the importance of water health; and the Hazelett Small Watercraft Center, a two-story exhibit space that presents the history of small human-powered watercraft on Lake Champlain. Through October 17. Info, meg@ lcmm.org. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes. ‘A MODERN ARTIST: THE COMMERCIAL ART OF RACHAEL ROBINSON ELMER’: The seasonal exhibition explores the early 20th-century success of the artist as a professional illustrator for periodicals and publishers, from children’s books to advertising. Through October 31. Info, 877-3406. Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh.

the items touches on some-

f ‘LIGHTNESS OF BEING’: A post-pandemic show featuring works by four Vermont-based female artists: Patty Hudak, Tuyen My Nguyen, Chiara No and Tara Thacker. Closing reception: Saturday, August 28, 5-7 p.m. Through August 28. Info, 646-519-1781. Minema Gallery in Johnson.

artist in the gallery. Through September 11. TRENT CAMPBELL: “Faces of Addison County,” a retrospective of photographs by the longtime Addison County Independent photographer. Through September 11. Info, 388-2117. Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History in Middlebury.

middlebury area

‘DREAMING OF TIMBUCTOO’: An exhibit that unearths the little-known story of Black land ownership in Vermont, told through a series of panels featuring enlargements of historic photographs and documents. The visual storytelling is a signature program of the Adirondacks-based project John Brown Lives! Through October 31. Info, 382-9222. Jackson Gallery, Town Hall Theater, in Middlebury. “HENRY AT 200’: An exhibit celebrating the museum founder and collector of New England history with documents, photographs, scrapbooks, autographs, Middlebury imprints, diaries, music ephemera, relics and even a lock of Napoleon’s hair. Through December 31. KATE POND: “From the Heart: A Sculptor’s Process,” three sculptures — two metal, one wooden — in the museum’s garden, plus maquettes and drawings by the Burlington

ART LISTINGS AND SPOTLIGHTS ARE WRITTEN BY PAMELA POLSTON. LISTINGS ARE RESTRICTED TO ART SHOWS IN TRULY PUBLIC PLACES.

SCOTT ADDIS & JOE BOLGER: Plein air and studio paintings by the Vermont artists. Through August 31. Info, 458-0098. Edgewater Gallery at Middlebury Falls. ‘STUDIES TO STUDIO’: New work from painters Timothy Horn, William Hoyt and Rory Jackson that show the evolution of paintings that start as studies and are finished in the studio. Through August 31. Info, 458-0098. Edgewater Gallery on the Green in Middlebury.

rutland/killington

JON OLENDER & JEN RONDINONE: “Reflecting on the Past and Future,” photographs and paintings on canvas and wood, respectively. Through September 30. Info, 775-0356. Chaffee Art Center in Rutland. ‘PORTRAITS OF A COMMUNITY’: Photography by Chuck Helfer, Tikko Freilich and Martin Van Buren III, along with vintage photos from the collection of the Poultney Historical Society. Through August 29. Info, stonevalleyartscenter@gmail.com. Stone Valley Arts in Poultney.

champlain islands/northwest

DAVID STROMEYER: More than 60 large-scale metal sculptures are scattered across six scenic meadows. Picnics welcome. Through October 11. Free. Info, 512-333-2119. Cold Hollow Sculpture Park in Enosburg Falls. JESSICA SCRIVER & MARY ADMASIAN: “Transmigration: the passage of cells, populations and spirit,” paintings and sculptures, respectively, by the Vermont artists. Through August 29. Info, greentaraspace@gmail.com. GreenTARA Space in North Hero.

upper valley

JEANETTE FOURNIER: “On the Wing,” watercolor paintings of birds by the New Hampshire artist. Through August 31. Info, 295-4567. Long River Gallery in White River Junction.

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ART SHOWS

LANGDON GRAVES: “life, death, life,” surrealist drawings and mixed-media installation works. Through August 29. Info, info@kishka.org. Kishka Gallery & Library in White River Junction. SCULPTUREFEST: An annual outdoor sculpture exhibition featuring more than 30 artists curated by, and on the property of, Charlet and Peter Davenport. More info and directions to private locations at sculpturefest.org. Through October 31. Free. King Farm in Woodstock. SUMMER OF DINOSAURS: Explore the lives of dinosaurs, big and small, through exhibits about dinosaur eggs and babies, dramatic dinosaur fossil specimens, and a series of special events and programs for all ages. Through September 28. Info, 649-2200. Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich. ‘THE WATERCOLOR TRIO’: Imagery of land, sea and sky in paintings and digital art by Paula Cloudpainter, Kate Reeves and Kathleen Fiske. Through September 11. Info, 457-3500. Artistree Community Arts Center in Woodstock.

northeast kingdom

‘1111 COPPER NAILS: BREAD & PUPPET CALENDAR PRINTS’: Images from 36 years’ worth of calendar art created by Peter Schumann and printed by Elka Schumann (and dedicated to Elka); exhibit on all three floors of the inn. Through September 21. Info, vtpiegirlco@gmail.com. CHARLES EMERS: Paintings, assemblages and prints on view in the third-floor gallery space, Wheelbarrow Art. Through September 30. Info, 472-3621. Hardwick Inn. ‘1111 COPPER NAILS: BREAD & PUPPET CALENDAR PRINTS’: Images from 36 years’ worth of calendar art created by Peter Schumann and printed by Elka Schumann; calendar and art for sale. Through September 21. Info, vtpiegirlco@gmail.com. Front Seat Coffee in Hardwick. ‘OPEN TO LANDSCAPE’: Paintings, photographs and works on paper by Keith Chamberlin, Terry Ekasala, Anni Lorenzini and Elizabeth Nelson that explore a range of artistic responses to Vermont’s dramatic landscape. Through September 26. ALAN JENNINGS: “Finding the Way Home,” animated films the artist created about growing up in Vermont, including “The Northeast Kingdom,” “Dream of Deerman” and “The Bill Jennings Mysteries”; and the drawings, paintings and sculptures he uses to make them. Watch at catamountarts.org. Through December 31. Info, 748-2600. Catamount Arts Center in St. Johnsbury. ‘ART OF THE BOOK: IS IT A BOOK?’: Members of the Book Arts Guild of Vermont exhibit their literary-related creations. Through September 25. Info, 748-0158. Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild Backroom Gallery in St. Johnsbury. ELIZABETH NELSON: “Vermont Green,” summer landscape paintings. Through September 28. Info, 525-3366. The Parker Pie Company in West Glover. ELLY BARKSDALE: “The Beauty of Horses,” paintings by the Vermont artist. Through August 31. Info, 229-8317. The Satellite Gallery in Lyndonville. ‘GREEN’: A group exhibit of painting, photography, pottery, jewelry, fiber work and more that explore the verdant color, both as a hue and in its environmental sense. Through October 10. Info, 334-1966. MAC Center for the Arts Gallery in Newport. ‘A LIFE IN LISTS AND NOTES’: An exhibition that celebrates the poetic, mnemonic, narrative and enumerative qualities of lists and notes. The objects on display span myriad creative, professional, bureaucratic, domestic and personal uses of lists through the ages. Through May 31, 2022. Donations. Info, 626-4409. The Museum of Everyday Life in Glover. ‘OUT OF THE CLOSET AND HUNG’: Works from the permanent collection by Peter Schumann, Aaron Stein, John Brickels, Don Sunseri and more, along with a sculptural installation, “The Trump Library.” Docent-guided tours by appointment only. Through September 30. Info, 563-2037. Annex at White Water Gallery in EastHardwick. PAUL GRUHLER: “Harmonics: 60 Years of Life in Art,” an exhibition featuring the artist’s early geometric

abstractions, the Chelsea Series, 1963-78. Through August 29. Info, 279-6403. Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro. STJ ART ON THE STREET: A summer show featuring the work of Vermont artists in storefronts, on the sidewalks and indoor galleries along Railroad Street and Eastern Avenue. Through September 6. Info, 748-2600. Various St. Johnsbury locations.

brattleboro/okemo valley

‘EXPEDITION’: Paintings, drawings, sculpture and installation by 17 artists that depict aspects of venturing into unknown lands and territories. Artists are: John Newsom, Matt Dillon, Inka Essenhigh, Michael Kagan, Wendy White, Donald Baechler, Raymond Pettibon, Ouattara Watts, André Butzer, Ann Craven, Torben Giehler, April Gornik, Andy Hope 1930, Richard Jacobs, John McAllister, Erik Parker and Alexis Rockman. Through October 11. ‘SEQUENCES: ODE TO MINOR WHITE’: Artworks by Andrea Belag, William Eric Brown, Niqui Carter, Kevin Larmon and Jessica Judith Beck that reflect the spiritual possibilities of abstraction, inspired by

the late modernist photographer. Through October 11. CHARLIE HUNTER: “Semaphore,” paintings of crossing signals and railroad infrastructure by the Vermont artist. Through October 11. DELANO DUNN: “Novelties,” two series of work that address things we hold dear — family, love, comfort, tradition, connection — and things that threaten to undermine them: “Paradise,” works on paper that explore the insidiousness of stereotypes; and “Roux,” brightly colored, mixed-media works that incorporate family history and culinary tradition. Through October 11. DELITA MARTIN: “Between Worlds,” a yearlong installation in the museum’s front windows that reimagines the identities and roles of Black women in the context of Black culture and African history. Through May 31, 2022. ERICK JOHNSON: “Double Take,” large-scale paintings and street photography that juxtapose intentional and incidental pattern and abstraction. Through October 11. SCOTT BOYD: “Endangered Alphabets,” sculptures that pair the ancient form of the obelisk with near-extinct languages. Through November 30. Info, 257-0124. Brattleboro Museum & Art Center.

BECOME AN EXHIBITING MEMBER: Show at the Brandon Artists Guild gallery year-round, participate in group and solo exhibitions, and join a vibrant creative community. Apply at brandonartistsguild.org. Deadline: September 10. Free. Info, 247-4956. CERF+ COVID-19 RELIEF GRANT FOR ARTISTS, CYCLE 4: The artist safety net organization offers a fourth round of pandemic-era grants of $1,000 each for artists working in craft disciplines who are facing dire circumstances due to food, housing, and/or medical insecurities. Priority will be given to BIPOC, as well as to folk and traditional artists. Learn more and apply at cerfplus.org. Through August 31. COVID-19 CULTURAL RECOVERY GRANTS, ROUND TWO: The Vermont Arts Council and Vermont Humanities will distribute $1.2 million in relief funding to Vermont organizations through the federal program. Arts or humanities organizations that are incorporated in Vermont with 501c3 tax-exempt status, that comply with federal and state legal requirements, and that are experiencing hardship due to the impact of the pandemic may apply, even if they received

previous relief grants. Funding awards are $5,000, $10,000 and $15,000. Deadline: September 14. Learn more and register at vermontartscouncil.org. EXTENDED DEADLINE: OLD STONE HOUSE, HONKING TUNNEL: Vermontaffiliated artists are invited to animate St. Johnsbury’s “Honking Tunnel” with artwork designed to engage the community and animate downtown. The Old Stone House Museum is calling for teaching artists for “Open to Interpretation,” a public art project to animate the Alexander Twilight Educational Trail. Deadline: September 15. Visit catamountarts.org and oldstonemuseum.org for more information and applications. No phone inquiries. Catamount Arts Center, St. Johnsbury, $25. FIRST NIGHT NORTH IN ST. JOHNSBURY: Now accepting online applications for family-friendly acts to perform on December 31. Artists may apply to perform one or two 45-minute sets. Application form at catamountarts.org. Deadline: August 31. Various St. Johnsbury locations. Free. Info, 748-2600. ‘MASKED’: Inclusive Arts Vermont invites Vermont visual artists with disabilities to participate in an exhibition that will travel statewide January 2022 through April 2023. Works can interpret the theme as broadly as necessary to inspire creativity. Details at inclusiveartsvermont.org. Deadline: September 1. Inclusive Arts Vermont, Essex Junction, Free. Info, 871-5002. MILTON ARTISTS’ GUILD ART AND STROLL: The guild is hosting its first craft fair this fall. Artists of all kinds can register for booths. There will also be music, food trucks, raffles and more. Sign up at miltonartistsguildstore.com. Deadline: September 1. $50 members; $80

JULIE CRABTREE: ”Threads of Image,” mixed-media landscapes using paints, stitching and handmade textiles. Through September 5. Info, 875-8900. DaVallia Art Gallery & Boutique in Chester. ‘YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT’S LIKE OVER HERE’: An exhibition of black-and-white photographs by Marion McCune Rice, a volunteer Red Cross nurse during World War I, taken during her four years working in hospitals in France. Letters, a medal Rice received, her nurse’s uniform and other artifacts are also on display. In conjunction with the Brattleboro Words Trail. Through September 1. Info, 118elliot@gmail. com. 118 Elliot in Brattleboro.

manchester/bennington

CALL TO ARTISTS ART IN STATE BUILDINGS: The Vermont AISB program is currently accepting applications from Vermont artists for two new public art commissions: at the Department of Health and Children and Family Services facility in Burlington, and a new Department of Mental Health recovery facility in Essex. Each has a budget of $43,000. Individual artists or teams may apply to one or both but must submit separate applications for each project. Details and online application forms at vermont artscouncil.org. Deadline: August 30. Vermont Arts Council, Montpelier.

‘DEEP BLUE’: Curated by American artist Katherine Bradford, this group show examines “deep blue” as a color and as a phrase that can describe mood, the natural environment, music and even a region’s political landscape; more than 70 paintings, sculptures, photographs, works on paper and videos by 70 artists. KATHERINE BRADFORD: “Philosophers’ Clambake,” more than a dozen luminous, dreamlike works that merge color field painting with figuration. Advance reservations recommended but not required. Info, 952-1056. Hall Art Foundation in Reading.

nonmembers. Info, director@ miltonartistsguild.org. VERMONT HAND CRAFTERS CALL TO NEW ARTISTS: Vermont Hand Crafters, founded in 1955, is accepting applications for new fine art and craft members. Five jury sessions are planned for 2021. The day your application is received determines your jury session. More info and application at vermonthandcrafters.com. Through September 8. $40. Info, officemanager@ vermonthandcrafters.com. VERMONT OPEN CALL: The downtown Burlington shop invites Vermont makers, artists, creators and entrepreneurs to submit art/products to be considered for a wholesale partnership worth up to $5,000. Details and application at commondeer.com. Deadline: September 1. Common Deer, Burlington. VOICING ART POETRY READING: Submit one to three original poems in response to the theme “Space,” inspired by the art of 25 iconic architectural spaces around the world, for reading on August 28, 2-3 p.m. EST via Zoom. Email poartryproject@gmail.com to submit poems and for link to the online gallery of the muse architecture photographs. Deadline: August 27. ‘WEATHER’: Weather has always played a role in our lives but now commonly exceeds previous experiences. For an upcoming exhibit, we seek images that illustrate not just weather but also the ways in which heat and cold, rain, snow, drought and fire are reflected in the lives of people who endure them. Details and application at photoplacegallery. com. Deadline: September 13. PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury. $39 for the first five images; $6 each additional image. Info, 388-4500.

2021 SOLO EXHIBITIONS: A group exhibition showcasing 10 artists working in a range of mediums, including Japanese woodblock printing, photography, welded metal art, egg tempera painting, ceramics and more. Through September 26. Info, 362-1405. Yester House Galleries, Southern Vermont Arts Center, in Manchester.

f DUSTY BOYNTON: “Boundless,” new paintings and mixed-media works by the Vermont artist, curated in collaboration with Stowe’s 571 Projects. Reception: Friday, August 27, 5-7 p.m. Through December 31. Info, jfranklin@benningtonmuseum. org. Bennington Museum. MARY RUEFLE: “Erasure,” altered books by Vermont’s current poet laureate. Through October 31. Info, 440-4507. Robert Frost Stone House Museum in Shaftsbury. NORTH BENNINGTON OUTDOOR SCULPTURE SHOW: The 24th annual exhibition brings large-scale outdoor works to the historic village and surrounding area, curated by local artist Joe Chirchirillo. Through November 7. Info, jrc373@ comcast.net. Various locations around North Bennington. STELLA QUARTA DECIMA GALLERY OPENING: “Anticipation,” a group show featuring artists Matthew Monk, James Rauchman, Diane Sophrin, Hannah Morris, Kate Burnim and Lynn Newcomb. In addition to the pop-up gallery, art can be viewed at stellaquartadecima.com. Through October 31. Info, 498-4996. Stella Quarta Decima in Manchester.

randolph/royalton

‘HIDDEN MESSAGES’: An exhibition of fiber arts by 15 artists who push the boundaries of the medium. Through September 5. Info, 728-9878. Chandler Gallery in Randolph.

outside vermont

‘ECOLOGIES: A SONG FOR OUR PLANET’: An exhibition of installations, videos, sculptures, paintings, drawings and photographs that explore the relationship between humans and nature, and disruptions to the planet’s ecosystems caused by human intervention. Through February 27, 2022. Info, mbam.qc.ca. Montréal Museum of Fine Arts. GABE DICKENS: “North Country Exposures: A Candid Look at the Past Decade,” artwork created by the local photographer. Through August 27. Info, 518-5631604. Strand Center for the Arts in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

f ‘TWO RIVERS PRINTMAKING STUDIO: 20 YEARS’: Two decades of works by current and former members and faculty of the White River Junction print studio. Closing reception: Friday, September 17, 5-7 p.m. Through September 19. Info, 603-448-3117. AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, N.H. m

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

music+nightlife

Tom Pearo recording underwater sounds for his “Love Wave” single

Tom Pearo searches for sounds in the deep B Y CHR IS FA RNSWORTH • farnsworth@sevendaysvt.com

hen Tom Pearo texted me one night after an early dinner, I had to reread the message several times. “We’re at the lake, come on down! Recording underwater.” I read the text aloud, a note of incredulity in my voice. A stranger walking by looked at me oddly. I repeated the word “underwater,” as if the passerby might have a clearer idea of what Pearo was talking about. Instead, they sped up as they walked away. I couldn’t blame the stranger — not everyone is privy to the casual madness of Pearo. The composer and guitarist has been a beacon of creativity in the Burlington music scene for many years, first popping up in the early 2000s with That Toga Band. Over time, Pearo morphed into a sort of ambient-guitar wizard, specializing in blissed-out, mantralike melodies and all-encompassing soundscapes. In 2018, the Isle la Motte native put out an ambient record/Joseph Campbell-esque mono-mythic tale called I Am a Mountain,

Tom Pearo recording underwater sounds

further cementing his reputation as the scene’s master of spacing out. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been so nonplussed when I arrived at the lake that

REMEMBER LIVE SHOWS? 54

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

evening to find Pearo submerged, grinning like a madman in sunglasses, his long hair wet and reflecting the sunlight. In one hand, he held a Bluetooth speaker; in the other, a

special microphone created expressly for recording underwater sounds. “Yeah, this is happening, man! It’s happening!” Pearo relayed from the water — half shouting, half laughing — as he saw me approaching. The “happening” would become Pearo’s newest single, “Love Wave,” released on August 18. The three-minuteand-32-second track isn’t simply a new song he threw up on his Spotify account but a true work of collaboration. “Love Wave” was commissioned by Burlington venture capital fund Hula, which hosts a series of climate summits called the See Change Sessions. The firm asked Pearo to write a musical score for the 2021 summit, which took place on August 18 and 19 and was focused on water conservation. Pearo being Pearo, simply writing music with a water theme wasn’t going to cut it. “I just kept thinking, There’s a chance to do something so amazing here,” Pearo told me a few days after I met him at the lake. “Like, why make something

Well, they’re starting up again, and we’re here to help. Find live music, DJs, comedy and more at sevendaysvt.com/music. If you’re a talent booker or artist planning live entertainment at a bar, nightclub, café, restaurant, brewery or coffee shop, send event details to music@sevendaysvt.com or submit the info using our form at sevendaysvt.com/postevent.

PHOTOS: LUKE AWTRY

Hooked on Hydrophonics

summer with this dynamic from the HCA Café. GOT MUSIC NEWS? MUSIC@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

sound underwater? That’s been done so connection with Rapkin, Pearo was able many times. I wanted to make the song to procure several hydrophones. underwater.” All of which led to the scene at the And so he did. lake with Pearo in the water and Rapkin Pearo had already written “Love engineering from the rocky shores of Wave” with collaborator and fellow Oakledge Park. ambient enthusiast Michael Crain. Crain Everyone involved described the expehelms a project called Tiamatu, which rience as “surreal.” is Sumerian for “ocean,” so the subject First, Rapkin started the song, a was right up his alley. The two met after four-beat click track beeping from the Crain moved to Vermont from Orlando, speaker in Pearo’s hand. Next, Pearo Fla., and saw Pearo play at Radio Bean. submerged the speaker and Rothenberg’s They kept in touch, waithydrophone. ing for the right project We stood in silence as to collaborate on. Pearo floated, grinning “Tom had this piece widely as if he could hear what was happening based on a guitar loop he improvised,” Crain beneath the water. Dogs recounted in an email. barked in the distance, and kids shouted as they “We went back and forth, sending files. He swam nearby. From our little circle by the rocks, sent me a mix, and I TOM PEARO altered it to be more of a we watched Pearo in the bed of atmosphere. Once he heard that, a lake as if he were conducting a symphony. melody came to him. It all evolved very Pearo emerged after a few minutes, naturally.” an expression of pure satisfaction on his Pearo next reached out to Will face. Rapkin removed his headphones and Andrews, aka Willverine. The producer flashed a grin. and longtime member of Burlington act “Oh, we got it,” Rapkin enthused. “It’s Japhy Ryder first met Pearo in 2004 but sounding incredible!” had never collaborated with him. “You never expect someone to take “Tom is an interesting dude,” your tracks and do something like that,” Andrews said by phone from his home Andrews said later. “But if you hang out in Colchester. “You sometimes meet with Tom enough, you just realize that’s people and you can just tell they’re way how that dude rolls.” smarter than you. And some people are He and Pearo talked a lot about the kind of dicks about it, but Tom isn’t,” he underwater recording after hearing the continued. “I mean, the dude is a fuck- finished track. The natural properties of ing genius, a literal genius. But he never the lake created something unique that makes you feel less smart. He has such sounded nothing like a plug-in effect or a an inviting energy that it brings you into cheesy synth version of water. his orbit.” “A trumpet somehow sounds naturally Andrews ended up sending Pearo good underwater,” Andrews explained. more than 20 tracks of trumpet and synth, “The water creates a randomized tremolo which Pearo described as the “ribbon on effect that comes and goes and moves like top” of the song. Indeed, “Love Wave” nothing else.” is built on a haunting bedrock of sound The project was such a success that where the synths and guitar entwine. Pearo and Andrews have discussed playCombine that with Andrews’ trumpet, ing the tracks live next time and amplifyand the song is an auditory expression of ing a direct signal from the instrument pure tranquility. underwater. Much of that ethereal texture can “It seems like an extreme endeavor,” be attributed to Pearo’s madcap idea to Andrews admitted. “But once you’re record underwater. going for that vibe, why stop, right?” “I love how things like this gather For Pearo, the underwater experiment inertia,” Pearo said. has opened doors, both to new sounds and He recalled how his friend Lewis to new collaborations. Rapkin, a producer and composer who “That feeling when you have a cool has worked for HBO and Vice, introduced idea and you know there are some other him to David Rothenberg, a professor at musicians out there that will try anything the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with you?” he said. “That’s the stuff, man. “and things started to snowball towards That’s the wave.” m me being in the lake with a microphone.” Rothenberg uses an experimental INFO underwater microphone — called, natu- “Love Wave” is streaming on all digital rally, a hydrophone — to facilitate his platforms. Learn more about Tom Pearo at recordings of whale songs. Thanks to his tompearo.com.

I JUST KEPT THINKING,

THERE’S A CHANCE TO DO SOMETHING SO AMAZING HERE.

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Vermont Shakespeare Festival Saturday, August 28 | 5:30 PM Shakespeare: Completely Unbound! Same words, different order, new stories...This groundbreaking theatrical fusion is the perfect response to the history, romance, tragedy...and comedy of our times.

Vermont Comedy Divas SEPT 10 | 6 PM

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

8/6/21 4:21 PM

GET YOUR MUSIC REVIEWED? MUSIC@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

music+nightlife

REVIEW this Highh Def, Darren to Be Different (WRITE HOOKED RECORDS, DIGITAL)

South Hero native Darren Gardner, who performs as Highh Def, made a name for himself in the local hip-hop scene with his 2019 single “Floetic.” It was a knockout slice of country rap with real heart and soul, showcasing his tightly written bars and warm, confident singing. His debut album, Darren to Be Different, is both impressive and surprising. The country rap influence is still there, but there’s an equally strong dose of Jason Mraz-style folk-pop. It is a musical journal of sorts, recorded at home as he bounced between Boston and Baltimore.

Lavenderlux, Nest Inertia (SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL)

Listening to Nest Inertia, the new EP from Lavenderlux, is a lot like watching an “overstuff” scene in a television sitcom: Picture a closet jammed with junk, closed with a full-body, buttto-door bump. The latch clicks, and everything’s calm. Until it isn’t. Sparked by something small — a sudden sneeze, a cat’s meow — the tension breaks, the door springs free and out tumbles a shower of stuff: clothes,

Album opener “Distortion” sets the tone: Highh Def is equally comfortable singing and rapping, but he blends the two to great effect. He is, first and foremost, a songwriter with a lot to say. The pop sheen is downright deceptive. Beneath the breezy beats and carefree melodies, the song takes a brutally honest look at the cycles of generational addiction. Hard-won sobriety comes up again on “Cut Different,” a party song about being alienated from party culture. Even with his smooth delivery, it’s impossible to miss the rapper’s tightly packed bars. Highh Def makes intricate rhyme schemes sound natural and effortless — exactly like a true MC should. There are some stylistic curveballs in the mix, such as “on the low.” The cut

brings a half-reggae, half-Gorillaz feel and one of the best choruses on an LP full of earworms. “Kimberly” is basically a ballad, stripped down to a guitar progression straight from Jack Johnson’s campfire. This could be a face-plant for a less dynamic artist, but here it’s a standout. The song also makes a stark contrast to the next cut, “b.all.in,” one of the best joints on the whole project. It’s one of the fullest arrangements, too, packing a serious punch on the low end. The production touches here are smart and effective. This is radioready stuff. Darren to Be Different is a strong debut, but there’s always room for improvement. The sound quality throughout is superbly polished, thanks to engineer Chris Ellis. However, many of the tracks are heavy on the midrange — all guitars and vocals. And while the album is cohesive, the tone is perhaps too consistent. Many tracks

sound too similar to each other; many of the hooks crowd into the same keys and melodies. These are small quibbles, though, especially in the face of Highh Def’s sheer talent. The album is a statement marking the arrival of a strong new voice. Clearly the result of much experimentation and soul searching, it’s an inspiring testament from a survivor disguised as a collection of relaxing summer jams. While rap purists might balk at his unabashedly pop aesthetics, Highh Def is making some outstanding hip-hop. His bars are on point, but, most importantly, he’s speaking from the heart, being himself instead of imitating his influences. Darren to Be Different is a welcome addition to a thriving local scene that’s never been more vibrant. Darren to Be Different by Highh Def is available on Spotify and Apple Music.

junk mail, bowling balls. Pandora’s box is pried open. This five-song collection, cowritten by Vermonter Amelia Wilcox and Washingtonian Joseph Human, is more antsy than antic, exploring how to cope when the sprung-free stuff is confusion and anxiety. The liner notes describe Lavenderlux as a positive pandemic offshoot, born remotely, and the EP, released July 5, as a “step forward in life and music.” The EP’s title comes from a quote in Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Letters to a Young Poet.” As the liner notes continue, the EP explores “the idea of

getting trapped within the safe or familiar places and notions we create for ourselves … and finding the strength to move outside.” To quote Rilke, “It is not inertia alone that is responsible for human relationships repeating themselves … it is shyness before any sort of new, unforeseeable experience with which one does not think oneself able to cope.” The strain of coping shows in every track. “Itching” struggles to leave bed — “Can’t seem to wake up / It’s too cold now,” Wilcox sings — then slogs through drudgery: hair appointment scheduling, coin-op laundry visits, possible catchall drawer sifting. “Can you help me with this disposition?” Wilcox sings in frustration. “Change hasn’t come.” “Time Lapse” grabs in vain at passing

time. “Give me, give me, give me, give me just a minute,” Wilcox pleads. “I need, I need, I need, I need a minute.” Then, the EP’s strongest track, “Sneaking Out,” which stylistically resembles Best Coast, Tennis and the Innocence Mission, leaks despair. “Trying to keep it / All under wraps but I am afraid I’m letting it out,” Wilcox sings. “Lately I’ve been so out of my mind I know you see it sneaking out.” As the Greek myth goes, once hardships and pestilence escaped Pandora’s box, she closed it quickly, saving hope inside. Ending Nest Inertia with a hopeful flash on closer “On the Mend,” Wilcox sings, “Oh, in a place that I used to break / Let me try again.” Nest Inertia is available at lavenderlux. bandcamp.com.

NOW OPEN! FARMERS’ MARKET

Stop by Every Tuesday til end of September for our 2nd Annual Farmers’ Market

• VEGGIES • FOOD TRUCKS • LIVE MUSIC

We believe that diverse and inclusive music, theatre, dance and words can act as a powerful force for good in the community while promoting environmental awareness and responsibility. At the intimate setting of the farm, the “First: Earth Summer Series”

We’re putting the FARM back in Farmers Market.

JUSTIN BOLAND

MATTHEW CROWLEY

PICK YOUR OWN! BLUEBERRIES HERE AT THE FARM OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 8AM UNTIL DUSK.

can bring people together in a unifying and uplifting shared experience and strengthens the idea of a community coming together to celebrate the environment while witnessing live performances of different cultures and genres.

