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ARTS+LEISURE The Addison Independent

August 25, 2016

Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Banky star in the 1926 classic “Son of the Sheik,” which will be screened with live musical accompaniment by pianist Jeff Rapsis this Saturday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. at Brandon Town Hall.

Pianist breathes life into silent films

T

he moviegoers sit up and lean in as the silver screen in the darkened Brandon Town Hall comes to life.

What is on screen isn’t a feature-length modern film with vivid colors, special effects and dialogue and a full musical score blaring from the speakers.

Instead, the large screen sparks to life with black and white images of cowboys galloping on their horses, guns in hand. Instead of actors’ voices blaring through speakers, the sounds of the audiences’ laughter fills the hall — alongside Jeff Rapsis’ live accompaniment on a piano or electronic organ.

BY CHARMAINE LAM

For the past 10 years, Rapsis has been bringing an authentic silent film experience to audiences around New England. For the past six years,

the New Hampshire-based pianist has staged monthly screenings at the Brandon Town Hall between May and October to breathe life into the historic art form. “(Silent films) are movies, but completely different from the modern movie,” Rapsis said. “It’s a collaborative experience between the motion pictures, the audience and the live music.”

By providing a live accompaniment for each screening, Rapsis hopes to bridge the gap between the audience and a film created eight or nine decades ago. The first step is to recreate the way silent films were originally enjoyed — not with the cliché, tinny music and grainy images that the thought of a silent film calls up for many, but the silent film in its original form.

“I like to say that it’s like putting Humpty Dumpty back together, with SEE RAPSIS ON PAGE 5

PAGE 2 — Addison Independent

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016

Kathryn Millilo

E

BY ISABEL LOWER

arly on a July morning, painter Kathryn Milillo unloaded the pieces for her upcoming September show, lifting them one by one to be carried into Edgewater Gallery on the Green. After spreading them out and leaning the canvases against the walls, she gravitated towards a painting she has titled “What A Wonderful World.” It is a piece she painted at Lake George, of a green mountain sloping down and to the left, below it a line of treetops marches down to the right, and at their base the smooth, emerald line of the lake.

The title of the piece comes from the song written for Louis Armstrong, but, as Milillo explained, there was another auditory influence on this piece: “I was listening to The Golden Bowl while I was painting this, which is Henry James’ last novel. In it, there’s a woman who is in love with a man, but they’re too poor to get married. So they each marry other people. In the end it’s so wonderful because it’s so much about equanimity and kindness: the woman who married a man who didn’t really love her at first, he ends up loving her more than the other man.”

Milillo continued, “I had to look up if Henry James knew anything about Buddhism, and it turns out that William James, his brother, actually was speaking somewhere and said ‘You know, in 25 years psychology will have to step aside because people will know about Buddhism.’ That was not true, because it’s taken more than a hundred years for us to get anywhere near there, but I think that these really good authors absorb all of it, the consciousness of kindness and compassion. And those are the main focuses of what I’m painting.”

For a long time, Milillo only painted for herself when she could fit it in, between working as a graphic designer and raising her family in Proctor, Vt. In 2010 Edgewater reached out to the Massachusetts native to begin showing her work. Since then, her talent for imbuing oil paint with the light and fleeting colors of the scenery, refining and simplifying to create what she calls a “visual haiku of the moment” has lead her to painting full-time. This unexpected shift was not the first in Milillo’s life: before graphic design, when she was a student at Clark University, her focus was literature.

The new show, which she has called “Kindsight,” serves as a joyful return to this early passion, in union with the Buddhist teachings that she has come to embrace more recently. “I’m not a Buddhist,” Milillo stated, but it is clear that SEE MILLILO ON PAGE 3

Attachment - 24" x 30" - oil on linen - $2,800.

Addison Independent

its teachings have been absorbed CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 into her life, and her paintings.

She moved on to remark on another of the new pieces.

“For this one,” Milillo remarked, “I listened to Jane Eyre of all things, and I can see that in it the painting now.”

MILLILO

“Attachment” features a barn that would be overshadowed by the tree that stands before it but for its brilliant, peach-colored roof.

“That’s another beautiful story about Kindness,” Milillo commented. “Jane is an anti-heroine if ever there was one. She’s kind of mousy, frightened, preachy. But she has so much soul.

She’s such a kind person, always noticing the good in people. She would not make a sharp judgment, and that’s what I’m trying to do: the truth is I’m naturally a very judgmental person, so I’m trying very hard not to be judgmental.”

Compassion is an answer for judgment, Milillo explained. In a small book which Millo designed for the exhibit, she pairs poetry with her paintings, selecting from a range of favorite writers to include Henry James, Mary Oliver, David Whyte, as well as Buddhist teachings and song lyrics, including the song “Compassion” by Lucinda Williams.

Milillo quoted from the song as she observed a series of three paintings titled “Interbeing,” also of Lake George. “Have compassion for everyone you meet,” Milillo recited, “You do not know what wars are going on down there, where the spirit meets the bone.” With each new frame, she has shifted the focus of the piece further from the rippled surface of the water to reveal an entire scene of mountains and still water. The surface appears calm in the

third of the series, however, moving closer you see that that is not always the case.

“It’s such a beautiful concept,” She said, “We think we see what’s going on at the surface, but we never know what’s going on below, and to be compassionate about that. What I was thinking about as I was trying to paint these was the idea of interbeing. We really think that we can see things as separate, but they’re actually all merging, if we could really see the world as it is. That’s that whole idea that as you meditate you get stiller, you are more able to reflect. So that painting,” she pointed to the third work, “is getting stiller.”

The next pieces Milillo revisited were of barns, for which she has a special appreciation.

