Seven Days, December 28, 2022

The top Vermont recordings of 2022

TOPFIFTEEN

Seven Days cover stories that attracted the most online readers in 2022

1. “Capitol Offense: Nicholas Languerand’s Quest for ‘Belonging’ Led Him to QAnon, the Insurrection — and Now Prison” by Derek Brouwer & Colin Flanders. A Vermonter faces prosecution for his actions on January 6, 2021.

2. “House Impossible: How the Real Estate Rush and Other Factors Have Pushed Homeownership Out of Reach for Many Vermonters” by Matthew Roy. The first installment of our “Locked Out” series explains how limited supply and rising demand are excluding a growing number of Vermonters from homeownership.

3. “Trust Fail: After Discovering Unsettling Details of Naomi Wood’s Death, Her Family Channels Grief Into Action” by Alison Novak. A family calls for reforms to the troubled-teen industry after a young Vermont woman died at a Florida facility for children with behavioral issues.

4. “Renters’ Prison: How a Merciless Market of Unchecked Rent Hikes Traps Vermont Tenants” by Derek Brouwer. Part 7 of our “Locked Out” series on the Vermont housing crisis examines its negative impacts on tenants.

5. “Fave Little State: Climate Migrants From Around America Are Seeking Refuge in Vermont” by Kevin McCallum. The Green Mountain State is viewed as a haven by people leaving flood- and fire-prone zones.

6. “Now He’s Cooking: Fourteen Years Sober, Chef Frank Pace Juggles Two Busy Burlington Eateries” by Sally Pollak. Running August First and the Zero Gravity Beer Hall keeps Frank Pace out of trouble.

7. “Promised Lands: Seven Spots Where Vermonters Open Their Private Land to the Public” by Ken Picard, Sally Pollak & Paula Routly. Some of Vermont’s greatest hikes are on private property owned by people who make it accessible to others.

8. “Working on the Railroad: How Family-Owned Vermont Rail System Became the Little Economic Engine That Could” by Ken Picard. In the Green Mountain State, a historic short-line railway is a critical part of the supply chain.

9. “Green Mountain Estates: Expensive Housing Is Limiting Who Gets to Live Where in Vermont — and Clouds the State’s Future” by Derek Brouwer. The 12th and final “Locked Out” piece shows how Vermont’s chronic housing shortage could make parts of the state exclusive to wealthy, aging white people.

10. “Gowntown Development: UVM Wants to Build Dorms on Its Trinity Campus. Would That Ease Burlington’s Housing Crisis?” by Courtney Lamdin. Part 5 of our “Locked Out” series examines the University of Vermont’s role in Burlington’s housing crunch.

11. “Flower Powerhouse: Melinda Moulton Has Blended Business Savvy and a Hippie Ethos to Transform Burlington” by Ken Picard. The developer of Main Street Landing rebuilt a large portion of the Burlington waterfront, including the train station that now serves Amtrak.

12. “Warning Shots: Burlington’s Immigrant Community Seeks Solutions to the Gun Violence That Is Claiming Youths” by Derek Brouwer & Courtney Lamdin. Families that came to Burlington to escape conflicts abroad are now losing children to violence in its endemic, American form.

13. “Obstruction Zone: How Vermont’s Land-Use Regulations Impede New Development — and Complicate the State’s Housing Crisis” by Chelsea Edgar & Kevin McCallum. Part 2 of the “Locked Out” series explores how a thicket of state and local regulations provides ample opportunity to derail construction projects.

14. “The Next Stage: After Four Years of Turmoil and Transition, the Flynn Enters a New Era” by Dan Bolles. Pandemic-era challenges for Vermont’s premier performing arts center include rebuilding the staff, revamping programming and adapting to the fickle comfort levels of patrons hesitant to return.

15. “Local Commotion: National Divisions on Race and Equity Are Roiling Vermont School Boards” by Alison Novak. America’s culture wars have arrived in Vermont, turning once sedate meetings into battlegrounds over polarizing topics such as critical race theory and the Black Lives Matter flag.

HOP TO IT.

publisher & editor-in-chief Paula Routly deputy publisher Cathy Resmer AssociAte publishers Don Eggert, Colby Roberts

NEWS & POLITICS editor Matthew Roy deputy editor Sasha Goldstein consulting editors Ken Ellingwood, Candace Page stAff writers Derek Brouwer, Chelsea Edgar, Colin Flanders, Rachel Hellman, Courtney Lamdin, Kevin McCallum, Alison Novak, Anne Wallace Allen

ARTS & CULTURE coeditors Dan Bolles, Elizabeth M. Seyler AssociAte editor Margot Harrison Art editor Pamela Polston consulting editor Mary Ann Lickteig Music editor Chris Farnsworth cAlendAr writer Emily Hamilton speciAlty publicAtions MAnAger Carolyn Fox stAff writers Jordan Barry, Melissa Pasanen, Ken Picard, Sally Pollak proofreAders Carolyn Fox, Angela Simpson AssistAnt proofreAders Katherine Isaacs, Martie Majoros

DIGITAL & VIDEO digitAl production speciAlist Bryan Parmelee senior MultiMediA producer Eva Sollberger MultiMediA journAlist James Buck

DESIGN

creAtive director Don Eggert Art director Rev. Diane Sullivan production MAnAger John James designers Jeff Baron, Kirsten Thompson

SALES & MARKETING director of sAles Colby Roberts senior Account executives Robyn Birgisson, Michael Bradshaw Account executives Michelle Brown, Logan Pintka MArketing & events director Corey Barrows business developMent strAtegist Katie Hodges personAls coordinAtor Jeff Baron

ADMINISTRATION business MAnAger Marcy Carton director of circulAtion Matt Weiner circulAtion deputy Andy Watts

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

HOUSING SOLUTIONS

Thank you for your “Locked Out” series on Vermont’s housing mess [From the Publisher: “Series Finale,” December 7]. There are solutions, solutions that aren’t just more and more gigantic houses and huge apartment buildings, using limited resources that are becoming increasingly scarce. We need a three-pronged approach:

1) There has to be a welcoming acceptance of auxiliary dwelling units. Here in Jericho, that’s almost blasphemy, but we have many lots big enough for another building or two.

2) The state should actively welcome and support the construction of energyefficient smaller homes, in the 800- to 1,300-square-foot range — or even smaller.

3) There has to be an organized program of home sharing, with sliding scales for rent depending on whether the tenant would be getting meals and whether he or she would contract to do specific services for the homeowner. Vermont has many retirees who would benefit and many students, traveling nurses and newcomers who would leap at the chance for a temporary place to live without going broke.

And, very important to me, the smaller homes in thoughtful clusters, with high energy efficiency, would be a way of making newcomers part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Many people come to Vermont for the views, the open space and the beauty and then proceed to participate in the destruction of all three. We have to think past outdated models and start focusing on places where our expanding population can live, comfortably and sustainably.

Maeve Kim JERICHO

Harry Applegate, Joe Bouffard, Pat Bouffard, Colin Clary, Elana Coppola-Dyer, Matt Hagen, Peter Lind, Dan Manion, Nat Michael, Frankie Moberg, Dan Nesbitt, Dan Oklan, Ezra Oklan, Steve Stanley, Dan Thayer, Andy Watts With additional circulation support from PP&D.

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Editor’s note: HomeShare Vermont arranges the kind of housing matches described in No. 3 above.

PROGRESS ON HOUSING

Kudos to Seven Days on the “Locked Out” series, an amazing, in-depth, understandable and human portrayal of Vermont’s housing crisis [From the Publisher: “Series Finale,” December 7]. The articles were indeed referenced in support of our Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs’ work during this legislative session.

Our committee had earlier traveled throughout Vermont, hearing about all aspects of the growing housing shortage. We quickly came to the same conclusion, so graphically articulated by “Locked Out,” that money alone can’t solve the problem.

Significant policy changes are equally important. This past biennium, we not only invested hundreds of millions of dollars in housing but also advanced policies that eased development, incentivized new housing and creatively expanded use of existing housing.

Examples include policies/programs to modernize zoning ordinances to create greater density and to control short-term rentals, easing/removing unnecessary permitting, bridge resources to make construction of market-rate homes more affordable, smart growth policies to encourage historic and compact settlements, preserving manufactured homes, renovating blighted homes, enhancing health and safety inspections, and creating new accessory dwelling units.

Highlighting this last initiative, we found that many Vermonters, especially older Vermonters, are overhoused. Many downsize, but many could convert their homes by adding a separate, smaller ADU within the dwelling. This can be a winwin situation. Vermonters can bring in more income, stay in their own homes and create an additional unit of housing without the expense of building a whole new house.

Thankfully, we have now loosened ADU regulatory restrictions. We also recognized that homeowners are not developers and need essential technical help with financing, permitting, construction, renting, etc., similar to the challenges highlighted in “Locked Out.”

Vermont will now provide this critical technical support and also grant up to $50,000 per unit for the construction of an ADU, thereby successfully combining policy and money to create new housing in a highly cost-effective manner.

For information, visit accd.vermont. gov/housing/vermont-housingimprovement-program.

Michael Sirotkin SOUTH BURLINGTON

Outgoing Sen. Sirotkin (D-Chittenden) is chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs.

FROM WINOOSKI TO JERICHO

I want to thank Derek Brouwer for an insightful and well-researched final article in the “Locked Out” series [“Green Mountain Estates: Expensive Housing Is Limiting Who Gets to Live Where in Vermont — and Clouds the State’s Future,” December 7]. As a first-time home buyer this year in Jericho, I found it illuminating to learn some of the history of our new community and the barriers put in place to systematically gentrify Jericho over the past 50 years.

While not surprising, it was disheartening to read the current efforts to continue excluding fellow Vermonters from Shelburne in the same manner. While the entire conversation with a Shelburne Neighbors United for Responsible Growth representative was insensitive to the plight of Vermonters and reeked of entitlement, as a proud former Winooski resident, I take issue with the disparaging language used to describe Vermont’s most diverse community by Robilee Smith.

I believe that all communities in our state could learn something from Winooski — the town that SNURG most fears Shelburne would resemble should more housing be built. Winooski has a vibrant downtown used for local events by residents of all walks of life. It has a nationally acclaimed music festival, an inclusive high school offering lessons in many languages to multilingual learners, and a community that welcomes the highest rate of new Americans in the state — all within one square mile of shopping, great food and modest homes.

We would all be so lucky to live in a community with those values.

Amy Kapitan JERICHO

SPEAKING OF JERICHO...

Thank you for exploring Vermont’s hous ing crisis in the “Locked Out” series. I’m a Jericho resident, and [“Green Mountain Estates,” December 7] prompted me to learn more about efforts to create more housing diversity here. I went to the Jericho website and found the link to the Affordable Housing Committee. It includes summaries of presentations by experts and a summary set of slides by Susan Bresee of the Planning Commission and SJ Dube of the Affordable Housing Committee, fram ing the challenge and outlining approaches to addressing them. Jericho residents have ranked the need for more affordable hous ing as a top priority for use of American Rescue Plan Act funds.

It’s hard not to get defensive when your town’s policies are characterized as “exclusionary.” Regardless of the intent of the decisions that landed Jericho among the wealthiest Vermont towns, our lack of housing diversity means our schools operate below capacity, adult kids can’t move back, seniors have few downsizing options, and town committees and volunteer organizations rely on elders who are ready to pass the baton but can’t. Other towns nearby – Fairfax, Hinesburg and

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SATURDAY 31

Vogue the Night Away

The Upper Valley’s drag community rings in the New Year with Night of Queens, a spectacular cabaret at the Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro. Between all the music, comedy and dancing, party people sip celebratory cocktails and munch on hors d’oeuvres and desserts. All ages are welcome, though the show contains mature content.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 78

SATURDAY 31

Twinkle Toast

Cocktails, mocktails, small plates and a sparkling midnight toast mark the turning of the calendar at A Toast to the Hive, the first New Year’s Eve party hosted by Caledonia Spirits in Montpelier. Canned food donations and purchases of raw honey benefit the Vermont Foodbank.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 78

SUNDAY 1

Molto Vivace

2023 starts with a bang — a timpani solo, specifically — at Green Mountain Mahler Festival’s jubilant performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at Elley-Long Music Center at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester. One of Ludwig van Beethoven’s most beloved works, the Ninth includes the famous “Ode to Joy” finale. Proceeds support the Vermont Foodbank.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 78

SUNDAY 1

Without Feather Ado

Rutland County Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count takes place on New Year’s Day this year — you got that? Local avian enthusiasts join a field crew at 350 Rutland County or watch wherever they wish within a 7.5-mile radius of Mead’s Falls. A potluck follows at Proctor Library.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 78

© DIBROVA | DREAMSTIM E

WEDNESDAY 4

Myth and Only Myth

Cree author David A. Robertson gives a virtual First Wednesdays address hosted by Vermont Humanities and the Norwich Public Library. Through the lens of his middle-grade fantasy series The Misewa Saga, Robertson ponders how writers can preserve the intent and themes of ancient, traditional stories in their mainstream adaptations.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 79

WEDNESDAY 4 & THURSDAY 5

Stranger Than Nonfiction

WEDNESDAY 4 & WEDNESDAY 11

Be Skiing You

Amateur skiers and snowboarders flock to the first installments of Killington Resort’s Michelob Ultra Ski Bum Race Series. Teams and solo sliders sign up for 10 races, plus the finals in March, in pursuit of eternal glory (or at least bragging rights for the weekend). An after-party for competitors follows each race.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 79

Jane Brox, the critically acclaimed nonfiction author of Silence: A Social History of One of the Least Understood Elements of Our Lives and Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light, stops by the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson. She gives a reading on January 4 and talks shop with listeners interested in the art of writing at a Visiting Writer Craft Talk on January 5. SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 80

WEDNESDAY 4 & WEDNESDAY 11

Catamount Questions

The Vermont Historical Society’s virtual Winter Trivia championship returns this week with Round 1: Vermont Geography and Round 2: Vermont Nature, sure to test the mettle of even the most die-hard Green Mountain State trivia buffs. After the third and fourth rounds on the themes of symbols and famous Vermonters, the best of the best will advance to the finale on February 1.

SEE CALENDAR LISTINGS ON PAGES 79 AND 81

SATURDAY 7

Ice Things Up

FRIDAY 6

Burn, Baby, Burn

The MSM Annual Tree Burn & Zydeco Party closes out the holiday season in a blaze of glory at Main Street Museum in White River Junction. Having served their purpose, Christmas trees become a glorious bonfire on the banks of the White River, while attendees are serenaded by the Cajun strains of Bayou X. Louisiana nosh and king cake are served.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 80

Waterbury Center mountain folk get an Introduction to Winter Hiking at Green Mountain Club headquarters so they can stay safe during the slippery season. After a lesson in the gear and navigation skills needed for successful backcountry snow treks, attendees enjoy a scenic, self-guided hike on the GMC’s Short Trail.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 80

Dearly Beloved

ONGOING No West for the Wicked

Burlington artist Vanessa Compton gets a hometown solo show, “Come to Marlboro Country,” at Soapbox Arts. Blending iconic images of the Wild West with unexpected touches, these mixedmedia collages attempt to reconcile personal experiences with our collective history of racism and colonialism.

The MNFF Selects film series continues at Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater with Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. This artful documentary explores the life and legacy of the legendary author of Beloved, The Bluest Eye and more, from her 1970s book tours with Muhammad Ali to the front lines of the Black feminist movement with Angela Davis.

A Life Well Observed

At the end of October, Seven Days published the extraordinary obituary of Florence Miles, a Huntington dairy farmer who spent most of her 100 years toiling on the side of a hill across from Camel’s Hump. Informed and intimate, the tribute chronicled the long, colorful life of a woman who labored like a workhorse, married a soldier right before he shipped o to World War II and “literally cheated death more than once.” Florence saw plenty of su ering. For example: As a young girl, she helped her mother give birth to a younger sibling, and neither mom nor baby survived.

The writing style — poetic, oldfashioned, rooted in nature — perfectly matched the subject and a way of life, both awful and awesome, that is vanishing in Vermont.

“Whoa! Who wrote this amazing obit, I wonder?” one of our sta ers emailed me soon after it appeared.

Others noticed, too. Hal Rosner of Philadelphia emailed to say reading our obituaries had become “a new spiritual practice” for him. “Some of them have read like a short story. But I can never find a byline. The example would be Florence Miles. Who wrote it? It was wonderful, and I shared with some very literary friends.”

Unlike our semi-regular “Life Stories” series, in which Seven Days writers report on noteworthy Vermonters who have died, the paid obituaries in our weekly Life Lines section are submitted by funeral homes or family and friends of the deceased. A little digging uncovered the author of Florence’s remarkable story.

Rosner’s literary friends might be surprised to know he never finished college. But Dhyan Nirmegh, born Raymond Leggett, studied the Miles family for decades. He was 13 when his parents bought land adjacent to theirs, in 1965, on Huntington’s Shaker Mountain Road. Although the Leggetts’ primary residence was in South Burlington — Ray’s dad worked at the University of Vermont — Ray quickly befriended John Miles, the son of Florence and her husband, Frank.

The boys were inseparable, according to Nirmegh, who discovered he loved farm life and the outdoors — even when it required getting up long before dawn to milk cows or collect sap. He spent every weekend and summers with the Miles family, working alongside them in the dairy barn, forest and fields. It was certainly a very di erent education from the one he was getting at South Burlington High School.

Florence called Nirmegh her “second son,” and she was a powerful mentor to him. Even as an adolescent, “I listened to her. I took notes. I wrote about her,” Nirmegh explained in an email that reads not unlike the unorthodox obituary he wrote for Florence. “There were times when she cried reaching to be understood.”

Seeking to better understand him, I visited Nirmegh, now 70, on his family’s land in Huntington. He was tending a fire outside a barn that serves as his rustic crash pad. There are nicer homes on the 130 acres, but he’s given those to his two adult children. A very

short walk brought us to the property line he shares with the Miles family. John lives across the road. The two old friends still cross paths in the woods hunting and cutting timber. I later got a look at a video of Nirmegh splitting 16-inch pine logs — easily cleaving one after the other with no more than two ax blows each.

It’s a little hard to believe that this wiry lumberjack once followed the Indian mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh to Oregon and India — hence the name change — and ran a meditation center for two years in Maui. But Nirmegh, whose name means “cloudless sky” in Sanskrit, exudes a rare peacefulness and appreciation for life. We went inside the warm barn to chat. Under mounted deer heads and a Stihl baseball cap, his piercing blue eyes twinkled.

John and his sister asked Nirmegh to write their mom’s obituary when she died, three weeks after her 100th birthday party; he did the same for their father, Frank, in 2010. He writes — and rewrites — longhand. With the help of his kids and a transcription app on one of their computers, he dictated and digitized Florence’s story. His daughter made the final edits.

The only thing more painful than the death of a loved one is the realization that you didn’t observe them well enough or ask enough questions to honestly commit their life story to words. Florence Miles, and Seven Days readers, were lucky in that regard, thanks to the curiosity and expert storytelling of an enlightened outdoorsman.

As Nirmegh wrote of Florence: “She never bragged and never talked about herself unless asked. What she accomplished was without fanfare. She has disappeared like the morning mist hovering over the river.”

For our final issue of 2022, we sought out Vermonters lost this year who merited additional memorializing. Find those reported tributes in our year-end “Life Stories” package, starting on page 34.

On a cheerier note: Don’t miss our annual “Backstories” feature, in which our writers reveal what they went through to report the news. It’s an honor. Happy New Year.

Paula Routly

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Florence Miles

Dhyan Nirmegh

FEEDback

Richmond — have the infrastructure to support housing and are growing in ways Jericho can’t — yet.

The Planning Commission and Affordable Housing Committee have already sparked changes in rules and attitudes. With more zoning changes, future infrastructure investments and concrete goals for new housing units, we can protect natural and historical assets and ensure that Jericho is more welcoming to Vermonters of modest economic means. Both are critical if we want to live in a vibrant community.

Gaye Symington JERICHO

STEREOTYPES DON’T HELP

[Re “Green Mountain Estates,” December 7]: Housing affordability is an issue that requires the hard work and discussion your article touches on. But I thought it did a disservice to the subject by frequently referring to existing homeowners as wealthy and white. Passing zoning laws to protect the collective, democratic vision of one’s living place is a human inclination parallel to anti-gentrification movements. No one wants to see their neighborhood transformed by the profit motive into someplace they don’t want to live. Your characterization of residents as wealthy and white stereotypes and dehumanizes them and adds nothing to the conversation.

Johnathan Drew UNDERHILL

‘WATER WOES’ IN JERICHO?

In [“Green Mountain Estates,” December 7], Chuck Lacy laced up some valid points on residential land development here in Jericho and the town’s history toward limited growth. Not mentioned are the large areas of land, such as the Mobbs Farm area, now safely under land preservation.

Nor does Lacy mention our local water woes. There’s discussion about using the town’s federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to construct accessory dwelling units, aka in-law apartments, to ease the housing crisis. But not everyone can afford to add an ADU. Those who do will end up collecting rent or getting a tax credit, thereby profiting from the taxpayer.

Everyone in town should benefit from the ARPA funds. In my view, the solution is to use that money to help upgrade our residential water systems!

PROOF THAT SEVEN DAYS WARMS TWICE

and high rents. It is not short-term rentals. It is the high cost, restrictions on building and lack of financing that push construction to luxury homes that have less risk and more profit after the costs and red tape of actually building something.

Where I live, in the Mad River Valley, second homes are common and growing in number. However, Rep. Emilie Kornheiser (D-Brattleboro) is wrong to suggest that second homes should pay higher tax. In most cases, they already do. The Homestead Declaration is not available to second homes. In addition, second-home owners pay for Vermont education yet do not send their children to Vermont schools.

in being defined as “not white,” but I have never met one. Thank you again, Martha Kemp.

Daniel Hecht MONTPELIER

FROM CRAP TO COMPOST

I’m happy to call Jericho my home, but its residential water infrastructure is fragmented into several independent water entities with many neighborhood water co-ops facing serious upgrades and maintenance issues ahead.

For example: The one well that serves approximately 16 homes in our small neighborhood water co-op failed several years ago, and the Town of Jericho did nothing to help — nor was it obligated to do so.

Our Jericho Selectboard does not want to deal with residential water infrastructure issues, and this could result in the risk of some homes facing a decrease in home values and possible loss in local property tax revenue.

Water and housing remain unresolved.

Robert “Bob” Devost JERICHO

SECOND-HOME OPINION

The recent segment [“Green Mountain Estates,” December 7] in your “Locked Out” series raises many valid and, I believe, more impactful reasons for the lack of affordable housing. Progressives like to blame short-term rentals and landlords in general, but zoning regulations that restrict building and citizen opposition to change dramatically restrict supply. This lack of supply is the core reason for the lack of affordable housing. It is not rental property owners

The growth in second homes goes hand in hand with the growth of short-term rentals. In our resort economy, these rentals are essential to the economy. Secondhome owners visit and house visitors to Vermont who shop in our stores, eat in our restaurants, pay taxes and drive much of the local economy. Singling them out to pay higher taxes is wrong and misguided. They already do and get very little in return.

Robert Perry WARREN

Anne Wallace Allen interviewed me to gather information for [“Moldering Debate: Some Compost Toilet Users Are Challenging State Restrictions on How They Use Waste,” December 7]. The core message is not about seeking permission to use the compost as fertilizer; the state isn’t going to micromanage that part. It is the fact that the Vermont Department of Conservation does not embrace composting as a “best management practice.”

However, we recently came to learn, through hosting the Vermont Eco Sanitation Work Group, that it isn’t technically illegal to compost humanure prior to shallow burial by permit. The current law requires that toilet contents be taken to the landfill or buried by special permit. That permit option lacks guidance for toilet content management, requires a leach field, and completely ignores the fact that composting is the safest and most effective approach for most types of compost toilets. How do you shallow bury in the winter?

TERM IS ‘INSULTING’

[Re Feedback: “I Am Not an Acronym,” December 14]: Thank you, Martha Kemp, for speaking up about the acronym BIPOC. I have bitten my tongue about this term for years, because I am white. However, I have experience working with, and many friends among, the Diné (Navajo) people in Arizona and have relatives belonging to the Oneida tribe of Wisconsin. The term BIPOC has always struck me as fundamentally insulting: In seeking the ostensible numeric advantages of aggregation, use of the term comes at the cost of dilution of history, culture and personal identity. In attempting to merge the very diverse histories of “people of color,” it best serves the white man’s interest in rendering them generic, a blurry concept rather than real human beings. There may be Diné, Oneida or other people who take some comfort

When our family went off-grid five years ago, we read the Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins and followed his method exactly. It has been an empowering scientific journey. We’ve taken our compost to the Endyne lab for testing, with stellar results! We became University of Vermont-certified Vermont Master Composters and worked closely with the solid waste program of the DEC on an alternative permit.

I formed the work group to educate, collaborate and support best management practices with professionals and stakeholders.

Mismanagement happens with all systems. Composting addresses the pathogens extremely successfully through thermophilic and/or mesophilic activity. Wading Bear Farm & Forest offers professional compost consultation and support.

Chrissy Wade WATERVILLE

Steve Mease WILLISTON

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR SHIT

I wasn’t sure whether [“Moldering Debate,” December 7] was about composting toilets or the insidious regulatory system that makes many sustainability practices illegal. What the article did provide was a very good example of how a shift of perspective changes the entire context of the situation.

From Chrissy Wade’s point of view, human excrement and urine are not wastes; they are valuable resources to be collected and transformed into fertile soil. Hands-on resiliency through partnering with microbes, with over a billion years of R&D!

The state regulatory perspective is that human waste has no value and therefore must be sent “away,” that wonderfully convenient land of the unwanted. This point of view has led to sewage systems and wastewater treatment plants that allow us all to flush our cares away and therefore not have to think much about water.

Since I didn’t see a way to get in touch with the monthly compost discussion group, may I suggest an expansion of the context to include methane generation, as well? In other countries, methane is being captured through composting to provide fuel for cooking and heating.

Hats off, or should I say bottoms up, to all of those living lightly on the land and taking responsibility for their shit, even if they run afoul of the law. It is their real-life examples that will allow us all to see how our regulations restrict and criminalize closing the circle and living in balance.

John Garn LEICESTER

I’M FINALLY WRITING…

Many times I have been moved to write to the editor after reading compelling articles in Seven Days. Many times those opportunities have been pushed to the back burner by a busy life. This time, I am making it a priority.

Colin Flanders’ story of Chantelle Blackburn [“Not on My Watch,” December 14], who mans the St. Johnsbury suicideprevention hotline, is the proverbial straw that broke my back. First off, thank you. Topics such as this and abuse, sexual assault, etc., rarely meet us in our current reality. All too often, as much as we care and are concerned for these elements of our society, it is easy to let them go without

being moved into action. But our silence is complicity!

After suffering physical, emotional and sexual abuse since the age of 4, I began to speak about my experiences. At age 50, I no longer feared keeping the secrets ingrained in my being as a result of gaslighting and violence.

This journey was a solitary one, denounced by my family and church community, who were the source of the abuse. I have called Vermont my home for 35-plus years and feel safer here than anywhere else I have lived. I have even found peace. Talking about my abuse, and later advocating, helped me heal. I am compelled to ensure that every person who asks for help, in or outside of a crisis, is heard and understood. Sharing our gifts and strengths is how we lift each other up.

Jacci vanAlder UNDERHILL

KUDOS TO SEVEN DAYS

Congratulations on your three Publick Occurrence awards [From the Publisher: “Publick Eye,” December 14]! They are well deserved, as they honor three outstanding local Vermont journalism series and/or investigations. Seven Days deserves multiple kudos for honest, thorough, dedicated Vermont journalism. Well done, everyone!

Eloise Boyle LAKE FOREST PARK, WA

IN PRAISE OF HARRY THINGS

Last week’s cover story [“Drawing Conclusions,” December 14] was great — and the cover, compelling.

Reading about Harry Bliss’ late little dog made me think anxiously about my own small mixed-breed constant companion, Ivy, and that of my neighbor Willem Lange, as well as Maurice Sendak’s grief at losing his beloved Jennie, who joined the world of Mother Goose in his great children’s book Higglety Pigglety Pop!

As I walked Ivy in Hubbard Park right after reading the story, a haiku came to me:

Old man to old dog:

“I’m not mad that you shit there — Just, don’t die. Don’t die.”

Tim Jennings MONTPELIER

Backstories, SIDEBARS and FOLLOW-UPS 2022

Seven Days writers reveal what it took to report the news in a hybrid year

BY SEVEN DAYS STAFF

Journalists tell two kinds of stories.

There’s the formal, published account, with sources cited, observations rendered, facts confirmed. And there’s the other type — a kind of director’s cut, rife with wrong turns, evasive subjects, self-doubts, near misses and doors finally opened — that they tend to share only with colleagues, close friends and partners. This is the messy, expansive version, the one that lays bare, as the Hamilton number puts it, “the art of the trade/how the sausage gets made.”

Once a year, Seven Days treats its readers to the second variety. We call them “backstories” and ask our journalists to describe the twists and turns that carried their most memorable work to fruition: the hard thinking and shoeleather grunt work, the moments of inspiration and dread. Serendipity. Glee. Frustration. Plain human connection.

In the stories that follow, our journalists offer a sampler boasting all the pathos and joy of fiction. One describes the electric thrill when a source surreptitiously hands over a cache of documents for his story on the collapse of a drug company. A video journalist struggles to carry out a snowy shoot in bone-aching cold. A rookie reporter finds journalistic bliss watching a horse whisperer at work. Another writer draws lessons from her recent reporting to help her mother come to peace with impending death.

The backstories also feature UFO weirdness, maddening courthouse

dysfunction, a reporter’s yearslong wait for a story and, in one case, the account of a sudden roadside stop for a mouthful of snow.

It’s good for our democracy that readers know more about how news professionals operate. These backstories aren’t mere entertainment. They reflect the rigor required to gather reliable information and images, as well as the enterprise and happy fortune that fan aspiration into published stories, week after week.

American journalism inhabits a disquieting moment, with local newspapers vanishing like fireflies and a growing menace presented by political extremists who take aim at its practitioners. It bears remembering that the January 6 insurrectionists directed their initial outburst of violence at journalists on the scene. By better understanding the world that Seven Days journalists navigate, readers are, in a sense, helping to honor freedom of the press and the sacrifices made over the years to secure it.

So pour a cup of tea, settle in and enjoy the sausage making.

KEN ELLINGWOOD

Ken Ellingwood, a Seven Days consulting editor, is a former foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and author, most recently, of First to Fall: Elijah Lovejoy and the Fight for a Free Press in the Age of Slavery.

MOST REVEALING TRIPS

Late last year, we learned from a jailhouse letter that a Vermonter had been arrested for storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

JAN 31

Our reporting revealed that Nicholas Languerand had spent months before and after the 2020 presidential election hunkered down in his Wolcott trailer, immersed in bizarre online conspiracy theories about child trafficking and voter fraud.

We thought it’d be helpful to see for ourselves the place where Languerand had adopted the far-fetched ideas that drove him to act.

On a cold Saturday in January, my colleague Derek Brouwer and I drove out to Wolcott. Once we reached the small rural town in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, our phones lost service. So we

stopped at the only place that was open, the local general store, to ask for directions (and grab some bags of chips).

The two women working that day had never heard of the dirt road Languerand lived on. One called her husband to ask if he knew how to get there; the other pulled up a map on her phone, which luckily had service.

Before we left, we asked if they knew of Languerand or his arrest. We were surprised to learn that they hadn’t heard anything.

The riot and the subsequent prosecutions had been the country’s biggest news story since it happened, a year ago. Yet word of a local man’s involvement still hadn’t made its way to the most reliable information exchange in his own hometown.

Once we found Languerand’s trailer, we were struck by just how desolate it

COLDEST TAKE

Stuck in Vermont: “Making Snowshoe Art in Island Pond With John Predom”

FEB 10

I dread outdoor winter video shoots. I don’t perform well in the cold, and neither does my electronic gear. Despite this, I made a date in late January to visit John Predom in Island Pond to film him making one of his massive snowshoe designs. For the prints to work best, it has to be cold, when the snow is light and fluffy. When the day came, it was nine degrees with clear skies. My friend Howard Fisher offered to act as chauffeur on the two-hour drive.

Predom makes the masterpieces in his 15-acre backyard. We had to hike past his latest design to get to the equivalent of blank canvas. The snow was deep, and I used my iPhone XS to film the walk out there. It was my first time snowshoeing. The straps didn’t tighten properly and came off every now and again, which slowed us down. I carried a large backpack that held my Canon C100 camera, a few lenses and batteries. Fisher was saddled with my tripod and a light stand for the GoPro. I started to sweat and worried I’d freeze if I removed any layers. It felt like forever clomping through the powder, but

I later found out we only walked one-fifth of a mile.

Finally, we reached the fresh snow, but there was a snag. In order to preserve Predom’s design, I could only film from within the corridors of footprints that he was making with his snowshoes. We followed Predom to the center of the field, and I set up my camera on a tripod. Happily, I removed my defective snowshoes.

Only a thin strip of my face was exposed to the frigid air. I spent much of my time taking my gloves off to adjust the camera

“Capitol Offense: How a Troubled Vermonter’s Quest for ‘Belonging’ Led Him to QAnon, the Insurrection — and Now Prison”

Eva Sollberger

2022backstories

A few days later, Brouwer flew to Washington, D.C., to observe Languerand’s sentencing on a charge of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon. Our editor, Matthew Roy, suspected pro-Trump groups might protest the proceedings, so he arranged for a local photographer to stake out the courthouse.

Languerand and his fellow rioters had been held up by the right as persecuted patriots and, by some twisted logic, American heroes. But when it came time for a judge to determine Languerand’s sentence, his only courtroom supporters amounted to his public defender and his grandparents from South Carolina, who wouldn’t grant Brouwer an interview.

was. The place was run-down and had a bullet-ridden car chassis in the yard and a punching bag hanging from a tree branch out front. It was hard to imagine a place further removed from the U.S. Capitol.

After two long days on the road, tracking this young man’s history and connections, our notebooks were basically empty. Those blank pages, in a way, told us quite a bit.

COLIN FLANDERS

dials and change lenses and then putting them back on when my fingers started freezing. My glasses fogged up and made it hard to see the view screen. My batteries were draining faster than usual. The iPhone malfunctioned at times, as though protesting the extreme working conditions.

For about an hour, I filmed Predom as he tromped around, making mysterious patterns that somehow added up to his grand vision. I had a body mic on him, which allowed me to hear his heavy breathing as he worked. I tried following a few times with my iPhone, but it was hard

to keep up and stay on the path, especially when he started backtracking toward me. The whole thing felt like this complex dance with steps that I didn’t know.

After shooting an interview, we headed back to Predom’s for snacks with his partner, Julie Barr. As my limbs started to warm up, we chatted and feasted on an impressive spread of delicacies. Nothing like a walk in the punishing cold to make you appreciate shelter and comfort.

EVA SOLLBERGER

Predom with one of his designs

MOST NEUROTIC INTERVIEW PREP

MAR 2

Throughout the pandemic, I regularly queried Tim Lahey, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Vermont Medical Center.

“Whaddya think of dining in a plastic bubble at a ski resort?” I’d email him.

“Are we still in takeout mode or is it OK to risk dine-in?”

With each COVID-19-related question, I worried, He must have better things to do — like keep people alive — than answer questions from a food reporter.

But Lahey always answered quickly, offering commonsense and informed advice in clear language. His answers considered the plight of restaurant workers as well as the power of pathogens.

Last winter, vaxxed and boosted, I decided to up the ante. I emailed Lahey to propose a profile of him and his wife, author and educator Jessica Lahey. They agreed. As

LUCKIEST TWOFER

Share Their Near-Death Experiences”

Every responsible journalist understands the importance of protecting confidential sources, but I have no reservations about revealing the wellspring of not one, but two stories I wrote in 2022. For the first time in a long career, my source was an inanimate object — specifically, a mailbox.

It all started when we moved into our Shelburne home last year, and the local postmaster said, because our inherited postbox lacked a flag, we would not receive mail. We were personae non posto — nonpersons as far as the U.S. Postal Service was concerned. So I went out and bought a fairly large cerulean blue box with a red-as-the-commies flag. Raising the flag felt like giving a middle finger to an uncivil servant.

the three of us arranged a time to meet, Lahey mentioned Zoom in his email. I preferred to talk in person and raised the possibility. I also posited by email that I didn’t want to infect anyone with COVID-19, “least of all you.”

We decided to meet at the Laheys’ house in Charlotte. Each of us would take a rapid antigen test the hour before I was to arrive. I barely left the house the week before the interview.

That morning, Lahey alerted me that he and Jess had tested negative.

“Me too,” I responded.

What I left out: I had tested myself twice in succession and was waiting for a third result.

It made sense at the time. After the first test, I thought it best to be super sure. So I took another. When the requisite 15 minutes had passed, I checked the second test under several different lights, looking for the telltale second line. It didn’t appear, but I was overcome by a better-do-it-again internal imperative. Negative. Negative. Negative.

I grabbed a few pens and a couple of legal pads, found an unused mask, dumped it all on the passenger seat, and drove to Charlotte in a sleet storm. What’s riskier, I wondered, driving on icy roads or transmitting probable nonexistent COVID-19 to an infectious disease doctor?

I realized on the way that I was thirsty. A dry mouth is not an optimal way to start an interview. But on the road to Charlotte, if you’re past Shelburne, there’s no water. I pulled over and ate snow.

At the Laheys’ house, I put on my mask and knocked on the door. “You don’t need to wear that,” the mask-free expert told me. After 20 months of following Lahey’s advice and passing it on to thousands of readers, I ignored him.

SALLY POLLAK

Fast-forward to this past February, when we awoke one morning to fresh snowfall and a decapitated mailbox, its roadside post obliterated. The furious finger of blame pointed to the town snowplow. Happens pretty regularly, the clerk’s office explained, adding: “Call Paul.”

“Who?” I replied. “Paul Goodrich, the town highway superintendent. Here’s his cell.” He answered quickly and fessed up right away. Little did I know I was talking to a legend. Long to short: He replaced my box on a sturdier post, said he would fix it any time he knocked it down, let me ride shotgun on the plow during a storm, gave me a lovely yarn to write and is now a good friend.

My editors had the Goodrich story scheduled for the next Winter Preview Issue, seven months away. I argued for an earlier slot, noting that Goodrich was nearing his 75th birthday. No dice. But in a subsequent chat with Goodrich, he casually mentioned that he had died some years before. Yep, he’d suffered a heart attack while plowing and, on his way to the hospital, “coded.” He lived to tell the tale of what the experts call a near-death experience — when death gives you a mulligan. Presented with this new evidence, the editors published the legend of Goodrich ASAP. Months later, when I recounted the Goodrich NDE at a dinner party, so many light bulbs went on that we must have blown a transformer. Why not find other Vermonters who would share their own stories of NDEs? A perfect fit for the upcoming first-ever Death Issue.

So one man, two stories — and all due to a maimed mailbox. That’s a flag I’m pleased to salute.

STEVE GOLDSTEIN

“Singular Service, Double Byline: Tim and Jess Lahey Have Different Professions and a Shared Commitment to Health and Well-Being”

APR

“Road Warrior: For 55 Years, Paul Goodrich Has Made Shelburne’s Streets Shine” OCT 26 “Knocking on Heaven’s Door: Vermonters

FILE: OLIVER PARINI

FILE: BEAR CIERI

Tim and Jess Lahey

Paul Goodrich

Steve Goldstein’s broken mailbox

2022backstories

MOST STRESSFUL ‘MALL MOMENT’

“Pizza and Pokémon: Weeks After Being Sold, South Burlington’s University Mall Chugs Along”

APR 6

I’ve always been an observer, the kind of person who likes to sit in the corner and watch drama unfold rather than take part in the action. My knack for noticing is a skill that helps me as a reporter. But sometimes my job requires me to ruffle feathers in a way that conflicts with my nature.

When I found out last spring that the University Mall in South Burlington was being sold, I jumped at the chance to write about it, figuring it would be a relatively stress-free assignment. I spent hours inside the sprawling building, jotting notes about the shopping center’s sights, sounds and smells; I interviewed store owners, employees and customers about what they thought of the sale. My colleague Cat Cutillo accompanied me to capture photos and video for the story.

At the end of my second day of on-site reporting, I was deep in conversation with Jim Vitanos, owner of trading card and athletic paraphernalia store Jim’s Sports, when Cat motioned for me to come into the hallway. There I encountered a uniformed mall cop who, politely but firmly, demanded to know what I was doing. My heart started pounding, and I had the irrational thought that he might try to confiscate my reporter’s notebook and Cat’s video footage, rendering the story a bust.

I contemplated grabbing Cat’s hand and making a run for it but then envisioned the potential headline — “Rogue Reporters Apprehended Outside Applebee’s After Foot Chase” — and thought better of it.

Instead, I calmly explained to the mall cop that Cat and I were covering the news of the sale for Seven Days. He told me that I needed to check in with a member of mall management to get formal permission.

It didn’t take long to find the person in charge, who gave us the OK to proceed with our work. Crisis averted, I left the building that day with the smell of Auntie Anne’s pretzels lingering in my nostrils and this refrain echoing in my brain: Sometimes a little discomfort is necessary to get the story. ALISON NOVAK

Jim Vitanos

University Mall

WORST DRIVING CONDITIONS

Dependents: Theater Review: A Streetcar Named Desire, BarnArts”

“Adult

APR 6

Reviewing plays isn’t exactly hard duty, but it does require getting to a Vermont theater, come rain, shine or ice storm. My beat includes playhouses 100 miles away, around two and a half hours of driving — each way. Can’t be late, can’t be lost, can’t go tomorrow and still make deadline. Sometimes I go alone, but my husband/driver/plus-one, Clarke, is the secret to my reviewing career.

On April 1, all of Vermont’s weather extremes collided. Mud season was well under way, and whatever the clouds held would come down as freezing rain or snow thanks to temperatures at the tipping point. As we left for the Grange Theater in South Pomfret, it was raining hard — the fierce, vengeful kind that drenches your windshield and turns every passing truck into a moving geyser.

Still, it wasn’t freezing — yet — when we reached the dirt road portion of the

BEST WOODWARD-ANDBERNSTEIN MOMENT

journey. Spring 2022 will be remembered as a mythic mud season, and Stage Road had that hubcap-swallowing look about it. Soon our car was waddling in muck, but we lunged and shivered and ground through. Even arrived a little early.

After the show, we emerged to a world of pure white. This was no snow shower but a heavy display of Big Winter. We took a different set of back roads home, a route I’ve used when driving solo. I gave directions

from memory without consulting my phone in order to watch the sheets of snow and the progress of Clarke’s white-knuckle driving.

When I finally looked for our blue dot on my map app, we were grotesquely far afield, victims of my poor navigation. It was midnight when we doubled back to Interstate 89, and the snow was whooshing like interstellar special effects. The pavement was occasionally broomed clear by wind, but it was mostly a swirling white sea dotted

only by the safety blinkers of cars wedged off the road, frozen in fear. Cautionary tales. The snowy gusts, shifting like desert sands, were gorgeous, and Clarke remained in good humor. We inched our way homeward uncertainly, but we made it. I didn’t let the ordeal affect my review of BarnArts’ A Streetcar Named Desire. I felt only relief, but, to be honest, I prefer opening nights in summertime.

ALEX BROWN

company was closing for good. One said they’d pass along the messages to their colleagues. An hour later, my phone began ringing. “I wondered how long it would take for someone to write about this,” one man said.

The employees were afraid to use their names out of fear of a lawsuit from the company’s owner, Bill Chatoff, who chaired the state’s Board of Pharmacy for several years. Not exactly Tricky Dick, but an imposing figure nonetheless.

JUN 22

Among the pantheon of best journalism movies is All the President’s Men, the riveting backstory of how the Washington Post broke open the Watergate scandal and ultimately ended Richard Nixon’s presidency. The film follows reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, played by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, as they harangue reluctant sources and conduct late-night parking garage rendezvous. It’s a superhero flick for nerds.

Journalism is rarely as glamorous, but on occasion we reporters do get a chance to channel our inner Woodward and Bernstein. My latest opportunity came over the summer, as I dug into the downfall of a

Colchester drug-compounding company, Edge Pharma.

I stumbled onto the story after finding a federal lawsuit from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration that accused Edge of violating consumer protection laws repeatedly for years leading up to a

full-scale recall last December. I wanted to know why it took so long for the FDA to act and why Edge seemed so unable — or unwilling — to improve.

I messaged a handful of Edge employees, who, unbeknownst to me, had learned that very day that the

One former worker agreed to only speak to me in person. We met in a small park near his house. Trees shielded us from a light rain as he recalled instances of how the company leaders pressured him and others to produce more and more.

A few days later, in a bar, I met another source who wanted to share documents without leaving a paper trail. He slid a manila folder and a flash drive across the table just before his burger and second beer arrived.

The waitress asked if I wanted to order anything. I was hungry — it was almost dinnertime — but I declined.

I had a story to write.

COLIN FLANDERS

“Side Effects: A Vermont Drug Company’s Failure to Maintain Standards Led to Recalls — and Its Demise”

FILE: DIANE SULLIVAN

Edge Pharma

The BarnArts production of A Streetcar Named Desire, featuring Erin Bennett, Aaron Michael Hodge and Katie Crawley

MOST BEWILDERING SUBJECT

JUL 13

I spent most of the summer chasing the two front-runners in the most aerobic electoral contest of the campaign cycle, the Democratic primary for Vermont’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The challenge of profiling any political candidate is to see beyond the manufactured story, to figure out where the public persona ends and the authentic self begins.

With Lt. Gov. Molly Gray, I never felt like I got there.

Part of the problem was access. For example: In early June I was scheduled to interview Gray at her childhood home in Newbury, then tag along with her for the rest of the day as she careered from one meet and greet to the next. At the last minute, her campaign manager called to cancel so Gray could attend a GunSense Vermont rally in Montpelier.