Mike Isham & Helen Weston • Isham Family Farm • 3515 Oak Hill Rd, Williston • 802-872-1525 • Farmermike@ishamfamilyfarm.com

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

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We’re Still Hopping — Safely! SEPTEMBER 10 • 11 • 12 The South End Arts + Business Association (SEABA) is honored to represent the artist and business community of Burlington’s South End Arts District while promoting buying art and shopping local during Art Hop weekend and all year-round! Art Hop is a safety-focused, in-person event this year with virtual options for those who wish to enjoy from home. All SEABA curated artwork will also be available for purchasing online! Shop safely in person with posted guidelines and enjoy many outdoor family friendly activities and art installations.

GET ALL THE DETAILS IN THE SEPTEMBER 8 SEVEN DAYS ART HOP GUIDE. MORE INFO ADDED ALL THE TIME AT SEABA.COM.

Thanks for your support of the 29th Annual South End Art Hop as we celebrate all that the district has to offer!

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

on screen Reminiscence HHH COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES

here was no box-office gold this past weekend for Reminiscence, a sci-fi spectacular from writerdirector Lisa Joy (cocreator of HBO’s “Westworld” series) about a futuristic device that enables people to relive their memories in cinematic detail. But the high concept was irresistible to me, so I checked out the film, currently playing at many local theaters and streaming on HBO Max.

MOVIE REVIEW

The deal

In an unspecified future year, residents of Miami ply boats through the streets and live nocturnally to escape the burning sun. The rich monopolize the “drylands,” leaving the poor to fight over scraps of the flooded metropolis. All the interiors of this future city appear to have come straight from a mid-20th-century noir movie, full of lazily turning ceiling fans (has AC been outlawed?) and art deco light fixtures. This is particularly true of the well-appointed apartment where Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) sells his clients access to their own pasts. Nick and his colleague, Watts (Thandiwe Newton), operate a machine that induces flawless recollection of selected memories. The dire state of the world, he notes in his voice-over, has turned nostalgia into “a way of life.” Into Nick’s present slinks Mae (Rebecca Ferguson), a torch singer in a dress that even Jessica Rabbit might consider a little constricting. They fall in love — and then she vanishes. Nick goes in search of her, both in the real world and in his memories, but the truths he discovers may turn his fond reminiscences to bitter ones.

Will you like it?

I wanted to like Reminiscence because it’s so rare these days to see an original concept reach the screen as a big-budget movie, and even rarer for that movie to be written and directed by a woman. But I soon discovered that Joy’s screenplay is “original” only in the technical sense of the word. Is it still exciting to see a boldly imagined, digitally realized vision of the future in a non-superhero movie? Yes! Did all the world building give me a little thrill? Yes again! But then we get to the plot and characters of Reminiscence. And the movie 58

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES Jackman sells people pieces of their own pasts in Joy’s disappointing sci-fi noir.

collapses into a pastiche of film noir — not the actual classics of the genre, but their ’80s and ’90s knockoffs — without the saving grace of self-awareness. If you tossed Blade Runner, Streets of Fire and some Christopher Nolan movies into a blender and threw out everything that was genuinely edgy or unexpected about them, this is what you’d get. The story pivots on Nick’s longing for Mae, an obsession that brings him back to the memory tank time after time. Unlike many similar films, Reminiscence doesn’t play with the permeable boundary between real and unreal experience. Memories are reliable here, and we always know whether we’re seeing past or present. Accompanied by many portentous references to Orpheus and Eurydice, Nick undertakes a quest into Miami’s criminal underworld, not into his own mind. Fair enough — not all science fiction has to be mind-bending. But the object of the quest is such a caricature of a femme fatale that it’s hard to care whether Nick finds her. One of the best parts of “Westworld” was watching female androids who’d been programmed to serve men’s desires start to develop their own personalities

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

and agency. Though Ferguson is skilled at channeling the young Kathleen Turner, her Mae seems to be stuck at the pleasurebot stage. Nick himself isn’t much deeper. He and Watts are veterans of a vaguely described “border war,” a backstory that mainly serves as a pretext to make them badasses who can hold their own in action scenes. (Those action sequences are passable but nothing terribly exciting.) Nick’s war service also gives him license to be jaded and world-weary and bemoan the rottenness of everything in an overwritten voiceover that never stops. “To find … Mae,” he intones, “I had to go to hell itself.” The dialogue is just as purple. Despite all the corruption and class consciousness on display, this is closer to Elysium (Neill Blomkamp’s heavy-handed 2013 dystopia) than to the grittiness of Chinatown. Rarely does anyone chat like a regular human being. The movie’s best line belongs to Watts, because she sums up the core problem with Reminiscence itself: Nick’s great love isn’t a person but “an idea in a tight dress.” If hyper-serious, hyper-stylized pastiche is your jam, Reminiscence might be for you.

The rest of us may find ourselves forgetting it in short order.

If you like this, try...

• Strange Days (1995): Reminiscence owes a lot to Kathryn Bigelow’s futuristic thriller about a device with which people can record and play back their sensory experiences. An expensive bomb in its day, the frenetic flick now seems prescient. I couldn’t find a streaming source for it, but check YouTube — or your dusty bargain-bin DVD collection. • Blade Runner (1982; HBO Max, rentable): With his vividly realized vision of a hellish 2019 Los Angeles, Ridley Scott turned noir-styled science fiction into a trend that Reminiscence is still riding. • Inception (2010; Netflix, HBO Max, rentable): Nolan (whose brother Jonathan is married to Joy and produced Reminiscence) is the only director in recent memory to score hits with original sci-fi concepts. This one has sequences that nail the elegiac dreaminess that Reminiscence seems to be shooting for. MARGO T HARRI S O N margot@sevendaysvt.com

Offeri NEW IN THEATERS CANDYMAN: Jordan Peele cowrote this “spiritual sequel” to the urban legend-based horror series that began in 1992. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris star. Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) directed. (91 min, R. Bijou, Capitol, Essex, Roxy, Star, Sunset, Welden) EMA: Pablo Larraín (Jackie) directed this Chilean film about a fiery dancer (Mariana Di Girolamo) struggling with the decision to give up her pyromaniac adopted child. With Gael García Bernal. (107 min, R. Savoy) THE LOST LEONARDO: Andreas Koefoed’s documentary investigates the mystery of the Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold at public auction. (96 min, PG-13. Playhouse) TOGETHER: James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan play a couple trying to survive the 2020 lockdown with their relationship intact in this comedy from director Stephen Daldry (The Hours). (91 min, R. Roxy)

NOW PLAYING AILEYHHHH Jamila Wignot directed this documentary profile of the dance pioneer, featuring a new production inspired by his life. (82 min, PG-13. Savoy) BLACK WIDOWHHH1/2 The Marvel Universe returns to the big screen with a showcase for the titular superhero (Scarlett Johansson). With Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz. Cate Shortland directed. (133 min, PG-13. Sunset) CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERSHHHH1/2 Bill T. Jones revisits his searing dance piece produced in response to the AIDS crisis in this documentary from Tom Hurwitz and Rosalynde LeBlanc Loo. (90 min, NR. Savoy) DON’T BREATHE 2HH1/2 A resourceful blind man (Stephen Lang) with a dark side must defend himself and the kid he’s raised from a home invasion in this horror sequel. Rodo Sayagues directed. (98 min, R. Essex, Majestic, Sunset) FREE GUYHHH In this action comedy, a mildmannered bank teller (Ryan Reynolds) learns that he’s actually just an AI in a violent video game. Shawn Levy directed. (115 min, PG-13. Bijou, Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Roxy, Star, Stowe, Sunset, Welden) THE GREEN KNIGHTHHHH1/2 Director David Lowery (Ghost Story) adapted this version of the Arthurian legend in which Sir Gawain (Dev Patel) undertakes a deadly quest. With Alicia Vikander and Joel Edgerton. (125 min, R. Roxy, Savoy, Star; reviewed 8/4) JUNGLE CRUISEHH1/2 The theme park ride becomes a Disney adventure set on a riverboat on the Amazon, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. Jaume Collet-Serra directed. (127 min, PG-13. Big Picture, Bijou, Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Star, Stowe, Sunset) THE NIGHT HOUSEHHH1/2 A recent widow begins to feel she’s being haunted in this psychological horror film starring Rebecca Hall and Sarah Goldberg. David Bruckner directed. (108 min, R. Essex, Majestic, Roxy) NINE DAYSHHH1/2 In this Independent Spirit Awards nominee, souls must audition for a chance to be born. Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz and Benedict Wong star; Edson Oda wrote and directed the supernatural drama. (124 min, R. Savoy) PAW PATROL: THE MOVIEHH1/2 A team of search-and-rescue dogs must save their city in this adaptation of the kids’ animated series. Cal Brunker (The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature) directed. (88 min, G. Essex, Majestic, Star, Sunset) THE PROTÉGÉHH1/2 Maggie Q plays an assassin who heads to Vietnam to avenge her slain mentor (Samuel L. Jackson) in this action thriller from director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale). Michael Keaton costars. (120 min, R. Essex, Majestic)

Call u today!s

REMINISCENCEHH1/2 Hugh Jackman plays a war vet who operates a machine that allows people to relive their memories in this sci-fi thriller written and directed by Lisa Joy. With Rebecca Ferguson and Thandiwe Newton. (148 min, PG-13. Bethel, Bijou, Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Roxy, Stowe, Sunset, Welden; reviewed 8/25) RESPECTHHH Jennifer Hudson plays Aretha Franklin in this bio drama from director Liesl Tommy. With Forest Whitaker and Audra McDonald. (145 min, PG-13. Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Roxy, Welden) ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAINHHHH Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) directed this documentary about the beloved late chef and writer. (118 min, R. Big Picture) SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACYHH Basketball stars and Looney Tunes characters mingle once more in a belated sequel. (115 min, PG. Fairlee) THE SUICIDE SQUADHHH1/2 This standalone sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad finds an unruly team of captured supervillains tasked by the U.S. government with invading an island nation. With Margot Robbie and Idris Elba. James Gunn directed. (132 min, R. Capitol, Fairlee, Majestic, Roxy, Sunset) SUMMER OF SOUL (… OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)HHHHH Questlove directed this documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival and its celebration of Black culture, which won two major Sundance Film Festival awards. (117 min, PG-13. Savoy)

OLDER FILMS AND SPECIAL SCREENINGS THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS (Majestic) CRUELLA (Sunset) HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE (Bethel)

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OPEN THEATERS (* = UPCOMING SCHEDULE FOR THEATER WAS NOT AVAILABLE AT PRESS TIME) BETHEL DRIVE-IN: 36 Bethel Dr., Bethel, 728-3740, betheldrivein.com BIG PICTURE THEATER: 48 Carroll Rd., Waitsfield, 496-8994, bigpicturetheater.info BIJOU CINEPLEX 4: 107 Portland St., Morrisville, 888-3293, bijou4.com CAPITOL SHOWPLACE: 93 State St., Montpelier, 229-0343, fgbtheaters.com ESSEX CINEMAS & T-REX THEATER: 21 Essex Way, Suite 300, Essex, 879-6543, essexcinemas.com FAIRLEE DRIVE-IN THEATER: 1809 Route 5, Fairlee, 333-9192, fairleedrivein.com *MAJESTIC 10: 190 Boxwood St., Williston, 878-2010, majestic10.com MARQUIS THEATER: 65 Main St., Middlebury, 388-4841, middleburymarquis.com MERRILL’S ROXY CINEMAS: 222 College St., Burlington, 864-3456, merrilltheatres.net PLAYHOUSE MOVIE THEATRE: 11 S. Main St., Randolph, 728-4012, playhouseflicks.com THE SAVOY THEATER: 26 Main St., Montpelier, 229-0598, savoytheater.com STAR THEATRE: 17 Eastern Ave., St. Johnsbury, 748-9511, stjaytheatre.com STOWE CINEMA 3PLEX: 454 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-4678, stowecinema.com *SUNSET DRIVE-IN: 155 Porters Point Rd., Colchester, 862-1800, sunsetdrivein.com WELDEN THEATRE: 104 North Main St., St. Albans, 527-7888, weldentheatre.com

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agriculture

ECONOMICS OF ROBOTIC MILKING: UVM Extension and Dr. Larry Tranel of Iowa State University Extension teach farmers about the pros and cons of converting their dairy barns. Geordie and Emery Lynd Farm, Cabot, 10 a.m.noon. Free; preregister. Info, 656-2990.

business

NOONTIME KNOWLEDGE: TRAINING WITHIN INDUSTRY: The Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center teaches business owners how to attract, train and retain employees. Noon-12:45 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 728-1432. UNWRAPPING THE NEW SBA WOSB CERTIFICATION PROCESS: The Vermont Procurement Technical Assistance Center elucidates the new rules for women-owned small businesses. 11 a.m.-noon. Free; preregister. Info, 828-5237.

community

“NOT BACK TO SCHOOL” PICNIC: All are welcome at a gathering for homeschoolers past, present and prospective. BYO picnic, swimsuits, sports equipment and sign-up sheets. Oakledge Park, Burlington, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, dyerkolesnik@yahoo.com.

fairs & festivals

CALEDONIA COUNTY FAIR: Vermont’s oldest agricultural fair features rides, live music, farm animals, games, food and entertainment galore. Mountain View Park,

Lyndonville, 4-11 p.m. $16-20; free for kids under three feet tall. Info, 626-8101. TRUCKS, TAPS & TUNES: Each Wednesday, the green serves as the grounds for a mini festival featuring food trucks, a beer trailer and live bands. Essex Experience, 5-8 p.m. Free. Info, info@doubleevermont.com.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. ‘ANTARCTICA 3D: ON THE EDGE’: Viewers discover that a cold, icy land is stunning, still pristine and home to an incredible variety of life. Northfield Savings Bank 3D Theater: A National Geographic Experience, ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, noon, 2 & 4 p.m. $3-5 plus regular admission, $14.50-18; admission free for members and kids 2 and under. Info, 864-1848. ‘AUSTRALIA’S GREAT WILD NORTH 3D’: An educational and entertaining film takes viewers on an epic adventure through some of Earth’s wildest landscapes. Northfield Savings Bank 3D Theater: A National Geographic Experience, ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 11 a.m., 1 & 3 p.m. $3-5 plus regular admission, $14.50-18; admission free for members and kids 2 and under. Info, 864-1848. ‘BYE BYE BIRDIE’: Chandler Center for the Arts’ Summer Youth Musical returns with a rendition of the classic comedy, filmed during the pandemic with a cast and crew of more than 40 talented teens. Farr’s Hill, Randolph, 8 p.m. $12. Info, 728-9878.

LIST YOUR UPCOMING EVENT HERE FOR FREE! All submissions must be received by Thursday at noon for consideration in the following Wednesday’s newspaper. Find our convenient form and guidelines at sevendaysvt.com/postevent. Listings and spotlights are written by Emily Hamilton. Seven Days edits for space and style. Depending on cost and other factors, classes and workshops may be listed in either the calendar or the classes section. Class organizers may be asked to purchase a class listing. Learn more about highlighted listings in the Magnificent 7 on page 11.

‘THE COUNTY’: A widowed dairy farmer takes on the powers that be in this Icelandic drama presented by Hopkins Center for the Arts. Free. Info, 603-646-2422. ‘DINOSAURS OF ANTARCTICA 3D’: Moviegoers join scientists on a journey through a surreal world of bug-eyed giants and egg-laying mammals. Northfield Savings Bank 3D Theater: A National Geographic Experience, ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 10:30 a.m., 12:30, 2:30 & 4:30 p.m. $3-5 plus regular admission, $14.50-18; admission free for members and kids 2 and under. Info, 864-1848. ‘HER SOCIALIST SMILE’: Helen Keller’s radical views and activism are excavated from the annals of forgotten history in this documentary presented by the Vermont International Film Foundation. $12; free for VTIFF All Access and Patron members. Info, 660-2600. MIDDLEBURY NEW FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL: It’s a film fanatic’s paradise when more than 100 features, high-profile panelists and lively festivities roll into town. Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. $20-100. Info, 382-9222.

FIND MORE LOCAL EVENTS IN THIS ISSUE AND ONLINE: art Find visual art exhibits and events in the Art section and at sevendaysvt.com/art.

film See what’s playing at theaters in the On Screen section.

music + nightlife Find club dates at local venues in the Music + Nightlife section online at sevendaysvt.com/music.

= ONLINE EVENT 60

‘CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS’: In this documentary, present-day dancers explore history and their own lives as they perform a seminal work born of the AIDS epidemic. Presented by Hopkins Center for the Arts. Info, 603-646-2422.

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

All family-oriented events are now published in Kids VT, our free parenting magazine. Check out the calendar at kidsvt.com.

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AUG. 25-31 | MONTRÉAL Ça Fait Longtemps! Whether you’re finally making your way to Montréal or still stuck on this side of the border, Les Escales Improbables, an organization dedicated to making art accessible to all, offers a new way to experience la metropole. Enter The Explorers #4, a walking tour of the Sainte-Marie district that punctuates each historical stop with a delightfully diverting interlude from the jugglers, fiddlers and acrobats of Cirque Hors Piste. Visitors to the city can access the route map and circus performances on their phones, while those at home can stream a virtual version each evening at 7:30 p.m.

THE EXPLORERS #4 Wednesday, August 25, through Tuesday, August 31, online and at various locations in Montréal. Free. Info, 514-313-6667, escalesimprobables.com.

‘NEW FRENCH SHORTS 2021’: Cinephiles enjoy a selection of award-winning, innovative francophone films presented by the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Free. Info, 603-646-2422. ‘PLATFORM’: The Vermont International Film Foundation presents for online viewing the true story of three Iranian sisters working to become martial arts masters. $12; free for VTIFF All Access and Patron members. Info, 660-2600. ‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: Audience members get up close and personal with some of the dinosaur age’s most fearsome marine reptiles. Northfield Savings Bank 3D Theater: A National Geographic Experience, ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 11:30 a.m., 1:30 & 3:30 p.m. $3-5 plus regular admission, $14.50-18; admission free for members and kids 2 and under. Info, 864-1848.

food & drink

BROCCOLI BAR HAPPY HOUR: Foodies top off their Pingala Café vegan meals with Sisters of Anarchy Ice Cream scoops, as well as friendly games of Frisbee golf. Fisher Brothers Farm, Shelburne, 5-8 p.m. Prices vary. Info, 846-7370. COFFEE CORNER MORNINGS: The new senior center opens its doors for tea, coffee and friendly conversation every weekday morning. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 8:30-10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 846-4107. THE HUNT: Clue packets provided by the Vermont Cheese Council send culinary sleuths to various

Vermont regions to explore art, history, the outdoors and, of course, cheeses. Various locations statewide, Free. Info, info@vtcheese.com. MARKET ON THE GREEN: Meat, cheese, ice cream and veggies are among the local products available for purchase at this weekly marketplace. Woodstock Village Green, 3-6 p.m. Free. Info, 457-3555. SENIOR CENTER WEEKLY LUNCH: Age Well and the Kevin L. Dorn Senior Center serve a hot, sitdown lunch. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 12:30 p.m. Donations; preregister; limited space. Info, 923-5545. WEEKLY WINE TASTING: Themed in-store tastings take oenophiles on an adventure through a wine region, grape variety, style of wine or producer’s offerings. Dedalus Wine Shop, Market & Wine Bar, Burlington, 5-8 p.m. Free. Info, 865-2368.

games

ARCHITECTURAL SCAVENGER HUNT: Structure sleuths hunt through downtown to compete for a prize from American Institute of Architects Vermont. Clue sheets available online or at Brooks Memorial Library. Various Brattleboro locations. Free. Info, info@aiavt.org.

health & fitness

ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION EXERCISE PROGRAM: Those in need of an easy-on-the-joints workout gather for an hour of calming, low-impact movement. United Community Church, St.

Johnsbury, 1:30-2:30 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 751-0431. BURLINGTON MOVES: Fitness fanatics of all stripes gather on the grass for body weight workouts. Dogs welcome. Andy A_Dog Williams Skatepark, Burlington, 6:15-7 a.m. Free. Info, burlington moves@gmail.com. CHAIR YOGA: Waterbury Public Library instructor Diana Whitney leads at-home participants in gentle stretches supported by seats. 10 a.m. Free. Info, 244-7036. FALL PREVENTION SUN-STYLE TAI CHI: Humans boost their strength and balance through gentle flowing movements. Twin Valley Senior Center, East Montpelier, 10:30-11:15 a.m. Free; preregister. Info, 223-3322. TAI CHI: SUN-STYLE 73: A sequence of slow, controlled motions aids in strength and balance. Twin Valley Senior Center, East Montpelier, 11:20 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 223-3322.

montréal

THE EXPLORERS #4: Les Escales Improbables of Montréal present a historical walking tour of the Sainte-Marie district. Virtual version available daily. See calendar spotlight. Various Montréal locations. Free. Info, 514-313-6667.

music

BCA SUMMER CONCERTS: TRITON: The trailblazing triumvirate celebrates old-world flair with tunes on accordion, bagpipes, fiddle and nykelharpa. Burlington City Hall Park, 12:30 p.m. Free. Info, 865-7166.

Buy one entree, get 50% off the second!

LIST YOUR EVENT FOR FREE AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT

‘BROADWAY IN VERMONT’: With the Great White Way still shuttered, performers make their way up to the mountains to sing selections from legendary musicals. Moose Meadow Lodge, Duxbury, 6 p.m. $25-30. Info, 244-5378. LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL: SONGS OF TODAY: Violinist Bella Hristova, cellist Clancy Newman and the FLUX Quartet play vivacious contemporary tunes. The Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Burlington, 11 a.m. Free. Info, 846-2175. RICHARD THOMPSON: The legendary British folk rocker brings down the house with his fleetfingered fretwork. Lebanon Opera House, N.H., 7:30 p.m. $55-$75. Info, 603-448-0400. WOODWIND QUINTET CONCERT: Vermont Symphony Orchestra musicians delight with selections from John Philip Sousa, ragtime classics and the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack. Brattleboro VA Clinic, 3 p.m. Free. Info, 864-5741.

outdoors

BUTTERFLY BONANZA: If you plant it, they will come! Participants peep the winged insects that visit the park’s perennial and wildflower gardens. Little River State Park, Waterbury, 1 p.m. $2-4; free for kids 3 and under; preregister; call to confirm. Info, 244-7103. LET IT GROW: A guided tour of the river’s habitat restoration area reveals how removing invasive plants yields wildflower gardens that attract pollinators, birds and dragonflies. B-Side Beach, Little River State Park, Waterbury, 1:30 p.m. $2-4; free for kids 3 and under; call to confirm. Info, 244-7103. MAKING TRACKS, SEEING SKINS & SKULLS: Outdoorsy types search for signs of fur-bearing animals and make plaster-ofparis track casts to take home. Nature Center, Little River State Park, Waterbury, 4 p.m. $2-4; free for kids 3 and under; preregister; call to confirm. Info, 244-7103. OWL PROWL & NIGHT GHOST HIKE: Flashlight holders spy denizens of dusk on a journey to 19th-century settlement ruins, where spooky Vermont tales await. History Hike lot, Little River State Park, Waterbury, 7 p.m. $24; free for kids 3 and under; call to confirm. Info, 244-7103. ROCKIN’ THE GREEN MOUNTAINS: Outdoor adventurers take a guided walk at the foot of the mountains. Waterbury Dam crest, Little River State Park, Waterbury, 11 a.m. $2-4; free for kids 3 and under; call to confirm. Info, 244-7103.

seminars

EARN WHILE YOU LEARN: Unemployed job seekers ages 55 and up learn about the Senior Community Service Employment Program, a federally funded jobs training program for older individuals. 9-10 a.m. Free. Info, mcullen@a4td.org.

theater

‘CLOSE (BUT NOT TOO CLOSE!)’: Presented by Project Y Theatre and the Women in Theatre Festival, this new musical takes audience members on a comedic journey into the world of online dating in the coronavirus era. Donations. Info, michole@projectytheatre.org. ‘MAYTAG VIRGIN’: Two widowed schoolteachers bond in a timely romantic comedy about moving forward after a life-altering event. Presented by Vermont Stage. Williston location provided upon ticket purchase. 6:30 p.m. $40. Info, 862-1497. ‘MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET’: Rock hits such as “Blue Suede Shoes” drive a dramatization of the recording session that brought together Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. Presented by Northern Stage. Courtyard Theater, Barrette Center for the Arts, White River Junction, 7:30 p.m. $19-45. Info, 296-7000. ‘OUR DOMESTIC RESURRECTION CIRCUS’: An offbeat Bread and Puppet Theater production draws on traditional circus tropes to shine a light on urgent issues of the day. The Grammar School, Putney, 6-8 p.m. $20; free for kids under 12. Info, 451-0053. ‘RING OF FIRE’: More than a dozen classic hits by Johnny Cash propel this Weston Playhouse production about the iconic performer’s humble beginnings and rise to stardom. Weston Playhouse Second Stage at Walker Farm, 2 p.m. $50-75. Info, 824-5288.

words

VIRTUAL VISITING WRITER CRAFT TALK: THALIA FIELD: Hosted by the Vermont Studio Center, the thought-provoking author and professor of creative writing at Brown University talks shop with listeners interested in the art of writing. 10-11 a.m. Free; preregister. Info, 635-2727.

THU.26

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FEAST & FIELD MARKET: Prepared foods and the indie soul stylings of Myra Flynn are on the menu at a pastoral party. Fable Farm Fermentory, Barnard, food and bar service begin, 5:30 p.m.; music begins, 6 p.m. $5-20; preregister; limited space. Info, feastandfield@gmail.com.

fairs & festivals CALEDONIA COUNTY FAIR: See WED.25, 7 a.m.-11 p.m.

SUMMERVALE: RED HOT JUBA: The swingin’ blues ensemble features at this celebration of farms, food, family and friends. Intervale Center, Burlington, 5:30-8 p.m. Free. Info, 660-0440.

187 Main Street, Colchester, VT • OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK www.claussens.com • 802-878-2361 M P 8h-claussens081821.indd 1

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film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. ‘ANTARCTICA 3D: ON THE EDGE’: See WED.25. ‘AUSTRALIA’S GREAT WILD NORTH 3D’: See WED.25. ‘CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS’: See WED.25. ‘THE COUNTY’: See WED.25.

FOMO? Find even more local events in this newspaper and online:

art Find visual art exhibits and events in the Art section and at sevendaysvt.com/art.

film See what’s playing at theaters in the On Screen section.

music + nightlife Find club dates at local venues in the Music + Nightlife section online at sevendaysvt.com/ music.

‘DINOSAURS OF ANTARCTICA 3D’: See WED.25. ‘HER SOCIALIST SMILE’: See WED.25. MIDDLEBURY NEW FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL: See WED.25. ‘NEW FRENCH SHORTS 2021’: See WED.25. ‘PLATFORM’: See WED.25. ‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.25.

food & drink

COFFEE CORNER MORNINGS: See WED.25. THE HUNT: See WED.25. MAVERICK MARKET: High-quality products from Vermont artisans, as well as food truck fare and live music, populate a weekly bazaar. Essex Experience, 3:30-7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 238-3934.

All family-oriented events are now published in Kids VT, our free parenting magazine. Check out the online calendar at kidsvt.com.

VERGENNES FARMERS MARKET: Local foods, crafts and hot eats spice up Thursday afternoons. Vergennes City Park, 3-6 p.m. Free. Info, 233-9180.

Learn more about highlighted listings in the Magnificent 7 on page 11.

ARCHITECTURAL SCAVENGER HUNT: See WED.25.

= ONLINE EVENT

games

THROWDOWN THURSDAYS: Live music sets the tone as adults vie THU.26

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

calendar THU.26

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for prizes in games of cornhole and disc golf. Sugarbush Resort, Warren, 5-8:30 p.m. Free. Info, 583-6590.

montréal

THE EXPLORERS #4: See WED.25.

music

HUNGER MOUNTAIN CO-OP BROWN BAG SUMMER CONCERT SERIES: THE LARKSPURS: City folk on their lunch breaks enjoy an upbeat blues-folk adventure courtesy of the Vermont band. Christ Episcopal Church, Montpelier, noon-1 p.m. Free. Info, 279-2236. MAD RIVER CHORALE: The community chorus holds its annual summer fundraising concert. Waterbury Congregational Church, 7 p.m. Donations. Info, 496-4781.

outdoors

TOUR OF WATERBURY DAM: Visitors explore a reforested encampment and discover how the Civilian Conservation Corps saved the Winooski Valley from flooded ruin. Meet at the top of the dam. Little River State Park, Waterbury, 1 p.m. $2-4; free for kids 3 and under; call to confirm. Info, 244-7103.

theater

‘CLOSE (BUT NOT TOO CLOSE!)’: See WED.25. ‘IN THE COURT OF THE CONQUEROR’: Performance artist and activist George Emilio Sanchez explores two centuries of Supreme Court rulings affecting Native American sovereignty. Phantom Theater, Edgcomb Barn, Warren, 8-10 p.m. Donations. Info, 496-5997. ‘LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL’: The Depot’s season closes on a big note with the story of Billie Holiday, featuring the songs that made her an icon. Depot Theatre, Westport, N.Y., 5 p.m. $25-34. Info, 518-962-4449. ‘MAYTAG VIRGIN’: See WED.25. ‘MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET’: See WED.25, 3 & 7:30 p.m. ‘RING OF FIRE’: See WED.25, 7:30 p.m.

words

PHOENIX BOOKS VIRTUAL POETRY OPEN MIC: Wordsmiths read their work at this evening hosted by local performance poet Bianca Amira Zanella. 7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 855-8078. WRITERS ON THE RISE: ANNA B. SUTTON: The award-winning author discusses her career and her new book Savage Flower with the Vermont Studio Center. 7-8 p.m. Free. Info, 635-2727.

fairs & festivals

BURLINGTON BLOCK PARTY: The Queen City closes out the summer season with local food, live music and libations from Mad River Distillers and Zero Gravity Brewery. Commonwealth Financial Group, Burlington, 5-9 p.m. Free. Info, 557-6566. CALEDONIA COUNTY FAIR: See WED.25, 7 a.m.-11 p.m. CHAMPLAIN VALLEY FAIR: Vermonters enjoy an absolute smorgasbord of rides, games and fun. Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction, $4-65; free for kids 4 and under. Info, 878-5545.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. ‘ANTARCTICA 3D: ON THE EDGE’: See WED.25. ‘AUSTRALIA’S GREAT WILD NORTH 3D’: See WED.25. ‘THE BALLAD OF ETHAN ALIEN’: Filmed during the pandemic and featuring songs from Vermont artists, this rollicking sci-fi adventure premieres alongside musical guests Bow Thayer and Western Terrestrials. Camp Meade, Middlesex, 6-9 p.m. Donations. Info, 232-2697. ‘CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS’: See WED.25. ‘THE COUNTY’: See WED.25. ‘DINOSAURS OF ANTARCTICA 3D’: See WED.25. ‘HER SOCIALIST SMILE’: See WED.25. MIDDLEBURY NEW FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL: See WED.25. ‘NEW FRENCH SHORTS 2021’: See WED.25. ‘PLATFORM’: See WED.25. ‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.25.

food & drink

COFFEE CORNER MORNINGS: See WED.25. THE HUNT: See WED.25. POP-UP ART CAFÉ: Art and live music meet tapas and wine at a cultural convergence hosted by Gallery on the Green owners Chip and Opal Evans. Soulfully Good Café, Woodstock, 6-9 p.m. Cost of food and drink; preregister. Info, 457-7395. RICHMOND FARMERS MARKET: An open-air marketplace featuring live music connects cultivators and fresh-food browsers. Volunteers Green, Richmond, 3-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, info@ richmondfarmersmarketvt.org.

games

ARCHITECTURAL SCAVENGER HUNT: See WED.25.

health & fitness

ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION EXERCISE PROGRAM: See WED.25. FALL PREVENTION SUN-STYLE TAI CHI: See WED.25, 10-10:45 a.m.

