The wheels of the roller coaster screeched and groaned as the cars climbed toward the ride’s zenith. A lone rider came into view in the first car of the otherwise empty train, his black hair framed against the blue sky like some sort of bas-relief. Urian Hackney’s smile was easy to spot even from the…
Safe and Sound Gallery is tucked among other enterprises on the second floor of the Richardson Building in downtown Burlington. The modest space also serves as the office of Moderate Breeze Graphic Design Studio — “office” being a table, chair, computer and the creative wizardry of Tokyo-born Marin Horikawa. Lacking a Church Street-facing storefront, the…
Anne Ward prefers to keep her home and work lives separate. But the two collided on July 10 as torrential rain clobbered central Vermont. Facing the possibility of flooding in her Berlin home, Ward sought safety with her 4-year-old son and 12-year-old foster daughter at her office, the sexual-violence-prevention nonprofit Mosaic Vermont, in downtown Barre.…
Update, August 23, 2023: The new bridge opened to traffic on this date. Floodwaters that swamped homes and businesses in central Vermont last month also wrecked a Marshfield bridge that was the only link connecting Onion River Campground — an offbeat seasonal camp tucked away on a dirt lane — with Route 2 and the…
Dear Reverend, I ride to and from work on my bicycle and, like any other commuter, I like to hurry up and get home (or wherever I’m going). Unlike walking or driving, my mode of transit is momentum-based — it is very inconvenient for me to come to a full stop, then smoothly accelerate again.…
In the two decades that Tim Ashe and I have been a couple, we’ve attended almost three dozen weddings. The exact count revealed itself over the weekend while we were driving five and a half hours to No. 35. We made a road trip game of tallying them as we crossed three states to watch…
On November 4, 2011, Anna Nasset stood in the display window of her art gallery, in the quaint seaside city of Port Townsend, Wash., when she noticed a man outside watching her. Moments later, he knocked on the door, handed Nasset a small package and asked if she’d consider displaying some of his artwork. As…
Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux was studying geoscience at an age when most kids don’t know the meaning of the word. Growing up on the Caribbean island of Trinidad, she went to a British school that emphasized early specialization. By the time she was 8 years old, she was hiking to caves and learning to think spatially. Dupigny-Giroux…
Booze-Free Best The annual Seven Daysies contest is such a fun way to celebrate local businesses and places [All the Best, August 2]. I would like to suggest that, next year, you add a category for bars/restaurants to get the best alcohol-free cocktails. There are great places to get creatively crafted adult beverages that should…
The 11-by-17-inch drawing of brightly colored potted flowers and greenery is crinkled and shiny. The museum label displayed below says the work, which is untitled, was created in 2021 with torn brown paper bag, colored pencil and prison floor wax. “I know this looks rough,” the artist’s statement says. “But I don’t have things to…
Sure, everybody’s excited about Beetlejuice 2. But smaller film shoots happen in Vermont all the time, and some of those less visible productions bear impressive fruit. Case in point: Joonam, the first documentary feature from director Sierra Urich, premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Much of this intimate, family-focused doc was…
new in theaters GOLDA: Helen Mirren plays Golda Meir, former prime minister of Israel, in this drama about the Yom Kippur War. Guy Nattiv directed. (100 min, PG-13. Palace) GRAN TURISMO: A teen (Archie Madekwe) transfers his video game prowess to professional car racing in this fact-inspired action drama from Neill Blomkamp, with David Harbour…
Monica Jane Frisell and Adam Scher can’t quite pin down why, two years ago, they left Seattle to live as nomads and photograph people across America. “Just [to] try and figure out what it’s all about, I guess,” Frisell said. “Sounds kind of cheesy.” Towing a trailer called the Nomadic Photo Ark that doubles as…
(Truth Revolution Recording Collective, CD, digital) Some 1.3 billion years ago, give or take, a pair of black holes became interlocked in a spiral, and their collision created one massive singularity that sent gravitational shock waves across the universe. Taking their sweet-ass time, those waves weren’t detected on Earth until September 2015, when the Laser…
(Mint Records, digital, LP, cassette) You know that song “Put on a Happy Face” from Bye Bye Birdie? Beneath its ultra-catchy veneer, it’s basically musical theater’s peppy treatise on men telling women to smile more. Hooray? Why do people feel the relentless need to mask their emotions? And why is there so much external pressure…
