Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2021
These Vermonters of Color Want to Bring Their Perspectives to Local Office; Seven Things to Watch on Town Meeting Day; From Painting to Sculpting to Blacksmithing, Harlan Mack’s Artwork Relays a Worldview
Cover Story
Stepping Up: These Vermonters of Color Want to Bring Their Perspectives to Local Office
Running for local government in Vermont requires an investment of time and effort by any office seeker but demands something more from a candidate of color. Often, it means being the first nonwhite person to run in a municipality. And it always carries the risk of racial harassment such as that suffered in recent years…
Recipe: Maple Pulled Pork & Brussels Sprouts for Sugaring Season
Because I grew up in Vermont, maple syrup holds a special place in my heart. One of my favorite recipes as a child was my grandmother’s hot dogs with apples and maple syrup. A maple vinaigrette is one of my go-to salad dressings. Maple-roasted pecans? A delight. An antidote when my son, who is a…
Designing Areas of the Home to Encourage Kids’ Self-Sufficiency
Fostering self-sufficiency is a gift to kids and their caregivers. In our family, we encourage independence to build our 4- and 6-year-olds’ self-confidence and awareness about their internal strength and motivation. If kids know they are trusted to take care of themselves and can see how their actions impact the world around them, they’ll be…
Learning the Art of Slow Birding
Last October, I signed up my family, with great enthusiasm, for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s yearly citizen science survey, Project FeederWatch. The premise is simple: You watch birds and report what you see. I paid the $18 fee and received a cool poster and some simple directions in the mail. I went out and…
Vermont Visionaries: Project Walden Founder Matthew Schlein
On an arctic day in mid-February, with the temperature hovering around 10 degrees, a school bus pulled into the parking lot of the 230-acre Willowell preserve in Monkton. Nineteen Vergennes Union High School students, carrying backpacks and instrument cases, exited and began their hike down the 1/3-mile path leading to the base camp for the…
The Magnificent 7: Must See, Must Do, March 4 to 10
1. Country Song “On ‘Where is the Heart of My Country,’ Canty paints a haunting portrait of a country in distress,” wrote American Songwriter of Caitlin Canty’s September 2020 single. The Vermont native has delivered her original Americana numbers from stages across the United States, opening for the likes of Mary Chapin Carpenter and the…
In Memoriam: Doug Dunbebin, 1962-2016
Beloved husband and best friend. Thinking of you, with boundless love and profound gratitude. Thank you for all the light you brought to my life and the world. You were right — “Ours is a love that will never die.” — Trina
Obituary: Howard “Butch” Willard Adams, 1948-2021
Monkton man worked at IBM for 30 years and was a Boy Scouts cub master
Obituary: Richard Lee “Seth” Towle Schneehagen III, 1990-2021
Burlington-born man leaves behind loving and supportive family
Obituary: Stephen Keyes “Sky” Yardley, 1950-2021
Former farmer and off-grid homesteader loved exploring the natural world
Obituary: Andrew Saver, 1972-2021
Burlingtonian spent some of his favorite times on Lake Champlain with friends and family
From the Publisher: Last Word
The United States passed a morbid milestone on Monday: half a million lives lost to the coronavirus. Many of those souls died surrounded by strangers — health care workers who were trying their best to provide some comfort and connection. Loved ones left behind have also had to forego the ritual of saying goodbye in…
Farming Tests the Bonds of a Korean American Family in the Spellbinding ‘Minari’
Our streaming entertainment options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. Right now, the 2020 films that thrilled festival audiences and garnered award nominations are still trickling onto streaming platforms and into local theaters. Two of those movies are celebrations of America — its roads, its rural heartland, its people — with…
How Do I Tell If My Relationship Is a Bad Fit or If I’m Afraid of Relationships?
Dear Reverend, My boyfriend is moving in with me next week. We’ve been together for two years now, and this is the first time we’ll live in the same city. I love him, but my body is convinced I am making a mistake by dating him — everything feels uncomfortable when I think about staying…
Vermont Arts and Humanities Organizations Consider the Digital Post-Pandemic Future
The words “historical society” probably don’t call to mind images of technological innovation. But during the pandemic, the digital sphere has offered the only way for Vermont’s nearly 200 historical societies to reach their audiences. These organizations, many of which run on volunteer power, responded with creativity. The Norwich Historical Society created podcast driving tours…
Free Will Astrology (2/24/21)
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean author Anaïs Nin was a maestro of metamorphosis, a virtuoso of variation, an adept at alteration. She regarded her ceaseless evolution as a privilege and luxury, not an oppressive inconvenience. “I take pleasure in my transformations,” she wrote. “I look quiet and consistent, but few know how many women there…
Interdisciplinary Artists Create Volume Two of Art Mag ‘Caddisfly Project’
Since poets and fiction writers abound in the 802, literary magazines do, as well. But when a full-color, handsomely designed art magazine appears, it’s noteworthy. Caddisfly Project, edited by artists Whitney Ramage of Middletown Springs and Karen Y. Chan of New York City, presents the work of 12 internationally connected artists in lush photographs. The…
Letters to the Editor (2/24/21)