Looking over her painting “The Soft Touch,” which shows the front of an A-frame, the roof caressed by the uneven branches of a tree, she said, “What I love about this is how the tree has been shaped by the barn... and in some ways the barn has been shaped by it.”

She quoted lines by David Whyte that fit this symbiotic relationship beautifully: “We shape ourselves to fit this world, And by the world are shaped again.”

Barns seem to have their own personhood to Milillo. Moving on to the next painting resting against the gallery’s exposed brick wall, she quoted, in its entirety, a poem written by John O’Donohue for his mother: “On the day The weight deadens On your shoulders And you stumble, May the clay dance To balance you.

And when your eyes Freeze behind The grey window And the ghost of loss Gets into you, May a flock of colours, Indigo, red, green And azure blue, Come to awaken in you A meadow of delight.”

The painting, titled “The Ghost of Loss,” shows a gray barn in a soft, yellowed landscape, its doors and hayloft open, the interior empty and dark. “I painted it and then I found the poem, it’s not like the poem inspired it, but it felt exactly how I feel about these barns.” Pointing to the dark space inside she said, “There are times when you’re sad, but even in there you can find joy.”

What A Wonderful World - 36” x 36” - oil on linen - $5,000

SEE MILLILO ON PAGE 10

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016 — PAGE 3

PAGE 4 — Addison Independent

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016

IN TOWN The curtain rises Thursday for Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival Tonight’s opening night Festival screening is sold out—but tickets and passes are available for all other weekend programs. I’ve previously outlined a few film screening highlights, with the disclaimer that producer Lloyd Komesar and I believe that each of our programmed films has something potent to distinguish it from the nearly 400 films submitted. We like to think of audiences being able to make their own discoveries.

BY JAY CRAVEN

We’re excited to announce an expanded number of

panels and on-stage discussions this year.

On Friday afternoon (4pm at Edgewater Gallery at the Falls) acclaimed writer and Middlebury College English professor Jay Parini will interview two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Russell Banks about the process of adaptation from book-to-film. Banks’ novels, “The Sweet Hereafter” and “Affliction” were made into films that gathered at awards and nominations at Cannes and the Academy Awards. “The Sweet Hereafter” will screen at 10:30am Friday at the Marquis Theater.

On Saturday morning, we’ll host a Morning Coffee conversation with popular awardwinning actors Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Donnie Darko,” ”Secretary,” “Dark Knight,” “The Honourable Woman”) and Peter Sarsgaard (“Shattered Glass,” “An Education,” “Blue Jasmine,” “The Killing”). We’ll work to get inside the experience of an actor’s preparation and experience of creating memorable characters. The event will start at 9am Saturday on the Middlebury Inn patio.

Two-time Academy Award-winner Barbara Kopple will join us for the entire Festival weekend. On Saturday at 1:30pm, we’ll stage a special 40th anniversary screening and conversation about her groundbreaking 1976 documentary, “Harlan County USA,” about the Brookside Mine strike in rural Kentucky, where workers toiling in unsafe conditions were making as little as $17 dollars-a-day.

Barbara Kopple will also present two new films: “Hot Type: 150 Years of The Nation,” (10am, Sunday, Dana Auditorium, Middlebury College) that goes inside the venerable progressive weekly magazine that has attracted writers ranging from Toni Morrison and Henry James to W.E.B. Dubois and Albert Einstein. We’ll talk afterwards with Kopple and The Nation’s national affairs correspondent, John Nichols.

Kopple’s brand new film, “Miss Sharon Jones!” will close the festival at 7:30pm

Sunday evening at the Middlebury Town Hall Theater. The film provides an intimate look at the irrepressible funk/soul diva, Sharon Jones and her fabulous “Dap Kings.”

We’ll explore the role of media in journalism at 4pm Saturday at the Town Hall Theater, during our session, Film As Journalism: Op-Docs at the New York Times. NY Time Op-Docs producer Lindsay Crouse will present a half-dozen short Op-Docs and she’ll discuss how this innovative program illuminates contemporary culture while providing an expanded voice to vital filmmakers. A documentary filmmakers panel, “New Currents in Documentary Filmmaking,” will also convene at 4pm Saturday, at the Middlebury Inn patio.

On Sunday (1pm at Dana Auditorium), we’ll expand our focus on media and journalism when we screen the documentary film, “Page One: Inside the New York Times.”

NY Times senior news editor, Hamilton Boardman will appear after the screening to discuss changes at the newspaper and visions for the future.

And on Sunday at 3pm (at Dana), we’ll take this conversation further, when we add multiple perspectives for our conversation on “The Changing Face of Journalism in the Age of New Media.” Participating guests will include Boardman and Lindsay Crouse from the New York Times; The Nation’s national affairs correspondent, John Nichols; The Daily Show producer, Juliet Werner; Vermont Public Radio chief content officer, John Van Hoesen; Seven Days publisher, co-editor, and co-founder Paula Routly; and Addison Independent publisher and editor, Angelo Lynn.

And there’s more! Go to the festival website www.middfilmfest.org for detailed information. Festival and Day Passes (only) can be ordered online or at the Middlebury Town Hall Theater box office (802-382-9222).

Individual film tickets can be purchased, day of show, at festival venues. Many events are also free.

one more thing 35TH ANNUAL VERGENNES DAY Friday and Saturday Vergennes celebrates their little city FRI. & SAT. for the 35th year. On Aug. 26 SEPT. check out the Vergennes Arts Walk from 5 to 7 p.m., then

26 & 27

YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEK

get groovin’ at the street dance featuring “The Hitmen” from 7 to 10 p.m. At 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27 start of with a 5 or 10K run, then continue with activities, more than 65 vendors, chicken BBQ, music, a Rubber Duckie race and more at Vergennes City Park and other venues from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Addison Independent

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016 — PAGE 5

Jeff Rapsis improvises his playing to each silent film that he screens. The final product is a combination of the film’s narrative, the audience’s reactions and his own mood in the moment.