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

AUG. 28 | COMMUNITY language

CINÉ CLUB: The Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain Region hosts a virtual movie night for members to discuss la forme et le fond. Free; preregister. Info, info@aflcr.org.

montréal

THE EXPLORERS #4: See WED.25.

music

BACKSIDE 405: CLEVER GIRLS & FRANCESCA BLANCHARD: Food trucks and bar service complement an outdoor concert out back. BCA Studios, Burlington, 8 p.m. $15-20; $99 for season pass. Info, 652-0777. BCA SUMMER CONCERTS: ZAK TROJANO: The multi-instrumentalist plays a mean guitar as he closes out this lunchtime concert series. Burlington City Hall Park, 12:30 p.m. Free. Info, 865-7166. CONCERTS IN THE COURTYARD: BIG STONE GAP: The New York band brings big fun and bluegrass to the stage. The Avocado Pit serves sustenance, and museum educators lead kids’ activities. Bennington Museum, 5-7 p.m. Free. Info, 447-1571. JACKSON GORE SUMMER MUSIC SERIES: MYRA FLYNN: The indie soul singer serenades picnickers under the open sky. Jackson Gore Inn, Okemo Mountain Resort, Ludlow, 6-9 p.m. Free. Info, 228-1600. LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL: A SONG BY MAHLER: The FLUX Quartet and acclaimed singers Jennifer Johnson Cano and Kelly Markgraf perform a new, original opera. Elley-Long Music Center, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, 7:30 p.m. $5-30. Info, 846-2175. MORETOWN OPEN MIC: Family-friendly music, short plays and spoken-word pieces entertain audience members. 7-10 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, shloinky@gmail.com. TWILIGHT SERIES: MAPLE RUN: Original Americana music finds eager ears as part of Burlington City Arts’ new summer concert series.

Burlington City Hall Park, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 865-7166.

sports

FRIDAY NIGHT DINGHY RACING: Serious skippers sail around Lake Champlain in this friendly competition series. Prior sailing knowledge required; sign-up at 4:30 p.m., rigging begins 5:30 p.m. Community Sailing Center, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free; limited space. Info, 864-2499.

talks

WEEKLY DISCUSSIONS ON CURRENT EVENTS: Newsworthy subjects take the spotlight in this informal discussion led by Sandy Baird. Meet on the library lawn. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, bshatara@burlingtonvt.gov.

theater

‘CLOSE (BUT NOT TOO CLOSE!)’: See WED.25. ‘IN THE COURT OF THE CONQUEROR’: See THU.26. ‘LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL’: See THU.26, 7:30 p.m. ‘MAYTAG VIRGIN’: See WED.25. ‘MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET’: See WED.25. ‘RING OF FIRE’: See WED.25, 7:30 p.m. THEATRE ON THE HILL: ‘NEXT TO NORMAL’: The JAG Productions series continues with this all-Black concert staging of the Tony Awardand Pulitzer Prize-winning musical. King Arthur Baking Company Bakery & Café, School and Store, Norwich, 8 p.m. $25. Info, info@jagproductionsvt.com.

SAT.28

agriculture

HARVEST WALK: Green-thumbed folks of all ages tour the many community gardens of the homestead, featuring demonstrations, exhibits and a scavenger hunt. Ethan Allen Homestead, Burlington, 3-5 p.m. Free. Info, 863-5744.

BLACK MUSICIANS MATTER: Senayit, Mikahely and Kali & Ancestors in Training bring the music and Golden Mystique “femmecees.” Food available from Bright Sun Kitchen. Denny Park, Bradford, 5-8 p.m. Donations. Info, 860-593-2484.

Speaking Truth

FRI.27

In 2019, the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance held its inaugural First African Landing Day, recognizing the day when English colonists brought the first enslaved African people to North America. The theme of the third annual commemoration this weekend, “Out of Darkness, Into the Light,” highlights the need to recognize America’s true history and right the wrongs of the past. Rev. Dr. William Barber of Poor People’s Campaign keynotes, the True Black History Museum and the Hampton History Museum display traveling exhibits, the Original Moonlighters provide inspiring music, and Harmony’s Kitchen serves soul food.

FIRST AFRICAN LANDING DAY Saturday, August 28, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., at Intervale Center in Burlington. Free; preregister. Info, 324-8936, firstafricanlandingvt.wordpress.com.

bazaars

TWIN VALLEY SENIORS YARD SALE: Vendors sell their vintage goods while visitors munch on burgers and baked goods. Twin Valley Senior Center, East Montpelier, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Various prices. Info, twinvalleyseniors@ myfairpoint.net.

cannabis

VERMONT CANNABIS FARM TOUR: Vermontijuana meets tour groups at Mike’s Tiki Bar in East Burke before jetting off to explore this organic hemp farm. Off Piste Farm, Sutton, 4:20 p.m. $39-49. Info, 424-7642.

community

FIRST AFRICAN LANDING DAY: The Vermont Racial Justice Alliance presents a day of soul food, storytelling, dance, drumming and music. See firstafricanlandingvt. wordpress.com for full schedule. See calendar spotlight. Intervale Center, Burlington, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 324-8936. PUPPIES & POOCHES ON PARADE: Canine competitors strut their stuff to benefit the Norman Williams Public Library. Woodstock Village Green, 10:30 a.m.-noon. $25; preregister; limited space. Info, fraserusa@gmail.com. USS VERMONT COMMISSIONING CEREMONY: The U.S. Navy livestreams the dedication of the first ship to bear the Green Mountain State’s name since 1907. 10 a.m. Free. Info, 249-0487. VOYAGER CANOE EVENT: The Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi hosts a day on the river, featuring boat rides, food, drumming, blessings and crafts. Launch at Mac’s Bend Rd., Swanton, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Donations; preregister for canoe rides. Info, 868-6255.

crafts

LEOPOLD BENCH WORKSHOP: Carpenters learn how to build author and conservationist Aldo Leopold’s signature seat with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Old Stone

House Museum, Brownington, 10 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 754-2022.

dance

DANCE THE JAY HOUSE: Troupes including Gleich Dances, konverjdans and EMERGE125 bring the moves to this new outdoor theater. Drag queen Tippy Gurley and friends host, and DJ Peter Parker soundtracks the afterparty. The Ausable Theater at the Jay House, N.Y., 7-8:30 p.m. Free. Info, 646-361-8512.

fairs & festivals

BEST OF VERMONT SUMMER FESTIVAL: Revelers enjoy food, beer, wine, hot air balloon rides and live music from Sugartree and Jenni Johnson & the Junketeers. Okemo Field, Ludlow, noon-7 p.m. Donations. Info, 228-5830. CALEDONIA COUNTY FAIR: See WED.25, 7 a.m.-11 p.m. CHAMPLAIN VALLEY FAIR: See FRI.27. NULHEGAN ABENAKI HERITAGE GATHERING: Singing, drumming, dancing and traditional games for kids and adults honor Vermont’s indigenous history. Mount Norris Scout Reservation, Eden Mills, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Info, dancing bluewolf@gmail.com. SALISBURY SQUARE CORNHOLE TOURNAMENT & BLOCK PARTY: Community members come together for an afternoon of friendly competition, brews from Bent Hill and live music from Soulstice. Salisbury Square, Randolph, 1-6 p.m. Free; preregister for cornhole. Info, 315-729-3978. VERGENNES DAY: Vermont’s smallest city goes big on Friday with a street dance. The fun continues on Saturday with bandstand concerts, artisan vendors, road races, a chicken barbecue and more. Vergennes City Park, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free. Info, 388-7951.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. ‘ANTARCTICA 3D: ON THE EDGE’: See WED.25.

LIST YOUR EVENT FOR FREE AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT

‘AUSTRALIA’S GREAT WILD NORTH 3D’: See WED.25.

montréal

‘CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS’: See WED.25.

THE EXPLORERS #4: See WED.25.

rockers as part of its evening music series. Burlington City Hall Park, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 865-7166.

music

outdoors

‘THE COUNTY’: See WED.25. ‘DINOSAURS OF ANTARCTICA 3D’: See WED.25. ‘HER SOCIALIST SMILE’: See WED.25. ‘METROPOLIS’: The 1927 silent sci-fi masterpiece gets a revamp with accompanist Ben Model on the historic pipe organ. Epsilon Spires, Brattleboro, 8 p.m. $18; preregister. Info, info@epsilon spires.org. MIDDLEBURY NEW FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL: See WED.25. ‘NEW FRENCH SHORTS 2021’: See WED.25. ‘PLATFORM’: See WED.25. ‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.25.

food & drink

BURLINGTON FARMERS MARKET: Dozens of stands overflow with seasonal produce, flowers, artisan wares and prepared foods. Burlington Farmers Market, 345 Pine St., 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. Info, manager@burlingtonfarmers market.org. CRAFTSBURY FARMERS MARKET: Food, drink, crafts and family-friendly entertainment are on the menu at this emporium of local merchandise. Craftsbury Common, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, 755-9030. THE HUNT: See WED.25. MONTPELIER KIWANIS CLUB CHICKEN BBQ: Fundraisers serve a finger-licking cookout to benefit Central Vermont children. Capital City Country Club, Montpelier, noon-2 p.m. $12. Info, 249-9724. POP-UP ART CAFÉ: See FRI.27. WAITSFIELD FARMERS MARKET: A bustling bazaar boasts seasonal produce, prepared foods, artisan crafts and live entertainment. Mad River Green, Waitsfield, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, waitsfield marketmanager@gmail.com. WEEKLY WINE TASTING: See WED.25. Dedalus Wine Shop, Market & Wine Bar, Stowe, noon-4 p.m. Info, 585-7717.

games

ARCHITECTURAL SCAVENGER HUNT: See WED.25. BEGINNER DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Waterbury Public Library game master Vinni Yasi gathers novices and veterans alike for an afternoon of virtual adventuring. Teens and adults welcome. Noon-4 p.m. Free. Info, 244-7036.

health & fitness

FALL PREVENTION SUN STYLE TAI CHI: See WED.25. Father Lively Center, St. Johnsbury, 10-11 a.m.

lgbtq

MP+ BBQ: HIV-positive maleidentified folks gather to celebrate Pride and find community. Private residence, Burlington, 1-4 p.m. Free; RSVP for location. Info, glam@pridecentervt.org.

A CAPPELLA LOLLAPALOOZA!: Unaccompanied music enthusiasts enjoy an outdoor showing from High Voltage Barbershop Quartet, Chordination and Green Mountain Chorus. Homer Knight Barn, Island Arts Center, North Hero, 5:30 p.m. $20-25. Info, info@islandarts.org. BELLAS BARTOK & WEST END BLEND: The two bands get music lovers dancing out on the green. Essex Experience, 6 p.m. $20. Info, info@doubleevermont.com. COOLER IN THE MOUNTAINS CONCERT SERIES: ENTRAIN: The groovy sextet brings their peace, love and ska vibes to this outdoor concert series. 3-5:30 p.m. Free. Info, 800-734-9435. LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL: ELEGY: Superstars on the strings, piano and clarinet play Smetana and Coleridge-Taylor. Elley-Long Music Center, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, 7:30 p.m. $5-30. Info, 846-2175. LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL: RESIDENT ENSEMBLE RECITAL: The LCCMF quartet in residence plays Bartok’s String Quartet No. 1, Sz. 40. Elley-Long Music Center, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, 11 a.m. Free. Info, 846-2175. LIVE & OUT!: BOW THAYER & KRISHNA GUTHRIE: Chandler Center for the Arts’ outdoor concert series closes out the season with an evening of inventive Americana. Farr’s Hill, Randolph, 7-8 p.m. Free. Info, 728-9878. TWILIGHT SERIES: THE RED NEWTS: Burlington City Arts hosts the Queen City country

FOMO? Find even more local events in this newspaper and online:

art Find visual art exhibits and events in the Art section and at sevendaysvt.com/art.

film See what’s playing at theaters in the On Screen section.

music + nightlife Find club dates at local venues in the Music + Nightlife section online at sevendaysvt.com/ music. All family-oriented events are now published in Kids VT, our free parenting magazine. Check out the online calendar at kidsvt.com. Learn more about highlighted listings in the Magnificent 7 on page 11.

= ONLINE EVENT

BUTTERFLY BONANZA: See WED.25, 10 a.m. MAKING TRACKS, SEEING SKINS & SKULLS: See WED.25, 4:30 p.m. MUSHROOMS DEMYSTIFIED: Fungi fanatics learn about different varieties — fabulous and fearsome alike — found throughout the park. Little River State Park, Waterbury, 11 a.m. $2-4; free for kids ages 3 and under; call to confirm. Info, 244-7103.

FALL 2021 CLASSES YOUTH, FAMILY, AND ADULT CLASSES

OWL PROWL & NIGHT GHOST HIKE: See WED.25. POLLINATION CELEBRATION: Honeybee and butterfly buffs of all ages make crafts, explore the Sunflower House, meet local beekeepers, and sample food and ice cream. Billings Farm & Museum, Woodstock, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Regular admission, $8-16; free for members and kids 3 and under. Info, 457-2355. STREAM SAFARI: Dip nets in hand, nature lovers survey shady waterways. History Hike parking area, Little River State Park, Waterbury, 2:30 p.m. $2-4; free for kids 3 and under; call to confirm. Info, 244-7103.

sports

EGG RUN: SCRAMBLED EDITION: The yearly tradition returns with fun runs, walks and 5K races for runners of all ages. United Church of Fairfax, 8:45-11 a.m. $20-25. Info, 849-6111, ext. 20. RUN FOR JON: Runners and walkers make strides for the Jonathan Evans Memorial Fund, which supports North Country families with children in medical crisis. Forrence Orchards, Peru, N.Y., registration, 3:30 p.m.; run, 5-8 p.m. $1-25. Info, 518-524-1269.

theater

‘CLOSE (BUT NOT TOO CLOSE!)’: See WED.25. ‘LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL’: See THU.26, 7:30 p.m. ‘MAYTAG VIRGIN’: See WED.25, 2 & 6:30 p.m. ‘MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET’: See WED.25, 3 & 7:30 p.m. ‘OUR DOMESTIC RESURRECTION CIRCUS’: An offbeat Bread and Puppet Theater production draws on traditional circus tropes to shine a light on urgent issues of the day. Bread and Puppet Theater, Glover, 3 p.m. $10. Info, breadandpuppetreservations@ gmail.com. ‘RING OF FIRE’: See WED.25, 7:30 p.m. ‘SHAKESPEARE: COMPLETELY UNBOUND!’: Vermont Shakespeare Festival’s brand-new show sources text from all 37 plays in the Bard’s canon, including comedy, tragedy, romance and history. Highland Center for the Arts, Greensboro, 5:30 p.m. $8-20. Info, 877-874-1911.

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8/22/21 6:20 PM

LIST YOUR EVENT FOR FREE AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT

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lgbtq

SUN.29

PRIDE HIKES: ALDIS HILL: LGBTQIA+ trekkers go birding and enjoy the lake views as Pride Week continues. Hard’ack Recreation Area, St. Albans, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, gwendolyn. causer@audubon.org.

THE ADDITION NEIGHBORHOOD BLOCK PARTY: Neighbors grill, play games and get to know each other. Baird Park, Burlington, 4-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, emilycorwin @gmail.com.

WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT: Revelers enjoy a combination queer cruise and dance party, featuring live music from DJ Craig Mitchell and other local bands. Spirit of Ethan Allen, Burlington, 2-5 p.m. $10-50. Info, 730-2383.

THEATRE ON THE HILL: ‘NEXT TO NORMAL’: See FRI.27.

community

montréal

dance

DANCE THE JAY HOUSE: See SAT.28, 4-5:30 p.m.

fairs & festivals

BEST OF VERMONT SUMMER FESTIVAL: See SAT.28, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. CALEDONIA COUNTY FAIR: See WED.25, 7 a.m.-9 p.m. CHAMPLAIN VALLEY FAIR: See FRI.27. NULHEGAN ABENAKI HERITAGE GATHERING: See SAT.28.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. ‘ANTARCTICA 3D: ON THE EDGE’: See WED.25. ‘AUSTRALIA’S GREAT WILD NORTH 3D’: See WED.25. ‘BYE BYE BIRDIE’: See WED.25. Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph, 3 p.m. ‘CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS’: See WED.25. ‘THE COUNTY’: See WED.25. ‘DINOSAURS OF ANTARCTICA 3D’: See WED.25. ‘HER SOCIALIST SMILE’: See WED.25. MIDDLEBURY NEW FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL: See WED.25. ‘NEW FRENCH SHORTS 2021’: See WED.25. ‘PLATFORM’: See WED.25. ‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.25.

food & drink

ARTISAN EATS PICNIC: SOLD OUT. Chef Jenny Williams serves an exquisite meal in the Path of Life Sculpture Garden at this fundraiser for Vermont Fresh Network. Outdoor music and cocktails from SILO Distillery follow. Artisans Park, Windsor, noon-4 p.m. $102. Info, 434-2000. THE HUNT: See WED.25. WINOOSKI FARMERS MARKET: Families shop for fresh produce, honey, meats, coffee and prepared foods from seasonal vendors at an outdoor marketplace. Champlain Mill Green, Winooski, 10 a.m.2 p.m. Free. Info, farmersmarket@ downtownwinooski.org.

games

ARCHITECTURAL SCAVENGER HUNT: See WED.25.

THE EXPLORERS #4: See WED.25.

music

19TH CENTURY AMERICAN CHARM IN SONG AND DANCE: Soprano Allison Steinmetz and tenor Cameron Steinmetz sing popular vintage tunes and demonstrate the waltz and the polka. United Methodist Church of North Hero, 4 p.m. $20-25. Info, info@ islandarts.org. DAVE KELLER BAND: The blues group plays against a backdrop of the Adirondacks. BYO picnic. Mt Foolery, Charlotte, 6 p.m. Donations; preregister. Info, 800-366-5379. LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL: LOVE SONGS: Strings, soprano and piano close out the festival with Schumann selections inspired by his love for his wife, Clara. Elley-Long Music Center, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, 3 p.m. $5-30. Info, 846-2175. LEVITT AMP ST. JOHNSBURY MUSIC SERIES: OSHIMA BROTHERS: Rich sibling harmonies complement contemporary and acoustic pop sounds. Dog Mountain, St. Johnsbury, 5-7 p.m. Free. Info, 748-2600. MARGO SEIBERT: SOLD OUT. The Broadway star belts out standards, Patsy Cline tunes and original songs. Weston Playhouse Second Stage at Walker Farm, 7 p.m. Info, 824-5288. OUTDOOR SUMMER MUSIC SERIES: SKY BLUE BOYS & COOKIE: Part folk and part bluegrass, the trio’s tunes get toes tapping in a high-spirited acoustic concert. BYO chair or blanket. Plainfield Recreational Field, 5 p.m. Donations. Info, 498-3173. SIX SUNDAYS IN CHELSEA: Townsfolk enjoy an afternoon of live music, art, dance and Sweet Doe gelato in historic downtown. North Common, Chelsea, noon-3 p.m. Free. Info, 685-4866.

outdoors

POLLINATION CELEBRATION: See SAT.28. TOUR OF CCC CAMP SMITH: History hounds visit the remains of a 1930s work camp that housed the 3,000 people who built the Waterbury Dam. Camp Smith Trail parking area, Little River State Park, Waterbury, 1 p.m. $2-4; free for kids 3 and under; call to confirm. Info, 244-7103. TOUR OF WATERBURY DAM: See THU.26, 11 a.m.

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

sports

CYCLE (AND WALK!) 4 CMT: Outdoorsy do-gooders tour Shelburne, Charlotte and Hinesburg in support of Vermonters with Charcot-MarieTooth disease. Breakfast, lunch and after-party included. The Old Lantern Inn & Barn, Charlotte, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. $75; preregister. Info, julie@cmtausa.com.

theater

‘CLOSE (BUT NOT TOO CLOSE!)’: See WED.25. ‘LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL’: See THU.26, 3 p.m. ‘MAYTAG VIRGIN’: See WED.25, 2 p.m. ‘MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET’: See WED.25, 5 p.m. ‘OUR DOMESTIC RESURRECTION CIRCUS’: See SAT.28. ‘PERCEPTIONS: AN EVENING OF SHORT PLAYS’: Island Stage presents six plays spanning the spectrum from comedy to drama. Snow Farm Vineyard, South Hero, 6-8 p.m. $12. Info, 540-0882. ‘RING OF FIRE’: See WED.25, 3 p.m. THEATRE ON THE HILL: ‘NEXT TO NORMAL’: See FRI.27.

MON.30 dance

‘SAFE HOUSE’: Dancers Alana Phinney and Willow Wonder explore life’s big questions using movement. Phantom Theater, Edgcomb Barn, Warren, 8-10 p.m. Donations. Info, 496-5997.

fairs & festivals CHAMPLAIN VALLEY FAIR: See FRI.27.

lgbtq

‘A SINGULAR THEY’: Nonbinary and disabled multidisciplinary artist Toby MacNutt shares a dance demonstration, followed by a Q&A. 6-7 p.m. Free. Info, 730-2383.

THE EXPLORERS #4: See WED.25.

‘DINOSAURS OF ANTARCTICA 3D’: See WED.25.

music

‘HER SOCIALIST SMILE’: See WED.25.

SAMBATUCADA OPEN REHEARSAL: Burlington’s own samba street percussion band welcomes new members. No experience or instruments required. Call to confirm location. 8 Space Studio Collective, Burlington, 6-8:30 p.m. Free. Info, 862-5017.

sports

‘DINOSAURS OF ANTARCTICA 3D’: See WED.25. ‘HER SOCIALIST SMILE’: See WED.25. ‘NEW FRENCH SHORTS 2021’: See WED.25. ‘PLATFORM’: See WED.25. ‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.25.

food & drink

COFFEE CORNER MORNINGS: See WED.25.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.25.

food & drink

COFFEE CORNER MORNINGS: See WED.25. THE HUNT: See WED.25.

talks

FALL PREVENTION SUN-STYLE TAI CHI: See WED.25, 10-11 a.m.

LISTEN UP: EVA SOLLBERGER: The Seven Days longtime multimedia producer takes the stage in the TED Talk-reminiscent speaker series hosted by Gina Stevensen and Quinn Rol. Burlington City Hall Park, 12:30 p.m. Free. Info, 865-7166.

theater

‘CLOSE (BUT NOT TOO CLOSE!)’: See WED.25.

TUE.31

agriculture

JOB CORPS LIVE VIRTUAL TOUR: Vermonters interested in the Northlands Job Corps Center’s career training programs experience a virtual visit. 1-2:15 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 877-0175. OVERDOSE AWARENESS DAY: Vermont CARES provides a space to learn about opioid overdoses and honor loved ones impacted by them. Free naloxone and fentanyl test strips are available. See pridecentervt.org for all locations. Various locations statewide, 2-4 p.m. Free. Info, 800-649-2437.

dance

THE HUNT: See WED.25.

‘SAFE HOUSE’: See MON.30.

games

fairs & festivals

ARCHITECTURAL SCAVENGER HUNT: See WED.25.

CHAMPLAIN VALLEY FAIR: See FRI.27.

health & fitness

film

ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION EXERCISE PROGRAM: See WED.25.

‘PLATFORM’: See WED.25.

games

community

‘THE COUNTY’: See WED.25.

‘NEW FRENCH SHORTS 2021’: See WED.25.

WARRIORS SOAR GOLF CLASSIC: Players tee up and take a swing to support wounded veterans. Ralph Myhre Golf Course, Middlebury, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Prices vary. Info, shannon@warriorssoar.org.

‘AUSTRALIA’S GREAT WILD NORTH 3D’: See WED.25. ‘CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS’: See WED.25.

‘CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS’: See WED.25, Through.

montréal

‘ANTARCTICA 3D: ON THE EDGE’: See WED.25.

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section.

‘AUSTRALIA’S GREAT WILD NORTH 3D’: See WED.25.

‘THE COUNTY’: See WED.25.

AGING GARDENS, AGING GARDENERS: Landscape architect Ann McEntee teaches seniors sustainable horticultural habits. Norman Williams Public Library, Woodstock, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Free; preregister; limited space. Info, programs@normanwilliams.org.

film

‘ANTARCTICA 3D: ON THE EDGE’: See WED.25.

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section.

ARCHITECTURAL SCAVENGER HUNT: See WED.25.

health & fitness language

PAUSE-CAFÉ FRENCH CONVERSATIONS: Francophones and French-language learners meet pour parler la belle langue. Burlington Bay Market & Café, 5 p.m. Free. Info, 343-5166.

montréal

THE EXPLORERS #4: See WED.25.

music

CONCERT ON THE COMMON: BOW THAYER BAND: The sensationally inventive singer-songwriter shares his soulful strains with concertgoers. Fairlee Town Common, 6:30-8 p.m. Free. Info, contact@fairleearts.org. TUNESDAYS: VA ET VIENT: The francophone fiddlers lead a warm-hearted night of music and singalongs. Pittsford Village Farm, 6-8 p.m. Free. Info, 989-0439. VERMONT’S FREEDOM & UNITY CHORUS REHEARSAL: Regardless of age, race or gender, singers lift their voices in songs that represent the ongoing struggle for justice. Chapel of Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, 6:45-8:45 p.m. $35. Info, vermontsfreedomand unitychorus@gmail.com.

theater

‘CLOSE (BUT NOT TOO CLOSE!)’: See WED.25. ‘MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET’: See WED.25, 7:30 p.m. ‘RING OF FIRE’: See WED.25, 7:30 p.m.