The fifth annual Stowe Jazz Festival kicks off this Thursday, August 24, and runs all weekend in the ski town. With performances from ace locals and top-notch (see what I did there?) jazz musicians from all over the world, such as Afro-Peruvian ensemble Festejation, Manuel Valera & New Cuban Express, and Brazilian guitarist Chico Pinheiro,…
“Surely there has to be a dark side? He can’t be all laughs and good times.” My editors were pressing me for something a little more … dramatic about Urian Hackney for this issue’s cover story. To be clear, they wanted the facts, but they were concerned — perhaps understandably so — that I might…
The July 10 deluge inundated fields at 100-acre Foote Brook Farm in Johnson. The barn flooded, destroying expensive equipment. More than 75 percent of the crops were lost. “We’ve really been in survival mode,” co-owner Joie Lehouillier said. “We have to concentrate on how we make it out of this season alive.” Despite that, Foote…
We can thank the Sumerians for inventing the wheel, or could if they still existed. Living in the 4th millennium BC on the part of the planet that now identifies as Iraq, they must have been pretty psyched in that eureka moment. It’s taxing to just drag stuff around or hoist it onto an ox…
A Burlington-based nonprofit is trying an innovative strategy to help young people who lack housing or face the risk of homelessness: paying them a monthly stipend of $1,500 for 18 months. Spectrum Youth & Family Services made its first payments last month to 10 participants who are between the ages of 18 and 24. Two…
When Conor McManus took over Happy Valley Orchard in Middlebury last fall, he was more concerned with pruning his trees and pressing cider than with worrying about frost. But the weather had other plans. His apple trees roused from their winter sleep early, during extended warm spells in February and March. Water seeped back into…
More than 200 people gathered last Friday at the Islamic Society of Vermont’s mosque in South Burlington before caravanning to Lakeview Cemetery in Burlington to mourn and honor Ahmed Omar, chef-owner of Burlington’s Kismayo Kitchen. Among those attending the traditional brief Islamic funeral prayer at the mosque was Maryan Maalin, who said she had known…
On its 150-mile path between Alburgh and Guildhall, Route 2 passes through well-traveled cities and towns that boast plenty of snack and meal options for hungry travelers. But the stretch between Montpelier and St. Johnsbury, for all of its lovely curves and scenic river frontage, can feel a little lean on the food front. Three…
Morgan Brook Farm, which raises purebred Japanese Wagyu beef and crossbred American Wagyu in Westford, has opened a seasonal food truck called Morgan Brook Farm Kitchen at 2545 Shelburne Road in Shelburne. The address was previously the site of the Sirloin Saloon, which closed in 2008. The restaurant building was recently torn down, and the…
Salt & Rind, a 20-seat cocktail and oyster bar, opened at 40 Foundry Street in downtown Waterbury in July. Co-owners Britt Thompson and Luke Williams ran a local catering business for a year before deciding to open a brick-and-mortar location as its complement. The menu features “classic, well-executed bites,” Thompson said, such as deviled eggs…
Paul Jordan, a longtime coach and teacher at South Burlington High School, died at age 89 on August 2. Please join us in a celebration of his life on September 9, 1 p.m., at Williston Federated Church, 44 North Williston Rd. A complete obituary can be found at tributearchive.com/obituaries/28615486/paul-jordan.
“Where we go…we go together.”
Fair Play Friday 25 It’s the last of this summer’s St. J Final Fridays, but attendees will be too busy to feel any nostalgia. The downtown St. Johnsbury street fair and gallery stroll includes storytelling, live music, crafts, performances by Bread and Puppet, a fleet of food trucks, and a beer and mocktail garden. Singer-songwriter…
Passionate athlete and coach cherished memories of water-skiing on Lake Champlain
Former principal, teacher and athletic director was inducted into Vermont Principals’ Association Hall of Fame
Reverend’s legacy will live on through the countless lives he influenced
Accomplished golfer, community volunteer didn’t let cancer get in the way of delivering kindness
A passion for IT technology drove him to find the perfect solution for clients
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) “I don’t believe that in order to be interesting or meaningful, a relationship has to work out — in fiction or in real life.” So says Virgo novelist Elizabeth Curtis Sittenfeld, and I agree. Just because a romantic bond didn’t last forever doesn’t mean it was a waste of energy. An…
Family of Burlington man encourages donations to local organizations in lieu of flowers