That’s how I became a sunburned witness to a supremely central Vermont tableau of nudists and assault weapons ban supporters, peaceably assembled on the Statehouse lawn. When the rally ended, just as the crowd was starting to disperse, a troupe of naked cyclists gathered on the Statehouse steps for a post-ride group photo, still in the buff.

Ten or 15 yards in front of them was Gray. Realizing that I was perceiving

her against the backdrop of spontaneous public nudity, she looked mortified. She asked me not to take any pictures of her, which I had no intention of doing. We talked for a few minutes off the record, as Gray usually requested outside of prearranged meetings.

After that, we had no meaningful interaction that wasn’t mediated by her campaign staff.

The other problem, which likely accounted for the first, was Gray’s obvious discomfort with revealing much about herself beyond the perfunctory details of her résumé. While her opponent, now U.S. representative-elect Becca Balint, exhibited a willingness to be vulnerable — to talk about her struggles with mental illness and coming out as gay in a less tolerant era — Gray talked about herself almost exclusively in terms of the various jobs she’d held.

In a world that judges ambitious women much more harshly than ambitious men, Gray’s decision to focus on what she had done, rather than who she is as a person, made a certain kind of sense — except it backfired, and badly. “I’m asking Vermonters to hire me,” she was fond of saying, which did little to dispel the perception that she was striving for her next promotion.

As a result, her particular brand of feminist empowerment read as corporate, devoid of political substance and rage, as if it had come off the same assembly line as those RBG mugs and “Burn the Patriarchy” soy candles. Over and over again, Balint’s supporters told

how “real” she was, and that ineffable quality of realness became a foil to Gray’s ineffable quality of unrealness, of having been coached.

CHELSEA EDGAR

“Congressional Countdown: In the August 9 Primary, Democratic Candidates Compete for the Jackpot: Vermont’s Lone U.S. House Seat”

BEST ANIMAL INSTINCTS

SEP 14

In week four of my first professional reporting gig, I was eager to prove myself. I had landed my dream job through Report for America, a national service program that places young journalists in local newsrooms. I would be reporting on challenges and opportunities in Vermont’s small towns for Seven Days, learning along the way through mentorship and training provided by Report for America.

Trouble was, I lacked story ideas. That made sense, of course — I had just started on my beat — but impostor syndrome was creeping in. “It takes time to get your footing,” my editors assured me. “Just keep plugging away.”

I wanted to get my feet dirty. One day, an opportunity arrived in a press release from Arnold’s Rescue Center in Brownington. The rural nonprofit was throwing a first birthday party for a rare Baudet du Poitou donkey, Hamilton, one of only 500 of his kind in the world.

Cute but not necessarily newsworthy, right? Unless you’re a somewhat desperate, weird-event-inclined new reporter. “I’m in,” I emailed the news team as soon as I got the email.

I convinced a friend who lives halfway between Burlington and Brownington to sacrifice her Saturday to accompany me.

Blue balloons lined the road to a wooden pavilion where the party hosts had hung a colorful piñata. More than 50 people came to wish the rather shaggylooking guest of honor a happy birthday. Some of them joined in a game of pin the tail on the donkey.

Hamilton’s party kicked ass in more ways than one. After the festivities, I struck up a conversation with Bari Fischer, one of the women behind Arnold’s Rescue, over a slice of strawberry shortcake.

Fischer worked closely with Brownington’s burgeoning — and decidedly private — Amish community. In fact, her good friend was coming up from South Carolina to train some of the Amish community’s horses. She said the Amish farmers would line up outside the barn just to have an opportunity for their animals to be trained by this acclaimed horse whisperer from Australia. Would I like to observe him working, she asked?

Would I? The opportunity was journalistic gold, the sort of only-in-Vermont story I had dreamed of writing. The Amish community’s desire for privacy was well known. This would offer a rare peek inside.

A few months later, I found myself back at Arnold’s Rescue handing a saddle to Gary Itzstein, horse whisperer extraordinaire. Next to me was Neil, a soft-spoken Amish man from Brownington. In front of us was a nervous pony. I had to pinch myself: How was this a paying job?

The whole donkey-birthday-partyto-Australian-horse-whisperer pipeline offered an apt lesson for a rookie journalist like myself: Follow your nose; it might lead to a great story.

RACHEL HELLMAN

JUL 13

“Kick-Ass Party: Hamilton, a Rare Baudet du Poitou Donkey, Celebrates His Birthday in Vermont”

“Teacher’s Pet: A Noted Australian Horse Whisperer Offers His Talents to Orleans County’s Amish Community”

FILE PHOTOS: RACHEL HELLMAN

Hamilton Hastings

Gary Itzstein with Chessy

2022backstories

SHORTEST ‘INTERVIEW’

I had no expectation of getting a comment from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) when I set out to cover one of his stump speeches for Becca Balint during the primary campaign for Vermont’s sole U.S. House seat. All of our reporters were busy, so I offered to go.

AUG 2

Although I’m a news editor at Seven Days, I did quite a bit of political reporting in the past year — mostly stories

Before the speeches began that July day at Burlington’s City Hall Park, I’d asked Bill Neidhardt, a political consultant working for the Balint campaign, to get me just a few minutes with Sanders after the event; he said he’d try.

But when it ended, Sanders made a beeline for the alley next to Burlington City Arts, headed for Church Street. I raced after him.

about who was financing the candidates. I broke the story that Nishad Singh, an executive at cryptocurrency exchange FTX, had funneled $1.1 million through the LGBTQ Victory Fund’s political action committee, which used the cash on pro-Balint ads, before FTX melted down.

In a perfect world, I could ask the Bern to comment about national groups supporting Balint’s candidacy. Unfortunately, the senator hadn’t given Seven Days an interview since April 30, 2015. Since then, he’d been reelected to the Senate, had unsuccessfully run for president — twice — and become one of the nation’s most popular politicians. But in that time, despite his alleged distaste for “corporate” media, he refused to talk to this local, independent newspaper. Was it something we wrote? Our award-winning coverage of him was not always glowing.   Still, I had to try.

“Can I get a — Bernie, can I just get a couple questions from Seven Days ?” I huffed as I sidled up to him. He kept walking, barely glancing my way.

I launched in anyway. Given his rhetoric about “the billionaires” and super PAC spending, both of which he decried at the rally, I wanted to know his thoughts about the outside spending on Balint’s behalf. He deftly deflected, and as I asked a more direct follow-up question, Neidhardt, the consultant, caught up with us and intervened.

“Thank you very much. OK. Thank you,” Sanders said as he walked off.

He’d left me in the dust, without a satisfying answer. And I’m still not sure if that 60-second interaction counts as an interview.

“Housestretch: Balint, Gray Work to Seal the Deal as Congressional Primary Rolls Into Final Week”

SASHA GOLDSTEIN

Sasha Goldstein (right) trying to get a word in with Sen. Bernie Sanders

GLENN RUSSELL

MOST SURPRISING EPILOGUE

From the Publisher: “Learning Curve”

AUG 17

Almost every week I share a “backstory” in Seven Days

My “From the Publisher” column, created to detail the struggles of this newspaper during the pandemic, is an inside peek at our local media business.

I also write about my personal life — experiences I’ve had in the past as well as things happening now. These pieces in particular seem to resonate with readers, whether I’m writing about swimming laps, taking a train to New York City or shopping for bras.

In August I penned a tribute to the Maryland public high school English teacher who taught me to write. The idea was prompted by the publication of back-to-school content in Seven Days as

MOST WITHERING OUTCOME

well as a more remarkable coincidence: The wife of one of our consulting editors had the same “best teacher,” at the same school, and credits him for inspiring her to become an educator. Monique Taylor is now the provost and chief academic officer of Champlain College. Her husband, Ken Ellingwood, wrote the introduction to this year’s backstory package.

I tried hard to reach Roy Simmons before I published the piece — a task complicated by the fact that his father and son have the same name. But I failed to find him through the alumni networks of Walt Whitman High School or on social media.

Until, of course, the column came out, and a fellow former student emailed me a link to his Facebook page.

I was glad for the confirmation that Mr. Simmons was alive and well. But the relief was replaced with shock when I saw that the quiet, unassuming man who coached the debate team and introduced us to literature was sharing posts from rightwing news and religious sources.

Monique’s reaction: “Oooof. I can’t scroll past ‘15 ways Satan’s favorite lie ruins your world.’”

I screwed up my courage and messaged Simmons on Facebook with a link to my piece. His response was warm but formal. Later, we scheduled a phone call, in which I told him how shocked Monique and I were to see his views on social media.

We had both gotten the impression that he was a conscientious objector who had opposed the Vietnam War. Back in the ’70s, when I went to high school, that usually suggested a left-of-center political ideology.

The anti-war bit was accurate, Simmons said on the phone. “I was liberal … I voted for my share of Democrats,” including Jimmy Carter. But now he’s a Donald Trump supporter who believes the 2020 election “wasn’t handled properly.”

What happened? Simmons is a Christian — something I’d also guessed right in my original piece. Sometime in the ’90s, he turned against the Democratic Party because he felt that it stopped reflecting

his moral values. Those include opposition to abortion in all cases — except to spare the life of the mother — and homosexuality, which he described as “evil.”

He believed as much throughout his teaching career, from 1968 to 2002. Notably, it didn’t stop him from helping a debate student craft a persuasive oratory for samesex marriage that won a county competition.

“It’s not a teacher’s job to insert himself into the beliefs of his student,” Simmons said.

On that, at least, we agree.

PAULA ROUTLY

After a Saturday morning breakfast of Skinny Goose doughnuts from West River Provisions in Jamaica, I looped back south to the Wardsboro Public Library and found the seed packets, tucked carefully into a Gilfeather-themed kiosk near the door.

AUG 24

My first taste of journalism was a postcollege summer internship at Magazine publication then based in a converted chicken barn just over the New York State border from my hometown of Arlington.

That gig led to a very part-time role compiling the magazine’s “Essential Events” calendar, for which I was tasked with sourcing a handful of unique goings-on around the state. The events should “reflect the flavor of Vermont,” my editor instructed, “and if they are somewhat obscure, quaint and countrified, so much the better.”

My favorite inclusion from five years of calendar compilation was Wardsboro’s Gilfeather Turnip Festival. The town’s annual celebration of the rutabaga-turnip hybrid with southern Vermont roots fit my editor’s criteria to a T — even before

the Gilfeather became the official state vegetable in 2016. It featured steaming bowls of Gilfeather soup, a biggest turnip contest, stories about John Gilfeather’s mysterious development of the vegetable and the kind of volunteer-led gusto only a small town could muster.

So, when the Seven Days culture team was brainstorming our epic road trip up Route 100 over the summer, I jumped on the opportunity to explore its southernmost stretch. Despite my enthusiasm for

the festival, I’d never been to Wardsboro; this assignment would take me to the home of the Gilfeather.

I’d miss the event, which took place on October 22 this year, but I’d read that the nonprofit Friends of the Wardsboro Library sells otherwise hard-to-source Gilfeather seeds year-round to fund the library’s maintenance. If I planned my itinerary right, I could pick up a packet.

The Route 100 adventure was technically not a story about food, which is my usual beat: Four other reporters and I set out to explore the essence of the 217-mile, state-long highway — roughly 40 miles each — and see what it had to say about Vermont. But most of my stops between Stamford and Jamaica centered on eating and drinking. Old habits.

As soon as I got home that afternoon, I prepped my garden for a midsummer turnip planting. I planted the Gilfeather seeds in four neat rows and crossed my fingers. With an estimated 85 days to maturity, they’d be ready to harvest right after the first fall frost, which would concentrate the turnip’s sugars.

I watched the seedlings peek through the soil over the next few weeks, noticing that my precise rows were a little paltry. Only a third of the seeds had germinated. My dream of a John Gilfeather-style wagonload of turnips was dashed.

A few days after the first October frost, I dug up one of the successful plants, hoping it would rival the record-setting 52-pound Gilfeather from this year’s festival in Wardsboro. It was smaller than my fist. I didn’t even bother weighing it.

I left the rest of the turnips in the ground, embarrassed at my attempt to grow the state vegetable I’d become so obsessed with. I’ll try again next year, starting earlier and planting them in a different spot — and I’ll be sure the 2023 festival is marked on my calendar, just in case my turnip thumbs are black. But for now, I’ve resigned myself to another fall without Gilfeather soup or turnip-laced latkes.

JORDAN BARRY

“On the Road: What Route 100 Says About Vermont: A Journey in Five Parts”

Left: Gilfeather turnip; above: John Gilfeather

2022backstories

MOST UNEXPECTED CONNECTION

Last winter I covered the Vermont House’s passage of Article 22, aka the abortion amendment. The floor vote was hybrid, and I was watching it remotely, so all I could see of the room was a dark box with miniscule figures in it. To ascertain who was talking, I had to rely on Speaker Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington), who would address lawmakers, per tradition, by the district they represented. In order to quote “the member from Granby” with confidence, however, I felt compelled to confirm the disembodied voice was really her

AUG 31

So I called Rep. Terri Williams (R-Granby) to talk about her opposition to Article 22, and we ended up having a long conversation about raising children. She hadn’t been able to have any of her own, but she told me about some other ways she and her husband had brought kids into their lives — through foster care, coaching and taking in teenagers who needed a break from home.

Williams also mentioned a Fresh Air kid she’d hosted in the 1980s. She said Owen Tillery had recently gotten in touch on Facebook and would be visiting over the summer with his own wife and child. Six months later, she invited me up to her mountaintop farmhouse to meet him.

The people I write about often try to craft an impressive narrative, which is understandable; I’d clean the house if I knew a stranger was coming over. But nobody did that here. Sure, the house was spotless, and Williams had made all the desserts that Tillery loved as a child. But neither of them was performing for me; I witnessed an intimate moment that few people would share with a journalist.

They both cried as we sat on the porch and they talked about the past. He had grown up in a housing project in Brooklyn with a single mother who struggled to

provide a good life for him; she died last summer. The general store Williams once owned had been robbed.

But the reunion brought up joyful memories, too. Through Tillery, Williams and her husband found new appreciation for the serenity of their own life in the rural Northeast Kingdom by introducing him to activities such as milking cows and riding bikes on the dirt roads.

“We were just being people,” Williams said. “We weren’t trying to go out and set the world on fire. We just loved a kid that showed up on our doorstep.”

ANNE WALLACE ALLEN

“Fresh Air Reunion: Forty Years After His First Vermont Summer, a Brooklynite Revisits a Northeast Kingdom Family”

ANNE WALLACE

ALLEN

Rep. Terri Williams (left) and Owen Tillery

Last fall, I was reading a New Yorker exposé about Teen Challenge — a Christian organization that runs a network of residential programs for troubled teens — when a paragraph stopped me in my tracks.

“In May, 2020, Naomi Wood, a student at the Lakeland Teen Challenge, died,” the article said. “She had been throwing up, almost constantly, for more than twenty-four hours. On the last day of her life, Naomi, who was born in Liberia and adopted by a family in Vermont, stayed in bed, and the staff left her alone for long stretches without checking on her, according to students and staff I interviewed.”

I set down the magazine, googled the Wood family and quickly learned that they ran a century-old maple syrup operation in Randolph. Their business website

displayed an assortment of photos of parents Al and Debbie Wood and their six children, as well as a somber message about 17-year-old Naomi’s death.

I contemplated reaching out to the Woods to see if they’d be willing to speak with me, but I ultimately opted against it, so as not to be perceived as intrusive or pushy. After all, I thought, the family was probably still in mourning. I put the story idea on my already full back burner, figuring I might return to it in time.

Then, in May, while reporting a story about the Black Lives Matter flag being taken down at Randolph Union High School, I listened to a recording of a local school board meeting. During the public comment period, a man identified himself as Al Wood, Naomi’s father. I interpreted his appearance as permission to approach. I emailed the Woods that day, explaining that I was a local reporter who was

interested in learning more about the circumstances surrounding their daughter’s death and how they were coping with their loss.

Debbie got back to me right away, saying she and Al were open to speaking. She also put me in touch with her eldest son, Nehemiah, who had recently become involved in efforts to regulate the troubled-teen industry. Over the course of several months, I talked with the family multiple times, learned more about Naomi’s time at Teen Challenge through interviews and documents, and wove the threads into a cover story that came out almost 11 months after the New Yorker story was published.

It was a good reminder of the power of paying attention and illustrates the way in which one story often begets the next.

FILE: BEN DEFLORIO

Al and Debbie Wood with a photo of their daughter Naomi

SKETCHIEST SOURCE

OCT 5 “You know that they’re listening, right?”

I took a deep breath, reminding myself to be patient with the man on the other end of the line. I should have expected a few conversations like this when I pitched a cover story about unidentified flying objects in Vermont. After all, you don’t just toss out a question like “Have you ever seen a UFO?” and expect to get a big helping of logic.

least, I think that’s what he was describing. It was difficult to keep up.

Here we go , I thought to myself. Finally, some oddball stuff

“So, you get it, right?” he took a breath. “They’re launching the Starlink satellites at specific times to mask landings.”

I asked him how a launch in Florida could obscure a landing in Vermont.

A noise came over my phone like a cat hissing and coughing at once.

“I already told you that,” he said, seething. “It’s about their energy signatures!”

The conversation was unraveling by the second, but I began to wonder if that was what my story needed.

“Can you meet me in Holland?” he pressed. “Holland, Vt. It’s near the border.”

I almost spit out, “Oh, really? I thought you meant you wanted me to fly to the goddamn Netherlands,” but I mastered my growing irritation.

Instead, I replied politely, “I’m familiar with the town, sir. That’s a bit of a haul from Burlington. Could you give me the gist of your story now?”

“You should really meet me out here in the woods,” he said, grumbling. “But fine, I’ll say what I can. But don’t be surprised if the line cuts off suddenly.”

Before I could say anything, “Martin” launched into the great conspiracy. At

King

“land

I started seriously contemplating a drive to the Northeast Kingdom. I asked Martin for directions to the “landing sites.”

“You’ll need me to get past the FEMA camp,” he insisted, refusing to give any further details.

“The what now?” I asked.

“The FEMA camp. They smuggled it in during Hurricane Irene,” he said. “They bought some farms in the area, as well, and I’m pretty sure they’re digging beneath them to connect to the camp.”

An alarm clicked on in my head, not unlike when a car activates the checkengine light. As far as conspiracy theories go, the minute someone invokes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, you know they’ve been listening to rightwing nut job Alex Jones. This was just another dude who listened to too many shitty podcasts.

I thanked Martin for his time and wished him good luck in his quest, whatever that might be. Would Fox Mulder of “The X-Files” have checked out his crazy claims? Yeah, probably.

CHRIS FARNSWORTH

“UFOMG: From Flying Saucers to Starlink, Vermont Has a Long History of Strange Things in the Sky”

EASIEST STORY TO SPOT

OCT 12 My wife and I were walking our dog in downtown Burlington in July when we passed a young man standing on a sidewalk, gesticulating oddly. He’d take a half step forward, move his hands in front of his face with no discernible purpose, step back, then repeat.

He seemed oblivious to the traffic whizzing past on North Winooski Avenue and the other people around. I paused and studied his strange ritual.

“Can I help you?” asked a woman seated on a nearby wall, indicating she knew the man.

I told her that I was a little concerned about the guy.

“Pshaw,” she responded. “He’s just drunk.”

If I learned one thing as a student at the University of Rhode Island, it’s what drunk looks like. This man was not drunk.

A guy I saw on Church Street a couple of nights later also seemed caught in a loop of shuffling steps, half turns and odd gestures, unaware of the summer-evening crowd.

Something is happening, I told a few reporters at Seven Days, where I’m the news editor. Maybe a bad batch of drugs had arrived? People were behaving oddly.

I could see that they weren’t convinced. But from time to time throughout the

summer, as I walked to work from my home in the Old North End to the Seven Days office on South Champlain Street or took the dog for an evening stroll, I’d spot another person behaving bizarrely.

One of them staggered into the intersection of Manhattan Drive and North Champlain Street as if he were half asleep. He swayed back and forth under a blinking red light, reached his arms up and crossed his forearms behind his head. He doubled over and scratched his head furiously, and his bare ass popped out of his shorts.

I texted a short video to a few colleagues.

“One more and we’ve got our trend piece,” a reporter responded.

Just two days later, I got two more: I came across a man sitting on a front lawn a few blocks from my home, his head lolling around. Nearby, a woman lay facedown in dirt, literally squirming. After a few minutes, both stood, brushed themselves off, uttered something to one another and wandered off toward downtown.

I emailed health reporter Colin Flanders.

“Can you ask EMTs, cops and Turning Point whether they are dealing with some new drug, or a wave of potent meth or something?” I asked him. “I am not looking for this stuff, and yet I’ve seen

people in this state four times the past week. Something is happening.”

Flanders seemed determined to get to the bottom of it, which took some doing. A lack of data on meth in Vermont turned out to be part of the story. Weeks later, we published his definitively sourced piece, “Meth Use Is Growing Around Burlington — and Could Portend More Problems for Vermont.”

Flanders’ reporting showed that the drug had made inroads in the Burlington area. He interviewed a man who had formerly used meth and people who work in treatment programs. Meth was being detected routinely in drug screens; people picking up syringes at a needle-exchange program regularly discussed it.

Today’s meth is manufactured in industrial-scale Mexican laboratories, and its chemistry is different than what was being cooked up in rank home labs back in the ’90s. The drug can bring on paranoia and even psychosis. Little is known about how to treat users effectively, Flanders reported.

I can’t say for sure that the people I saw were on meth, of course, but that seems the most likely explanation. And I’m happy to note that, as of this writing, I haven’t seen anyone in this condition for several weeks. Of course, it’s colder outside now.

What I do know for sure is that if you live in the Old North End, the best way to spot a story in Burlington is to commute on two feet, with your eyes wide open.

“Meth Use Is Growing Around Burlington — and Could Portend More Problems for Vermont”

2022backstories

BEST EVIDENCE VERMONT IS ALL RIGHT

OCT 26

My beat is education, not politics, so covering the state Senate race in Orange County was already a bit of a stretch. Plus, the race had gotten complicated. John Klar, a conservative culture warrior, was aggressively challenging Democrat incumbent Mark MacDonald, who suffered a stroke mid-campaign.

To better understand this particular matchup, I decided to take a page from the politician’s playbook and

in Brookfield, a kind-looking woman named Amy invited me to take a seat on her cozy living room couch. Her husband, Michael, appeared in the kitchen, offering me both his opinion on the Senate race and a cup of tea, the latter of which I politely declined.

Later in the day, at an ornate Victorian just off the main drag in Randolph, I chat ted with Floyd, a retired school principal, and his wife, Georgia, marveling at their eclectic art collection as I scribbled in my notebook. Before I left, Georgia showed

do some door knocking. That’s how I found myself driving down Interstate 89 toward Randolph on a rainy Tuesday morning in October. I felt a little nervous about the prospect of intruding on people in their homes but figured it was a good way to get their candid, unvarnished opinions.

Once off the highway, I cruised around for a while, noting all the residences that had MacDonald or Klar signs in front of them and weighing which one to try first. Here in Vermont’s bucolic Orange County, I’d found the local version of America’s great political divide.

The people promoting Klar answered their doors — and my questions — but stopped short of inviting me into their homes.

Those for MacDonald were more welcoming, perhaps as a result of their assumptions about me and Seven Days.

At a ranch-style house on Route 65

me a Greek cookbook she and her sister had written and offered me a few pretty note cards she’d made with recipes for spanakopita and keftedes on the back. Those, I took!

At a tidy East Randolph abode with a picture-perfect front porch adorned with wind chimes, Lillian, a Long Island native who’d married a longtime Vermonter, showed me a wall full of framed pictures of her three daughters and grandchildren, one of whom I immediately recognized as a high school classmate of my daughter.

I drove home that day with a notebook full of interesting quotes and observations from Orange County and a warm, fuzzy feeling about its gracious constituents. A few weeks later, they voted to return MacDonald to office.

ALISON NOVAK

“Seeing Orange: In Orange County, a Conservative Culture Warrior Vies for Sen. MacDonald’s Democratic Seat”

John Klar

MOST BITTERSWEET SYNCHRONICITY

Hands-On Experience With Death

would be my last trip to see her in Maryland, where she lived with her husband.

Ironically — or, perhaps, fittingly — at the time, I was reporting and writing an article for our first-ever Death Issue about an educational farm in Shelburne where youngsters learn about the life cycle, including death.

“Our culture just has a lot of bad habits around loss and grief,” the farm’s owner, Michaela Ryan, had explained to me. Chief among those is that we avoid talking about death, she said.

OCT 26

As a child, I had persistent nightmares about death. They weren’t gory or violent, but that didn’t make them any less scary. The dreams consisted entirely of me floating endlessly in space, forever alone and bored, a state of being that frightened me more than almost anything.

In this and many other ways, my late mother and I were very similar.

From her retirement as a university librarian through her early eighties, she remained active, busy and connected: volunteering at her synagogue and in a local school; walking and chatting with friends; and reading, always reading.

She cultivated in my two siblings and me a deep love of books from an early age. During our childhood growing up in London, Mum volunteered for a children’s literacy nonprofit, and she read aloud to us during most suppertimes, which took place before she and our father had their dinner.

I have vivid memories of her recounting tales of the furry, burrow-dwelling Wombles of Wimbledon Common, who stewarded the environment and upcycled litter left by humans long before recycling became common practice. When we were a little older, I remember Mum bringing to life the compelling characters and message of Watership Down

The last few years leading up to my mother’s death on November 10 were

riddled with physical and mental challenges, but perhaps the cruelest was her gradual loss of the ability to read. My brother, sister and I encouraged her to listen to recorded books, but she found it too difficult to pay attention

to a disembodied, unfamiliar voice. So, during visits, it was our turn to read to her.

In mid-October, after being hospitalized for a bad fall, Mum came home with hospice support. I planned what I knew

In Maryland, my mother was confined to bed, consuming liquid and puréed food only by the painstakingly hand-fed teaspoon. She slept a lot. During periods of wakefulness, though, Mum still appreciated short essays and poems being read to her. And sparks of our spirited, forthright mother remained: She did not hesitate to clearly indicate if the material bored her.

One morning, after I’d read a little to her, Mum asked if I would share something I’d written. When I briefly described my most recent article and asked my mother if she’d like to hear it, she nodded yes without hesitation.

I read it in three installments over the next few hours to accommodate her capacity for absorbing it. She seemed to listen carefully, and, when I finished, I asked if she wanted to talk about her own death.

It had become increasingly hard to understand her, but I made out her question: “What do you think happens next?”

“Well, we really don’t know,” I hedged, holding her hand, “but I think you will drift off to sleep, and it will be peaceful.”

And, thinking back to my childhood fears and our similarities, I added, “I don’t think you’ll be bored. I think there will be a million wonderful books to read.”

MELISSA PASANEN

“Life Lessons:

Youths Get

at Shelburne’s New Village Farm”

Melissa Pasanen (back) with her mother and siblings circa 1973

MOST TEDIOUS QUEST FOR INFORMATION

There are two ways to get copies of court documents in Vermont. One is to fill out a form with the docket number and records you’re seeking, which cost 25 cents per page. The other is to look them up on the courthouse’s public computers and take cellphone photos for free.

NOV 2

When my colleague Derek Brouwer and I pitched a cover story on youth gun violence, we knew we were stuck with Option 2: It would be far too expensive and time-consuming to formally request records for the dozen or so people we knew were involved.

But what the effort didn’t cost in cash, it did in hours of labor — already in short supply in our line of work. There are only six of these so-called “public terminals” in the county, and although they’re located within a mile of one another, half of them were consistently out of order during what turned out to be a monthlong assignment. What should have been a simple task became a needlessly tedious quest.

Our starting place was the Edward J. Costello Courthouse on Cherry Street in Burlington — aka the criminal court. Not only is it close to the Seven

Days office, it would give us access to paper records that weren’t available on Odyssey, the judiciary’s electronic filing system. Unfortunately, both comput ers were broken nearly every time we stopped in. The two at the family court downstairs worked, but one was interminably slow. The court staff — who have to boot up the machines, then remember the password to log in — never seemed particularly thrilled when we asked for access.

The security guard at the civil court on Main Street was friendly, though, and made small talk while he logged us in to the system. But he couldn’t fix all of our problems. Our cellphone shots of computerized documents were difficult to read, not to mention a nightmare to download and organize. Hours of taking photos, one grainy page at a time, drained our phone batteries.

The most stressful moment was on deadline day, when a few last-minute factchecks sent Brouwer scrambling for an open computer. At the Main Street courthouse, he tore off his jacket and bag, walked through the metal detector, and looked up to see a woman very comfortably seated at the only terminal.

“She’s gonna be there a while,” our security guard friend told him, not unsympathetically.

In the end, we got all the documents we needed, but the process left me convinced that it shouldn’t be so onerous to access public information — for a reporter or anyone else. A committee of Vermont journalists is currently working on this problem, and I’m fortunate enough to be at the table. I have stories to tell.

“Warning Shots: Burlington’s Immigrant Community Seeks Solutions to the Gun Violence That Is Claiming Youths”

LONGEST WAIT FOR A TRAIN … STORY

When I started working at Seven Days 20 years ago, I noticed the Burlington rail yard right behind the office was busy with locomotives, tankers, flatbeds and boxcars arriving and departing every day. I thought, Now, there’s a story waiting to be told.

Trains offer rich metaphors, and the English language is steeped in railroading terminology: jerkwater town; doubleheader; full head of steam; bells and whistles; getting sidetracked, derailed and railroaded; and, of course, the proverbial train wreck. I was astounded to discover that, despite the long history of railroads in Vermont, no one had ever written about the locally owned company that runs one.

Sometime in the mid-2000s, I walked into the Vermont Rail System headquarters on Burlington’s waterfront and spoke to a very pleasant receptionist about my interest. I left my business card.

No one called, leaving me to assume that either VRS executives saw no benefit to a reporter sticking his nose up their cabooses or someone there had read my prior reporting on the railroad industry. In April 2001, while working for the now-defunct Missoula Independent, I wrote an investigative story called “Hopes Derailed,” examining the mishandling of a 1996 train accident in Alberton, Mont. The wreck, then considered the worst chlorine spill in U.S. railroad history, forced the evacuation of more than 500 people, many of whom got injured without any compensation. The story was a scathing indictment of the railroad’s safety record — decidedly not the kind of piece that would make me appear friendly to the communications department of another short-line railroad.

Then, in 2019, came a glimmer at the end of the tunnel. Nicole Carlson, daughter of VRS co-owner and CEO Dave Wulfson, emailed me and asked if I’d write a story about a VRS project: the Green Mountain Railroad’s dinner train. Naturally, I did the interview, after which I pitched her the idea of writing an in-depth piece on her family’s company. Carlson agreed to ask her father, but I never heard another word.

Fast-forward to this past summer and the return of passenger rail service between Burlington and New York City. While working on a profile of Melinda Moulton, the cofounder of Main Street Landing who had been instrumental in Amtrak’s return, I mentioned to her my longtime desire to write about VRS. Moulton, who knows Wulfson well — her husband, Rick, serves on the Vermont Rail Advisory Council — vouched for me to Wulfson and VRS president Selden Houghton. Houghton wrote back, “Ken, feel free to reach out.”

As I discovered, VRS wasn’t being evasive; it just had little reason to speak to reporters.

“We’re certainly not keeping a low profile on purpose,” Wulfson said during an interview in August. “There’s a lot of people that don’t really understand what we do.”

Like me, they do now.

KEN PICARD

SCARIEST ENCOUNTER

I’ve been detained and threatened with arrest twice in my 20-year career as a photographer: first, by regime thugs while I was shooting revolutionary protests in Egypt; second, trying to photograph a train for Seven Days. Wielding a camera can be dangerous. When I work in conflict zones, I feel a cautionary dread. That anxiety sometimes spills over when I shoot in “safe” places, too, because my nervous system doesn’t know the difference.

The threat is in your mind, I say to myself when I’m working in Vermont.

Until one fall day, on a local shoot, it was standing right in front of me. I was at a campground in New Haven from which I was hoping to catch a passing Vermont Rail Systems train — with my camera. I had permission to photograph the anticipated locomotive but had accidentally parked on a private road.

The first person I encountered asked with mild curiosity what I was doing and helped me decipher the train schedule. But a few minutes later, a second person came roaring up on a lawn tractor and yelled at me to leave.

When I tried, he positioned the tractor in the road to block my exit, while speaking in an aggressive, menacing way. He wouldn’t let me go until I showed him my photos. And there were none, of course, because the train hadn’t come.

I felt the same full-body existential fear I experienced in Egypt. I could die here, I thought. Anything could happen.

Despite the terror, I tried to stay calm, friendly and open. I showed him the nonexistent photos and was eventually able to get away.

A few days later, the state police called to say the guy might press trespassing charges. I had to find a criminal defense lawyer, talk to Seven Days editors and ask prosecutors for advice. I lived under a cloud of fear for weeks. Happily, the paper supported me. Even though it’s only a misdemeanor, any kind of black mark could prevent me from doing the work I care most about: humanitarian photography in conflict and crisis zones. This year, I photographed relief efforts in Ukraine, Haiti, Ethiopia. Drought, starvation, war. I try to highlight aid work and bring in more dollars to help the afflicted.

I always thought that if I were to get into trouble in Vermont, it would be for shooting corrupt landlords or protesters burning copies of Seven Days. But it was for parking on a rural roadside, waiting for a train.

JAMES BUCK

“Working on the Railroad: How Family-Owned Vermont Rail System Became the Little Economic Engine That Could”

James Buck in Ethiopia

Ken Picard

2022backstories

LONGEST INTERVIEW

“Not on Her Watch: A Call-Taker Advises the Anxious During a Shift on Vermont’s Suicide-Prevention Hotline”

Editors are a needy breed, always hungry for copy that’s never filed early enough. So when one tells you to slow down, it’s a good idea to listen.

In August, I learned that between the hours of 8 p.m. and 9 a.m., the newly revamped national suicide-prevention hotline was routing all Vermont calls to a single phone in the Northeast Kingdom. I couldn’t shake the image of a call-taker holed up in a small office, all alone. It’s a big responsibility, and I wanted to see it firsthand.

“I’m trying to negotiate access to spend a few hours there,” I wrote to my editors in an email.

“Not a ‘few hours,’” corrected contributing editor Candy Page. “You want the whole night.”

The whole night? I had pulled my share of all-nighters, but I’m in bed with a book by 9:30 p.m. most evenings these days. Still, I trusted Page’s instinct, so I agreed. After a whole lot of convincing, so did the nonprofit that runs the call

center. On a rainy night in November, I drove to St. Johnsbury, ready for whatever awaited.

In truth, the night was decidedly underwhelming: no dramatic rescues, only a few intense conversations. But by witnessing the entire 13-hour shift, I began to understand what a hotline job is really like: how hours of boredom and idle time can so quickly give way to moments of intensity; how, no matter how late it is or how strong the pull of sleep, call-takers must be ready to listen and offer compassion when that phone rings. The life of another may depend on it.

Walking into my apartment the next morning, I wondered if I would have come to the same conclusions if I had left halfway through the night. Probably not. I made a mental note to send Page a thank-you for pushing me beyond my comfort zone.

After a good night’s sleep.

COLIN FLANDERS

Chantelle Blackburn

2022 LIFE STORIES

BY SEVEN DAYS STAFF

One of my work email folders is labeled “Lives.” It’s a bit of a misnomer, since the folder pertains solely to people who have died.

“Lives” is internal Seven Days shorthand for “Life Stories,” our annual collection of profiles of Vermonters who died that year. We’ve been running the year-end package since we began publishing obituaries in 2014. Deputy publisher Cathy Resmer conceived and spearheaded “Life Stories” to celebrate Vermonters whose lives were interesting or extraordinary but whose names might not be known to readers. It’s now also an ongoing series that I oversee, with the invaluable help of sta writer Sally Pollak.

So I collect obituaries. Lots of them.

Combing through obits all year can be a depressing exercise. It would take a pretty calloused soul not to feel something when reading about the lives of the recently deceased in the words of their loved ones.

But I also tend to find obits life-a rming. They can be funny and illuminating and remind us of the many di erent kinds of people in the world and the endless ways to live a life. A good obit can inspire the reader to feel admiration and to wish they’d known the deceased.

“Life Stories” profiles aim to make a similar connection. We generally avoid Vermonters whose lives (or deaths) were widely covered in the media. And we strive for a range of ages and ethnic, economic and geographic backgrounds. Otherwise, we simply look for people whose stories intrigue, inspire or touch us for one reason or another.

We hope you find inspiration in the following profiles of Vermonters who died in 2022. Our deepest gratitude goes to their families and friends for sharing their life stories.

DAN BOLLES

‘She Was a Melodic Musical Genius’

SASHA TORRENS-SPERRY

Sasha Torrens-Sperry was in the sixth grade when she performed her first stage solo, during a camp for young musicians at the Flynn in Burlington. She later recalled the experience in a poem, “My First Trumpet Solo.”

“I felt fine at first,” she wrote of that seminal moment. “But then it came to my song. / I started to tremble, / I blushed a bit, / And I felt butterflies inside.”

Her mother, Abigail Sperry, rereads the poem often.

“I was looking through things after she passed away, and I found it,” she said as she sat at a co ee shop in downtown Burlington, an early winter snow falling outside the window. “I love it for so many reasons, but it showed that she had stage fright, which is so incredible with someone who’s that talented.”

“4 beats left,” Sasha’s poem counts down. “3 beats left / 2 beats left / 1 beat left.”

Sasha, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, producer and teacher, died in New York City on July 24, after a long battle with addiction. She was 29.

She was born in New York City in 1993 but moved with her family to South Burlington later that year. As a child, her musical talents were unmistakable. Both her mother and her father, Alejandro Torrens, were musicians, so it surprised no one to see the young girl sitting comfortably at the piano. But it was her ability to listen that indicated how skilled a musician Sasha would become.

“Her ear was incredible,” said musician Francesca Blanchard, who went to Champlain Valley Union High School with Sasha. The two would become collaborators when Sasha joined Blanchard’s band and played on the indie pop singer’s debut album, Deux Visions

“She could harmonize on everything,” Blanchard said. “She was a melodic musical genius. Some people have it, and she’s one of them.”

Abigail recalled Sasha as a toddler, hearing the theme song to the Nickelodeon cartoon “Rugrats.” She bolted straight for the piano and started to work out the notes to the song. She would do the same for the music she heard in video games, even figuring out how to reproduce on the piano the demo songs built into Abigail’s keyboards.

“She was that type of kid,” Abigail said.

“She loved going for challenges. She could be so fearless sometimes.”

Sasha dabbled in sports and enjoyed video games but in the end always came back to music. By the sixth grade, she had joined the Vermont Youth Orchestra, excelling on piano and trumpet. By the time she performed her first solo, her musical ability was clear.

“He cued me in,” Sasha wrote in her poem about her solo. “I stood up, / The big lights reflected on my trumpet / And I played the first note. / SQUAK!”

ABIGAIL SPERRY

Despite her stage fright, Sasha’s talents were often on display in school plays, including a 2009 production of The Pirates of Penzance. One reader of the Williston Observer wrote in after seeing the comic operetta to laud Sasha’s performance as the nursemaid-turned-pirate Ruth and to describe her “incredible singing voice” in a performance that was “some of the finest acting in the show.”

“She was also just absolutely hilarious,” Blanchard pointed out. “She was a total goo all, a ridiculous girl in the very best way.”

Abigail often thinks of her daughter’s humor, as well.

“Sometimes, in the harder moments of coping with her loss, I’ve thought about how funny she could be, how dark and sarcastic. When we were dealing with her ashes, I asked myself, ‘What would

MUSICIANS DON’T SEEM TO HAVE A LOT OF RESOURCES WHEN THEY’RE STRUGGLING.

Sasha Torrens-Sperry

Remembering Vermonters who died this year

Sasha say about this all?’ Because I knew she would have had the perfect, hilarious thing to say about it.”

After high school, Sasha attended Berklee College of Music in Boston and earned a degree in electronic production. Going from the relatively small music scene of Vermont to Berklee, a school stocked with talented musicians, caused a strain on her. She confessed to her mother how overwhelmed she was sometimes.

“Musicians don’t seem to have a lot of resources when they’re struggling,” Abigail said.

“Personal demons dictate how we are in our lives,” Blanchard added. “But even with those fears and dealing with the root of her addiction, Sasha was always so brave. I mean, she went from Berklee to New York City, and, as a musician, that is such an intense grind. You really have to back yourself.”

Sasha moved to the city in 2017 and set out to create her own music. Working under the moniker Hunnydrips, the classically trained musician moved into hip-hop and electronic music. Her Soundcloud page is full of hazy, chilled-out beats and inventive, atmospheric remixes.

“She always wanted to produce her own music,” Sasha’s cousin Edelweiss Nicole Lavandier said by phone from her home in New York City. “She really wanted her own studio in the city, too, somewhere we could play music together.”

Although they never got that studio, the two lived together for a time. They both took jobs as teachers at the Williamsburg School of Music in Brooklyn, where Sasha taught kids to sing and play piano and trumpet.

“She was so good at it,” Edelweiss said. “The kids just adored her. I could hear her voice ringing out, showing them a G minor or correcting their pitch.”

Though Abigail said Sasha was never the “babysitter type,” something about interacting with kids through music seemed to light her up and bring out her best.

“If you ask anyone who had a lesson with her, she made them feel confident,” said Abigail, who took voice lessons with her daughter. “She was so great at explaining concepts and keeping them simple at the same time.”

Edelweiss said there were happy times for her cousin in the city, but she also saw Sasha’s difficulties up close.

“Sasha got pretty bad at one point,” Edelweiss said, recalling her cousin’s struggles with drugs and alcohol. “I’ve been around addicts, so I knew what she was going through and how hard that fight really is. I started to prepare myself for that call — I was literally expecting it.”

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic left Sasha feeling both isolated and under pressure to produce more work. Though she continued making music as Hunnydrips, addiction and anxiety often hampered her abilities. She struggled with the expectation to make good on her potential and find some semblance of work-life balance.

“You make money versus making your art, and when one gets in the way of the other, you feel like you’re not doing enough,” Blanchard said. “That’s the classic trope, the curse of the creative.”

For a time, Sasha grew healthier, going through rehab and getting sober. Edelweiss was relieved to see her cousin bouncing back but worried that too much damage had already been done.

“She came over for dinner one night and sat at my piano,” Edelweiss recalled. “She was sober, and she was smiling, but it’s like I could see this hole within her, this place she couldn’t quite fill up. There was just such sadness in her sometimes.”

Now that she’s gone, Abigail finds comfort in playing her daughter’s music on the piano. A musician friend of Sasha’s took one of her compositions, transcribed it and gave it to Abigail after the memorial service. Every day, she lights a candle and plays the song, a sort of running conversation with her daughter.

“There are so many layers in her music,” Abigail said. “You can hear these little bits of her personality shine through, her classical training. Something that sounds like Ravel will pop up, and I’ll smile because I know that’s her.”

She paused, lifting the coffee cup to her lips before sharing one last thought.

“I do wish she left us more of her music.”

CHRIS FARNSWORTH

Sasha Torrens-Sperry and Abigail Sperry Sasha as a baby

A poem by Sasha

Whenever Melvin Kaplan met people — and he met many in his decades of world travel as a professional musician — it was never long before they would hear him say, “Now, that reminds me of a story...”

At heart, Mel was an entertainer. Friends and family remember him for his prolific repertoire of stories and jokes, many of which were too off-color for them to repeat to a reporter. Mel also loved entertaining people at the Charlotte home he shared with Ynez, his wife of 65 years. He was a bon vivant who collected fine wines and relished exquisite meals, many made with ingredients he grew in his garden and greenhouse. Ynez often prepared dishes from recipes she’d discovered in their travels.

But first and foremost, Mel was a worldclass oboist with a passion for classical music, whether performed by him or in concerts he organized. Trained in music from age 16 at New York City’s Juilliard School, where he served on the faculty for 30 years, Mel performed in concert halls around the world, often sharing the stage with Ynez, a Yale University-trained violist.

Years later, Mel founded an artist management company that served elite musicians. With an encyclopedic knowledge of classical music and a knack for putting together colorful programs, Mel, as cofounder and artistic director of the Vermont Mozart Festival, brought some of those world-caliber concerts to Vermonters.

“There’s something that Mel often said,” recalled his longtime colleague and friend John Hammer, who served as director of the Vermont Mozart Festival for more than five years. “‘It’s amazing. They pay me to do the most wonderful thing in the world, which is to play music.’”

Mel was born on August 29, 1929, in the Bronx, N.Y., the second of three sons of Edna and Barnet Kaplan. His parents weren’t musicians themselves, but they played classical music for the boys when they were still in the womb.

While Mel was a boy, his mother would play WQXR, a classical radio station, recalled Burton Kaplan, Mel’s younger brother.

Soon enough, Mel and his older brother Harvey were playing instruments. “When I was born, I could hear [my older brother] Harvey playing Mendelssohn violin concertos at age 12, and Melvin was playing Mozart piano sonatas at 7,” Burton said. “So all day long we heard music.”

At 12, Mel was accepted into the High School of Music & Art in Manhattan and was required to take up an orchestral instrument, according to his brother. Mel

‘All Day Long We Heard Music’

with another woman. Though its caption read, “Mel Kaplan and his wife,” in fact, the picture was of Ynez. Karen’s mother, who died in 2015, kept that clipping her whole life.

“I guess a broken heart never gets mended,” Karen said wistfully.

But Karen and Eric, who later moved to Italy with their mother, stayed in touch with their father. Each summer, they flew to New York City and spent a month with Mel, either vacationing at Ynez’s family home in rural Connecticut or at Bennington College, where Mel often ran a summer music program. Sometimes, Karen babysat for Mel and Ynez’s children, Jonathan and Christina. Despite the initial awkwardness of their family arrangement, Karen said, Ynez was always very loving toward her.

