Jan 13-19, 2021
Turning the Mic Around on VPR Host Jane Lindholm; Vermonters Return From the Capitol Riot Bearing Fresh Conspiracy Theories; New Executive Director Jay Wahl Sees a Strong, Stable, Effectual Flynn
Cover Story
Turning the Mic Around on Jane Lindholm, VPR’s Most Recognizable Voice
Updated January 24, 2021. You would never have known by listening to her crisp, assured voice on Vermont Public Radio that Jane Lindholm was hosting “Vermont Edition” from her kitchen table in Monkton with a dog blanket over her head for soundproofing. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, she’s done some of the live…
Obituary: Henry C. Burawa Jr., 1965‑2021
Burlington man loved music, animals and friends he considered family
Obituary: Jane Corrigan, 1932‑2021
Middlebury woman was a longtime educator and loving mother
Obituary: Jean “Ruth” Connolly, 1918‑2021
World War II ambulance driver became a successful, entrepreneurial businesswoman
Obituary: Susan Fay Smith, MD, 1944‑2021
A pioneer in ob-gyn medicine empowered those she served
Obituary: Robert C. Jones, 1934‑2021
Burlington man was considered the “dean” of northern New England railroad history
Obituary: Michael A. Loyer, 1989‑2021
In a life of both struggles and happiness, Burlington man’s shining light was the unconditional love of his daughter
Thom Terrific: Burlington Man Turns His Small Food Pantry Into a Neighborhood Staple
For nearly eight years, Thom Fleury has operated a small weekend food pantry in Burlington’s New North End. He started it in March 2013 when he realized that kids at C.P. Smith Elementary School, where Fleury then served as principal, could use some food on the weekends. On the first day, just three people showed up…
Irish Animation ‘Wolfwalkers’ Is a Hand-Drawn Feast for the Eyes
Our streaming entertainment options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. This week, I watched Wolfwalkers, the fourth feature from acclaimed Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, which was profiled in a recent issue of the New Yorker. Suitable for older kids and up (there are some scary battles), this visually sumptuous adventure…
Grand Old Parting? Riot at U.S. Capitol Exposes Rifts in the VTGOP
For the Vermont Republican Party, recovery from last week’s events in Washington, D.C., may take a long time — if it happens at all. While the New York Times reports that President Donald Trump’s divisiveness and incitement of violence have brought the national GOP “close to a breaking point,” longtime fissures in the Vermont party…
Free Will Astrology (1/13/21)
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):Capricorn author Edgar Allen Poe named “four conditions for happiness: life in the open air; love of another human being; freedom from all ambition; creation.” I’m accomplished in three of those categories, but a failure in being free of all ambitions. In fact, I’m eternally delighted by all the exciting creative projects…
After Early Uncertainty, Vermont Plans to Vaccinate the Elderly Next
As the first shipments of COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Vermont a month ago, police officers figured they would be among the first to receive it. “We’re responding into uncontrolled environments for emergency situations,” Rutland City Officer Kevin Blongy reasoned. “You don’t have control over the people, or where you’re responding to, or what precautions anyone’s…
Book Review: ‘A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears),’ Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling
Many volumes have been written about the back-to-the-landers who flooded into Vermont in the 1960s and ’70s, chronicling their colorful experiments with communes and other new forms of community. Even as we celebrate our own quirky utopians, however, Vermonters may know considerably less about a back-to-the-land movement of more recent vintage that happened right next…
A Former Prog Party Chair Challenges Freeman for Burlington City Council
Tiki Archambeau was working from home last June when a man having a mental health crisis wandered into his driveway in Burlington’s Old North End. Archambeau called the police, who arrived quickly and helped peacefully resolve the situation. That evening, Archambeau used Front Porch Forum to thank the officers for their work. He didn’t expect…
Amid the Pandemic, Red Door Jewelers in Randolph Finds New Facets to its Business
When Luke Ward was 5 years old, he would lay on his belly in parking lots searching the pebbles on the pavement for tiny bits of amethyst, a semiprecious stone common to his native New Hampshire. It took another 25 years before Ward fulfilled his dream of selling these and other gems for a living…
From the Publisher: ‘Fair Game’ On
Twelve years ago last Thursday, Vermont said goodbye to Seven Days political columnist Peter Freyne. January 7, 2009, was the first day of that year’s legislative session, so lawmakers honored his passing with a moment of silence. Not all of them liked Freyne, to put it mildly, but they sure as heck read his “Inside…
Vermont Makers Rework Handmade Quilts Into Clothing