COURTESY PHOTO

RAPSIS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

the elements of an audience, a large screen and live music,” he said.

Rapsis opens each screening by telling the audience an overview of the film and its history before taking his spot at the keyboard. There, he draws from his musical knowledge, the reaction of the audience and his understanding of the film’s narrative to improvise a score that runs through the length of the film, which can span up to four hours.

“I prefer not to practice and plan things out,” he said. “I just show up and get right in the moment. It provides the best opportunity to create a show that really hits home, because everything is improvised.”

According to the pianist, playing alongside the films feels like flying a plane with the audience as his passengers. Once the plane takes off, once the movie starts, he must be mentally aware of all his controls and surroundings until landing.

“You really are flying a plane in a way,” Rapsis said.

“Around 10 minutes into the film, I go into what I call a silent film zone. I forget about everything else and I’m not critical of myself. The music flows and just comes from who knows where. I’ve surprised myself sometimes.”

Rapsis considers his greatest accomplishments when his audience forgets that he is playing. He makes the films come alive, highlighting the actors’ raw emotions with his music.

The audience is another key component to bringing the silent films to life. Rapsis likened the authentic silent film experience to the shared experience of watching a play.

This Saturday at the Brandon Town Hall, Rapsis will accompany Rudolph Valentino’s romantic epic “Son of the Sheik,” which coincides with the 90th anniversary of silent era superstar’s tragic early death.

“You wouldn’t watch a play alone,” he said. “Just like a play, silent films are meant to provoke an Valentino was the cinema’s first sex symbol, causing audience to react together. hordes of female moviegoers to They’re not meant to be watched flock to his pictures in the 1920s. sitting alone on your TV or a He starred in films designed “JUST LIKE A PLAY, smartphone screen.” to show off his Latin looks, his SILENT FILMS ARE smoldering eyes and his dancer’s MEANT TO PROVOKE In Brandon, a hundred people body. And his untimely death flock to the town hall each in August 1926 prompted mob AN AUDIENCE TO month for Rapsis’ screenings. scenes at his funeral in New REACT TOGETHER. The vigor of the shared York. “Son of the Sheik” is one of THEY’RE NOT MEANT experience has drawn audience Valentino’s most acclaimed films. members from out of state, TO BE WATCHED even from as far away as Like all of Rapsis’ shows in SITTING ALONE Boston.

Brandon, this one starts at 7 p.m.

The screening is free and open ON YOUR TV OR “I love the audience reactions in to the public. Donations are A SMARTPHONE Brandon,” Rapsis said. “There’s an accepted to help support the SCREEN. ” energy that makes the film come town hall’s ongoing renovation to life, and it’s why I keep coming and restoration.

— Jeff Rapsis back. The audience (there) is just great.”

Although Rapsis does not anticipate ever bringing silent films back into popular Already this summer Brandon audiences have culture, he does hope that interest in the genre will enjoyed comedies by Buster Keaton and Harold continue to grow.

Lloyd and John Ford’s “The Iron Horse” (1924), a drama about the building of the transcontinental “In an age where people are increasingly by railroad. Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 breakthrough feature themselves on their screens, silent films are great film, “The Kid,” will be screened Sept. 17, and in honor to get everyone together,” he said. “When it works, of Halloween the Oct. 15 silent film will be “The Man there’s nothing like it and each time, it happens in a Who Laughs,” a creepy Gothic thriller starring Conrad way that never happened before and that can’t be Veidt. recreated.”

PAGE 6 — Addison Independent

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016

CALENDAR ART

ARTS WALK IN VERGENNES. Friday, Aug. 26, 5-7 p.m., downtown Vergennes. Monthly summer arts walk featuring exhibits, musicians, comedians, actors and poets and locations around the Little City. Info: http:// vergennesdowntown.org/arts-walk.

kids pick You gotta start somewhere! Take your budding producer, filmmaker or storyteller to the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival.

Show them the magic of first time filmmakers during a family-friendly screening block on Friday, Aug. 26 at 10:30 a.m. at the Middlebury Marquis.

OPENING RECEPTION IN BRANDON. Friday, Sept. 2, 4-7 p.m. Compass Center, 333 Jones Drive, Brandon. Stephanie Stouffer’s paintings will be displayed in “The Creative World of Stephanie Stouffer” exhibit. Info: 802-247-4295.

FILM MIDDLEBURY NEW FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT. Thursday, Aug. 25, 7 p.m., Town Hall Theater. The second annual MNFF kicks off with a screening of one of its top films. Festival runs Aug. 25-28 with screenings of about 90 films in three venues around Middlebury. For information, screening times and tickets, visit middfilmfest.org.

— Eliza Eaton, MiniBury.com

SILENT FILM SCREENING IN BRANDON. Saturday, Aug. 27, 7 p.m., Brandon Town Hall. Showing “The Sheik” (1921) and “Son of the Sheik” (1926) on the 90th anniversary of Rudolph Valentino’s untimely death. Live musical accompaniment

by Jeff Rapsis. Admission is free but free-will donations are accepted to help with ongoing renovation of the town hall.

Info: www.brandontownhall.org. Part of the town hall’s annual summer silent film series.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

WHAT YOU WANT TO DO AUG. 25 - SEPT. 4, 2016

MIDDLEBURY NEW FILMMAKERS CLOSING NIGHT FILM AND VTEDDY AWARDS CEREMONY. Sunday, Aug. 28, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall Theater. Free. For information, visit middfilmfest.org.