Mel’s passion for contemporary classical music led him to create the New Art Wind Quintet and then, in 1957, the New York Chamber Soloists. It was through the latter group, which Mel managed and performed with until 2015, that he and Ynez traveled the world extensively, performing concerts throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South America.

“He could land in Buenos Ares and know half the musicians there,” Hammer recalled.

In 1961, with his extensive network of musical connections, Mel founded Melvin Kaplan, Inc. — now MKI Artists — a music management company. His firm represented musicians from cities including Berlin and Leipzig, Germany; Paris; Prague; Zurich; and Tel Aviv, Israel. In 1976, Mel moved his family from New York City to Charlotte and relocated his business to downtown Burlington, where it’s still headquartered.

Mel’s son Jonathan recalled a typical workday for his father. Mel would go to his office on College Street until about noon. He’d then come home, change into his gardening clothes, and spend the afternoon working in his greenhouse or garden, raising flowers and vegetables year-round.

“He always planted peas in March,” Jonathan said. “And he grew artichokes in Vermont. I don’t know anyone else who does that.”

chose the oboe, one of the most difficult woodwind instruments.

But he was adept with his hands. Burton recalled how Mel loved making his own oboe reeds.

Though Mel loved to perform, Burton said, he hated to practice. “In that sense, he was very rebellious.”

Mel rebelled in another way — against his parents’ Orthodox Jewish faith. An avowed atheist his entire life, Mel was “rather opinionated and headstrong” in

that regard and others, Burton said, and he went on to marry outside the religion, twice.

Mel’s first wife was Teresa DiDario, a Juilliard-trained bassoonist. They had two children together, Eric and Karen. But the couple separated when the children were very young.

Karen, who was only an infant when her father left home, recalled seeing a newspaper clipping from when her parents were married; it featured a photo of Mel

In their later years, Mel and Ynez moved to Randolph to be closer to Jonathan. While he was helping them downsize, Jonathan discovered his father’s gardening notebooks. Written in them, like orchestral arrangements, were detailed plans for what he would plant that season.

In 1974, Mel and William Metcalfe cofounded the Vermont Mozart Festival, which brought acclaimed musicians to gorgeous outdoor venues such as Shelburne Farms, the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe

MELVIN IRA KAPLAN

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE KAPLAN FAMILY

Melvin Kaplan

Mel with his wife, Ynez

Clockwise from top left: Mel Kaplan, Liz Metcalfe, Alex Kougel and Ynez Kaplan

and the Basin Harbor Club in Vergennes. Over the festival’s 37-year run, thousands of Vermonters enjoyed these summer performances. Hammer said that Mel, as the artistic director, never stopped dreaming up new and interesting concerts.

“He used to put together programs like no one else could,” Hammer said. He’d call and suggest, say, doing a program on the “Three Bs” — Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms and Johann Sebastian Bach — then decorate the programs with bees.

“Mel had a twinkle in his eye, especially when he had an idea he wanted to share,” Hammer added. “And it always worked out. That’s the beauty of Mel.”

a summer intern in 2008 and meeting his gregarious boss.

“I came into this incredibly quirky o ce,” Zion said, “where I arrived every morning at eight, and he would tell me stories for about an hour, which was this incredible training in the industry.” Most were about Mel’s travels and the great musicians he’d known.

“He would talk with everyone,” Zion added. “It didn’t matter whether you were the CEO of the orchestra or the usher.”

And he was generous. After Zion and his wife were married, their honeymoon consisted of a two-week musical tour of South America that Mel had arranged

Though Mel wasn’t known for listening to or appreciating other musical genres — “I clearly remember him categorizing what I listened to as ‘noise,’” Jonathan recalled — there was a whimsical side to his programs. He once created an Alice in Wonderland-themed performance at Basin Harbor Club.

In fact, Jonathan noted, Mel loved language and could recite from memory Lewis Carroll’s famous nonsense poem “Jabberwocky” from Through the Looking-Glass “He loved palindromes and playing around with words,” Jonathan added. “But he was very serious about the music.”

Hammer agreed.

“Mel was di cult at times because he was single-minded about the music,” he said. “You don’t screw around with the program.”

But Mel never lost his rich sense of humor, his love of storytelling or his impeccable timing. John Zion, now owner and managing director of MKI Artists, remembers first going to work for Mel as

for them with the New York Chamber Soloists — and Zion, a violinist, sat in on performances. In every city they visited, Zion noted, Mel had previously performed in its concert hall and knew the musicians there.

In his final years, Mel was diagnosed with a seizure disorder. Karen said it pained him that he could no longer fly — though he was able to play the oboe until a year before he died.

Mel Kaplan died of old age on September 25, at 93. He is survived by his younger brother, four children, 11 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and two great-greatgrandchildren. Just two months later, on November 27, Ynez, also 93, joined him.

“When Dad passed away, I knew, in my heart of hearts, that Ynez would not be far behind. One couldn’t live without the other,” Karen said. “Now they’re in heaven making music together.”

KEN PICARD

Marilou Estacio liked to smack people — all in good fun, of course. For 27 years, the spirited, petite brunette with a huge smile was the host and main server at the Dutch Mill Family Restaurant in Shelburne owned by her longtime partner, Jamie Bissonette, and his family. Marilou treated every patron at the small, dinerstyle eatery as if they were visiting her home, warmly welcoming older guests and kids, teasing teenagers on dates, and sassing regulars as she juggled order tickets, coffee and omelettes.

“She would always joke with customers. She’d take our menu and slap a guy’s shoulder with it,” Jamie said. “They just loved it. They’d say, ‘Hey, how come you haven’t hit me yet?’”

Jhammar Cruz, Marilou’s son, recalled a conversation about the Dutch Mill among his Hinesburg coworkers. “Someone said, ‘Oh, you went there? Did you get smacked by Jhammar’s mom?’” he recounted with a chuckle.

Since her childhood in the Philippines, Marilou had navigated the challenges of serious kidney disease, but it was during heart surgery for a genetic condition that the 62-year-old died unexpectedly in Burlington on July 18. Hundreds of Dutch Mill patrons joined her devastated family in mourning.

Marilou’s feisty, playful manner “was her way of connecting,” said Dutch Mill regular Joanne Buermann of Shelburne. “Once you got to know her, you couldn’t find a more empathetic person. She’d remember if you’d had a tough day and check how it was going the following week.”

Pat Long, who worked for the Colchester-based Age Well nonprofit, brought groups of seniors to the Dutch Mill for weekly lunches for more than two decades. “Marilou treated everyone like they were part of the family,” Long said. “She would spend time with them, talk and joke with them. People that would never normally respond would all of a sudden come to life.”

Marilou was a “spitfire” with an “infectious” personality, Long said. “It was like she flicked the light on and made everything bright.”

Even though a memorial poster to Marilou graces the interior door of the restaurant, “people still ask about her 15 times a day,” said Jamie’s son, Michael Bissonette, who grew up in the business.

Filling the empty shoes his stepmom left at the Dutch Mill has been tough, Michael said, but it pales compared with having to tell his 5-year-old that Marilou was gone. Family photos, including several of Marilou with Michael’s two young kids, plaster one wall of the Dutch Mill. “She’d

play on the floor with them. She’d act like a kid,” Michael said. “She was a huge family person.”

Marilou spent most of her life achingly far from the Philippines and family there. The youngest of eight, she was raised by a single mom on her grandmother’s pig farm just outside Manila. Marilou earned an associate’s degree in nursing and, after she became a solo parent, left to work in Saudi Arabia in order to send money home.

Her mother cared for Jhammar from the time he was 7.

Limited economic opportunities in the Philippines oblige many people to seek work elsewhere and leave children with family, Jhammar said. Over the years, Marilou not only financially supported her son and her mother but also helped siblings, other family members and even friends.

“She was not about taking care of herself. She would take care of you first,” Jhammar said. “Sometimes she was helping someone in the Philippines and I’d say, ‘Ma, stop.’ But she would do it anyway.”

Jhammar had a happy childhood, but it

was hard growing up without his mom, he reflected. International phone calls were expensive, and they spoke infrequently, though he knew she loved him. One year, “She sent me four big birthday cakes,” Jhammar recalled. “I’ll never forget that.”

While in Saudi Arabia, Marilou met and married a Vermonter. By early 1988, she was living with her then-husband in the extended-stay motel on the Bissonette family’s Route 7 property. At the time, Marilou was on dialysis due to kidney failure; her marriage was not healthy, either, and eventually ended.

“She was down to like 85 pounds, nothing but skin and bone,” Jamie said. “I tried to help.” He petitioned for a medical visa for Marilou’s sister Emma to come from the Philippines to Vermont to be the donor for a successful kidney transplant.

On Labor Day 1988, Jamie and Marilou went on a first date to watch the sunset at Shelburne Beach. “We got rocks there,” Jamie said. “I still have them.” The following spring, she moved in.

In 1995, the Bissonettes opened the Dutch Mill Family Restaurant and Marilou took charge of the dining room. “She was a fanatic cleaner,” Jamie said. “Everything had to be precise. Every day when she got done work, everything was done: the silverware rolled, every salt and pepper shaker full.”

A year later, the couple completed paperwork to bring Jhammar, then 18, to Vermont. Marilou never learned to drive, but, over time, that provided mother and son a chance to connect while he ferried her to shopping, errands and church. She enjoyed buying clothes and her signature hats, tucked a rosary in every purse, and had an altar at home at which she’d pray before heading out.

Jhammar would text her when he was about 10 minutes away. Even so, he said with a smile, “sometimes I had to doubletext. Sometimes I had to call again. She’d say, ‘Yes, I’m coming. I’m just finishing up praying.’”

To finally have her son nearby was a gift, but, for Marilou, family went beyond blood.

Vick Miles cooked for 17 years at the Dutch Mill until he left to start his own spot nearby with Jamie and Marilou’s blessing. “There was a kind of love between us you don’t see so much between people working together,” Miles said.

Marilou called him Big Daddy, and he called her Big Mama — ironically, since neither was large. Even when orders were flying, Marilou never lost her cool, Miles said. Sometimes, she’d say, “Big Daddy, chop, chop!” to speed him up, he said. Fifteen minutes later, she’d ask, “Big Daddy, can you slow down?”

Marilou Estacio and Jamie Bissonette

Marilou

Marilou and her son Jhammar Cruz in 1984

Early on, Jamie and Marilou often headed to Burlington with Miles to shoot pool and go dancing. “She had good moves,” Miles said.

As her eight grandkids joined the family — only two of whom were bloodrelated — Marilou also became fiercely devoted to them. They all called her Lola, Filipino for grandmother.

Three granddaughters came with Gerlie Cruz, who married Jhammar in 2016. His mother went with him to all the immigration lawyer appointments required to bring his fiancée and her girls from the Philippines to the U.S. “It was teamwork with me and Mom,” Jhammar said.

Gerlie’s middle daughter, Raven Glaiza Antonio Cruz, was 20 when she arrived in Vermont. She and her older sister started helping out at the Dutch Mill and learning the ropes under Marilou’s wing. “She was feisty, but once you got her sweet side, you’re never gonna lose it,” Raven said.

After work, Marilou would cook dinner and they’d watch Filipino movies or whatever was trending, Raven said. “She was

fun to be with, a cool grandmother.” Raven started her own food business and named it Maritela’s Filipino Cuisine, partly in homage to Marilou, who became her No. 1 fan. She left little for others to buy, her granddaughter joked. “Her last text to me was, ‘I’m so proud of you.’”

When it came to supporting and protecting her people, Marilou never failed. Jhammar recalled an occasion when a stranger, “a big guy,” was staring at a female family member in an elevator. Marilou pulled all four feet, nine inches of herself up and demanded, “What the eff are you looking at?”

“She was a very strong woman,” Michael said. About six years ago, Jamie, who has diabetes, went into a coma after a failed kidney transplant. Marilou stayed positive enough for all of them, Michael said. “She took good care of him.” But, he added, if his dad gave Marilou any grief, “She’d give it right back to him.”

MELISSA PASANEN

Marilou and grandkids (from left) Dominique and Victoria Cruz and Emily Whitehill in the early 2000s

Marilou and her sister, Emma Martel

‘Rosmarie Found Beauty in Everything’

Growing up in a big, musical family in Waitsfield, Elisabeth von Trapp cherished her pink transistor radio. It came in a little leather case and fit in the palm of her hand. Making the radio more special, it was a gift from her aunt Rosmarie Trapp. She gave Elisabeth the radio that had been hers when she saw that her 11-year-old niece loved it.

“It was the beginning of attaching myself to the world of music. That was Rosmarie’s influence,” said Elisabeth, now 68 and a professional singer whose father, Werner, was Rosmarie’s brother.

Rosmarie’s generous and thoughtful acts and her kind consideration of others were central to her character and her way of being in the world, family and friends said. A member of the von Trapp clan, whose story inspired the partly fictionalized film The Sound of Music, Rosmarie died on May 13 in Morrisville. She was 93.

“She was probably the most gentle soul that I’ve ever known,” said Tobias von Trapp, 67, her godson and Elisabeth’s brother. “She had this childlike personality; everything got filtered with kindness.”

Rosmarie took to heart living the Golden Rule, he said: “Very few people wind up having that as their legacy.”

Rosmarie was born on February 8,

1929, outside of Salzburg, Austria. She was the first of Georg and Maria von Trapp’s three children and the eighth of his 10.

Georg, an acclaimed naval commander, had seven children with his first wife. They were the original members of the Trapp Family singing group, whose repertoire included Austrian folk songs, baroque and classical music, and Mozart masses.

“They would mesmerize the audience,” Elisabeth said.

Rosmarie, whose nickname was Ili, was a 9-year-old schoolgirl in 1938 when her family left Nazi-occupied Austria and traveled to the United States. (They returned to Europe in 1939 and lived in Sweden before

immigrating here permanently.) Her brother Johannes, of Stowe, said his family left their homeland for three reasons.

The first was that his father turned down a commission in the German Navy. “He couldn’t see eye to eye with the Nazi Party,” said Johannes, who will turn 84 next month.

Additionally, the oldest von Trapp sibling, Rupert, had completed medical school and, due to the “purging of Jewish doctors,” professional opportunities were abundant, Johannes said. Like his father, however, Rupert would not pursue his profession under the Nazi regime.

Finally, the von Trapps were invited to perform at a birthday party for Adolf

Hitler. “The family said, ‘No, we can’t do that,’” Johannes recounted. With a U.S. concert tour booked, they fled.

The von Trapps lived in Lower Merion, Pa., for a few years before moving to Stowe in 1942. They had visited the Lamoille County mountain town on summer trips to beat the Philadelphia-area heat, and they found their future home — high in the hills with a view of the Worcester Range — on their way to give a concert for soldiers stationed at a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in Stowe.

“I think the cultural landscape of Vermont, with its villages and a church and a steeple and farm fields and forested hillsides, was very evocative of Austria,” Johannes said.

Young Rosmarie, who sang soprano and played the recorder, joined the family musical group at about age 12. The von Trapps would set aside their work on building and farming projects at home when it was time to pack the bus for a concert tour, Elisabeth said. For Rosmarie, this could be difficult because she had stage fright, Johannes said.

“None of us was a terribly public person except for my mother,” he said. “The stage life was an effort for all of us. It was too much for Rosmarie.”

But Johannes, president of Trapp Family Lodge, has fond memories of the family’s early years at home in Stowe. “We were all living here at the time, and there were no guests, and life was great,” he said.

In 1947, five years after the family moved to Stowe, Georg died at age 67. His death was particularly hard for 18-yearold Rosmarie, Johannes said. She mostly stopped performing, he said.

“She was a dear, sweet person,” Johannes said, and “fragile emotionally.”

After Georg died, the family transformed their home into a lodge, a change that occurred almost naturally, Johannes said. The size of the family made for a small crowd, and when friends visited, there were often 12 or 15 people for dinner. When family friends asked if their friends could visit, the von Trapps began to charge for the stay, he said. His mother handled lodging arrangements and other logistics. His sisters cooked meals, and Johannes washed pots and pans.

“Entertaining our guests was very simple,” he said. “We would stop cooking and serving and just sing. It was great fun.”

In Rosmarie’s room, which had bunk beds for sleepovers, she welcomed (and entertained) her young niece and nephews. It was fun and exciting for the kids to stay with their Tante Ili, who kept a jar of pickles on her mantelpiece. Late at night, after Maria was asleep, Rosmarie led Elisabeth

ROSMARIE

Rosmarie Trapp circa 1951 on tour in Hawaii

Rosmarie COURTESY OF CAROL COLLINS

PHOTO BY WERNER VON TRAPP/COURTESY OF THE VON

and her brothers downstairs to raid the kitchen. On winter visits, she skated with the kids on the pond.

“She was very playful and very outgoing,” Elisabeth said.

Rosmarie, who dropped the “von” from her last name decades ago, also led sing-alongs at Trapp Family Lodge, where one of her favorite songs to sing was “You Are My Sunshine.”

She also built a life outside Vermont, though the Green Mountain State was her home base and a source of pleasure. “Rosmarie found beauty in everything she looked at,” her nephew Sam von Trapp said.

and early 2000s, Rosmarie lived and worked on a kibbutz in Israel.

“She loved being there,” Sam said. “God was a huge force in her life, and I think she felt very close to God in Israel.”

daily search, calling his anxious ‘Sol-Mi, Sol-Mi’ cry, a mournful feeling came over me and my eyes started to tear up,” Rosmarie wrote.

Our Lady of the Peace, in gratitude for having survived the war, Tobias said.

TOBIAS VON TRAPP

Rosmarie’s trips away included living in New Guinea, where from 1956 to 1962 she worked as a lay missionary, joining her sister Maria Franziska. (Johannes was there for a portion of that time, too.)

Rosmarie lived in Pittsburgh in the 1980s, her family said, where she was affiliated with a Christian community. In the 1990s

Between excursions she maintained various Vermont projects. She ran thrift stores in Waitsfield and Stowe, where she gave away clothing to people in need, Johannes said. She was a prolific letter-writer to the Stowe Reporter, which reserved space for Rosmarie’s writing under the banner “Rosmarie’s Corner.” She composed vignettes and slice-of-life stories and delivered them to the newsroom written in pencil on lined paper, publisher Greg Popa said.

In a June 2018 letter, Rosmarie described the “traumatic event” of her cat killing a chickadee that had come to eat at her bird feeder. She observed what occurred in the days that followed.

“When the mate kept returning for a

Rosmarie practiced calligraphy and was a talented spinner and crocheter. She raised sheep and carded and spun their wool. She was a longtime member of the Valley Friendly Spinners, a spinning guild she joined after meeting its organizer, Carol Collins of South Duxbury, at the Waterbury Farmers Market in 1990. Collins was demonstrating her craft when Rosmarie appeared and asked, “May I spin on your wheel?”

“Rosmarie was extremely generous and somewhat eccentric,” Collins said. “And she was our most dedicated, most eager and most enthusiastic member.”

For many years, Rosmarie was an active and engaged parishioner at the Stowe Community Church, the 1863 whitesteepled house of worship in the village center. In the sanctuary, she read prayers she collected from the stone chapel her brother Werner built on a knoll behind the lodge. He constructed it after his return from military service in the 10th Mountain Division. Werner dedicated the chapel to

Rosmarie described Werner’s work in one of her 2018 newspaper submissions: “With a stoneboat and tractor, he hauled cement, water, sand and lots of rocks, hand-picked from stone walls up the hill. Now it is a goal for many hikers.”

Decades after her brother built the chapel, Rosmarie would hike half a mile to collect prayers that visitors wrote and left there.

“We read them aloud to each other,” Marylou Durett, the church’s administrative assistant, said. “And, of course, to God.”

In 2017, Rosmarie moved into an apartment on the Mountain Road, where she lived with her cat, Trinity. Johannes smiled when he recalled visiting his sister there. He noted that she always had grapes and dates for his young grandsons, her grandnephews, who are among the youngest of the scores of von Trapp descendants who survive Rosmarie.

“The last five years of her life were the most peaceful,” Johannes said.

SALLY POLLAK

SHE WAS PROBABLY THE MOST GENTLE SOUL THAT I’VE EVER KNOWN.

‘He Loved Fixing Things. He Loved Helping People.’

DWAYNE JAMES CORMIER, August 28, 1966-October 16, 2022

When brothers Dwayne and George Cormier were kids in the 1970s, one of their favorite pastimes was fixing broken machinery they had retrieved from the dump. They resurrected a riding lawn mower to cut neighbors’ lawns in their hometown of Breaux Bridge, La. They revived toaster ovens, fixed vacuum cleaners and found a particularly ingenious way to use a certain toy.

“We made an alarm system with an old toy sewing machine, trying to keep our sisters out of our room,” George said with a chuckle by phone from his offshore jobsite. The boys had five sisters. “We attached a piece of wire and some tinfoil so a little vibration would make it go off.”

Such smarts and resourcefulness would carry into the brothers’ adulthood, as would generosity, kindness and a work ethic that ensured success. But one brother’s life was cut short unexpectedly this year.

Dwayne died of sudden cardiac arrest in his North Hero home on Sunday, October 16, at age 56. He left behind his beloved wife, Pam Cuneo; his three adult children; numerous siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles; countless friends; and a community that wonders how it will function without him.

Not only did Dwayne employ as many as 18 people at a time at his company, DC Energy Innovations, but he was a member of the North Hero Volunteer Fire Department for more than 20 years, and he volunteered for the North Hero Historical Society, the North Hero School and the annual Great Ice! celebration.

A certified master electrician, he knew what all the buttons at the Ed Weed Fish Culture Station in Grand Isle did, how to raise the old drawbridge on Route 2, how everything ran at the North Hero Town Hall and at neighboring store Hero’s Welcome, and how to work the elementary school alarm, said fellow North Hero firefighter and longtime friend Jim Benson.

“He had the keys and the codes for every place. Dwayne could go anywhere,” Benson said. “He could fix anything and everything. Nothing’s gonna run the same anymore, ever.”

To the very last minute of his life, Dwayne “loved his work,” Pam said. “He loved fixing things. He loved helping people.”

He was a consummate learner and patient teacher who never took shortcuts. “If he couldn’t do it safely, the right way, he wouldn’t do it,” George remarked.

And Dwayne’s generosity was boundless. “Dwayne was a giver,” said North Hero fire chief Mike Murdock in his eulogy at the October 23 memorial service at the town hall. “He was always willing to help in just about any situation … And Dwayne had one tool that just put people at ease: It was his smile.” Dwayne’s slight Louisiana accent, coupled with that big smile and kind eyes, epitomized southern hospitality.

Despite his skills and abilities, Dwayne was humble and could be soft-spoken. “He never bragged about anything he did,” his aunt Hazel Theriot said by phone from Louisiana. “On the contrary, he would play down his accomplishments.”

In their younger years, Dwayne and George were “very industrious, innovative and curious children,” Hazel recalled. But their lives weren’t easy. Their father, Earl Cormier, who was Hazel’s brother, was in high demand as a ranch hand on Louisiana cattle farms. He was an alcoholic, Hazel said, and their mother, Yvonne, wasn’t very nurturing.

“As soon as we could ride horses, we were out there helping my dad with cattle,” George recalled.

Earl and Yvonne divorced when the boys were in their early teens, and the family split: The boys and their sister Laura went with Earl, and three girls stayed with Yvonne. The oldest girl had already married, Hazel said.

Earl stopped working as a ranch hand and began traveling a lot. “My dad was hardly ever around,” George recalled. He and Dwayne relied on each other and various family members, including Hazel, her husband and the children’s grandparents. “They would invite us to come eat good home-cooked meals,” George said.

In high school, Dwayne continued to work with horses. According to old papers Pam found in their home, he studied in Oklahoma City to become a farrier in 1984, at age 18. Before he graduated from high school (a few years later than his peers), the young man had started his own farrier business. He also took college courses in electrical systems and electronics. By 1987, he had a job caring for Arabian horses at a prestigious farm in Florida.

Above: Dwayne volunteering at North Hero’s Great Ice! in February 2020. Right: Dwayne, Pam and Trooper in 2022

Top row: Dwayne Cormier, Jonathan Cormier, Ryan Cormier; bottom row: Pam Cuneo, Shachi Desai and Sarah Cormier on Thanksgiving in 2021 in Louisiana

COURTESY OF JIM BENSON

COURTESY OF GEORGE CORMIER

was a 1968 32-foot Chris Craft Sea Skiff double-engine touring boat designed to sleep four, friend Ev Kettler said. A boat and mandolin builder himself, Kettler has been tasked with finding someone to take , for free

unstable lake ice, so he researched solutions and helped the department procure an air boat, a flat-bottomed craft propelled by a large fan.

Not long after the firefighters were trained to use the boat, a call came in from the Clarenceville Firemen’s Association in Québec. Dwayne and his air boat saved three men from icy deaths. Afterward, “Dwayne was glowing,” fire chief Murdock recalled. “He was so happy. I think he smiled nonstop for a week.”

THE SAME ANYMORE, EVER.

Dwayne’s inventiveness also shone in the used Zamboni he purchased and fixed up to condition a skating area on the lake. He built various attractions with family and friends for North Hero’s annual Great Ice! festival: notably, the dunk-the-fireman game and colored-light ice labyrinths. Dwayne posted videos about some of his projects on his YouTube channel, including one with more than 29,000 views on how to fix a vent blower in a 2014 Dodge Ram.

On Sundays, Dwayne and Pam, a fulltime endodontic assistant, took time to sleep in, take walks with their dog, Trooper, and practice Argentine tango. They’d begun learning the dance roughly 10 years ago and devoted many hours to drills and social time with tango friends.

“He has been tinkering with it for 22 years,” Pam said of Dwayne and his boat, “and it has never been in the water in all that time.” He was eternally optimistic about his capacity to fix things, she said, but “He wasn’t great with time

So how did he run a thriving business, volunteer for numerous local organizations and raise a family? “He would just get up really early in the morning and go to work,” said Benson, his friend and fellow firefighter. “He had no time extra to give

The North Hero Volunteer Fire Department responds to about 70 calls per year, Benson said, and Dwayne would come to about 60 of them. A few years ago, Dwayne decided the department needed a better way to rescue people and animals from

Dwayne had a heart condition called ventricular tachycardia and got a pacemaker in his early thirties. It was on one of those Sundays that his heart went into ventricular fibrillation and the pacemaker couldn’t correct it. He had a heart attack and died quickly, unresponsive to Pam’s expertly administered CPR.

At Dwayne’s memorial service, there were 60 firefighters from local departments in full uniform, 18 fire trucks, two ambulances, one police car and the air boat. The hall was packed with people. “I’ve never been to a firefighter funeral so big,” Benson said.

Over the years, many people looked up to Dwayne: George, Benson, David and Sarah among them. “I’m always trying to be like him,” Sarah said.

As fire chief Murdock came to the end of his eulogy and people were wiping away tears, he remarked, “Just imagine how beautiful the world would be if we all were a little more like Dwayne.”

ELIZABETH M. SEYLER

Dwayne as a teen

Firefighters and EMTs from the region at Dwayne’s memorial service in October

COURTESY OF JIM BENSON

COURTESY OF PAM CUNEO

Growing up on a dairy farm in East Calais, Tim Luce said last week, he was schooled in “traditional values” and was taught “the difference between right and wrong.”

His uncle Don Luce would have been brought up the same way on that same hardscrabble farm, Tim, 68, added. But Don, who died of a heart attack last month at age 88, underwent sharp shifts in his understanding of what constituted right and wrong.

Initially an admirer of ultraright senator Joseph McCarthy and a believer that “America was doing good in the world,” Don became an outspoken and influential opponent of the U.S. war in Vietnam. His impact was such that Graham Martin, the last U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam, said at a Senate hearing in 1976 that an antiwar group led by Don had proved to be “one of the best propaganda and pressure campaigns the world has ever seen.” In fact, Martin added, a “principal element” in the U.S. defeat in Vietnam was “the multifaceted activities of Mr. Don Luce.”

As further — and final — testaments to his place in American history, Luce’s life was extensively chronicled in obituaries in both the New York Times and the Washington Post. The Times’ headline described Luce as an “activist who helped end the Vietnam war.”

His opposition to the conflict in Indochina resonated so powerfully because Don was seen as an idealistic young American with personally acquired knowledge of Vietnamese culture and society. He lived in Vietnam from 1958 until his expulsion in 1971, working most of that time as an agriculture specialist with Washington, D.C.-based International Voluntary Services. Fluent in Vietnamese, Don was able to see the war through the eyes of peasants and displaced rural families. In a widely circulated open letter to president Lyndon Johnson in 1967, he and 48 other disillusioned IVS staffers warned that “the war as it is presently being waged is self-defeating in approach.”

He expanded that critique in a 1969 book, Vietnam: The Unheard Voices, that he coauthored with former IVS team leader John Sommer. “Because American understanding of the people has been so limited,” they wrote, “the tactics devised to assist them have been either ineffective or counterproductive. They have served to create more Viet Cong than they have destroyed.”

Don succeeded most dramatically in stoking revulsion against the war through his 1970 exposé of a clandestine torture center run by the U.S.-allied South Vietnam government on an island 60 miles off the country’s coast. He had accompanied a U.S. congressional delegation to the Central Intelligence Agency-funded installation,

‘He’d Describe Himself as Just a Farm Boy From Vermont’

The pictures ran in a July 1970 edition of mass-market Life magazine. They triggered widespread protests in the U.S. and international condemnations, which forced the South Vietnamese authorities to stop putting people in cages too cramped for standing upright.

Don’s role in uncovering the atrocities resulted in his expulsion from Vietnam. It also nearly cost him his life. Don’s husband, Mark Bonacci, recalled in an interview that “several attempts were made to kill him.” One involved putting a poisonous snake in Don’s bed while he was away from his Saigon apartment.

“Don wasn’t the neatest person,” Mark said, “so when he saw that his bed had been made, he was immediately suspicious.” The snake — known in Vietnam as a “two-step” because that’s how far someone would get after being bitten — wriggled under the bedcovers. “Don’s big regret afterwards was that he had had to kill the snake,” Mark recounted.

Don was gentle and soft-spoken with an understated style of leadership, said his widower, a professor of human services at Niagara County Community College in New York. He was also “very naïve,” believing that people are basically good and deserved to be taken on their own terms. That attitude extended even to Pol Pot, the Cambodian communist leader held responsible for the deaths of nearly 2 million civilians. Don shared a chicken dinner with Pol Pot at his jungle hideaway in 1979 while accompanying a television crew on an interview assignment.

“I would say Pol Pot is an evil madman,” Mark said. “But Don would say, ‘If we don’t try to understand his kind of twisted logic, it could happen again.’”

Don and Mark became partners after meeting in a Greenwich Village bar in 1979; they married in 2008. During the 1990s, while Don worked at IVS’ office in Washington, Mark lived in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and they commuted to be together on weekends.

Don moved to Niagara Falls in 1997 and went to work for Community Missions of Niagara Frontier, a nonprofit that provides mental health services and operates a shelter and soup kitchen. Don did publicity for the organization and also worked directly with clients. Mark recently received a condolence note from a woman whom Don had assisted in finding and moving into an affordable apartment.

which South Vietnam officials insisted was an ordinary prison. But an ex-prisoner had given Don a hand-drawn map that showed the location of a secret door in the prison leading to a warren of tiny cells known as tiger cages.

Two members of Congress were with

Don as one of their aides took photos of some of the 500 political opponents of the South Vietnam government who were caged in horrific conditions. Don later wrote: “I remember clearly the terrible stench of diarrhea and the open sores where shackles cut into prisoners’ ankles.”

It was life on that East Calais dairy farm that set Don on the course that took him to Vietnam, several other countries and to a Niagara Falls agency caring for indigent people. When giving speeches around the country, Don would explain that his actions were based on values, not ideology, Mark

DONALD SANDERS LUCE,

Don Luce (center) with former prisoners of the South Vietnamese government

Don Luce

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TED LIEVERMAN

said: “He’d describe himself as just a farm boy from Vermont.”

The 220-acre dairy farm owned by his parents, Collins Luce and Margaret (Sanders) Luce, relied on horses for hauling and on wood for heating, Don recalled in a 2015 YouTube interview. His father, “a strong Republican,” had wanted him to become a mechanic or something similarly “manly,” while his mother, an elementary school teacher and “a strong Democrat,” wanted him to attend college.

A voracious reader and a diligent student, Don gained admission to the University of Vermont on a scholarship. He graduated in 1956 with a degree in farm management and earned a master’s in agricultural development from Cornell University in 1958.

While at UVM, Don worked in the cafeteria and as a resident assistant in a dorm. “The first kind of radical thing I did,” he said on YouTube, was to defend a group of Korean War veterans whom the dean of students had wanted to expel from UVM because they had been caught with a single can of beer. Don argued that expulsion would wreck the lives of these young men. “And we won” that case, he recalled with a smile.

TIM LUCE

Don’s three siblings — now all deceased — had remained in Vermont all their lives, nephew Tim said. “Uncle Don was different,” he added. “He wanted to get out and see the world. Which he sure did do.”

KEVIN J. KELLEY

UNCLE DON WAS DIFFERENT. HE WANTED TO GET OUT AND SEE THE WORLD.

Don

and Mark Bonacci

His full name was James Richard Varno, but everyone knew him as Butch. He loved chocolate cake, Old Spice aftershave and watching James Bond movies, particularly Goldfinger, according to his cousin, Rita Brown. And in the words of the late Russ Reilly, Middlebury College’s former athletic director and men’s basketball coach, Butch possessed an “unsinkable spirit.”

Butch was born in Middlebury, lived his whole life there and died of pneumonia at Helen Porter Rehabilitation & Nursing on October 14. He was six weeks shy of his 76th birthday.

Butch was a small-town person with a big story that reached sports fans around the world — not because he was an athlete, though he wanted to be one, but because he was a superfan of Middlebury College’s football and men’s basketball teams for more than 60 years. He liked watching different sports, both in person and on TV, but those two teams and the generations of athletes who played on them were what he loved most.

The story that made Butch a little bit famous goes like this: When he was 13, his grandmother, Mabel Varno, took him to a Middlebury College football game, and it started to snow partway through. Butch was born with cerebral palsy and needed a wheelchair to get around. As his grandmother wheeled him home, the chair got stuck in the snow. A college student named Roger Ralph happened to be driving by and stopped to help.

After Ralph gave Butch and Mabel a ride home that evening, Ralph got some of his friends together to give Butch rides to subsequent games. Football players brought Butch to basketball games; basketball players brought him to football games. The students would go to his home in town, where he lived with his mother, Helen Varno, and load him and his wheelchair into their car. At the games, they’d help him stand for the national anthem. Together, they’d cheer the good plays, commiserate over the lousy ones, eat snacks, talk sports. This went on for decades.

“It just became ingrained in our athletic program that this is what we do,” said Jeff Brown (no relation to Rita), head coach of the Middlebury men’s basketball team since 1997 and Butch’s legal guardian for the last three years of his life.

In 2007, “CBS Evening News” ran a feature story on the tradition that had become known as “Picking Up Butch.” Reilly told the interviewer, “I’m sure every student going into this is wondering, What does this really mean? Who is this guy? Why is he so special?”

It was his smile, said Tiffany Nourse

‘He Had a Huge Heart and a Strong Will’

around the sixth inning, they announced that Butch Varno was at the game,” recalled Brown, who accompanied Butch to Fenway Park. “The cameras zeroed in on him and put him on the jumbotron. He was over the moon!”

While Butch appreciated the attention from sports journalists, college presidents and stadium cameras, he valued the attention he got from college students far more.

“He loved the interactions, and he loved being on campus,” Sargent said. “There was nothing he liked better than being surrounded by friends at a football game or basketball game.”

In the 1990s, after Butch had been going to Middlebury games for 30 years, staff at the Center for Community Engagement built a formal volunteer program around him and dubbed it Butch’s Team. The goal was to create a “fuller connection,” according to Sargent.

“Athletics always played a huge role, and we collaborated with them to fill in gaps,” she said. “There were days and weeks when the teams weren’t in season, and that could get lonely for Butch.”

Student volunteers visited Butch at his house and later at Helen Porter, where they played Monopoly and read the college newspaper together. They went for walks because he loved being outside. Students were trained to use a college van that had a wheelchair lift so they could transport him around town even more safely.

“He was such a loving and enthusiastic person,” said Margaux Eller, a Middlebury junior who was part of Butch’s Team. “He really cared about all of our lives. He knew who my family members were, and he’d always ask how they were doing. He’d ask how I was doing in school. If I told him I was struggling in one of my classes, he’d be so encouraging. He’d say, ‘You’re smart; you got this.’ I really appreciated that.”

Butch was smart, too, Rita said. With help from college-student tutors, he earned his GED in 2003. He maintained a painstaking and extensive collection of news clippings about his favorite sports teams, which he stored in an old-fashioned briefcase. While being at home most of the time meant he watched a lot of TV, it was C-SPAN as much as it was ESPN. Presidential politics fascinated him.

Sargent, the former director of Middlebury College’s Center for Community Engagement. “Butch would just light up when he saw somebody he knew or made a new friend,” she said. “He had a huge heart and a strong will. He was aware of his vulnerability, but he never let it hold him back. Whatever was going on, he wanted to be a part of it.”

Before the CBS feature, Sports Illustrated published a story about Butch; features by

ESPN and the Boston Globe followed. Butch relished the spotlight.

“He loved to have his picture taken, no doubt about that,” Rita recalled.

When Middlebury College president Laurie Patton was inaugurated in 2015, Butch was the first person she welcomed by name in her remarks.

More recently, Butch was invited to attend a Boston Red Sox game.

“We were sitting right at field level, and

“He always wanted to talk about what was going on nationally or internationally,” Sargent said.

He liked President Joe Biden, according to Rita. Didn’t care much for Donald Trump. Loved the Los Angeles Dodgers. You couldn’t even mention the New York Yankees to him.

Rita knew Butch better than anyone, after growing up with him and helping to take care of him throughout his life. She

JAMES RICHARD “BUTCH” VARNO, NOVEMBER 29, 1946-OCTOBER 14, 2022

Butch Varno with former Middlebury College basketball player Kevin Kelleher Jr.

knew that he preferred orange Crush over orange Fanta, that his nickname came from the short buzzed haircuts he got as a kid and that, before he moved to Helen Porter in 2006, he sometimes drank a gallon of milk a day.

He loved listening to classic rock on an old-school boom box — the heavier the bass, the better. At Helen Porter, he liked to hang out near the front entrance and watch the cars drive in and out, even when he wasn’t waiting for friends from the college to come for a visit.

“To anybody who walked by, Butch would say, ‘Hello, how are you today?’” Rita

said. “It didn’t matter whether he knew the person or not. He always had a greeting for them.”

That goodwill extended, of course, to the student athletes whom he adored so much. During halftime huddles at basketball games, Butch would often join in and offer words of encouragement to the players.

“His message frequently centered around how fortunate the athletes were,” Brown said. “He would say, ‘I wish I could play, but I’m in this chair, so I can’t.’ It was a great lesson to learn as a college student — to really appreciate what you have.”

NOURSE SARGENT

Butch was open about his disability and how it affected him. In his interview for the ESPN feature, he said, “That’s what cerebral palsy does — it takes away what you want to do with your life.” He didn’t specify what that might have been, besides being able to play sports. But Rita knows.

“Butch always said that he wished he could have been a coach,” she said.

In a way, he was.

“He reminded us of why being together was important at all moments of life,” Patton and director of athletics Erin Quinn wrote in a message to the campus community after Butch died.

“His impact was just amazing,” Brown added. “At football games, I’d spend part of the game sitting with him, and there was always a constant flow of people coming over to say hello.”

Butch’s legacy will extend beyond those friendly moments, thanks to a group of alumni who, years ago, contributed money to help the college help Butch. The Center for Community Engagement established a small endowment and named it the Community Response Fund. One of the conditions stated that upon Butch’s death, the endowment would be renamed the Butch Varno Community Response Fund and would be used to support other local needs.

In 2008, when Helen Varno died, Reilly became Butch’s legal guardian. When Reilly died in 2019, Brown took on that role.

“When I think of all the things I’ve been able to do at Middlebury College, that’s probably my No. 1 favorite thing,” he said. “To be there for Butch really deepened our relationship as friends.”

Butch would have loved to hear that. And he would have loved the fact that three basketball players and three football players served as pallbearers at his funeral.

“He was quite proud of the depth of loyalty that people felt to and for him,” Sargent said.

JENNIFER SUTTON

HE WAS AWARE OF HIS VULNERABILITY, BUT HE NEVER LET IT HOLD HIM BACK.

TIFFANY

Butch with members of the 1972-73 Middlebury College men’s basketball team

Butch with members of the Middlebury College football team

‘He Was Like a Guy Out of a Movie’

Left mostly to their own devices, they followed starkly di erent paths: While Je did his homework and went to sleep at a reasonable hour, Brad snuck out his bedroom window and caroused. (Precisely what he got up to is still a mystery to Je , though he suspects it involved music and, quite possibly, weed.) For years, Je said, he was clueless about Brad’s nocturnal life, not that he thinks his intervention would have made a lick of di erence. “Brad was going to be Brad, no matter what,” he said.

After graduating from high school in 1973, Brad enlisted in the U.S. Navy, without telling his parents, and spent his duty assignment in Italy. He opposed the Vietnam War, according to his former partner, Cassandra Edson, but he “was not the kind of hippie who was going to avoid the war,” as she put it. He never saw combat, but he knew people who fought and died. “I think that absolutely haunted him his whole life,” Callahan said.

In 1980, not long after he got out of the Navy, Brad came to Burlington, where he found his spiritual home in the city’s music and biker scenes. The first time Edson met him, on New Year’s Eve 1990, he was rebuilding his motorcycle from the sea of parts he’d scattered across every available inch of surface area in his room.

If you spent some quality time in the downtown Burlington bar and music scene over the past two decades, you probably caught a glimpse of Bradley Pascoe, one of the Queen City’s great nightlife flâneurs and uno cial after-hours ambassadors. In his debonair suit and top hat, Brad would roam the streets, selling roses to late-night revelers or simply giving them away in exchange for a smile.

Nothing brought Brad more joy than finding beauty in the world and sharing it with others. This quest occasionally led him to some weird places — such as the dumpster of a wholesale florist on Shelburne Road, from which he rescued his roses. “He was like a guy out of a movie,” said his longtime friend, Gayle Callahan. “Half the time, if he was drinking, he wouldn’t make it home, and he’d sleep right where he was on the street. But he still dressed the part of a gentleman, and he would give you the shirt o his back, even though he had nothing.”

Brad was a master of improvisation. A virtuosic guitar player, he could transform a social gathering into an intimate communal experience, and he was renowned for his ability to whip up a delicious meal from a bare cupboard. His passion for music might have been rivaled only by his love of working

on motorcycles and bikes. For years, he ran his own shop, Pascoe Cycles, which he began in his front yard in the Old North End and later moved to Pearl Street. But just as he did with his roses, he would sooner give a bike away for free than turn down a customer who couldn’t a ord one. He had a troubadour’s soul and a mischievous charm, said

Callahan: “He was one of the few people I knew who could be working on his bike in one breath and reciting Yeats in another.”

Until the end of his life, Brad struggled with alcoholism, which likely contributed to his death. He died in April in Tucson, Ariz., at the age of 66, following complications caused by a gastric ulcer.

Brad grew up in Lexington, Mass., the younger of two sons. His mother, Corinne McIntyre, now in her nineties, was an artist; his father, Kenneth, who died in 2014, was an engineer and a brigadier general in the National Guard. Brad’s older brother, Je , remembers him as a kid with a big imagination and a soft heart. He rarely went anywhere without his blue corduroy elephant, Raisin, whose birthday the family celebrated.

When he was 4 years old, his parents gave him his first guitar for Christmas, and from that day on, he never stopped playing music. In first or second grade, Brad took to wearing cowboy boots, which became his signature footwear as an adult. For a time, he kept a chicken as a pet and walked it around the neighborhood on a leash.

When the boys were 10 and 12 years old, their parents divorced. From that point on, Je said, “we weren’t subject to a whole lot of discipline or supervision.”

The two started dating shortly afterward, and in 1992 they had a daughter, Ariel. After Ariel was born, the couple moved into a red Victorian with sagging floors on North Winooski Avenue, which their friends came to know as “the Red House.” The couple split up when Ariel was a year old, but Brad remained a devoted and whimsical co-parent, Edson said: “I earned the money and made sure the housing was paid for, but he made sure that Ariel had a magical childhood.”

When Ariel spent weekends with Brad, she got to know the neighborhood characters who would drop by the Red House to hear him play guitar on the porch. “He showed Ariel how to hang out with people in an unscripted way,” Edson said. The two wrote music together, and they shared a fondness for cats, two of which Brad adopted for her.

When Brad’s landlord got fed up with the bicycle menagerie in the front yard, in the early ’90s, Brad moved his shop to Pearl Street, near Bove’s restaurant, where he fixed and sold bikes until 2003. He never made much money, according to Callahan, but for Brad, money was never the point. “He just wanted to put people on two wheels,” she said.

Brad had studied music at Burlington College for a few semesters in the mid-’80s, but he preferred to hone his craft by playing his 12-string Martin guitar for

Bradley outside his home on North Winooski Avenue in Burlington

Bradley Pascoe outside his bike shop in Burlington in the late ’90s/early 2000s

other people. He performed his repertoire of original compositions and folk and Americana songs — John Prine, Willie Nelson and Bob Seger were some of his mainstays — at open mics around town. Sometimes, Brad would stand outside the Flynn and serenade theatergoers as they came and went, which is how Callahan and her husband, Joe, first met him. “He had this amazing soul, like no one else I’d ever met,” Callahan said. “He would look you in the eye and know just what song to play for you, and you could feel the decent human and free spirit he was.”

