Apr 29 – May 5, 2020
Coping With Death in the Age of a Pandemic; Remembering Vermonters Lost to COVID-19; Home Health Care Workers Tread Carefully; A Shoemaker Pivots to PPE; Vermont Restaurants Feed the Front Line
Cover Story
Coping With Death and Grief in the Time of Pandemic
Marguerite Meunier’s brother, Roger Guillemette, died of COVID-19 at Birchwood Terrace Rehab and Healthcare in Burlington on April 14. He was 68. A few hours before he passed away, Marguerite said her last words to him over the phone — that she loved him, that he had been a good brother, that he wasn’t alone.…
Farmstands Do Brisk Business as Vermonters Seek Local Food
Vermont’s quintessential roadside farmstands, stocked with produce, eggs and maple syrup, are busier than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. With restaurants forced to close and guidelines for farmers markets up in the air, many farmers have doubled down on self-sufficiency; they’ve shifted to direct-to-consumer sales and reinvented their farmstands. Alissa Matthews, agriculture development specialist for…
Obituary: Doris Elizabeth Wheeler Jenkins, 1923-2020
Shelburne woman exemplified “a life well lived with grace, love and beauty”
Obituary: Eli Howard, 1988-2020
Despite struggles, Vermonter found joy and shared it with others
Birth Announcement: Madelyn Dorothy Sampson
On April 29, 2020, at Porter Medical Center, Miranda Sampson and Cyle Chaplin welcomed a girl, Madelyn Dorothy Sampson.
The Beerworth Sisters, ‘Another Year’
(Self-released, digital) Digging into Another Year, the latest album from indie-folk duo the Beerworth Sisters, it would be tempting to muse on the mysteries of “blood harmony” — the ear-tingling phenomenon that sometimes occurs when family members sing together. Think of the close, twining harmonies of the Everly Brothers or the Carter Family. Indeed, you’ll…
Quasar Valley Band, ‘QVB EP’
(Self-released, digital) “It’s the last night of July, and I’m on a bender,” sings Patrick Crowley on “Wined and Dined,” a standout track on Quasar Valley Band’s new release, QVP EP. “Someone wrote their number on my hand, but I can’t remember,” he later confesses. Forget pickup trucks and American pie; to me, country is…
Letters to the Editor (4/29/20)
Tech Check How many times have we heard about computer failure and crashes in state government [“Mainframe of Shame,” April 22]? Isn’t it way past time for the legislature to find some money to replace the old mainframe with new, up-to-date technology? Paul Hoffman Ferrisburgh Does Not Compute [Re “Mainframe of Shame,” April 22]: If…
The Front Line Next Door: Home Health Workers Tread Carefully During Visits
Each time she treated her patient, a man recovering from the new coronavirus, Addison County nurse Sarah Frisch suited up in full personal protective equipment. She donned a surgical head covering and gown, slipped on booties and gloves, and strapped on an N95 respirator and a homemade face shield. Then she walked up his driveway…
Amid Pandemic, Burlington City Workers Take on New Tasks
Gillian Nanton typically spends her workdays behind a desk. As an assistant director of Burlington’s Community Economic Development Office, Nanton oversees the slice of city government that offers job training programs and helps to support women-owned businesses. That was before the coronavirus crisis hit. Now Nanton works from home and spends most of her days…
Counselors and Clients Adjust as Therapy Moves Online
My latest quarantine routine is a FaceTime with my therapist every other week. I sit on my bed or couch with my phone propped on my knees, and she sits in her house wearing earbuds. We talk about how I’m going to get through this pandemic without losing my mind. I describe the maddening nature…
Free Will Astrology (4/29/20)
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Is there an area of your life where you would like a do-over? A chance to cancel the past and erase lingering messiness and clear a path for who-knows-what new possibility? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to prepare — not to actually take the leap but rather make…
Puzzles, Books, DVDs: At Burlington Yard Stand, Take Them or Leave Them
Celia Cuddy and her wife, JB Barna, have created a sensation on their block in Burlington’s South End with their daily outdoor display of free items to borrow or keep. Puzzles? Check. Books? Plenty. All six seasons of “Glee” on DVD? You bet. “It’s just become this neighborhood project, and we just feel like we’re…
Vermont Nonprofits Find New Ways to Serve At-Risk Youth
What’s a social service organization to do when everyone has to stay at home? Ask Outright Vermont and Spectrum Youth & Family Services. Both are in the business of supporting at-risk young people: Outright serves the state’s LGBTQ youth; Spectrum provides services for teens, young adults and families in need of shelter, life skills, counseling…
After Public Crisis, Vermont State Colleges System Charts a Difficult Course
Chancellor Jeb Spaulding said he will resign from the Vermont State Colleges System at a board of trustees meeting on Wednesday, April 29, after his failed attempt to close three campuses catapulted the ailing schools into a state of uncertainty. Spaulding, who has led the system for the last five years, declared his intentions in…
Retail Therapy: Seven Items for Reading and Listening
On April 6, Forbes published a piece with an eye-catching — and stomach-turning — headline: “Americans Are Excessively Eating, Drinking, Smoking Pot, Playing Video Games and Watching Porn While Quarantined.” Though one could argue that each of those activities is fine in moderation, binging can quickly lead to burnout. So what else is there to…
WTF: With So Few Cars Out There, When Will Road Repair Begin?
“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining,” said president John F. Kennedy during his 1962 State of the Union address. His aphorism applies equally well to filling potholes, upgrading storm drains and repaving streets, especially since the coronavirus shutdown has cleared the roads of most vehicles. As of last week,…
My Neighbor Posts Angry Comments About Runners Without Masks
Dear Reverend, My neighbor keeps posting really angry comments to Front Porch Forum about people running without masks in the neighborhood, and I wish she would stop. She’s assuming that none of us cares about spreading germs, but there are articles saying running with a mask that gets moist can actually trap particles and be…
Dance Studios, Students and Artists Improvise and Keep Moving
If necessity is the mother of invention, the pandemic is the mother of improvisation. While many Vermonters are finding creative ways to cope during the stay-at-home order, artists who depend on human interaction are being extra resourceful. Dancers, in particular, face unique challenges because they typically teach, create and perform in kinesthetic interaction with each…
Queen City Dry Goods Gears Up for the Pandemic
It’s a lucky coincidence that Matt Renna, founder of Queen City Dry Goods, is releasing a line of house shoes at a time when an unprecedented number of people are staying home. Renna has had a passion for footwear since he first taught himself to make shoes more than 20 years ago, and the house…
Virtual Ventures 2: At-Home Cinema, a Symbol of Hope, Writing for the Future
The online offerings from Vermont’s incessantly creative sector continue unabated. Seven Days has reported on many virtual activities, both in print and on our Live Culture blog, since the coronavirus pandemic began and everyone hunkered down. Even with a crack of light in the “reopening” of Vermont, most of us are still keeping our social…
Soundbites: For Waking Windows, the Show Must Go Online
Among the more bittersweet aspects of life in isolation has been how we’ve adapted in order to observe certain yearly landmarks and milestones. For example, raise your hand if you have celebrated birthdays in the last six-ish weeks by, say, standing outside a loved one’s house and singing “Happy Birthday” or eating cake together over…
Obituary: Ethan Wallis Townsend, 1981-2020
Part-time Burlingtonian remembered for his love of animals, stories and laughter