WED.1

fairs & festivals CHAMPLAIN VALLEY FAIR: See FRI.27.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. ‘ANTARCTICA 3D: ON THE EDGE’: See WED.25. ‘AUSTRALIA’S GREAT WILD NORTH 3D’: See WED.25. ‘DINOSAURS OF ANTARCTICA 3D’: See WED.25. ‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.25.

food & drink

BROCCOLI BAR HAPPY HOUR: See WED.25. COFFEE CORNER MORNINGS: See WED.25. THE HUNT: See WED.25. MARKET ON THE GREEN: See WED.25. SENIOR CENTER WEEKLY LUNCH: See WED.25. WEEKLY WINE TASTING: See WED.25.

health & fitness

ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION EXERCISE PROGRAM: See WED.25. BURLINGTON MOVES: See WED.25. CHAIR YOGA: See WED.25. FALL PREVENTION SUN-STYLE TAI CHI: See WED.25. TAI CHI: SUN-STYLE 73: See WED.25.

music

ECHO SUMMER MUSIC SERIES: THE REVENANTS: Lake Champlain serves as a natural backdrop for a family-friendly bluegrass set. ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 5:30-7:30 p.m. $5-10; free for kid members; cash bar. Info, 864-1848. WILD WOODS SONG CIRCLE: Singers and acoustic instrumentalists gather for an evening of music-making. Zoom option available. Godnick Adult Center, Rutland, 7:15-9:15 p.m. Free. Info, 775-1182. WILLIAM TORTOLANO: With a diverse selection of pieces, the organist proves that, at 91, he is much too young to retire. Epsilon Spires, Brattleboro, noon-1 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, info@ epsilonspires.org.

outdoors

BUTTERFLY BONANZA: See WED.25. LET IT GROW: See WED.25. MAKING TRACKS, SEEING SKINS & SKULLS: See WED.25. OWL PROWL & NIGHT GHOST HIKE: See WED.25. ROCKIN’ THE GREEN MOUNTAINS: See WED.25.

theater

‘CLOSE (BUT NOT TOO CLOSE!)’: See WED.25. ‘MAYTAG VIRGIN’: See WED.25. ‘MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET’: See WED.25, 7:30 p.m. ‘RING OF FIRE’: See WED.25. m

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

8/16/21 11:19 AM

CLASS PHOTOS + MORE INFO ONLINE SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSES

classes THE FOLLOWING CLASS LISTINGS ARE PAID ADVERTISEMENTS. ANNOUNCE YOUR CLASS FOR AS LITTLE AS $16.75/WEEK (INCLUDES SIX PHOTOS AND UNLIMITED DESCRIPTION ONLINE). SUBMIT YOUR CLASS AD AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTCLASS.

art ONE-DAY FALL PAINTING WORKSHOPS: One-day painting workshops. Small classes: six to eight students, one-on-one teaching. Come learn and paint in and around our historic 1800s studio barn and perennial gardens. All experience levels welcome; watercolor, pastel or oil. Demos taught. Includes gourmet farmto-table lunch. Sign up soon! Sat., Sep. 18-Oct. 23, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Cost: $135/day. Location: 692 Church Hill Rd., Charlotte. Info: Deborah Kehoe, 233-6463, deb@ kehoedesign.com, kehoedesign. com/painting-workshops. ACRYLIC PAINTING CLASSES: Learn how to paint with acrylics or jump back into it! Whether you have never painted before or it is something of the past you would like to reignite, join my painting class. We will learn how to slap that paint onto the canvas, color mixology, value, depth and composition. Every Tue. starting Sep. 14, 9-10:30 a.m., 4-5 p.m. or 6-7:30 p.m. Cost: $300/1.5-hour class. Location: Katie O’Rourke’s Studio, 24 Main Street, Montpelier. Info: Katie O’Rourke Art, Katie O’Rourke, 4988588, katieorourkeart@gmail. com, katieorourkeart.com.

drumming DJEMBE & TAIKO DRUMMING: JOIN US!: New hybrid classes (Zoom and in-person) starting! Taiko, Tue. and Wed. Djembe, Wed. Kids and Parents, Tue. and Wed. COVID-19-free rental instruments; curbside pickup, too. Private Hybrid Conga lessons by appointment. Let’s prepare

for future drumming outdoors. Schedule/register online. Location: Online & in-person at Taiko Space, 208 Flynn Ave., Suite 3G, Burlington. Info: 999-4255, burlingtontaiko.org.

family JUNG ON THE MOTHER: One of the most powerful relationships we have in life is with our mother. Learn why this is and how to work with your inner mother imago in this course full of exercises, readings and discussions. Led by Sue Mehrtens. Register by email. Sep. 1, 8, 15 & 22, 7-9 p.m. Cost: $60. Location: Zoom. Info: Sue Mehrtens, 244-7909, info@jungian center.org, jungiancenter.org.

gardening FIRST THURSDAYS IN THE GARDEN: Join Red Wagon staff for a walk behind the scenes of our gardens and greenhouses! Each month we’ll see what’s growing and offer guidance for harvesting and using the bounty of the season. Children and families are welcome. Sign up at our website! Thu., Sep. 2, 6-7:30 p.m. Cost: Free, but capacity is limited. Location: Red Wagon Plants, 2408 Shelburne Falls Rd., Hinesburg. Info: Julie Rubaud, sarah.m@redwagonplants.com, redwagonplants.com.

healing arts

empowerment HONING OUR EMPATHY, CONSIDERING OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Given our current social situation, it’s important that we consider diverse backgrounds, life experiences and viewpoints of others, and interact with our fellow human beings with compassion and empathy. Each session thereafter takes up a different perspective or experience likely to be unfamiliar to us. Led by Sue Mehrtens. Sep. 2, Oct. 7, Nov. 4, Dec. 2, Jan. 6, Feb. 3, Mar. 3, Apr. 7 & May 5, 7-9 p.m. Cost: $90. Location: Zoom. Info:

of Busy People 1. Level 3 uses Busy People 2. To register or learn more, email Linda Sukop, jasvlanguage@gmail.com. No classes Thanksgiving week. Level 1, Thu., Oct. 7-Dec. 16; Level 2, Wed., Oct. 6-Dec. 15; Level 3, Mon., Oct. 4-Dec. 13, 7-8:30 p.m. Location: Japan America Society of Vermont, Zoom class. Info: 865-9985, jasvlanguage@gmail.com, jasv.org.

Sue Mehrtens, 244-7909, info@jungiancenter.org, jungiancenter.org.

A JOURNEY INTO CONSCIOUSNESS and stewarding in the age of collective healing and planetary realignment. Eight-session journey into consciousness and realignment focuses on how to mindfully heal and increase awareness from a collective and internal perspective. Cover topics that are direct doors to alchemical transformation in the 21st century. Led by Kimia Maleki. Sep. 16, Oct. 21, Nov. 18, Dec. 16, Jan. 20, Feb. 17, Mar. 17 & Apr. 21, 7-9 p.m. Cost: $88. Location: Zoom. To register, email Kimia: projectalchemyhealing@ gmail.com. Info: Sue Mehrtens, 244-7909, info@jungiancenter. org, jungiancenter.org.

kids CATERPILLAR CAMPS FOR KIDS: Take a journey into the incredible lives of caterpillars. Part living nature museum and part wildlife safari, this hands-on exploration with the Caterpillar Lab and NBNC staff brings kids up close and personal with some of the weirdest and wildest critters in the woods. Thu., Sep. 2, 3-5 p.m. & Fri., Sep. 3, 12:30-2:30 & 3-5 p.m. Cost: $40. Location: North Branch Nature Center, 713 Elm St., Montpelier. Info: info@northbranchnaturecenter. org, northbranchnaturecenter.org/ event/caterpillar-camps.

language ADULT LIVE SPANISH E-CLASSES: Join us for adult Spanish classes this fall, using Zoom online video conferencing. Our 15th year. Learn from a native speaker via small group classes and individual instruction. You’ll always be participating and speaking. Five different levels. Note: Classes fill up fast. See our website or contact us for details. Beginning week of Sep. 13. Cost: $270/10 classes of 90+ min. each, 1/week. Location: Spanish in Waterbury Center, Waterbury Center. Info: 5851025, spanishparavos@ gmail.com, spanish waterburycenter.com.

NEW ADULT FRENCH CLASSES: The French School offers beginner to advanced intermediate classes. A1 (true beginners) and A2 (beginning students) progress toward conversing in French. B1 levels and beyond use engaging materials and in-class conversation to keep students actively learning. Fun texts and online resources help all learners reinforce class teaching. Classes start Sep. 13, Mon.Thu., 6-7:30 p.m., for 11 weeks. Cost: $275/weekly 90-min. class w/ extra help avail. Location: The French School-La Vieille Ecole, 83 Webley St., Colchester. Info: Marc Juneau, 777-9365, thefrench schoolvt@gmail.com, french schoolvt.com.

martial arts AIKIDO: THE WAY OF RESILIENCY: Discover the dynamic, flowing martial art of aikido. Learn how to relax under pressure and how aikido cultivates core power, fitness and resiliency. Aikido techniques emphasize throws, pinning techniques and internal power. Introductory classes for

adults and youth begin on Aug. 31. Visitors are always welcome! Mon.-Wed. & Sat. Cost: $105, membership rates incl. unlimited classes. Contact us for info about membership rates for adults, youth & families. Location: Aikido of Champlain Valley, 257 Pine St., Burlington. Info: Benjamin Pincus, 951-8900, bpincus@burlington aikido.org, burlingtonaikido.org.

psychology BECOMING CONSCIOUS OF THE UNCONSCIOUS: Carl Jung was emphatic in his belief that the human being’s purpose in life is to create more consciousness, i.e., to become more self-aware, more clued in to the cast of characters living in our “inner city.” Do you know who lives within you? Find out! Led by Sue Mehrtens. Sep. 7, Oct. 5, Nov. 2, Dec. 7, Jan. 4, Feb. 1, Mar. 1 & Apr. 5, 7-9 p.m. Cost: $80. Location: Zoom. Info: Sue Mehrtens, 244-7909, info@jungian center.org, jungiancenter.org.

yoga YOGA WELLNESS STUDIO WORKSHOPS: Take care of your yoga wellness needs! Beginner’s yoga; sound healing/meditation; seated yoga; gentle flow/flow, restorative/yin; metal/crystal singing bowls; tuning forks; Kidz Yoga Open Studio; Littles/ Tweenz Yoga Dance; and kids’ yoga birthday parties! Wellness workshops — malas/crystals; manifestation; sound therapy; yoga gear; essential oils; and CBD/herbal remedies. Visit your favorite yoga wellness studio today! Price per workshop or class. Location: Kamalika-K | Yoga Wellness for You!, 45 Upper Main St., #101, the Barns at Lang Farm, Essex Junction. Info: Kamalika-K, Karen Santorello, 871-5085, kamalikakwellness@gmail. com, kamalikak.com.

JAPANESE LANGUAGE COURSES: JASV offers three levels of Japanese in the fall semester via Zoom. Level 1 covers the first half of the textbook, Busy People 1. Level 2 covers the second half

And on the seventh day, we do not rest. Instead we bring you...

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

4h-sundaybest-dog.indd 1

3/2/21 6:43 PM

COURTESY OF KELLY SCHULZE/MOUNTAIN DOG PHOTOGRAPHY

Humane

Society of Chittenden County

Charlie AGE/SEX: 2-year-old neutered male REASON HERE: There were behavioral concerns in his previous home. ARRIVAL DATE: July 28, 2021 SUMMARY: Charlie is a playful, silly pup who’s eager to get outside and explore or bounce around with a squeaky toy. He’s also got a whole lot of love to give and enjoys curling up with his favorite people. While Charlie is perfect in a lot of ways, there are a few things you should know about him: He does not like being restrained or physically moved from where he wants to be, and he may need a little extra help with house training. Charlie needs a patient family that’s willing to respect his boundaries and work on some training to help him be his very best self. We’ll be here to provide plenty of guidance and support to set everyone up for success. CATS/DOGS/KIDS: He has limited experience living with other dogs but has done well with them in other settings. He has some experience living with a cat. He will be a better fit in a home with older children or adults only.

housing »

DID YOU KNOW?

APARTMENTS, CONDOS & HOMES

HSCC has two on-staff dog trainers to help our canine friends both before and after adoption. Animals in our care receive individual training as needed, as well as participate in “dog class” with other pups! We also provide support to dogs like Charlie after adoption to help them be their best selves with their new family.

on the road »

CARS, TRUCKS, MOTORCYCLES

pro services »

CHILDCARE, HEALTH/ WELLNESS, PAINTING

buy this stuff »

APPLIANCES, KID STUFF, ELECTRONICS, FURNITURE Sponsored by:

Visit the Humane Society of Chittenden County at 142 Kindness Court, South Burlington, Tuesday through Friday from 1 to 6 p.m., or Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 862-0135 or visit hsccvt.org for more info.

NEW STUFF ONLINE EVERY DAY! PLACE YOUR ADS 24-7 AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM.

music »

INSTRUCTION, CASTING, INSTRUMENTS FOR SALE

jobs »

NO SCAMS, ALL LOCAL, POSTINGS DAILY

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

CLASSIFIEDS We Pick Up & Pay For Junk Automobiles!

on the road

CARS/TRUCKS

Route 15, Hardwick

802-472-5100

3842 Dorset Ln., Williston

802-793-9133

housing ads: $25 (25 words) legals: 52¢/word buy this stuff: free online services: $12 (25 words)

OFFICE/ COMMERCIAL OFFICE/RETAIL SPACE AT MAIN STREET LANDING on Burlington’s waterfront. Beautiful, healthy, affordable spaces for your business. Visit mainstreetlanding.com & click on space avail. Melinda, 864-7999.

2017 SUBARU IMPREZA 2017 Subaru Impreza hatchback. 14,050 Info: maurver@ltdemail. sm-allmetals060811.indd 7/20/15 1 5:02 PM miles. Excellent com, 802-419-8356. condition, minor scratch on front bumper; checked by a local mechanic; brakes were repaired. $19,000. Info: rosmus2@comcast.net, 802-355-1194. CASH FOR CARS! We buy all cars! Junk, high-end, totaled: It doesn’t matter. Get free towing & same-day cash. Newer models, too. Call 1-866-5359689. (AAN CAN)

RECREATIONAL VEHICLES 2008 KEYSTONE HORNET 26RBS 1 slide out, 1 A/C unit, sleeps 7. Asking $2,000.

housing

FOR RENT KEEN’S CROSSING IS NOW LEASING! 1-BR, $1,026/mo.; 2-BR, $1,230/mo.; 3-BR, $1,422/mo. Spacious interiors, fully applianced kitchen, fitness center, heat & HW incl. Income restrictions apply. 802-655-1810, keenscrossing.com.

CLASSIFIEDS KEY appt. appointment apt. apartment BA bathroom BR bedroom DR dining room DW dishwasher HDWD hardwood HW hot water LR living room NS no smoking OBO or best offer refs. references sec. dep. security deposit W/D washer & dryer

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 and similar Vermont statutes which make it illegal to advertise any preference, limitations, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, handicap, presence of minor children in the family or receipt of public assistance, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or a discrimination. The newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate, which is in violation of the law. Our

services

BIZ OPPS BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR! We edit, print & distribute your work internationally. We do the work; you reap the rewards! Call for a free Author’s Submission Kit: 844-511-1836. (AAN CAN)

CAREGIVING CARING, RELIABLE HELPER Need help getting groceries, other pickups or a ride to doctor’s appt.? Need housekeeping or just someone to talk to? Then I am your person! Loving female caregiver. Fully vaccinated. Pay negotiable. Chittenden area. Day shift Mon.-Fri., flexible hours. Lorraine, 802-893-4202.

COMPUTER COMPUTER & IT TRAINING PROGRAM! Train online to get the skills to become a computer & help desk professional now. Grants & scholarships avail. for certain programs for qualified applicants. Call CTI for details! 1-855-554-4616. (AAN CAN)

readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. Any home seeker who feels he or she has encountered discrimination should contact: HUD Office of Fair Housing 10 Causeway St., Boston, MA 02222-1092 (617) 565-5309 — OR — Vermont Human Rights Commission 14-16 Baldwin St. Montpelier, VT 05633-0633 1-800-416-2010 hrc@vermont.gov

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

display service ads: $25/$45 homeworks: $45 (40 words, photos, logo) fsbos: $45 (2 weeks, 30 words, photo) jobs: michelle@sevendaysvt.com, 865-1020 x121

ENTERTAINMENT DISH TV $59.99 for 190 channels & $14.95 high-speed internet. Free installation, smart HD DVR incl. Free voice remote. Some restrictions apply. 1-855-380-2501. (AAN CAN)

HEALTH/ WELLNESS GENTLE TOUCH MASSAGE Men, I specialize in relaxation massage, deep tissue, reflexology, sports massage, Swedish massage & other techniques just for you. Relocated to Barre. Reopening Sep. 1, 2021. I have been practicing massage therapy for over 18 years. Gregg, gentletouchvt.com, motman@ymail.com, 802-234-8000 (text). MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT NOW Having trouble finding a therapist? Try the e-course offered by a local clinical psychologist; professional guidance to help you thrive, avail. when you need it. Learn more & view a 1-min. trailer at DrLindsayJernigan.com. PSYCHIC COUNSELING Psychic counseling, channeling w/ Bernice Kelman, Underhill. 30+ years’ experience. Also energy healing, chakra balancing, Reiki, rebirthing, other lives, classes & more. 802-899-3542, kelman.b@juno.com.

HOME/GARDEN

print deadline: Mondays at 4:30 p.m. post ads online 24/7 at: sevendaysvt.com/classifieds questions? classifieds@sevendaysvt.com 865-1020 x110

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES in as little as 1 day! Affordable prices. No payments for 18 mos.! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & military discounts avail. Call 1-877-649-5043. (AAN CAN)

buy this stuff

FURNITURE

CABLE PRICE INCREASE AGAIN? Switch to DirecTV & save & get a $100 visa gift card! Get more channels for less money. Restrictions apply. Call now. 877-693-0625. (AAN CAN)

TWO TWIN LONG BED BASES Sleep Number 360 Flex Fit 2. Remote activated. Brand-new. Fits any twin long mattress. Extras avail. at discounted prices. Best offer accepted. 425-2644.

DONATE YOUR CAR TO KIDS Your donation helps fund the search for missing children. Accepting trucks, motorcycles & RVs, too! Fast, free pickup. Running or not. 24-hr. response. Maximum tax donation. Call 877-2660681. (AAN CAN)

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PETS GOLDEN RETRIEVER PUPPIES Avail. Sep. 30, 2021. Truly beautiful AKC registered puppies. Loving, even-tempered, intelligent. Great w/ kids. Sire & Dam both impressive field trial pedigrees. Veterinarianowned. Males: $2000; females: $2,200. These will go fast. Email: greenmountaingoldens @gmail.com. See more photos/info at greenmountaingolden retrievers.com.

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BANDS/ MUSICIANS

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SUNDAY MUSICIAN Tunbridge Church seeks a musician to provide Sun., as well as religious holiday traditional &

contemporary worship music. Please send letter of interest to thetunbridgechurch@ gmail.com.

INSTRUCTION GUITAR INSTRUCTION Berklee graduate w/ 30 years’ teaching experience offers lessons in guitar, music theory, music technology, ear training. Individualized, step-by-step approach. All ages, styles, levels. Rick Belford, 864-7195, rickb@rickbelford.com.

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CREATIVE SPACE STUDIOS AT VSC Studios for artists & writers are avail. at VSC’s residency complex in Johnson. $300-500/ mo. 100-300 sq. ft. 1-yr. lease. Security deposit. Wifi incl. Contact Kathy Black, Program Director, kathy.black@vermont studiocenter.org for application details.

m LEGALS »

Homeshares

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reading. Seeking help w/ daytime phone calls, laundry, light housekeeping. $300/mo. (all inc). Shared BA. Pet considered.

HINESBURG Share home w/ delightful senior & son, offering rent-free housing in exchange for support 2 nights/wk – meal prep & companionship for active, upbeat senior w/ memory loss. Must be dog-friendly! Spacious bdrm.

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Finding you just the right housemate for over 35 years! Call 863-5625 or visit HomeShareVermont.org for an application. Interview, refs, bg check req. EHO Homeshare041520.indd 1

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SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSIFIEDS

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BY JOSH REYNOLDS

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: HH

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: HHH

Fill the grid using the numbers 1-6, only once in each row and column. The numbers in each heavily outlined “cage” must combine to produce the target number in the top corner, using the mathematical operation indicated. A onebox cage should be filled in with the target number in the top corner. A number can be repeated within a cage as long as it is not the same row or column.

Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers one to nine. The same numbers cannot be repeated in a row or column.

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GAME TIME

ANSWERS ON P.70

4 1 8 2 7 6 9 3 5 9 3 7 4 8 5 1 2 6 ANSWERS ON P.70 6 5 2 9 3 1 7 4 8 H = MODERATE HH = CHALLENGING HHH = HOO, BOY! 7 8 3 6 2 4 5 1 9 2 4 9 5 1 7 8 6 3 1 6 5 8 9 3 4 7 2 3 9 6 7 4 8 2 5 1 8 7 1 3 5 2 6 9 4 5 2 4 1 6 9 3 8 7

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

If you have a disability for which you need accommodation in order to participate in this process (including participating in a public hearing, if one is held), please notify us as soon as possible, in order to allow us as much time as possible to accommodate your needs. Parties entitled to participate are the Municipality, the Municipal Planning Commission, the Regional Planning Commission, affected state agencies, and adjoining property owners and other persons to the extent that they have a particularized interest that may be affected by the proposed project under the Act 250 criteria. Non-party participants may also be allowed under 10 V.S.A. Section 6085(c)(5). Dated at Essex Junction, Vermont this 18th day of August, 2021. By: /s/Rachel Lomonaco, District Coordinator Rachel Lomonaco, District Coordinator 111 West Street Essex Junction, VT 05452 802-879-5658 rachel.lomonaco@vermont.gov

If you feel that any of the District Commission members listed on the attached Certificate of Service under “For Your Information” may have a conflict of interest, or if there is any other reason a member should be disqualified from sitting on this case, please contact the District Coordinator as soon as possible, and by no later than September 14, 2021.

ACT 250 NOTICE MINOR APPLICATION #4C0571-8 10 V.S.A. §§ 6001 - 6093 On August 17, 2021, University of Vermont & State Agricultural College, 16 Colchester Avenue, Burlington, VT 05405 filed application number 4C0571-8 for a project generally described as the installation of new stormwater infrastructure at 439 College Street in Burlington, Vermont.

The Applicant has requested a partial waiver of notice to adjoining landowners, pursuant to Act 250 Rule 10(F). The District Commission has granted the waiver request based on the determination that the adjoining landowners whose notice has been waived, reasonably could not be affected by the proposed project and that serving notice on all the adjoining landowners constitutes a significant administrative burden without corresponding public benefit.

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5 6 8 9 3 2 1 4 7 SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

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PUZZLE ANSWERS

If you feel that any of the District Commission members listed on the attached Certificate of

No hearing will be held and a permit may be issued unless, on or before September 14, 2021, a person notifies the Commission of an issue or issues requiring the presentation of evidence at a hearing, or the Commission sets the matter for a hearing on its own motion. Any person as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1) may request a hearing. Any hearing request must be in writing to the address below, must state the criteria or sub-criteria at issue, why a hearing is required and what additional evidence will be presented at the hearing. Any hearing request by an adjoining property owner or other person eligible for party status under 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1)(E) must include a petition for party status under the Act 250 Rules. Prior to submitting a request for a hearing, please contact the district coordinator at the telephone number listed below for more information. Prior to convening a hearing, the Commission must determine that substantive issues requiring a hearing have been raised. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law may not be prepared unless the Commission holds a public hearing.

No hearing will be held and a permit may be issued unless, on or before September 9, 2021, a person notifies the Commission of an issue or issues requiring the presentation of evidence at a hearing, or the Commission sets the matter for a hearing on its own motion. Any person as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1) may request a hearing. Any hearing request must be in writing to the address below, must state the criteria or sub-criteria at issue, why a hearing is required and what additional evidence will be presented at the hearing. Any hearing request by an adjoining property owner or other person eligible for party status under 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1)(E) must include a petition for party status under the Act 250 Rules. Prior to submitting a request for a hearing, please contact the district coordinator at the telephone number listed below for more information. Prior to convening a hearing, the Commission must determine that substantive issues requiring a hearing have been raised. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law may not be prepared unless the Commission holds a public hearing.

draft permit may also be viewed on the Natural Resources Board’s web site (http://nrb.vermont. gov) by clicking on “Act 250 Database” and entering the project number “4C0571-8.”

The District 4 Environmental Commission is reviewing this application under Act 250 Rule 51— Minor Applications. A copy of the application and proposed permit are available for review at the office listed below. The application and a draft permit may also be viewed on the Natural Resources Board’s web site (http://nrb.vermont. gov) by clicking on “Act 250 Database” and entering the project number “4C0422-12.”

Service under “For Your Information” may have a conflict of interest, or if there is any other reason a member should be disqualified from sitting on this case, please contact the District Coordinator as soon as possible, and by no later than September 9, 2021.

ACT 250 NOTICE MINOR APPLICATION #4C042212 10 V.S.A. §§ 6001 - 6093 On August 11, 2021, Sleepy Hollow Inn, Ski and Bike Center, LLC, Huntington, VT 05462 filed application number 4C0422-12 for a project generally described as the construction of a 45 x 24 foot garage and construction of a 20 x 18 foot building addition to the existing wedding pavilion. The project is located at 427 Ski Lodge Drive in Huntington, Vermont.

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Legal Notices

PLACE AN AFFORDABLE NOTICE AT: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/LEGAL-NOTICES OR CALL 802-865-1020, EXT. 110.

If you have a disability for which you need accommodation in order to participate in this process (including participating in a public hearing, if one is held), please notify us as soon as possible, in order to allow us as much time as possible to accommodate your needs. Parties entitled to participate are the Municipality, the Municipal Planning Commission, the Regional Planning Commission, affected state agencies, and adjoining property owners and other persons to the extent that they have a particularized interest that may be affected by the proposed project under the Act 250 criteria. Non-party participants may also be allowed under 10 V.S.A. Section 6085(c)(5). Dated at Essex Junction, Vermont this 23rd day of August, 2021. By: /s/Rachel Lomonaco, District Coordinator Rachel Lomonaco, District Coordinator 111 West Street Essex Junction, VT 05452 802-879-5658 rachel.lomonaco@vermont.gov MINISTORAGE AUCTION MILTON Milton Ministorage Auction 7 Checkerberry Square, Milton, VT Friday, 9/10/21 at 10:00 am. 4 Units of personal property: 1A- Kayce Peake, 16Barbara Herlihy, 32- JM Rowley, 33- Richie Vanzile

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR STATEMENTS OF QUALIFICATIONS FOR ENGINEERING SERVICES The Town of Jericho is in the process of obtaining Statements of Qualifications from qualified architectural/engineering firms detailing the firms’ qualifications, technical expertise, management and staffing capabilities, references, and related prior experience. Required professional services will include but are not limited to preliminary engineering services, design- and construction-related services, preparation of bidding and contract documents, participation in the evaluation of bids received, and monitoring and inspection of construction activities to ensure compliance with plans and specifications associated for a Wastewater Feasibility Study and resulting project(s) for the Town of Jericho’s three village Centers Procurement of said services will be in accordance with elements of the procurement process in 40 U.S.C. § 1101-1104. Qualified firms/candidates interested in being considered for this project must submit three copies each of: (1) letter of interest; (2) statement of qualifications and experience of staff persons who will be involved with the project; (3) references; and (4) related prior experience. Submit the requested information to P.O Box 39, Jericho, VT 05465; no later than 3:00 pm on September 24, 2021, in order to receive consideration. Attention is directed to the fact that the proposed project may be undertaken with a variety of Federal and state funds including the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and that all work will be performed in accordance with the regulations issued by such agencies and the State of Vermont pertaining thereto. The Town of Jericho shall evaluate the statements of qualifications and performance data and other material submitted by interested firms and select a minimum of three firms which, in their opinion, are best qualified to perform the desired services. Interviews with each firm selected shall be conducted, which may include discussions regarding anticipated concepts and proposed methods of approach. The Town of Jericho shall rank, in order of preference, these three professional firms deemed to be the most highly qualified to provide the services required, and shall commence scope of services and price negotiations with the highest qualified professional firm for engineering services.

SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSIFIEDS

NOTICE OF SELF STORAGE LIEN SALE BURLINGTON SELF STORAGE 1825 SHELBURNE ROAD SOUTH BURLINGTON, VERMONT 05403 Notice is hereby given that the contents of the self storage units listed below will be sold at public auction by sealed bid. Name of Occupant Storage Unit Ireland, unit A304 Said sales will take place on Friday, September 3, 2021 beginning at 11 :00am at Burlington Self Storage, 1825 Shelburne Rd, South Burlington, Vermont 05403. Units will be opened for viewing immediately prior to auction. Sale shall be by sealed bid to the highest bidder. Contents of entire storage unit will be sold as one lot. The winning bid must remove all contents from the facility at no cost to Burlington Self Storage on the day of auction. Burlington Self Storage reserves the right to reject any bid lower than the amount owed by the occupant or that is not commercially reasonable as defined by statute.

NOTICE OF TAX SALE: TOWN OF RICHMOND The resident and non-resident owners, lien holders and mortgagees of lands in the Town of Richmond in the County of Chittenden are hereby notified that the taxes assessed by such Town remain, either in whole or in part, unpaid on the following described lands in such Town, to wit: Property Owner: Estate of Gail Kirkey Property Address: 357 East Hill Road Parcel ID # EHO357 All and the same lands and premises conveyed to the said Gail Kirkey (now deceased) by Quitclaim Deed Kevin Kirkey dated of the Estate of Ardelle Villeneuve dated June 27, 1996 and recorded in Volume 99 at Page 15, and all and the same land and premises conveyed to the said Gail Kirkey (now deceased) and Kevin Kirkey by Quitclaim Deed of Catherine A. Donaghy dated October 29, 1992 and recorded at Volume 81, Page 480 of the Land Records of the Town of Richmond, Vermont. Tax Years: 2010 - 2021 Amount of delinquent taxes, interest, cost and penalties: $29,715.33 Property Owner: Dennis Stockwell and Bobbie Jones Property Address: 183 Meadow Lane Parcel ID # MW0183 A mobile home conveyed to the said Dennis Stockwell and Bobbie Jones by Vermont Mobile Home Uniform Bill of Sale of Blue-44 dated May 15, 1998 and recorded at Volume 105, Page 540 of the Land Records of the Town of Richmond, Vermont. Tax Years: 2019 - 2021 Amount of delinquent taxes, interest, cost and penalties: $2,437.82 Reference may be made to said deeds for a more particular description of said lands and premises, as the same appear in the Town Clerk’s Office of the Town of Richmond. So much of such lands will be sold at public auction at the Town of Richmond, 203 Bridge Street, P.O. Box 285, Richmond, Vermont 05477, on the 23rd day of September, 2021 at 10 o’clock in the forenoon, as shall be requisite to discharge such taxes and utility charges with interest, costs and penalties, unless previously paid. Property owners or mortgagees may pay such taxes, interest, costs and penalties in full by cash or certified check made payable to the Town of Richmond. At tax sale, successful bidders must pay in full by cash or certified check. No other payments accepted. Any questions or inquiries regarding the

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above-referenced sale should be directed to the following address: Kristen E. Shamis, Esq. Monaghan Safar Ducham PLLC 156 Battery Street Burlington, VT 05401 kshamis@msdvt.com Monaghan Safar Ducham PLLC, and the Town of Richmond give no opinion or certification as to the marketability of title to the above-referenced properties as held by the current owner/taxpayer. Dated at Richmond, Vermont, this 5th day of August, 2021.

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by Warranty Deed of Deborah Erno dated February 28, 2005 and recorded on March 2, 2005 in Volume 220 at Page 438 of the City of Barre Land Records.

STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT PROBATE DIVISION CHITTENDEN UNIT DOCKET NO.: 21-PR-03617 In re ESTATE of William Brooks

Subject to and benefitted by all rights of ways, easements, covenants, permits and rights of record.

Being a two unit apartment building situated on .34 acres, more or less, located at 37-39 Foster Street in the City of Barre.

Reference is hereby made to the above instruments and to the records and references contained therein further aid of this description.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS To the creditors of the estate of William Brooks, late of Burlington, Vermont.

