Jul 18-24, 2018
Give and Take: A Special Report on Vermont’s Nonprofits, Part 5; Local Agencies Address Bhutanese Suicide; The Scale Brings Popular Poké Bowls to Vermont
Cover Story
What’s the Future of Vermont Philanthropy?
Terry Pomerleau grew up eating breakfast and dinner most days with his grandfather, the late Burlington real estate tycoon Antonio Pomerleau. As a teenager, he chauffeured the shopping-mall developer and philanthropist from meeting to meeting and heard every story and aphorism a thousand times. “My grandfather always said that you have to do what you…
Seriously: Colorblind Bowen
In this episode, Bryan attempts to interview skateboarder, comedian and Laffy Taffy Chief Laugh Officer Richard Bowen. Follow Richard on Instagram: @colorblindbowen CREDITS Written by: Richard Bowen and Bryan Parmelee Filmed and edited by: Bryan Parmelee Artwork/photography courtesy of: Luke Awtry, Dreamstime Logo/art direction by: Don Eggert Audio by: Bryan Parmelee Related Stories
Obituary: Linda Pervier, 1951-2018
Burlington Linda Pervier, 67, passed away peacefully on July 10, 2018, at the McClure Miller VNA Respite House following a courageous fight with cancer. She lived a remarkably full and rich life with many cherished friends, esteemed colleagues, and a close and loving family. Linda leaves behind six grieving brothers and sisters: Jerrold (Lynn), Richard…
The Cannabis Catch-Up: What’s the Deal With Gifting?
A major gray area in Vermont’s new cannabis law could soon get a little clearer. By early next week, Attorney General T.J. Donovan will issue guidance on the issue of “gifting” cannabis, which cropped up as soon as the state legalized weed on July 1. Here’s how it works: A seller offers a gift of…
Obituary: Donald A. Brown, 1927-2018
South Burlington Donald A. Brown, educator, fly fisherman, music lover, master furniture refinisher and raconteur, died at VNA Vermont Respite House on May 27, 2018. Don was born on October 26, 1927, at the Fanny Allen Hospital in Colchester to Isabelle Duprat Brown and Victor Pierre Brown during the Great Flood of 1927. When it…
Shy Guy Gelato: A Taste of Italy in Burlington’s South End
My love affair with gelato began almost two decades ago. I was 23, backpacking alone in Italy, and got lost trying to find my way back to my hotel in Venice. After an hour circling the labyrinthine streets, I spotted a sign for a gelateria at the end of an alleyway. Ducking out of the…
Eat This Week, July 18 to 24, 2018: Dinner by Farm
Farm visitors mingle over passed hors d’oeuvres and cheeses from Sweet Rowen Farmstead and Jasper Hill Farm during cocktail hour, then sit at a long communal table for a meal courtesy of Stowe Mountain Resort chef Eric Besecker. On the menu: courses featuring brined and roasted local chickens, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables…
Comedian Richard Bowen Just Wants to Tell Jokes Full Time
Standup comedy and skateboarding may seem like completely different pursuits. But they have at least one thing in common: You can’t get good at either without falling flat on your ass a bajillion times. South Burlington-based standup comic and avid skater Richard Bowen knows this well. With slightly unruly brown hair, thick-rimmed glasses and blue…
Keyboard Comedian: Richmond Man Keeps Things Light on Front Porch Forum
Most Vermonters use Front Porch Forum to communicate with neighbors about local issues such as police budgets and missing pets. For the last five years, Tracy Rosen of Richmond has been using the online community-building service to make jokes, too. “Ducks and Cats Cannot Run for Selectboard,” Rosen declared in one recent message to his…
‘Modern Apothecary’ Juel Juice + Smoothies Coming to WRJ
First came the juice camper, then came the storefront. In White River Junction, JUEL Juice + Smoothies will open a smoothie bar and herbal products apothecary in a new commercial building at 27 North Main Street later this summer. Cofounders Elena Taylor and Julie Sumanis, Upper Valley natives who met while working at Elixir restaurant…
Art Review: ‘The Fabric of Emancipation,’ Rokeby Museum
Four commanding figures welcome visitors to Rokeby Museum’s rotating exhibition space in Ferrisburgh. With full skirts and dramatically ballooning sleeves, their 19th-century period silhouettes are exactly what one might expect to see at the historical heritage site. Except that this clothing is sewn from vibrant Ankara-print cotton, a European-produced textile most commonly associated with African…
Letters to the Editor (7/18/18)
Nonprofit Numbers It’s about time the number of nonprofits and their competitive missions were exposed in a publication [Give and Take: “Too Much of a Good Thing,” July 4]. On a per capita basis, Vermont has the highest number of nonprofits per population among the other 49 states, twice as high as the national average.…
How a Vermont Fly-Fishing Museum’s Lawsuit Changed the Definition of a Nonprofit
Charles Orvis founded his fly-fishing company in Manchester 162 years ago and quickly built its reputation as a high-quality outdoor outfitter. Today the Orvis Company remains a privately held business but has expanded to include an extensive online catalog and 69 retail stores and 10 outlets that also sell apparel and dog beds. Its products…
Why Gillian Welch Is Reissuing Her Albums on Vinyl
These days, when Gillian Welch and David Rawlings cut a record, they literally cut a record. In 2013, the longtime musical duo purchased a record lathe so that they, along with mastering engineer Steven Marcusson and assistant engineer Brent Bishop, could cut their own master discs — the plates that record plants use to press…
A New Ceres for the Statehouse Begins to Take Shape
Tucked away in a battered, graying building in Barre, the newest version of Vermont’s most prominent monumental sculpture is taking shape. The clay model of Ceres — the Roman goddess of agriculture — currently resides in the Barre Sculpture Studios. This fall, a larger version will be installed on the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier. Granite…
WTF: How Can Someone Sell Rights Over a River in Montpelier?
