Feb 15-21, 2017
An Immigration Crackdown Could Decimate Vermont Dairy; Shelburne Museum Scores a Hit With Rock Photos; Novelist Richard Ford on the Role of Fiction in the Age of Trump
Cover Story
Fear on the Farm: Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Threatens Vermont’s Dairy Industry
Two young men in blue jeans and gray sweatshirts swung through the barn door and into the whirring works of a milking parlor last Thursday afternoon. Their boss, a Vermont native and lifelong dairy farmer, greeted them in halting Spanish. “Buenas tardes!” he shouted over the sounds of sucking, clanking and mooing. “Mucho frío,” responded…
Obituary: Dr. George W. Brown, 1937-2017
Dr. George W. Brown was born November 21,1937, in North Carolina. Three hours earlier, his wife carolyn had been born in Texas. A journey of “soul mates” was in the making. Their journey together led George and carolyn to Vermont in 1988. While here, they continued a collaboration to promote child and family well-being. In…
Slideshow: Winter is a Drag Ball 2017 “Over the Rainbow and Into the Woods”
“Over the Rainbow and Into the Woods” was the theme at the 22nd annual Winter Is a Drag Ball, hosted by the gender-bending babes of the House of LeMay. Revellers came decked out in some truly Oz-some costumes from not-so-childish woodland fairy tales. Photographer James Buck was there to capture the magic and mascara. Proceeds…
Obituary: Earl Kenneth Bessette, 1924-2017
Earl Kenneth Bessette, 92, of Addison, died at home with his family by his side on February 19, 2017. He was born in Burlington on October 5, 1924, son of Napoleon (Paul) and Emma (Mongeon) Bessette. Earl graduated from Burlington High School in 1943, during his last two years of school he worked as First…
Obituary: Gary Steller
Gary Steller died peacefully on February 15 at the VNA Respite House in Colchester. He was 70 years old. He died after a two and a half year battle with progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disease. He is survived by his sister Susan Steller of Prescott Arizona and his nephews Paul Teodo and Peter…
The Parmelee Post: Sean Spicer Spotted at Canadian Border, Not Trying to Flee
The usually sleepy village of Derby Line enjoyed a rare celebrity sighting as White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer made a brief appearance Saturday. Residents first spotted him in Brown’s Drug Store, where he reportedly purchased the store’s entire supply of bubble gum. “At first I was pretty excited because I thought it was Melissa…
![Vermont Nepali Cultural Heritage Dance Group [SIV478]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/episode478-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Vermont Nepali Cultural Heritage Dance Group [SIV478]
2/8/17: Members of the Vermont Nepali Heritage Dance Group gathered at the Integrated Arts Academy Wednesday night to rehearse for an upcoming performance. The group, less than a year old, is comprised of about 20 young people from the Bhutanese Nepali community. The dancers are celebrating and sharing their cultural heritage with Vermonters. You can…
Black Ox, Black Ox
(Self-released, CD, digital download) With Black Ox, Vermont has a new player in the small but surprisingly robust instrumental rock scene. In six tracks — a little less than half an hour of fluid jams — the trio’s self-titled debut album issues a well-articulated opening statement. The album creeps in with waves of feedback and…
Movie Review: Art Gets as Much Time as Action in ‘John Wick: Chapter 2’
We expect certain filmmakers to fill the screen with artworks that reinforce their own striking visual aesthetics. Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty). Fashion maven Tom Ford. Chad Stahelski, former kickboxer, veteran stuntman, and director of the 2014 action flick John Wick and its sequel? Yes, actually. This is a movie in which the villain (Riccardo…
I Used to Date My Boyfriend’s Sister
Dear Athena, I’m dating this guy, and I found out I used to date his sister, but I didn’t say anything right away. It’s totally random, ’cause when I was with his sister a long time ago, I didn’t know I would be gay one day. It wasn’t long with her, but now I’m with…
Letters to the Editor (2/15/17)
