Help us pay for in-depth stories like this one by becoming a Seven Days Super Reader. The time had come for Neil Preston to make Stephen move his tent. Several weeks earlier, the 61-year-old man, like many of the homeless people who sleep outside in Burlington, had taken up residence in one of the city’s neighborhood parks.…
Nancy Jean King Bouffard, 85 (she’d say 58) years young, of Milton, Vt., and New Smyrna Beach, Fla., passed away unexpectedly on August 6, 2025, at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, Vt. Nancy was born on December 6, 1939, in the Sherwood Sanatorium in St. Albans, Vt. The middle daughter of Lloyd…
Constance “Connie” Perrotte, 93, passed away peacefully on July 13, 2025, in Lakewood, Colo. She was born in Winooski, Vt., on December 8, 1931, the daughter of Harvey and Flora Jarvis, and was next to the youngest of nine siblings. She graduated from Winooski High School in 1950 and began work as a legal secretary…
Ruth V. Nichols, 91, of Colchester, Vt., died on August 16, 2025, at her home. Visiting hours will be held on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, 4 to 6 p.m., at LaVigne Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 132 Main St., Winooski, VT. A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, 11…
Sandra Geer Willey, 90, of Essex Junction, Vt., passed away surrounded by loving family at the McClure Miller Respite House on August 12, 2025. Sandy was born to Northrup and Elizabeth (Duffield) Geer in Hempstead, N.Y., on January 31, 1935. They were kind and loving parents who molded Sandy into the loving woman she grew…
Betty Jane Young, 71, passed on August 15, 2025, at Birchwood Terrace Rehab and Healthcare in Burlington, Vt., with her husband at her side. Betty had been living at Birchwood Terrace since March 2024 due to her Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2018. Betty is survived by her husband, Robert Young of Jericho, Vt., and daughter, Caitlin…
It is with profound sorrow and deep love that we announce the passing of our incredible father and beloved husband, David Michael Boardman, on August 16, 2025, at the age of 90. Dave lived a life defined by integrity, joy, love of his family and a relentless drive to uplift others. He never sought the…
The University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine’s Center on Aging is launching a new program this fall aimed at fostering meaningful relationships between Vermont teens and seniors. From September to May, a cadre of 30 to 50 high school students will visit local senior living communities, including the Converse Home in Burlington and Homestead…
Jonathan M. Storm, 78, an influential Philadelphia Inquirer television critic and former Rutland Herald reporter and editor, died on August 4, 2025, in Red Bank, N.J., peacefully, of complications from treatment of metastasized melanoma. He was very funny; a kind, sardonic curmudgeon; bon vivant; gambler; devoted husband; generous mentor; and a man who loved life,…
Jason “Moose” Edward Crosby passed away unexpectedly in his sleep at his home in Essex Junction, Vt., in the early morning of Wednesday, August 13, 2025. Jason was born in Ohio on July 15, 1976. Jason was a die-hard Ohio Buckeyes and New England Patriots fan. A talented fisherman, he built many memories on Squam…
Marc Estrin was born in Brooklyn on April 20, 1939, and died on August 10, 2025, at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, Vt., peacefully and surrounded by his family. The red-diaper baby of Jack Estrin and Vera Borax, he grew up on Pelham Parkway in the Bronx, in a Jewish neighborhood where…
Dear Derek, It is still with broken hearts every day we remember you, but rest assured, your light still radiates all around us, your laughter still rings in our ears, and your love and affection still rest deeply and forever in our hearts. Today is like every day, yet another day without your arm around…
Gloria A. Davis, 93, of South Burlington, Vt., died on August 13, 2025, at the Residence at Quarry Hill. She was born in Burlington, Vt., on December 30, 1931, the daughter of the late Thomas and Beatrice (Grow) Bailey. Gloria graduated from Essex Junction High School and Champlain College. She was married to Richard Davis…
Randy R. Barnes passed away on August 14, 2025, at Birchwood Terrace Rehab and Healthcare, from complications of a fall. He was 72 years old. He was born in Burlington, Vt., on February 4, 1953, the son of Robert “Bob” and Joaquina “Jackie” (Brown) Barnes. Randy graduated from Essex High School, class of 1972. Music…