“HISTORIC SITES FILM AFTERNOON” EVENT IN ORWELL. Saturday, Sept. 3, 1-4 p.m., Mount Independence State Historic Site. An afternoon of short to one-hour films relating to Vermont’s western historic sites. Popcorn. Info: 948-2000.

KIDS MAKERCLUB IN SHOREHAM. Saturday, Aug. 27, 1 p.m., Platt Memorial Library. Kids 5 and older are invited to come and hack their school supplies for fall. The library will have all kinds of stuff to tinker with. Info: www.plattlib.org or 897-2647.

MUSIC KEN SILVERMAN TRIO IN CONCERT IN BRANDON. Saturday, Aug. 27, 7:30 p.m., Brandon Music. Jazz. Tickets $20. Reservations recommended: 802-247-4295 or www. brandon-music.net.

THE TINTYPE GYPSIES IN BRISTOL. Wednesday, Aug. 31, 7 p.m., town green. A volatile combination of music makers offering up American folk punk. Free. Food vendors. Bring a lawn chair, blanket or picnic dinner and enjoy an evening of music.

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Addison Independent

FREE CONCERT IN MIDDLEBURY. Friday, Sept. 2, 7:30 p.m., Congregational Church Sanctuary. Come hear chamber CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 music performed by the faculty of Point CounterPoint’s Adult workshop: violinist Anton Miller, violist Rita Porfiris, cellist Edward Aron, clarinetist Enid Blount-Press and pianist and music director Arielle Levioff.

A free-will donation will be taken at the door.

CALENDAR

JOHN FUNKHOUSER QUARTET IN CONCERT IN BRANDON. Saturday, Sept.

3, 7:30 p.m., Brandon Music. Jazz. Tickets $20. Reservations recommended: 802-247-4295 or www.brandon-music.net.

THE BOMBADILS IN RIPTON. Saturday, Sept. 3, 7:30 p.m., Ripton Community Coffee House, Route 125, Ripton. Folk duo the Bombadils perform an original mix of bluegrass and Celtic music featuring guitar, fiddle and banjo. The Ripton Community House is wheelchair accessible, but bathroom is not. $15 generous admission; $10 general admission; $3 children. Info: 802-388-9782.

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016 — PAGE 7

College, Cambridge will perform Requiem and A Sacred Choral Miscellany under the direction of Geoffrey Webber. Tickets $10. Info: 802-388-7200 or www.ststephensmidd.org.

SOCIAL BUTTERFLIES VERGENNES DAY KICKOFF DANCE. Friday, Aug. 26, 7-10 p.m., Vergennes City Green. Featuring “The Hitmen.” Snacks and beverages provided by the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Vergennes. Info: www.vergennesday.com.

“MOTH”-STYLE STORYTELLING EVENT IN BRISTOL. Friday, Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m., Holley Hall. Come tell your story. Suggested donation $10. All proceeds go to improving acoustics in the building.

VERGENNES DAY. Saturday, Aug. 27, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., City Park. Pancake breakfast, Little City 5K and 10K races, more than 65 vendors and crafters, horse-drawn wagon rides, bandstand music, chicken BBQ, children’s venue and annual rubber duckie race. Info: www.vergennesday.com.

CHOIR CONCERT IN MIDDLEBURY. Sunday, Sept. 4, 4:30-6 p.m., St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 3 Main Street. The Choir of Gonville and Caius

THEATER TALENT SHOW AUDITIONS IN BRANDON. Thursday, Aug. 25, 6-8 p.m., Brandon Town Hall. If you like to sing, play an instrument or dance, or have a special talent, try out for the third annual “Brandon’s Got Talent” show.

Audition appointments required: 802-247-5420 or denniswmarden@gmail. com. Also on Aug. 26.

John Funkhouser Quartet

live music Cooper & LaVoie in Middlebury. Thursday, Aug. 25, 7 p.m., 51 Main.

Keating 5 in Middlebury. Friday, Aug. 26, 8:30 p.m., 51 Main.

Ken Silverman Trio in Brandon. Saturday, Aug. 27, 7:30 p.m., Brandon Music.

Comanchero in Middlebury. Saturday, Aug. 27, 8 p.m., 51 Main.

Mogani in New Haven. Friday, Sept. 2, 6 p.m., Lincoln Peak Vineyard, River Road.

John Funkhouser Quartet in Brandon. Saturday, Sept. 3, 7:30 p.m., Brandon Music.

The Bombadils in Ripton. Saturday, Sept. 3, 7:30 p.m., Ripton Community Coffee House, Route 125, Ripton.

PAGE 8 — Addison Independent

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016

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p: 802-388-6000

WATE

K

elly Churchill lives at the end of a winding dirt road, down several flights of wooden steps, in a house that practically floats over the edge of Lake Dunmore. Below the railings of its wooden deck, a dock juts out into water that most mornings is glassy, providing ideal conditions for Churchill’s Vermont Liquid Ski School.

Tied to the dock, his white Malibu Response water skiing boat bobs, filled with colorful life jackets, skis and wakeboards. The boat is well loved, each summer carrying more than 250 passengers — participants in Vermont Liquid Ski School — out onto the lake.

BY EMMA COTTON

Churchill’s ski school is a one-man operation to which hundreds of young, old, new and veteran customers flock each summer to ski, wakeboard, kneeboard, tube and surf.

It’s probably no surprise Churchill runs such a business: He grew up on the water. His parents still live in the house next door to his, which he visited every summer to relax and water ski. Eventually, he learned the tricks of the trade.

Lodging - Ongoing

“When we were kids, we would water ski behind a 9.9 horsepower boat,” he said. “We would even get tricky — we’d take my motor off my boat and put it on my buddy’s boat because his boat was shaped better, so it would go a little faster.”

Now, living on the lake year round, Churchill has made a successful venture out of his childhood pastime.