Coincidence? Interesting points in different January issues of Seven Days: Gov. Peter Shumlin devotes his entire State of the State address to the opiate “crisis,” and the problem gets worse [“Death by Drugs,” January 25]. In [“Afford-Ability,” January 11], a pie chart shows the shrinking middle class that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has been fighting…
Free Will Astrology (2/15/17)
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Here’s your mantra for the next three weeks: “I know what I want, and I know how to glide it into my life.” Say this out loud 11 times right after you wake up each morning, and 11 more times before lunch, and 11 more times at bedtime. “I know what…
Checkpoint Vermont: The Feds’ Broad Reach Inside Our Borders
Senate Bill 79, the “immigration legislation” crafted by Gov. Phil Scott’s Civil Rights and Criminal Justice Cabinet, is on the fastest of tracks through the legislature. The Senate Judiciary Committee is likely to vote it out this week, with floor action coming next week. The bill has been widely celebrated as a protection of Vermonters’…
After Fighting for Refugees, Louras Battles to Remain Rutland’s Mayor
Rutland Mayor Chris Louras hopped onto a milk crate inside The Bakery on West Street to address a crowd of people who had gathered for his campaign launch. The place was full of supporters and representatives from half a dozen media outlets, who turned out on the first Monday night in February for the first…
Airport’s Actions Prompt Push to Reexamine Its Governance
Snow frosted the trees across the street from Burlington International Airport last Friday. The sylvan stretch of open land resembles a park, but it’s actually the ghost of a neighborhood that was razed under a controversial airport noise-reduction program that has taken 100 homes. Continuing buyouts have led some to question whether Vermont’s largest airport…
Legislative Roomies Share Boxed Wine and Political Strategies
Sam Young, a sociable state representative from the Northeast Kingdom town of Glover, has a history of pulling whimsical stunts such as mounting a Hereford steer for a campaign ad. Rep. Matt Trieber, an environmental consultant from Bellows Falls, is serious and bookish. During the four-month legislative session, the two youthful Democrats share a house…
A Talk With Novelist, Pulitzer Winner Richard Ford
Ever since the publication of his novel The Sportswriter in 1986, Richard Ford has been widely recognized as one of America’s leading writers. That reputation was cemented forever when Independence Day became, in 1995, the first novel to win both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. He is the author of more than 13…
Soundbites: Benefits With Friends, Drone On, Dead Man’s Party
In these dark times — and no, I’m not referring to midwinter — isn’t it great when we can be entertained while also supporting a good cause? Here are a few events this week that, aside from being sources of fun, aim to sustain the good works of several local organizations. First up is Comic…
Woodstock’s JAGFest Presents Playwrights of Color
Next weekend, Woodstock-based theater company JAG Productions will premiere JAGFest, a four-day new-play festival with a focus on playwrights of color. Two staged readings, a children’s musical, a one-woman show, a panel discussion with local actors, and two lectures are all free and open to the public. This is the second endeavor for the burgeoning…
With ‘Backstage Pass,’ the Shelburne Museum Rocks Out
Last Saturday night, it was hard not to wonder what Shelburne Museum founder Electra Havemeyer Webb would have thought of a dissolute David Johansen, a heroin-ravaged Chet Baker, a nipple-forward Debbie Harry or a pajama-clad Rod Stewart. These are the subjects of just some of the photographs currently filling both galleries in the museum’s Pizzagalli…
Long-Distance Rower Kathleen Saville on Oceans, Deserts and Vermont
In 1981, Kathleen Saville and her husband, Curt, rowed across the North Atlantic Ocean from Morocco to Antigua in a 25-foot boat of their own making. Between 1984 and 1985, they rowed the South Pacific from Peru to Australia in the same vessel. Saville earned two Guinness world records as the first woman to make…
Art Review: ‘Signs of Life’ at the Great Hall
At the Great Hall in Springfield, an exhibition of paintings by Roger Sandes and collages by Mary Welsh, together titled “Signs of Life,” celebrates home and the natural world in distinct yet complementary ways. The Williamsville artists, who are married, use color, pattern and familiar imagery in their work. Those elements help the show connect…