Ann Goodenough Dinse of Shelburne, Vt., died peacefully in her sleep on August 10, 2025, age 101. She is survived by her son, Jeffrey Dinse of Warren, Maine, and her daughter, Dede Johnston of Aspen, Colo., and London, England, as well as her three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Ann was born in Rochester, N.Y., on…
The feds will seek the death penalty against the 21-year-old woman who they say shot and killed a U.S. Border Patrol agent during a Vermont traffic stop in January. The news comes after a federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Teresa Youngblut of Seattle, Wash., on four new criminal counts, including the murder of border…
Dear Reverend, My roommate and I have lived together for almost two years, and we’ve become great friends. Our place allows pets, but neither one of us had one when we moved in. Lately, he’s been talking about wanting to get a puppy. I love dogs, and I’m open to the idea, but my roommate…
Three years ago, a trio of Montréal superheroes went up in smoke. The women of the Super Sexe strip club sign — clad in high heels, black bikinis and red capes — had brazenly soared over rue Sainte-Catherine for decades, flickering symbols of Montréal’s libertine spirit. That is, until meeting their demise in October 2021…
The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival seems to grow every year, cementing its place as a showcase for the work of debut and sophomore filmmakers from around the world. From Wednesday through Sunday, August 20 to 24, the 11th annual event will screen 21 narrative (fiction) features and 38 documentaries, plus a panoply of short films.…
You don’t need a passport to board the Northern Star and take one of its 13 weekly cruises on the international waters of Lake Memphremagog. Memphremagog Community Maritime, founded by a group of local residents and business owners, owns the boat. The Vermont nonprofit’s mission is to promote a love of the lake, offer environmental…
In May, Sean Hood of country band Eastern Mountain Time released the mega-compilation Burlington Does Burlington, 20 tracks of local bands covering each other. In the process, he revived a long-defunct tradition of the Queen City music scene. Well, maybe the word “tradition” is a little strong, but the Burlington music scene has certainly covered…
Every Thursday morning all summer, I’ve been getting up at 5 a.m. for an appearance on “Channel 3 This Morning,” where the anchors and I raffle off a prize on live TV. The names in the plastic hopper belong to Vermont students in kindergarten through eighth grade who are participating in the Good Citizen Challenge,…
Regular readers may recall that back in 2022, I wrote about Hugo Martínez Cazón, a Burlington environmental engineer who made the unlikely discovery that the French Lumière brothers — widely credited with inventing cinema and pioneering the use of color photography — built a factory in Burlington in 1903. Cazón was on a one-man mission…
This Halloween, expect to see young folks running around your neighborhood with their arms slightly extended to the side and a zoned-out look in their eyes, like small children dreamily playing at being airplanes or Peter Pan. Blame the new release from writer-director Zach Cregger, who made a splash in the horror world with 2022’s…
(Peacedale Records, vinyl, digital) How long does it take to get over a person? Some say one week for every month of the relationship. Others say half the time a couple were together. Indie-folk artist Rachel Baiman of Nashville, Tenn., and Durham, N.C., duo Viv (Leva) & Riley (Calcagno) posit a much more reasonable and…
new in theaters COOLIE: A man goes on a journey of vengeance in this Tamil-language action thriller from Lokesh Kanagaraj. (168 min, NR. Majestic) HIGHEST 2 LOWEST: A music mogul deals with ethical dilemmas and a ransom plot in this crime thriller from Spike Lee, loosely based on Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low and starring…
Vermont is far from the ocean, but it’s famous for its whales. Northbound tourists and Interstate 89 commuters alike are regularly delighted by the sight of two whale tails sticking joyfully into the air, the cetaceans themselves seemingly submerged in a magical marine dimension of South Burlington’s Technology Park. Though the sculpture seems timeless and,…