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He launched the ski school 22 years ago after a meeting with Lake Dunmore resident, Blaney Blodgett, who also owned an ice cream store in Middlebury village (Calvi’s) and had long taught water skiing on the lake in the evenings. Churchill went along for several trips with Blodgett and decided that would be a good endeavor for him to pursue. Soon enough, he started bringing interested customers out on the water during the day.

KELLY CHURCHILL GOES for an on Lake Dunmore last Thursda INDEPENDENT

“They said for some reason, th I drive and the way I set the bo it so there’s no one else that co wakeboarding,” he said. “It was them.”

That ‘something’ might be the has in his boat. He uses it to m steady speed when the skier o

“I put a little black and white poster that said ‘water skiing’ up at Kampersville,” he said. “My business just grew — word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth, bigger and bigger and bigger.

So that’s how I got — well, lucky.”

“It’s much nicer because it’s m when you cut across the wake difference.”

But Churchill’s success didn’t come solely from luck. Many of his customers are returners, coming back year after year. One family, 22 years loyal to Churchill, says no one else compares.

Churchill said he tailors each e needs. He can adjust the lengt of the boat, or pull the skiers a

Addison Independent

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016 — PAGE 9

ER

n early morning ski ay.

PHOTO/TRENT CAMPBELL

here’s something about the way oat up for them that makes omes close to that type of s really nice to hear that from

of the water.

“After spending a few minutes with someone, I can tell what they need,” he said.

more consistent when you land, or es,” he said. “It does make a big

He’s open to teaching any age group, as long as they’re eager to learn. For youngsters new to the sport, he instructs them to hold on to a fixed training bar (call a boom bar) that can swing out perpendicular to the boat across the water, allowing them to get the feel of skis on their feet and being close enough to the boat to hear helpful tips. A few years back, he taught a 70-year-old man — a memory he’s fond of.

experience to fit his students’ th of the rope, change the speed and boarders faster or slower out

“He’s probably the oldest person that I’ve taught,” Churchill said. “I told him, ‘The only way I know how to teach you this is as if you were a kid.’ (The man) said, ‘Well, we’re all just big kids anyway.’ Seventy years old — what an attitude.”

e automatic speed control he make sure the boat runs at a one or boarder hits a sweet spot.

When Churchill isn’t on the water, he can be found hiking, biking, running, roller blading or diving. In the winter, he teaches skiing (on snow) at Sugarbush Resort, and in the fall and spring, he builds steel buildings for carports.

But the summer is his favorite season. Often booked solid from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Churchill can count on the many customers he gets each year to keep him coming back.

“I love it,” he said. “It’s a really rewarding thing to see kids — or anyone — succeed, because it’s totally outside of their comfort zone. Once they master it, other things become easier, and they can really do anything.”

Note: Kelly Churchill charges $40 per half hour of instruction, with the occasional tubing ride afterward. Those who would like more information may call (802) 352-4226.

PAGE 10 — Addison Independent

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016

T HEATER

OWN HALL

Merchants Row, Middlebury, VT Tickets: 802-382-9222 • www.townhalltheater.org August 25-28 A new slate of outstanding films from the best and brightest new filmmakers.

Info: middfilmfest.org

MILLILO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

At last, Milillo turned her attention to the largest work, a 30 x 75 inch triptych portraying the side of a long barn, its tin roof rusted into stripes.

“This is the basis for the title of the show, Kindsight,” Milillo said, and she described how she found the barn while tandem biking with her husband around Basin Harbor on their anniversary. “Kindsight is a way of

Sat 9/3 2pm $17/$10 Students

KENNETH BRANAGH THEATRE COMPANY:

ROMEO AND JULIET

Starring Lilly James and Richard Madden.

Captured live from London.

Wed 9/7 11am $10/$5 Students GREAT ART WEDNESDAYS

seeing the world with acceptance.

I am trying to live in the present, and see the world without anger or fear. The aging barns I see are so beautiful, in their decline.” In her book, she has paired this piece with a poem by Henry James:

“Three things in Human life Are important.

The first is to be kind.

The second is to be kind.

And the third is to be kind.”

Kathryn Milillo’s Opening Reception for “Kindsight” will be held at Edgewater on the Green, Saturday, Sept. 17, 4-6 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

The exhibit will be on display throughout September.

REMBRANDT from the National Gallery

Isabel Lower works at Edgewater Gallery.

The man and artist as revealed in his later works.

Thu 9/8 7:30pm $15

CLINT BIERMAN AND PETE DAY DO SIMON AND GARFUNKEL + New Acoustic Jams

The Soft Touch - 30” x 36” - oil on linen - $4,300

CALENDAR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

EXHIBITS

Sun 9/11 2pm $15/$10 Seniors

GREAT SINGERS, GREAT SONGS

Hits from the Great American Songbook starring the Seagle Music Colony emerging artists.

Accepting Donations for

THE FABULOUS FLEA MARKET 9am ‘til noon on September 2, 3, 9, 10.

Town Hall Theater is accepting donations of antiques, jewelry, small oriental carpets, nice pottery, signed and framed art, sterling, folk art, and collectibles for the Fabulous Flea Market.

Sun 9/17 9am-2pm FREE

THE FABULOUS FLEA MARKET Treasures, Trinkets, Jewelry and Antiques.

Proceeds to benefit Town Hall Theater.

ADDISON COUNTY IN PROFILE: SILHOUETTES FROM THE HENRY SHELDON MUSEUM ARCHIVES. On exhibit through summer 2016 at the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History, 1 Park St., Middlebury. 388-2117 or www.henrysheldonmuseum.org.

COLLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS: PRESERVING PETER BARRANCO’S LEGACY. On exhibit through summer 2016 at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. 4472 Basin Harbor Road, Vergennes, 475-2022 or www.lcmm.org.