After racking up too many DUIs, Brad lost his driver’s license, along with his ability to legally cruise around on his ’65 Harley Davidson Pan-Shovel named Gandalf. (According to Callahan, Brad, ever the improviser, would occasionally change the paint job on Gandalf to keep the cops o his trail.) But Brad wasn’t the sort to let logistics cramp his style. Just before the Callahans got married, in 1996, he had surgery at the Veterans Administration hospital in White River Junction to remove a cancerous skin tumor. After his procedure, against medical advice, he

signed himself out and hitchhiked the 45 or so miles to West Topsham Church. He arrived just in time to play guitar at the Callahans’ wedding ceremony.

GAYLE CALLAHAN

“You couldn’t not fall in love with Brad,” Courtney said. “He had this presence that was almost magical.”

After he and Courtney broke up, Brad moved to Tucson, where the Callahans had a condo. The end of his relationship with Courtney had been painful, Gayle Callahan said, and he hoped a change of scenery would do him good.

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By all accounts, Brad had perfect pitch and a finely calibrated ear. “He could play any song I asked him to play,” said Courtney Burns, whom Brad married in 2009. “Even those Joni Mitchell chords that are, like, impossible.” (Courtney, who frequented the bars of Burlington, had received several roses from Brad over the years before they o cially got together.)

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moved to her parents’ house in Georgia, Vt., where Brad started refurbishing antique bikes and selling them on Craigslist. In the summer, he and Courtney would crisscross the state in search of rare and unusual specimens. Once, at a yard sale in Fletcher, Courtney remembers, Brad spotted an antique postal carrier bike, for which he paid $15. He later sold it for more than $1,000.

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After he and Burns got married, they

His health was beginning to deteriorate, but in Tucson, Brad seemed to turn a kind of spiritual corner. Following a death in his family, Brad had come into some money, and he used it to take over the lease of the Callahans’ condo and buy himself a 2004 Porsche Boxster convertible, which he drove with the top down, wearing a dapper white button-down and a leather vest. He played guitar by the pool under the stars each night; at the local watering hole, people would ask him questions about their motorcycles, and Brad would o er his expertise.

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Courtney and Brad split up in 2017, though they were still legally married when Brad died. Until the end of his life, she said, they cared deeply for each other.

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“I feel like, for a long time in his life, he was trying to get to a place he couldn’t get to — not just a physical place but an emotional place,” Callahan said. “And I think he finally got there.”

CHELSEA EDGAR

Bradley Pascoe

food+drink Seven Surprises of 2022

Seven Days food writers look back on the year’s unexpected highlights

BY JORDAN BARRY & MELISSA PASANEN • jbarry@sevendaysvt.com, pasanen@sevendaysvt.com

In this world, there are glass-half-full people and glass-half-empty people. If we were the latter, we would focus on what the Vermont food scene lost this year: Chittenden County Asian restaurant pioneer Silver Palace in South Burlington; the OG wood-fired Pizza on Earth in Charlotte; the Bearded Frog in Shelburne; and Burlington favorites such as Half Pint Farm, Knead Bakery, Penny Cluse Café and Sweetwaters.

But we choose to be on Team Glass Half Full. Favorites come and go; that’s

a natural part of life and business. We think it’s more fun to celebrate the gains and revel in the happy surprises. Here are seven to which we’d like to raise a full glass.

M.P.

TACO TOWN

Northern Vermont has no shortage of tacos. But this year it felt like really good tacos were popping up everywhere — often

in unexpected spots, such as coffee shops, parks and even theaters.

Take the Qué Rico Taquería event on February 28 at the Double E Performance Center in Essex, where a line snaked through the bar area. People waited for their food while watching the late, famed Mexican singer Vicente Fernández on the theater’s big screen.

Qué Rico Taquería is the side hustle of Stephen Coggio, executive chef at Cloud 9 Caterers. He brings culinary

From left: Lauren Ebersol, José Ureña and Weslie Khoo of Casa Birria

Martini and two-piece chicken dinner with greens and herbs and summer vegetable succotash at Onion City Chicken & Oyster

FILE:

school training and time spent working and traveling in Mexico to his excellent tacos, which at the February event featured slowcooked carnitas, braised-then-fried tripe and marinated pork shoulder. Qué Rico Taquería continued to pop up in various spots this year, mostly at Manhattan Pizza & Pub in Burlington.

In late September, Mario Dominguez Hernandez and Anne Kellogg of Las Hermosas began holding regular taco nights at Vivid Coffee Roasters in Burlington, which will continue into the New Year. Dominguez Hernandez, a native of Mexico City and a professional cook for more than two decades, knows his adobo-marinated beef and slow-cooked carnitas. He has an equally deft touch with vegetarian options, such as roasted cauliflower with golden raisins and sweet potatoes with poblano peppers. Freshly made salsas are punchy and freshly fried chips crunchy.

Casa Birria dipped into the new summer BTV Market in Burlington’s City Hall Park in July, offering its namesake earthy, aromatic stew and dunkable tacos and quesadillas. Owners José Ureña, Lauren Ebersol and Weslie Khoo kept things simple with the traditional Mexican birria of Ureña’s childhood. They soon added the South End’s weekly Truck Stop to their schedule, warming up the last few fall evenings of the season. Casa Birria will be back in Burlington next summer on Fridays and Saturdays.

In Middlebury, ShireTown Marketplace’s breakfast tacos skew less traditional — especially the bacon-egg-and-cheese combo that owner Kevin Archambeault calls “the gringo version.” But they’re no less delicious for it. The market and restaurant opened fully in midSeptember, offering tacos filled with fire-roasted veggies and meat five days a week.

GLOBAL EXPANSION

It wasn’t just tacos that got better this year. The number of global cuisines represented in Vermont’s dining scene exploded, and a few appeared that had been sorely missed.

We have pop-ups, communal kitchens, markets, food trucks and food carts to thank for many of the additions. Moon and Stars Arepas and Green Mountain PotStickers brought Colombian and Taiwanese fare, respectively, to Church Street carts in Burlington. The BTV Market helped spread the word about Case Birria (see “Taco Town,” above), Haitian Dominican-inspired Calito’s Popsicles, Maritela’s Filipino Cuisine and Somali-influenced Jilib Jiblets, among other global food entrepreneurs.

Paprika Catering popped up with Argentinian empanadas in Waterbury. Montpelier-based Taíno Kitchen hit the scene with Puerto Rican family recipes. And we’re carefully following two newly hatched businesses: South Burlingtonbased Sarita Indian Kitchen and the Jamaican and British Portapies of Shelburne, which currently offer preorder takeout and delivery, respectively.

Gumbo from Barbara Jean's Southern Kitchen

Las Hermosas carnitas

Meals served in the shared space at Burlington’s Tiny Community Kitchen took us to Iraq, Iran, Bosnia, Somalia, Korea, the Philippines and to the southern U.S. with Barbara Jean’s Southern Kitchen. We hear that regular shawarma pop-ups are in the works for 2023.

Speaking of the Philippines, this year Vermont went from having one dedicated Filipino restaurant and a Filipino-fusion sandwich shop to having three full-time Filipino restaurants. In addition to the stalwart Pica-Pica Filipino Cuisine in St. Johnsbury and the expanded Kuya’s at One Main in Randolph, this month brought us Nagueños Filipino American Diner in Essex Junction.

Several restaurants dedicated part of their menus to new specialties this year, bringing us such welcome options as the Burmese dishes at Irrawaddy in Essex Junction and chef Hersson Villatoro’s

Guatemalan flavors at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery. Other restaurants gave us new ways to experience the breadth of their native cuisines, including Burlington hot-pot hot spot Café Dim Sum, St. Albans Japanese-but-not-sushi takeout restaurant Kaiju Kitchen and Essex Junction vegetarian Indian restaurant Namaste Garden.

We’re looking forward to the longawaited opening of Santiago’s Cuban Cuisine at 3 Main Street in Burlington, which is currently undergoing “quite the transformation into a tropical oasis,” co-owner Luis Calderin said. He and chef/ co-owner Oscar Arencibia are currently fundraising by preselling merch, gift cards and memberships, which offer access to discounts and members-only events. They’ve got their sights set on an early spring opening.

On our wish list for next year? Korean barbecue and a Jewish deli.

J.B. & M.P.

CAN DO

It was a great year for cans. Sure, they’ve been the go-to packaging for Vermont’s beer industry for a while now (in increasingly larger sizes, much to my chagrin). But in 2022, we saw all kinds of beverages join the cans-can line.

My fridge is currently stocked with category-busting vegetable seltzers from Bristol-based Savouré; the cider-winecranberry combo Kalchē Kid from Kalchē Wine Cooperative; a CBD-infused sparkling tea from Taunik; the sparkling, botanical Bitter Bubble; and ready-todrink cocktails from several Vermont distilleries — all of them in cans.

Those canned cocktails are now available in grocery stores and gas stations throughout the state, thanks to a bill passed by the Vermont legislature and signed into law by Gov. Phil Scott in June. The law created a new category within the state’s liquor statute for “ready-todrink spirits beverages” and upped their potential sales outlets from the 79 statecontracted 802 Spirits stores to the nearly

1,000 private-sector businesses that are licensed to sell beer, wine and cider.

That means we’re seeing more locally produced “RTDs” — defined as having 12 percent alcohol or less, in containers of 24 fluid ounces or less — as Vermont’s distillers explore their new market. So far, my favorite is Cool Hand Cuke, a minty, cucumbery gin drink from Black Flannel Distilling.

I’m bummed that I missed the first batch of Caledonia Spirits’ canned Barr Hill gin and tonic, featuring a golden-hued tonic water housemade from real cinchona bark. It sold out immediately at September’s distillery-only release, vice president of marketing Harrison Kahn said. The next batch is planned for spring, so I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll get to sip one in the distillery’s front-lawn G&T Garden on Montpelier’s Gin Lane in 2023.

On the cannabis front, Taunik has been gearing up for Vermont’s legal retail market and officially launched on October 1 with its 50-milligram CBD sparkling teas, which are available on tap at Foam Brewers and in cans around the state.

Filipino sans rival cake from Kuya’s

Oscar Arencibia and Luis Calderin of Santiago’s Cuban Cuisine

Taunik CBD drinks

FILE: DARIA BISHOP

FILE: JAMES BUCK

The Taunik team has secured a commercial manufacturing space in Hinesburg that it has worked diligently to make “functional, efficient and secure — very secure,” cofounder Bob Grim said. There, the business will produce a variety of cannabis-infused beverages, plus “white-labeled” products in collaboration with others in the industry, Grim said.

Taunik has submitted its full license application to the Cannabis Control Board, and a required walkthrough with the board should happen this month. Once all the licensing is in place, the team plans to launch three THC-infused sparkling teas in 12-ounce cans: yerba maté and lemon, black tea and sumac, and green tea with mint and lime. Three new flavors will quickly follow, Grim said, with a wide range of volumes and potencies, including low-potency, sessionable options.

The can trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down, either. Shelburne Vineyard will release a new Capsize Spritzer, as well as Iapetus’ juicy, picnicky piquette, Tributary, in cans for the first time in late January or early February. That’s perfect timing to hit the slopes with one in your pocket, winemaker Ethan Joseph pointed out. J.B.

THAI TRIUMPH

Chef/co-owner Nisachon “Rung” Morgan of Saap restaurant in Randolph was as surprised as anyone on June 13, when she learned that she’d won Vermont’s first-ever title for Best Chef: Northeast from the James Beard Foundation. Asked by Seven Days during a recent phone call whether the win was expected, restaurant co-owner Steve Morgan said, “No, not at all. Not ever.”

He quickly added that his wife was “over the moon and appreciative” of the honor, which crowned her the premier chef of the year for the New England region.

When Rung and Steve, a former New England Culinary Institute instructor, returned from the Chicago awards ceremony to the modest restaurant they opened in 2014, the first sign that something had changed was 72 phone messages, Steve said.

To manage the sudden deluge of interest in Rung’s Thai menu, which favors dishes from her native region of Isan, they set up an online reservation system for the first time and stopped accepting walkins or takeout orders.

Over the past few months, Steve said, diners have traveled from as far away as New York City to sample dishes such as khao kluk gapi: rice cooked with fermented shrimp paste and served with nuggets of sweet glazed pork, shredded green mango and omelette strips. Other specialties include sweet and smoky nam prik pow chicken wings, finished with

Isan-style

Nisachon “Rung” Morgan of Saap in 2015

Seven Surprises of 2022

a 15-ingredient Thai chile paste; and saikrok, compellingly crisp and fatty fried slices of Isan-style fermented pork sausage seasoned with lemongrass, dill and chile.

With stick season, things have calmed down a little at the 60-seat restaurant. The Morgans are still the only cooks, assisted by one kitchen employee who does prep and dishwashing. They can handle about 20 customers at a time, Steve said.

Saap is back to accepting walk-ins and takeout, depending on capacity, but it’s always advisable to call ahead. If you can’t get through, assume it’s too busy. “Sometimes we just randomly turn [the phone] off during service,” Steve admitted.

The Morgans have no plans to expand or change anything, Steve said. “The reason it’s so good,” he emphasized, “is that Rung is cooking for you every meal.”

M.P.

JORDANBARRY

UNPREDICTABLE PIES

In 2021, we deployed Seven Days staffers to survey the Burlington pizza scene, compiling reviews of 13 spots for a story called “Pizzapalooza.” While we didn’t continue that comprehensive tasting around the state in 2022, we seemed to be writing about a new wood-fired pizza spot every month. The best of them cropped up in unexpected places.

Right off the bat in January, Pearl Street Pizza lit up North Main Street in Barre. I’m not one to dis Barre’s dining scene, but until Pearl Street, I also wasn’t really one to partake in Barre’s dining scene. My stops there were few and far between.

As I dove into one of Pearl Street’s twoinch-thick, grandma-style pies — paired with a fernet and cola — I knew I’d be back. The lively restaurant has a laid-back vibe,

and co-owners Wilson Ballantyne, Stefano Coppola and Chris Ruiz are as welcoming as it gets. The slim bar around the pizza oven is the best seat in the house. You get to watch the action, and it’s just wide enough for a whole grandma pie.

I had my first Monkey House pizza right before Waking Windows in May. The Winooski bar and music venue is the festival’s unofficial center, and its excellent new ’za was a hot slice for throngs of hungry music lovers. With creative combos such as the burger-inspired Mc-Monkey, the corncovered elote pie and a bangin’ housemade herby ranch sauce, the Monkey House also became one of my go-to spots for holding evening interviews with industry folks or getting a foldable, on-the-go slice.

The Crooked Ram in Manchester has become my favorite spot for natural wine, hard-to-find craft beer and excellent, sorta-fancy small plates on occasional trips to southern Vermont. The restaurant’s seasonal backyard area — the Yard — opened in 2021, but I didn’t make it there until this July. When I walked down the steps into the huge, stunning space, I knew I’d get good drinks. I wasn’t prepared for the salad pizza: perfectly blistered and topped with parsley, zucchini, spinach, mozzarella and lemon. The pizza oven is outdoors and fired up only when the Yard is open in the summer, so I’ll have to wait ’til things warm up for my next extra-green pie.

J.B.

THE GRASS MAY BE GREENER

After more than two decades of reporting on the seemingly endless innovations in Vermont agriculture, I don’t see much that surprises me anymore. But, among the farm-related stories we wrote this year, a few stood out for their unexpected and positive angles.

I learned of SUSU CommUNITY Farm in 2021 when I heard cofounder Amber Arnold speak eloquently about the need to involve Black and brown people directly in conversations about diversifying land access. It was eye-opening to visit Arnold and cofounder naomi doe moody this summer in Newfane as they and their community started seeing the results of their empowering, collective, land-based movement that expands the definition of what many consider a farm.

In a completely different way, I was astonished by the abundance blooming in the half-acre, suburban Berlin backyard that farmer Abdoulaye Niane has transformed into Khelcom Farm. Niane, a star graduate of the six-month University of Vermont Farmer Training Program, and

Verde pizza from the Yard at the Crooked Ram

Pepperoni Neapolitan pie at Pearl Street Pizza

Taylor Parsons and Ali Nagle outside the Monkey House

From left: Rowan, Magnolia and Danny Hughes-Muse at Laughing Child Farm

Abdoulaye Niane harvesting eggplant at Khelcom Farm

his wife, Marja Makinen, are building on what they learned in the first year of their business. Since Seven Days visited in July, they’ve added a hoop house and solidified plans to expand into a neighbor’s yard, and they’re collaborating to get Niane’s signature hot sauce to market.

For a sweet ending, let’s head to Pawlet, where Tim and Brooke Hughes-Muse have raised four cheerful children and tons of sweet potatoes on Laughing Child Farm. As the only Vermont farmers who exclusively grow “sweets” (as they call them), the Hughes-Muses eschewed conventional wisdom by choosing a niche approach rather than hedging their bets through diversification. A decade in, they — and other big-thinking Vermont farmers — continue to demonstrate that sometimes you do need to upset the apple (or sweet potato, or chile pepper) cart.

M.P.

CONSTANT CHANGES

This one shouldn’t be a surprise. The only constant is change, right? Year after

pandemic year, Vermont’s dining scene remains in flux, with fresh openings, unfortunate closures and favorite spots changing hands. Yet saying goodbye to Burlington’s Penny Cluse Café knocked everyone for a loop, and we’ll be eagerly anticipating news of its replacement.

In 2022, we saw a new restaurant called May Day inject fresh energy into the former Butch + Babe’s space in Burlington’s Old North End. In Essex, Maliwan Thai Restaurant took over for Joyce’s Noodle House; in Montpelier, Hugo’s Bar & Grill filled the expansive NECI on Main spot; and in Richmond, Vermont Fine got off to a fine start in the longtime home of Kitchen Table Bistro.

Other popular spots changed hands while retaining their beloved identities — and many of the items on their menus. In February, founders Jodi Whalen and Phil Merrick sold Burlington’s August First Bakery & Café to Frank Pace and Marnie Long of Great Northern Catering. It’s still a laptopfree zone. South Burlington’s Parkway

FILE:

cutting herbs

outside May Day

Seven Surprises of 2022

Diner and Colchester’s Guilty Plate Diner both reopened under new ownership — the former with a full bar, the latter with barbecue. The North Hero House Inn & Restaurant and Burlington’s Revolution Kitchen also have new owners.

Many Burlington restaurants were on the move this year, including Dobrá Tea (from Church Street to South Winooski Avenue); Shy Guy Gelato (from an old space on St. Paul Street to a more modern one); and, soon, Myer’s Bagels (from Pine Street to Shelburne Road) and Pascolo Ristorante (from a downstairs Church Street spot to a street-level one).

That’s enough change to make a food writer’s head spin, but that wasn’t all. In an encouraging sign, several restaurants grew, opening additional locations, expanding their footprints or adding

21-YUM SALUTE

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re fond of the number seven and multiples thereof. Continuing the tradition we started last year, we present a multicourse tasting menu — including beverages — of 21 highlights from our wide travels during 2022.

JUNIPER BAR & RESTAURANT in Burlington is my go-to spot for a cocktail with a view, but an early 2022 visit reminded me of the bar’s stellar beer list. It always features a selection of the elusive, intriguing creations brewed with mixed cultures and many foraged ingredients by Vasilios Gletsos of Wunderkammer Biermanufaktur in tiny Albany.

A couple of times a year, Burlington’s GREEK LADIES PHILOPTOCHOS SOCIETY of the Dormition of the Mother of God Greek Orthodox Church throws a bake sale, and I owe a friend for reminding me of this year’s mid-April one. Check the church calendar for dates, and order early if you want to sample my favorite: galaktoboureko, which melds custardy semolina with crisp phyllo.

French-trained chef and St. Louis native Marcus Stittum channels his grandmother at weekly pop-ups of BARBARA JEAN’S SOUTHERN KITCHEN at Maudite Poutine’s Tiny Community Kitchen in Burlington’s Old North End. His shatteringly crisp, buttermilk-brined fried chicken, silky collard greens and nutty blackeyed peas do her proud.

Another fine cook I met while writing about Tiny Community Kitchen is Sabah Abbas of SABAH’S HOUSE. I wish I’d bought a dozen jars of her makdous: deeply savory, olive oil-marinated, bite-size eggplants stuffed with walnuts, red pepper and garlic.

My gustatory sacrifice of the year involved encouraging friends to order the last Uncut Gems cocktails available the day we visited CALEDONIA SPIRITS in Montpelier. The beautifully balanced drink with Tom Cat gin, scented with cardamom and ginger, also stars a hefty hibiscus tea ice cube that makes an

amazing popsicle chaser after the glass is drained. Sadly, the bar had only two cubes left.

Every summer, my checklist includes a trip to Glover to see Bread and Puppet Theater and indulge in RED SKY TRADING’s freshly fried cider doughnuts. I take mine “gussied up” with cinnamon-sugar rather than “buck naked.”

If I could eat a whole truck, I would pick Burlington’s MISTER FOODS FANCY. Whatever chef Paul Trombley is cooking is over-thetop delectable (and, incidentally, vegetarian), from his green goddess dressing-drenched crispy potatoes to his fried halloumi slider with tomato-sesame jam and sumac onions.

Unfortunately, you can’t swing by LIBERTY HILL FARM & INN in Rochester just to eat. But overnights come with an excellent homestyle dinner and breakfast, which fueled a reporting trip along Route 100. I’d recommend a stay just to eat farmer/innkeeper Beth Kennett’s tender blueberry pudding cake served with tangy yogurt whipped cream.

Biggest regret: It took me 25 years to order the griddled garlicky kale with queso fresco at PENNY CLUSE CAFÉ. Having redressed that on my last visit in November to the now-shuttered Burlington landmark, I add my voice to the chorus begging for a cookbook.

I will console myself with the latest

new concepts. Burlington’s Pingala Café added a second restaurant, in the New North End. The Misery Loves Co. team started Onion City Chicken & Oyster up the circle in Winooski. We can’t wait to check out Honey Road’s recently opened brunch spot, the Grey Jay, at 135 Pearl Street in downtown Burlington, and have already had a fun night at Paradiso in the city’s South End, the new semi-hidden “hi-fi listening bar and lounge” from the Dedalus team. In addition, Leunig’s Bistro & Café opened a new bakery and café, Leunig’s Le Marché, in the former Harrington’s of Vermont store in Shelburne in December.

Stone’s Throw Pizza is expanding to Waterbury — its fourth location. Pho Hong’s owners stuck closer to home, buying their Old North End restaurant space and blowing out a wall to grow into part of the laundromat next door.

mad breakfast invention at the CAFÉ HOT. in Burlington. Its chicken-fried egg sandwiches involves no chicken (other than the one that laid the egg), but the crisp-coated slab of fried omelette mimics what people love about those fried chicken sammies.

As a relatively new Addison County resident, I spent 2022 cementing my new local rotation: luscious Turkish eggs from VERGENNES LAUNDRY a perfect Sicilian meatball sub from COSTELLO’S MARKET in Middlebury and crispy

M.P.

smashed potatoes hiding a sweet swipe of V

In February, back in Chittenden County, UNCOMMON COFFEE celebrated the lunar New Year with new #VeryAsian drink specials; the bright purple ube latte became a shop staple and had me stopping in Essex to refuel all year long.

I found another purplish gem at TRENCHERS FARMHOUSE in March. The gastronomia’s blueberry-and-corn tortelloni was a taste of summer, but the rutty, thawing road leading to its Lyndonville farmstand was all mud season.

When SAROM’S CAFÉ opened in Winooski in the spring, the bright, colorful Vietnamese spot immediately entered my lunch rotation. I like everything that mother-daughter duo Tuyet “Snow” Dinh and Mariana LyThach serve, but I ordered the housemade vegetarian cold-cut bánh mì the most.

Smiley Preserves at Bristol’s MINIFACTORY

JORDAN BARRY

Galaktoboureko (bottom right) and other pastries from the Greek Orthodox Church bake sale

Marnie Long and Frank Pace at August First Bakery & Café

FILE: LUKE AWTRY

MELISSA

PASANEN

Uncut Gems cocktail at Caledonia Spirits

Clockwise from bottom left: Snap pea salad, barbecue falafel burger, crispy potatoes and veggie burger from Mister Foods Fancy

Nomad Coffee’s kouign amann pastry filled with housemade coffee semifreddo

May Day's roasted beets

Coffee

FILE: DARIA BISHOP

food+drink

Jr’s Williston added an adjacent sports bar, Sidebar. In July, owner Bogdan Andreescu transformed his Winooski location from Jr’s Original into Jr’s Original Peking Duck House; in October, the restaurant reverted to its Italian roots.

Kuya’s Sandwiches merged with One Main Tap & Grill to take over Randolph’s corner restaurant as Kuya’s at One Main — and finally got a dishwasher in the bargain. The team from Burlington’s Monarch & the Milkweed hasn’t gone anywhere, but it’s having a wonderfully festive December running the pop-up Devil Takes a Holiday Cocktail Lounge. We’re still waiting to hear the name and details for the bar’s relaunch in January.

Here’s to more change in 2023 — but only the good kind, please.

J.B.

I kicked off market season with a cup of the slightly spicy, very refreshing bubbly ginger tea from new Burlington Farmers Market vendor Julian Hackney’s YOUNG AT HEART GINGER BEER. Now the small-batch, nonalcoholic ginger beer is back in bottles and on tap around town.

For a road trip up Route 100, I found myself farther south than usual — a great excuse to stop in Jamaica for a piece of HONEYPIE’s honey pie. I’ve been lobbying for more southern Vermont stories ever since.

While I was down there, I stopped at Wilmington’s 1A COFFEE ROASTERS for jars of cold-brew and swimming hole advice. I managed to come home with six of the solar-powered roastery’s reusable jars, which I promise to return eventually.

I made it back to Montréal this fall and had a standout meal at Little Italy’s VIN MON LAPIN, where I drank Québec wine and learned the French word for “razor clams.”

FOX MARKET & BAR Vermont’s only official gay bar, provided another destination-worthy dinner of curry, dolmas, gluten-free fried chicken and onigiri. Though I’d go far for that food, the East Montpelier spot is so cozy and welcoming that it feels like home.

Overall, it was a very good year for beets — my favorite food. In Burlington, the polarizing magenta veggies were the star of a four-hour industry night meal at MAY DAY (roasted beets with rhubarb, amazake and nasturtium leaves) and a double-down brunch at the CAFÉ HOT. (beets in “bonut” and lemonade form). I’m currently savoring the remnants of a pint of beet ice cream from Vergennes’ LU•LU in hopes that it’ll last into the New Year.

Finally, Melissa and I are both grateful for NOMAD COFFEE head baker Chris Johnson and his crave-worthy kouign amanns. The lamination pro’s caramelized, difficult-to-pronounce treats are baking the local pastry scene a butter place (did we mention Johnson’s a pun lover?) — especially when sliced open and stuffed with semifreddo for a rich, flaky ice cream sandwich.

J.B.

Forward Thinking

Seven Days arts and culture writers’ warm wishes and wild predictions for 2023

BY SEVEN DAYS STAFF

Many Seven Days staffers are fans of the NPR show “Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me!” What better way to review the week’s national news than by answering panel questions, completing silly limericks and bluffing the listener? The show’s final segment is always panelists’ predictions for the week ahead, but, honestly, they’re often a bit cryptic.

So we thought we’d try our hand at prognostication — for the whole year to come.

We perused our 2022 stories for clues, consulted oracles, gazed into crystal balls, threw decks of cards in the air, asked our pets, and landed on the following very unscientific and marginally helpful predictions for 2023.

What will be carved into Mount Mansfield? How will TikTok save local theater? Which AI rapper will become a household name? What’s Harry Bliss going to do next? Here’s what we hope will happen, what we think may really happen and a few outrageous outliers.

BASEBALL OR BUST

I fervently hope that Major League Baseball took note of Seven Days’ exclusive interview with Champ, the famed Lake Monsters mascot, and is inspired to restore a minor league franchise to Burlington in 2023. It will undoubtedly be an AA farm team from expansion team the Vancouver Vikings. Its mascot: Rally Ragnar, a nod to Ragnar Lodbrok, the ninth-century Viking king and warrior.

But I fear that something far less sportsmanlike is more likely to happen. After establishing the first Vermont Tesla dealership, in South Burlington, non-reclusive billionaire Elon Musk will buy the state for cash, stock options and promises to be broken later. Critical Twitter Theory will become a mandatory part of secondary school curricula, Musk will bring in Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu to solve the housing shortage with a plan for so-called “settlements,” and a replica of Mount Rushmore will be carved into Mount Mansfield featuring the likenesses of inventor Nikola Tesla, entre preneur Peter Thiel and Musk.

In well-founded disgust, Ben & Jerry’s will launch a new flavor: EggoManioc.

STEVE GOLDSTEIN

VERMONT GOES CHEAP

A red school bus painted with the phrase “Cheap Art” is a fixture at Bread and Puppet Theater in Glover. Housing a gallery and store, the bus is an expression of theater founder and artist Peter Schumann, who believes art should be accessible and available to everyone in its making and viewing.

In 2023, inspired by Schumann’s egalitarian approach, Vermonters in a range of industries will adopt his cheap art ethos: Churn it out and sell it cheap — or give it away. Shaun Hill of nearby Hill Farmstead Brewery will shift from selling bottles and cans of the world’s best beer to unloading kegs — two for the price of one. Weed stores will ditch their sales pitches:

“This strain is sweet for lying around listening to the Allman Brothers Band” or “Have a hit of this before a round of disc golf.” Instead, they’ll sell bricks of pot at discount prices. And landlords will reduce rents to the rates of early 1960s Lower East Side Manhattan, where Bread and Puppet got its start.

In a nod to Schumann, who hands out free bread at his Glover shows, every enterprise that goes cheap will give away coarse, wood-fired bread.

SALLY POLLAK

ENJOY THE SHOW

Theater in Vermont is too stubborn to fail the way it’s supposed to. Our theaters — pro, semipro and stone-cold amateur — ignore the fact that Disney+ has 46.4 million U.S. subscribers while our playhouses have only 50 to 300 seats. What kind of business model puts actors and audience members in the same space together and makes actors perform plays all over again from scratch, night after night? That just seems downright wasteful. And when is AI going to take over to slash those pesky creative costs?

My theater dream is that ticket prices drop to match those of movies and that young people start infiltrating the audience. They discover that live performance makes the viewer feel part of the event, and people start posting themselves on TikTok dancing outside theaters, saying “I saw it in person for real!” to signify that something was amazing.

But what I’m sure will really happen is that our theater companies will make do with dwindling audiences and sprinkle on enough magical fundraising dust so the shows go on.

ALEX BROWN

ART CAN BE FUN!

It’s been a downer-ish year or six, and we all need occasional relief from the many catastrophes facing the state, nation and world, including racism, domestic terrorism, mass shootings, white supremacists, toxic masculinity (see a theme here?), addiction, homelessness and the housing crisis, wars, climate Armageddon, and still-with-us COVID-19. Oh, and a certain past president/wannabe dictator.

So I predict that, in 2023, Vermont galleries will come to the rescue with exhibitions whose sole mission is to provide comfort and joy. Adorable animal videos on a loop, say, or immersive experiences involving Play-Doh. Pettable paintings made of sheep fluff. Sensory environments that smell like chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. Sculptures that invite viewers to crawl inside and take a nice nap. Just cheer us the hell up, OK?

Probs none of this will actually happen, but an art critic can dream.

PAMELA POLSTON

BUDDING INTENTIONS

Cannabis prohibition was finally laid to rest in 2022 with the opening of Vermont’s regulated, adult-use market on October 1. Though the state’s methodical licensing process delayed planting for some growers, by year’s end more than 30 dispensaries were up and rolling, and anyone 21 or older who wanted to buy legal, taxable weed could do so.

In 2023, I hope Congress finally hashes out federal banking laws and tax codes to allow cannabis businesses to accept credit card purchases and write

ILLUSTRATIONS: SEAN METCALF

off operating expenses like any other legitimate business. I also want the Vermont legislature to fully embrace cannabis as a value-added agricultural product and allow its sale at farmers markets and farmstands.

But given the divided Congress and President Joe Biden’s aversion to weed, federal action on cannabis will likely continue at a glacial pace in the New Year. And growing competition in the cannabis market, including from neighboring states, is more likely to put some Vermont licensees out of business long before the legislature embraces value-added weed products. Let’s hope we can nip those losses in the bud.

KEN PICARD

A BRUCE-SIZE BITE

The key to the suspense in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film Jaws is that we rarely see the shark. The gnawing dread we feel arises from the mere suggestion of imminent doom and John Williams’ iconic score — dah-dun, dah-dun. But that wasn’t by design.

Originally, the shark was supposed to get a lot more screen time. But the animatronic great white — whose name, which you should file away for pub trivia night, was Bruce — constantly broke down during filming. It was probably the best thing that could have happened to the movie.

Some years ago, New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss and his childhood friend John Butler wrote a screenplay about how Bruce came to be so derelict. Bruce

is a buddy comedy/road-trip story that imagines the madcap misadventures of two bumbling delivery drivers transporting the shark from a Hollywood studio lot to Martha’s Vineyard, where Jaws was filmed.

Though there’s been some interest, studios have only ever nibbled at produc-

I predict that in 2023, Ticketmaster will continue ripping off everyone in sight, including attempting to charge $689 for your nephew’s middle school graduation ceremony. Rookie Sen. Taylor Swift, elected on a tidal wave of Swifties and their unstoppable rage, will halt the insanity and introduce legislation to break up the Ticketmaster monopoly.

Burlington’s hip-hop scene will be thrown into chaos by an AI rapper named Big Digi YOLO, whose debut album, Putting Vermont Hip-Hop on the Map , angers actual, living performers. Hip-hop artists will band together to make a protest album, but it’ll be moot after the discovery that Big Digi YOLO retweeted antisemitic sneaker ads.

After watching the ’83 classic film Eddie and the Cruisers, Burlington musician Matt Hagen will fake his own death. He will reemerge five months later as Hatt Magen, playing exclusively synth-rock versions of Eagles songs.

The City of Burlington will finally reopen Memorial Auditorium as a bike lane and hot yoga studio. But Big Heavy World will turn the bike lane into a straight-edge, all-ages venue, yoga instructors will riot, and chaos will ensue.

If any of these predictions comes true, everybody Seven Days Super

CHRIS FARNSWORTH

Every year, students vie to enter the country’s conservatories and college music programs. Where do they all come from? Many get their start right here in Vermont, and my prediction is that their numbers will grow

The Vermont Youth Orchestra Association in Colchester will attract even more instrumentplaying kids who discover the joy

of mastering complex musical works with their friends. Sarah Cullins, founder and executive director of Burlington’s Youth Opera Company of Vermont, will introduce more youngsters to the broad and exciting world of opera. And Duxbury’s Music-COMP will attract fledgling composers who thrive under the mentorship of professionals and revel in hearing Vermont Symphony Orchestra musicians perform their pieces.

HUMOR

Of course, for this prediction to come true, a wish must be granted: These organizations and others that engage kids in classical music have to be flooded with funds. Audience members and donors have the power to grant that wish. Just sayin’. These kids are the future of the art form.

AMY LILLY

BIG PICTURE

My 2023 wish is that readers stop asking us whether the Netflix series “Wednesday” was filmed in Vermont. Here are the facts, folks. The Addams family-themed show from Tim Burton is set in Jericho, Vt.; Luis Guzmán, who plays Gomez, has a home in Vermont; and the show was shot in Romania. The series is like most of those Hallmark movies about idyllic Vermont towns: They’re actually shot in places such as New York, Ontario or British Columbia.

Why? Because modern Hollywood productions are highly budget-conscious, and the State of Vermont doesn’t provide film production tax incentives that can compete with those offered elsewhere. No big-budget films have been shot in the Green Mountain State since What Lies Beneath and Me, Myself & Irene in 1999. Hell, Vermont hasn’t even had a film commission since 2011.

While it would be cool to meet celebrities chilling between shoots at the Jericho Café & Tavern, let’s not forget that Vermont has a homegrown film industry. We’re watching a new organization called the Vermont Production Collective that aims to foster grassroots connections among film professionals who actually live here.

MARGOT HARRISON

Started in 1980 with Bernie and Jane Sanders and Tony Pomerleau.

art

Counting on Art

Remembering exhibits we loved in 2022

BY PAMELA POLSTON • ppolston@sevendaysvt.com

Regular readers of Seven Days have likely noticed our fondness for lists of seven, because duh. But sometimes reducing a compilation to single digits is really, really hard. So this time we’re going with 10!

The top 10 visual art exhibitions of 2022, that is. And still some difficult pruning had to be done. As always, there are two important caveats: The selected exhibitions had to appear in a Vermont gallery and receive a full review in this paper. That meant omitting the Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, N.H. But we have to give serious props to our friends across the Connecticut River; all of their exhibitions this past year were absolutely stellar.

REVIEWS

Since we can’t get to everything in this art-saturated state, we surely missed some worthy shows. But we saw a lot — and we’re grateful for the artists, gallerists and supporters who make it all happen.

Here are 10 exhibitions that, at year’s end, continue to resonate.

mentors, as well as artisans who handcraft the traditional tools used in mokuhanga. The distinctively Japanese protocol of mutual respect permeated this exhibition and left an indelible impression on viewers as surely as ink on paper.

As the somewhat esoteric title hinted, this was an exhibition of wood-block prints. The “world” referred to the myriad possibilities in the moment when carved, inked wood spoke to paper. Specifically, the exhibit featured a Japanese method of printmaking called mokuhanga. Visitors were introduced to an international group called Mokuhanga Sisters, which includes Vermont artist and exhibition cocurator Patty Hudak.

In addition to presenting their own work in vastly different styles, each artist invited a teacher or a student to participate. The total number of prints was a whopping 174. It was a collective testament to the versatility of a timeless art form. Some of the pieces were unframed or even sculptural, showing the surprisingly tensile strength of a seemingly fragile medium.

A captivating installation in the art center’s library paid homage to the artists’

Tara Thacker’s works typically consist of fastidiously hand-cut, nearly identical components numbering in the hundreds. The ceramic sculptor calls her process labor-intensive and meditative, and those qualities were amply evident in this exhibit. Thacker’s obsessively layered works were hung on the walls or suspended from the ceiling, accompanied by a quartet of prints.

Along with patience and precision, Thacker’s inventive materiality elevated this exhibit’s wow factor.

Two wall-hung sculptures drew inspiration from birds — or, more to the point, feathers. One that suggested a pair of wings was made of countless thin loops of black matte clay — call it clay bouclé. The other resembled a stretched-out shawl and

comprised hundreds of glim mering strips of lead. A large pelt-like piece was made of sticks; some of the wood had been chomped, presumably by beavers. “I just love the bite marks,” Thacker told us.

Perhaps with the help of wood land creatures, Thacker trans muted multiple handmade and found mediums into an elegant and remarkably cohesive exhibition.

Roberto Visani, “Form/Reform,” Brattleboro Museum & Art Center

Brooklyn-based Roberto Visani spent the first two years of the pandemic working on an art project that spanned 19th-century history and 21st-century

design technology. He created larger-than-life figures that would sit, stand, kneel or hang on a wall. In a first glance around the gallery, they resembled standard statuary. But a closer examination revealed radical departures: His sculptures are made of cardboard, and most of them display manacles or chains.

Visani researched art historical depictions of enslaved people and, using 3D modeling software and a laser cutter, reconstructed them in fractal form. The

“The World Between the Block and the Paper,” Southern Vermont Art Center in Manchester

Tara Thacker, “Darken,” Julian Scott Memorial Gallery, Northern Vermont University-Johnson

“Secret of the Flower” by Patty Hudak

“cardboard slave kit, freedman blend” by Roberto Visani

“Village of Stowe, Vermont” by Luigi Lucioni

“Shadow Baskets (Nocturne)” by Tara Thacker

pieces were assembled from what he called “cardboard slave kits.” Some works are based on real historical figures, such as Bussa, a slave who helped to ignite a revolt in Barbados in 1816.

A more symbolic piece was also the most heart-wrenching: a male figure kneeling, manacled hands in supplication, face tilted upward. Though based on artwork created in 1787, the sculpture brought to mind football quarterback Colin Kaepernick taking a knee.

Visani’s clever use of a ubiquitous

packaging material underscores the foundational principle of slavery: commodified humans as the economic engine of capitalism. This was a deeply moving exhibition.

“Luigi

Though the museum posted this exhibition online in advance, the in-person show was both more extensive — with 48 paintings, 11 etchings and one printing plate — and more visually spectacular. The survey of landscape, portrait and still-life work by the Italian American painter (1900-1988) was lush.

Lucioni immigrated to the U.S. at age 10 and transformed from a gifted student to a noted New York City artist. Later, he spent considerable time painting en plein air in Vermont, and Shelburne Museum founder Electra Havemeyer Webb was an important patron. In 1937, Vermont Life magazine even declared Lucioni the state’s unofficial “painter laureate.”

Though his realist style developed in contrast to burgeoning abstract expressionists, Lucioni was “recognizably up to date for his mid-century audiences,” writes museum director Tom Denenberg in a book that accompanied this exhibit. The artist was both timeless and timely, Denenberg continues, and captured “the pervasive sense of alienation manifest in international creative circles in the decades that bracketed World War II.”

Whatever his place in art history, Lucioni’s oeuvre remains a pleasure to witness. His landscapes are masterworks of precision, his lighting incandescent. For admirers of skillful brushwork, this exhibition was simply swoon-worthy.

in Waitsfield

In the middle of a fecund Vermont summer, Boston-area artists Shelley Reed and Randal Thurston hung paintings

and cut-paper installations, respectively, in stark black and white. Their works complemented both the clean lines of the midcentury gallery and each other’s. Even without color, the exhibit was a visual feast.

Reed works exclusively with two oil paints — ivory black and titanium zinc white — and mixes a range of grays for each canvas. Every painting presents a mashup of elements in paintings from centuries past — a bouquet here, a leg of mutton there — but using Reed’s minimal palette. The paintings are no less lavish, such as an immense table groaning with food. Working in a scale she called “operatic,” Reed aims to “create a new narrative,” she explained. Thus, a tableau of fresh-caught sea creatures might speak to “our unending appetite for not just discovery but for use,” Reed said.

Thurston works only in matte black: silhouettes of flora and fauna, meticulously cut with an X-Acto knife from dense paper. White walls provide the contrast. In the Bundy, his cutouts shimmied up the walls like vines drunk on summer. His installation in the main gallery was a matrix of knobby branches; silhouetted birds perched upon it here and there, each representing a local species.

This sophisticated pairing offered both arresting beauty and something much deeper.

“More Than an Object: The Contemporary Still Life,” BCA Center in Burlington

Riffing on and contrasting with a classic art historical trope — a table laden with fruit, vases, linens, etc. — the group exhibition “More Than an Object” pulled perceptions of the still life into the 21st century. Nine artists contributed painting, mixed-media sculpture, ceramics, digital animation, installation and photography. Some of the works employed the form in the service of commentary — serious or wry.

A couple of artists adhered, more or less, to still-life conventions: Susan Abbott with

a kind-of-realist but utterly modern scene in vivid colors; Christopher T. Terry with determinedly pedestrian arrangements, a range of nebulous hues, and an exquisite, meditative expression of light and shadow.

Other artists shoved boundaries aside altogether. Ori Gersht’s photos are not exactly trompe l’oeil, but they certainly fooled the eye; disturbingly, his pastel-hued ceramic subjects seemed the victims of violence. Photographer Zachary P. Stephens takes a playful approach to the still life with large-scale color pictures of mundane home life. They suggest chaos more than stillness, such as a close-up breakfast-table scene replete with spilled Froot Loops, leftover pizza and a curious cat.

Sculptors dispensed with the picture plane: Christina Erives scattered painted ceramic elements of a Mexican meal on the wall. William Ransom stuck a machete in an angular mound of white sugar. And Oona Gardner’s 3D ceramic wall-hung piece sure looked like a uterus.

All of the artists revisited the idea of “object,” and object as subject, in inventive and thoughtful ways.

Center

Mie Yim’s artwork is indisputably strange. In her exhibit of a dozen large paintings and nine smaller “Quarantine Drawings,” the South Korea-born, New York City-based artist challenged the eye and emotions. Her candy colors and softfocus biomorphic forms were playfully appealing, like stuffed animals or cartoon characters. But the subjects’ large, glossy black eyes, appearing singly rather than in pairs, were unsettling. When you look at a Yim painting, the painting looks back.

As curator Sarah Freeman suggested in her gallery statement: “Yim is clearly comfortable with discomfort.”

Lucioni: Modern Light,” Shelburne Museum

Shelley Reed and Randal Thurston, Bundy Modern

Mie Yim, “Fluid Boundaries,” Brattleboro Museum & Art

Untitled cut-paper installation by Randal Thurston

“Breakfast” by Zachary P. Stephens

ART EVENTS

OPEN STUDIO: Make art alongside other artists, socialize, get feedback and try out new mediums. No experience required; art supplies provided. Hosted by the Howard Center Arts Collective, whose members have experience with mental health and/ or substance-use challenges. ONE Arts Center, Burlington, Mondays, January 2 and 9, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Free. Info, artscollective@howardcenter.org.

VISITING ARTIST TALK: JOHN O’CONNOR: Best known for his large-scale, meticulous abstract works on paper, the New York-based artist is a member of the visual and sound art and technology collective NonCoreProjector. He teaches at and chairs the visual and studio arts program at Sarah Lawrence College. Red Mill Gallery, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Monday, January 9, 7-8 p.m. Free. Info, 635-2727.

NEW THIS WEEK

burlington

f GREGG BLASDEL: Sculptural works using wood, pure pigments and mixed media by the Burlington artist. Opening reception: Sunday, January 1, 2-5 p.m. Closing reception: Saturday, January 7, 4-7 p.m. January 1-7. Info, susansmereka@gmail.com. new new art studio in Burlington.

barre/montpelier

f 2022 AUDUBON PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS

TRAVELING EXHIBITION: Images of birds by photographers in the U.S. and Canada. Reception: Friday, January 6, 5:30-7:30 p.m. January 5-18. Info, 262-6035. T.W. Wood Gallery in Montpelier.

middlebury area

f ‘PORTRAIT: SELF AND OTHERS’: A group exhibition of portrait photography juried by Aline Smithson. Reception: Friday, January 6, 4-7 p.m. December 29-January 20. Info, photos@ photoplacegallery.com. PhotoPlace Gallery in Middlebury.