When Shelburne Craft School executive director Heather Moore heard earlier this summer that Inclusive Arts Vermont was closing, she said, she cried. “It was just such a beautiful nonprofit that had done so much good,” she said, adding that she knew how much Inclusive Arts’ classes meant to students. Over 40 years, the organization served…
A band of Abenaki in Québec plans to ask the Burlington City Council to reject a donated sculpture of a Native American meant to be installed in Battery Park, saying it’s not only inauthentic but offensive. The wood sculpture was commissioned by a Vermont band, the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi. It is meant to replace…
As I pulled into the parking lot of the Haskell Free Library & Opera House — a building famous for straddling the U.S. border with Canada — my phone vibrated with a text from Verizon: “Welcome to Canada,” it read. “Enjoy your trip.” Am I in Canada? I wondered. My car was the only one…
Wrong Guitar In [“Dead-icated,” August 6], the caption on a photo of Zach Nugent states that he is playing Jerry Garcia’s Rosebud. In fact, he is playing a replica of Garcia’s Tiger. An examination of both guitars online will confirm the difference. The replica Tiger was built by Doug Irwin’s apprentice, Tom Lieber. He also…
What do a pioneering sexologist, a pornographic filmmaker, a chess grandmaster, a member of a political family dynasty and the creator of “Monday Night Football” have in common? Actor Peter Sarsgaard has played them all. (Clyde Martin, Chuck Traynor, William Lombardy, Robert F. Kennedy and Roone Arledge, respectively.) Known for his versatility and understated performances,…
A sloop tied up in Burlington Bay last week hails from Oberlin, Ohio. It’s owned by Dan Stinebring and Lynn Powell, who reached Burlington after a 740-mile, three-week journey through lakes, narrow canals and dozens of locks. “You’re going through towns that are quite different than the ones that I have spent a lot of…
LEO (Jul. 23-Aug. 22): In medieval Europe, pilgrims traveling to the shrine of Saint James in Spain often wore scallop shells. These were badges to signify they were on a sacred path in quest of divinely inspired transformation. The shell also had practical uses. It was a scoop for food and water, underscoring the humility…
Writing takes time — including, as every writer knows, time away from writing. And time takes money. So the job of Vermont poet laureate could be said to be a giant paradox: an unpaid, four-year appointment by the governor to do one of the most intensive kinds of writing, while also bringing poetry to the…
Pulling two people apart in a drama can show us what connected them, provided the connection is still sparking. Playwright Erin Breznitsky separates a married scientist and her astronaut husband in the most monumental way: He is lost in space for seven years, then found alive. The majority of Satellites portrays the gulf that time…
Sometime around the late 1970s, a Chester-area newspaper profiled Alice Bliss. Alice and her husband, Bill, started a small farm on High Street in 1940, a quarter mile from the Windsor County town’s main drag. “Kids have always found their way to the Bliss’s farm,” the article read, according to the scrapbook clipping donated to…
Folks hitting up Grass Cattle Company’s tent at the Burlington Farmers Market will find a menu of fresh-grilled, creatively topped, 100 percent grass-fed burgers for any time of the day. A farm egg- and cheese-topped breakfast burger ($16) hits the spot in the morning, while a Kim-Cheese burger ($18), with kimchi, a Cabot American slice,…
Vergennes Laundry is on the move, but not far. The wood-fired bakery and café will close its original location — a former laundromat — after service on Sunday, August 17. In mid- to late September, it will reopen one block away at 205 Main Street, the longtime Jackman Fuels office. Owner Nadia Dole announced the…
Burlington author, publisher and peace activist Marc Estrin died of heart failure in Burlington on Sunday. He was 86. Estrin wrote 17 novels and two memoirs. With his wife, Donna Bister, he started and operated Fomite Press, the 14-year-old “postcapitalist” publishing company that returns 80 percent of book revenue to authors. The Brooklyn native grew…
Paper Cuts Saturday 16 & Sunday 17 Vocal and instrumental trio Heartwood enchants with back-to-back performances of “The Well Tree” at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center in Burlington and Haybarn Theatre in Plainfield. The original production invites audiences to participate in modern mythmaking through song and story, backed by an illuminated, hand-cranked scroll from…