DREAMING OF VERMONT, BY STEVEN P. Goodman. On exhibit for the month of July at Edgewater Gallery at Middlebury Falls. 1 Mill Street, Middlebury. 802-458-0098 or edgewatergallery.co INDEPENDENCE MUST BE WON: THE ART OF ELLEN VIERECK. On exhibit for 2016 at Mount Independence State Historic Site.

497 Mount Independence Road, Orwell. 802-948-2000 or www. historicsites.vermont.gov/MountIndependence.

online

FIND EXHIBITS

WWW.ADDISONINDEPENDENT.COM

Addison Independent

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016 — PAGE 11

FOOD Grilled Whiskey-Ginger Beer Pork Chops with Gremolata Submitted by Julia Clancy, a private chef who lives in Middlebury.

Serves 4 INGREDIENTS: Whiskey-Ginger Beer Pork Chops: 4 bone-in pork chops 1” piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced 1 large white onion, quartered 2 small gloves of garlic, crushed to a paste with the flat of your knife (a pinch of salt helps provide traction) 1 cup ginger beer 1/3 cup whiskey ¼ cup sunflower oil 18 grinds fresh black pepper 1 tsp salt Gremolata: 1 bunch curly parsley 1 small clove garlic 1 lemon Extra virgin olive oil, as needed salt, to taste PREPARATION: Combine whiskey, ginger beer, sunflower oil, fresh ginger, onion, garlic, black pepper, and salt in a non-reactive bowl. Add your chops, turning them over a couple of times in the marinade. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge. Let chops rest in the marinade for at least three hours, or overnight.

30 minutes till eating time, heat your grill to high on one side and low on the other; you want a combination of direct and indirect heat.

While your grill’s heating up, make the gremolata. Stem and roughly chop the parsley; add it to a small bowl. Using a microplane or the fine part of a box grater, grate the clove of garlic into the bowl. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the rind from the lemon―you just want the fragrant, yellow exterior, not the bitter, white pith. Mince the lemon rind and add it to the bowl as well.

Use your fingers to gently massage the aromatic lemon and garlic into the parsley.

Add extra virgin olive oil until the parsley leaves are just covered (traditional gremolata leaves the olive oil out, but I like to drizzle the gremolata-infused oil over the chops when they’re finished). Let rest at room temperature while you grill the chops.

Place your chops on the high-heat side of the grill, bones facing the back of the rack. Sear for 3 minutes. Turn your chops 45 degrees to the left (counterclockwise), and sear for another 2 minutes. Flip your chops over, and sear on the other side for 2 more minutes―the chops should have good hash marks. If the chops have a fat cap, sear the fat over high heat to create a nice brown crust, then place them on the low-heat side of the grill to rest for 3-4 minutes.

DURING THIS YEAR’S

51% OFF BOTTLED WINE

(Meal purchase NOT required)

LOBSTER DINNER SPECIAL

Served with Red Bliss Potatoes & Corn - ONLY &19.51

GREAT FOOD • LIVE ENTERTAINMENT Comanchero Saturday, August 27| 8-10 pm Rumor has it, two very cool locals are getting hitched and will be having their pub crawl wedding reception all over town! Be sure to stop in to congratulate Jamie and Krystal and enjoy a very special acoustic performance, featuring Sam Margolis.

Serve chops with good bread, gremolata, lemon wedges, and glasses of ice topped with an ounce of whiskey and the rest of the ginger beer.

Learn more about Julia’s cooking at www.juliarclancy.com.

Artist of the month:

PIZZA WE MAKE IT FRESH!

SEPTEMBER PIE OF THE MONTH

Meatlovers • Mexican • Taco Z Special • Veggie • Hawaiian Thin or Greek style crust, our dough is made daily from King Arthur Flour.

It’s that time of year again!

Back by popular demand!

FALL HARVEST

00 NY $18.

50 Sicil ian $19.

Garlic Olive Oil base topped with Mozzarella Cheese, Local Goat Cheese, Spinach, Caramelized Onions, Roasted Beets and a Balsamic Glaze!

Gluten-Free Crust Available

Pizza • Pasta • Subs • Soups • Salads • Calzones

DINE-IN & TAKE-OUT 802-388-3164 Fresh, convenient and local since 1982 WASHINGTON ST • MIDDLEBURY GreenPeppersRestaurant.com

The Slice Guy

388-7755 • Delivery daily from 5pm www.ninospizzamiddlebury.com

21 MACINTYRE LANE • MIDDLEBURY

Cooper and LaVoie Thursday, August 25| 7-9 pm Cooper & LaVoie play a great mix of acoustic blues and folk classics, featuring Bob Recupero on guitar and Mark LaVoie on harmonica.

Keating 5 Friday, August 26 8:30-10:30 pm Playing rock, reggae, ska, funk, blues, and then some – the Keating 5 plays something for everyone.

Mike Kieran Mike Kieran is a former Special Educator, who after 30 years of teaching locally here in Addison County, went with his wife, Barbara Kieran, on a 14 year journey of international teaching at great schools in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and finally ending in Mumbai, India in 2012. He has used Cannon cameras for all his photography– not expensive ones, but ones with a good view finder, and a strong zoom! Mike loves meeting and taking pictures of people, so landscapes and scenery are not as present in his collections. Stop in to see these beautiful photos of Indonesia.

51 Main Street • Middlebury, VT • 802.388.8209 go51main.com • Tuesday - Saturday 4pm - Late

PAGE 12 — Addison Independent

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016

the movie FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS — RUNNING TIME: 1:50 — RATING: PG-13 If “Florence Foster Jenkins” had been made by a lesser cast it might well have made a bad joke of its central character. In the hands of Meryl Streep, Jenkins becomes a complex combination of an endearing passion for music and a dismal inability to sing. The fact that this story is true generates a protective feeling in the audience. How can we laugh at someone whose intentions are so fine? But laugh we do because Streep’s skillful off key singing is genuinely funny and accurate according to historical recordings. At the same time, Jenkins’ honorable intentions and her love of singing opera make us sad. We laugh but we care.

