Longtime owner of Signarama Vermont previously developed automated tests for viral diseases
(Hidden Magic, digital) Plattsburgh, N.Y.’s Christopher Jay Rigsbee, who makes music through his long-running freak-folk project, Adrian Aardvark, has nothing left to hide with his new album, 2018. In an email to Seven Days, the singer-songwriter revealed his behind-the-scenes struggles from 2018 through 2020, the years when this music was recorded: He lost close friends…
Ryan was explaining that the one time he’d been to Jeffers’ great-uncle’s home, it had been impromptu: Their freshman year, in the delirium of just finishing exams, turning in their final papers, they’d decided, having barely slept, they’d get in the car and go — a road trip to Vermont, to this old lake house…
Every year since 2016, Benjamin Patrick has designed a Christmas card and printed 50 or so on sturdy archival paper. The lucky recipients aren’t treated to an artsy revamp of Santa Claus or baby Jesus. Instead, the card is centered on a revelation — as in the Book of Revelation — and an appropriated illustration…
(Self-released, digital) For the Beerworth Sisters, there is musicality in everyday family life: the patter of little feet running in the sunshine; the soft, soothing tone of a sympathetic sibling’s word; the sound of a father’s voice and a mother’s tears. All these visceral moments are represented on the Vermont-based duo’s latest record, Looking Back.…
This hasn’t been a great year for librarians. Across the nation, a flurry of politically motivated challenges to books — especially children’s books focused on racial equity or LGBTQ people — has put the guardians of those books “under attack,” in the words of a July New York Times headline. Budgets are an issue, too.…
Dear Reverend, My son was born on Christmas. He’s only 2 years old, so he doesn’t know the difference yet, but I’m worried about what will happen as he gets older. I don’t want him to feel overlooked or resentful about Christmas. How can I make sure he feels special on his holiday birthday? Ms.…
Danielle Duerr had only recently started working at Barnes & Noble in South Burlington when a customer asked her to recommend a history book. The request flustered Duerr because, as she explained later, “When a stranger comes up to you … they might not like what you read. I was struggling.” Scotia Jordan, a veteran…
Last year, I took a stand of sorts. It was my first end-of-year roundup as music editor, and I decided I’d mark my tenure by deviating from the norm. No end-of-year top 10 lists, no best singles or videos — not a single thing ranked. The way I saw it, 2021 was a rather weird…
Walk into Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center and prepare to be overwhelmed in the best possible way. The independent bookstore, a fixture in the center of town for 46 years, is like a sprawling yet cozy farmhouse where you can wander from room to room, alcove to alcove, taking in shelf after rustic wooden shelf…
When the clock strikes midnight this December 31, many Vermonters are likely to be out on the town instead of cozy on the couch. After two years of virtual and hybrid gatherings, two of the state’s signature New Year’s Eve celebrations, in Burlington and St. Johnsbury, return to form. If you’re looking to welcome 2023…
The subtitle of Peter Orner’s 2016 book of essays Am I Alone Here? is Notes on Living to Read and Reading to Live. Apparently, Orner is one of those people who never goes anywhere without a book. By his own account, he carries books he has inherited, borrowed, stolen and (sometimes) bought. He’s a hunter-gatherer…
British Irish playwright and filmmaker Martin McDonagh earned acclaim for the Oscar-winning Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, but some critics, including me, felt he got in over his head when he tried to tackle the topic of American racial inequities. In his new dark comedy, The Banshees of Inisherin, McDonagh returns to the rural Irish…
new in theaters BABYLON: Two young people set out to succeed in 1920s Hollywood in this ensemble epic from Damien Chazelle (La La Land), starring Diego Calva, Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt and Jean Smart. (188 min, R. Capitol, Essex, Roxy, Stowe) PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH: Antonio Banderas again voices the titular cool cat…
A phone rings twice, then a male voice intones, “It might as well be midnight, so heavy are the rain clouds over downtown St. Johnsbury. Even the streetlights seem dull under their weight.” The narrator goes on: “Chantelle Blackburn arrives a few minutes before 8 p.m. at the white Colonial overlooking Main Street. She unlocks…