I have been appointed to adminster this estate. All creditors having claims against the decedent or the estate must present their claims in writing within Laurie Brisbin four (4) months of the date of the first publication of this notice. The claim must be presented to me Collector of Delinquent Taxes at the address listed below with a copy sent to the Town of Richmond Court. The claim may be barred forever if it is not presented as described above within the four (4) SEVEN DAYS NOTICE OF LEGAL SALE month period. View Date 09/06/2021 Dated: August 20, 2021 Sale Date 09/07/2021 Signed: /s/ Joseph P. Brooks Print name: Joseph P. Brooks Robert Linto Unit D-167 20 Doris Drive Milton, Vermont 05468 Easy Self Storage 802-734-0395 46 Swift South Burlington VT 05403 Name of Publication: Seven Days (802) 863-8300 Publication Date: August 25, 2021 STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT PROBATE DIVISION CHITTENDEN UNIT DOCKET NO. 21-PR-01936 IN RE: ESTATE OF ZANDER PONZO

Name of Probate Court: Vermont Superior Court, Chittenden Unit, Probate Division Address of Probate Court: 175 Main Street - PO Box 511, Burlington, VT 05402-0511

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

STATE OF VERMONT VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT WASHINGTON UNIT, CIVIL DIVISION DOCKET NO: 358-6-17 WNCV THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON F/K/A THE BANK OF NEW YORK AS TRUSTEE FOR NATIONSTAR HOME EQUITY LOAN TRUST 2007-B

I have been appointed to administer this estate. All creditors having claims against the decedent or the estate must present their claims in writing within four (4) months of the date of the first publication of this notice. The claim must be presented to me at the address listed below with a copy sent to the court. The claim may be barred forever if it is not presented as described within the four (4) month period. Dated: 08/12/2021 /s/ Paul Evers Executor/Administrator: Paul Evers 27 Sherman Place Ridgewood, NJ 07450 Name of Publication: Seven Days Publication Date: 8/25/21 Address of Court: Chittenden Unit, Probate Court 175 Main Street P.O. Box 511 Burlington, VT 05402 STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT PROBATE DIVISION CHITTENDEN UNIT DOCKET NO. 21-PR-03231 IN RE: ESTATE OF ARLENE R. WOODS NOTICE TO CREDITORS To the creditors of Arlene R. Woods late of Burlington, Vermont: I have been appointed to administer this estate. All creditors having claims against the decedent or the estate must present their claims in writing within four (4) months of the date of the first publication of this notice. The claim must be presented to me at the address listed below with a copy sent to the court. The claim may be barred forever if it is not presented as described within the four (4) month period. Dated: 8/20/21 /s/ Linda S. Dion Executor/Administrator: Linda S. Dion Address: 35 Linden Terrace Burlington, VT 05401

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Name of Publication: Seven Days Publication Date: 8/25/21 Address of Court: Chittenden Unit, Probate Court 175 Main Street P.O. Box 511 Burlington, VT 05402

Laurie Brisbin

To the creditors of Zander Ponzo, late of Burlington, Vermont:

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Reference is hereby made to the above instruments and to the records and references contained therein in further aid of this description. Terms of sale: Said premises will be sold and conveyed subject to all liens, encumbrances, unpaid taxes, tax titles, municipal liens and assessments, if any, which take precedence over the said mortgage above described. TEN THOUSAND ($10,000.00) Dollars of the purchase price must be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check at the time and place of the sale by the purchaser. The balance of the purchase price shall be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check within sixty (60) days after the date of sale. The mortgagor is entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the mortgage, including the costs and expenses of the sale. Other terms to be announced at the sale.

DATED : August 2, 2021 By: _/s/ Rachel K. Ljunggren__ Rachel K. Ljunggren, Esq. Bendett and McHugh, PC 270 Farmington Ave., Ste. 151 Farmington, CT 06032 STATE OF VERMONT VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT WASHINGTON UNIT, CIVIL DIVISION DOCKET NO: 602-11-19 WNCV LAKEVIEW LOAN SERVICING, LLC

JOHN P. ANDERSON AND SUSAN ANDERSON A/K/A SUSAN M. ANDERSON

OCCUPANTS OF: 37-39 Foster Street, Barre VT

BRANDY J. LAPRADE

MORTGAGEE’S NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY UNDER 12 V.S.A. sec 4952 et seq.

OCCUPANTS OF: 1 Maple Street, Barre VT

In accordance with the Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure entered November 6, 2019, in the above captioned action brought to foreclose that certain mortgage given by John P. Anderson and Susan Anderson to CTX Mortgage Company, LLC, dated January 3, 2007 and recorded in Book 237 Page 79 of the land records of the City of Barre, of which mortgage the Plaintiff is the present holder, by virtue of the following Assignments of Mortgage: (1) Assignment of Mortgage from CTX Mortgage Company, LLC to Nationstar Mortgage LLC dated January 5, 2007 and recorded in Book 241 Page 617 and (2) Assignment of Mortgage from Nationstar Mortgage LLC to The Bank of New York Mellon f/k/a The Bank of New York as trustee for Nationstar Home Equity Loan Trust 2007-B dated September 11, 2015 and recorded in Book 293 Page 264, both of the land records of the City of Barre for breach of the conditions of said mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same will be sold at Public Auction at 37-39 Foster Street, Barre, Vermont on September 3, 2021 at 9:00 AM all and singular the premises described in said mortgage, To wit: Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to John P. Anderson and Susan Anderson by Warranty Deed of Terry B. White and Michelle L. Lamell dated January __, 2007 and to be recorded in the City of Barre Land Records. Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to Terry B. White and Michelle L. Lamell

MORTGAGEE’S NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY UNDER 12 V.S.A. sec 4952 et seq. In accordance with the Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure entered March 10, 2020, in the above captioned action brought to foreclose that certain mortgage given by Brandy J. LaPrade to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for MetLife Home Loans, a Division of Metlife Bank, N.A., dated May 8, 2009 and recorded in Book 239 Page 263 of the land records of the Town of Barre, of which mortgage the Plaintiff is the present holder, [by virtue of an Assignment of Mortgage from Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for MetLife Home Loans, a Division of Metlife Bank, N.A. to Lakeview Loan Servicing LLC dated May 17, 2019 and recorded in Book 303 Page 843 of the land records of the Town of Barre] for breach of the conditions of said mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same will be sold at Public Auction at 1 Maple Street, Barre, Vermont on September 13, 2021 at 11:00 AM all and singular the premises described in said mortgage, To wit: Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to Brandy J. LaPrade by Warranty Deed of James A. Gordon, dated May 8, 2009 and recorded in Book ___ at Page ___ of the Land Records of the Town of Barre. Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed by Quit Claim Deed of Phyllis S. Gordon to James O. Gordon by instrument dated April

LEGALS » SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Legal Notices [CONTINUED] 19, 1989 and recorded April 25, 1989 in Book 119 and beginning at Page 66 of the Barre Town Land Records. Being the same lands and premises conveyed to Phyllis Gordon by Warranty Deed of Floyd LaPoint and Lorraine LaPoint by Deed dated July 23, 1959 and recorded July 7, 1959 in Volume 38 beginning at Page 175 of the Barre Town Land Records. Being land upon which is located a one family home, commonly known as 1 Maple Street, Barre, Vermont 05641. References may be had to the above-described deeds and the records thereof and to all former deeds and their records for a further and more particular description on the lands and premises herein conveyed, together with the right-of-way conveyed and reserved. Reference is hereby made to the above instruments and to the records and references contained therein in further aid of this description. Terms of sale: Said premises will be sold and conveyed subject to all liens, encumbrances, unpaid taxes, tax titles, municipal liens and assessments, if any, which take precedence over the said mortgage above described. TEN THOUSAND ($10,000.00) Dollars of the purchase price must be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check at the time and place of the sale by the purchaser. The balance of the purchase price shall be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check within sixty (60) days after the date of sale. The mortgagor is entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the mortgage, including the costs and expenses of the sale. Other terms to be announced at the sale. DATED : August 12, 2021 By: _/s/ Rachel K. Ljunggren___ Rachel K. Ljunggren, Esq. Bendett and McHugh, PC 270 Farmington Ave., Ste. 151 Farmington, CT 06032 STATE OF VERMONT VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT WASHINGTON UNIT, CIVIL DIVISION DOCKET NO: 604-11-19 WNCV DITECH FINANCIAL LLC v. PATRICIA HUNTLEY OCCUPANTS OF: 52 Merchant Street, Barre VT MORTGAGEE’S NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY UNDER 12 V.S.A. sec 4952 et seq. In accordance with the Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure entered June 16, 2021, in the above captioned action brought to foreclose that certain mortgage given by Patricia Huntley to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for Academy Mortgage Corporation, dated May 18, 2016 and recorded in Book 303 Page 279 of the land records of the City of Barre, of which mortgage the Plaintiff is the present holder, by virtue of an Assignment of Mortgage from Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for Academy Mortgage Corporation to Ditech Financial, LLC dated July 25, 2019 and recorded in Book 353 Page 252 of the land records of the City of Barre for breach of the conditions of said mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same will be sold at Public Auction at 52 Merchant Street, Barre, Vermont on September 22, 2021 at 1:45 PM all and singular the premises described in said mortgage, To wit:

PLACE AN AFFORDABLE NOTICE AT: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/LEGAL-NOTICES OR CALL 802-865-1020, EXT. 110.

Being all and the same lands and premises as conveyed to Patricia Huntley by Warranty Deed of Sarah Rowan, joined by her spouse, Donald Rowan, of even or approximate date herewith and to be recorded herewith in the municipal land records. Being a parcel of land, said to contain 0.25 acres, more or less, together with dwelling house and other improvements thereon standing, identified by Barre City Parcel ID No. 1030-0052.0000 and Vermont SPAN NO. 036-011-12810 and known as 52 Merchant Street, Barre, Vermont; and being all and the same lands and premises as conveyed to Sarah Rowan by Special Warranty Deed of Fannie Mae (a/k/a Federal National Mortgage Association), dated October 3, 2014 and recorded at Book 284, Page 463 of the Barre City Land Records, and described therein as follows:

DATED : July 27, 2021 By: __/s/ Rachel K. Ljunggren___________ Rachel K. Ljunggren, Esq. Bendett and McHugh, PC 270 Farmington Ave., Ste. 151 Farmington, CT 06032

“A certain piece or parcel of land, with any buildings thereon, located in the City of Bane [sic], known as 52 Merchant Street, Barre, Vermont and more particularly described as follows:

STEVEN ASK AND CAROL ASK

Land situated in the City of Barre in the County of Washington in the State of VT. Being all and the same land and premises as conveyed to GREGORY L. SMITH and TISH JOHNSON SMITH, husband and wife by Quit Claim Deed of SANDRA J. GIBBS dated 10/31/2001, and recorded 11/2/2001 in Book 189, Page 250 of the WASHINGTON (sic, should be Barre City] Land Records, and in said deed described as follows: Being all and the same land and premises conveyed to Sandra J. Gibbs by Limited Warranty Deed of Federal National Mortgage Association dated March 17, 1997 and recorded in Book 165, Page 703 of the City of Barre Land Records. Being further described as land and dwelling located at 52 Merchant Street, Bane [sic] City, Calais [sic], Vermont. Reference may be had to the above mentioned deed and its records, and to all prior deeds and instruments and there records, for a more particular description of the land and premises.” This conveyance is made subject to and with the benefit of any utility easements, public rightsof-way, spring rights, easements for ingress and egress, and rights incidental to each of the same as may appear more particularly of record; provided, however, that this paragraph shall not reinstate any such encumbrance previously extinguished by the Marketable Record Title Act, Chapter 5, Subchapter 7 of Title 27 Vermont Statutes Annotated. If it should be determined that all or a portion of the conveyed lands and premises are Vermont perpetual lease land, then same are conveyed as such. Reference is here made to the above-mentioned deed and survey and to all prior deeds, plans and documents in the chain of title for a more particular description of the herein conveyed lands and premises. Reference is hereby made to the above instruments and to the records and references contained therein in further aid of this description. Terms of sale: Said premises will be sold and conveyed subject to all liens, encumbrances, unpaid taxes, tax titles, municipal liens and assessments, if any, which take precedence over the said mortgage above described. TEN THOUSAND ($10,000.00) Dollars of the purchase price must be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check at the time and place of the sale by the purchaser. The balance of the purchase price shall be paid by a bank wire, certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check within sixty (60) days after the date the Confirmation Order is entered by the Court. All checks should be made payable to “Bendett & McHugh, PC, as Trustee”.

STATE OF VERMONT VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT WASHINGTON UNIT, CIVIL DIVISION DOCKET NO: 72-2-18 WNCV U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE, SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST TO WACHOVIA BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR AEGIS ASSET BACKED SECURITIES TRUST, MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2005-5 v.

OCCUPANTS OF: 32-32 1/2 Berlin Street, Barre VT MORTGAGEE’S NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY UNDER 12 V.S.A. sec 4952 et seq. In accordance with the Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure entered September 11, 2019, in the above captioned action brought to foreclose that certain mortgage given by Steven Ask and Carol Ask to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as nominee for AEGIS FUNDING CORPORATION, dated August 15, 2005 and recorded in Book 224 Page 891 of the land records of the City of Barre, of which mortgage the Plaintiff is the present holder, by virtue of an Assignment of Mortgage from Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as nominee for AEGIS FUNDING CORPORATION to U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee, Successor in Interest to Wachovia Bank National Association, as Trustee for Aegis Asset Backed Securities Trust, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2005-5 recorded on May 2, 2011 in Book 364 Page 222 of the land records of the City of Barre for breach of the conditions of said mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same will be sold at Public Auction at 32-32 1/2 Berlin Street, Barre, Vermont on September 3, 2021 at 9:45am, all and singular the premises described in said mortgage, To wit: Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to Steven Ask and Carol Ask by Warranty Deed of John E. Tassle and Jan B. Tassle dated 12/30/04 and recorded at Book 219, Page 253 of the City of Barre Land Records. Said lands and premises being more particularly described as follows: Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to Jan B. Tassle and John E. Tassle by Quit Claim Deed of Jan B. Tassle, formerly Jan B. Rock, dated May 5, 1999 of record at Book 175, Page 791 of the City of Barre Land Records. Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to Jan B. Rock and Walter J. Rock by Warranty Deed of Ruth H. Macy dated October 17, 1973 of record at Book 96, Page 71 of the City of Barre Land Records. The lands and premises herein are more particularly described at lot number nine of a plan on file in the Land Records of the City of Barre in Book A at Page 244. The land and premises herein are situated at 32 and 32 1/2 Berlin Street, so-called, in the City of Barre. Reference is hereby made to the above instruments and to the records and references contained therein in further aid of this description.

The mortgagor is entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the mortgage, including the costs and expenses of the sale.

Terms of sale: Said premises will be sold and conveyed subject to all liens, encumbrances, unpaid taxes, tax titles, municipal liens and assessments, if any, which take precedence over the said mortgage above described.

Other terms to be announced at the sale.

TEN THOUSAND ($10,000.00) Dollars of the

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

purchase price must be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check at the time and place of the sale by the purchaser. The balance of the purchase price shall be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check within sixty (60) days after the date of sale. The mortgagor is entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the mortgage, including the costs and expenses of the sale. Other terms to be announced at the sale. DATED : July 27, 2021 By:__/s/ Rachel K. Ljunggren_________ Rachel K. Ljunggren, Esq. Bendett and McHugh, PC 270 Farmington Ave., Ste. 151 Farmington, CT 06032 THE CONTENTS OF STORAGE UNIT 02-00225 LOCATED AT 48 INDUSTRIAL DR, WILLISTON VT, 05495 WILL BE SOLD ON OR ABOUT THE OF SEPTEMBER 2ND 2021 TO SATISFY THE DEBT OF EDWARD BROWN. Any person claiming a right to the goods may pay the amount claimed due and reasonable expenses before the sale, in which case the sale may not occur.

THE CONTENTS OF STORAGE UNIT 03-0545 LOCATED AT WINTER SPORT LANE, WILLISTON VT, 05495 WILL BE SOLD ON OR ABOUT THE OF SEPTEMBER 2ND 2021 TO SATISFY THE DEBT OF JOSEPH JEROME. Any person claiming a right to the goods may pay the amount claimed due and reasonable expenses before the sale, in which case the sale may not occur.

VILLAGE OF ESSEX JUNCTION PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC MEETING SEPTEMBER 2, 2021 6:00 P.M. This meeting will be held in person at 2 Lincoln Street and remotely. The meeting will be livestreamed on Town Meeting TV. • JOIN ONLINE: Click here to join the meeting Visit www.essexjunction.org for meeting connection information. • JOIN CALLING: Join via conference call (audio only): (802) 377-3784 | Conference ID: 430881852#. Work Session for updates to the Village of Essex Junction Land Development Code. This DRAFT agenda may be amended. This meeting will be held in the conference room of the Essex Junction municipal building at 2 Lincoln St., Essex Junction, VT. Any questions re: above please call Robin Pierce or Terry Hass – 878-6950

Say you saw it in... sevendaysvt.com

PHOTO: LUKE AWTRY

Seven Days has an amazing reputation in our community. We know Vermonters are reading it, and that’s why we choose it for recruitment. We advertise our jobs in print and online. Applicants from Seven Days tend to be more authentic, and more familiar and aligned with our mission. They are quality individuals who actually take the time to write individualized and thoughtful cover letters. That is not the experience I’ve had on bigger job boards like indeed.com. Seven Days employment rep Michelle Brown is amazing! She’s extremely responsive, and I always feel so taken care of. It’s like she knows our nonprofit personally because we’ve been working together since 2016. I can only imagine how many job connections she has facilitated for local companies in the 20 years she has been doing this. I would absolutely recommend Seven Days to anyone who is looking to recruit for a position. It’s a local company, too, that makes our communities stronger. CAROLYN ZELLER Intervale Center, Burlington

…it works.

CALL MICHELLE: 865-1020, EXT.21 OR VISIT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM 1T-IntervaleTestimonial042121.indd 1

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

4/20/21 12:14 PM

74 AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

ATTENTION RECRUITERS: POST YOUR JOBS AT: JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POST-A-JOB PRINT DEADLINE: NOON ON MONDAYS (INCLUDING HOLIDAYS) FOR RATES & INFO: MICHELLE BROWN, 802-865-1020 X121, MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

YOUR TRUSTED LOCAL SOURCE. JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM Hiring Super Star CAREGivers Like You!

PROGRAM DIRECTOR The Program Director is a leadership position in the organization for all aspects of the CSC’s Signature Programs, Summer Youth Camps, Adult Classes, High School Sailing, and any other Education-related events, classes, or camps. The Program Director leads the innovation and development of new programs, ensures that existing programs are staffed and operating safely, and has the ability to adjust and adapt to meet needs in the community.

Hiring for Stowe and Surrounding Areas Visit our website:

homeinstead.com/483

Compensation: Salaried; Health, Dental, and Wellness benefits; annual leave policy; retirement benefits; pay commensurate with experience.

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• Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree; or 5+ years’ experience leading in an educational field

Family Support Program Director Prevent Child Abuse Vermont is seeking a Family Support Programs Director to oversee the coordination and implementation of our family support programs throughout Vermont. We’re looking for an individual with strong leadership and management skills who has experience supervising others.

For full job description and to apply go to: communitysailingcenter.org/about/jobs.

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10/6/20 10:34 AM

VEDA IS HIRING

VEDA is Vermont’s economic development financing authority, staffed by a seasoned group of Vermont professionals.

VEDA has an excellent opportunity for a motivated individual to join our team as a Loan Closing Assistant. The successful candidate will have a positive customer service attitude, and strong communication and computer skills. Accuracy and attention to detail is required. VEDA offers a competitive salary and excellent health and retirement benefit packages. Other perks include a flexible work environment, generous tuition reimbursement, and professional development and networking opportunities. VEDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer interested in increasing staff diversity.

Visit VEDA.org for details on the currently open

Loan Closing Assistant

Resume /cover letter to Cheryl Houchens: chouchens@veda.org.

8/12/21 Must have knowledge of child development, child abuse dynamics, 2v-HomeInstead082521.indd 1 adult learning principles, and a passion for helping families. The successful candidate will have strong organizational and interpersonal skills. An advanced degree is required. Position is full time and will be open until filled. Please send cover letter, resume, 3 references and application to: Offering good compensation, respectful coworkers, and FSPD Search, PO Box 829 great food! We are hiring Montpelier, VT 05601-0829 for multiple full time and Website: pcavt.org, Email: pcavt@pcavt.org E.O.E. part time positions -- ample opportunities for growth in a positive work environment.

Since inception in 1974, VEDA has helped businesses and farms create jobs for Vermonters and enhance Vermont’s working landscape. The stories of VEDA’s borrowers reflect Vermont’s changing economy over the years, with VEDA playing a central role in helping them bring their business dreams and projects 4t-PreventChildAbuseVT071421.indd to fruition.

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8/12/21

Caring for seniors is a labor of love. Home Instead is awaiting 12:04 PM your talents. Flexible scheduling. No experience necessary. P/T and F/T positions. Let’s get to know each other.

7/9/21 11:19 AM

PROGRAMMING AND EVENTS MANAGER – 35 HOURS/WEEK The primary responsibility for the Programming and Events Manager is the management of PJC’s educational programs as well as the development of new programs, especially to serve and support People of Color.This position has overlapping responsibility with the Community Engagement Manager.Together they are responsible for the overall community outreach and programmatic engagement of the Peace & Justice Center.These Managers will work with the Executive Director and other staff to develop a vision for community engagement, including educational programs, and will play a lead role in implementing this vision. https://bit.ly/PJCProEvent

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR – 32 HOURS/WEEK The Community Engagement Coordinator is responsible for supporting the community outreach and programmatic engagement of the Peace & Justice Center. The Community Engagement Coordinator will work directly with the Executive Director and/or Community Engagement Manager to develop a vision for community engagement and will play an important role in implementing this vision. https://bit.ly/PJCcommEngage

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4:17 PM

DAYTIME PREP

Job Purpose: to run the prep shift efficiently and thoughtfully while upholding excellent standards for our food and kitchen.

HEAD BARTENDER

Job Purpose: To create outstanding signature cocktails while utilizing fresh, local and seasonal ingredients. Provide and model excellent customer service, while responsibly pouring and serving drinks to our guests.

Please stop in for an application or email Joe at joe@americanflatbread.com.

Equal Opportunity Employer

8/10/21 3v-AmericanFlatbread081419.indd 12:32 PM 1

8/3/21 1:20 PM

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

75 AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

FULL-TIME TEACHERS BIRTH-5 Our opening is for a person who may work in any of our six classrooms depending on the daily needs. Candidates would be working in a co-teaching position alongside the current lead teacher. This is a full time position, Monday-Friday.

CARPENTER

Ideal candidates will have training in Teaching Strategies Gold, be well versed in Child Care Licensing Regulations,VT Mandated Reporter and Orientation Training and be familiar with V.E.L.S.

We are seeking a Carpenter with experience, who is self motivated and takes pride in their craft. Sweeney DesignBuild is located in Shelburne, VT and we build primarily in Chittenden County. We have created a family oriented business with a healthy team environment.

We offer eye and dental coverage as well as a Simple IRA retirement plan. We offer professional development reimbursement and access to student loan forgiveness programs. Associates degree in ECE or related field preferred. Hourly rate $15.50-16.50 dependent on qualifications and experience. Come join our amazing staff! Email resume to: ccc@gmavt.net

We want an individual with a knowledge of new and old construction and well rounded4t-CharlotteChildrensCenter072121.indd 1 in 'frame to finish' work. The ability to work through challenges, solid work ethic, a sense of humor, reliable transportation and necessary tools are also welcome. Immediate openings Send resumes to: office@ Full-time and flexible part-time sweeneydesignbuild.com.

Hiring Now!

7/20/214t-BLEU081121 5:42 PM 1

Manufacturing Call Center Warehouse

7/22/21 12:04 PM

Apply in person 210 East Main Street, Richmond, VT

Submit cover letter and resume to: jobs@capstonevt.org. Capstone Community Action is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Provider. Applications from women, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and people from diverse cultural backgrounds are encouraged.

We want a Cost Accountant who’s curious.

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9/18/204t-CapstoneFTC081821.indd 3:34 PM 1

HIGH SCHOOL RECEPTIONIST

https://bit.ly/ LMSCostAccountant Now In Our 8th Year as a Best Place to Work in Vermont.

NATURALLY, YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE. 3v-LiquidMeasurement081821.indd 1

Financial and Energy Coaching Program Team Lead Capstone Community Action is seeking a new leader inspired by climate justice work to trailblaze a new state pilot for integrating energy and financial coaching for low- and moderate-income Vermonters. Ideal candidate will be well versed in the basics of home energy, personal finance and coaching, program outreach and marketing, demonstrated supervisory skill, partnership building and experience with Vermonters living in poverty. This is a Barre based position with the option of a hybrid remote working opportunity. For a complete job description please visit capstonevt.org/jobs.

schedules Days, early evenings, & weekend shifts

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8/9/21 10:48 AM

8/16/21 5:51 PM

Harwood Union High School is currently looking to hire a Receptionist for our bustling front office. This person would serve as the face and voice of Harwood who would answer phone calls, take daily attendance, assist in office tasks, sort and distribute mail, and be a central information center for community members, families, staff, and students. Associates degree or 2+ years clerical/secretarial experience preferred. Please apply on SchoolSpring.com if interested, Job ID: 3648138 VISION OF HARWOOD FACULTY AND STAFF: Harwood Union Middle/High School employs a talented and professional staff who engages in 21st century teaching and learning, and reflects commitment to our mission statement. A candidate must be able to work creatively and collaboratively with stakeholders to advance a dynamic vision, create an environment that invites respect for all persons, relate a sense of fairness, and practice commitment to inclusion and diversity.

8/16/21 6:00 PM

TREATMENT PLANT OPERATOR The Champlain Water District, an award winning regional water supplier having the distinction of receiving the “First in the Nation Excellence In Water Treatment Award” from the Partnership for Safe Water, announces a position opening within its existing Department that assures high quality drinking water throughout Chittenden County. This position operates, maintains, and monitors a 24/7/365 sophisticated, state-of-the-art 23 MGD water treatment facility, and transmission system serving a population of 75,000 located in twelve served municipal water distribution systems. Candidate must have a minimum of an Associates Degree in a water related science and be capable of obtaining certification as a Vermont Class 4C Water Treatment Plant Operator. Valid State of Vermont driver’s license with a clean record and the ability to meet the insurability criteria of the District’s insurance carrier. Visit our website: champlainwater.org to view the job description.

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8/12/21 4:41 PM

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Athens Diner, Colchester VT is now hiring.

Our Facilities Department is Hiring! Full Time, Benefit Eligible, Sign On Bonus!

ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICE WORKER

Dishwasher/ Line Prep Cook

ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES TECHNICIANS

Maintain the overall cleanliness and sanitation of our facilities to ensure a safe and clean environment for Howard Center employees and clients.

Now offering sign on bonuses up to $5,000!

MAINTENANCE TECHNICIANS

Provide both routine and complex maintenance support services at our facilities (i.e. electrical, plumbing, carpentry, painting, HVAC, equipment servicing, risk management, and relocation.)

The EVS Worker is responsible for the cleaning of all areas of the facility with the exception of the OR and must know how to handle cleaning issues or know the appropriate resources available to solve the specific problem.

Apply at howardcentercareers.org Howard Center is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. The agency’s culture and service delivery is strengthened by the diversity of its workforce. Minorities, people of color and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. EOE/TTY. Visit “About Us” to review Howard Center’s EOE policy.

Learn more and apply: bit.ly/2Xy5r0u

We have FOOD JOBS WITH A WORK/LIFE BALANCE!

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Athens Diner is now hiring full time kitchen staff. Competitive wages and a 5 day work week; Wednesday - Sunday. We are looking for experienced dishwasher(s) and line and prep cook(s), willing to train the right candidate. Weekends are required. Apply: athensdinerHR @dairbhre.com

8/22/212v-AthensDiner081821.indd 6:23 PM 1 8/16/21 4:13

PHONATHON SUPERVISOR Saint Michael’s College invites applications for Phonathon Supervisor. The Phonathon Supervisor will manage and oversee all aspects of the student phonathon, including hiring, training and managing student workers, maintaining phonathon technology, and preparing data for calling, pledge reminders, and phonathon mailings. The Supervisor will also work with the College’s Institutional Advancement team to cultivate, solicit, and steward annual fund donors.

8/12/21 11:59 AM

Vermont Tent Company

is currently accepting applications for the For over 20 years, we have been providing career opportunities following positions for in the food industry. Get in touch with us if your passion is immediate employment. making great food, but your needs include: We have full time, part time, and weekend hours • Consistent schedule • Health Care/Paid time off available for each position. • 40 hour weeks • Retirement plan/company match Pay rates vary by position This is a temporary part-time, contract position, based on 10 months a We're hiring for a LINE COOK position. We are looking for someone who is with minimum starting year, September 1-July 1. The scheduled hours are Sunday-Wednesday focused, detail-oriented and a great communicator. One year of professional wage ranging from $15evenings and Thursday as needed. Additional hours may be necessary. kitchen experience is preferred, but we are willing to teach anyone. Most $20/hour depending on importantly, we are looking for a good work ethic and an excitement for learning. For a full job description and to apply online, please visit: job skills and experience https://bit.ly/SMCvtPHONEaTHON. Contact Cassy at cassy@redhenbaking.com with an hourly retention bonus available for hours worked August through 8/19/21 11:30 AM 4t-RedHenBaking082521.indd 1 8/24/21 4t-StMichaelsCollegePHONE082521.indd 10:57 AM October. VISUAL ARTS 1

NEWS ANCHOR

WDEV, Vermont’s News Station, is looking for a news anchor, a dependable self-starter who can work independently but can collaborate with colleagues, a great writer with an on-air delivery and experience in using audio and editing equipment. Digital and social media savvy a must. 2-3 years’ on-air experience or 4-year journalism degree required. Radio Vermont Group is the oldest family-owned media group in the country and a leader in broadcast radio since 1931. We provide competitive compensation, medical, dental and vision insurance package, and 401k plan. Complete details at wdevradio.com. Send all inquiries with cover letter, one-page resume and MP3 of on-air work to scormier@radiovermont.com, subject line: NEWS WDEV. Or mail to: 9 Stowe Street Waterbury VT 05676. Att: Steve Cormier. No calls please. Equal Opportunity Employer.