Jenkins was an enormously rich New York heiress whose passion for music led her to support all kinds of deserving musical enterprises. And when that wasn’t enough, she created new ones — her social musical group, her appearances as a comic extra in musicals — all raised money for her cause.

Only when she sang her favorite opera solos herself did she become a joke. She was tone deaf. In a protective mode impossible in today’s instant communication, her husband shielded her from the press and public and made sure she performed only to audiences that appreciated her loyalty to New York’s musical world. In 1944 Jenkins achieved her dream of appearing at Carnegie Hall. As grim as that may sound, you will be surprised at what happened.

As we watch Hugh Grant play the protective husband, St. Clair Bayfield, we wonder all the while whether his loyalty is real or given in exchange for his keep. Grant’s performance is shot through with subtleties that keep us guessing. It’s a rich piece of acting from a man we often underestimate.

Because the whole thing was filmed in England and Scotland, a grand handful of British actors make sure we feel the sadness that underlies the comedy. Now add two more standout performances that generate genuine appreciation. One is by Simon Helberg as Cosme McMoon, the young,

Meryl Streep, and Hugh Grant in Florence Foster Jenkins, (2016).

ambitious pianist Florence hired to accompany her. His behavior, coming straight from the heart, is never selfish, never mean. Another is a comic triumph with a twist by Nina Arianda who plays the up-fromthe nightclubs wife of a businessman. As St. Clair’s mistress, Rebecca Ferguson makes St. Clair’s second life understandable.

This is a grand cast that manages to play with our emotions in the best of ways. It is quite a feat to bring an audience to tears of genuine sympathy and in the next moment have them howling with laughter without meanness. Credit director Stephen Frears with guiding these actors to work with great subtlety on a fine script by Nicholas Martin.

It’s hard to imagine anyone but Meryl Streep being able to create — with compassion — this woman who until 1944 wove a world of musical magic in her protected part of New York and then in her dreams became its star.

the book HALF WILD STORIES — BY ROBIN MACARTHUR This stunning new collection of short stories is set in the back hills of southern Vermont and written by a very promising young writer from Vermont. These are not glimpses of country life as seen in the glossy magazines. Life is hard and unforgiving for the people of the aging hill farms and woods. The image of the flood-tilted house on the book jacket hints at the fates of those who have chosen to scratch out a life in a beautiful but harsh seclusion. Once back-to-the-land hippies are now aging parents who need the help of their adolescent children, while those kids are trying to make sense of their own lives in the face of the dubious choices of the previous generation. Broken down cars, old house trailers, dusty barns full of old tools, country music on pickup truck radios, oily chainsaws ― the scenery of life. The real power in these stories is the depth of emotion and personality. MacArthur’s characters are intimately real and alive. Here’s your chance to discover a Vermont writer at the beginning of what I hope is a prolific career.

Reviewed by Grant Novak of the Vermont Bookshop in Middlebury.

7

— Reviewed by Joan Ellis

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS

The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien

A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin The Tsar of Love and Techno, Anthony Marra Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri Redeployment, Phil Klay

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, Ken Liu Get in Trouble, Kelly Link

Addison Independent

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016 — PAGE 13

real estate CALL 802-388-4944

ADVERTISE ON THIS PAGE.

Home staging impacts buyers According to the National Association of Realtors® 2015 Profile of Home Staging, 49 percent of realtors representing buyers say home staging impacts most buyers’ final decisions.

did you know?

Home staging is the act of preparing a home for sale by presenting it in such a way as to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible. Professional staging firms often address a home’s interior to reduce clutter and rearrange furniture with a goal toward making a strong impression on prospective buyers during open house events or private showings.

The NAR Profile found that the living room is the most important room to stage followed by the kitchen and the master bedroom. Eighty-one percent of realtors said staged homes make it easier for prospective buyers to visualize properties as their future homes. In addition, 10 percent of realtors said homes decorated against buyers’ tastes will negatively impact the homes’ values, further emphasizing the potential benefit of staging homes rather than showcasing existing homeowners’ personal preferences.

— Metro Creative

Taking shape ELDON SHERWIN DEMONSTRATES his carving technique in the antique equipment barn at Addison County Fair and Field Days last week in New Haven.

INDEPENDENT PHOTO/ANDREA WARREN

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 as amended which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or persons receiving public assistance, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.”

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertisement 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.

To complain of discrimination, call HUD Toll-free at 1-800-424-8590. For the Washington, DC area please call HUD at 426-3500.

PAGE 14 — Addison Independent

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016

realestate

ADVERTISE ON THIS PAGE.

CALL 802-388-4944 Private Waterfront Home on 2.8 Acres This 4 bedroom lakeside Contemporary boasts the privacy and easy lake access that other waterfront home owners dream of. The 311 ft of shoreline is (802) 343-4591 protected by a masonry stone wall with four built-in stairways and private boat ramp. Sunny and bright with wonderful lake views.

Ferrisburgh |$1,195,000 | MLS# 4474309

www.ChrisvonTrapp.com

70 Court Street, Middlebury, VT

802-989-7522

LI N ST EW IN G !

WEYBRIDGE $229,000 Sunny, cozy Ranch with large windows facing Otter View Park and lovely views of the Green Mountains. Wood floors throughout, fabulous attached sunroom with French doors. Terrific in-town location with Middlebury water and sewer even though house is in Weybridge. Walk to stores or Middlebury College.