If 2020 made you crave a simpler life, you’re not alone. The pandemic year motivated Americans to take up embroidery, install chicken coops in their backyards and, for those who could afford it, buy property sight-unseen in rural states, including Vermont. Aesthetics, both in fashion and home design, quickly followed. News media documented the proliferation…
Highland Center for the Arts Adorns a Snowy Trail With Sculpture in Greensboro
Weekend visitors to the Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro will likely encounter a friendly face at the café window taking food orders: that of Keisha Luce, the center’s executive director. Luce also cocurated the current outdoor exhibition, called the Open Air Gallery Ski & Snowshoe Trail, with Greensboro artist Maya McCoy. “She does…
Book Review: ‘Vermont Almanac: Stories From & for the Land, Volume 1,’ Edited by Dave Mance III, Patrick White and Virginia Barlow
Vermonters have a unique and persisting culture: This is the premise of the first volume of Vermont Almanac, released in December and projected to come out annually. On its website, nonprofit For the Land Publishing says the goal of the almanac is “to bring together the many individuals and organizations in Vermont whose mission and…
New Executive Director Jay Wahl Sees a Strong, Stable, Effectual Flynn
In September, Jay Wahl and his partner took a six-week vacation near Maine’s Acadia National Park. They hadn’t left their Philadelphia home in six months. As he unwound amid the rugged splendor of the Bold Coast, he frequently wondered, Could I live here? For Wahl, “here” meant not just Downeast Maine, but New England generally.…
Soundbites: The Fate of Waking Windows Remains Unclear
Greetings, music lovers. Apologies for not having a quippy headline to start things off. You see, I’ve written and rewritten this section so many times, including its head, because nothing feels right. I desperately want to be something like a cheerleader at the big homecoming game who just did an espresso enema. I want to…
Pete’s Posse, ‘Ya Know, Ya Never Know’
(Self-released, CD, digital, flash drive) Contra dancing is a popular pastime in the Green Mountains. And yet, unless you know to look for it, it’s almost completely invisible. There’s no dress code, no teenagers walking around Burlington blasting fiddle reels on their phone speakers. Pre-pandemic, its fans convened at town halls and barns, not clubs…
The Pyros, ‘The Pyros’
(Self-released, digital) Let’s start 2021 with an ending — specifically, that of Burlington rockers the Pyros. Alas, the band has unceremoniously called it quits. But before fully extinguishing themselves, last week the Pyros left fans with a pair of new releases: a self-titled LP and a companion album of live material, The Basement Tapes. Front…
Letters to the Editor (1/13/21)
Black With a Capital B Why do you capitalize Black when you refer to Black people, but not white when you refer to white people? Is this something new? I notice Bob Woodward did the same thing in his most recent book, Rage. I really don’t get it. Eric Johnson Burlington Editor’s note: Seven Days…
I Have a Crush on My Best Friend’s Little Sister
Dear Reverend, I am a 20-year-old guy with a crush on my best friend’s little sister. I have known my friend since middle school. I was immediately attracted to his sister the first time I met her. She is three years younger than me. I was always scared to get to know her, because I…
In Trump They Trust: Vermonters Bring Fresh Conspiracy Theories Back From D.C.
John Lyddy took in the scene around him, convinced that the only way to get an honest assessment of the size of the crowd at President Donald Trump’s Save America rally was to see it for himself. The 67-year-old southern Vermont resident had traveled to Washington, D.C., for the January 6 event to protest what…
Obituary: Sarah Maeck, 1948‑2020
Burlington-born woman was a lifelong horse lover and therapeutic riding teacher
Doughnut Diet: A Trio of New Businesses Meets Sweet Needs
January is typically diet month. Among the tangle of New Year’s resolutions that follow a season known for overindulgence are countless vows to eat better. The media feed the frenzy with articles on “clean eating” and the latest magic-bullet diets promising “no more belly fat” and other unreasonable goals. Cut all sugar! Cut all carbs!…
Stowe’s Round Hearth Trades Bunk Beds for Grilled Cheese and Artisan Goods
Until March 2020, the Round Hearth at Stowe was known as “Vermont’s Most Famous Ski Dorm.” Now, in its new life as the Blue Moon Vintage & Artisan Market and the Round Hearth Café, the large building just off Mountain Road has traded bunk beds and group trips for breakfast and grilled cheese. After Grady and…
Owner of Toast & Eggs to Open Dinner Restaurant in Middlesex
In 2018, while eating a sandwich at Red Hen Baking in Middlesex, Brian Lewis looked across the street at an old service center and said, “That’s my next restaurant.” When Filling Station opens at 970 Route 2 in late January or early February, his declaration will come true. The Middlesex restaurant will be the second…