As dusk settles over the Mad River Valley, a trail of twinkling lights appear. They flicker on everywhere along a 20-mile stretch of winding roads — from Moretown in the north to Warren to the south; in barn windows, storefronts, trees and front yards. Soon, the hills are aglow. Displaying wooden stars wrapped in strings…
Forget the dreaded office gift exchange. Many Vermont companies have taken the swap to a macro level — and no one gets stuck with a self-help book. This week, the 100 employees of Fairfax-based maple and honey company Runamok will receive holiday bags brimming with Vermont-made products: Cabot Creamery cheddar, Darn Tough socks, cans of…
Burlington High School students learning to repair aircraft don’t have a top-flight educational environment: Their classroom is a leased former auto parts store off Williston Road. The planes and helicopters they work on are crammed into an aging, poorly insulated hangar at Burlington International Airport. And while interest in aviation careers has soared, and companies…
Lists of breezy summer beach reads get all the publicity. But in Vermont, we know that the best time of year to dive into a good book or 12 is during our nine months of winter. OK, maybe winter in the Green Mountains only seems that long. Nonetheless, is there anything more decadent than curling…
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): To inspire your self-inquiry in 2023, I have chosen a passage from Hermann Hesse’s fairy tale, “A Dream Sequence.” It will provide guidance as you dive further than ever before into the precious mysteries in your inner depths. Hesse addressed his “good ardent darkness, the warm cradle of the soul, and…
Prog Progress [Re “Progressive Setback: The Party Label Is Losing Its Luster in Montpelier — and Burlington May Be Partly to Blame,” November 23]: Kevin McCallum’s article singing the demise of the statewide Progressive Party for the umpteenth time rests on classic correlation-not-causation reasoning. McCallum’s premise is that BTV Progs ringing the “defund the police”…
Finally, no-holds-barred legislation is brought out. Even erstwhile oil and gas lobbyists work for wind and solar, righteously demand that no one must flout “our only home.” Politicians and corporations contend, boast even, that it is they who bring change about, (“Renew by Renewables” or “We Shall All End Up Fossils,” the latest slogans). In…
After a long day in the forest gathering blue mountain flowers and butterfly wings and fighting thieves, you return home weary, wounded and hungry. Your battle-ax goes on a rack in the front hall, but you don’t bother to remove your armor before heading to the kitchen. In a barrel, you find exactly what you’re…
The protagonist of Melany Kahn’s recently published picture book, Mason Goes Mushrooming, is modeled on Kahn’s son Mason when he was about 8 years old. With his dog, the boy heads out through illustrator Ellen Korbonski’s sweet seasonal scenes to find morels under the apple blossoms, a circle of bright yellow chanterelles after a July…
When the Windjammer Restaurant announced in June 2021 that it would no longer offer its beloved salad bar, a period of collective mourning ensued — or collective outcry, depending on which social media comments you read. As of mid-December, the longtime South Burlington restaurant has transformed the boat-shaped space that once held that salad bar…
Silas Pollitt and Tyler Stratton opened the first Stone’s Throw Pizza in their hometown of Fairfax in 2018. Four years later, they’re gearing up to open a fourth location in the former Blue Stone pizzeria at 13 Stowe Street in Waterbury. The Waterbury Stone’s Throw location will be the largest of the four, Pollitt said,…
Near and Deer Tuesday 27 On, Dasher! On, Dancer! Vermont Reindeer Farm brings its antlered charges to Reindeer Live at Burlington’s ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain. Kids from 1 to 92 have the opportunity to learn how these furry friends survive the cold (and journeys to and from the North Pole, of course). Anything…
Spiritual woman was an active volunteer for many community organizations
Community-spirited Shelburne man volunteered for numerous community organizations
Founder of Gardener’s Supply and the Intervale Center was an idealistic capitalist and steward of land and people
Vermont attorney honored by state legislature for exemplary public service
Commercial pilot could fix anything, tell a great story and answer any question
WWII Navy veteran and letterpress printer enjoyed golfing,bowling, collecting coins
St. Albans woman was recipient of Fulbright scholarship, taught French at Georgetown University