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PROGRAM MANAGER

Opportunities include:

The Vermont Studio Center’s Visual Arts Manager is responsible for the visual arts program, 2-D studios and shops, and supports the residency. The successful candidate has a background in arts management or related work, an active creative practice, a strong understanding of 2D art processes, excellent interpersonal skills, and an interest in working in a creative community. This is a full-time, year-round position. Salary: $49,000 to $52,000; benefits package includes generous paid time off, health insurance, retirement. For more information about the Vermont Studio Center and job description, please visit: vermontstudiocenter.org/jobs-at-vsc. We will begin reviewing applications on September 7, 2021. To apply, please send a one-page cover letter, a resume or CV, and a list of 3 professional references to jobs@vermontstudiocenter.org with the e-mail subject line ”Visual Arts Program Manager Application."

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• Tent Installation/ Delivery Team • Driver/Warehouse Team – Event Division • Drivers/Delivery • Linen Team • Inventory Maintenance – Wash Bay & Warehouse • Load Crew Team Members

For job descriptions and application: vttent.com/employment

1 8/24/21 4v-VTTentcCompany061621.indd 11:15 AM

6/14/21 6:33 PM

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR/ ADMINISTRATOR / TOUR COORDINATOR Music Contact International, a group tour operator specializing in customized domestic and international performance travel, is seeking two new team members: an Office Administrator and a Tour Coordinator. Both positions are full-time, on-site at our downtown Burlington office and offer competitive salaries and benefits.

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

HR & FINANCE ASSOCIATE

Systems Maintenance Technician

The HR & Finance Associate is directly responsible for the overall administration, coordination and evaluation of the human resource function and for financial aspects related to human resources.

The Systems Maintenance Technician works throughout the Museum to ensure functionality and safety of electrical, HVAC, and plumbing systems.

The associate will develop and administer various human resources plans, policies and procedures company-wide, and participate in strategic planning related to staffing and operations. Conducts recruitment effort for all exempt and nonexempt positions. Provides guidance for management and staff on personnel issues and provides input based on legal compliance and company policy. Administers Museum payroll, assists with payroll section of annual financial audit and with quarterly reconciliation of personnel activity reports for grant reporting. The position will also assist the Finance and Development Offices in tracking grant-supported activity and revenue throughout the organization. To apply for the position, please send cover letter and resume to Human_Resources@shelburnemuseum.org.

For more details on the roles, desired qualifications and applications, visit:

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR: bit.ly/3CXBPd64t-ShelburneMuseum082521.indd

8/24/21

TOUR COORDINATOR: bit.ly/3swVQTi

WHY NOT HAVE A JOB YOU LOVE? Join our dedicated team and together we’ll build a community where everyone participates and belongs.

3v-MusicContactInternational081821.indd 1 8/17/21

ACCOUNTING CLERK Duties include generating customer invoices, posting customer payments and creating bank deposits, paying vendor invoices, reviewing weekly time cards for submission to payroll company, taking customer phone orders, filing various documents and other duties as assigned. Knowledge of general accounting and Microsoft Office required and experience with Quick Books a plus. Competitive salary and benefits. Familiar with use of a typewriter is a plus. Please send resume to: GRANITE CITY TOOL COMPANY OF VERMONT ATTN: JERRY MASCOLA P.O. BOX 411 BARRE, VERMONT 05641

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Champlain Community Services is proud to be voted as one of the “Best Places to Work in Vermont” for the third year in a row and we want you to be a part of our team! At CCS, employees find a positive 12:29 PM work culture, excellent training and support, opportunities for personal development and professional advancement, as well as a strong benefits package including paid time off, affordable health insurance, paid holidays and more.

E.O.E.

Want to make a positive impact on people’s lives? SD Associates is hiring Behavioral Instructors (BIs)! SD Associates is an Applied Behavior Analysis company that has been serving children and families in Vermont since 1990.We provide direct services in the form of ABA therapy for clients with a wide variety of behavioral challenges across the state of Vermont. We are currently seeking compassionate, energetic individuals who are dependable, professional, enthusiastic, and who have a strong commitment to co-workers, clients and their families.The Behavioral Instructor (BI) role is the most important, influential and valued position in our company.They are the individuals who work each day to make impactful, positive behavioral changes for the population that we serve. No experience necessary! Bachelor’s degree preferred! Currently hiring in Chittenden, Franklin,Washington, Lamoille and Windsor counties. Exclusively, for a limited time: Choose between $500 or 2.5 paid days off sign on bonus! Apply today at sdplus.org or email us your resume to employment@sdplus.org.

7/1/214T-SDAssociates060921.indd 1:23 PM 1

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: • Perform or oversee inspection and maintenance of HVAC, and plumbing systems • Troubleshoot electrical equipment and facilitate the repair or replacement of deficient systems • Daily review of BAS/Facility Explorer program and controls. Address any ‘faults’ indicated • Coordinate work of contractors on building management system (BAS) • Assist with new exhibition installations • Work to improve efficiencies of existing and future systems, in conjunction with Efficiency Vermont • Handles requests from all departments and set priorities to ensure task completion 2:21 PM • Utilize FIIX software to manage preventative maintenance • Budget management/ordering of supplies to support systems maintenance and upgrades in adherence to department’s overall budget The Systems Maintenance Technician is a full-time, full-benefits, hourly, nonexempt, employment-at-will position. To apply for the position, please send cover letter and resume to Human_Resources@shelburnemuseum.org.

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Work at CCS and support our mission to build a community where everyone participates and belongs. Visit ccs-vt.org for more information.

ccs-vt.org

77 AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

8/23/21 12:00 PM

CLINIC MANAGER The Veterans Affairs Burlington Lakeside Clinic is recruiting a fulltime Clinic Manager. This administrative position is part of the management team that leads a thriving multi-specialty outpatient clinic located just a short walk from Lake Champlain in Burlington’s vibrant South End. Qualified candidates must have excellent managerial skills and experience. Core duties include administrative support for planning and quality care functions and supporting the educational functions of the clinic as appropriate. Assisting the Clinic Director with planning, programming, policy implementation, management, direction, and control of the clinic. Great Customer Service skills to address complaints and conflicts, as well as organizational skills to maintain and monitor clinic budgets. Ability to continue our collaborative relationship with UVMC for clinical services and training programs. We offer: •Guaranteed salary increases •Up to 26 days paid vacation; 13 days paid sick time per year w/ unlimited carry over; 11 paid holidays •Federal Retirement Plan including Thrift Savings Plan (401k) with Agency matching contributions •Health, Dental & Vision Insurance •Nationwide Mobility For more information email: Dennis.Snider@va.gov. Apply online: usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/611889900

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8/24/21 11:59 AM

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

SUPREME COURT STAFF ATTORNEY

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS (MFA in Visual Art and MFA in Film, specific programs subject to change)

VERMONT STATE COURTS The Supreme Court seeks a highly motivated attorney to join its team serving the Vermont Judiciary. This position is a member of the Supreme Court’s central staff and involves a variety of adjudicative and operational duties for the Court and individual justices. REQUIREMENTS: Juris Doctor or Law Office Study qualifying for Bar Admission & Judicial Clerkship and additional law related experience required, or the equivalent.

Bottling and Packaging at Vermont Natural Coatings

The Associate Director is a FT administrative recruitment position reporting to the Vice President for Student Services. The Associate Director represents VCFA to prospective students and organizations; implements recruitment strategies to reach prospective students; communicates with/manages inquiries into VCFA graduate arts programs; and facilitates prospective students through the application process. The AD exhibits superior customer service, sales skills and professionalism. A full list of job requirements and complete job description are available at vcfa.edu/about/jobs-at-vcfa/.

• $65,000 or higher depending upon experience. • Excellent benefits. Candidates shall submit a complete and up-to-date Judicial Branch Application and a resume to the following email address: JUD.jobs@vermont.gov.

More on our programs, distinctive academic schedule, learning processes, and educational philosophy are available at vcfa.edu/about/. To apply send the following to vcfajobs@vcfa.edu:

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Application & further details found at: vermontjudiciary. org/employment-opportunities/staff-openings.

• Cover Letter, CV/Resume • Statement on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, outlining your professional skills, accomplishments, experience, and willingness to engage in activities to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Open until filled. Equal Opportunity Employer

For consideration, submit application by September 10, 2021. Position will remain open until filled.

Format E-mail subject line as follows: “your name 21028” (example: Smith 21028)

HUMAN RESOURCES COORDINATOR/ASSISTANT TO TOWN MANAGER

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1 8/19/215v-VTCollegeFineArt082521.indd 1:58 PM

The Town of Williston seeks a creative and engaging professional to support the community as its Human Resources Coordinator / Assistant to Town Manager. Be a part of a dedicated team focused on providing municipal services to the community and continuing to make Williston a great place to live, work and visit. The duties of the position include human resources tasks encompassing benefits administration, employee recruitment and onboarding, risk management, legal compliance and best practice research, and personnel policy/contract implementation and oversight. Additional duties include public policy analysis, communications, project management, organizing civic engagement and other general management functions. MPA preferred; BA in Human Resources, Political Science or related field plus two years of experience in human resources required. Williston is a growing community with a residential population of 10,000, a daytime population of over 20,000 and an annual budget of $15.6 million. Current salary range is $53,300 to $76,600 with competitive fringe benefits. To apply, submit a cover letter and resume in PDF format to Town Manager Erik Wells at ewells@willistonvt.org. For more information including a job description, visit the Town website at town.williston.vt.us and navigate to “General InformationEmployment Notices.” The position is open until filled but the preferred filing deadline for completed applications is September 10, 2021. EOE.

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8/24/21

Senior Housing Analyst Are you motivated to work with a collaborative team to address the housing needs of Vermonters? Do you have experience in housing development, financial analysis, architecture, construction, servicesupported housing, training and technical assistance, or working with federal funds? Housing production in Vermont is ramping up with the influx of federal funding. Help us put state and federal funds to work to create housing in communities across Vermont. Qualifications: Substantial prior experience and training in housing development, financial analysis of housing development budgets, and multifamily housing underwriting, as well as strong communication skills, attention to detail, and a commitment to the multi-goal mission of VHCB. Experience working with non-profit organizations, municipalities, housing development groups, and state agencies is important. Read the full job description at vhcb.org/about-us/jobs TO APPLY: Reply with letter of interest and résumé to: Laurie Graves, VHCB, 58 E. State Street, Montpelier, Vt. 05602 or by email to jobs@vhcb.org. Position open until filled. Full-time position with competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package. EOE.

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Join our team at Vermont Natural Coatings as Bottling and Packaging Lead. Full time competitive hourly wage with paid holidays/generous vacation days. Fill, package and label Vermont Natural Coatings environmentally safe wood finishes, stains and paints in our manufacturing facility in Hardwick, VT. Please send cover letter and resume to work@ vermontnaturalcoatings.com.

8/24/21 10:29 AM

SHARED LIVING PROVIDERS Open your home to someone with an intellectual disability or autism and make a positive 2:31 PM impact on their life, and yours. The following positions include a $500 signing bonus, generous tax-free stipend, ongoing supports, assistance with necessary home modifications, respite and a comprehensive training package. Support a humorous gentleman with autism who enjoys walking, drawing, bowling and working on the computer. The ideal provider will have a good sense of humor and therapeutic outlook on life. Open your accessible home to a young gentleman who enjoys listening to music, getting out into the community and being a part of a dynamic lifestyle. He has strong family supports and a comprehensive team as well as respite and weekday supports. The ideal provider will have strong interpersonal communication and personal care skills. Contact Jennifer Wolcott at jwolcott@ ccs-vt.org or call 655-0511 ext. 118

E.O.E.

8/3/211 12:13 PM 8/23/21 4v-ChamplainCommunityServicesSLP080421.indd 11:25 AM

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

79 AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

HOMEMAKER AID

Carpenter Wanted

Part-time Homemaker help

DENTAL ASSISTANT needed for mature woman. Must We are looking for a qualified Middlebury Pediatric Dentistry is looking for a dental assistant be honest and dependable, Carpenter. Your job will entail MARKET GARDEN ASSISTANT working in diverse settings on to join our friendly, close-knit team. Help us take care of afternoon and early evening hours. Full job description with details custom residential projects. Vermont kids’ oral health! Full time. Health insurance. Paid Apply with references by calling on how to apply, plus more Must have an eye for detail. vacation. Please contact us by email and include your resume: information about our farm 802-654-9158, 1pm - 8pm. Working individually and frontdesk@middleburypediatricdentistry.com at trilliumhillfarm.com. No texts, please. in a team as needed. We pride ourselves on quality craftsmanship, customer 11:19 AM to1t-HeatherMeadows082521.indd make 1Looking 8/19/21 12:59 PM a change? 1 8/24/21 2:01 PM relationships, and an enjoyable2h-MiddleburyPediatricDentistry101420.indd 1 We are Hiring! 10/12/201t-TrilliumHillFarm082521.indd NORTHEASTERN VERMONT REGIONAL HOSPITAL professional work environment. All levels of experience welcome to apply. We will train the right candidate. Must have reliable transportation. Send resume to ashirlock@gmail.com. Check out our work at shirlockhomes.com.

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Director of Licensing Programs

The VT-HEC is looking for an exceptional educator and manager to join our collaborative and value-driven team. This person will be responsible for the development, delivery, and coordination of our licensing programs. Our ideal candidate has... - A graduate degree in one of the licensing content areas or related field(s) - Passion and motivation for providing high-quality adult learning - Experience working with higher education and statewide organizations. - The ability to facilitate the work of collaborative groups and individuals.

8/24/21 2:04 PM

About this position... - Flexible time commitment from .6 to full-time - Compensation commensurate with experience +benefits package - Office based in Montpelier, VT - with remote work options - Recruit and train instructors, intern supervisors and mentors - Program areas: SPED, Early Childhood Ed, Health, & Work-Based Learning

WE'RE HIRING!

For full job description and application instructions, visit:

Please check out our website, listed below, and apply online today for the following positions:

https://www.vthec.org/about-us/

Help us help you, by spreading the word! Allow us to train and educate the familiar faces you know so we can continue providing top of the line service during every maintenance visit and every project completed.

COMPREHENSIVE BENEFITS: • Health/Dental/Vision Insurance • Retirement Plan • Profit Share Program • Year Round Work • Potential To Grow • Monthly Company BBQs • Yearly Holiday Party • & so much more!!! distefanolandscaping.com/careers

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Full-time, part-time and per diem schedules available. Shift differentials and per diem rates offered. FT and PT employees are eligible for excellent benefits including student loan repayment, generous paid time off, wellness reimbursement, low cost health insurance and 401k with company match!

1 8/13/21 4t-NVRH081121.indd 12:35 PM

8/10/21 12:09 PM

Seasonal Positions!

WHAT WE OFFER: di Stefano Landscaping has so much to offer for our valued team members. We strive to work every day with our vision statement in mind and by following our core values.

RNs, LPNs, LNAs, Food Service & Administrative positions available.

APPLY TODAY AT NVRH.ORG/CAREERS.

VT-HEC is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

• Lawn Care Team 4t-VTHEC081821 • Garden Team • Construction Install Team

invites you to check out our exciting opportunities.

G.W. Savage is a leading disaster restoration company with the following employment openings in our So Burlington and Rutland locations:

We're looking for full- and part-time staff to join various teams, from now through the end of December. Hourly positions, minimum starting pay $15/hour, commensurate with experience.

WATER RESTORATION TECHNICIANS AND CLEANERS

Positions available in: • Farm Store: Sales and guest services for curbside pickup store, open daily, 10AM–6PM. Up to 5 days/week. All days needed.

Qualifications: • • • •

Valid Driver’s License Must be able to pass a criminal background check Ability to follow established safety rules and regulations and maintain a safe and clean working environment. Must be available for on-call rotation.

We are seeking self-motivated individuals with the right attitude and willingness to work, learn, and grow in a team environment. We offer competitive wages, health insurance, 401K retirement plan, paid holidays, profit sharing & vacation. Please email resumes to

gwsavage@gwsavage.com or call 1-800-684-0404 for an application.

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• Mail Order: Phone orders, guest service, and web order processing. Up to 5 days/week, including a weekend day.

• Cheese & Processing: Process and ship cheese and farm products. Up to 5 days/week.

• Kitchen: Line cook to craft prepared farm-to-table meals for Farm Store. 5 days/week Year Round Positions: • Assistant Inn Director: Help advance the Farm’s mission and build organizational goodwill by providing welcoming, comfortable overnight accommodations, serving fresh/local food, and offering exceptional guest services.

• Lead Cheesemaker: Help produce our award-winning farmstead cheddar cheese from the arrival of the milk to final press. Apply at shelburnefarms.org.

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8/24/21 2:26 PM

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Business Administrator

Administrative Secretary Office of the Public Defender Two hires/locations: Burlington & St. Albans

Select is looking for a talented and dedicated business administrator who is a proactive, skilled multitasker, and a clear communicator. This role encompasses accounts payable, accounts receivable, and human resources related responsibilities across a wide range of work activities.

Previous secretarial experience required. Experience as a secretary in the criminal or juvenile justice system or human services field highly preferred. Must be able to work independently and as part of a legal team. Requires patience and the ability to work with a wide variety of people. Limited-service positions funded through 6/30/23.

Responsibilities: collaborate and communicate with internal teams to support & improve business operations, process time sensitive payments and receivables to suppliers and from clients, liaise with key stakeholders as appropriate, and navigate new hire onboarding, employee payroll, & benefits.

Full-time, exempt PG17 (union) with State benefits. $17.49/hr. minimum. E.O.E. Email resume and cover letter by Sunday, August 29th to: mary.deaett@vermont.gov

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Help Vermonters pursue their education goals!

8/9/21 4:17 PM

Qualifications: Ability to manage overlapping responsibilities while meeting tight deadlines, proficient in identifying, solving and effectively communicating problems. Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, or closely related field required. Apply: careers@selectdesign.com Full Listing: www.selectdesign.com/careers

IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS MANAGER

208 Flynn Ave., Burlington, VT (802) 864.9075

EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSISTANT TEACHERS

We’re all about mission at Vermont Student Assistance CorporationUntitled-33 1 (VSAC). Help us fulfill our mission of providing all Vermont students with information and financial resources to reach their educational goals. You’ll work in a flexible and relaxed yet Sweet Clover Nursery of Orchard Valley challenging environment. We offer many topnotch benefits, plus a Waldorf School is seeking a full-time fabulous onsite fitness room & café. assistant teacher. We’re looking for an experienced person to join our Information Technology Team. You will direct a team that performs desktop/ laptop help desk activities, network and server administration, technical security, cost-effective operations, help forecast equipment and software needs for VSAC and oversee IBM iSeries operations. Our ideal candidate will be a strong team leader, who is proficient in a variety of technical applications, tools, and operating systems (mostly Windows), has great interpersonal and communication skills and wants to continue to learn and grow both themselves and those around them. If you have about five years of experience in a service oriented leadership position in a technical area, can help lead our back office operations and our front line helpdesk team as we all work together to serve Vermonters, we want to hear from you. (Experience with project management, a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related discipline and IBM iSeries administration would be preferred, but don’t let that hold you back if you’re the right person to join our team).VSAC offers a dynamic, professional environment with competitive compensation and generous benefits package. Apply at vsac.org (Jobs at VSAC link in site footer). VERMONT STUDENT ASSISTANCE CORPORATION PO Box 2000, Winooski, VT 05404 EOE/Minorities/Females/Vet/Disabled

PART TIME FOOD HUB JOBS Starting at $16/hour!

Looking for steady work with a mission-driven and employeefocused Vermont company? Farmers To You in Middlesex is growing and has PT openings (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) packing orders at our distribution hub. We are working to support an abundant regional food system and are seeking staff to join our team. Perks include paid time off and shift meals! Full description and to apply: farmerstoyou.com/careers/ pack-team.

Carpenters Wanted! Needed Immediately!

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8/24/21 6:42 PM

8/16/21 11:20 AM

Finish Carpenters, Carpenters and Carpenters Helpers. Good Pay, Full Time and Long Term! Chittenden County. Call Mike at 802-343-0089 or

Sweet Clover Nursery provides infants and toddlers 6 weeks to Morton at 802-862-7602. 3.5 years with warm, nurturing care from a staff led by Waldorftrained, Early Childhood professionals. Loving caregivers encourage children to develop their sense of self in a caring and rhythmic environment designed to nurture and support their continued 8/6/18 unfolding. Children are actively engaged in all aspects of their daily2v-MJSContracting080818.indd 1 routine and care by respectful caregivers. A great deal of time is spent outdoors, serving to strengthen children’s growing bodies. $20 per hour. Days include creative free play inside and out, wholesome organic morning snack, storytelling, nursery rhymes, and singing! Need Companion for our 27-year-old daughter. We are seeking candidates who are warm, nurturing, kind, and She is developmentally patient. Must be willing to sit on the ground, sing with children, delayed. She takes full and play outside in all weather. Candidates should have a strong care of herself, just needs work ethic, be excited to come to work, and have a love of young a little companionship children. Experience in Waldorf early childhood education is and company. Must have appreciated, but not required. We are willing to train candidates driver’s license and car. interested in learning specific philosophies and methods of No smoking. working with children.

Companion

Candidates would ideally be qualified as Teacher Assistant by the CBCCPP or be able to reach qualification status within a year. Compensation based on experience; benefits include paid holidays, PTO, tuition remission, and two weeks vacation after the first year of employment. To be considered for this position please send a resume, cover letter and three references to employment@ovws.org.

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Days and times flexilble. $20 per hour. Please call or email with questions. Morton Bostock, morton.bostock@gmail.com 802-862-7602

1 8/24/212v-MortonBostock081821.indd 2:25 PM

8/13/21 10:38 AM

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Community & Home Support Person Professional Part time Community and Home Support position in Burlington for an autistic young adult male who is very athletic, sings like a charm and needs personable, mature, educated people to support him. If you have those qualities and have related skills please apply! We are looking for people who are respectful and understanding towards individuals with disabilities. Experience in the disability field a plus. Excellent training is given. You will work on a team. Hours needed are Wednesday/Thursday/ Fridays 8:30am - 4:00pm but more hours may be available if desired. Pay is $25/hour. Send your resume and at least 3 references to nbgteamvt@gmail.com.

81 AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

www.cvabe.org

Teacher/Community Coordinators Seeking full-time Teacher/Community Coordinators in Morrisville, Bradford and Barre. Candidates must have:

SENIOR PLANNER, PLANNER OR ASSISTANT PLANNER The Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission seeks an adaptable, self-motivated Assistant Planner, Planner, or Senior Planner. Apply to join our team if you enjoy leveraging the power of people working together to create vibrant communities! This position requires broad knowledge of municipal and regional comprehensive planning, planning law, and plan implementation techniques. It fosters the development and implementation of long-term plans. The successful candidate will have a degree in planning or related field and a minimum of 1 year (Assistant Planner), 3 years (Planner) or 7 years (Senior Planner) experience in regional or local planning. Excellent oral and written communication skills and experience using Microsoft products required. Experience writing and administering zoning regulations preferred. Economic or community development experience a plus. Attendance at evening meetings required. Planners who enjoy working regionally and with volunteers, and those with skills to discern and adapt to emerging needs encouraged to apply. This is a full time, permanent position with a salary range of $38,000-45,000 (Assistant), $40,000-58,000 (Planner), and $50,000-70,000 (Senior). Salary is commensurate with demonstrated ability. Excellent benefit package and collaborative work environment. Submit a cover letter, resume, three references (name, phone number), and salary expectations to Waninger@cvregion.com. Position open until filled; application review begins September 1, 2021. Job description and additional information available at centralvtplanning.org. CVRPC is an Equal Opportunity Employer and maintains a drug-free workplace.

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8/16/215v-CentralVTRegionalPlanningComm082521.indd 5:52 PM Be part of re-envisioning justice in our community!

The Burlington Community Justice Center is hiring for 4 positions:

• High levels of independence, spirit, drive and capacity for student recruitment, outreach and organizing community involvement to support student success • Strong familiarity with the service area • Proven capacity for teaching and guiding basic skills instruction for adults and teens in: - Reading, writing, math, computer and financial literacy - English Language Learning and U.S. Citizenship prep - High school diploma and GED credentialing - Career and college readiness • Experience with developing personalized education and graduation education plans • Experience with recruiting and managing volunteers. Starting salary: $43,000–$45,000 annually based on experience. CVABE pays 100% of individual health, dental & short-term disability insurance, as well as employer 403(b) contributions and six weeks of paid vacation annually.

Please submit cover letter, resume and 3 references to: Executive Director - Central Vermont Adult Basic Education, Inc. 46 Washington Street, Suite 100, Barre, Vermont 05641 info@cvabe.org. Positions open until filled.

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7/14/21 3:46 PM

What we make, makes a difference. Want to help create cutting-edge technologies for climate challenges?

• COURT DIVERSION CASE COORDINATOR (anticipated: mid-Sept.)

Visit nrgsystems.com/careers to apply for our open positions in:

• COMMUNITY MEDIATION PROGRAM COORDINATOR

• Technical Services • Accounting • Purchasing

• TAMARACK/PRETRIAL SERVICES COORDINATOR • BARJ YOUTH COORDINATOR (anticipated: mid-Sept.) The BCJC is striving to be an inclusive, anti-racist organization. We aim to have staff and volunteers represent the communities we serve. Those who identify as BIPOC, LGTBQ+, and those with lived experience in the criminal legal system or mental health/substance abuse communities are encouraged to apply. Go to our website to learn more: burlingtoncjc.org/employment, and to the City of Burlington Employment Page to apply: governmentjobs.com/careers/burlingtonvt. WOMEN, MINORITIES AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ARE HIGHLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY. EOE.

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8/23/21 4:07 PM

8/23/21 11:22 AM

82 AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

ATTENTION RECRUITERS: JOB POSTING

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

STAFF ACCOUNTANT

Line Cook

JOIN one of the best places to work in Vermont! United Way of Northwest Vermont is committed to building The United Way of Northwestcelebrates Vermont (UWNWVT) is a leading an inclusive culture—in our workplace and the community at large—that the diverse voicesorganization of our in Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Counties that employees, volunteers, donors, community partners and the Isle individuals andharnesses families the wepower serve.of nonprofits, government, businesses

Custodial and and thousands of volunteers to address the complex human care needs of our community Maintenance Worker I We invite you to bring your unique experience to our work as a staff accountant on our Finance Team. members. We believe that true social innovation comes from creative collaborations.

Winooski Housing Authority is looking for a Custodial and Maintenance Worker The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the leader of the organization and articulates a vision for who is excited about training and moving Support annual budget andefforts financial forecast • Assist Directors and Senior Leadership Team memCommunity •Impact thatthe is achieved through the of a diverse team of high-performing ahead.toWHA offers a competitive as needed. bers with monthly review of their general ledgers.leaders, staff planning and volunteers. The CEO works across private, public and corporate sectors starting wage and benefits. Raises are bolster community education and financial stability.and submit • Work health, with Budget Managers to review • Prepare various month-end and year-end activities given as you meet targets. We train in grant reporting to funding partners as needed. as they relate to finance & accounting. We are seeking a CEO who is experienced in the management of organizations, business, maintenance specialty skills. and resource development. The successful candidate will have a proven track record in leadUNITED WAY OF NORTHWEST VERMONT employees enjoy a range of excellent benefits including health, denIf you want to start a career in ing through change, promoting diversity and inclusion and leveraging community resources tal and vision insurance, a generous paid vacation policy including paid Holidays, 403(b) contributions, a robust we want to invest in you! to achieve results. The chief executive must be a skilled communicator, negotiator, maintenance, and wellness program and more! Please send your resume to Debbie trusted team builder. at: dch@winooskihousing.org United Way of Northwest Vermont is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are looking for candidates to join our or mail (stop in for application) to: team who will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the organization. Interested candidates may visit

IN THIS ROLE YOU WILL:

www.unitedwaynwvt.org for the full job description. To apply candidates should send via e-mail a resume and WHA, 83 Barlow Street, Winooski, VT cover letter by 08/31/2021: Hiring@unitedwaynwvt.org. No phone calls please. Interested candidates may visit www.unitedwaynwvt.org to download05404. the Attn: Debbie. E.O.E. 5h-UnitedWayNorthwestVT081821.indd 1

job description, experience/position requirements and application directions. The CEO reports to a Board of Directors and works closely with several board 8/11/21 4:29 PM committees.

Farmhouse Tap & Grill seeks Line Cooks as we expand our hours. Earnings $24-$28/hour. Part Time or Full Time options. Full time employees eligible for benefits package including: Paid Vacation, Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance, discounted gym membership and other perks. High volume Farm-ToTable Gastropub, and a very organized and well run place to work. Cheers! Apply at: info@farmhousegroup.com.

WHERE YOU AND

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PROGRAM For confidential consideration, candidates should send via e-mail a resume, cover YOUR WORK MATTER... letter and statement of interest by February 17, 2017 to: searchcommittee@ FEATURES: When you work for the State of Vermont, you and your work matter. A career with the

8/19/21 12:25 PM

unitedwaynwvt.org. No phone calls, please. State puts you on a rich and rewarding professional path. You’ll find jobs in dozens of

➢ Dedicated student fields – not to mention an outstanding total compensation package. UWNWVT is an equal opportunity employer. support

T Rbackgrounds A N S P O R Tare A Tencouraged I O N P L Ato NN ING COORDIN ATOR – BARRE Candidates from diverse apply.