BRIDPORT $339,500 This is a beautiful Lake Champlain lot with 250 feet of frontage on the lake.

The land has room for all kinds of activities and beautifully maintained.

Spacious home that needs some updating, sunroom overlooks the Lake wonderfully. Nice barn as well as a 2 car attached garage. New roof has just been put on the house.

MIDDLEBURY $75,000 Desirable 3.5 acre building lot close to Middlebury with state approved septic design for a 3 bedroom home.

There is some nice soil on this parcel of land, but the septic design is a low mound because the seasonal high water table is a little high for an in ground system.

IN ST LI EW

LI N ST EW IN G !

N

NEW HAVEN $129,500 Beautiful country setting with level open space, bordered by trees.

Mountain views with a 3 bedroom septic permit approved. New driveway put in leading to a wonderful, picturesque building site.

Halfway through 2016, residential real estate markets are performing as predicted at the beginning of the year. Sales and prices have been going up in most areas, while the number of homes for sale and total months’ supply of inventory have been going down.

Meanwhile, many sellers have been getting a higher percentage of their asking price, and supply continues to struggle to meet demand.

The message may be repetitive, but it is largely positive.

G

BillBeck.com

champlainvalleyproperty.com cvpropnf@comcast.net

JUNE MARKET FACTS

BRANDON: 2 BR home on 300’ of the Neshobe River. Property has a 13x13 workshop, vegetable and flower gardens, produce stand as well a duck pond, poultry sheds, raspberry patch, and fruit trees. Exterior painted in 2014 and new roof in 2016. $104,000

ADDISON: This 5,361 sq. ft 3 BR, 4BA custom contemporary is on a lovely 142 acre parcel of land overlooking the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain. The house features a first floor master with en suite, chefs kitchen, lower level family room, theater room and hardwood floors throughout. Heated 3 bay garage/barn. $1,200,000 ROCHESTER: Very comfortable three bedroom contemporary in Great Hawk Colony. Open floor plan offers spacious living room with vaulted ceilings and large fieldstone fireplace. Two bedrooms and two baths on lower level, master bath and loft on 3rd floor. Multi level decks and porches, attached carport. Private, wooded setting. $200,000

802-388-7983 Bill Beck Real Estate

New listings were down 21.9 percent for single-family homes and 1.4 percent for townhouse-condo properties. Pending sales increased 8.1 percent for single- family homes and 17.1 percent for townhousecondo properties.

The median sales price was up 1.1 percent to $227,500 for single-family homes and 3.7 percent to $201,250 for townhousecondo properties.

Months supply of inventory decreased 19.3 percent for singlefamily units and 13.5 percent for townhousecondo units.

For more info visit www.acbor.org.

Follow us

Addison Independent

| ARTS+LEISURE | Thursday, August 25, 2016 — PAGE 15

FourSeasonsSIR.com

Open House Sunday, 1-3 PM

82 acre equestrian property with Adirondack views.

NEW HAVEN, VT | $599,500 | MLS#4502094

Wonderful 5 acre property at the end of Belgo Road.

CASTLETON, VT | $495,000 | MLS#4510006

523 Little Chicago Road

From US Rte 7, turn E onto Little Chicago Rd. Go over the Rail Road tracks. It is the 3rd driveway on the (L).

FERRISBURGH, VT | $310,000 | MLS#4493429

Spectacular views from this 261.17 acre property.

CASTLETON, VT | $295,000 | MLS#4509992

Open House Sunday, 1-3 PM

Immaculate ranch style home with 300’ of lake frontage.

ORWELL, VT | $295,000 | MLS#4498684

Wonderful open floor plan with large windows.

BRISTOL, VT | $279,900 | MLS#4472975

Beautifully landscaped country home near rte 22A. ADDISON, VT | $263,800 | MLS#4499690

8 School Street

From center of Vergennes onto Green St first (L) onto School Street on (L) before Mt View Ln. VERGENNES, VT | $199,900 | MLS#4507347

MIDDLEBURY | 802.388.1000 | 66 COURT STREET VERGENNES | 802.877.3232 | 268 MAIN STREET Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated.

TRUST AN EXPERIENCED TEAM WITH LOCAL CONNECTIONS

IPJ Real Estate

NEW LISTING!

MONKTON

434 Hardscrabble Rd.

PRICE REDUCTION!

Affordable Cape

CORNWALL 458 Swamp Rd.

Great Mountain Views

Home!

4BR|4BA|3571SF 9.7 ACRES

4BR|1BA|1440SF .75 ACRE

now

$215,000

MIDDVERMONTREALESTATE.COM 802.388.4242 MIDDLEBURY, VT

was

$349,000 $385,000

MLS#4494004

MLS#4509372

INFO@MIDDVERMONTREALESTATE.COM

follow us!

NEW LISTING!

WEYBRIDGE

310 Pine Ridge Ln.

MIDDLEBURY

32 Morningside Dr.

Hide Away Estate!

Well-Appointed

5BR|4BA|4238SF 24.50 ACRES

4BR|5BA|4616SF .44 ACRES

Elegant Home

$980,000

now $697,500 was $750,000

MIDDLEBURY

SHOREHAM

Move In Ready!

In-Town & Energy

MLS#4508105

BACK ON THE MARKET!

PRICE REDUCTION!

1 Overbrook Dr.

MLS#4470386

405 School St.

Efficient!

2BR|1BA|1016SF

4BR|3BA|2358SF 9 ACRES

$210,000

$345,000

MLS#4498252

MLS#4493067

Enjoy the rainbow!

Limited Quantity

Polymer Chairs... to last a lifetime.

maintenance free • multitude of colors

Route 7 South • Middlebury, VT • 802-388-6297

ARTS+LEISURE The Addison Independent

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