ONGOING SHOWS

burlington

ART AT THE HOSPITAL: Photographs by Greg Nicolai and Caleb Kenna (Main Street Connector, ACC 3); relief monotypes by Erika Lawlor Schmidt (Main Street Connector); acrylic paintings by Sandra Berbeco (McClure 4 and EP2); oil and mixed-media paintings by James Vogler (EP2); and oil paintings by Julia Purinton (BCC). Curated by Burlington City Arts. Through January 23. Info, 865-7296. University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington.

ART AT THE MALTEX: Paintings by Pievy Polyte, Shannon O’Connell, Nancy Chapman and Ashley MacWalters and photography by Brian Drourr and Robert Fahey. Through April 8. Info, 865-7296. The Maltex Building in Burlington.

BILL MCDOWELL: “Roxham Road to North Elba,” color photographs that challenge viewers to consider complex ideas around borders, migration, privilege and racism. MATT LARSON: Acrylic paintings by the local artist. VALERIE HIRD: “The Garden of Absolute Truths,” small interactive theaters, hand-drawn animated videos, paintings and drawings by the Burlington artist that utilize familiar childhood stories to examine current power inequities. Through January 28. Info, 865-7166. BCA Center in Burlington.

‘BLACK FREEDOM, BLACK MADONNA & THE BLACK CHILD OF HOPE’: Designed by Raphaella Brice and created by Brice and Josie Bunnell, this mural installed for Burlington’s 2022 Juneteenth celebration features a Haitian-inspired image of liberation. Through June 18. Info, 865-7166. Fletcher Free Library in Burlington.

Judith Klausner

What’s a melting popsicle doing in an art exhibit? And is that a piece of moldy bread? What’s that freaky growth in the corner? To Judith Klausner, it’s all art.

In an exhibit titled “(de) composed” at Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, the Massachusetts artist presents a collection of items that make you look twice — and look again. The three pieces noted above are titled “Sweet on You,” “Microorganized II” and “If These Walls Could Talk,” respectively. Other entries include a pigeon frozen in the act of eating discarded bread and cheese on the floor, a potato whose “eyes” have morphed into pink sprouts, tiny ants clustered around spilled jam on a kitchen counter, silverfish devouring a book page — you get the idea.

Klausner has made every bit of these works by hand. “I like the idea of spending hours meticulously crafting something that most people think of as ruined,” she writes in an artist statement. But when something goes bad, it turns into something new, she observes. Klausner captures that transformation with simple materials: clay, flocking, chalk pastel pigment, resin. The results are remarkably realistic.

Once viewers register what these objects are, they might wonder why the artist makes them.

Klausner doesn’t just have a dark sense of humor, nor is she particularly obsessed with death and destruction. What this body of work reflects, for her, isn’t immediately evident to gallerygoers, but her statement offers a surprising and deeply personal explanation.

“This series reflects my own journey to reframe my life as a disabled person,” Klausner writes. “I

spent a decade only seeing the ways that my life hadn’t turned out how I had expected it to, and seeing those discrepancies as failures. It has only been by readjusting my lens that I have learned to appreciate the life I do have.”

Finally, the artist adds, she’s allowing herself to be happy.

But Klausner’s interest in what many of us ignore — or even find repellent — isn’t new. According to a gallery description and her website, she earned a degree in studio art from Wesleyan University in 2007 “after constructing her thesis primarily out of insects.”

Since then, Klausner has looked to her immediate surroundings for inspiration. The description continues, “Her experience of invisible disability and chronic pain plays an integral role in how she views the world and creates art.”

The artworks in “(de)composed” open our eyes to phenomena we might not normally see, or want to. Klausner hopes they might also encourage viewers, in a pandemictransformed world, to reframe their own expectations about sources of joy.

Judith Klausner’s “(de)composed” is on view through March 4.

CLARK DERBES: “Skateboarding Is Performance Art,” trompe l’oeil objects, shaped paintings and sculptures featuring colorful grids and bands that pay homage to the architecture that skateboarding utilizes. Through January 12. Info, 233-2943. Safe and Sound Gallery in Burlington.

‘CONNECTIONS’: Howard Center Arts Collective presents an art installation of painted mailboxes and mosaics, inviting viewers to reflect on the benefits of old-fashioned mail delivery and to consider whether mailboxes have become relics of the past. Through July 31. Info, artscollective@howardcenter.org. Howard Center in Burlington.

‘GUARDIANS OF THE GREAT OUTDOORS’: An exhibition in which young explorers can roam forests, navigate streams and become backyard adventurers while learning to become thoughtful stewards of the land. Through January 15. Info, 864-1848. ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain in Burlington.

KEILANI LIME: “Silver & Gold,” paintings on canvas with a metallic element that represents overcoming difficult times. Proceeds of sales go toward the costs of brain and spinal cord surgeries. In Honor Leather studio, Suite 103, by appointment. Through February 1. Info, 355-2855. The Vaults in Burlington.

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

‘LARGE WORKS’: A group exhibition of works measuring between two and six feet by artists of all ages working in all mediums. Through March 10. Info, spacegalleryvt@gmail.com. The Soda Plant in Burlington.

‘PROCESS’: A capstone exhibition of seniors in graphic design and visual communication at the college. Through January 30. Info, 865-8990. Champlain College Art Gallery in Burlington.

‘SMALL WORKS’: An exhibition of works 12 inches or smaller in a variety of mediums by local artists. Through January 27. Info, spacegalleryvt@gmail. com. The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery in Burlington.

GET YOUR ART SHOW LISTED HERE! PROMOTING AN ART EXHIBIT? SUBMIT THE INFO AND IMAGES BY FRIDAY AT NOON AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT OR ART@SEVENDAYSVT.COM.

"Kitchen Garden" by Judith Klausner

VANESSA COMPTON: “Come to Marlboro Country,” a solo exhibition of mixed-media collages that explore the challenges of reconciling personal narratives with collective histories of privilege, colonialism and racism. Through January 21. Info, 324-0014. Soapbox Arts in Burlington.

chittenden county

‘ABENAKI CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE VERMONT COMMUNITY’: A series of murals designed by Scott Silverstein in consultation with Abenaki artists Lisa Ainsworth Plourde and Vera Longtoe Sheehan and members of Richmond Racial Equity; the 10 panels celebrate the Abenaki origins of practices still important to Vermont culture. Through May 31. Info, radiate.art.space@gmail.com. Richmond Town Hall.

ART AT THE AIRPORT: Oil paintings of cows by Stephanie Bush and hand-cut paper scenes from the natural world by Adrienne Ginter; in the Skywalk corridor. Through March 15. Info, 865-7296. Burlington International Airport in South Burlington.

BRECCA LOH & KRISTINA PENTEK: Abstracted landscape paintings and color photographs, respectively. Curated by Burlington City Arts. Through February 14. Info, 865-7296. Pierson Library in Shelburne.

DEB PEATE: A solo exhibit of 20 whimsical paper animal heads featuring William Morris textile designs and vintage jewelry. Through December 31. Info, dpeate@yahoo.com. Healthy Living Market & Café in South Burlington.

‘FOR THE LOVE OF ABSTRACT ART’: A curated exhibition of paintings by Vermont artists. ‘WINTER LIGHT’: A curated collection of winter-themed original artwork by Mary Azarian, Lorraine Manley, Marilyn James, Susan Bull Riley, Dierdra Michelle, John Churchman, Mike Sipe, Richard Brown, Ian Clark, Alistair McCallum, Jeff Clarke, John Clarke

Olson, Kim Senior, David Pound, Wendy Soliday, Karen Winslow, Julie Davis, Kathleen Berry Bergeron, Sheila Franz, Eric Tobin, Fred Swan, Peter Miller, Brian Hewitt and Robert W. Brunelle Jr. Through December 31. Info, 662-4808. ArtHound Gallery in Essex.

barre/montpelier

AXEL STOHLBERG: “House,” collages and sculptures that consider the concepts of dwelling and place. Through December 30. Info, 279-5558. Vermont Supreme Court Gallery in Montpelier.

middlebury area

‘OUR

COLLECTION: ELECTRA

HAVEMEYER WEBB, EDITH HALPERT AND FOLK ART’: A virtual exhibition that celebrates the friendship between the museum founder and her longtime art dealer, featuring archival photographs and ephemera, a voice recording from Halpert, and quotations pulled from the women’s extensive correspondences. Through February 9. ‘WINTER LIGHTS’: The buildings and gardens glow in multicolored illuminations for the holiday season.

Purchase timed tickets at shelburnemuseum.org. Through January 1. $10-15; free for children under 3. Info, 985-3346. Shelburne Museum.

‘SILVER GLOW’: An annual winter exhibit featuring the works of 12 regional artists. Through January 31. Info, 985-3848. Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery in Shelburne.

SMALL WORKS: An exhibition of petite paintings by Anne Cady, Charlotte Dworshak, Maria Flores Gallindo, Edward Holland, Julia Jensen and Hannah Sessions. Through December 31. Info, 877-2173. Northern Daughters Annex Gallery in Shelburne.

‘WELCOME BLANKET’: A collection of quilted, crocheted and knitted blankets handmade by community members to be gifted to new American neighbors. Immigration stories and welcoming messages from the makers are also on display. Through February 23. Info, 355-9937. Heritage Winooski Mill Museum.

GROUP SHOW 52: Gallery members host a holiday market with items $100 or less. Through December 30. Info, info@thefrontvt.com. The Front in Montpelier.

MEMBERS SHOWCASE: An exhibition of artworks by Karen Schaefer, Preya Holland, Paul Markowtz, JC Wayne and others. Through January 31. Info, info@ cal-vt.org. Center for Arts and Learning in Montpelier.

ROBIN CROFUT-BRITTINGHAM: Large-scale watercolor paintings that address themes of nature, extinction and mythology. A portion of sales support the center’s mission of connecting people with the natural world. Through December 31. Free. Info, 2296206. North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier.

stowe/smuggs

ANDREA PEARLMAN: “Two Thousand Light Years From Home,” abstract oil paintings, drawings and hooked rugs that express plastic space, volume and movement. Through January 26. Info, 635-2727. Red Mill Gallery, Vermont Studio Center, in Johnson.

MARYA LOWE: “Scattered Cohesion,” contemporary wall quilts and textiles by the Vermont artist. Through January 14. Info, 646-519-1781. Minema Gallery in Johnson.

SCOTT LENHARDT: An exhibition of graphic designs for Burton Snowboards created since 1994 by the Vermont native. Through October 31. Info, 253-9911. Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in Stowe.

‘ADDISON COUNTY COLLECTS’: An eclectic exhibition of objects and personal stories from 36 area collectors, celebrating the local and global community. ‘ADDISON COUNTY KIDS COLLECT’: A continually growing exhibition of photos of Addison County children with their personal collections. ‘ARTISTS IN THE ARCHIVES: COMMUNITY, HISTORY & COLLAGE’: Collage prints by 23 artists from seven countries that reflect upon the idea of community in the 21stcentury world. Curated by Kolaj Institute director Ric Kasini Kadour. ‘THE ELEPHANT IN THE ARCHIVES’: An experimental exhibit reexamining the museum’s Stewart-Swift Research Center archival collections with a critical eye toward silences, erasures and contemporary relevance. CHUCK HERRMANN: “Sculptures of Perseverance,” eight poignant works by the Shoreham wood carver created in response to the ongoing Ukrainian tragedy. Through January 7. Info, 388-2117. Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History in Middlebury.

‘DEFINE SMALL’: An annual exhibition of petite paintings, featuring new work from established gallery artists Sara Katz, Kay Flierl and Duncan Johnson, as well as work from new Edgewater artist Larry Horowitz. More works at Edgewater Gallery at the Falls. Through December 31. Info, 989-7419. Edgewater Gallery on the Green in Middlebury.

FROBERTAN (FRAN BULL AND ROBERT BLACK): “We’re All at a Party Called Life on Earth,” a carnivalesque art installation of painted sculptures that celebrates humanity, harmony and diversity. Through February 18. Info, 382-9222. Jackson Gallery, Town Hall Theater, in Middlebury.

A MERRY LITTLE MARKET: A maker market featuring fine artwork, pottery, candles, jewelry and more by local artisans, plus handcrafted ornaments and holiday cards. Through January 14. Info, 989-7225. Sparrow Art Supply in Middlebury.

‘SOLACE’: Artworks by Anne Cady, Bonnie Baird, Jessica Parker Foley, Chelsea Granger, Julia Jensen, Hannah Sessions, Pamela Smith, Susanne Strater and Carla Weeks that respond to the question, “What do you turn to?” Through January 31. Info, 877-2173. Northern Daughters in Vergennes.

‘WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?’: Digital photography, ink and acrylic work by Gwilym Gibb and acrylic paintings and photocollage by Candace Slack. Through January 1. Info, 345-7327. Little Seed Coffee Roasters in Middlebury.

rutland/killington

JUST IMAGINE: A HOLIDAY GIVING MARKET: Handcrafted wares including pottery, stained glass, jewelry, photography, ornaments, dolls, and original works by more than 30 Vermont artists. Through January 29. Info, 247-4956. Brandon Artists Guild.

upper valley

ELIZABETH RICKETSON: “A Voice to Be Heard, a Time to Consider,” figurative paintings of dancers by the South Pomfret artist. Through December 30. Info, 4572309. Norman Williams Public Library in Woodstock.

‘FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS’: An exhibition of handmade, one-of-a-kind lamps by Ken Blaisdell, Megan Bogonovich, Rachel Jackson, Doug Johnston, Lakea Shepard, Jonah Takagi and Dave Zackin. Through January 1. Info, 347-264-4808. Kishka Gallery & Library in White River Junction.

‘I NEVER SAW IT THAT WAY: EXPLORING SCIENCE

THROUGH ART: This self-curated exhibition of mixedmedia works by artists, sculptors, photographers and crafters on the museum staff considers science from fresh perspectives. Through January 31. Info, 649-2200. Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich.

KATIE ROBERTS: Artworks in a variety of mediums by the nature artist, who is inspired by plants, animals and weather. Through February 28. Info, 359-5000. Vermont Institute of Natural Science in Quechee.

MEMBERS HOLIDAY PRINT SHOW: Prints by studio members, original prints on handmade greeting cards, and small matted prints for sale. Also online at tworiversprintmaking.org. Through January 30. Info, 295-5901. Two Rivers Printmaking Studio in White River Junction.

northeast kingdom

‘1,111 COPPER NAILS’: A 36-year retrospective of the Bread and Puppet calendar. Through December 31. Info, breadandpuppetcuratrix@gmail.com. Hardwick Inn.

ANNUAL HOLIDAY FAIR: A variety of handmade wares by member artists and guest artisans, including jewelry, pottery, glassware, textiles, rugs and more. Through January 6. Info, 748-0158. Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild Backroom Gallery in St. Johnsbury.

‘COMING CLEAN’: An exhibition that considers bathing practices throughout time and across cultures, including religious immersion and ritual purification, bathing as health cure, methods of washing in extreme environments, and much more. All kinds of bathing and scrubbing implements are on display. Through April 30. Info, 626-4409. The Museum of Everyday Life in Glover.

‘TIME OF CHANGE’: A group exhibition featuring works in a variety of mediums by 21 local artists. Through January 4. Info, melmelts@yahoo.com. The Satellite Gallery in Lyndonville.

‘WINTER LIGHT’: An exhibition that celebrates winter in the Northeast Kingdom, as well as other cultures and traditions. Through January 7. Info, 334-1966. MAC Center for the Arts in Newport.

brattleboro/okemo valley

‘WE FEEL OUR WAY THROUGH WHEN WE DON’T KNOW’: A group exhibition of works by Mariel Capanna, Oscar Rene Cornejo, Cheeny Celebrado-Royer, Vessna Scheff, Gerald Euhon Sheffield II and Lachell Workman, guest-curated by Michael Jevon Demps, that address themes of community, memory, dissonance, displacement, intimacy and loss. Through February 12. ALISON

MORITSUGU: “Moons and Internment Stones,” watercolor paintings of rocks gathered by the artist’s grandfather while he was imprisoned at the Santa Fe Internment Camp during World War II paired with oil paintings of the moon. Through February 12. JUDITH KLAUSNER: “(de)composed,” sculptures of objects usually considered ruined, meticulously crafted from a child’s modeling medium, expressing a reevaluation of the underappreciated. Through March 4. MADGE EVERS: “The New Herbarium,” works on paper using mushroom spores and plant matter as artistic mediums. Through February 12. OASA DUVERNEY: “Black Power Wave,” a window installation of

CALL TO ARTISTS

‘BEACON OF LIGHT’: This social commentary exhibit invites artists to challenge viewers to consider our day, our options and what our country represents or could embody moving forward. Show dates: March 15 to April 29. Deadline: January 28. Details at studioplacearts. com. Studio Place Arts, Barre. $10; free for SPA members. Info, submissions.studioplacearts@ gmail.com.

CALL FOR EXHIBITORS: Enter your group show, traveling exhibit or new body of work for the 2022-23 season in our community gallery. We seek thought-provoking exhibits that examine the human experience. CAL is an interdisciplinary art center that celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion in all forms. Submit artwork at cal-vt.org. Deadline: December 31. Center for Arts and Learning, Montpelier. Info, 595-5252.

CALL FOR MEMBERS: Become part of a thriving hub for music and art education. CAL is committed to enhancing the cultural life of central Vermont through its founding member organizations, as well as embracing individual artists, musicians and other nonprofits in a collaborative and welcoming community. Register at cal-vt.org. Center for Arts and Learning, Montpelier. Through December 31. $36 annually. Info, 595-5252.

‘THE HEART SHOW’: Seeking submissions to an exhibition in which artists create unique works in the universal heart shape. An online auction in February will benefit local nonprofits selected by the artists. DM or email heartshowrr@gmail.com for info and to sign up. Village Wine and Coffee, Shelburne. Through December 31. $20. Info, heartshowrr@gmail.com.

‘MAGENTA!’: Our first show of 2023 be an electrifying display of the color magenta. Named the color of the year by Pantone, the hue exudes bravery, energy, joy and optimism. All mediums and subject matters will be considered, as long as they feature this fearless color. Deadline: January 15. Entry guidelines and form at sparrow-art-supply.square.site. Sparrow Art Supply, Middlebury. Free to enter; $10 if accepted. Info, info@sparrowartsupply.com.

‘ONE + ONE IS MORE THAN TWO’: This show is about multiple artworks by an artist that relate to each other as a group, in some cases using repetition of pattern, form, shape, color and comparative imagery. Show dates: May 10 to June 24. Deadline: March 25. Details at

drawings by the Brooklyn artist, inspired by images of Chinese Fu dogs, the cross and the Yoruba deity Èsù. Through May 6. RENATE ALLER: “The Space Between Memory and Expectation,” an immersive installation of large-format photographs of mountains, glaciers, trees, ocean and other natural landscapes, plus an assemblage of lichen-covered rocks from the West Brattleboro home of artists Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason. Through February 12. Info, 257-0124. Brattleboro Museum & Art Center.

‘ART FOR ALL SEASONAL GROUP SHOW’: More than two dozen local artists present their works in a variety of mediums, sizes and prices in celebration of the gallery’s sixth year. Through January 7. f ‘IN AWE, COEXISTENCE AND MINDFULNESS OF LIFE’: An exhibition of paintings by Vermont artists Judy Hawkins, Carol Keiser and MC Noyes. Reception: Friday, January 20, 5-7 p.m. Through February 11. Info, artinfo@canalstreetartgallery.com. Canal Street Art Gallery in Bellows Falls.

‘FIGURING IT OUT’: Figure drawings and paintings by John Loggia, Jason Alden, Matthew Beck, Peter Harris, Marki Sallick, Martha Werman and Tina K.

Olsen. Through December 30. Info, 380-4997. 118 Elliot in Brattleboro.

manchester/bennington

GAIL WINBURY: “The Girl Who Drew Memories,” large-scale abstract paintings and collage. Through February 25. Info, 367-1311. Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester.

‘PERSPECTIVES: THE STORY OF BENNINGTON THROUGH MAPS’: A collection that shows the changing roles of maps, from those made by European colonists showcasing American conquests to later versions that celebrate civic progress and historic events. ‘THE WALLOOMSAC EXHIBITION’: Objects from the historic former inn and the museum’s permanent collection. Through December 31. Info, 447-1571. Bennington Museum.

randolph/royalton

VERMONT ARTISTS GROUP SHOW: Thirteen featured artists present paintings, drawings, photography, basketry and more. Through January 29. Info, artetcvt@gmail.com. ART, etc. in Randolph.

online

studioplacearts.com. Studio Place Arts, Barre. $10; free for SPA members. Info, submissions. studioplacearts@gmail.com.

‘PARENTHOOD’: Parenthood is a constantly changing state of being as a child grows older and life becomes more complex. Along the way are moments of bafflement, intense love, rage, hurt. We seek images of those moments for a March exhibition. Juror: Rebecca Senf. Deadline: January 16. PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury. $39 for first five images; $6 for each additional image. Info, photos@photoplacegallery.com.

SEEKING INSTALLATION ARTIST: Are you a video/media artist in New Hampshire or Vermont? Want your work on display for the month of February at our film and media-makers space in the heart of downtown White River Junction? Get in touch and let us know your ideas. We offer a $250 artist stipend, publicity and installation support, and the opportunity to sell your work. It is encouraged but not mandatory that work fit our February theme, “Radical Love.” Junction Arts & Media, White River Junction. Through January 11. Free. Info, 295-6688.

‘SERENITY’: Emerging and established artists are invited to submit one or two pieces of artwork that expresses the theme in any medium for an exhibit January through April. For registration, contact Catherine McMains at catherine. mcmains@gmail.com or go to jerichovt.org. Deadline: December 30. Jericho Town Hall.

THE VERMONT FLOWER SHOW: The flower show returns to the Vermont Expo in March, with a display theme of “Out of Hibernation! Spring Comes to the 100-Acre Wood,” an adaptation of the world of A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh. Gardeners, volunteers and vendors can find more info and register at vnlavt. org. Early bird discount through December 31. Online.

‘WHAT MAKES A LAKE?’: Another Earth is seeking submissions from Vermont artists and current or former residents of photography, cyanotypes, drawings, writing, video stills, field recordings and historical images that are in some way connected to Lake Champlain. Those accepted will be included in a visual guide to what makes a lake, published in spring 2023. Details and submission instructions at another-earth.com. Online. Through January 31. Info, anotherearthsubmissions@gmail.com.

‘ACTION FIGURES: OBJECTS IN MOTION’: A virtual exhibition from the Shelburne Museum that explores the theme of movement and action in art. Through April 30. Free. Info, 985-3346.

‘PRIDE 1983’: Castleton University Bank Gallery presents an online exhibition of photographs and other documents of Vermont’s first Pride March on June 25, 1983, in Burlington; organized by the Vermont Folklife Center and Pride Center of Vermont. Through January 15. Info, 1-800-639-8521.

CAMPUS THEATER MOVIE POSTERS: The Henry Sheldon Museum Archives presents a virtual exhibit of posters and other ephemera from Middlebury’s former movie theater, which opened in 1936. It was later converted to the current Marquis Theater. Through January 7. Info, 388-2117. Online.

outside vermont

AVA MEMBERS HOLIDAY EXHIBITION: A show and sale of items by Vermont and New Hampshire artists. Through December 30. Info, 603-448-3117. AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, N.H.

‘DIANE ARBUS: PHOTOGRAPHS, 1956-1971’: Nearly 100 black-and-white prints shot by the late American photographer primarily around New York City. Through January 29. ‘SEEING LOUD: BASQUIAT AND MUSIC’: The first large-scale multimedia exhibition devoted to the role of music in the work of the innovative American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, organized in collaboration with the Philharmonie de Paris museum. Through February 19. ‘VIEWS OF WITHIN: PICTURING THE SPACES WE INHABIT’: More than 60 paintings, photographs, prints, installations and textile works from the museum’s collection that present one or more evocations of interior space. Through June 30. SHARY BOYLE: “Outside the Palace of Me,” a multisensory exhibition that explores how identity and personality are constructed in the age of social media. Through January 15. Info, 514-285-2000. Montréal Museum of Fine Arts.

NELSON HENRICKS: Immersive video installations by the Montréal artist in which visual and sound editing create a musical dynamic, and which explore subjects from the history of art and culture. Through April 10. Info, 514-847-6226. Montréal Museum of Contemporary Art, CA.

PARK DAE SUNG: “Ink Reimagined,” 23 ink paintings, some on view for the first time in the U.S., by the renowned Korean artist; curated by Sunglim Kim, Dartmouth College associate professor of art history. Through March 19. Info, 603-646-3661. Hood Museum, Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. m

The dialectic of creepy and cute made this exhibition utterly magnetic. So did Yim’s skill with her mediums, whether oil paint on canvas or pastel on paper, and her forward way with color. In her fertile imagination, mixing abstraction, surrealism and figuration yields portraits of mutant beings we hope never to see IRL. Think repurposed intestines, misplaced teeth and sort-of-human eyes that seemed to follow a viewer around the room.

Yim herself writes that she employs shapes, lines and color “that gel into metaphysical portraits of pathos, anxiety and pugnacious hilarity.”

Trying to categorize this artist’s work is futile; her visual vocabulary is fiercely individual.

“When the Well Is Dry,” the Current in Stowe

To anyone concerned about the state of the Earth, this exhibition provoked sadness, anger, outrage, fear. Photographs by 11 international visual storytellers eloquently showed what we have inflicted on nature and nature’s response.

The exhibition’s title was drawn from a Benjamin Franklin quote: “When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” Though written centuries before the term “climate crisis” was coined, the aphorism suggests that humans have long understood that natural resources are finite — and squandered them anyway.

Since fires, sweltering heat, floods, droughts and destructive storms are the stuff of daily headlines, the Current exhibition held few surprises. But it offered a valuable global perspective.

A trio of images by Iranian photographer

Solmaz Daryani documented the death of Lake Urmia. Once the planet’s sixth-largest saltwater lake, supporting both a thriving ecosystem and a thriving local economy, it is now dessicated.

Four large prints by Alaskan photographer Acacia Johnson told other stories about water — frozen or melting — and the struggles of northern Indigenous communities. From California, Allison Dinner’s print showed what the apocalypse looks like when it arrives in your backyard.

Some artists in the exhibition, including Canadian Edward Burtynsky, are worldrenowned. Others were likely unfamiliar to most viewers. But names were secondary to the devastating content of their images.

“Interplay,” Kents’ Corner State Historic Site in Calais

This annual exhibition is always a pleasure to witness and yet a bit frustrating to cover because there is so much of it. Every nook and cranny in this charming old building is packed with works by Vermont artists, thanks to cocurators Nel Emlen, Allyson Evans and David Schutz. This year’s iteration, the 15th, was arguably the most vivacious to date.

“Interplay” referred to the relationships

between pieces. And following a period of pandemic isolation, Emlen told us, the curators “intentionally looked at work that was joyous.” It showed, particularly with color. From bold abstractions by Sara Katz to meditative pastel canvases by Cynthia Kirkwood to richly saturated pigment-ink monotypes by Drew Clay, the imagery popped in every room.

The curators sometimes paired works of similar color values, doubling their visual vitality; elsewhere they played with contrasts. The idea of interplay also manifested in thematically linked subsets of shape, pattern, materiality or concept. Clark Derbes’ painted polygons, for instance, were simpatico with a number of 2D pieces. Printmaker Rachel Gross’ masterful geometric compositions both commanded attention and complemented other artworks. Pamela Smith’s magical-realist folk art sweetly contrasted with harder-edged works and certainly answered the call for joy.

Perhaps more than most exhibitions,

the Kent show illustrates what thoughtful curation can achieve. In this case, Emlen, Evans and Schutz succeeded in a subtler mission: to observe how well disparate individuals can play together.

Emilia Olson,”Painting With the Past,” Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro

No one looks at a 15th-century Italian painting and thinks, SpongeBob SquarePants! No one except Plainfield artist Emilia Olson, that is. Her takeoff on Sandro Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” — “Birth of Venus With Toys” — replaces the supporting figures of the original with the perpetually excited cartoon star, as well as Bert and Ernie of “Sesame Street” renown.

This was one of five large paintings at the Highland Center exhibit in which Olson indulged her love of Renaissance paintings and her fondness for childhood toys. They were startling for their ambitious scale, refreshing humor and flawless execution. Helpfully, a sheet of paper hung alongside each of them contained an image of the classic work and Olson’s commentary.

Not only did Olson revisit art history and her own past, this exhibition itself was a sort of resurrection: After graduating with an art degree, she had put painting aside for 15 years. Highland Center curator Maureen O’Connor Burgess persuaded the artist to begin again. In turn, Olson pulled older, unfinished artworks out of a box in her parents’ home.

Some of these paintings, which Olson reworked, played off another of her obsessions: cheesy greeting cards. But the larger paintings commanded justifiable attention.

“Painting With the Past” suggested Olson is out of the box for good. m

Counting on Art

“Birth of Venus With Toys” by Emilia Olson

“Gooble, Gobble” by Mie Yim

”Snow Goose” by Acacia Johnson

“Mother and Child” sculpture by Clark Derbes; “Dream 022721.001” by Drew Clay

nightlife

and views on the local music + nightlife scene

BY CHRIS FARNSWORTH

Best of the Best

Well, we did it, homies. 2022 is all but in the rearview mirror. And what a weird-ass year it was, eh? We found out that Ticketmaster is an evil empire, Donald Trump said he wanted to get rid of the Constitution, Argentina won a controversial World Cup and everybody thinks Elon Musk is a prick.

Actually, wait, what year is it?

Well, maybe society at large is replaying some greatest hits, but the music scene in Vermont this year has been all about upward trajectories. As we moved further away from those dreaded quarantine days, live music made a big comeback. That’s

not to say touring hasn’t become much more fraught post-pandemic. Everyone from DIY punk bands to WEEZER has had to cancel dates due to the ever-growing financial perils of hitting the road.

On the release front, 2022 saw an embarrassment of riches from Vermont musicians. I could have easily picked a top 25, including big albums from breakout folk artist NOAH KAHAN and Hadestown creator ANAÏS MITCHELL’s BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN band. And that’s not to mention post-rock titans the ARMED, for which ROUGH FRANCIS’ URIAN HACKNEY holds down the drum stool. Yeah, yeah, I know, they’re a Detroit band. I’m just saying: Vermont musicians were busy this year.

So without further ado, let’s get to it. These are my picks for the 10 best albums and singles made by Vermont artists. Don’t agree? There’s no need to email me to tell me my picks suck, because, well, that would be mean. Instead, maybe just send me your top 10. Yeah. Bam.

Best Albums of 2022

1. THE DEAD SHAKERS, Some Shapes Reappear. The gloriously trippy record from Burlington’s most psychedelic band isn’t just weird vibes and cool sounds. Under all the gossamer-like production, the Shakers’ mastermind, KEVIN BLOOM, writes clever indie rock songs that are su used with both a whimsical sense of joyful chaos and darker, more archetypal themes. Key track: “My Death.”

2. FATTIE B., Gumbo. The elder statesman of Vermont hip-hop makes one hell of a comeback after a near-death experience. Featuring some of the best names in the scene, from CRAIG MITCHELL and DWIGHT +

NICOLE to RIVAN C. and MISTER BURNS, Fattie’s triumphant record is equal parts dance jam and Burlington music history lesson. Key track: “Ooh Ooh.”

3. THUS LOVE, Memorial. Brattleboro’s killer music scene strikes again! When indie rock band Thus Love signed with CAPTURED TRACKS earlier in the year, some eyebrows raised. Once Memorial hit, however, it became clear the young band is one of the most exciting to come out of the Green Mountains in years. Key track: “Inamorato.”

4. GREG FREEMAN, I Looked Out. My pick for sleeper album of the year, Freeman’s wild, half experimental, half alt-country record gets better with every listen. Freeman plays in Burlington indie rock outfit LILY SEABIRD, but left to his own devices, he pushes his music into weird, bold territory. Key track: “Colorado.”

5. FATHER FIGUER, F F. One of the most interesting indie rock bands to come out of Burlington in years, Father Figuer are

(of course) flying the coop in 2023. But this year they left us with the shoegazing arctic chill of the F F EP. Key track: “Muzzle.”

6. BOOMSLANG, Boomslang III. When one half of Boomslang, producer JOHNNY MORRIS, aka JL, died in September after a battle with cancer, his music partner DUSTIN BYERLY, aka MC SED ONE, compiled what they had been working on into the sensational Boomslang III. It’s a stunning, high-octane send-o to one of the best hip-hop duos in Vermont over the past 15 years — though Byerly says he still has enough material from the final sessions with Morris to release a coda in 2023. Key track: “Settle Down.”

7. ERIC GEORGE, Mirrors in My Room Burlington’s closest thing to WOODY GUTHRIE, George has held down the folk throne in town for a few years now. Mirrors in My Room is a partial departure from his more familiar work, as the everproductive songwriter accesses his inner British folk rocker to great e ect. Key track: “What You Fake (Will Fade).”

8. ANDRIANA CHOBOT, Return to Sincere. On her sophomore LP, Chobot channels her almost operatic abilities as a vocalist through a lens of jazz and breezy pop. The record is the work of a maturing songwriter who is able to expertly weave moments of light and darkness into her compositions. Key track: “Galaxy Eyes.”

9. WILLVERINE, Who Can Wave Me to the Way Out. The project of Colchesterbased WILL ANDREWS, Willverine continues to morph into increasingly interesting sonic shapes. On an album that is by and large a duet with singersongwriter SAM DUPONT (BLACKMER), the producer delivers an emotionally weighty yet highly danceable record. Key track: “Amy Winehouse.”

10. THE MOUNTAIN SAYS NO, Unemployer

The Enosburgh indie rock band has been at it for a while now, rising from the ashes of much-loved early 2000s band Farm. With Unemployer, the group continues its streak of sonically adventurous records chock-full of killer ri s, big drums and obtuse lyrics. Key track: “You Know You Should.”

Best Singles of 2022

1. FRANCESCA BLANCHARD, “je sais plus quoi te dire”

2. JAMES KOCHALKA SUPERSTAR & ROUGH

FRANCIS, “The Mummy’s on the Loose”

3. JARV, “Blue”

4. HENRY JAMISON, “Make It Out (featuring Maisie Peters)”

5. DWIGHT + NICOLE, “Angel”

6. ALI MCGUIRK, “X Boyfriends”

7. ISABEL PLESS, “Keeping Score”

“Unavailable”

A2VT, “Clear the Way”

Sound O

Sad news to end 2022 on, but after two years and 129 installments, Vermont Public’s “Safe & Sound: A Celebration of Vermont Music” will air its final episode on Saturday, December 31. Hosted by MARY ENGISCH and coproduced with her husband, PETER ENGISCH, the hourlong radio show leaves quite a hole to fill.

“Safe & Sound” first aired on May 23, 2020, after the pandemic shut down live music, along with just about everything (other than Florida and VAN MORRISON and ERIC CLAPTON’s tour busses). The pandemic also caused the cancellation of the live music broadcast “Live From Here With CHRIS THILE,” which Vermont Public aired on Saturday evenings.

When the station approached Mary about hosting a weekly, Vermont-centric music program, her initial reaction was “Hell, no!” Though she has been a DJ at commercial radio stations over the years and is comfortable behind the mic, Mary “just didn’t think we could fill the time for one show, let alone a weekly broadcast,” she wrote by email.

But she soon discovered how vast the Vermont music scene really is.

“I was learning about these musicians right along with our audience,” she revealed. “I trusted the knowledge of the people who have been in the Vermont music scene for decades … and I was befriending every Vermont musician I could find on Instagram.”

Why is “Safe & Sound” ending? Well, it was supposed to, actually. With venues open once more and live music back, the need for the program has (thankfully) disappeared. Mary and Peter are each taking on bigger responsibilities at Vermont Public, as well.

Both have been changed by the experience, though, and will continue shouting out local music whenever they can.

“We also want to take a step back, a breather of sorts,”Peter wrote by email, adding that the return of live broadcasts at Vermont Public could eventually herald the return of “Safe & Sound” as a segment of another show, such as “Live From the Fort.” “We want to figure out the best next step to support Vermont music.”

“Vermont music comes from such a rich and deep well,” Mary wrote. “And Vermont musicians seem to be endlessly inspired to create it. Local music is one of the state’s most vital natural resources. It’s been the privilege of my radio career to help showcase it for the last couple of years.”

CLUB DATES music+nightlife

live music

WED.28

Al’s Pals Holiday Invitational (rock, jam) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

Bluegrass & BBQ (bluegrass) at Four Quarters Brewing, Winooski, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Folk Talk Trio (folk) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 7:30 p.m. Free.

Holiday Extravaganza (multiple bands) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 4 p.m. Free.

Irish Sessions (Celtic folk) at Light Club Lamp Shop, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

Jazz Night with Ray Vega (jazz) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

Jazz Sessions with Randal Pierce (jazz open mic) at the 126, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

Live Jazz (jazz) at Leunig’s Bistro & Café, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Peter Wayne Burton (singersongwriter) at the Venetian Soda Lounge, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

Wednesday Night Dead (Grateful Dead covers) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. $5.

THU.29

Acoustik Ruckus (bluegrass) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 8 p.m. Free.

Alex Stewart Quartet and Special Guests (jazz) at the 126, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free.

AliT (singer-songwriter) at Filling Station, Middlesex, 6 p.m. Free.

Bella’s Bartok, Moon Hollow (folk) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 8 p.m. $15/$17.

Content Clown (indie) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

Footworks (Celtic) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 7:30 p.m. Free.

Glenn Echo, Vega, Ivamae (folk, soul) at Monkey House, Winooski, 8 p.m. $5.

Goldman & Hammack (folk) at Black Flannel Brewing & Distilling, Essex, 6 p.m. Free.

Grace Palmer and Socializing for Introverts (rock) at Red Square, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

House Dunn (rock) at 1st Republic Brewing, Essex Junction, 6 p.m. Free.

Radio Tokyo (covers) at Pickle Barrel Nightclub, Killington, 8 p.m. Free.

Ryan Sweezey (pop) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 6 p.m. Free.

A Tallgrass Revival (folk) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 9 p.m. $5/$10.

Thea Wren (pop, soul) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 7 p.m. $5/$10.

Tom Gershwin (jazz) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

FRI.30

After Hours (rock) at Monopole, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 10 p.m. Free.

Return Flight

Find the most up-to-date info on 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.

It’s been almost three years since Cynthia Braren set aside her traditional jazz band and re-dubbed herself THEA WREN. With the new moniker came a new sound of soul-inflected pop music and R&B, with a dash of rock thrown in to give it an edge. Backed by a who’s who of Burlington musicians, including Matthew Mercury’s Ezra Oklan on drums, Jeremy Mendicino on bass and Leon Campos on keys, Wren is primed to return to the stage. She plays on Thursday, December 29, at Radio Bean in Burlington.

The Ages (rock) at Red Square, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

Bruce Sklar Jazz Quartet (jazz) at the Venetian Soda Lounge, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

Dave Mitchell’s Blues Revue (blues) at Red Square, Burlington, 2 p.m. Free.

The Discussions (jazz) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 6 p.m. $5/$10.

Duncan MacLeod Trio (blues, rock) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 9 p.m. Free.

Dupont & DeLuca (singersongwriter) at Jericho Café & Tavern, 7:30 p.m. Free.

Grippo Funk Band (funk) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 8 p.m. $10. Incahoots (rock) at the Old Post, South Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

The John Daly Duo (singersongwriter) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 4 p.m. Free.

Mark Legrand & Sarah Munro, Tinyus Smallus (folk, rock) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 7:30 p.m. Free.

Matt Hagen (folk) at Stone’s Throw Pizza, Richmond, 6 p.m. Free.

Phantom Suns, Trash Fire (rock) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 9:30 p.m. Free.

Radio Tokyo (covers) at Pickle Barrel Nightclub, Killington, 8 p.m. Free.

Rough Suspects (rock) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 9 p.m. Free.

Shane McGrath (acoustic) at Gusto’s, Barre, 6 p.m. Free.

SAT.31

Bob Gagnon (jazz) at Jericho Café & Tavern, 7:30 p.m. Free.

The Bubs, Bait Bag (indie rock) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 9:30 p.m. $25.

The Burning Sun, Paper Lady, MAD, Lake Waves, A Box of Stars (indie) at Monkey House, Winooski, 8 p.m. $15.

Cami and Ry (folk) at the Den at Harry’s Hardware, Cabot, 6 p.m. Free.

DJ Matt Payne (DJ) at Red Square Blue Room, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

JD Tolstoi (electronic) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 6 p.m. Free.

JerBorn (rock) at 1st Republic Brewing, Essex Junction, 4 p.m. Free.

Julia Kate Davis, the Nailers (folk, rock) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 7:30 p.m. Free.

Lee Ross, the Middle Ages (funk, dance) at Orlando’s Bar & Lounge, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free.

Left Eye Jump (blues) at Red Square, Burlington, 1 p.m. Free.

Mal Maiz (Latin, funk) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 7 p.m. $15.

The Martin Fogel Quartet (jazz) at the Venetian Soda Lounge, Burlington, 8 p.m. $25-$85.

Marvel Years, Malakai, Face Plant, Father Figuer, Charles Nimbus (electro, indie rock) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 9 p.m. $30.

Myra Flynn (pop, soul) at Hugo’s Bar and Grill, Montpelier, 9 p.m. $20.

NYE with Cozy (dance) at the Depot, St. Albans, 9 p.m. $12/$15. Quadra, Fran Briand (rock) at the Old Post, South Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

Rebel Daze NYE Celebration featuring Cappadonna & Inspectah Deck of Wu-Tang Clan (hip-hop) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 8 p.m. $80-$95.

Soul Porpoise (soul) at Red Square, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

Sticks & Stones (covers) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 9 p.m. Free.

The Wormdogs, Wild Leek River (country, rock) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 8 p.m. $12.

SUN.1

Sunday Brunch Tunes (singersongwriter) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 10 a.m.

TUE.3

Bluegrass Jam (bluegrass) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 7 p.m. Free.

Dead Set (Grateful Dead tribute) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 7 p.m. $10.

WED.4

Bluegrass & BBQ (bluegrass) at Four Quarters Brewing, Winooski, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Irish Sessions (Celtic folk) at Light Club Lamp Shop, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

Jazz Night with Ray Vega (jazz) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

Jazz Sessions with Randal Pierce (jazz open mic) at the 126, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

Live Jazz (jazz) at Leunig’s Bistro & Café, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Wednesday Night Dead (Grateful Dead covers) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. $5.

THU.5

Alex Stewart Quartet and Special Guests (jazz) at the 126, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free.

Tom Caswell Blues Jam (blues) at Black Flannel Brewing & Distilling, Essex, 6 p.m. Free.

SAT.7

The Breanna Elaine Band (acoustic) at the Underground, Randolph, 7 p.m. $18.

FILE: LUKE AWTRY

Please contact event organizers about vaccination and mask requirements.

The Rough Suspects (rock) at 14th Star Brewing., St. Albans, 6 p.m. Free.

SUN.8

Jake Swamp and the Pine, Derek Sensale (Americana) at Stage 33 Live, Bellows Falls, 3 p.m. $12 /$15.

Sunday Brunch Tunes (singersongwriter) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 10 a.m.

TUE.10

Bluegrass Jam (bluegrass) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 7 p.m. Free.

Dead Set (Grateful Dead tribute) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 7 p.m. $10.

WED.11

Bluegrass & BBQ (bluegrass) at Four Quarters Brewing, Winooski, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Irish Sessions (Celtic folk) at Light Club Lamp Shop, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

Jazz Night with Ray Vega (jazz) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

Jazz Sessions with Randal Pierce (jazz open mic) at the 126, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

Live Jazz (jazz) at Leunig’s Bistro & Café, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Wednesday Night Dead (Grateful Dead covers) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. $5.

djs

THU.29

DJ Chaston (DJ) at Red Square Blue Room, Burlington, 11 p.m. Free.

DJ Two Sev (DJ) at Red Square, Burlington, midnight. Free.

Mi Yard Reggae Night with DJ Big Dog (reggae and dancehall) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 9:30 p.m. Free.

Molly Mood (DJ) at Red Square, Burlington, 10 p.m. Free.

Vinyl Night with Ken (DJ) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 6 p.m. Free.

Vinyl Thursdays (DJ) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 5 p.m. Free.

FRI.30

DJ Craig Mitchell (DJ) at Red Square Blue Room, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free.

DJ LaFountaine (DJ) at Gusto’s, Barre, 9 p.m. Free.

DJ Matt Payne (DJ) at Red Square, Burlington, 10 p.m. Free.

DJ Taka (DJ) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 11 p.m. $10/$15.

SAT.31

DJ A-Ra$ (DJ) at Red Square, Burlington, midnight. Free.

THU.29 // THEA WREN [POP, SOUL]

DJ Raul (DJ) at Red Square Blue Room, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

DJ Svpply (DJ) at Club Metronome, Burlington, 8 p.m. $10.

DJ Taka (DJ) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 11 p.m. $10/$15.

Molly Mood (DJ) at Red Square, Burlington, 10 p.m. Free.

New Years Eve Dance Party (DJ) at Positive Pie II, Montpelier, 9:30 p.m. $5.

THU.5

Mi Yard Reggae Night with DJ Big Dog (reggae and dancehall) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 9:30 p.m. Free.

Vinyl Night with Ken (DJ) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 6 p.m. Free.

Vinyl Thursdays (DJ) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 5 p.m. Free.

FRI.6

DJ Taka (DJ) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 11 p.m. $10/$15.