➢ Guaranteed employment *

➢ Starting wage of $15.62

TRAIN TO BE A PHLEBOTOMIST GUARANTEED JOB IN 8 WEEKS* Work for Vermont’s Largest Employer!

➢ Performance-based salary increases ➢ National Certification as a Phlebotomy Technician

Over the past twenty years, Vermont HITEC educated and employed over 1,600 individuals in the healthcare, information technology, advanced manufacturing, and business services fields. We are accepting applications for our latest healthcare program. The program offers eight weeks of Phlebotomy training at no cost and immediate employment and apprenticeship as a Phlebotomist with The UVM Medical Center (up to 8 positions) upon successful completion.

JOB FEATURES:

3Enrollment in a Registered Apprenticeship 3Up to 8 full-time positions available 3Guaranteed starting wages with shift differential (where applicable) 3Performance-based increases 3Full benefits, including health, dental, paid vacation, 401k, and more 3No cost for qualified VT residents

➢ Day shifts available

* Employment guaranteed upon successful completion of the 8-week program. The ITAR Program (Information Technology Apprenticeship Readiness) is a partnership of:

➢ Work for Vermont’s largest employer ➢ Direct patient care ➢ Team environment ➢ Rewarding work

VOCREHAB COUNSELOR – BARRE

The Barre Office of Vocational Rehabilitation is recruiting for a skilled rehabilitation/ career counselor. This position will provide VR services under the workvt2.0 project to help individuals on SSDI/SSI explore the possibilities of training, education or skills gains to find meaningful, self-sustaining employment and transition to no longer receiving SS benefits. Workvt2.0 helps people explore the world of work and debunk the myths of working while on social security. For more information, contact William Sugarman at william.sugarman@vermont.gov. Please Note: This position is being recruited at multiple levels. If you would like to be considered for more than one level, you MUST apply to the specific Job Requisition. Department: Disabilities Aging and Independent Living. Status: Part Time, Limited Service. Location: Barre. Job ID, Associate Level #19888, Level I #18981, Level II #18794. Application Deadline: August 30, 2021.

PLANNING ENGINEER – MONTPELIER

➢ High-growth occupation

LEARN MORE APPLY ONLINE

iaahitec.org DEADLINE FOR FALL 2021 SESSION: SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

The ITAR Program is funded in part by a grant from the Vermont and U.S. Dept. of Labor. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetics, political affiliation or belief.

6t-VTHiTec072821.indd 1

Shape transportation planning and policy during an era of transformation. You should enjoy working in a fast-paced environment and have planning experience, excellent written and verbal communication skills, and be capable of fostering positive working relationships. Familiarity with planning methods and related state and federal polices and regulations is a plus. Entry level candidates eager to learn and grow are encouraged to apply. Please Note: This Position is being recruited for at multiple levels. If you would like to be considered for more than one level, you MUST apply to the specific Job Requisition. For more information, contact Joe Segale at joe. segale@vermont.gov. Department: Agency of Transportation. Status: Full Time. Location: Barre, with Telework Possibility. Job ID #19822 Level one OR ID #19722 for level two. Application Deadline: September 7, 2021.

The Vermont Public Service Department seeks a Planning Engineer to help lead the Department’s grid modernization and distribution system planning efforts and assist in the review of energy generation, transmission, and storage project proposals, utility integrated resource plans, and other cases involving grid reliability, resilience, and interconnections. The ideal candidate will embrace working with diverse stakeholders and testifying to the legislature and Public Utility Commission. For more information, contact Anne Margolis/anne.margolis@vermont.gov. Department: Public Service. Status: Full Time. Location: Montpelier. Job ID #19843. Application Deadline: September 5, 2021.

ADMINIS TRATIVE SERVICES COORDIN ATOR III – MONTPELIER

Administrative Services Technician Office of the Defender General, Montpelier. Previous administrative office experience required. Requires high attention to detail, patience, a sense of humor, and excellent customer services skills. • Full-time, limited service (through 6/30/23) exempt, PG17 State position with benefits. • $17.49/hr. Must be able to work independently and as part of a team. EOE Email resume and cover letter by Sunday, August 29th to: Mary Deaett, HR & Program Manager mary.deaett@vermont.gov.

The Office of Public Guardian in the Department of Disabilities, Aging and 3v-OfficeDefenderGeneral081121.indd 1 Independent Living seeks a self-motivated individual to provide administrative and technical support to the Director and a staff of 27 who are located statewide. Extensive knowledge of Microsoft office products is required. You will work with Family and Probate Courts, provide back-up for the State’s Rep Payee Program and work with the DDSD Ethic’s Committee. For more information, contact Jackie Rogers at jackie.rogers@vermont.gov. Department: Disabilities Aging and Independent Living. Location: Montpelier. Status: Full Time. Job ID #19585. Application Deadline: August 29, 2021.

Learn more at :

careers.vermont.gov

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8/9/21 9:50 AM

The State of Vermont is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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10/29/19 12:12 PM

readiness, andisinclude earlyCOUNTIES education, health, child CHITTENDEN & FRANKLIN/GRAND ISLE Head Start a federally-funded, national CURRENT POSITIONS AVAILABLE: CHITTENDEN & FRANKLIN/GRAND ISLE COUNTIES

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A p p l i c a n t s a r e e n c o sreferences. u b m i t a c o v e r l e t t e r , r e s u m e , a n d t h r e e w o r k submit a covNo er le tter, recalls, sumeplease. , and thrCVOEO ee work is inphone efefie p aefso.erCm . VCaO V O nerce uecdsee.s.iN nN thopeh irohcnooenvecearclallsel,ltsp t,elp tiE oO nEaO biosut how REQUIREMENTS: etro nln o er la aiensscontribute terested in rre ferre n cce s. candidates No pho ne cwho alls, pcan le e. CV OE O to iiss our i n t e r e s t e d i n c a n d i d a t e s w h o c a n c o n t r i b u t e touor ur t h e y w i l l f u r t h e r t h s g o a l Please visit www.cvoeo.org/careers for ntte erre esstte ed dand n ccexcellence. an nd diid da atte ess w wApplicants ho o cca an n cco on nttare bu uencourtte diversity iin iin a h rriib e tto oo our d ie ve rto stiytyinclude ad ndexecxin cleletheir llnecnec.ecover .p Applp laicnatnstasinformation aereenecnocuoru raegded aged letter d i v r s i a n e A i c r ag g more information about individual diversity and excellence. Applicants are encoura ed toinin cuhow lu d einthey inthtehierwill icr ocvo vrelreltete ttthis eirnifnogoal. fromrm aiotn ioanbaobuotuhtohwow about further REQUIREMENTS: t o c l d e e r a t REQUIREMENTS: positions. to include in their cover letter information about how REQUIREMENTS: yww illufrutrhte herhtihsig so gaolal Please visit www.cvoeo.org/careersfor for hth ee tth e yy w iillll ffu rtherr tth is go al Please Please visit visit www.cvoeo.org/careers www.cvoeo.org/careers for Burlington •Early Head Start Home Visitor - Franklin / Grand IsleStart •Head Teachers - AVAILABLE: Winooski Early CURRENT POSITIONS CURRENT AVAILABLE: CURRENT POSITIONS AVAILABLE: LearningPOSITIONS Center •Cook - Burlington & St. Visitor Albans- Franklin / •Early Head Start Home •Early Head Start Home Visitor -- -Franklin Franklin •Early Head Start Home Visitor •Head Start Teacher Associate Winooski// Grand Isle •Early Head Start Teacher Associate Grand Isle EarlyIsle Learning Center Grand Burlington •Cook - Burlington & St. Albans •Cook •Cook -- Burlington Burlington & & St. St. Albans Albans •Head Start Teachers - Winooski Early •Early Head Start Teacher Associate •Early Head Head Start Teacher Teacher Associate Associate -•Early Start Learning Center Burlington Burlington Burlington REQUIREMENTS: •Head Start Teacher Associate - Winooski •Head Start Teachers - Winooski Early Please visitTeachers www.cvoeo.org/careers for •Head Start -- Winooski •Head Start Teachers Winooski Early Early Early Learning Center Learning Center more information about individual Learning Center Learning Center positions. •Head Start Teacher Teacher Associate Associate--Winooski Winooski •Head Start Start •Head Teacher Associate - Winooski Early Learning Center Early Learning Learning Center Center Early

SkiEssentials.com is a family-owned and rapidly-growing company. We pride ourselves in guiding our customers to the right gear while providing personable customer service and prompt shipping. The impact we have on our customers makes it a rewarding place to work. We are always on the lookout for new people to add to our ever-expanding team of passionate snow sliders and look forward to learning more about you! We are currently hiring for multiple positions, both part time and full time with varied start dates from September to November. We are looking for team players, who can handle our fast-paced environment, and are ready to jump in and help. Access to great deals on gear! Apply now and secure a fun winter job! Email inquiries or resume and cover letters to info@skiessentials.com. POSITIONS AVAILABLE:

THE RIGHT CANDIDATE HAS: • Attention to detail/ organization • Good attitude

• Customer Service • Mounting/Ski Tech • Warehouse Expeditor for Orders

more information about about individual individual more more information information about individual positions. positions. positions.

• Works well in both a team and independent environment • Flexibility and adaptability

THIS INSTITUTION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

PLEASE POST THROUGH SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

HEAD START & EARLY HEAD START POSITIONS AVAILABLE

AUGUST 20, 2021

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CONTINUUM OF CARE (COC) COORDINATOR

8/24/21 2:28 PM

Lamoille Restorative Center seeks experienced professionals to join our growing team. LRC is a small, dynamic nonprofit organization with a mission to uphold the dignity and resilience of individuals and families through restorative justice principles and programs.

CHITTENDEN & FRANKLIN/GRAND ISLE COUNTIES THIS INSTITUTION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

School Engagement Specialist

THE VERMONT COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS seeks a Continuum of Care (CoC) Coordinator to join us in our efforts to make homelessness in Vermont rare, brief, and non-recurring. Position requires managing significant statewide activity including supporting the Board and committees; maintaining an effective relationship with CoCs; managing website and social media presence; assist with planning annual “point in time count”; and assisting with the annual application to HUD for funding. Reports to the Executive Director. Parttime, 25 hours/week. Remote/in-person/hybrid, TBD.

POST THROUGH SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 Do you have passion for supporting students' school success? Head Start is aPLEASE federally-funded, national child POSITIONS AVAILABLE: THIS INSTITUTION IS EQUAL THIS INSTITUTION AN EQUALOPPORTUNITY OPPORTUNITYEMPLOYER. EMPLOYER. THIS INSTITUTION ISISAN AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. Do you enjoy collaborating with others to solve problems? and family development program which •Early Head Start Home Visitor - Franklin / provides services for pregnant LRC is hiring a full-time School Engagement Specialist (SES) tocomprehensive expand its School Engagement PLEASE POST THROUGH SEPTEMBER 10,10, 2021 PLEASE POST THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2021 PLEASE POST THROUGH SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 Grand Isle AUGUST 20, AUGUST women,and children from to age five,students and their 20, 2021 2021 Program team. Responsibilities include providing outreach support to birth Lamoille Valley

CURRENT AUGUST 20, 2021

Capstone Community Action is the fiscal agent of the program and the Coordinator will enjoy the benefits offered by this well-established Central Vermont Agency. For a complete job description, please visit: capstonevt.org/jobs. Submit a cover letter and resume to mhahn@helpingtohousevt.org. Capstone Community Action is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Provider. Applications from all genders, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and people from diverse cultural backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

ages five- to 15, and their families, attendance. positionpromote is ideal for families. Services This for children school •Cook Burlington & St. Albansstruggling with school someone with a strong understanding of Vermont’s readiness, education and and include human early services systems,health, excellent education, •Early Head Start Associate communication andTeacher collaboration skills,- and the ability to work both independently and on team. nutrition, mental health, and services forachildren Burlington with special needs. Services for parents promote familyTrainer engagement,and and include parent Restorative Practices in Schools Coach •Head Start Teachers - Winooski Early leadership and social service supports.

Learning Can you seeCenter yourself working with students and staff to create more inclusive and equitable learning environments? •Head Start Teacher Associate - Winooski LRC is hiring a fullCenter time Restorative Practices (RP) Trainer To apand ply, Coach please to visicoordinate t www.cvoeoand .org/support careers athe nd Early Learning implementation of restorative practices in local schools. responsible for submThe it a cTrainer over letand ter, rCoach esume,will andbe thre e work developing and overseeing professional development refand erencbuilding es. No pin-house hone calls,training please. Ccapacity. VOEO is This new position is ideal for someone with a strong understanding interested inof carestorative ndidates whpractices, o can contrfamiliarity ibute to our with the whole-school approach to restorative work,dstrong iversity communication and excellence. Askills, pplicanand ts aran e eability ncouragto ed work both independently and on a team. to include in their cover letter information about how REQUIREMENTS: they will further this goal Please visit www.cvoeo.org/careers for All positions are based in Hyde Park, and come with a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefit more information about individual package that includes employee health, dental, and life insurance. Other benefits include paid sick and positions. vacation leave, 15 paid holidays, and a retirement plan. Interested individuals can apply by email with the job title in the subject line – by sending a cover letter and resume to: info@lrcvt.org. Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled. To learn more about Lamoille Restorative Center go to lrcvt.org. 7t-LamoilleRestorative082521.indd 1

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JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021 CHITTENDEN & FRANKLIN/GRAND ISLE COUNTIES

HEAD START & EARLY HEAD START POSITIONS AVAILABLE Head Start is a federally-funded, national child CURRENT POSITIONS AVAILABLE: HEAD START & EARLY HEADprogram START and family development which HEAD START & / EARLY HEAD START •Early Head Start Home Visitor Franklin CHITTENDEN & -FRANKLIN/GRAND ISLE COUNTIES provides comprehensive services for pregnant Grand Isle POSITIONS AVAILABLE women, children from birth to age five, and their POSITIONS AVAILABLE families. Services for children promote school •Cook - Burlington & St. Albans

SkiEssentials.com is Hiring Seasonal Employees for fall/winter! Apply Now!

• Picking and Shipping at Warehouse • Warehouse Inventory Assistant

HEAD START & EARLY HEAD START POSITIONS NEW JOBS POSTEDAVAILABLE DAILY!

8/13/21 10:27 AM

8/19/21 4:09 PM

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

TIRED OF WORKING WEEKENDS & HOLIDAYS? Come join the team at New World Tortilla and you won’t have to work any of them. Competitive wage, shift meals and paid time off.

EVENTS MANAGER!

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VERMONT GENERAL ASSEMBLY

We’re seeking a strategic thinker & logistics mastermind who can:

Email your resume to newworldvt@gmail.com or drop it off at 696 Pine Street, Burlington.

7/13/21 2:44 PM

• Lead the design and implementation of an events program that engages, delights, and grows our base of support; • Collaborate up, down, and sideways to implement effective online and in-person events; and • Help a leading conservation organization take engagement to the next level.

• Deputy Fiscal Officer • Web Developer • Legislative Attorneys • Capitol Police Officer

Apply today at vlt.org/employment. The position will remain open until September 10. The starting salary for this position is $50,000. The Vermont Land Trust is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We honor and invite people of all backgrounds and lived experiences to apply.

PROJECT AND GRANT MANAGER ACEDC Mission: The Addison County Economic Development Corporation is a 501(c) (6) member-based regional economic development organization. ACEDC’s mission is to create an entrepreneurial and innovative environment, nurturing businesses to launch, grow, and thrive. ACEDC assists entrepreneurs and business owners from all backgrounds, businesses of all sizes, during all stages of growth, while advancing economic and community development in Addison County, Vermont.

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JOB PURPOSE: This exciting new position supports the organization’s mission by developing action plans to implement the region’s economic development strategy and deliver resources to the region to ensure a full and robust economic renewal. The Project and Grant Manager will work closely with regional partners and stakeholders to identify priority regional economic development issues, produce action plans that address those issues, and research and write grant proposals to fund and implement elements of the action plans.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: • Bachelor's Degree required and/or a minimum of three years in a similar or equivalent organization and role; higher degree preferred • Minimum two years’ experience in project management or related field required • Demonstrated grant research/writing experience and knowledge of government and non-government funding sources preferred • Demonstrated experience overseeing and guiding complex projects with multiple partners and stakeholders • Demonstrated knowledge of Addison County, Vermont preferred • Excellent written and verbal communication skills required

Send resumes to: FKENNEY@ADDISONCOUNTYEDC.ORG Equal Opportunity Employment The Addison County Economic Development Corporation provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type based on race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

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Project Manager

8/17/21

To apply, please go to 'Career Opportunities' at legislature.vermont/gov.

Lewis Creek Builders is searching for a Project Manager for our residential construction Design-Build team. This is a full time, salaried position. The Project Manager is responsible for stewarding projects from estimate to completion. Key responsibilities include estimating, project development, project planning and scheduling, detailed project cost reporting, and client communications and relationship management. The ideal candidate is a polished professional with a strong knowledge of building means, methods, and components. The right fit for our team will demonstrate: • Excellent written, verbal, and organizational skills. • 5+ years of construction project management, carpentry, design or comparable industry experience. • Ability to balance deadlines, anticipate challenges, and facilitate collaboration with our team and trades partners. • Enthusiasm for working as a part of a team, learning and utilizing the tools and processes unique to our specialized design-build workflow. Our team places a high value on critical thinking, kindness, and incredible service to our clients. We will invest significant time in training the right candidate. Lewis Creek Builders is committed to serving our team, clients, community, and the environment. We offer an outstanding compensation and benefits package, including health, dental, disability and life insurance, retirement contribution matching, and paid time off. Apply by sending a cover letter and resume to operations@lewiscreekbuilders.com. View all our open positions at lewiscreekbuilders.com.

8/19/216t-LewisCreekBuilders081821.indd 1:26 PM 1

The Legislative support offices are currently hiring for several roles. The nonpartisan offices are an interesting, challenging, and exciting place to work. You will be part of a highly 10:26 AM professional and collegial team that is proud of, and enthusiastic about, the mission of the state legislature.

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8/19/21 1:42 PM

TECHNICAL SALES REPRESENTATIVE Super Thin Saws, located in Waterbury, Vermont, is the designer and manufacturer of precision, high quality tools used in the high-volume production cutting of wood, plastic, and foam materials. Super Thin saws provides good pay, an excellent working environment, benefits and training. If you would like a challenging and rewarding career with the opportunity to grow in the woodworking industry and are interested in discussing the opportunity to join our growing company, please forward your resume to: bookkeeping@ superthinsaws.com.

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8/24/21 3:20 PM

Retail Store Manager We are looking for an experienced retail manager to oversee daily operations of our store. Ideal candidates will be knowledgeable about retail sales strategies, marketing, fiber arts industry, and be a strong communicator. Please send cover letter describing qualifications, resume, and references to jen@mustloveyarn.com.

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

85 AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

STAFF NURSE (LPN OR RN) Sunrun Solar Vermont Residential Solar Provider FIELD SALES CONSULTANT Williston VT headquarters • Base salary, monthly bonus • Car allowance, gas card, cell phone, laptop • Excellent benefits • 401k match and Employee Stock Purchase Program • Sales experience preferred • College degree • Industry-leading training program Send resume and contact to: gabe.coleman@sunrun.com

Flexible Shifts Wake Robin seeks health care staff who are licensed in Vermont to work collaboratively to provide high quality care in a fast paced residential and longterm care environment, while maintaining a strong sense of “home.” We offer an opportunity to build strong relationships with staff and residents in a dynamic community setting. We offer flexible schedules, tuition reimbursement, loan programs, great benefits and an amazing community setting, all at a pace where you can be your best. Starting your nursing career? We always welcome new nurses! Interested candidates please email a cover letter and resume to hr@wakerobin.com or complete an application online at wakerobin.com. Wake Robin is an Equal Opportunity Employer. 5h-WakeRobinNURSE072821.indd 1

VERMONT COMMUNICATION SUPPORT PROJECT

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6/21/21 2v-SunrunSolar082521.indd 10:04 AM 1

VCSP is an innovative statewide program administered by Disability Rights Vermont. VCSP offers communication support and accommodations to people with qualifying disabilities. Services are provided primarily in court hearings and at state administrative meetings. As a national leader, we are seeking individuals with a passion for justice and equality to join our team.

Program Coordinator This challenging position offers significant rewards for a multitalented professional interested in making a difference. The applicant must have outstanding administrative, organizational, technical, telephone and communication skills. The successful candidate will have strong management experience or ability. Professional and/or personal experience with disability is required. Office location can be negotiated, 30+ hours per week, M-F. Competitive wage & benefits. Note: To be considered for the program coordinator’s position, a candidate must also be willing to train, or have been trained, as a Communication Support Specialist and be willing to practice these skills in the field.

Communication Support Specialists (Occasional Part-Time)

Candidates are trained to assist individuals with disabilities that impact communication in court and administrative proceedings (this is neither advocacy work nor legal representation). Flexible schedule required.

Send letter of interest & resume to: Lynne Cardozo, VCSP Director csp@disabilityrightsvt.org

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7/27/21 2:46 PM

8/23/21 1:37 PM

Stone Environmental, Inc. is a 100% employee-owned science and engineering consulting company in Montpelier, Vermont.

ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT We are seeking an energetic individual to fill a full-time, entry-level accounting assistant role. The ideal candidate would be an enthusiastic self-starter, motivated to set and achieve goals and take initiative within the workplace. They must be organized, professional, and demonstrate excellent attention to detail. Most importantly, they will have a positive attitude, willingness to master tasks and learn new skills, and the ability to adapt to a wide variety of tasks. This individual must be an effective team player who works cooperatively with others to support all areas of the organization.

SENIOR ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER We are seeking an enthusiastic and dedicated environmental engineer to join our Environmental Assessment and Remediation Services team. The ideal candidate will work closely with our group of engaged professionals and various partners (including project owners, responsible parties, municipalities, state and federal agencies, and other project stakeholders) to lead the evaluation, design, and implementation of projects involving hazardous wastes in the environment. They will serve as a mentor to our engineering staff, provide senior technical support for a variety of projects at hazardous waste and brownfield redevelopment sites, and conduct business development activities. All candidates for this position must have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in environmental or civil engineering, or a closely related discipline, as well as a current Professional Engineer license with at least ten years of relevant experience. Visit our website stone-env.com for full job descriptions and information about sending your resume/cover letter.

8/24/21 2:33 PM

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

SAME DAY DELIVERIES (802) 862-7662

MEDICAL COURIERS AND DELIVERY DRIVERS Currently, we are seeking drivers to join our growing team. We are hiring for several full time and part time positions, as well as different shifts. Feel free to stop in to our office at 54 Echo Place, Suite# 1, Williston, VT 05495 and fill out an application. Or fill out an application via our website at shipvds.com or email Tim a copy of your resume at timothy@shipvds.com.

Immediate Openings at EastView at Middlebury!

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8/24/21

eastviewmiddlebury.com/join-our-team/ Join our team and be loved by an incredible community... Work in a supportive and rewarding workplace in Health Services, Dining Services, and Facilities. Full-time and part-time positions available. We offer: • Paid time off • Matching contribution retirement plan • Employee Appreciation Holiday Fun from Residents • Chef-prepared comp meal every shift • Comprehensive benefits to FT employees

APPLY FOR JOB: bit.ly/EastviewMiddlebury2021. E.O.E.

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The Town of Underhill is currently For office & dental program. searching for a part-time Animal 20-25 hrs/week, fluency in Control Officer. The position Spanish and English required, requires the Officer to be on call at attention to detail, cultural & linguistic competence, excellent all times and regulate the Town’s Domestic Pet Ordinance communication, computer to include public nuisance complaints, licensing of skills. Competitive pay and dogs, dog bites, dogs causing damage and impounding. great work environment. While the primary position of the Animal Control Officer In-person, in Middlebury. is to deal with domesticated dogs it also requires the Please send cover letter, resume, transportation & temporary housing of stray/feral cats and and 3 references to Heidi Sulis other small animals and occasionally assisting with wildlife at hsulis@opendoormidd.org. and other domestic animals in collaboration with wildlife rescue, State Fish & Game, and USDA. Compensation includes: a monthly stipend, competitive hourly rate when 2:18 PM called to duty, and mileage when making a call. A full 2v-OpenDoorClinic082521.indd 1 8/24/21 2:02 PM copy of the Town’s Domestic Pet Ordinance is available online, at the Underhill Town Office or can be requested Now Hiring for by email. The application deadline is 3:00 p.m. on Friday, Residential Construction September10, 2021. The successful candidate will report regularly to the Underhill Selectboard. Applications are available at the Underhill Town Office (Pleasant Valley Rd) or on the Town’s homepage under: Open Positions/Requests for Proposals at www.underhillvt.gov. The full job description can be found there as well. For questions please call: 802-899-4434 extension:102 or email jsilpe-katz@underhillvt.gov.

6t-TownofUnderhill082521.indd 1 8/24/21 2:16 PM

Vital Communities, a regional nonprofit located in White River Junction, VT, seeks a full time Transportation and Housing Program Manager to develop and implement integrated, community-based projects that work toward affordable, safe, efficient, reliable, and equitable transportation and home creation systems in the Upper Connecticut River Valley. Successful candidates will have a passion for working collaboratively with community partners, volunteers, and organizations. Qualifications include excellent project management, communication, and collaboration skills, and an understanding of our transportation and home creation systems as complex, dynamic systems. Full job description at vitalcommunities.org/about/join-our-team. Email resume and cover letter to hr@vitalcommunities.org.

Bilingual Administrative Assistant

8/24/21 11:06 AM 2v-Smith&McClain081821.indd 1

YOU WILL FIND

SUCCESS CRACK OPEN YOUR FUTURE... with our mobile-friendly job board.

Job seekers can: • Browse hundreds of current, local positions from Vermont companies. • Search for jobs by keyword, location, category and job type. • Set up job alerts. • Apply for jobs directly through the site. START APPLYING AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

8/23/214t-JobsFiller_.indd 5:04 PM 1

Building company specializing in craft custom homes in Bristol, VT, seeks candidates with experience in residential construction for a variety of positions. Positive attitude and attention to detail are a must. Small teams, fast-paced, and friendly work environment with competitive pay and benefits. If local, artisanal construction for a forward-thinking company in the Champlain Valley and Green Mountains seems like a good fit, we want to hear from you! admin@smithmcclain.com.

Town of Underhill ATTN: Job Opening- Animal Control Officer P.O. Box 120, Underhill, VT 05489 E.O.E.

• Health Services: Nurse—RN (FT); Care Team (FT and PT) • Dining: Servers (FT and PT); Cooks (PT); Dishwasher (PT) • Facilities: Housekeeper (FT); Maintenance Staff (FT)

TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING PROGRAM MANAGER

ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER

Please mail application, cover letter and resume to:

Share your talents with us! We have the following openings:

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TOWN OF UNDERHILL

8/16/21 5:50 PM

The Town of New Haven is seeking to fill the positions of Town Administrator and Zoning Administrator. These can be combined to be a full-time position or two part-time positions. The Selectboard is seeking an individual or individuals with strong interpersonal, business, financial, grant writing, planning and zoning skills and the ability to oversee and manage a small town and its employees.

Please send letter of interest, salary requirements, resume and three references to: Town Administrator c/o 78 North Street, New Haven, Vermont 05472 by August 30.

10/13/20 2v-TownofNewHaven082521.indd 1:25 PM 1

8/19/21 11:25 AM

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8/24/21 12:34 PM

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

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8/9/21 6:47 PM

CALCOKU & SUDOKU (P.69) CROSSWORD (P.69)

fun stuff HARRY BLISS

JEN SORENSEN

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

fun stuff RYAN RIDDLE

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Have a deep, dark fear of your own? Submit it to cartoonist Fran Krause at deep-dark-fears.tumblr.com, and you may see your neurosis illustrated in these pages.

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY REAL AUGUST 26-SEPTEMBER 1

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The brilliant Taurus dancer and choreographer Martha Graham spoke of “a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action,” adding that “there is only one of you in all time.” She added, “It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.” But even if you do this very well, Graham said, you will nevertheless always feel “a divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest” that will fuel you. This is the perfect message for you Tauruses to embrace in the coming weeks.