A+ for School Story I am writing to say thank you. I just read Jonathan Mingle’s article [“Cliff Notes on Rural Education,” February 17]. It was one of the best written, well-researched and thoughtful pieces I have read on the future of our schools in rural Vermont. I find it heartbreaking that our leadership in…
Bottom Line: How COVID-19 Nearly Killed, Then Resuscitated, EMS Provider Garnet Health
In September 2019, Ryan Ferris opened his new emergency medical services company, now called Garnet Health. Six months later, the business nearly flatlined. Why? Its customer base virtually disappeared. Garnet’s ambulances and medical crews are licensed and equipped like those of any EMS rescue squad in Vermont, but they don’t respond to 911 calls. Instead,…
Code for BTV Helps Vermont Attorneys Process Expungement Petitions More Quickly
In its ongoing efforts to reform the state’s criminal justice system, Vermont owes a debt to the civic hackers at Code for BTV. Since 2018, volunteer attorneys at expungement clinics have used an internet browser extension created by the group. It allows them to cut nearly an hour of work from the process of preparing…
Page 32: Short Takes on Five Vermont Books
Seven Days writers can’t possibly read, much less review, all the books that arrive in a steady stream by post, email and, in one memorable case, a richness of minks. So this monthly feature is our way of introducing you to a handful of books by Vermont authors. To do that, we contextualize each book…
Williston Agreed to Limit Disclosures About Two Cops Accused of Misconduct
Someone had slammed a car into the mailboxes. Colchester police officers who responded to a rental home near Clay Point on September 13 found car parts strewn about the broken posts — and a clue not far away. A gray Volkswagen in the home’s driveway had a damaged front end, a missing side-view mirror and…
From Painting to Sculpting to Blacksmithing, Harlan Mack’s Artwork Relays a Worldview
Harlan Mack is a 40-year-old artist who lives in Johnson about a mile from the Vermont Studio Center, where he has worked for the past 17 years. Last week, when Seven Days visited him at the VSC sculpture studio, the campus was eerily empty, rendering Mack’s jobs as sculpture shop manager and resident life manager…
Soundbites: New Musicians’ Fund; Local Music Videos Galore
Let’s Have Some Fund This week a ray of sunshine is beaming down on our beleaguered music community, which has languished in limbo since the pandemic shuttered live music venues nearly one year ago. I’ve said this a few times over that stretch, but never has it been truer than right now: Vermont musicians, help…
New Erotics, ‘New Erotics’
(Self-released, digital) Surprise, surprise. The record store proprietor with a dedicated post-punk/new-wave section in his shop now finds himself in a brand-new post-punk/new-wave band. A cadre of Montpelier badasses — including Buch Spieler Records’ co-owner Knayte Lander, recent Long Island transplants Ian Denning and Rob Tav, and mononymous vocalist Henri — have formed as New…
The Lemon Flyers, ‘Out to Sea’
(Self-released, digital) There is a transcendent moment — a little holy explosion of hail, hail, rock and roll! — about halfway through the third track of the Lemon Flyers’ new record, Out to Sea. Guitarist Matt Kavanagh’s solo comes screaming into the previously sedate “Mind on Fire” like a jump cut in a horror film.…
Can Once-Maligned Ranked-Choice Voting Make a Comeback in Burlington?
When Burlington voters cast their Town Meeting Day ballots on or before March 2, they’ll have the opportunity to resurrect a voting system that some residents had hoped was long dead. Question 4 asks whether the city should change its charter to bring back ranked-choice voting, a system that allows voters to rank candidates in…
This Town Meeting Day, Vermonters Will Vote on Swimming Pools, Road Salt and ‘Sparkles’
On Tuesday, March 2, Vermonters will participate in a Town Meeting Day unlike any other. At least a dozen towns are mailing ballots to all active registered voters. A handful have moved their polling stations outdoors, and several have postponed their votes altogether. While the coronavirus threatens to rob Town Meeting Day of its vaunted…
Strife Is Evident in Vermont’s Political Parties, but They Still Have an Important Role
Kevin Burgess, the Vermont Democratic Party’s director of outreach, quit earlier this month, citing a “toxic” work environment and a “complete and utter failure of party leadership.” Days later, Scott McNeil, the party’s executive director, announced he’s leaving, too. The Vermont GOP is also in disarray, split between fealty to and disdain for former president…
Obituary: Lt. Col. Harvey L. Ottinger (Ret.), 1929-2021
Military veteran competed in Senior Olympics at age 90
‘Pegulars’ Help Peg & Ter’s Weather the Pandemic
Valentine’s Day 2020 marked a top day of business for Peg & Ter’s in Shelburne. The restaurant on Route 7 threw a party with music by the Hokum Brothers; couples and non-couples attended the festivities. “It was so much fun,” Peg & Ter’s co-owner Johnny Helzer said. “We finally got some momentum — and then…
Pastured Eggs, Composting and Human Rights Are Linked at Black Dirt Farm
Eggs from Black Dirt Farm often come with unexpected side dishes: printed notes nestled between the ungraded brown eggs and the cardboard carton. In the fall, those messages showcased the Merriam-Webster definitions of “democracy” and “white supremacy” to show that the two are mutually exclusive. This winter, pink inserts cite the figure that one in…
New Bakery and Deli From Otter Creek Bakery Team Opens in East Middlebury
The village of East Middlebury has a new breakfast and lunch destination, and it’s easy to spot: Otter East Bakery & Deli is painted sky blue, with its namesake aquatic mammal grinning over the entrance. The bakery and deli opened on February 17 at 51 Ossie Road. It’s the second local business for owner Ned…