SAT.7

Capricorn & Aquarius Party (DJ) at Monkey House, Winooski, 8 p.m. Free.

DJ Taka (DJ) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 11 p.m. $10/$15.

open mics & jams

WED.28

Open Mic (open mic) at Monopole, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 10 p.m. Free.

Open Mic Night (open mic) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

Open Mic with Danny Lang (open mic) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 7 p.m. Free.

THU.29

Open Mic (open mic) at Whammy Bar, Calais, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Open Mic (open mic) at Orlando’s Bar & Lounge, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

Open Mic Night (open mic) at Parker Pie, West Glover, 6:30 p.m. Free.

SUN.1

Open Mic Night with Justin at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 7:30 p.m.

TUE.3

Open Mic with D Davis (open mic) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 7 p.m. Free.

WED.4

Lit Club (poetry open mic) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Open Mic (open mic) at Monopole, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 10 p.m. Free.

Open Mic with Danny Lang (open mic) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 7 p.m. Free.

THU.5

Open Mic (open mic) at Whammy Bar, Calais, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Open Mic (open mic) at Orlando’s Bar & Lounge, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

Open Mic Night (open mic) at Parker Pie, West Glover, 6:30 p.m. Free.

FRI.6

Red Brick Coffee House (open mic) at Red Brick Meeting House, Westford, 7 p.m. Free.

SUN.8

Open Mic Night with Justin (open mic) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 7:30 p.m.

TUE.10

Open Mic with D Davis (open mic) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 7 p.m. Free.

WED.11

Open Mic (open mic) at Monopole, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 10 p.m. Free.

Open Mic with Danny Lang (open mic) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 7 p.m. Free.

comedy

WED.28

Home For the Holidays (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. $15.

Standup Comedy Open Mic (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

THU.29

Home For the Holidays (Improv) (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. $15.

Mothra! A Storytelling/ Improv Comedy Show (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

FRI.30

Ivan Decker (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 7 & 9 p.m. $25.

SAT.31

Good Clean Fun (Highlight) (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 2 p.m. $10.

Ivan Decker (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 8 & 10:30 p.m. $50-$60.

TUE.3

Comedy Open Mic (comedy) at the 126, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

WED.4

New Year, New Jokes (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

THU.5

Kingdom Kids Present: Home Planet (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. $5.

FRI.6

Rachel Feinstein (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 7 & 9 p.m. $25.

SAT.7

Rachel Feinstein (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 7 & 9 p.m. $25.

TUE.10

Comedy Open Mic (comedy) at the 126, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

WED.11

Standup Comedy Open Mic (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

trivia, karaoke, etc.

THU.29

Karaoke Night (karaoke) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. Free.

Trivia & Nachos (trivia) at Four Quarters Brewing, Winooski, 6 p.m. Free.

Trivia Night (trivia) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Trivia Thursday (trivia) at Spanked Puppy Pub, Colchester, 7 p.m. Free.

SAT.31

Karaoke Contest with DJ Party Bear (karaoke) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 9:30 p.m. Free.

MON.2

Trivia with Brian (trivia) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 8 p.m. Free.

TUE.3

Karaoke with DJ Party Bear (karaoke) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 9:30 p.m. Free.

Trivia Night (trivia) at the Depot, St. Albans, 7 p.m. Free.

Tuesday Night Trivia (trivia) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

WED.4

Barrel Room Trivia (trivia) at Black Flannel Brewing & Distilling, Essex, 5 p.m. Free.

THU.5

Karaoke Night (karaoke) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. Free.

Trivia & Nachos (trivia) at Four Quarters Brewing, Winooski, 6 p.m. Free.

Trivia Night (trivia) at 1st Republic Brewing, Essex Junction, 6 p.m. Free.

Trivia Night (trivia) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Trivia Thursday (trivia) at Spanked Puppy Pub, Colchester, 7 p.m. Free.

TUE.10

Karaoke with DJ Party Bear (karaoke) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 9:30 p.m. Free.

Trivia Night (trivia) at the Depot, St. Albans, 7 p.m. Free.

Tuesday Night Trivia (trivia) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free. m

Anna Geniushene—

Van Cliburn Silver Medalist 1/27 Breabach 2/17

REVIEW this music+nightlife

Adam Henry Garcia, Letters to Leopold

(SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL)

2022 was a banner year for Vermont musicians and their recorded output. Seven Days received so many new submissions that some records were in danger of falling through the cracks. Not on my watch, dammit! Here are six releases rescued from the void.

Granville Daze, Some Daze

(SELF-RELEASED, CD, DIGITAL)

Burlington singer-songwriter Adam Henry Garcia has been making music in the local scene for a while as a guitarist for indie rockers Portraits of Sawyer. On his latest LP, Letters to Leopold, Garcia leans into the poppier side of folk music. The record’s 11 tracks showcase Garcia’s acoustic playing and his hushed yet melodic vocal delivery. A strong, eclectic songwriter, Garcia’s tunes run the gamut from cerebral and melancholic to wry and full of humor. Garcia is a winner of regional Emmy awards in video editing and producing, as well as an actor, but Letters to Leopold hardly feels like a side hustle. His compositions and tasteful arrangements, paired with introspective and clever lyrics, make for a pleasant, though at times repetitive, listen.

KEY TRACK: “King” WHY: Garcia throws some spectacular shade at a certain would-be dictator with lyrics such as, “Wanna take every little thing / Want them all to kiss your ring / But the underworld draws near.” WHERE: adamhenrygarcia.bandcamp.com

Aluron, Devotion/Fever Dreams

(SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL)

Lillie Guto started composing music a little over two years ago, when the pandemic gave her time to acquaint herself with a digital audio workstation. As she grew proficient with the equipment, Guto began crafting dreamy, instrumental synthwave songs at a frightening clip; she’s released four albums in 2022 alone

Combining the word “alula,” the part of a bird’s wing used for flight navigation, with the word “aileron,” which performs a similar function on the wing of a plane, Guto dubbed herself Aluron, a fitting name given the soaring nature of her arrangements. Over the mammoth 31 songs on Devotion/Fever Dreams, she layers beats and melodies into sparkling, ambient-leaning creations that rarely stay in one place.

KEY TRACK: “Even in a Static Sky (I love you)” WHY: Guto creates a gorgeous, crystalline love letter full of echoes and tittering, glitchy beats. WHERE: Spotify

Astral Underground, Astral Underground

(SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL)

One of the coolest things about covering Vermont music is finding strange hot spots in tiny, rural towns. Take Enosburgh, for example. Hardly known for any kind of music scene, the little Franklin County burg nonetheless boasts some incredibly talented musicians. Three of them have banded together to form the ambient jazz outfit Astral Underground.

Featuring Margaux Simmons — a founding member of 1970s avant-garde Afro-jazz group the Pyramids — guitarist Ben Maddox from rockers the Mountain Says No and multi-instrumentalist John Notaro, the trio has created a self-titled album that’s all over the map. With Simmons’ flute front and center, Maddox and Notaro build cosmic, searching grooves for her to use as launchpads. The songs vacillate between traditional funk-leaning jazz and almost post-rock territory, making for a wonderfully unpredictable record.

KEY TRACK: “Do the World a Flavor” WHY: Maddox and Notaro immerse themselves in a jerky, Radiohead-esque ri and rhythm as Simmons sneakily weaves her flute around it all like someone creeping up a staircase. WHERE: astralunderground.bandcamp.com

The married duo of John and Victoria Crowne specialize in a specific style of Vermont-centric folk music. It’s a sort of Grateful Dead-influenced, melodically upbeat sound one might find playing at any number of breweries and co eehouses across the state. Between a wish for love in the world (“Let There Be Love”) and syrupy love songs (“I Guess I Know”), the Granville Daze aren’t necessarily breaking any new ground. Some Daze is a record centered on comfort. The laid-back drums and sleepy slide guitar meld with plaintive, often saccharine lyrics, creating a terminally relaxed feel throughout. The Crownes harmonize well, however, and their two voices combine to give the record a much-needed edge.

KEY TRACK: “Just Like You” WHY: A welcome change of pace from the rest of the record, the song edges into rock, even featuring a Dobro. WHERE: Spotify

Matthew Saraca, Moose Hill Lodge

(SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL)

Singer-songwriter Matthew Saraca has been making Moose Hill Lodge for the better part of seven years. The Burlington-based musician, who played with instrumental folk rockers Silver Bridget, was still single when he began recording his album at Ryan Power’s old studio in Essex Junction back in 2015. Now married with two children, Saraca has spent the intervening years slowly building Moose Hill Lodge into a dense record full of introspective, occasionally dark folk music. A sense of home is a central theme throughout: The record’s title refers to the street Saraca grew up on in Walpole, Mass., and the cover features a woodcut his parents’ friends made for the family when they first moved there.

It all makes for a record su used with the glow of nostalgia, though cut with a sense of adult cynicism, like looking back through an old photo album.

KEY TRACK: “A Song Before Brooklyn” WHY: A country rocker pushing into Wilco territory, Saraca delivers the lines with equal parts melody and world-weariness. WHERE: matthewsaraca.bandcamp.com

Levi Kz, Do You Believe in Narwhals?

(SELF-RELEASED, CD)

Levi Kz has some serious cosmic concerns on his mind on his latest LP, Do You Believe in Narwhals? Yes, he wants to know if you believe in unicorn whales, but it’s a deeper question than simply pondering their existence. Do you believe in fate? What’s the di erence between love and passion? Is the Burlington-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter using these questions to get laid? Possibly. Such is the six-song album’s roguish charm. It’s a wandering, strange collection of alternating genres and moods, from straightforward ballads such as “Letter #2,” featuring a heartfelt vocal and gorgeous acoustic guitar work, to “Rambling Around,” a banjo-driven tribute to all the places for which Levi Kz has contemplated leaving Burlington. Fortunately, it seems like he’s decided to stick around the Queen City for now. Maybe it’s fate. Maybe it’s a narwhal?

KEY TRACK: “Do You Believe in Narwhals?” WHY: The title track is the weirdest song on the album, coming o like a bedroom funk tune that turns into garage rock. WHERE: levikz.bandcamp.com

CHRIS FARNSWORTH

ROBERT F. KENNEDY

on screen

Everything’s Playing Everywhere All at Once

Highs and lows on screen in 2022

BY MARGOT HARRISON • margot@sevendaysvt.com

Movie theaters are open again, but is anyone buying tickets? Or rather, is anyone buying tickets this year to films that aren’t part of the Marvel, DC Comics or Avatar franchises?

applicable, I’ve noted where the films (or series) are streaming with a subscription. Many can also be rented on demand, and a few have yet to be released here. Happy moviegoing in the New Year!

Worst hospitality

REVIEWS

Movies aimed at adult audiences — which include most of the likely award contenders — have had a lackluster performance in theaters in 2022. There were some exceptions: Top Gun: Maverick soared on the wings of nostalgia to become the year’s top-grossing film (so far). Where the Crawdads Sing brought out crowds for an old-school coming-of-age story. The unclassifiable Everything Everywhere All at Once was a word-of-mouth hit.

But other, highly touted films were box o ce disappointments, including the romcom Bros, the ripped-from-the-headlines drama She Said and Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical The Fabelmans, which was released on premium video on demand after playing in less than 1,000 theaters.

The fate of The Fabelmans is especially worrying not just because Spielberg helped usher in the era of modern blockbusters but also because this particular film is both accessible and acclaimed. It received a rapturous reception at the Toronto International Film Festival and won an American Film Institute Movie of the Year award. It has heartwarming scenes perfect for holiday viewing. It’s all about the magic of the big screen.

Now, if you choose, you can rent it at home. Tom Brueggemann, writing recently in IndieWire, suggests that The Fabelmans represents a turning point: “It could be the film to tell us that even within the Oscar corridor, major dramas by major filmmakers can not necessarily expect a significant theatrical response.”

The problem, in Brueggemann’s view, is not that such fi lms are disappointments or poorly marketed but that their “primary audience now expects early home availability.” In short, the pandemic experience trained people to stay home and wait for streaming. When they do go out now, I would guess, they go to blockbusters whose plotlines are more likely to be spoiled on social media

— films that make them feel like part of a conversation.

And now, a confession: I’m part of the problem. It still takes a lot to get me into a theater, partly because I don’t want to spread disease to an elderly loved one. When I do venture out, though, it’s usually for the “smaller” movies, ones that we’re lucky to have the opportunity to see in theaters at all.

Reviews don’t mean much to people deciding whether to buy a ticket for Thor: Love and Thunder or The Batman. But they could inspire someone to see a visually stunning foreign film such as Decision to Leave or a brainy, absorbing drama such as Tár or a flawed but enthrallingly ambitious thriller such as Nope

Here are some of my highlights and lowlights from this year’s releases. When

In the pre-Airbnb days, we had horror fi lms about buying a dream house and finding out it was haunted. Now we have horror films about the pitfalls of short-term rental. In Men , a grieving widow (Jessie Buckley) rents a house in a picturesque village that turns out to be toxic masculinity incarnate. An accidental double-booking is just the first of the twists and turns in the fine cult hit Barbarian (HBO Max), all centered on an unassuming bungalow rental in Detroit’s decaying urbanscape.

Most gripping documentary

Every year brings us documentaries about artists and documentaries about activists. But Laura Poitras’ All the Beauty and the Bloodshed combines these two perennial subjects into a dynamic whole. Photographer Nan Goldin narrates a film that splits its focus between her backstory — a deep dive into the ’70s and ’80s counterculture — and her recent e orts to pressure art institutions to stop taking donations from the Sackler family, of Purdue Pharma infamy. The common thread is Goldin’s contagious, grief-driven passion to bring justice to outsiders and outcasts.

Least boring biopic

Dramatized biographies are my least favorite award-season genre. They give stars a chance to emote nobly, playing real people whose less noble qualities are typically expunged from the screenplay. All too often, biopics are well intentioned and sti and … safe.

That’s why I have to give a tip of the hat to both Blonde (Netfl ix) and Elvis (HBO Max). The first, actually an adaptation of a novel about Marilyn Monroe, is an absurdly over-the-top psychodrama. The second is, well, Baz Luhrmann doing Elvis: a delirious 159-minute musical montage that occasionally slows down enough to let Tom Hanks ham it up with

Mia Goth and Emma Jenkins-Purro in Pearl

Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu in Everything Everywhere All at Once

a terrible accent. I don’t know if I would call either of them good movies, but they weren’t boring.

Streaming-only film most deserving of a theatrical release

Disney’s Turning Red is a sweet, funny, kinetic, beautifully animated story about a preteen girl discovering the beast within. You couldn’t see it in theaters, only on Disney+. Was it because Disney execs feared that the Chinese Canadian characters wouldn’t be relatable to a mass audience? Or because the screenplay dares to acknowledge the existence of menstruation? Either way, it’s worth seeking out.

Streaming-only film least deserving of a theatrical release

So you’re browsing Netflix one night, and you catch sight of Oscar winner Allison Janney. Wow! She’s playing a gun-toting, badass retired spy! Whoa! In an action thriller coproduced by J.J. Abrams! Woo-hoo!

The movie’s called Lou, and I suggest you save yourself the brain cells you’ll expend trying to make sense of it. Rewatch “Killing Eve” instead.

Best blockbuster-adjacent blockbuster alternative

I grew up on the Star Wars franchise, but I lost interest in the movies a few sequels and prequels ago. So, it took some coaxing to make me try “Andor” (Disney+), a series that explores the history of Diego Luna’s Rebel spy character from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I’m so glad I did. With evocatively retro production design and powerhouse performances from an ensemble cast that includes Fiona Shaw and Stellan Skarsgård, this slow-burn political thriller is the Star Wars story I’ve been craving as an adult.

Best end credits

Pearl is the sweet little story of a farm girl chasing the American dream with music and dance … and a pitchfork and an ax and murderous rage. I was the only person at my screening. The credits play over a five-minute close-up of Mia Goth’s Pearl grinning at the camera, her joy gradually turning to tears and demented resolve. Goth redefines “cringe” in a performance so intense I thought she might step through the screen and wring my neck. It was my favorite movie moment of the year.

Most quotable screenplay

“How’s the despair?” a priest cheerfully asks a parishioner. A young man declares

himself adamantly opposed to “wars and soap.” Asked why he’s suddenly refusing to give his best friend the time of day, Brendan Gleeson’s character growls, “I just don’t like ye no more.”

Martin McDonagh is an acclaimed

playwright turned writer-director, and it shows in the practiced rhythms of The Banshees of Inisherin (theaters, HBO Max). The dialogue is so much fun that the darkness of the story sneaks up on you.

Honorable mentions go to Sarah

Polley’s screenplay for Women Talking, which reads like a luminously intelligent play but is actually a novel adaptation; and Todd Field’s scathing screenplay for Tár, which takes us deep inside the insular classical music world.

Most timely film

Released in the U.S. this year, Audrey Diwan’s Happening (AMC+) is based on a novel set in 1963 France, but it couldn’t be more relevant. Star Anamaria Vartolomei has a presence fierce and intelligent enough to sear a hole through the screen. She plays a student seeking an illegal abortion — not because she’s a victim of rape or incest but because she isn’t ready for a child. And she never apologizes for it.

Most riveting performance

While Cate Blanchett gave us an unforgettable character study in Tár, this year I was most impressed by couples, triads and ensembles. Gleeson and Colin Farrell play off each other with delicious deadpan humor in The Banshees of Inisherin Women Talking has an ensemble like a finely tuned orchestra, each actor contributing an indispensable part. Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio seem so natural they could be a real father and daughter in Aftersun. But it’s hard to beat the wonderful family trio of Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu in Everything Everywhere All at Once (Showtime, Paramount+).

Best film

I don’t like naming a single best film of the year. First, because there are potential contenders that I haven’t yet been able to see, including Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Babylon, Avatar: The Way of Water and The Whale. And second, more importantly, because it’s tough to judge movies on a single scale. The ones I love all fill different little holes in my heart that I didn’t know existed.

I can tell you that the outrageous threehour Indian historical epic RRR (Netflix) sated my desire for operatic action moves better than Top Gun: Maverick did. But, beyond the technical aspects, there are few points of comparison between RRR and the exquisitely shot thriller Decision to Leave or the brutally satirical Tár or the darkly comic tall tale of The Banshees of Inisherin

All these movies are on my “best of” list, but two did perhaps stand out the most. Everything Everywhere All at Once is as frenetic and high-concept as any blockbuster. Aftersun is molasses-slow and naturalistic. Both are about family love and its pain and complications. I loved them both. m

Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal in Aftersun

Men

COURTESY OF A24

COURTESY OF KEVIN BAKER/A24

COURTESY OF SONY PICTURES

Daisy Edgar-Jones in Where the Crawdads Sing

WED.28

business

QUEEN CITY BUSINESS NETWORKING

INTERNATIONAL GROUP: Local professionals make crucial contacts at a weekly chapter meeting. Burlington City Arts, 11:15 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, 829-5066.

community

CURRENT EVENTS: Neighbors have an informal discussion about what’s in the news.

Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 10:30 a.m.noon. Free. Info, 878-4918.

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: Viewers experience 19thcentury explorer Henry Bates’ journey through the Amazon rainforest. 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.

‘INHABITANTS’: A 2021 documentary follows five Indigenous tribes as they work to restore their traditional environmental practices. Presented by Sustainable Woodstock. Free. Info, 457-2911.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: Sparkling graphics take viewers on a mindbending journey into phenomena that are too slow, too fast or too small to be seen by the naked eye. 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.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: An adventurous dolichorhynchops travels through the most dangerous oceans in history, encountering plesiosaurs, giant turtles and the deadly mosasaur along the way. 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.

‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: Sandhill cranes, yellow warblers and mallard ducks make their lives along rivers, lakes and wetlands. 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.

health & fitness

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.

COMMUNITY CANDLELIT YOGA: Yogis of all levels find peace and community in a cozy scene. Wise Pines, Woodstock. 5:30-6:45 p.m. Donations accepted. Info, 432-3126.

holidays

CHRISTMAS AT THE FARM: Merrymakers dip candles, toast s’mores and snowshoe across the grounds, all while taking in traditional 19th-century decorations. Billings Farm & Museum, Woodstock, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Regular admission, $8-17; free for members and kids 3 and under. Info, 457-2355.

FESTIVAL OF TREES: DOWNTOWN TREE WALK: Local businesses deck out their display windows with quirky and captivating Christmas trees. Downtown St. Albans. Free. Info, vtfestivaloftrees@ gmail.com.

language

IRISH LANGUAGE CLASS: Celtic-curious students learn to speak an Ghaeilge in a supportive group. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

music

JAZZ AT THE PEAK: A talented group of musicians bring the funk in an eclectic, improvised journey to the stratosphere and back. Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, Stowe Mountain Resort, 5-8 p.m. $25. Info, 760-4634.

ZACH NUGENT UNCORKED: The sought-after guitarist plays a weekly loft show featuring live music, storytelling and special guests. Shelburne Vineyard, 6-9 p.m. Free. Info, 985-8222.

sports

GREEN MOUNTAIN TABLE TENNIS CLUB: Ping-Pong players swing their paddles in singles and doubles matches. Rutland Area Christian School, 7-9 p.m. Free for first two sessions; $30 annual membership. Info, 247-5913.

All’s Shell That Ends Well

In 2010, a three-minute stop-motion YouTube video about a tiny seashell with one googly eye went hugely viral. In 2021, that seashell made his feature film debut. Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, the brainchild of director Dean Fleischer Camp and actor and comedian Jenny Slate, captured the internet’s imagination with his tiny voice, adorable mannerisms and pet lint ball named Alan. But this mockumentary goes deeper, following Marcel as his unexpected online fame aids in the search for his longlost family in a great big world.

WOODSTOCK VERMONT FILM SERIES: ‘MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON’ Saturday, December 31, and Sunday, January 1, 3 p.m., at Billings Farm & Museum in Woodstock. $12-15. Info, 457-2355, billingsfarm.org.

THU.29 crafts

DROP-IN KNIT FOR YOUR NEIGHBORS: Yarnsmiths create hats and scarves to be donated to the South Burlington Food Shelf. All supplies provided. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 3-6 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

KNITTING GROUP: Knitters of all experience levels get together to spin yarns. Latham Library, Thetford, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 785-4361.

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

‘INHABITANTS’: See WED.28.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28.

‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

3-4:30 & 7:30-9 p.m. $10-40. Info, folktale@mac.com.

politics

THOUGHT CLUB: Artists and activists convene to engage with Burlington‘s rich tradition of radical thought and envision its future. Democracy Creative, Burlington, 6-7:30 p.m. Free. Info, tevan@democracycreative.com.

FRI.30

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28.

‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

health & fitness

FESTIVAL OF TREES: DOWNTOWN TREE WALK: See WED.28.

A FOREST OF LIGHTS: SOLD OUT. The VINS forest canopy walkways and surrounding woodlands transform into a twinkling winter wonderland open for strolling. Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Quechee, 5-7 p.m. $5-10; free for members under 17; preregister. Info, 359-5000.

STEVIE POMIJE: The pianist celebrates the beloved holiday tunes of Charles Strouse and Irving Berlin. Main Street Museum, White River Junction, 6 p.m. Free; donations accepted. Info, info@ mainstreetmuseum.org.

language

ADVANCED INTERMEDIATE

ITALIAN CONVERSATION: Semifluent speakers practice their skills during a slow conversazione about the news. Fletcher Room, Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, noon-1:30 p.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

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.

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.

holidays

CHRISTMAS AT THE FARM: See WED.28.

FESTIVAL OF TREES: DOWNTOWN TREE WALK: See WED.28.

music

A POCKET CHAUTAUQUA: Local artists Tim Jennings, Jon Gailmor, Dana and Susan Robinson, and three generations of Azarians offer an intimate day of folk music.

Four Corners Schoolhouse, East Montpelier, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.,

COMMUNITY HOOP CLASSES: Hula hoopers of all ages get loopy at this weekly class. Champlain Elementary School, Burlington, 6-7 p.m. Donations. Info, 355-8457.

ONLINE GUIDED MEDITATION: Dorothy Alling Memorial Library invites attendees to relax on their lunch breaks and reconnect with their bodies. Noon-12:30 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, programs@ damlvt.org.

holidays

CHRISTMAS AT THE FARM: See WED.28.

SAT.31 film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28.

‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

FAMI LY FU N

Check out these family-friendly events for parents, caregivers and kids of all ages.

Plan ahead at sevendaysvt.com/family-fun

• Post your event at sevendaysvt.com/postevent.

WED.28

burlington

CRAFTERNOON: Crafts take over the Teen Space, from origami to stickers to fireworks in a jar. Ages 11 through 18. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 4-5 p.m. Free. Info, 540-2546.

chittenden county

BABYTIME: Teeny-tiny library patrons enjoy a gentle, slow story time featuring songs, rhymes and lap play. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 10:30-11 a.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

GET YOUR GAME ON: Countless board games are on the menu at this drop-in meetup for players in grades 6 through 12. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 2:30-4 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

LEGO BUILDERS: Elementary-age imagineers explore, create and participate in challenges. Ages 8 and up, or ages 6 and up with an adult helper. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 3-4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

PLAY TIME: Little ones build with blocks and read together. Ages 1 through 4. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 1010:45 a.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

SCHOOL VACATION CRAFTYTOWN: Beads become starry garlands at a fun craft session. Ages 8 and up, or ages 6 and up with an adult helper. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 10:30 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 846-4140.

YOUTH

chittenden county

MIDDLE SCHOOL MAKERS: COOKING: Students in grades 5 through 8 make delicious jalapeño wonton cups. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 4-5:30 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: Books, songs, rhymes, sign language lessons and math activities make for well-educated youngsters. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 10-10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

barre/montpelier

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: Energetic youngsters join Miss Meliss for stories, songs and lots of silliness. KelloggHubbard Library, Montpelier, 10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 223-3338.

WINTER BREAK CRAFTS: See WED.28.

mad river valley/ waterbury

JUBAL HARP & SONG: Judi Byron plays folk ditties, rhymes, and counting and movement songs for babies, toddlers and preschoolers to sing and dance along to. Waterbury Public Library, 10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 244-7036.

PRESCHOOL PLAY & READ: Outdoor activities, stories and songs get 3- and 4-year-olds engaged. Waterbury Public Library, 10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 244-7036.

rutland/killington

FREE HOLIDAY MOVIE SERIES: ‘THE CROODS’: A prehistoric family must avoid an impending apocalypse in this 2013 animated comedy. Paramount Theatre, Rutland, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 775-0903.

upper valley

‘THE RAILWAY CHILDREN’: Based on the classic children’s novel by Edith Nesbit, this holiday musical by Northern Stage celebrates kindness and community.

Barrette Center for the Arts, White River Junction, 2 & 7:30 p.m. $19-69. Info, 296-7000.

ANIMALS IN WINTER: SUPER SURVIVORS: Budding biologists meet critters and learn all about migration, hibernation and more. Ages 5 and up. Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Quechee, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Regular admission, $15-18; free for members and kids 3 and under; preregister. Info, 359-5000.

FRI.30

chittenden county

EPOCH VT: High school students from across the state compete to program the best robots, games, apps and beyond over the course of a 10-hour hackathon. Former Village Pumphouse,

Shelburne, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, cheru@cheru.dev.

HAPPY NOON DAY PARTY: Games, crafts and refreshments make for a cool kids’ New Year’s shindig. Milton Public Library, 10:30 a.m.-noon. Free; preregister. Info, 893-4644.

upper valley

‘THE RAILWAY CHILDREN’: See THU.29, 7:30 p.m.

northeast kingdom

ACORN CLUB STORY TIME: Kids 5 and under play, sing, hear stories and take home a fun activity. St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, 10-11 a.m. Free; preregister; limited space. Info, 745-1391.

SAT.31

burlington

NOON YEAR’S EVE: A fun-filled story time counts down to 2023, with a confetti toss and sparkling cider toast at noon. Ages 2 through 6. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11:30 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 863-3403.

chittenden county

SATURDAY STORIES: Kiddos start the weekend off right with stories and songs. Ages 3 through 7. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 10:30-11 a.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

rutland/killington

TUE.3 burlington

SING-ALONG WITH LINDA BASSICK: Babies, toddlers and preschoolers sing, dance and wiggle along with Linda. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

chittenden county

PLAYGROUP & FAMILY SUPPORT: Families with children under age 5 play and connect with others in the community. Winooski Memorial Library, 10-11 a.m. Free. Info, 655-6424.

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: A librarian leads half an hour of stories, rhymes and songs. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 10-10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 878-4918.

barre/montpelier

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: See THU.29.

WED.4 burlington

BABYTIME: Librarians bring out books, rhymes and songs specially selected for young ones. Pre-walkers and younger. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

CRAFTERNOON: See WED.28.

DEC. 31 | FAMILY FUN

CRAFT ACTIVITY: FIREPLACE

ORNAMENTS: Little ones work on a mini hearth to hang on the tree. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 2-3 p.m. Free. Info, 878-4918.

barre/montpelier

WINTER BREAK CRAFTS: Over three days, crafty kids make cool creations from suncatchers to paper bag puppets. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier, 1-5 p.m. Free. Info, 223-3338.

rutland/killington

FREE HOLIDAY MOVIE SERIES: ‘HAPPY

FEET’: A tap-dancing penguin longs to find his place in the world in the 2006 animated film packed with popular songs. Paramount Theatre, Rutland, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 775-0903.

THU.29

burlington

SLED DOGS LIVE: October Siberians brings its impressive team of huskies for a meet and greet on the terrace.

ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Regular admission, $14.50-18; free for members and kids 2 and under. Info, 864-1848.

The Final Countdown

Little kids shouldn’t have to miss out on the New Year’s festivities just because midnight is past their bedtime. The Montshire Museum of Science has them covered at a blowout bash for families with children through age 12, celebrating the planet, science and New England winter. Dressed in their fancy — or pajama party — best, guests go hard at the hot chocolate bar, make climate resolutions for 2023, enjoy a special toddler story time and have the opportunity to count down to the New Year every hour on the hour until noon.

NEW YEAR’S AT NOON

Saturday, December 31, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich. $10-14. Info, 649-2200, montshire.org.

NEW YEAR’S EVE: The whole ski bum family is guaranteed a good time at a party featuring s’mores, crafts, games, fireworks and a parade. K-1 Base Lodge. Killington Resort, 4-6 p.m. Free. Info, 800-734-9435.

upper valley

‘THE RAILWAY CHILDREN’: See THU.29, 2 p.m.

ANIMALS IN WINTER: SUPER SURVIVORS: See THU.29.

NEW YEAR’S AT NOON: Science-themed activities celebrate the planet and New England in the winter. For families with kids ages 12 and under. See calendar spotlight. Montshire Museum of Science, Norwich, 9:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m. $10-14. Info, 649-2200.

SUN.1

upper valley

‘THE RAILWAY CHILDREN’: See THU.29, 2 p.m.

MON.2 burlington

MANGA MONDAY: Lovers of Japanese graphic novels get together for snacks and discussion. Ages 11 through 18. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 3:304:30 p.m. Free. Info, 540-2546.

STORIES WITH SHANNON: Bookworms ages 2 through 5 enjoy fun-filled reading time. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

northeast kingdom

ACORN CLUB STORY TIME: See FRI.30, 2-2:30 p.m.

STEAM SPACE: Kids explore science, technology, engineering, art and math activities. Ages 5 through 11. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 5-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

chittenden county

CRAFTERNOON: STORY SCROLLS: Using paper and dowels, little ones channel the ancient scribe within to make a rollup tale. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

PLAY TIME: See WED.28.

mad river valley/ waterbury

QUEER READS: LGBTQIA+ and allied youth get together each month to read and discuss ideas around gender, sexuality and identity. Waterbury Public Library, 6-7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 244-7036.

upper valley

PEABODY AFTERSCHOOL FUN FOR GRADES 1-4: Students make friends over crafts and story time. George Peabody Library, Post Mills, 3:30-4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 333-9724.

STORY TIME!: See WED.28.

THU.5 burlington

PRESCHOOL YOGA: Colleen from Grow Prenatal and Family Yoga leads little ones in songs, movement and other fun activities. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

chittenden county

LEGO CLUB: See THU.29.

MUSIC AND MOVEMENT WITH MISS EMMA: The star of “Music for Sprouts”

WOODSTOCK VERMONT FILM SERIES: ‘MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON’: Based on a viral series of YouTube videos, this lovely, colorful 2021 film follows a tiny, stop-motion creature as he tries to track down his long-lost family. See calendar spotlight. Billings Farm & Museum, Woodstock, 3 p.m. $12-15. Info, 457-2355.

holidays

CHRISTMAS AT THE FARM: See WED.28.

DAVE KELLER NEW YEAR’S EVE CONCERT: The bluesman rings in the New Year with all-new songs from his forthcoming, Kickstarterbacked album. Bethany United Church of Christ, Montpelier, 8-10 p.m. $20. Info, 229-2737.

FESTIVAL OF TREES: DOWNTOWN TREE WALK: See WED.28.

FIRST NIGHT NORTH: Local institutions throw a New Year’s Eve party packed with music, comedy, fireworks and more. See catamountarts.org for full schedule.

Various St. Johnsbury locations, 4 p.m.-midnight. $15-50; free for preschoolers. Info, 748-2600.

A FOREST OF LIGHTS: See FRI.30.

HIGHLIGHT: The Queen City’s allday and all-night New Year’s Eve festival features music, magic, fireworks and family fun. Virtual options available. See highlight. community for full schedule. Downtown Burlington, 2 p.m.midnight. $12. Info, 865-7166.

LIGHT RIVER JUNCTION: Locals burn away the past year at a bonfire and projection show on the banks

of the White River. Main Street Museum, White River Junction, 7 p.m. Free; donations accepted. Info, info@mainstreetmuseum.org.

MONTPELIER CONTRA DANCE: To live tunes and gender-neutral calling, dancers balance, shadow and do-si-do the night away at a special New Year’s Eve dance. N95, KN94, KN95 or 3-ply surgical masks required. Capital City Grange, Berlin, beginners’ lesson, 7:40 p.m.; social dance, 8 p.m.midnight. $5-20. Info, 225-8921.

NEW YEAR’S EVE TROPICAL KAMAYAN FEAST: Adventure Dinner guests are transported to tropical beaches by a Filipino feast with a view of the fireworks. See calendar spotlight. The Soda Plant, Burlington, 5:30-8:30 p.m. $185; preregister; limited space. Info, 248-224-7539.

NEW YEAR’S EVE CABARET: Northern Stage alumni serve up piano bar vibes to raise funds for the education programs they graduated from. Byrne Theater, Barrette Center for the Arts, White River Junction, 6:30 p.m. $10-40. Info, 296-7000.

NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH SOULE MONDE: Avant-funk grooves, American Flatbread pizza and an early countdown make for fabulous all-ages festivities. Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, 7-10 p.m. $15-32. Info, 382-9222.

NIGHT OF QUEENS: A spectacular drag cabaret ushers in the New Year with dancing, comedy and music amidst cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Highland Center for the Arts, Greensboro, 8 p.m.-midnight. $30. Info, 533-2000.

SAT.7 burlington

A TOAST TO THE HIVE: NYE

PARTY AT CALEDONIA SPIRITS: Special cocktails, mocktails and small plates mark the New Year, topped off with a sparkling toast at midnight. Caledonia Spirits, Montpelier, 4 p.m.-midnight. $1520. Info, 472-8000.

music

OPERA IN CONCERT: Local and national artists get their aria on, after a preconcert talk by legendary Metropolitan Opera radio host Mary Jo Heath. McCarthy Arts Center, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, 3 p.m. $30. Info, patbw@hotmail.com.

SUN.1

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28. ‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

WOODSTOCK VERMONT FILM SERIES: ‘MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON’: See SAT.31.

health & fitness

KARUNA COMMUNITY MEDITATION: Participants practice keeping joy, generosity and gratitude at the forefront of their minds. Jenna’s House, Johnson, 10-11:15 a.m. Donations; preregister. Info, mollyzapp@live.com.

holidays

CHRISTMAS AT THE FARM: See WED.28.

music

BURLINGTON TAIKO: The Japanese-inspired drum group gives an outdoor, interactive concert by the bonfire. Highland Center for the Arts, Greensboro, 1-3 p.m. Free. Info, 533-2000.

GREEN MOUNTAIN MAHLER FESTIVAL: BEETHOVEN’S NINTH SYMPHONY: The orchestra and chorus ring in the New Year with a joyous performance of one of classical music’s most iconic works.

Elley-Long Music Center, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, 3 p.m. $10-25. Info, mwalker@ notchvt.org.

outdoors

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT: Birders within a 7.5-mile radius of Mead’s Falls tally their sightings of feathered friends to report online. Potluck follows at Proctor Library at 6 p.m. 350 Rutland County, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, birding@rutlandcountyaudubon. org.

NEW YEAR’S DAY BIRDING: Queen City avian enthusiasts get a head start on their year in birds at a waterfront walk with Green Mountain Audubon Society. Perkins Pier, Burlington, 8-10 a.m. Free; preregister. Info, gmas@ greenmountainaudubon.org.

MON.2 film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28.

‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

words

ADDISON COUNTY WRITERS COMPANY: Poets, playwrights, novelists and memoirists of every experience level meet weekly for an MFA-style workshop. Swift House Inn, Middlebury, 6-8 p.m. Free. Info, jay@zigzaglitmag.org.

TUE.3 community

CURRENT EVENTS

DISCUSSION GROUP: Brownell Library hosts a virtual roundtable for neighbors to pause and reflect on the news cycle. 10-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 878-6955.

dance

SWING DANCING: Local Lindy hoppers and jitterbuggers convene at Vermont Swings’ weekly boogie-down. Bring clean shoes. Beginner lessons, 6:30 p.m. Champlain Club, Burlington, 7:309 p.m. $5. Info, 864-8382.

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28. ‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

language

PAUSE-CAFÉ IN-PERSON FRENCH

CONVERSATION: Francophones and French-language learners meet pour parler la belle langue. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 5-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, pause-cafe+owner@ groups.io.

words

J. M. COETZEE BOOK

DISCUSSION: The Burlington Literature Group reads and unpacks the South African Australian novelist’s Age of Iron and Disgrace over six weeks. 6:30-8 p.m. Free. Info, info@ nereadersandwriters.com.

WED.4

business

QUEEN CITY BUSINESS NETWORKING INTERNATIONAL GROUP: See WED.28.

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

foes in a Dungeons & Dragons adventure. Ages 9 and up. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, noon-4 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 863-3403.

and “Mr. Chris and Friends” leads little ones 5 and younger in singing, scarf play and movement. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 10:30-11:15 a.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: See THU.29.

barre/montpelier

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: See THU.29.

mad river valley/ waterbury

PRESCHOOL PLAY & READ: See THU.29.

FRI.6

chittenden county

TEEN FRIGHT NIGHT: Kids 13 through 18 hang out, eat popcorn and watch a freaky flick. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

upper valley

STORY TIME: Preschoolers take part in stories, songs and silliness. Latham Library, Thetford, 11 a.m. Free. Info, 785-4361.

northeast kingdom

ACORN CLUB STORY TIME: See FRI.30.

FAMILY PLAYSHOP: Kids from birth through age 5 learn and play at this school readiness program. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 10-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

chittenden county

KARMA KIDZ YOGA OPEN STUDIO SATURDAYS: See SAT.31.

NUTRITION PRESENTATION AND HEALTHY SNACK: Fourth through sixth graders learn why a balanced diet is important and make a yummy bite together. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 1-2 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

VT READS PODCAST INTERVIEWS: Friends and families in third grade and up are interviewed for a local teen-produced podcast. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 9 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 878-6956.

rutland/killington

MINI SHRED MADNESS: Grom skiers and riders 13 years old and under have fun as they slide to victory. Killington Resort, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. $20. Info, events@ killington.com.

SUN.8 burlington

D&D WITH DUNGEON MASTER ANDREW: Warlocks and warriors battle dastardly

GENDER CREATIVE KIDS: Trans and gender nonconforming kiddos under 13 enjoy fun, supportive group activities while their parents and caregivers chat. Outright Vermont, Burlington, 2-4 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 865-9677.

SENSORY-FRIENDLY SUNDAY: Folks of all ages with sensory processing differences have the museum to themselves, with adjusted lights and sounds and trusty sensory backpacks. ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 9-10 a.m. Free; preregister. Info, kvonderlinn@ echovermont.org.

barre/montpelier

DANCE, SING AND JUMP AROUND: Movers and shakers of all ages learn line dances and singing games set to joyful live music. Capital City Grange, Berlin, 3-4:40 p.m. $5 suggested donation; free for kids. Info, 223-1509.

MON.9

burlington

STORIES WITH SHANNON: See MON.2.

chittenden county

MAGICAL MONDAY: After fairy tales and food, little wizards and witches act out their own fantastical tales with puppets. Grades K through 4. Brownell Library,

Essex Junction, 3:30-4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

northeast kingdom

ACORN CLUB STORY TIME: See FRI.30, 2-2:30 p.m.

TUE.10 burlington

SING-ALONG WITH LINDA BASSICK: See TUE.3.

chittenden county

LEGO ROBOTICS: BOAT TRIP: Lego lovers explore the world of coding in a four-part series. Attendance at all four sessions is highly encouraged. Grades 1 through 4. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 3:15-4:45 p.m. Free; preregister; limited space. Info, 878-6956.

PLAYGROUP & FAMILY SUPPORT: See TUE.3.

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: See TUE.3.

barre/montpelier

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: See THU.29.

mad river valley/ waterbury

HOMESCHOOL RED CLOVER BOOK: Home-taught elementary students read and discuss a new nominee over lunch. Waterbury Public Library, 11:30 a.m.12:30 p.m. Free. Info, 244-7036.

randolph/royalton

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT & ACTION: See TUE.3.

WED.11

FINDING A SUMMER CAMP: THERE IS A CAMP IN NEW ENGLAND FOR EVERY CAMPER!: Parents learn about summertime options for their neurodivergent kids and teens. Presented by Vermont Family Network. 10-11 a.m. Free; preregister. Info, 876-5315.

burlington

BABYTIME: See WED.4.

CRAFTERNOON: See WED.28.

STEAM SPACE: See WED.4.

chittenden county

MOVIE MATINEE: Film lovers have a family-friendly afternoon at this screening of an animated favorite. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 3-5 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

MUSIC WITH MARSHALL PAULSEN: A banjo playing Richmond resident gets wee ones singing along to wacky warbling. Ages 2 through 6. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 10-10:45 a.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

upper valley

PEABODY AFTERSCHOOL FUN FOR GRADES 1-4: See WED.4.

STORY TIME!: See WED.28. K

DEC. 31 | HOLIDAYS

FIRST WEDNESDAYS:

the Lake Champlain

No

excerpts and discuss the filmmaking process. Presented by Vermont Humanities and Ilsley Public Library. 7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 388-4095.

FIRST WEDNESDAYS:

RICK WINSTON: A film historian investigates how movies tackle the theme of immigration. Presented by Vermont Humanities and St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. 7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 748-8291.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28.

‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

games

WINTER TRIVIA ROUND 1:

VERMONT GEOGRAPHY: Map buffs bust out their knowledge in the hopes of advancing to the championship round. Courtesy of the Vermont Historical Society. 7-8 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 479-8500.

health & fitness

CHAIR YOGA: See WED.28.

COMMUNITY CANDLELIT YOGA: See WED.28.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Queen City foodies close out 2022 with a kamayan — meaning “by hand” in Tagalog — feast for the ages, courtesy of Adventure Dinner. Tables buckle with flavorful Filipino food and glasses on glasses of unique, beachy drinks that transport diners to tropical climes. There’s crispy roasted pork belly, aromatic rice, scrumptious fruit, coal-grilled vegetables and delectable desserts. After eating their fill, guests explore the eye-catching exhibits at Soapbox Arts, then bundle up to catch the view of the New Year’s Eve fireworks downtown.

NEW YEAR’S EVE TROPICAL KAMAYAN

FEAST Saturday, December 31, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Soda Plant in Burlington. $185; preregister; limited space. Info, 248-224-7539, adventuredinner.com.

lgbtq

THRIVE QTPOC MOVIE NIGHT: Each month, Pride Center of Vermont virtually screens a movie centered on queer and trans people of color. 6:30 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, thrive@pridecentervt.org.

music

ZACH NUGENT UNCORKED: See WED.28.

sports

GREEN MOUNTAIN TABLE TENNIS CLUB: See WED.28.

MICHELOB ULTRA SKI BUM

RACE SERIES: Teams of amateur skiers and snowboarders test their skills and speed at one of 10 downhill bouts. Killington Resort, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. $60; $250 per team. Info, events@killington. com.

words

FIRST WEDNESDAYS: DAVID A. ROBERTSON: The Cree author behind the middle-grade fantasy series The Misewa Saga ponders how adaptations can preserve the WED.4 » P.82

JORDAN ROWELL & DUANE PETERSON: The creators of

documentary

Other Lake share

WED.4 « P.81

intent and themes of traditional stories. Presented by Vermont Humanities and Norwich Public Library. 7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 649-1184.

JANE BROX: The acclaimed author of Silence: A Social History of One of the Least Understood Elements of Our Lives and Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light reads from her work. Red Mill Gallery at Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, 7-8 p.m. Free. Info, 635-2727.

THU.5

crafts

KNITTING GROUP: See THU.29. etc.

NIGHT OWL CLUB: Astronomers and space exploration experts discuss the latest in extraterrestrial news with curious attendees. Presented by Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium. 7 p.m. Free. Info, 748-2372.

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘THE QUARRY PROJECT’: Short films document the effort to produce a site-specific dance theater performance at Wells Lamson quarry. Q&A follows. Aldrich Public Library, Barre, 5:30-7:30 p.m. $5 suggested donation. Info, aldrichlibrarian@gmail.com.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28.

‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

lgbtq

POP-UP HAPPY HOUR: Locals connect over drinks at a speakeasy-style bar. Hosted by OUT in the 802. Lincolns, Burlington, 5:30-7 p.m. Free. Info, 860-7812.