VIRGO

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): There’s growing

(AUG. 23-SEPT. 22):

“I sing like the nightingale whose melody is crowded in the too narrow passage of her throat,” wrote author Virginia Woolf. That was an insulting curse for her to fling at herself. I disapprove of such behavior — especially for you in the coming weeks. If you hope to be in alignment with cosmic rhythms, don’t you dare say nasty things about yourself, even in the privacy of your own thoughts. In fact, please focus on the exact opposite: flinging praise and appreciation and compliments at yourself.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries mythologist Joseph Campbell advised us to love our fate. He said we should tell ourselves, “Whatever my fate is, this is what I need.” Even if an event seems inconvenient or disruptive, we treat it as an opportunity, as an interesting challenge. “If you bring love to that moment, not discouragement,” Campbell said, “you will find the strength.” Campbell concludes that any detour or disarray you can learn from “is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege!” Few signs of the zodiac are inclined to enthusiastically adopt such an approach, but you Aries folks are most likely to do so. Now is an especially favorable time to use it.

scientific evidence that we make ourselves stupid by complaining too much — or even by listening to other people complain a lot. Excessive negative thoughts drain energy from our hippocampus, a part of our brain that’s essential to problem-solving. This doesn’t mean, of course, that we should avoid dealing with difficult issues. But it does suggest we should be discerning about how many disturbing and depressing ideas we entertain. According to my reading of the omens, all this will be especially useful advice for you in the coming weeks.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Your brain contains one hundred billion nerve cells. Each cell has the potential to be linked with tens of thousands of others. And they are always busy. Typically, your grey matter makes a million new connections every second. But I suspect your number of connections will increase even beyond that in the coming weeks. Your most complex organ will be working with greater intensity than usual. Will that be a bad thing or a good thing? It depends on whether you formulate an intention to channel your intelligence into wise analysis about important matters — and not waste it in careless fussing about trivial details. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “You should have a sticky soul,” counsels author Elizabeth Berg. “The act of continually taking things in should be as much a part of you as your hair color.” I especially endorse that attitude for you during the next four weeks, Leo. Your task is to make yourself ex-

tra magnetic for all the perceptions, experiences, ideas, connections and resources you need most. By September 23, I suspect you will have gained an infusion of extra ballast and gravitas.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The blogger at www-wlw.tumblr.com says the following are the top tender actions: 1. Fastening clothes or jewelry for your companion. 2. Letting them rest their head on your shoulder. 3. Idly playing with their hands. 4. Brushing a leaf out of their hair. 5. Locking pinkies. 6. Rubbing their back when you embrace. 7. Both of you wearing an item that belongs to the other. Dear Libra, I hope you will employ these tender actions with greater frequency than usual in the coming weeks. Why? In my astrological opinion, it’s a ripe time to boost your Affection Quotient with the allies you care for the most. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Naturalist Henry

David Thoreau wrote in his journal, “I feel slightly complimented when nature condescends to make use of me without my knowledge — as when I help scatter her seeds in my walk — or carry burs and cockles on my clothes from field to field. I feel as though I had done something for the commonweal.” I mention this, Scorpio, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to carry out good deeds and helpful transformations in nature’s behalf. Your ability to collaborate benevolently with plants and animals and elemental forces will be at a peak. So will your knack for creating interesting connections between yourself and all wild things.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You may

have never heard of Sagittarian artist Baya Mahieddine (1931-1998). At age 16, she experienced a splash of acclaim with a show in Paris. Famous artists Pablo Picasso, Henry Matisse and George Braques came. They drew inspiration from Mahieddine’s innovative use of color, elements from her Algerian heritage and her dreamlike images. Picasso even invited her to work with him, exulting in the fresh perspectives she ignited. But her art never received the full credit it warranted. In accordance with astrological omens, this horoscope is a small way of providing her with the recognition and appreciation she deserves. It also authorizes you

to go out and get the recognition and appreciation you deserve but have not yet fully received.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Who knows what is unfolding on the other side of each hour?” asked Capricorn poet Juan Ramón Jiménez (translated by Capricorn poet Robert Bly). “How many times the sunrise was there, behind a mountain. How many times the brilliant cloud piling up far off was already a golden body full of thunder!” Your assignment, Capricorn, is to imagine what is unfolding just beyond your perception and understanding. But here’s the twist: You must steer your mind away from inclinations to indulge in fear. You must imagine that the events in the works are beautiful, interesting or redemptive. If you’re not willing to do that, skip the exercise altogether. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Better than

any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dewwet red berries in a cup,” wrote author Wendell Berry. I mostly agree with that sentiment, although I will also put in a good word for certain kinds of arguments. There are moments when it’s crucial for your psychological and spiritual health that you initiate a conversation about delicate issues that might lead to a dispute. However, I don’t think this is one of those times, Aquarius. In my astrological opinion, picking dew-wet red berries is far more sensible than any argument. For further inspiration, read this testimony from actor Natasha Lyonne: “I definitely would rather take a nap than get angry.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): For painter Vincent van Gogh, love wasn’t primarily a sentimental feeling. Nor was it an unfocused generalized wish for health and happiness in those he cared for. Rather, he wrote, “You must love with a high, serious, intimate sympathy, with a will, with intelligence.” His love was alert, acute, active and energized. It was animated with a determination to be resourceful and ingenious in nurturing the beloved. For van Gogh, love was always in action, forever moving toward ever-fresh engagement. In service to intimacy, he said, “you must always seek to know more thoroughly, better, and more.” I hope you’ll make these meditations a top priority during the next seven weeks.

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

8/24/21 12:28 PM

HIKER, BIKER, SKATEBOARDER NEEDS PLAYDATE Looking for fit people who are not high maintenance and are into outdoor activities, the more the better — sometimes nude, like skinny-dipping in the pond. Open-minded and into playing music and skiing in the winter. VT2SKI, 61, seeking: W, TW, NC, Cp, l

Respond to these people online: dating.sevendaysvt.com WOMEN seeking... WILDLY ADVENTUROUS AND INTELLECTUALLY CURIOUS There are two themes to my life: courage and individuality. To quote one son: mediating biker gangs at a carnival? Working the hood in Portland? Africa? I don’t know many people who so fully defy categorization or stereotyping — class, gender, profession. I was a CPA and am a habitual college student. Basically, I embrace life. WorldTravele7570, 79, seeking: M, l GOOD LISTENER EXCITED BY LIFE I’m a semiretired health care professional, friendly and outgoing, with a deep appreciation for quiet times. Since the death of my husband, my life has focused on close family and friends, and my work. Enjoy fitness — gym, swim, dance, hike, birding, table tennis. Looking forward to new possibilities. lv2swimno10, 73, seeking: M I’M A HOPELESS ROMANTIC Looking for a kind man with a good heart and soul to enjoy life with. Pollygirl, 58, seeking: M OBSERVANT, PERCEPTIVE, SENSUAL, INDEPENDENT, CURIOUS Feral Luddite seeking strong, intelligent good kisser with a sense of humor and a healthy dose of skepticism. If you question the official story, we might get along well. June_Miller, 44, seeking: M, l

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W = Women M = Men TW = Trans women TM = Trans men Q = Genderqueer people NBP = Nonbinary people NC = Gender nonconformists Cp = Couples Gp = Groups

SEXY ARTIST Seeking a casual, hot and super chill connection. I like spontaneity, seeking out new experiences in all areas and having lots of fun. Plumeria, 41, seeking: M

INQUISITIVE, WANTING MORE I would like to meet a lady I can become friends with. You can learn more about me when we talk. Adventurewithus2, 46, seeking: W, l

MUSCULAR GAL NEEDS EXPERIENCED BONDER So, not looking for a relationship. I’m looking for an experience. Long-term fantasy on my end: tied, vulnerable, wet and ready. I’m not a pretty gal, being up-front. I don’t have much sexual experience, but this makes me hot to think about. Please send me your thoughts. Safety first. Let’s chat. katmac802, 63, seeking: M

MERGING HEARTS AND MINDS Looking to add a new best friend and partner to my beautiful tribe to share those intimate moments and maybe grow old with. I believe in great love but know those roots are in the platonic. I like to move, sit, keep it fresh. I love music and silence. Looking for a brave, messy, youthful, mature human with emotional intelligence. Overhere, 57, seeking: M, l

LOVE TO LAUGH, KIND, AUTHENTIC Been separated for a while now and, though very happy/content to be solo during that time, I think I’m ready to meet new people. Looking for some fun social times to start. I love to go out for drinks, play darts/cards. Love watching sports on TV, especially Boston teams. Love animals, travel and new but sane adventures. Not looking for FWB. AlmostReady, 64, seeking: M, l CITY GAL IN THE COUNTRY Edgy, bold, ageless, smart, creative, tender mom of all with a great sense of humor. I asked grown daughters. Simpler. titanbuff, 73, seeking: M, l NOT YOUR AVERAGE BEAR Hoping to connect with a kind, funny, honest, energetic, creative individual. Love music, am active, have an equine farm, have flower gardens and veggie garden, have small-size rescue dogs and a cat. Love cooking, make wine, enjoy kayaking. Shared conversation liberally sprinkled with laughter is always enjoyable. Love to read, love the ocean and the beach. Experience joy. Jovita, 59, seeking: M, l EDUCATED, KIND, FUNNY, AUTHENTIC I’m a mom of two, teacher, kind, liberal lady looking for a man who is kind and has a great sense of humor. I like true crime podcasts, public radio, relaxing, vegan food, comedy shows and great conversation. Not looking for someone to complete me, just looking for someone to enjoy time with. No hookups. INFP. Be well! Starryskies, 39, seeking: M, l READY TO EXPLORE I am ready for a new adventure. I am interested in exploring a relationship with a woman or couple. I enjoy being in the woods, camping and just sitting in a brook or at a waterfall. I also like to get a bit of wind in my hair. I have a good sense of humor and am attractive and fun. Newadventures2021, 48, seeking: W, Cp IRREVERENCE WELCOMED My passions are travel, food, art, music and more. I like to spend as little time being serious as possible. I’m curious about a lot of things. Do you share these passions and have others of your own? Do you like family time, being in nature or people-watching as you sit at an outdoor table on Church Street? summerplease, 64, seeking: M, l

SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

IDEAS I’m in an interesting relationship and wonder if anyone else is or has done this. My partner enjoys CBT. My favorite so far has been kicking him in the balls. Has anyone else done this or anything else? I’d love to share stories. Maybe even have you help me sometime? Thanks, Bunni. BJ2021, 46, seeking: W FRIENDLY, SOCIAL, INDEPENDENT, EASYGOING Very honest, loyal, friendly. Enjoy cooking, traveling, walking, driving with no destination, exploring the beauty of the Green Mountains. Would enjoy finding the same in my partner. dyniska, 80, seeking: M

MEN seeking... COMPASSIONATE WOODWORKER AND NATURE LOVER Honest, reliable, devoted partner. Have been an orphan all my life, so I know the importance of a strong, loving relationship. Just waiting for the right mate to emerge from the chaos. clutchme69, 69, seeking: W, l BI BOTTOM CD FOR FWB I am a bi bottom, beginner CD, with a lust for women’s clothes and pleasuring a man. I’m looking for an FWB. I am an educated, mature working type, usually straight guy, with a femme side. Wife knows, helps with clothes and is OK with my discreet exploration but has no desire to participate. Clean and COVID-vaccinated. Bim4mfwb, 70, seeking: M, TW, Q, NC, NBP, Cp, Gp ADVENTUROUS MAN FOR DISCREET WOMAN Happy, attractive, adventurous. Seeking a woman interested in safe, discreet adventures. Let’s talk over coffee or text first. NiceandNaughty, 52, seeking: W, l MY FACE, YOUR CHAIR? I currently spend a lot of time alone and would like to change that. I have a bit of an oral sex fixation and would love to have someone end my drought and let me spend my free time with my face between your legs or use my face as your new fun seat. 3479Bach, 28, seeking: W HONEST, KIND, LONELY I am seeking a companion to share dinner with, catch a concert/game, or head to the beach for a quick night or two. Blue_sky_guy, 54, seeking: W, l

READER, TRAVELER, SEEKER I’m a retired professor — a listener and maybe shy at first. After my wife died, I turned to travel, charity work, new writing projects and some valuable relationships. I’m financially secure and could stay in Vermont or relocate. Now that COVID restrictions are easing, I’m hoping to resume dating and attending live events. VTWriter, 76, seeking: W, l WHO IS READY? Looking for good company. A poet? An artist? A teacher and a student. The hopeless romantic, who in her heart is still in her twenties. The optimist, whose glass is always full, who plans on living forever. Someone to share common interests and explore new ones. My friends would say that I’m a sincere man. dseck, 59, seeking: W GRIZZLED HISTORICAL REENACTOR Seeking a woman to share life’s delights and challenges. My material needs are met, and I have plenty of intellectual projects ongoing. Looking to build a final partnership in life. Or maybe just having a good time with a compatible lady. As a military historian, my companion would ideally participate with me in reenactments in appropriate 19th-century garb. TexaninVT, 84, seeking: W, l MUDDY WATERS Enjoy my blues, concerts, quiet times at home, making out on the couch, dancing, or cooking a salmon dinner at home. Nice days on the lake, mooring off the sandbar beach or a day of fishing. Hell, I’ll try anything you’re up for! Looking for a woman with no anchors for fun, dating and friendship. Women veterans welcomed. muddywaters, 72, seeking: W, l JOKER, HUGGER, BIKER Looking for a woman who loves ‘70s music. Spooning, watching movies, smooching. sarge1, 68, seeking: W LOOKING FOR A FIRST MATE I bought my first boat this summer. I would love to find someone who is experienced or at least has a desire to learn boating so we can enjoy many days on the lake. If it turns out to be more, great. The boat is docked in Malletts Bay. My schedule is wide open. ISOfirstMate, 58, seeking: W WANNA CHILL AND SMOKE Hey, I’m Seth. I’m 31 and from Vermont. I’m a gamer as well as a stoner who loves to chill and hang out with cool people. Wanna know more? Just ask. JuggaloStoner420, 31, seeking: W, l FUNNY GUY WHO’LL MAKE YOU LAUGH I’ve been told I’m a funny dude who has a unique outlook on life. I want to meet some new people and go on some adventures, whether it’s hitting the bars, clubs and breweries or just having a nerdy movie binge with a bunch of snacks. I am a standup comedian by trade, so our encounter will at least be funny. FunnyMax26, 26, seeking: W, l UNPREDICTABLE, CARING BIKER I’m looking for a person who likes cats, motorcycles, eating together either at home or at restaurants. A person to live life with. To camp or go on adventures with. Marko, 69, seeking: W, l

NONBINARY PEOPLE seeking... SUB MASO FOR DOM SADIST Bio-female, nonbinary gendered, sub/ masochist looking for their Dom/Sadist. Looking for a local sadist who is looking for TPE and to play with the same person! Experience preferred. I have 15 years of experience in BDSM. Looking for that open-minded someone who is OK with some jiggle with their wiggle, looking for full-time TPE and nonmonogamy. CallMeParker, 34, seeking: M, W, TM, TW, Q, NC, NBP, Cp, Gp, l

TRANS WOMEN seeking... LAND NARWHAL SEEKS UNICORN(S) Tall, beautiful, brilliant trans woman (just starting hormones) with long brown hair seeking trans women for friendship and fun. I’m well read, love cinema and theater. Newly single and finally fully coming out! Kind people only, please. jenesequa, 51, seeking: TW, l T GIRL LIVE IN VT Trans girl. Offbeat sense of humor. Looking for that certain someone. I like dinner and a movie or a game at Centennial Field. I like to ride my bike on the bike path and see shows at Higher Ground. At home I spend my time listening to my record collection and taking care of my house. urwatuis, 61, seeking: M, W, TM, TW, Q, NC, NBP, l DEPTH AND DESIRE Finding both is not easy. Active TG seeks motivated, aroused, real playmate for trysts of all sorts. Inside, outside, day, night. If you are 50ish to 60ish, very fit and hot to trot, get in touch. 2PartsofDesire, 64, seeking: M, Cp, l

COUPLES seeking... OPEN TO FUN POSSIBILITIES Fit, slim and happy couple looking for something special and wanting to make your life exciting in return. LC2, 63, seeking: M, W, Cp, l SPICING IT UP I’m a cancer survivor happily married to my husband. We’re seeking a couple or single woman to help me find my sensuality. We’ve done this before, but it’s been many years now. Anyone interested in helping out? Lookingforfun116, 53, seeking: W, Cp SEXY, ATHLETIC, FUN COUPLE Fun, fit middle-aged couple looking to explore bringing in a woman (mostly for her) to our already crazy-great sex life to try fulfilling our fantasies. Looking for a nice, attractive, fun girl to have fun with and eventually bring to the bedroom. Sexycpl, 46, seeking: W, l OUTDOOR ADVENTURES Fun, attractive, adventurous; seeking someone interested in outdoor and indoor adventures. cernowain, 44, seeking: M, l COUPLE LOOKING FOR PLAYMATES We are a secure couple looking to fulfill her fantasies. We may start as friends and just enjoy maybe dinner and drinks. Depending on chemistry, we could possibly open up for more. We are not looking to just jump into a sexual relationship with just anyone. This may take some time. Patience is necessary with us. Summers_in_Vermont, 54, seeking: Cp AVERAGE, EASYGOING Easy to get along with. Like listening to country music, playing cards. Looking for a couple that we can be friends with and have occasional sex with. I like watching my husband have sex with other women, and he likes watching me. Jakeluckydog, 56, seeking: Cp

i SPY

If you’ve been spied, go online to contact your admirer!

dating.sevendaysvt.com

MUSCULAR LADY IN RICHMOND Hey, I tried, but I think your ad was delayed before you got my message. So hit me up here if still looking. When: Wednesday, August 11, 2021. Where: Richmond. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915390 ESSEX NEFCU PARKING LOT You: orange shirt. You’ve let me go in traffic multiple times. You drive big trucks. I’m married but would like to go for a ride in your big truck, and no one has to know. When: Friday, August 20, 2021. Where: NEFCU parking lot. You: Man. Me: Gender nonconformist. #915388 SWAN DIVE, BOLTON POTHOLES You did a swan dive into Eagle’s Eye at Bolton Potholes. My brother was impressed. So was I. You left soon after, and you told me to enjoy the night. I think we could have enjoyed it together. Want to connect and see? When: Saturday, August 14, 2021. Where: Bolton Potholes. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915387 RE: MISSED OUT (BAD TIMING) You’d mentioned that you had imitated other habits and practices of mine, should I be so admired by the sincerest form of flattery! If you’re still reading these, I’m still missing you. You want another chance to kiss me? The ball is in your court. When: Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Where: Burger Night. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915386 SATURDAY AFTERNOON, BIKE PATH CAUSEWAY Saturday afternoon at the cut in the bike path causeway. You (dark-haired woman dressed in black) were on the rocks talking with your (F) friend. We hopscotched past each other a few times heading back to Burlington. I wish I’d found an excuse to say hello. I (M) wore an orange shirt. Care to ride together sometime? When: Saturday, August 14, 2021. Where: Burlington bike path. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915385

WALMART TIKI TORCHES AND TATTOOS We had the quiet corner of Walmart to ourselves. We chatted about tiki torches, string lights and shared tattoo stories. I feel like we could have talked more. I would love to chat again. If you see this, let me know the meaning of my tattoo or what T-shirt I was wearing so I know it’s you. When: Friday, August 13, 2021. Where: Walmart in Williston. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915384 AUSSIE WALKER! BIKE PATH/SKATE PARK Love your beautiful light brown and white pup. When: Thursday, August 12, 2021. Where: Bike path/skate park. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915382 LOWE’S, SHELBURNE ROAD I was AC shopping with a friend. I wore a purple T-shirt and khaki shorts. You were leaning on the display. You had a knee brace and a cane. I’m sorry for staring; you reminded me of someone I once loved. Perhaps you could be the next. If you’re single, I’d like to treat you to coffee and find out. When: Thursday, August 12, 2021. Where: Lowe’s, Shelburne Road. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915381

TWO INTROVERTS AT THE BEACH You told me I screamed introverted, sitting alone reading my book. Of course, I said nothing — just smiled, trying to think of something to say back. And then you continued doing your own introverted thing. Perhaps we’ll meet again? When: Wednesday, August 11, 2021. Where: state park beach. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915377 CUTE AS A BUTTON You were cute as a button. We chatted about our tattoos, and the girls got mad I didn’t ask for your number. Well, I’m asking now, and maybe I’ll see you around again. ;) When: Sunday, August 8, 2021. Where: Speeder & Earl’s. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915376 GREEN RIVER NORTHSTARS LAST MOON In case you didn’t get my message, I’ll spy you back. Both our towns begin with M. I’m intrigued to continue the conversation. Beautiful boats those are. I was struck by your eyes. When: Thursday, July 22, 2021. Where: Green River. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915375 BEAUTIFUL LIONESS Not long ago, you were having the toughest day since we’ve known each other. I couldn’t stand to see you in pain, and I declared my feelings for you. Soon after, you withdrew, and I’m confused, because you show signs that you care. You’re one special lady, and I’d tell you of my love 100 times a day. When: Monday, July 26, 2021. Where: Burlington. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915374

SEXY RUNNER, BOLTON MOUNTAIN ROAD On my way driving downhill after work, you were running up. We both caught each other’s eyes for a sec or two; I know we connected. Wish I’d stopped, but I drove on. Damn, you are gorgeous. Perhaps it’ll happen again soon, and I’ll pull over. When: Wednesday, August 11, 2021. Where: Bolton. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915379

BEAUTIFUL IN CROCS WITH DOG I saw you watching a performance with your beautiful brindle and white dog. We talked and laughed, and I fell for your gorgeous smile. I commented on your Crocs, and you displayed them proudly — such confidence! I think we have something special. When: Sunday, August 1, 2021. Where: Church Street, Burlington. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915373

ETHAN ALLEN HOMESTEAD, AUG. 11 You wear that deep-red sundress nicely; makes a guy’s work go by easier. Someday — who knows? — maybe I’ll pick some flowers for you. Thank you for brightening my morning. When: Wednesday, August 11, 2021. Where: Ethan Allen Homestead. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915378

NO SHOES, BLODGETT ST. PARTY You advised me to remove my shoes. It was a good call. You lamented about thirties men on the deck. I missed your number; that was an error! When: Sunday, August 8, 2021. Where: party on Blodgett Street. You: Woman. Me: Gender nonconformist. #915372

Ask REVEREND the

Irreverent counsel on life’s conundrums

Dear Reverend,

I’ve been with my partner for eight years. We love each other very much, and our relationship is great in every way — except we don’t have sex anymore. I can’t remember the last time we were intimate, but it must have been at least a year ago. I don’t want to ruin what we have, but I need someone who can fulfill my sexual desires. Should I get it on the sly or tell my partner I want an open relationship?

Dr. Strangelove

(FEMALE, 37)

Dear Dr. Strangelove,

I wouldn’t recommend doing either of those things. If you sneak around, you’re going to feel really guilty — unless you’re a total asshole — and you’ll wind up telling your partner about it or they’ll find out some other way. Trust me. I’ve cheated on every person I’ve ever been with, besides my late husband. It always comes out, it’s never pretty, and it ruins everything. On the other hand, you can’t just tell someone you want an open relationship. Casually dropping that bomb over breakfast is not gonna go over well. You need to carefully consider your partner’s feelings and

QUEER PUNKS KISSING OVER BIKES Cutest! Looked like so much fun, total romance! Hope you’re having the best summer, and thanks for being awesome, at least for a split second as I drove by on Thursday night. When: Thursday, August 5, 2021. Where: North and North Winooski. You: Gender nonconformist. Me: Gender nonconformist. #915371

WATERBURY POST OFFICE PARKING LOT You: in a white van in the parking lot. Me: stopped in front of you to check on my kayak. CCR was blasting from my car. You commented about music events. I did, too. Sure would like to talk some more. When: Monday, July 26, 2021. Where: Waterbury Post Office parking lot. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915366

LOTTA GRAY TOYOTA PICKUPS AROUND None of them has the sticker on the back window, but I always check. When: Wednesday, November 11, 2020. Where: Winooski. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915369

BMW SUV We chatted, blocking traffic just a little. I thought maybe you had something else you wanted to say? Maybe you should say what’s on your mind, but then I could be mistaken? Want to get together for coffee or an adult drink? When: Thursday, July 29, 2021. Where: Franklin County. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915361

TWO SWEETHEARTS Softer than a piper man, one day it called to you / I lost you to the summer wind. / The autumn wind, and the winter winds / They have come and gone / And still the days, those lonely days / they go on and on / And guess who sighs his lullabies / Through nights that never end? / My fickle friend, the summer wind. When: Wednesday, July 17, 2019. Where: in the ether. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915368 SOUTH END DOG WALKER Crossed paths with a gorgeous and extremely busty woman walking a dog near corner of Flynn and Pine. Intrigued is an understatement. What’s your story? When: Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Where: South End, Burlington. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915367 BULK THURSDAY BEAUTY We were both at the spice rack on a Thursday afternoon. You were wearing a colorful dress and had blond wavy hair. I was wearing a baseball cap and black glasses. We talked about your spice containers. I was intrigued but didn’t know how to parlay our spice conversation into something spicier. Let’s reconnect. When: Thursday, July 29, 2021. Where: downtown City Market. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915364 WARREN JULY 4 PARADE Chatting by the general store block party was fun. Loved your Vermont outfit: big rubber boots and shorts! You knew the women in the band were local teachers’ daughters, and your hesitancy in sharing where you grew up was intriguing. Your smile could light up a room. Want to meet for a meal or drink and chat some more? When: Sunday, July 4, 2021. Where: Warren Parade Block Party. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915363

tread very lightly. Even broaching the subject runs the risk of cracking open a big can of angry, jealous worms. What you really ought to do is have a conversation with your partner about why the magic isn’t magicking anymore and how that’s been making you feel. Hopefully, the two of you can figure out the underlying cause of the lacking libido.

GREEN RIVER, THURSDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 22 We were admiring each other’s black Bell canoes, chatted a bit and introduced ourselves; you’re from Montpelier. I knew I should have asked to stay in touch but hesitated, unsure about your status with your regular paddling partner. Is there room in your life for a friend? It would be sad, indeed, to miss the opportunity. When: Thursday, July 22, 2021. Where: Green River Reservoir. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915360 NOTHING VENTURED? Thanks for the wave from your silver HRV. Would you like to ride along on the next nice day? When: Wednesday, July 21, 2021. Where: 14 headed south. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915359 SHAMWOW Your chapter in my book is over. It will forever be one of my favorites, but I cannot keep rereading it hoping for a different ending. Scoots. When: Friday, May 18, 2018. Where: Maple Valley Café. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915356 PRETTY BLONDE AT MAPLEFIELDS MILTON I held the door open for you, as you had a cast on your right foot. You had a white/gray form-fitting dress on. I thought you looked amazing. I couldn’t help but look at you while in the store. I’d love to meet you and get to know you. Interested? When: Wednesday, July 21, 2021. Where: Maplefields at Chimney Corners. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915355

You say it’s been about a year. Think about what else has been happening during that time ... like, I dunno, a global pandemic? Perhaps your partner has been too stressed out to feel sexy. Maybe they need help getting over other mental or physical hurdles. And be prepared for the possibility that the problem may have more to do with you than you’d expect. It may be a good idea to consult a professional counselor. A 12-month dry spell certainly isn’t worth throwing away such a long and loving relationship. It just may take a little extra teamwork to make your sexy dream work. Good luck and God bless,

The Reverend

What’s your problem?

Send it to asktherev@sevendaysvt.com. SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

GM in Rutland County seeking other GM or bi for social interaction. Maybe leading to FWB or more. I’m easygoing, stable and like adventure. Phone only. Hope to hear from you. #L1523 Fit 50ish M, green-eyed, kind and witty, seeks fit F 40 to 60. Well read, rugged, capable, collected, patient. Values community, gardens, art, acts of making. Let’s cook, share absurdist humor, read together. Prefer handwritten to the screen. Simple! #L1522

Humble, honest, loving and fun 69-y/o searching for his soul mate to enjoy life’s adventures with. Looking for that special gal who enjoys skiing, beaches, boating, biking, animals and cares for our natural environment. Someone spiritual who can “see the light.” A love of theater, music and dancing a plus. #L1528 I am a cross-dressing female (M-to-F) who desires a lingerie soul mate. I love lingerie. I love wearing lingerie. I love buying lingerie for you and me! Underwear should be as pretty as outerwear. Let’s correspond. Size, race and age irrelevant. Just be someone who loves dressing up! I will gladly respond to all letters. #L1527

Discreet oral bottom. 54y/o SWM, 5’8, slim, dark hair, blue eyes. Seeking any well-hung guys, 18 to 55 y/o, who are a good top and last a long time for more than one around. Phone only, but text. Champlain Valley. #L1526 I am a cross-dressing female (MTF) and very Scorpio. Seeking a female of any age/race. Will swap house cleaning (windows, floors, dishes, etc.) for fashion/makeup advice. Fit and financially secure. Disease and drug free. I will gladly respond to all letters. #L1525 70-y/o WM seeks mid-70s to mid-80s WF. I want to experience sensuality with a very mature WF woman. Phone number, please. #L1524

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SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

I’m an older male seeking any age. It’s so enchanting in the woods. The silence, the peace and the wonderful sounds of nature. I’d love to share the caress of nature with a good friend. Lovely wonderful person, 5’9, 150 pounds, older nonsmoker. #L1521 Man looking for a woman. I will return calls to everyone. I’m over 50 y/o. Widower. She died very young of cancer. Time to move on. Please leave your name and number. #L1520 66-y/o SWM seeking SWF, 50 to 63. Gentle, unassuming, soft-spoken, creative vegetarian seeks a fit, affectionate, unadorned woman who takes delight in gardening, folk music, candlelight and bicycle rides. Let’s explore the islands together. Are you coming? #L1517

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Reply to these messages with real, honest-to-goodness letters. DETAILS BELOW. SWM, mid-50s, seeking SWF, 50s to 60s. Looking for life partner. I am fit, financially secure, very well grounded. Strong desire to travel cross-country. #L1519 56-y/o single woman. Humbled, thoughtful. Hoping for a safe, kind, honest relationship with a man. Calm in nature, love for nature. Morning coffees, long walks, talks, sunsets, art, music, dance, friends, family, laughs! Willing to see and resolve suffering. Unconditional love and support find me at home. Phone number, please. #L1486 SWM seeking SWM any age. Must love top and fem bottom. Looking for steady lover. Gay or bi, any race. Phone. #L1515 GM 60-y/o seeks sexually active 70-plus male. I love giving and receiving oral. Virgin but would love to bottom to a lover. Enjoy all activities nude. #L1514 Male widower looking for woman for FWB/LTR, maybe more. Please be 18+. Send me your name, info and phone number. I will return all calls back to you. Look forward to meeting you. #L1513

Male, 55, seeking woman to cocreate a beautiful life/ family close to the Earth on the land with plants, animals and wildlife. Together a vessel of love to manifest the dormant ancestral pulse of people living close to nature absent the turnkey life mayhem. Wolcott. Clearing the woods. #L1512 Senior male, mid-60s, seeking older males 65 to 80 for carefree and fun moments of pleasure. Must be DD-free and have completed both COVID shots. Safe and kind. Life is too short to not have moments of pleasure. It’s been a rough past year. #L1511 David, 73, Vermont gentleman. Growing, enjoying a healthy life mentally and physically. We are so blessed with a home like Vermont! Chemistry, spirit, health! I will listen to all you say and believe all you do! #L1510 Traveling companion wanted. I would like to see the U.S. using an RV or motorhome with the possibility of relocating. #L1508

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5/21/21 9:43 AM

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