James Kochalka and Sydney Lea Collaborate With Composer
For the past five years, the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble has staged a Poetry & Music series that prompts composers to respond to works by area poets. This weekend, VCME presents a fresh twist on that theme of collaboration — poems inspired by music. Not to mention a musical work based on a poem based…
Good News and Bad: Vermonters Affected by Travel Ban
According to Middlebury College student Mohammed Babeker, “In Sudan, we idealize the democracy of the U.S., the freedom of speech in America.” But for several days recently, the Sudanese national said, he found himself afraid to share his thoughts publicly. The reason: On January 27, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that closed the…
Upper Valley Coffee Roasters and Brothers Coffee Get a Buzz On
For the past few months, Upper Valley Coffee Roasters cofounders Andrea Franklin and Chelsea Lynes have been roasting tiny batches of organically grown, single-origin coffee in their West Newbury garage. They’ve marketed their beans to a handful of local customers, who either swing by the roastery for pickup or arrange for a home drop-off. But…
Absurdist ‘Trumpuboo Rex’ for Not My President’s Day
Question: What do a 19th-century physics teacher, a French playwright and President Donald Trump have in common? Answer: All three figure in Trumpuboo Rex: King Turd Revisited, a one-night staged reading on Monday, February 20, at the FlynnSpace in Burlington. The adaptation by Burlington-based theater artist David Schein and South Burlington writer Seth Steinzor updates…
Movie Review: ‘The LEGO Batman Movie’ Suggests This Franchise Isn’t Worth Building On
You can practically hear the beans being counted as the first of a gazillion shiny, brightly colored spin-offs goes through the motions, while never approaching the mad genius of 2014’s plastic-fantastic smash The LEGO Movie. These days, franchising isn’t so much a corporate strategy as a reflex. What Hollywood doesn’t understand is that lightning in…
The Mountain Says No Coalesce Behind a New Album
“I’m so fucking sick of hearing about Farm,” jokes Andy Frappier, bassist of Enosburg Falls rock quartet the Mountain Says No. He’s referring to the experimental folk trio that in some ways birthed TMSN. Frappier plays alongside guitarists and former Farm-hands Jedd Kettler and Ben Maddox, as well as drummer Justus Gaston. When Farm was…
Making Bitters, With Urban Moonshine as a Guide
Herbalists and creative drinkers looking for a crafty activity this winter are in luck. In DIY Bitters: Reviving the Forgotten Flavor, Urban Moonshine cofounders Guido Masé and Jovial King offer a detailed guide to making your own tinctures and bitters. Essentially, they tell you how to make your own versions of the artisanal products that…
Last Train to Zinkov, Regeneration
(Self-released, CD, digital download) History, memory and tradition endow Regeneration, the debut album from Last Train to Zinkov. LTTZ are David and Nathan Gusakov, a father-son duo who have been performing together in various formations for a few years — the elder Gusakov has played music professionally in Vermont for more than 40 years. The…
Book Review: In the Country of the Blind by Edward Hoagland
As one of America’s most revered essayists, Edward Hoagland has crisscrossed the globe in pursuit of stories. In one essay from the 1990s, he described the elation he felt getting on an airplane with only a credit card, knowing he’d be able to pay for the trip by selling a piece to a magazine upon…
Groennfell Meadery Launches Catering Biz
If you’ve been dreaming of a Viking wedding but couldn’t find the right caterer, you’re in luck. The ambitious folks at Groennfell Meadery in Colchester — makers of craft meads such as Valkyrie’s Choice and the oak-aged Old Wayfarer — are founding a catering company. Thank Odin! As a culture, “we’ve lost the ability to…
Employee-Owned Switchback Looks to the Future
On a call with Seven Days in late November 2015, Switchback Brewing cofounder and president Bill Cherry reflected on the success of his flagship amber ale. He had formulated the beer and supervised its production since its 2002 debut, tweaking the recipe along the way. Even so, Cherry refused to take full credit for it.…