RURAL PROVIDER

EDUCATION SERIES: GENDER INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE & PRONOUNS: Small-town medical providers learn how compassionate language can help support their LGBTQ patients through sexual and domestic violence. Presented by Pride Center of Vermont’s SafeSpace AntiViolence Program. 10-11 a.m. Free; preregister. Info, shea@ pridecentervt.org.

music

FIRST THURSDAY CONCERT

SERIES: TOURNESOL: The acoustic band delivers Parisian café vibes. Ten percent of bar sales benefits Everybody Wins! Vermont. Shelburne Vineyard, 6-8:30 p.m. Free; cash bar. Info, 985-8222.

politics

THOUGHT CLUB: See THU.29.

words

It Takes a Village

Mason

FRI.6

business

RESOLUTIONS FOR RESILIENCE: GROWTH, HEALING AND TRANSFORMATION IN THE NEW YEAR: Female entrepreneurs reframe their concepts about New Year’s resolutions with nondenominational pastor Kristabeth Atwood. Presented by Women Business Owners Network Vermont. 8:30-10 a.m. Free; preregister. Info, 503-0219.

fairs & festivals

CABOT VILLAGE 12TH NIGHT CELEBRATION: Storytellers, musicians, dancers and actors from around New England celebrate the end of the holiday season. See cabotarts.org for full schedule. See calendar spotlight. Various Cabot locations, 7-9:30 p.m. Free. Info, 793-3016.

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘THE QUARRY PROJECT’: See THU.5. Maple Corner Community Center, Calais, 6-8 p.m. Info, andreasejohn@gmail.com.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28.

‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

health & fitness

COMMUNITY HOOP CLASSES: See FRI.30.

holidays

A FOREST OF LIGHTS: See FRI.30.

THE MSM ANNUAL TREE BURN & ZYDECO PARTY: Having served

The town of Cabot closes out the holiday season with its annual Epiphany festival, a two-day extravaganza of performance and play. There’s wintry fun out the wazoo, from ice skating and wassailing to craft workshops and a paper lantern parade. Cabot Community Theater performs its annual mummers play, Rusty DeWees gets everyone laughing, Neighbors in Action serves a community dinner, and the Midnight Capers introduce audiences to Morris dancing, a traditional English form incorporating bells and swords. Plus, live music abounds from artists including Jon Gailmor and Les Dead Ringers.

CABOT VILLAGE 12TH NIGHT CELEBRATION Friday, January 6, 7-9:30 p.m., and Saturday, January 7, noon-10 p.m., at various Cabot locations. Free. Info, 793-3016, cabotarts.org.

their purpose, Christmas trees become a glorious bonfire to the Cajun strains of Bayou X, while Louisiana nosh and king cake are served. Main Street Museum, White River Junction, 6 p.m. $10 suggested donation. Info, info@ mainstreetmuseum.org.

tech

TECH HELP: Experts answer questions about phones, laptops, e-readers and more in one-on-one sessions. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 10 a.m.-noon. Free; preregister; limited space. Info, 846-4140.

theater

‘CABARET’: Very Merry Theatre actors travel to Weimar-era Germany in this time-tested musical centered on a Berlin nightclub during Hitler’s rise to power. O.N.E. Community Center, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free. Info, ben+shows@ verymerrytheatre.org.

SAT.7

crafts

FIBER CRAFT AND CHAT: Knitters, stitchers and crocheters bring their crafts and shoot the breeze over coffee. Uncommon Coffee, Essex Center, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, milukra@gmail.com.

etc.

CAT SHOW: Kitties compete for best in show at this festival of fluff. DoubleTree by Hilton, South Burlington, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. $7-10; free for kids under 5. Info, pioriv@ hotmail.com.

fairs & festivals

CABOT VILLAGE 12TH NIGHT CELEBRATION: See FRI.6, noon-10 p.m.

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28. ‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

WOODSTOCK VERMONT FILM SERIES: ‘RUTH STONE’S VAST LIBRARY OF THE FEMALE MIND’: A Q&A with director Nora Jacobson follows the Saturday screening of this intimate portrait of a Vermont poet’s life and work. Billings Farm & Museum, Woodstock, 3 p.m. $12-15. Info, 457-2355.

food & drink

CAPITAL CITY WINTER FARMERS MARKET: Root veggies, honey, maple syrup and more change hands at an off-season celebration of locally grown food. Caledonia Spirits, Montpelier, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, manager@ montpelierfarmersmarket.com.

FREE SATURDAY CHOCOLATE TASTINGS: See SAT.31.

games

BEGINNER DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Waterbury Public Library game master Evan Hoffman gathers novices and veterans alike for an afternoon of virtual adventuring. Teens and adults welcome. Noon-4 p.m. Free. Info, 244-7036.

holidays

A FOREST OF LIGHTS: See FRI.30.

music

SEAMUS EGAN & YANN FALQUET: Two world-renowned folk musicians, one Irish and one Québécois, bridge the Atlantic and their respective traditions. Ripton Community House, 7:30-10 p.m. Pay what you can; $15-25 suggested donation. Info, 388-9782.

outdoors

INTRODUCTION TO WINTER HIKING: Backcountry trekkers learn how to stay safe when the trails get snowy, then enjoy a self-guided hike on the Short Trail. Green Mountain Club Headquarters, Waterbury Center, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Free. Info, 241-8329.

theater

‘CABARET’: See FRI.6, 2 & 7 p.m.

SUN.8 etc.

CAT SHOW: See SAT.7.

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

MNFF SELECTS: ‘TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM’: An artful documentary explores the legendary author’s life and legacy in literature and activism. Discussion follows. Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, 2 p.m. $14-16; $60 for series pass. Info, 382-9222.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28.

‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

WOODSTOCK VERMONT FILM SERIES: ‘RUTH STONE’S VAST LIBRARY OF THE FEMALE MIND’: See SAT.7.

food & drink

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS DEGOESBRIAND COUNCIL 279 PANCAKE BREAKFAST: Hungry locals pile their plates with

flapjacks, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and Vermont maple syrup. Cathedral of St. Joseph, Burlington, 9-11:30 a.m. $10-25. Info, 862-5109.

WINTER FARMERS MARKET: See SUN.1.

health & fitness

COMMUNITY MINDFULNESS PRACTICE: See SUN.1.

KARUNA COMMUNITY MEDITATION: See SUN.1.

music

SUNDAY NIGHT JAZZ WITH STEVE GOLDBERG & FRIENDS: See SUN.1.

theater

‘CABARET’: See FRI.6, 4 p.m.

MON.9

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28. ‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

health & fitness

ADVANCED TAI CHI: Experienced movers build strength, improve balance and reduce stress. Holley Hall, Bristol, 11 a.m.-noon. Free; donations accepted. Info, jerry@ skyrivertaichi.com.

LONG-FORM SUN 73: Beginners and experienced practitioners learn how tai chi can help with arthritis, mental clarity and range of motion. Holley Hall, Bristol, 11 a.m.noon. Free; donations accepted. Info, wirlselizabeth@gmail.com.

YANG 24: This simplified tai chi method is perfect for beginners looking to build strength and balance. Congregational Church of Middlebury, 3:30-5:30 p.m. Free; donations accepted. Info, wirlselizabeth@gmail.com.

language

ENGLISH CONVERSATION CIRCLE: Locals learning English as a second language gather in the Digital Lab to build vocabulary and make friends. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, noon-1 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

lgbtq

RURAL PROVIDER EDUCATION SERIES: GENDER INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE & PRONOUNS: See THU.5, 2-3 p.m.

words

ADDISON COUNTY WRITERS COMPANY: See MON.2.

A VISITING WRITER CRAFT TALK WITH JANE BROX: The nonfiction author talks shop with listeners interested in the art of writing.

House Library, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, 10-11 a.m. Free. Info, 635-2727.

Exposure Seed Exchange worker

Ira Wallace keynotes this virtual meeting of NOFA-VT and six other state chapters. noon-1 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, zea@nofavt.org.

community

CURRENT EVENTS DISCUSSION GROUP: See TUE.3.

dance

SWING DANCING: See TUE.3.

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28.

‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

language

PAUSE-CAFÉ IN-PERSON FRENCH CONVERSATION: See TUE.3.

words

J. M. COETZEE BOOK DISCUSSION: See TUE.3.

POETRY GROUP: A supportive verse-writing workshop welcomes those who would like feedback on their work or who are just happy to listen. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 11 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 846-4140.

TESSA WEGERT: Phoenix Books celebrates the publication of the author’s newest Shana Merchant thriller, The Kind

to Kill. 7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 448-3350.

WED.11

business

QUEEN CITY BUSINESS NETWORKING INTERNATIONAL GROUP: See WED.28.

climate crisis

CLIMATE CHANGE & SOCIAL JUSTICE: Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale moderates a panel discussion on the intersections of two activist movements. Presented by Kellogg-Hubbard Library. 7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 223-3338.

film

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

‘AMAZON ADVENTURE 3D’: See WED.28.

‘MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD 3D’: See WED.28.

‘SEA MONSTERS 3D’: See WED.28.

‘WINGS OVER WATER 3D’: See WED.28.

games

BOARD GAME NIGHT: Lovers of tabletop fun play classic games and new designer offerings. Waterbury Public Library, 6-8 p.m. Free. Info, 244-7036.

WINTER TRIVIA ROUND 2: VERMONT NATURE: Lovers of the outdoors bust out their knowledge in the hopes of advancing to the championship round. Courtesy of the Vermont Historical Society. 7-8 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 479-8500.

health & fitness

CHAIR YOGA: See WED.28.

COMMUNITY CANDLELIT YOGA: See WED.28.

lgbtq

MOMENTUM MONTHLY VIRTUAL SOCIAL HOUR: LGBTQ folks ages 55 and up gather to make new friends and connect with old ones. Presented by Pride Center of Vermont. 6-7 p.m. Free. Info, eeka@pridecentervt.org.

music

ZACH NUGENT UNCORKED: See WED.28.

sports

GREEN MOUNTAIN TABLE TENNIS CLUB: See WED.28. MICHELOB ULTRA SKI BUM RACE SERIES: See WED.4.

words

POETRY POTLUCK: Wordsmiths and readers bring a dish and a poem (their own or others’) to share. Whirligig Brewing, St. Johnsbury, 7-9 p.m. Free. Info, acampbell@catamountarts.org. m

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

ACRYLIC PAINTING CLASSES:

Beginner-friendly acrylic painting classes for kids and adults. In person or online. Abstract expression, still life, color theory and guided painting. Abstract expression and still life are inperson adult classes. Color theory is in person for homeschoolers ages 11 and up. Guided painting is online and for all! Every Tue. or Sat., starting Jan. 3. Cost: $300/1.5-hour class, all materials incl. Location: Katie O’Rourke Art, 24 Main St., Montpelier. Info: Katie ORourke, 498-8588, katie@katieorourkeart.com, katieorourkeart.com/classes.

DAVIS STUDIO ART CLASSES: Discover your happy place in one of our weekly classes. Making art boosts emotional well-being and brings joy to your life, especially when you connect with other art enthusiasts. Select the ongoing program that’s right for you. Now enrolling youths and adults for classes in drawing, painting and fused glass. Location: Davis Studio, 916 Shelburne Rd., South Burlington. Info: 425-2700, davisstudiovt.com.

language

ADULT LIVE SPANISH E-CLASSES: Join us for adult Spanish classes this winter, using Zoom online videoconferencing. Our 17th 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 Jan. 9. 10 classes of 90+ min. each, 1/week. Info: 5851025, spanishwaterburycenter. com.

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE:

Registration for winter French language classes is now open! The Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain Region offers French language classes from beginner through advanced levels. Winter session begins Jan. 9. Go to our website to learn about our offerings. Register by contacting Micheline Tremblay, education@ aflcr.org. Begins Jan. 9. Location: Alliance Française, Burlington. Info: aflcr.org.

JAPANESE LANGUAGE CLASSES: The Japan America Society of Vermont will offer four levels of interactive Japanese language

Zoom classes in spring 2023, starting the week of Jan. 30. Please join us for an introduction to speaking, listening, reading and writing Japanese, with an emphasis on the conversational patterns that occur in everyday life. Level 1: Tue., Level 2: Mon., Level 4: Thu., Level 5: Wed. Cost: $200/1.5-hour class for 10 weeks. Info: 865-9985, jasvlanguage@gmail.com, jasv.org/v2/language.

SPANISH CLASSES FOR ALL AGES: Premier native-speaking Spanish professor Maigualida Rak is giving fun, interactive online lessons to improve comprehension and pronunciation and to achieve fluency. Audiovisual material is used. “I feel proud to say that my students have significantly improved their Spanish with my teaching approach.”

—Maigualida Rak. Info: 881-0931, spanishtutor.vtfla@gmail.com, facebook.com/spanishonlinevt.

martial arts

AIKIDO: THE WAY OF HARMONY: Discover the dynamic, flowing martial art of aikido. Learn how to relax under pressure and cultivate core power, aerobic

fitness and resiliency. Aikido techniques emphasize throws, pinning techniques and the growth of internal power. The circular movements emphasize blending movements rather than striking. Visitors are always welcome to watch a class!

Starting on Tue., Jan. 3, at 6 p.m. for adults; youths at 4:30 p.m. Membership rates incl. unlimited classes. Contact us for info about membership rates for adults, youths & families.

Location: Aikido of Champlain Valley, 257 Pine St., Burlington.

Info: Benjamin Pincus, 951-8900, bpincus@burlingtonaikido.org, burlingtonaikido.org.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS: Boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai kickboxing, and personal training/fitness in one place!

Beginners to seasoned competitors, we have a program for you. Family discounts available. Safesport-, IBJJF- and USA Boxing-certified instructors. Go at your own pace in an inclusive environment. First class is free! Mon.-Fri., 5-8:30 p.m. Cost: $15/day pass or membership.

Location: Combat Fitness MMA, 276 E. Allen St. #8, Winooski.

Info: Vincent Guy, 655-5425, vteguy25@gmail.com, combatfitnessmma.com.

VERMONT BRAZILIAN JIUJITSU: We offer a legitimate Brazilian jiu-jitsu training program for men, women and children in a friendly, safe and positive environment. Julio Cesar “Foca” Fernandez Nunes; CBJJP and IBJJF seventhdegree Carlson Gracie Sr. Coral Belt-certified instructor; teaching in Vermont, born and raised in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil! A two-time world masters champion, five-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu national champion, three-time Rio de Janeiro state champion and Gracie Challenge champion. Accept no limitations! 1st class is free. Location: Vermont Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 55 Leroy Rd., Williston. Info: 598-2839, julio@bjjusa.com, vermontbjj.com.

music

DJEMBE & TAIKO DRUMMING:

JOIN US!: New classes (outdoors mask optional/masks indoors). Taiko Tue. and Wed.; Djembe Wed.; Kids & Parents Tue. and Wed. Conga classes by request! Schedule/register online Location: Taiko Space, 208 Flynn Ave., Suite 3G, Burlington. Info: 999-4255, spaton55@ gmail.com, burlingtontaiko.org.

Eglon’s Happy Tail!

This year, Eglon found a home with his birth sibling! Eglon’s new family saw our post about him, noticed a striking resemblance to their dog Rosie and realized that they were originally from the same litter. They came in to adopt him right away, and Eglon has been happy at home reunited with his sister ever since. The best part? The other two puppies from the litter live with a family member, so they’re going to have family reunions all the time! Read the sweet message from the happy family:

“Just wanted to say thank you to the whole team for helping us find Eglon (now Aegon) — he is a dream and perfectly completes our family. He has been so good and he and Rosie have been playing all the time! We really lucked out with him. We still can’t believe we were able to add him to the family. We are so grateful to his previous owner for taking such good care of him and loving him — he is safe and so loved in our home.”

Visit the Humane Society of Chittenden County at 142 Kindness Court, South Burlington, Tuesday through Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. or Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 862-0135 or visit hsccvt.org for more info.

Sponsored by:

GIVE THE GIFT OF HSCC!

Make a donation in honor or memory of a person or beloved pet, and we’ll send a holiday card to your loved one to notify them of your gift. Visit hsccvt.org/donate for more details!

CLASSIFIEDS

on the road CARS/TRUCKS

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)

VW SNOW TIRES

Four 16-in. Hankook snow tires, 205/55R16, steel rims. From VW Jetta. Low miles, great condition, in Colchester. Don’t fi t new car. $300 OBO. Info: ciamariapia@ gmail.com.

housing HOUSEMATES

LOOKING FOR ROOMMATE

Walkable Burlington apt. for $800/mo. I’m looking for a transfriendly roommate. 3-BR, 1-BA. No pets. Recently renovated! Has a patio, new W/D, DW, oven & fridge. Send me a message. 343-5859.

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.

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

ser vices

AUTO

CUSTOM VAN CONVERSIONS

Discounted custom camper van conversions for 2023 when you book by Dec. 12, 2022, at Ozzie Vans of Westford, Vt. Info at ozzievans.com & 802-637-9033.

DONATE YOUR VEHICLE

To fund the search for missing children. Fast, free pickup. 24-hour response. Running or not. Maximum tax deduction & no emission test req. Call 24-7: 855-504-1540. (AAN CAN)

EDUCATION

ATTN: ACTIVE DUTY & MILITARY VETS

Begin a new career & earn your degree at CTI! Online computer & medical training avail. for veterans & families. To learn more, call 866-243-5931, Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-6 p.m. ET. Computer w/ internet is req. (AAN CAN)

FINANCIAL/LEGAL

CREDIT CARD DEBT RELIEF!

Reduce payment by up to 50%. Get 1 low affordable payment/mo. Reduce interest. Stop calls. Free no-obligation consultation. Call 1-855761-1456. (AAN CAN)

HEALTH/ WELLNESS

MASSAGE FOR MEN BY SERGIO

Baby, it’s cold outside! Time for a massage to ease those aches & pains. Contact me for an appointment:

services: $12 (25 words) fsbos: $45 (2 weeks, 30 words, photo) jobs: michelle@sevendaysvt.com, 865-1020 x121

802-324-7539, sacllunas@gmail.com.

PSYCHIC COUNSELING

Psychic counseling, channeling w/ Bernice Kelman, Underhill. 40+ years’ experience. Also energy healing, chakra balancing, Reiki, rebirthing, other lives, classes & more. 802-899-3542, kelman.b@juno.com.

REIKI OFFERINGS

Reiki master offering 30- & 60-min. sessions in Burlington. A gentle, loving energy healing modality that can soothe the nervous system & relieve anxiety. Info: heartcave-healing.square. site, lorenann58@gmail. com.

HOME/GARDEN

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 1-866-370-2939. (AAN CAN)

COVERED HOME REPAIRS

Don’t pay for covered home repairs again!

American Residential Warranty covers all major systems & appliances. 30-day risk free/$100 off popular plans. Call 855-7314403. (AAN CAN)

INTERIOR PAINTING SERVICE

South Burlington-based painter seeking interior projects. Quality work, insured w/solid refs. On the web at vtpainting company.com or call Tim at 802-373-7223.

SAFETY UPDATES FOR BATHTUBS

buy this stuff

APPLIANCES/ TOOLS/PARTS

BRAND-NEW CORDLESS TOOLS

Milwaukee cordless 9-piece combo, brand-new, unopened, 3 batteries, 18-volt, $500. Paid $800. Info: 802-310-9691.

MISCELLANEOUS

4G LTE HOME INTERNET

Get GotW3 w/ lightningfast speeds & take your service w/ you when you travel! As low as $109.99/mo. 1-866-5711325. (AAN CAN)

BCI WALK-IN TUBS

Now on sale! Be 1 of the 1st 50 callers & save $1,500! Call 844-5140123 for a free in-home consultation. (AAN CAN)

DISH TV $64.99 $64.99 for 190 channels + $14.95 high-speed internet. Free installation, Smart HD DVR incl., free voice remote. Some restrictions apply. Promo expires Jan. 21, 2023. 1-866-566-1815. (AAN CAN)

DIRECTV SATELLITE TV Service starting at $74.99/mo.! Free install.

print deadline: Mondays at 3:30 p.m. post ads online 24/7 at: sevendaysvt.com/classifieds questions? classifieds@sevendaysvt.com 865-1020 x120

160+ channels avail.

Call now to get the most sports & entertainment on TV. 877-310-2472. (AAN CAN)

SPECTRUM INTERNET AS LOW AS $29.99 Call to see if you qualify for ACP & free internet. No credit check. Call now! 833-955-0905. (AAN CAN)

WANT TO BUY

PAYING TOP CASH FOR MEN’S SPORT WATCHES

Breitling, Omega, Patek Philippe, Heuer, Daytona, GMT, Submariner & Speedmaster. Call 888-320-1052. (AAN CAN)

298 J. Brown Drive, Williston, VT

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

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

BathWraps is looking for homeowners w/ older homes who want a quick safety update. ey do not remodel entire bathrooms but update bathtubs w/ new liners for safe bathing & showering. ey specialize in grab bars, nonslip surfaces & shower seats. All updates are completed in 1 day. Call 1-866-531-2432. (AAN CAN)

WATER DAMAGE TO YOUR HOME?

Call for a quote for professional cleanup & maintain the value of your home. Set an appt. today. Call 833-6641530. (AAN CAN)

music 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, rickbelford.com.

(2) Comm. Condos, Woodstock, VT Tues., Jan. 10 @ 11AM

Jeweler’s Tools, Morrisville, VT

Online Closing Mon., Jan. 9 @ 10AM

Antiques & Household, Hardwick, VT

Online Closing Tues., Jan. 10 @ 10AM

Contractors Tools, Williston, VT

Online Closing Mon., Jan. 16 @ 10AM

Recording Studio Equip., Bath, NH

Online Closing Thurs., Jan. 26 @ 10AM

Antiques & Collectibles, Williston, VT

Advance Notice - Late January

WANT MORE PUZZLES?

Try these online news games from Seven Days at sevendaysvt.com/games.

CALCOKU

BY JOSH REYNOLDS

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: ★★

Fill the grid using the numbers 1-6, only once in each row and column. e numbers in each heavily outlined “cage” must combine to produce the target number in the top corner, using the mathematical operation indicated. A one-box 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.

SUDOKU

BY JOSH REYNOLDS

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: ★★★

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. e same numbers cannot be repeated in a row or column.

ANSWERS ON P.88

Put your knowledge of Vermont news to the test.

NEW ON FRIDAYS: See how fast you can solve this weekly 10-word puzzle.

NEW EVERY DAY:

Guess today’s 5-letter word. Hint: It’s in the news!

NORTHSTAR SELF STORAGE WILL BE HAVING A PUBLIC AND ONLINE SALE/AUCTION FOR THE FOLLOWING STORAGE UNITS ON JANUARY 4, 2023 AT 9:00 AM

Northstar Self Storage will be having a public and online sale/auction on January 4, 2023 at 681 Rockingham Rd, Rockingham, VT 05151 (Unit R-66), 1124 Charlestown Road, Springfield, VT 05156 (Units S-53, S94 & CC25), 3466 Richville Road, Manchester Center, VT 05255 (71) and online at www.storagetreasures.com at 9:00 am in accordance with VT Title 9 Commerce and Trade Chapter 098: Storage Units 3905. Enforcement of Lien Unit

1 71 Candace Walsh Household Goods

2 S53 Marilyn Nourse Household Goods

3 S94 Marilyn Nourse Household Goods

4 CC25 Erica Grenier Household Goods

5 R66 Erin Benoit Household Goods

NOTICE OF TAX SALE TOWN OF COLCHESTER

The resident and non-resident owners, lien holders and mortgagees of lands in the Town of Colchester 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: Frederick J. Fortune, III

Property Address: 0 Clay Point Road

Parcel ID # 16-057010-0000000

A portion of the same lands and premises conveyed to the said Frederick J. Fortune, III by Warranty Deed of Beatrice F. Wallace dated September 20, 1997 and recorded at Volume 281, Page 475 of the Land Records of the Town of Colchester, Vermont.

Tax Years: 2021 - 2023

Amount of delinquent taxes, stormwater fees, interest, cost and penalties: $891.96

Property Owner: Frederick J. Fortune, III

Property Address: 705 Clay Point Road

Parcel ID # 16-058000-0000000

A portion of the same lands and premises conveyed to the said Frederick J. Fortune, III by Warranty Deed of Beatrice F. Wallace dated September 20, 1997 and recorded at Volume 281, Page 475 of the Land Records of the Town of Colchester, Vermont.

Tax Years: 2021 - 2023

Amount of delinquent taxes, stormwater fees, interest, cost and penalties: $7,804.87

Property Owner: K&N Enterprises, LLC

Property Address: 574 Prim Road Parcel ID # 49-020002-0000000

All of the same lands and premises conveyed to the said K&N Enterprises, LLC by Warranty Deed of Andre J. Thibault and Gisele K. Thibault dated May 24, 2018 and recorded at Volume 837, Page 595 of the Land Records of the Town of Colchester, Vermont.

Tax Years: 2021 - 2023

Amount of delinquent taxes, stormwater fees, interest, cost and penalties: $17,647.71

Property Owner: Kadic Inc.

Property Address: 40 Blum Court Parcel ID # 28-079002-0010000

All of the same lands and premises conveyed to the said Kadic Inc. by Warranty Deed of Richard C. Blum dated September 2, 2016 and recorded at Volume 804, Page 730 of the Land Records of the Town of Colchester, Vermont.

Tax Years: 2019 - 2023

Amount of delinquent taxes, stormwater fees, interest, cost and penalties: $12,364.39

Property Owner: Kadic Inc.

Property Address: 42 Blum Court Parcel ID # 28-079002-0020000

All of the same lands and premises conveyed to the said Kadic Inc. by Warranty Deed of Richard C. Blum dated September 2, 2016 and recorded at Volume 804, Page 730 of the Land Records of the Town of Colchester, Vermont.

Tax Years: 2021 - 2023

Amount of delinquent taxes, stormwater fees, interest, cost and penalties: $4,539.65

Property Owner: Kadic Inc.

Property Address: 46 Blum Court Parcel ID # 28-079002-0030000

All of the same lands and premises conveyed to the said Kadic Inc. by Warranty Deed of Richard C. Blum dated September 2, 2016 and recorded at Volume 804, Page 730 of the Land Records of the Town of Colchester, Vermont.

Tax Years: 2021 - 2023

Amount of delinquent taxes, stormwater fees, interest, cost and penalties: $15,912.05

Property Owner: Kadic Inc. Property Address: 48 Blum Court Parcel ID # 28-079002-0040000

All of the same lands and premises conveyed to the said Kadic Inc. by Warranty Deed of Richard C. Blum dated September 2, 2016 and recorded at Volume 804, Page 730 of the Land Records of the Town of Colchester, Vermont.

Tax Years: 2020 - 2023

Amount of delinquent taxes, stormwater fees, interest, cost and penalties: $24,211.90

Property Owner: Katelyn Ruhl

Property Address: 275 Williams Road Parcel ID # 07-068003-0000000

All of the same lands and premises conveyed to the said Katelyn Ruhl by Warranty Deed of Ralph J. Williams dated September 28, 2010 and recorded at Volume 675, Page 638 of the Land Records of the Town of Colchester, Vermont.

Tax Years: 2021 - 2023

Amount of delinquent taxes, interest, cost and penalties: $3,400.21

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 Colchester.

So much of such lands will be sold at public auction at the Town of Colchester, 781 Blakely Road, Colchester, Vermont 05478, on the 19 th day of January, 2023 at 10 o’clock in the forenoon, as shall be requisite to discharge such taxes with interest, costs and penalties, unless previously paid.

Property owners, mortgagees, and lien holders may pay such taxes, interest, costs and penalties in full by cash or certified check made payable to the Town of Colchester. At tax sale, successful bidders must pay in full by cash or certified check. No other payments accepted. Any questions or inquiries regarding the 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 (802) 660-4735

Monaghan Safar Ducham PLLC, and the Town of Colchester 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 Colchester, Vermont, this 5th day of December, 2022.

Julie Graeter

Collector of Delinquent Taxes

Town of Colchester

TOWN OF COLCHESTER SELECTBOARD NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Pursuant to Title 24 Appendix VSA, Chapter 113, Sec. 105(a)(b), the Colchester Selectboard will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, January 24 th , 2023 at 6:40 PM at the Colchester Town Offices at 781 Blakely Road, Colchester, Vermont in the third floor Outer Bay Conference Room. Residents are welcome to attend in person or, or alternatively, send a note to TownManager@colchestervt.gov with “Citizens to be Heard-Sewer Ordinance” in the Subject and their name. As with in-person Citizens to be Heard, we ask that you SHARE YOUR ADDRESS. The email will be shared with the entire Selectboard prior to the meeting and included in the information packet at the next meeting.

A summary of the proposed amendments to Chapter Ten of the Colchester Code of Ordinance Sewer is as follows: removal of language associated with the administration of the State Wastewater Program, clarifying language that property owners have a responsibility to maintain and repair their sewer laterals, adding language allowing the Town to enter private property to abate a violation of the ordinance, adding language authorizing the establishment of fees to be charged within specific designated wastewater service areas to make improvements, and updates to the Sewer Service Area Table.

A complete set of the changes and a memo explaining the rationale for the proposal is available here: https://bit.ly/Chapt10Amendments

If you have questions regarding these amendments, contact the Colchester Public Works Department at 264.5620.

nominee for ARK-LA-TEX Financial Services, LLC dba Benchmark Mortgage, dated April 30, 2015 and recorded in Book 276 Page 466 of the land records of the Town of Middlebury, 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 ARK-LA-TEX Financial Services, LLC dba Benchmark Mortgage to PennyMac Loan Services, LLC dated November 1, 2017 and recorded in Book 293 Page 293 of the land records of the Town of Middlebury, for breach of the conditions of said mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same will be sold at Public Auction at 34 Exchange Street, Middlebury, Vermont on January 17, 2023 at 11:00 AM all and singular the premises described in said mortgage,

To wit:

A parcel of land containing 0.14 acres, more or less, with residence and other improvements thereon, known and designated as 34 Exchange Street, being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to Seth Gero & Holly S. Wry by Warranty Deed of Maribeth T. Gero dated April 8, 2011 and recorded at Book 253, Page 496 of the Middlebury Land Records and more particularly described as follows:

Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to Maribeth Gero by Warranty Deed of Elizabeth D. Hampel dated January 9, 2004, and of record in Volume 206, Page 338 of the Town of Middlebury Land Records, and being more particularly described therein as follows: ”Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to the herein Grantor and her husband, Harrison B. Hampel, no deceased, by Executor’s Deed of Richard S. Emilo, Executor of the Estate of Mary E. Connelly, dated July 15, 1999, recorded in Book 172 at Page 620 of the Middlebury Land Records, and therein described as follows: Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to Mary E. Connelly and her husband, Gerald D. Connelly, who predeceased her, by Warranty Deed of Giovanina Emilo and Louis J. Emilo, said deed being dated January 23, 1963, and recorded in Book 58 at Page 513 of the Middlebury Land Records, and being more particularly described therein as follows:

“Being all and the same land and premises conveyed to Grantors herein by Administratrix’ Deed of Stella Wooster of the Estate of Bridget, said deed being dated 12 June 1961 and being recorded in Book 57 at page 578 of the Middlebury Land Records, it being all and the same lands and premises described in a deed from Lizzie M. Crannelly (formerly Lizzie M. Wooster) and Edward J. Crannelly to Bridge Wooster, dated 24 November 1905, recorded in Book 34 at page 290 of the Middlebury Land Records and described in said deed as follows: `Beginning at the South West corner of Charles Westhall’s home place, thence South on said Westhall’s line 93 feet, thence East 80 feet at right angles to last mentioned line to the Satterly line, thence north on the Satterly lot 93 ft. at right angles to said last mentioned line, thence West 80 feet to the place of beginning. Together with right of way for teams (and otherwise) to pass and repass from the North-West corner of said granted lot along said Westhall’s line and along the line of lands owned by Henry T. Langworthy to the Rail Road, said Westhall having a right of way from his place to the same point. Also the right to a foot path for foot passengers from the South

West corner of said granted lot to Depot Street, so-called.

Meaning hereby to convey the same premises conveyed by Charles C. Peck to Lizzie M. Wooster, by his warranty deed dated August 27, 1883 and recorded in Book 27, Page 185 of Middlebury Land Records, from the record of which deed the above description is copied and it is expressly understood that said description is of the boundaries on August 27, 1883, and that there may now be different abutters.’ ” ’

Reference is hereby made to the above-mentioned instruments, the records thereof, the references therein made, and their respective records and references, in further aid of this description.

The Property is conveyed subject to the rights of the public and others legally entitled thereto in any portion of the Property lying within the boundaries of a public road, way, street, trait, or alley to the extent not otherwise extinguished by the Vermont Marketable Record Title Act (27 V.S.A. §§ 601 - 604).

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”.

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 : December 12, 2022

By: /s/ Rachel K. Ljunggren Rachel K. Ljunggren, Esq. Bendett and McHugh, PC 270 Farmington Ave., Ste. 151 Farmington, CT 06032

TOWN

OF COLCHESTER SELECTBOARD NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Pursuant to Title 24 Appendix VSA, Chapter 113, Sec. 105(a)(b), the Colchester Selectboard will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, January 24 th , 2023 at 6:40 PM at the Colchester Town Offices at 781 Blakely Road, Colchester, Vermont in the third floor Outer Bay Conference Room. Residents are welcome to attend in person or, or alternatively, send a note to TownManager@colchestervt.gov with “Citizens to be Heard-Stormwater Ordinance” in the Subject and their name. As with in-person Citizens to be Heard, we ask that you SHARE YOUR ADDRESS. The email will be shared with the entire Selectboard prior to the meeting and included in the information packet at the next meeting.

A summary of the proposed amendments to

Chapter Eighteen of the Colchester Code of Ordinance Stormwater is as follows: clarifying stormwater and erosion control inspection requirements, adjusting the threshold for projects subject to stormwater management rules, redefining what stormwater management agreements are and how they are used, adding language consistent with state statute about recovery methods for delinquent stormwater charges up to and including tax sale of the property.

A complete set of the changes and a memo explaining the rationale for the proposal is available here: https://bit.ly/Chapt18Amendments

If you have questions regarding these amendments, contact the Colchester Public Works Department at 264.5620.

TOWN OF COLCHESTER SELECTBOARD PUBLIC NOTICE

Proposed Conveyance of Real Estate

Pursuant to Title 24 VSA, Sec. 1061, the Colchester Selectboard hereby notifies the residents of Colchester of the proposed conveyance of real estate of the Town property identified as Parcel #22-048003 located at 102 Canyon Estates, to Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity for the purpose of constructing and selling an affordable home in Colchester.

The real property to be conveyed to Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity is more particularly described as follows:

Being all and the same land and premises conveyed to the Town of Colchester by Deed of Collector of Delinquent Taxes of Tonya Gabert (Love) with interest of Ditech Financial, LLC, dated January 14, 2021 and recorded in Book 922, Page 114 of the Town of Colchester Land Records.

Reference is hereby made to aforesaid deed and its record and to all prior deeds and records therein referred to in further aid of this description.

The Selectboard proposes to convey the aforesaid premises to Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity with the consideration bring: 1) the purchase price of $80,000; and 2) the transfer of any interest and liabilities the Town may have in and to said parcel of land.

Pursuant to 24 V.SA. § 1061, this notice has been posted at three regular posting places in the Town of Colchester and will be published in the Seven Days, a newspaper of general circulation within the Town of Colchester on or before December 28, 2022.

If any persons object to the proposed conveyance of said property: A petition of protest, signed by five percent of the legally registered voters of the Town of Colchester, must be filed with the Colchester Town Clerk by 4:00 p.m. on January 27, 2023. Upon verification of signatures necessary to meet the protest requirement, the question of the conveyance will then be put before the registered voters of Colchester for vote by Australian Ballot at Town Meeting on March 7, 2023.

The Selectboard will authorize the Town Manager to effectuate the conveyance, unless the Town

receives a petition in accordance with 24 V.S.A. § 1061(a).

For publication on December 28, 2022 (30 days prior to the proposed conveyance).

PROPOSED STATE RULES

By law, public notice of proposed rules must be given by publication in newspapers of record. The purpose of these notices is to give the public a chance to respond to the proposals. The public notices for administrative rules are now also available online at https://secure.vermont.gov/ SOS/rules/ . The law requires an agency to hold a public hearing on a proposed rule, if requested to do so in writing by 25 persons or an association having at least 25 members.

To make special arrangements for individuals with disabilities or special needs please call or write the contact person listed below as soon as possible.

To obtain further information concerning any scheduled hearing(s), obtain copies of proposed rule(s) or submit comments regarding proposed rule(s), please call or write the contact person listed below. You may also submit comments in writing to the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, State House, Montpelier, Vermont 05602 (802-828-2231).

Department of Liquor and Lottery, Administrative Rules Update.

Vermont Proposed Rule: 22P037

AGENCY: Department of Liquor and Lottery

CONCISE SUMMARY: The rules adopted by the Board of Liquor and Lottery includes several groups of regulations to ensure public safety by preventing the misuse of alcohol and tobacco through controlled distribution, providing for applicable enforcement, and establishing robust education requirements. Several Acts as enacted by the Vermont Legislature in recent years have amended significant portions of Title 7, including the consolidation of the Departments of Liquor and Lottery.

As such, many contradictions between statute and regulation have emerged. Additionally, the impact of modern business practices is ever-changing, and regulatory agencies must remain agile to respond. This proposed rule removes General Regulations 9, 39, 44, 46, Advertising Regulation 2, Section 7, Wholesale Regulations 4, 5, and 7, and Education Regulations 4, 5 and 6. Many additional sections and regulations were updated, renumbered, and clarified.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Skyler Genest, Chief, Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery, 1311 US Rt 302, Barre VT 05641 Tel: 802-477-2429 Fax: 802-828-2803 Email: skyler. genest@vermont.gov URL: http://liquorandlottery@vermont.gov.

FOR COPIES: Brandon King, Lieutenant, Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery, 1311 US Rt 302, Barre VT 05641 Tel: 802-522-8954 Fax: 802-8282803 Email: brandon.king@vermont.gov.

Start the New Year with a New Career at Rhino Foods!

Rhino is hiring like crazy to meet the summer demand for all our delicious products and we need you to join us! If you are hired in an hourly role for our Production, Distribution, Maintenance and Sanitation Teams, Rhino will pay YOU $2,000 on your 6-month anniversary!

Check out our website for all our job listings, which include:

Production 1st, 3rd shifts, $17-18.50 depending on shift

Sanitation 2nd shift-$18/hr.

Maintenance Techs 1st shift-DOE

Make Your New Year’s Resolution to Earn some “dough” at Rhino Foods!

Please see more on these openings on our career page at rhinofoods.com/about-rhino-foods/jobs-and-careers

*Rhino Foods does run sex offender checks on all employees

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS

The Director of Public Works is a full-time employee of the Town of Calais and subject to all applicable policies, procedures, rules, and laws that apply to all other municipal employees of the Town of Calais.

Please submit your resume and list of references to Denise Wheeler at calaissbdenise@gmail.com

For a detailed job description and qualifications please visit our website at calaisvermont.gov and see the link on our homepage.

Delivery Drivers Wanted

BENEFITS AND LEAVE COORDINATOR

For

Carillon

Tour Boat Captain

TICONDEROGA | PART TIME

Drive the 60-foot tour boat Carillon from Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain! Pay $25-30 per hour. Minimum 50-ton USCG Captain's license required. Be part of a great team as you drive a classic 1920s styled wooden boat!

The Fort Ticonderoga Association: fortticonderoga.org/about/careers/

Legal Assistant

Burlington, VT

Sheehey Furlong & Behm, an established, growing law firm located near the Burlington waterfront, is accepting applications for a legal assistant. The successful candidate will be detail-oriented, possess strong written and verbal skills and the ability to work in a fast-paced environment. Proficiency in MS Office applications is required. 1-3 years of legal experience is preferred. Competitive pay and comprehensive benefits package. Forward cover letter and resume to hiring@sheeheyvt.com, subject “Legal Assistant.”

SUPPORT & SERVICES AT HOME WELLNESS NURSE

VERMONT PUBLIC IS HIRING!

We are Vermont’s unified public media organization (formerly VPR and Vermont PBS), serving the community with trusted journalism, quality entertainment, and diverse educational programming.

Current openings include:

Burlington Housing Authority (BHA) in Burlington, VT seeks a part time (15 hours per week – non benefited position)

Support and Services at Home (SASH) Wellness Nurse  to provide oversight of wellness care and coaching for SASH participants in accordance with Vermont’s Nurse Practice Act.  The Wellness Nurse is responsible for overseeing the well-being of participants and in coordinating health services with other members of the SASH team and other community providers. The Wellness Nurse supports a philosophy of aging in-place consistent with the mission of SASH.  This position also works with the SASH team on developing individual participant healthy living plans as well as community healthy living plans for the enrolled community at large.

Candidate must be currently licensed as a Registered Nurse in the State of Vermont.  Must possess at least two years of experience in a clinical setting, demonstrated leadership skills and the ability to exercise sound judgment.  Must also have knowledge of standard record keeping procedures (i.e., progress notes, HIPAA guidelines), excellent verbal and written communication skills, be able to work independently and as part of a team and possess strong organizational and time management skills.

Email circ@sevendaysvt.com. No phone calls, please.

Seven Days is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We believe a strong organization includes employees from a range of backgrounds with different skills, experience, and passions.

To see more openings & apply:

vermontpublic.org/careers

Must be able to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Vermont Public is a proud equal opportunity employer.

BHA serves a diverse population of tenants and partners with a variety of community agencies. To most effectively carry out our vision of delivering safe and affordable housing to all, we are committed to cultivating a staff that reflects varied lived experiences, viewpoints, and educational histories. Therefore, we strongly encourage candidates from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and women to apply. Multilingualism is a plus!

If you are interested in this career opportunity, please send a cover letter and resume to: humanresources@burlingtonhousing.org

Human Resources, Burlington Housing Authority

65 Main St, Suite 101, Burlington, VT 05401

Burlington Housing Authority is an Equal Opportunity Employer www.burlingtonhousing.org

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PROGRAM MANAGER

Are you an experienced Licensed Clinical Social Worker interested in advancing your career? Are you motivated by mission-minded work supporting quality healthcare for all? Community Health Centers is seeking a Behavioral Health Program Manager to join our team at Riverside Health Center in Burlington, VT! This position provides administrative and clinical oversight to a tight-knit team of Licensed Social Workers. This role operates in partnership with CHC’s Director of Mental Health and Substance Use Services and ensures our community of patients receives high quality care.

Learn more and apply online at: chcb.org/careers

We are an equal employment opportunity employer, and are especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the organization.

Check out our careers at chcb.org/careers.

DR Power Equipment Now Hiring

VYCC is welcoming a new cohort of Members, Leaders, & Staff. Make a difference in seasonal & year-round positions:

Food & Farm Team: Program Assistant, Program Coordinator. Conservation Team: Field Supervisor, Seasonal Assistant, Professional Pathways Manager Engagement Team: Development Coordinator, Marketing Manager, Recruitment Manager, Serve Learn Earn Director

Mentor and work alongside young people, outdoors, on projects that matter vycc.org/about/careers

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Full description & to apply: generatorvt.com/jobs

Youth Case Manager

The new Youth Case Manager position will oversee our new Pathways to Higher Education for Youth program and will be responsible for the organization, planning, and coordination of a broad range of programming and services for youth of refugee and immigrant background who are currently enrolled in grades 7 through 12.

For more information and to apply: refugees.org/careers

Join

the team at Gardener’s Supply Company!

We are a 100% employee-owned company and an award winning and nationally recognized socially responsible business. We work hard AND o er a fun place to work including BBQs, sta parties, employee garden plots and much more! We also o er strong cultural values, competitive wages and outstanding bene ts!

This individual will be responsible for e ciently leading and running all parts of our Distribution Center(s) while hitting service level goals. This person will create a strong employee culture and implement best practices through systems, processes and employee involvement. Our ideal candidate will have strong leadership skills; 10+ years of experience in ERP functionality, Warehouse Management Systems, payroll processing and MS O ce Suite; 3-5 years of Direct/Ecommerce business distribution experience in a $75+ million company; and excellent problem-solving and management skills equivalent to those usually acquired in achieving a bachelor’s level of study with 10 years of warehousing experience preferably in the Direct/Ecommerce/Retail environment.

Interested? Please go to our careers page at www.gardeners.com/careers and apply online!

Travel is booming, and we are growing! Music Contact International, a group tour operator specializing in customized domestic and international performance travel, is seeking full-time team members: two Associate Tour Coordinators and one Associate Sales Manager.

Join our team, and be part of a community of dedicated, bright, and well-traveled professionals!

For more details on the roles and application process, visit:

ASSOCIATE TOUR COORDINATOR: bit.ly/3uWPs9P

ASSOCIATE SALES MANAGER: bit.ly/3uWPs9P

100% EMPLOYEE-OWNED

Director of Distribution Center

Administrative Assistant Come Join Our Team!

The Town of Williston Fire Department is seeking applicants for its Administrative Assistant position. This role is instrumental in supporting day-to-day activities and serving as a public-facing point of contact for a department that is highly valued by the community it serves.

For a full job description, please go to: bit.ly/

TownofWillistonADMIN

To apply, please send cover letter and resume to:

HR Coordinator/Assistant to the Manager, Erin Dickinson at edickinson@willistonvt.org.

Or mail to: Town of Williston Attn: Erin Dickinson 7900 Williston Rd Williston, VT, 05495

Deadline for applications is Monday, January 9, 2023. E.O.E.

Ruby on Rails Developer

VT-based company seeks an experienced Ruby on Rails developer to join its web/dev team as a contractor.

• Individual should have experience in development of new web applications, maintaining and troubleshooting existing web apps and writing and maintaining reliable Ruby code.

• Proficiency with code versioning tools is necessary.

• This contract position can be either remote or on-site, and starts at 20 hours/week.

Discovery Map International, Inc. is the nation’s leading publisher of destination maps and has been based in Waitsfield, VT since 1985. Send resume to susan@discoverymap.com

ORGANIZER

AFT Vermont is hiring a smart, motivated organizer who is willing to work hard for social justice at the workplace and across Vermont.

About AFT Vermont

• A democratic, organizing labor union

• The fastest growing union in Vermont

• Has majority women membership & leadership

We organize to win better wages, respect & improvements at work.

Job posting: vt.aft.org/organizer

Pre-K Co-Director/ Head Teacher

Play & Nature Based Program

South Burlington, VT jobso.id/fgvd

Caledonia County NRCD Conservation

Specialist

Information & job description: caledoniadistrict.org

WHY NOT HAVE A JOB YOU LOVE?

Plus, have a benefit package that includes 29 paid days off in the first year, a comprehensive health insurance plan with your premium as low as $13 per month, up to $6,000 to go towards medical deductibles and copays, a retirement match, and so much more. And that’s on top of working at one of the “Best Places to Work in Vermont” for four years running.

Great jobs in management ($46,000-$58,000 Annual) and Direct Support Professionals ($19-$20 per hour) at an award-winning agency serving Vermonters with intellectual disabilities. All positions include a generous sign-on bonus.

Make a career making a difference & join our team today! ccs-vt.org/current-openings/

RESIDENT MANAGER

South Square

DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATOR –EARLY INTERVENTION

The

delay(s).

DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATORS:

• Provide family support, parent education, and service coordination to address child and family goals.

• Are able to provide supports in homes, child care, as well as team settings.

• Provision of telehealth services to children and families.

IDEAL

APPLICANTS WILL HAVE:

• Knowledge of child development birth to three; knowledge of developmental delays and children with medical/genetic disorders.

• Previous experience in Early Intervention, including current EI credential, and an understanding of program requirements.

• Knowledge of Children’s Integrated Services (CIS) and the early childhood system of care for infants, toddlers, and their families.

• Training in screening and assessment tools.

• Excellent communication and organizational skills; reliable internet connection at home; and a valid driver’s license and reliable vehicle for transportation.

A Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood Special Education, Human Services, or other related field; or equivalent combination of related education, training and experience.

This is a salaried position offering excellent benefits including Medical/ Dental, wellness opportunities, paid time off, retirement plan, and much more. Interested? Apply on our website ncssinc.org/careers or send your cover letter and resume to careers@ncssinc.org NCSS, 107 Fisher Pond Road, St. Albans, VT 05478 | ncssinc.org | E.O.E.

Burlington Housing Authority (BHA) is seeking a Resident Manager for South Square Apartments, located in Burlington, VT. South Square Apartments is a community designated for the elderly and disabled and as such is supported by community and resident services. South Square Apartments provides communal spaces and group events that encourage engagement for our residents.

The Resident Manager is required to live at South Square and is provided with a free apartment, along with a monthly telecommunication stipend and free utilities. The Resident Manager is on-call after BHA business hours and every other weekend to attend to various resident requests, assisting with emergency service, and light cleaning duties.

The ideal candidate will possess strong communication skills, an attention to detail, and flexibility in their role with the residents. Basic computer skills, such as Word and e-mail, are required.

BHA serves a diverse population of tenants and partners with a variety of community agencies. To most effectively carry out our vision of delivering safe and affordable housing to all, we are committed to cultivating a staff that reflects varied lived experiences, viewpoints, and educational histories. Therefore, we strongly encourage candidates from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and women to apply.

Multilingualism is a plus!

Please send a letter of interest to: humanresources@burlingtonhousing.org.

Human Resources, Burlington Housing Authority

65 Main St, Suite 101, Burlington, VT 05401

Burlington Housing Authority is an Equal Opportunity Employer www.burlingtonhousing.org

Parent Child Center of Northwestern Counseling & Support Services seeks individuals with experience working with families and a desire to work in early childhood. This position will coordinate Early Intervention (EI) services for infants and toddlers in Chittenden County. EI is a special education service for infants and toddlers with developmental delay(s), or medical/genetic conditions that place them at risk of developmental

MAKING REFUGE FELLOW

Apr 1 - Oct 31, housing included.

Visit knollfarm.org to apply.

BUSINESS MANAGER

For social justice nonprofit, starting ASAP.

Visit knollfarm.org to apply.

Director of Events & Business Education

Do you have a passion for bringing people together for unforgettable experiences? Do you appreciate the Vermont business economy and desire to create events and educational programming that will further a mission of advancing Vermont’s economic growth? If so, we invite you to apply for this position, an exciting career opportunity with the statewide Vermont Chamber of Commerce. This full-time position pays an annual salary of $60,000 plus benefits.

Send your LinkedIn profile, resume, and a letter of interest to jobs@vtchamber.com

The Vermont Chamber embraces inclusivity in our hiring and employment practices.

CCV is hiring! We’re looking for dynamic, mission-driven people who want their work to make a positive difference in Vermont and for Vermonters. The Community College of Vermont is Vermont’s second largest college, serving nearly 10,000 students each year. CCV is deeply rooted in Vermont communities, providing students of all ages opportunities for academic and professional growth through flexible, innovative programs and exemplary support services. We are looking to fill the following positions across the state. Come join our incredible staff!

COORDINATOR OF STUDENT ADVISING (Newport Center)

COORDINATOR OF STUDENT ADVISING (Montpelier or Morrisville Center)

Benefits for full-time staff include 14 paid holidays, plus vacation, medical, and personal time, automatic retirement contribution, and tuition waiver at any Vermont State College for staff and their dependents (eligible dependents may apply waiver to UVM). Visit ccv.edu/about/employment/staffpositions/ to learn more.

CCV values individual differences that can be engaged in the service of learning. Diverse experiences from people of varied backgrounds inform & enrich our community. CCV strongly encourages applications from historically marginalized and underrepresented populations. CCV is an Equal Opportunity Employer, in compliance with ADA requirements, and will make reasonable accommodations for the known disability of an otherwise qualified applicant.

Exciting job openings at the Center for an Agricultural Economy!

Production Advisor

The Production Advisor for the Vermont Food Venture Center will advise new food businesses and help manage our food production facility and storage hub in Hardwick Minimum salary is $47,000/year full time with generous benefits.

Human Advocacy Director

The position will promote worker wellness and human resource policy development, and continue to develop equity and anti-oppression work at CAE and in the wider community Minimum salary is $75,000/year full time with generous benefits

visit hardwickagriculture.org/jobs or scan the code to learn more

Head Start is a federally-funded, national child and family development program which provides comprehensive services for pregnant women, children from birth to age five, and their families. Services for children promote school readiness, and include early education, health, nutrition, mental health, and services for children with special needs. Services for parents promote family engagement, and include parent leadership and social service supports.

As an Early Head Start Toddler Teacher, you will serve as co-teacher in an outcomes-oriented, team environment, and provide safe, healthy, friendly, and developmentally appropriate environments and experiences for infants and toddlers. Motivated Head Start teachers improve the trajectory of children’s lives, including children’s learning outcomes, living standards, and later academic and professional success. If you want to make a difference in the lives of young children and their families, consider joining the Head Start community.

REQUIREMENTS: Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education or related education field; Infant toddler specific education and experience that meets or exceeds the requirements for an Infant Toddler CDA Credential; knowledge and experience in developmentally appropriate early childhood practice, child outcome assessment, child behavior management, and curriculum planning, development and implementation; a commitment to social justice and to working with families with limited financial resources; effective verbal and written communication (bilingual abilities a plus!), documentation and record-keeping skills; valid driver’s license, clean driving record and access to reliable transportation; physical ability to carry out required tasks

40 hours/week, 52 weeks/year. Starting wage upon completion of 60-working day period: $20.97-$25.04/hour, depending on qualifications. Health plan and excellent benefits. Please

South Hero Town Administrator

The South Hero Selectboard is accepting applications for the position of Town Administrator/Listers Administrator. Duties will include implementing Town programs and policies for the Selectboard and grant management. In addition, this Administrator will also have Listers responsibilities and will work directly with the Board of Listers.

Position is full-time (32 hours), with benefits. For a complete job description contact zoning@southherovt.org or 802-372-4841

To apply, send a letter of interest and resume to the Selectboard at: P.O. Box 175, South Hero, VT 05486 Or: zoning@ southherovt.org

Please submit letters of interest by February 1, 2023.

General Manager

The Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District -- a nineteen-member union municipality located in Montpelier, Vermont -- is hiring a General Manager. The General Manager oversees eight full-time and two part-time employees, manages an annual budget of $1.3 million and is responsible for the performance of the District. The primary role includes staff assistance to the Board of Supervisors in formulating and implementing policies, managing personnel and financial resources, and representing the District with municipalities, members of the public and solid waste partners. The General Manager’s duties include coordination of solid waste planning and implementing projects, including planned development of a new facility; budget and capital plan preparation and monitoring; oversight of ongoing programming and operations; personnel management; grant administration; compliance with federal and state laws; technical assistance to the Board of Supervisors, local officials, and persons requesting to communicate with the District.

This is an exempt full-time position. Salary range of $70,250 to $92,900 (negotiated rate), plus outstanding benefits package. For full details please visit cvswmd.org To

REGIONAL ASSESSOR

The Regional Assessor serves three towns, Johnson, Hyde Park, and Wolcott. The grand lists vary between the towns and may include current use valuations and Tax Stabilization Agreements. Duties in each town are set by each town and may include land valuation and maintaining all other components of the grand list. The Regional Assessor will work closely with town staff and a professional assessor consultant who will assist with training. The Regional Assessor will complete site inspections, valuations, grievance hearings, and establish the annual grand list. The Assessor will be a part of the team that oversees reappraisals when conducted by an outside firm.

Applicants should possess an appropriate degree and have previous real estate, paralegal, appraisal, or development experience. A certified General Real Estate Appraisal license, or a comparable professional assessors’ certificate is preferred. Possessing, or being able to obtain certification levels through the Division of Property Valuation and Review will be required.

The Applicant should be proficient in common computer software. Experience with assessment software is desirable. The job requires interaction with the general public.

This is a part-time position with benefits that will average 20 hours per week. The hourly pay will be $30.00 - $35.00 per hour, depending on qualifications. The job description is posted at lcpcvt.org

Interested individuals should submit a resume with cover letter to Tasha Wallis, Executive Director, Lamoille County Planning Commission, via email to tasha@lcpcvt.org

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

BURLINGTON HOUSING AUTHORITY (BHA), located in Burlington, VT, is seeking candidates to continue BHA’s success in promoting innovative solutions that address housing instability challenges facing our diverse population of extremely low-income families and individuals. Join us and make a difference in our community!

RAPID REHOUSING SPECIALIST provides assistance to community members who are without housing and have barriers to locating and securing housing in the community. This grant funded position works closely with our Rental Assistance department and Chittenden County Coordinated Entry and is a part of a skilled team that focuses on assessment, intervention, and service coordination of at-risk households.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Responds to referrals from Coordinated Entry to assess need for housing search services and level of support needed to secure housing

• Provides direct retention services which may include home visits, supportive counseling, making referrals on behalf of household, accompanying member(s) of household to appointments, providing/coordinating transportation when needed, coordinating services which may benefit the household, and work to stabilize the housing as necessary

• Coordinates services which are beyond scope of housing search and makes appropriate referrals back to housing retention team or other agencies when necessary

• Supports households in meeting with landlords and attending showings in BHA’s service area

• Support the household’s awareness of resources, increase overall resiliency, and promote stability and proactivity over crisis management

• Collects and maintains required data and case notes in centralized database

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor’s degree required in human services or related field. Previous experience in direct service and advocacy preferred. Exhibits effective verbal and written communication skills. Knowledge of the social services network is preferred. Proficiency with Microsoft Office and internet navigation required. Excellent time-management skills and the ability to work independently are required.

To learn more about our organization, please visit: burlingtonhousing.org.

BHA serves a diverse population of tenants and partners with a variety of community agencies. To most effectively carry out our vision of delivering safe and affordable housing to all, we are committed to cultivating a staff that reflects varied lived experiences, viewpoints, and educational histories. Therefore, we strongly encourage candidates from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and women to apply. Multilingualism is a plus!

BHA offers a competitive salary, commensurate with qualifications and experience. We offer a premium benefit package at a low cost to employees. Benefits include medical insurance with a health reimbursement account, dental, vision, short and long term disability, 10% employer funded retirement plan, 457 retirement plan, accident insurance, life insurance, cancer and critical illness insurance and access to reduced cost continuing education. We also offer a generous time off policy including paid time off, sick, and 13 paid holidays. And sign on bonus of up to $2,000.

If interested, please submit your resume and cover letter to:

HUMANRESOURCES@BURLINGTONHOUSING.ORG

LOOKING FOR A COOLER OPPORTUNITY?

Community Development Specialist

Finance Director

Housing Stewardship Coordinator

Evaluate, monitor, and support the long-term sustainability of housing developments across the state. Bring your excellent analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills and assist the network of non-profit organizations creating housing for Vermonters and revitalizing our communities. VHCB offers an excellent benefit package and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Candidates from diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. To read the job descriptions and apply, visit vhcb.org/about-us/jobs. Positions will remain open until filled.

The Vermont Housing & Conservation Board supports the development and preservation of housing affordable to Vermonters. Use your experience and passion to help add new rental and homeownership opportunities statewide!

Work

collaboratively across VHCB programs, oversee financial operations, ensure compliance with funding sources, and lead budget and audit processes. Contribute to meeting the housing needs of Vermonters and preserving our landscape!

fun stuff

JEN SORENSEN

HARRY BLISS

“What do you got goin’ on today?”

KRISTEN SHULL

RYAN RIDDLE

CAPRICORN

(DEC. 22-JAN. 19)

In accordance with your astrological omens in 2023, I’ve chosen a quote from Capricorn storyteller Michael Meade. I hope you will make it one of your core meditations in the coming months. He writes, “All meaningful change requires a genuine surrender. Yet, to surrender does not simply mean to give up; more to give up one’s usual self and allow something other to enter and redeem the lesser sense of self. In surrendering, we fall to the bottom of our arguments and seek to touch the origin of our lives again. Only then can we see as we were meant to see, from the depth of the psyche where the genius resides, where the seeds of wisdom and purpose were planted before we were born.”

(The quote is from Meade’s book Fate and Destiny, The Two Agreements of the Soul.)

ARIES (Mar. 21-Apr. 19): “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor,” writes Aries author Anne Lamott. “It will keep you cramped and insane.” I think that’s a key theme for you to embrace in 2023. Let’s express the idea more positively, too. In Navajo culture, rug weav-

ers intentionally create small imperfections in their work, like odd-colored beads or stray pieces of yarn. This rebellion against unattainable exactitude makes the art more soulful. Relieved of the unrealistic mandate to be flawless, the rug can relax into its beauty.

TAURUS (Apr. 20-May 20): Here are my four decrees for you in 2023, Taurus: 1) You are cleared to be greedy if it’s in service to a holy cause that fosters others’ well-being as well as yours. 2) It’s permissible to be stubborn if doing so nourishes versions of truth and goodness that uplift and inspire your community. 3) It’s proper to be slow and gradual if that’s the best way to keep collaborative projects from becoming slipshod. 4) It’s righteous to be zealous in upholding high standards, even if that causes less diligent people to bail out.

GEMINI (May 21-Jun. 20): In 2023, many interesting lessons will arrive via your close relationships and collaborations. You will have the potential to learn more about the art of togetherness than you have in a long time. On occasion, these lessons may initially agitate you. But they will ultimately provide more pleasure and healing than you can imagine right now. Bonus prediction: You will have an enhanced talent for interweaving your destiny together with the fates of your allies.

CANCER (Jun. 21-Jul. 22): Here are some projects I’d love to see you pursue in 2023: 1) Teach your allies the fine points of how to cherish you but not smother you. 2) Cultivate your natural talent for appreciating the joys of watching and helping things grow: a child, a creative project, a tree, a friendship or your bank account. 3) If you don’t feel close to the family members that fate provided you with, find others you like better. 4) As you explore territories that are further out or deeper within, make sure your Cancerian shell is expandable. 5) Avoid being friends with people who are shallow or callous or way too cool. 6) Cultivate your attraction to people who share your deepest feelings and highest ideals.

LEO (Jul. 23-Aug. 22): Mystic teacher Terence McKenna said, “You have to take seriously the notion that understanding the universe is your responsibility, because the

only understanding of the universe that will be useful to you is your own understanding.” This will be key advice for you in 2023. You will be wise to craft an updated version of your personal philosophy. I suggest you read a lot of smart people’s ideas about the game of life. Make it your quest to commune with interesting minds who stimulate your deep thoughts. Pluck out the parts that ring true as you create a new vision that is uniquely your own.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sep. 22): How should we refer to your romantic adventures in 2023? We could be whimsical and call them “Ritual Mating Dances on the Outskirts of History.” We could be melodramatic and call them “Diving Into the Deep Dark Mysteries in Search of Sexy Treasures.” Or we could be hopeful and call them “A Sacred Pilgrimage to the Frontiers of Intimacy.” I think there’s a good chance that all three titles will turn out to be apt descriptors of the interesting stories ahead of you — especially if you’re brave as you explore the possibilities.

LIBRA (Sep. 23-Oct. 22): “Coddiwomple” is an English slang word that means to travel resolutely and dynamically toward an as-yetunknown destination. It’s not the same as wandering aimlessly. The prevailing mood is not passivity and vagueness. Rather, one who coddiwomples has a sense of purpose about what’s enjoyable and meaningful. They may not have a predetermined goal, but they know what they need and like. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, the next six months will be an excellent time for you Libras to experiment with coddiwompling.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the theater of ancient Greece, the term anagnorisis referred to a pivotal moment when a character discovered a big truth they had previously been unaware of. Another Greek word, peripeteia, meant a reversal of circumstances: “a change by which the action veers round to its opposite.” I bring these fun ideas to your attention, dear Scorpio, because I think 2023 could bring you several instances of an anagnorisis leading to a peripeteia. How would you like them to unfold? Start making plans. You will have uncanny power to determine which precise parts of your life are gifted with these blessings.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Winters are cold in Olds, a town in Alberta, Canada. Temperatures plunge as low as 24 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. But an agronomist named Dong Jianyi has built a giant greenhouse there that enables him to grow vegetables year-round. He spends no money on heat but relies on innovative insulation to keep the inside warm. In 2021, he grew 29,000 pounds of tomatoes. I propose we make him your inspirational role model for 2023, Sagittarius. My guess is that, like him, you will be a wellspring of imaginative resourcefulness. What creative new developments could you generate? How might you bring greater abundance into your life by drawing extra energy from existing sources? How could you harness nature to serve you even better?

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In addition to my career as a horoscope columnist, I have written novels and other books. I have worked as a singer-songwriter in rock bands and performed a one-person show in theaters. As I survey my history, I always break into sardonic laughter as I contemplate how many businesspeople have advised me, “First, you’ve got to sell out. You’ve got to dumb down your creative efforts so as to make yourself salable. Only later, after you have become successful, can you afford to be true to your deepest artistic principles.” I am very glad I never heeded that terrible counsel because it would have made me insane and unhappy. How are you doing with this central problem of human life, Aquarius? Are you serving the gods of making money or the gods of doing what you love? The coming year will, I suspect, bring you prime opportunities to emphasize the latter goal.

PISCES (Feb. 19-Mar. 20): I’ve chosen a sweet taste of advice for you to keep referring back to in 2023. It’s in rapt alignment with upcoming astrological omens. I suggest you copy my counsel out in longhand on a piece of paper and keep it in your wallet or under your pillow. Here it is, courtesy of author Martha Beck: “The important thing is to tell yourself a life story in which you, the hero, are primarily a problem solver rather than a helpless victim. This is well within your power, whatever fate might have dealt you.”

Eva looks back at the people who appeared in her videos during 2022 and shares updates on their lives. At the beginning of the year, Eva made a video about decluttering her own home and getting organized. She reveals how that went and shares some before-andafter photos of the entire renovation process.

supported by:

Eva Sollberger’s

SEEKING SOMETHING FUN AND CASUAL

Living life collecting as many wonderful memories along the way as possible. Let’s make a few. ADK_ROVER 52 seeking: W, l

DOG LOVER, SAILOR

WOMEN seeking...

RECREATION, RELAXATION AND EXPLORING

Retired, relocated to the beautiful, scenic Vermont. Looking for someone to share the magnificent sunset over Lake Champlain, hike, do tai chi, garden and cook good meals with. Someone to laugh with and explore the Vermont region. I am an optimist. If you have a good, honest heart and are a hopeful nature lover, I am the one you’re looking for. Looking for fun in Vermont. Seeking M and a new group of friends.

RecreationRelaxationandExploring 57, seeking: M

FUN, KIND AND LOVING

Recently I relocated to Vermont and am looking for someone to enjoy Vermont life with. I’ve been divorced/ single long enough to know myself and enjoy my own company. I would like to be in a long-term, healthy, monogamous relationship. So let’s be friends first and see where it goes! CoachKaty7 52 seeking: M, l

RELAXED AND HAPPY

I would love to meet a kind and gentle man for companionship, friendship and long-term relationship. I live a pretty quiet and simple life, though would love to share time with a kind kindred spirit. I would love to meet someone who is easygoing, enjoys the outdoors, loves dogs and has a big, tender heart. angelight333 75, seeking: M, l

WANT TO RESPOND?

You read Seven Days, these people read Seven Days — you already have at least one thing in common!

All the action is online. Create an account or login to browse more than 2,000 singles with profiles including photos, habits, desires, views and more. It’s free to place your own profile online.

RIDING

THE ROLLERCOASTER OF LIFE

Kind and caring, crazy busy, lonely when I have downtime. Looking for a likeminded person to spend that downtime with. moomail 49, seeking: M, l

OLD-SCHOOL FUNNY GARDENER

I love antiques, gardening and dancing. I like to have peace and quiet with a whole lot of fun. I am looking for a young-atheart guy who is financially independent with similar interests and likes to exercise and eat healthy. Excited to get to know you. AntiqueGirl, 74 seeking: M, l

HOPEFULLY YOURS?

Charismatic, adventuresome woman seeks man for friendship, LTR, shared and mutual interests! I am kind and fun, seeking the same to enjoy and share life! HopeVT 62, seeking: M, l

ARTSY, ACTIVE, SOCIAL, INTROVERT

Looking for a man who loves Vermont, is grounded and enjoys meaningful conversations. Youthful, educated, community-minded, endlessly curious, I love to dance, make music, watch indie and foreign films, attend live performances of all kinds, and laugh with friends. I’m in the woods daily to walk the dog, hike, snowshoe, ski, meditate. You? NEKdancerdrummer 61, seeking: M, l

HARDWORKING THINKER SEEKING COMPANION

I’d love a few thought-provoking companions to hang with now and again. If more develops, I’ll consider more. I work hard but would like to socialize more. Stimulating conversation is top of mind. Prefer someone who lives relatively close to the Burlington area. BornHere 68, seeking: M, l

FLOWER GIRL FOREVER

Eternal optimist and explorer, playful realist, and retired teacher seeks friends, companions and lover for dances, dates, discussions and explorations. International travel is a joy, deep discussions, painting and cooking, gardening, hiking, biking, sailing, kayaking with picnics! Playful, fun, average-size brunette with an easy smile and cheerful talk. Speak five languages. Love all cultures and the arts! Flowersgalore 61, seeking: M, l

MONTRÉAL WIFE IN OPEN RELATIONSHIP

Longtime married, very attractive, in open relationship. Desire playmate in Burlington area. I like confident, experienced, athletic, smart, welleducated, charming men. I am not looking to develop a relationship.

Would like a regular playmate who is very discreet. My wonderful husband may be around for first meet, so need to be comfortable with that. He does not participate.

MontrealWife 53, seeking: M, l

I NEED LOVE

I am proud of myself, honestly. I treat others the way I want to be treated, and I need a man who is going to love me and give me joy.

elizabethlove 28 seeking: M, l

HONEST,

KIND, RELAXED, STRAIGHTFORWARD

I love my family. I prefer genuine honesty and kindness. I’m looking for someone to spend time with and who enjoys family time. My interests: camping, road trips, nights at home, cooking for family, gardening, cuddling my grandchildren. I am sweet, loving and compassionate. I like to go dancing and to social events or have fun nights at home. Bluebird, 55, seeking: M, l

FRIENDLY, KIND, CARING

I am looking for someone who can make me laugh and just wants to hang out. Alicat30 30, seeking: M, l

MELLOW, CREATIVE OLD HIPPIE

I love myself. Happy with my own company and in a crowd of people. I have many good friends and hobbies. The last time I remember being bored, I was 9! I consider it a really good day when I have learned something new and had a good laugh. Full-blown Libran. Prefer cultured, educated company. Versatility is a must. Zenbabe 61, seeking: M, l

INTUITIVE, CARING, LOVE BEING OUTSIDE

I am a passionate, fit, caring, downto-earth woman looking to share adventures. I love to be active — hiking, skiing, running, yoga. I love to travel, as I am fascinated by the different ways people live their lives. I hope to have honest, interesting, authentic conversations where we really get to know each other. Let’s meet for coffee or a drink! lovemountains 57 seeking: M, l

ENERGETIC, CREATIVE, HONEST, INDEPENDENT

I am a combination of outdoorswoman, ballroom dancer and retired application developer. Hardworking, honest, funloving, romantic. Family is important to me. I have a log cabin in the NEK that I love. Hoping to find someone to laugh, learn and explore with. Friends first. College grad, Caucasian. Cabingirl, 66, seeking: M, l

ENJOY LIFE BEFORE I’M DEAD

Looking for someone to share time with. Traveling is one of my passions. I enjoy the outdoors, camping, hiking, walking, snowshoeing, music, dancing and playing cards. I love spending time with family and friends and my little dog. ladyinvt, 66, seeking: M, l

MEN seeking...

HONEST, LOYAL, AFFECTIONATE AND CARING

I’m a very laid-back person and really hate confrontation. I’ve been in recovery over 10 years now and have a recovery coach certification. I’m looking for someone who knows what they want and how to communicate that. I feel like communication is the key to a healthy, strong relationship. I don’t really do hookups. Apollo16 39, seeking: W, l

SEARCHER

Lust for life looking for FWB, perhaps more. blueskyinvt2022 58, seeking: W

A full-time sailboat captain. Watching the sunset while bringing a smile to my passengers is my passion. In the winter, I teach Hebrew and am still working on perfecting my English. Favorite winter pastime is sitting by the fireplace, watching a classic movie. In winter I help people with disabilities ski downhill. Looking for a tough woman with a sweet heart. Alexmia 64, seeking: W, l

LIVE YOUR LIFE

I am strikingly average with a big heart to give. Looking for my one and only soulmate to sweep off her feet. sweetestman 66, seeking: W, l

YOUNG-AT-HEART NATURE LOVER

Looking for an active, fit, outdoorsy woman who can laugh easily, appreciates the natural world, is thoughtful and playful. Who likes to “play like a dog”! Dog lovers a plus. I’m a kind, active, free-spirited, reliable, romantic, educated, spontaneous and sensual man. Youthful in appearance, mind, body and soul. Enjoy outdoor activities, especially skiing (all types), sailing, hiking. Skisailvt, 69 seeking: W, l

MESSENGER IN A BOTTLE

Looking for a woman who likes herself, has a kind tongue, intelligence, a sense of humor, and wants someone with imperfections like mine. I tend to like movies that have character development, rather than special effects and gratuitous action. I avoid junk food as much as I can and get enough exercise but am not overboard with it. Outdoor tendencies. Victor58 58, seeking: W

WORTHLESSLY OVERQUALIFIED AND HOPELESSLY HOPEFUL

Retired college professor who has also worked his PhD into employment as a canine home-care provider, public school kitchen helper, medical assistant and, while having nothing to do with employment, a contributor at Bread Loaf. I bicycle, walk, bus, once “rented” Sparky from Carshare Vermont, and am otherwise finding my path with the Dao through tai chi and music. HippieHeart 73, seeking: W, l

GREAT ATTITUDE

Hello. I am interested in great attitudes, kids, animals, hard workers, sports, fishing, etc. booboo 53, seeking: W, l

WISE, VIBRANT, YOUNG AT HEART

Excellent generalist, language lover, witty conversationalist. I also live deep in my head and soul, a nature lover, and wish for a man to share the physical to probe the mind and heart. I am a practiced masseur with high potential for sensual abandon. SageOne, 69, seeking: M

CAPTIVATING CONVERSATION

Tell me about your passions, your inner thoughts that get you through the day. What drives you to be you? Lifeis2short 53, seeking: W

GRINNING GRANOLA GLAMPER

Currently single in central Vermont/ New Hampshire, seeking compatible peeps for fun and friendship (possible LTR and/or FWB). Clean, energetic, love to laugh, create new projects/events and volunteer. Yoga, meditation and sound/ vibrations connect me to Source (or your preferred name for It). ShivaShakti, 61, seeking: M, W, TW, NC, NBP, l

I’m into Neil Young, B. Traven, Passivhaus, wilderness, water, Alexander Berkman, John Prine, writing, saving the world, silence, the stars, German beer, etc. I have no idea who I’m looking for. I’ve probably not learned the lessons I should have. Ragged heart is still on the sleeve. Stilgar 71 seeking: W, l

LOVE

I am a decent and hardworking man. People love to see the moon and stars in the sky, but my eyes just love to see my love’s happy and smiling face! abelfirm 65, seeking: W, l

OLDER FUN LOVER

LOOKING FOR GOOD TIMES

Tall, a little fluffy, experimental, clean and mostly smooth. Looking to meet other fun people. weldon72 75, seeking: M

CONTENT IN THE NEK

I’ve relocated to Vermont as part of several very positive changes in my life. Glad and grateful for how things are shaking out up here in the Kingdom. Still, I’d like to meet someone as keen as I am for conversation, exploring the state/region and seeing what might develop. NeitherFoldedNorSpindled, 56 seeking: W, l

NONBINARY PEOPLE seeking...

SENIOR LADY LOVEBUG

Hello, want to be email pals first? Are you cute, young 60ish? Looking for a straight, educated man, sorta wealthy, loving, easygoing. Friends to start, flirting OK. Try new foods, places, etc. In the end, I would love to love and be loved, like the old-schoolers did. Sammyd 74, seeking: M

REALIST WHO IS OPEN-MINDED

I’m an honest, down-to-earth person who has been through a lot in life and is looking for companionship since I’m new to the area. I’m not like most people in that I feel people are afraid to talk to me. I don’t go out of my way to make friends. I wait for them to come to me. BreBri2022 37, seeking: M, W, Cp

COUPLES seeking...

LOVERS OF LIFE

We are a 40s couple, M/F, looking for adventurous encounters with openminded, respectful M/F or couples. Looking to enjoy sexy encounters, FWBs, short term or long term. sunshines 42, seeking: M, W, Q, Cp

I’M YOUR PERSON

Welcome, everyone. Looking for some good people. Love to make some new friends. Looking for the right woman to share my fantasies with. Lovetohavefunnn 41, seeking: W, l

LOOKING FOR OUR MAN!

Ideally hoping for a throuple/FWB situation. Us: established M/F couple. DD-free. (She: 44, straight BBW; he: 46, bi MWM). Drinks, 420-friendly, fires, get outside, music, Netflix and chill, always horny. You: DD-free, clean, masculine bi male (30ish to 50ish) who works and knows how to enjoy life! A little rough/hard (top, real man, etc.) with a compassionate heart and a bit of a snuggler. Connection is key. Let’s chat and get to know each other, then play! ginganddaddy 46, seeking: M

VT COUPLE SEEKING A FEMALE/COUPLE

Fun married couple in their 30s looking for a female or couples for casual dates. We like the outdoors. 3inthevt, 36, seeking: W, Cp, Gp

WHITE BOAT CUMMIN’ UP RIVER

BUFFALO MOUNTAIN MARKET CUTIE

We walked from separate sides of the parking lot but met up at the door. You held it open for me, and it made my day. Sometimes it’s just those simple gestures and moments in time. Your gentle eyes and sweet face were exactly what I needed. Happy Winter Solstice. When: Tuesday, December 13, 2022. Where: Hardwick. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915679

DID ALEX GET FRENCH FRIES?

Has it been nine years since we grabbed coffee and talked chi running? is southern gentleman is so glad you squeezed my hand before I got out of your tiny car. A steamy hallway, secret swimming hole detour, three little ones, and many laughs later, it’s still the sweetest thing. Love you. When: Saturday, December 10, 2022. Where: downtown. You: Man. Me: Man. #915678

JITTERY OR CAFFEINATED?

Last week you commented that I was jittery. is week we talked about your tattooed hands and my only tattoo. My question to you is, how do you feel about ethical nonmonogamy? Sincerely, Not looking for a unicorn. When: Friday, December 9, 2022. Where: Montpelier. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915677

BEARDED COFFEE PATRON

Approximately 2 p.m. You held the door for me and remarked on my beard. en, when I left, we met eyes and you smiled. Too shy to ask your name. Wish I had! When: Friday, December 9, 2022. Where: Williston Dunkin’ Donuts. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915676

SHAMWOW

Two and a half years, and you still visit my dreams and almost every thought day-to-day! When: Saturday, June 6, 2020. Where: in my dreams. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915670

RED HAT WOMAN, NEWPORT WALMART

Hello, Indiana Jones. You sauntered in wearing a leather hat, looked right at me and smiled the most beautiful smile. I had a red felt hat on. I will never forget what that smile meant to me at that moment in time. Perhaps I may find you again? When: Wednesday, December 7, 2022. Where: Newport Walmart. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915675

CYCLING ON PINE

We passed each other in the dark on Pine, near Flynn. You nodded, and I smiled. I appreciated that simple acknowledgment that we weren’t out in the cold alone. Safe travels, fellow commuter! When: Monday, November 28, 2022. Where: Burlington. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915674

HANNAFORD SUPERMARKET

Evening. Enjoyed talking with you about horses, blueberries and kids in the checkout line. You were wearing a black hoodie. Are you single? Do you want to have tea or coffee together and chat sometime? When: ursday, November 17, 2022. Where: Hannaford. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915673

WHO HAS THE REMOTE?

Older gentleman wondering who had the remote for the TV at Handy’s Toyota waiting room. We started talking about downtown Burlington, and then my car was ready. When: ursday, November 10, 2022. Where: Handy’s Toyota, St. Albans. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915672

WHY KNOT BE THEIR SQUARED?

My GPS brought me to your location twice. I didn’t catch your name, and I bet you can’t guess mine! When: Saturday, November 13, 2021. Where: in the eyes of the world. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915671

HELLO, SLOWWALKER

I saw your message a month after you posted it. Sorry for the late reply. I bet Ruby is out of treats; should I bring some more? When: Saturday, September 24, 2022. Where: Shelburne Bay Park. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915669

SAXON MOUNTAIN BIKER, GREAT SMILE

You finished your ride and loaded up your orange mountain bike onto your black Subaru. ere were numerous glances between us while I stood chatting with my friends. As you drove away, you gave a very friendly smile and wave. It would be great to say hello, maybe do a bike ride or hike, or even just have a drink sometime. When: Sunday, November 6, 2022. Where: Saxon Hill Rd. parking lot. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915668

HAVE WE MET?

Maybe, or in another life? Like me, you’re weary of running away from, running to catch up, running in circles. Let’s be still, be patient and have faith; we will be together soon. en let’s practice those qualities in our union every day. How will we know we have found each other? Love, it will be love that feels right. When: Saturday, November 5, 2022. Where: to be destined by summer 2023. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915667

BEAUTIFUL BRUNETTE, VFCU

I was in a black truck at the teller window at lunchtime, in South Burlington. You are a stunning brunette with a great smile! You helped me with a shared branch banking transaction. Wanna grab a coffee sometime? When: ursday, October 27, 2022. Where: VFCU. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915666

I SPY MVISLANDDREAMIN

Saw your profile in the personals; sent a message. Please read and hopefully get back to me. When: Sunday, October 30, 2022. Where: Personals. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915665

WHATCHYA READIN’?

You were walking up Church Street with a bag from Phoenix and an iced matcha. I am envious of your afternoon with new books and a sweet drink. If you’d be interested in having company next time, I’d be thrilled to join you. When: Saturday, October 29, 2022. Where: top block of Church St. You: Woman. Me: Woman. #915664

De Sybil Ling,

HELP WITH CROSSWORD?

I was with someone else when we met at the movie theater — unfortunately. We’re fellow alumni, and you were wearing ... maybe a reddish sweater? Dressed like a professor? I dashed out to the nearest pile of Seven Days specifically for the puzzles, since you didn’t have one to share. I haven’t finished the crossword yet; I thought maybe you’d like to help? When: ursday, October 27, 2022. Where: the Marquis. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915663

FILM FESTIVAL BEAUTY

We spoke at the festival at the entrance of Alcarràs (7 p.m.). While I was fussing about being late, I sensed signs of attraction. It’s mutual. I noticed your gorgeous face and long, curly dark hair. I’m a woman (seeking a woman), mixed race, with long curly hair. Let’s create our own story. When: Saturday, October 22, 2022. Where: Vermont International Film Festival. You: Woman. Me: Woman. #915662

MORE KELLBEL

I was going to message you, but it looks like you are now off this site. If you see this message, holler back. I, too, like to take long car rides. When: Wednesday, October 26, 2022. Where: Seven Days Personals. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915661

JUST A STONE’S THROW AWAY

You know when you meet someone, still remember their name months later, run into them again and only say “hi” but not their name because you don’t want them to feel uncomfortable? at was the case when I saw you and your dog in the woods by the creek. e pool’s closed, so how about a walk? When: Friday, October 21, 2022. Where: Essex Junction. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915660

HIKER PLAYING ‘WOULD YOU RATHER’

“Would you rather fart all day or have a booger hanging out?” I mean, what guy can resist a line like that? Your smile almost stopped my heart. Also, no ring on your left hand. I hope someone in your hiking group sees this. Would you like to get together for a few friendly rounds of “Would you

rather”?

2022. Where: on the trail of Stowe Pinnacle. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915658

BLUE

If your name is James, you wear blue Adidas sneakers, like brown boots and have half a brain, maybe we could finish that conversation face-to-face? When: Friday, October 21, 2022. Where: Comedy Club. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915659

SAW YOU AT SHAW’S

You are very beautiful, and I would like to date you. Some of my interests include reading, working out, bicycle riding and other things. I can cook, too! I would like to find out your interests, as well. I live across from the store. Please get back to me. I want to see you! Sincerely, Jay. When: Monday, October 10, 2022. Where: Montpelier. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915657

CROSSING PATHS AT PRESTON POND

I was surfing on a rock, trying to cross a puddle at Preston Pond with my pup during peak foliage, and you were hiking solo. In our brief encounter, you pointed out the snow-capped mountains in the distance. Want to hike together sometime? When: Saturday, October 8, 2022. Where: Preston Pond trail. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915656

BEAUTIFUL BRUNETTE IN BLUE VAN

I see you in Essex driving in your blue van. You have gorgeous dark hair and a pretty face. Sometimes you leave Dunkin’ in your scrubs. People are fortunate to be in your care. If you have a family, they must be very lucky. You may see me waving at you from my red Jeep. I hope you wave back. When: ursday, October 20, 2022. Where: Essex. You: Man. Me: Man. #915655

COLORFUL LIGHT, MAIN STREET LANDING

Your orange puffy coat was the perfect match for the light made pink by the trees. When: Tuesday, October 18, 2022. Where: Main Street Landing. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915654

BURLY BAGEL BAKERY & CAFÉ

I spied a dude with longish hair working behind the counter. I glanced at you and then again — awkwardly (sorry). I was wearing a Carhartt beanie and clear glasses. I thought you were super cute and am wondering if you’re single. If so, coffee sometime? When: Sunday, October 16, 2022. Where: South Burlington Bagel Bakery. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915650

something important to discuss, and don’t take no for an answer.

De Rev end,

My sister-in-law never wants to take part in my family’s get-togethers, and my brother just does what she says. My other brother, who passed away, used to speak up about it and get everyone together, but now nobody does. I don’t really care, but I feel like if I don’t do something, our family will drift further apart. Is that just the way things go?

It seems to me that you and you should. It’s important to spend time with family members because, as you are well aware, they won’t be around forever. Keeping a family together can take work, but it’s worth the effort, even if you only see each other a few times a year.

Have you talked about this with your brother? I hate to say it, but if he always defers to his wife’s plans, you may have to cut to the chase and talk to the Boss. In person may be better than over the phone, so perhaps invite her to a friendly coffee date. Tell her that you have

at may be hard for you to do, but it’s impossible to find a solution when you don’t even know what the problem is. You need to figure out why she avoids your family gatherings and what would change her tune. Who knows? It

On the other hand, she may never agree to talk to you, but at least you will have tried. Life’s too short to have any regrets. Make it your New Year’s resolution to be your family’s anchor.

Good luck and God bless, The Rev end

What’s your problem?

Send it to asktherev@sevendaysvt.com.

If you’ve been spied, go online to contact your admirer!

Sybil Ling (WOMAN, 49)

Irreverent counsel on life’s conundrums

I’m a GWM 59-y/o. Mostly a bottom seeking to take care of the needs of a top. Very attentive and willing to please. Rutland area. Phone/text. #1624

I’m a 57-y/o woman. Not married, no children. I stay as healthy as I can. Educated, mostly by deep life experience. Need a dedicated relationship with a man who understands me and treats our unit as No. 1. Need to live in the country. Calm, gardens, sounds of nature, sunset. Please be honest, thoughtful and kind. Be able to relate well to others and be well liked. Phone number, please. #1620

I’m a male seeking a loving companion of any gender. I’m a non-smoker with a concentration on health. I’m an educated, honest, kind and calm baby boomer with a love for gardening. Time is precious. Open to the right person. #1622

Man, 70, seeking woman. Warm heart, hard body, open mind. Easy to look at. Musically inclined. Going to Astrala playing, singing, dancing. Mainly veggie. Grow my own. Bicycle. Looking for you, someone to be with in Astrala. #1623

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PUBLISH YOUR MESSAGE ON THIS PAGE!

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Submit your FREE message at sevendaysvt.com/loveletters or use the handy form at right.

We’ll publish as many messages as we can in the Love Letters section above.

Interested readers will send you letters in the mail. No internet required!

I’m a male, 70, seeking a female, 50-plus. I am single and looking for a good friend and possible partner. Chittenden County. Phone, please. #1621

I’m a 70-y/o WF seeking a 70-plus WM. (#1604, I’m interested.) Was widowed 10 years ago and am lonely and seeking a companion. I love being outdoors and seeing birds and animals. Car travel is fun for me. #1618

Young-looking baby boomer woman seeks the same in a male partner. Time is precious. I’m a humanist looking for a nonsmoking, honest, good person. Seeking an occasional drinker without drug or anger issues. Ninety-five percent Democrat and young-at-heart woman who doesn’t drink is looking for a partner, not a serial dater (aka bachelor). #1619

I am a SWM, young-looking 52y/o in search of a trans woman. Not into drugs or 420 and not into a lot of drinking. Someone who wants to be treated like a lady in public and freaky in private. I am very respectful, romantic, physically passionate and enjoy some kinky situations. I enjoy a lot of outdoor activities, like swimming (sometimes skinny-dipping), camping, fishing, walks and bike rides. I also like quiet nights at home, snuggling and watching movies. If you want to know more about me, please write. #1616

I’m a SWM seeking a SBF. Kinkier the better. Love women’s clothes, high heels and stockings. Very clean. Phone. #1605

Calling all bottom fem guys, trans into stockings, high heels, painted fingers, toenails. Any race, young or old. Gay, bi, straight. Always horny. Spend the weekend together. No drugs or smoke. Clean. Phone. #1617

Along life’s highway: 1967 Canadian traditional sedan, high mileage but good steelbelted radials and rust-free, AM/FM radio, power steering, child’s car seat, seeks lightly used sporty 2000 Christian, low-maintenance family van (no child seat), 8-track a plus, for shared travel. #1614

Discreet oral bottom. 54-y/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 round. Phone only, but text. Champlain Valley. #L1615

Happily married older couples who’ve enjoyed some wonderful sensual encounters with other single M/F and couples. Seeking sensual encounters. Chat, sensual massage for starters. Well traveled, fun and outdoorsy. #1612

I’m a male, 78, seeking a female, 50-plus, to come live with me and do cooking and house cleaning. I have two dogs to take care of. I like outdoor work and hunting. I need someone to be with me to love. #1611

I’m a female seeking the person who waved at me (almost two months ago) by the liquor warehouse in Winooski. You were interested in me, but I told you I had someone else. Now I realize I’m interested in you. You drove a newer-model gray truck. #1610

Female, 60, seeks an intelligent, curious and open man to ponder/explore things like the perfect bite of a meal, the wonder of the stars, the meaning behind a piece of art, the answers to a crossword puzzle and more. #1606

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A Call-Taker Advises the Anxious During a Shift on Vermont's Suicide-Prevention Hotline

A Soccer Fan Tries to Enjoy a World Cup With Blood on Its Hands

Suresh Garimella Has Helped UVM Emerge Stronger From the Pandemic. But Who Is He, Anyway?

Life Stories: Musician Pete Sutherland Was a ‘Unifying Force’

Book Review: ‘The New Power Elite,’ Heather Gautney

How Family-Owned Vermont Rail System Became the Little Economic Engine That Could

A Burlington Chef with Abenaki Heritage Makes His Own Harvest Meal

Med School Students Say Dissecting Donated Bodies Provides Lessons Beyond Anatomy

Berlin Cop Who Murdered His Ex Previously Spoke of Killing Her, Colleague Says

With a Surge of Skiers, Stowe Struggles to Manage Traffic Jams and Parking Woes

Indoor Fun and Games Go Beyond Bowling at Colchester’s Refurbished Spare Time

Warning Shots: Burlington’s Immigrant Community Seeks Solutions to the Gun Violence That Is Claiming Youths

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