As “for sale” signs go, this one is bizarre but dead serious. If you stand on the north side of the Rialto Bridge, on State Street in downtown Montpelier, the advertisement is visible on the red brick building adjacent to the North Branch of the Winooski River. It reads: “Rights to build a deck across…
Proof Negative: Auditor Documents Lack of Evidence for Business Incentives
The State of Vermont spends $14 million a year on economic development programs, including tax credits, marketing assistance and downtown revitalization. Vermont isn’t alone; virtually every state has similar efforts designed to grow jobs and attract business. The problem is, according to a new report, there’s little to no evidence that these kinds of programs…
The Scale House Brings Fresh Fish to Hardwick
The Hardwick area of the Northeast Kingdom is known for producing top-notch food and drink, from the vegetables grown at Pete’s Greens in Craftsbury to the cheese and beer made at Jasper Hill Farm and Hill Farmstead Brewery, respectively, in Greensboro. But seafood isn’t so readily available, and part-time resident Sven Olson recognized the void.…
Movie Review: Director Debra Granik Returns With the Wrenching ‘Leave No Trace’
This is Debra Granik’s first narrative feature in nearly a decade. In 2010, she cowrote and directed Winter’s Bone, a masterful tale of murder, mental illness and meth that introduced the world to Jennifer Lawrence. That film, of course, possessed any number of laudable attributes. But consider for one second the significance of that single…
Soundbites: Two Become One
Summer 2018 has already provided us with a memorable selection of outdoor concerts and multiday festivals. But the hits keep coming this week when seasoned rockers Guster team up with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra for a one-of-a-kind collaboration. The two groups take the stage on Saturday, July 21, at the Green at the Shelburne Museum.…
Chandler Center Presents 8th Annual Summer Pride Theater
When the Summer Pride Festival first launched at the Chandler Center for the Arts in 2011, a typical reaction was: “Wait, what? A pride festival in Randolph?” The response of one local resident was worse: Outraged, he pulled his program sponsorship. LGBTQ content might not be for everyone, but the community at large has been…
Album Review: Julia Caesar, ‘Heavy Flow’
(Self-released, digital download) Riding a wave of righteous feminist momentum, Julia Caesar finally unveil their debut EP, Heavy Flow. And it’s impossible to take it in without considering the current political context. The reckoning within the music industry puts more attention on female, queer and other disenfranchised voices than ever before. Locally, Julia Caesar are…
Vermont Cops Partner with Nonprofits to Fight Sex Crimes
David Sleigh, a well-known defense attorney based in the Northeast Kingdom, had questions about the special investigations unit that responds to sex crimes and child abuse in Orleans County. So, on June 28, he filed a public records request for information about its governance, staff salaries and grant funding. Six days later, Dawn Kelly, the…
Album Review: Richard Ruane & Beth Duquette, ‘Notch Road’
(Riptone Records, CD, digital download) “When you look at me, do you see a future or a chain?” That is no simple question to ask a lover. You can imagine everything going still as two people suddenly grapple with such a behemoth between them, two hearts trying to find each other through all the bullshit…
Scarlett Letters: My Wife Suddenly Wants Aggressive Sex
Dear Scarlett, My spouse and I have been together for more than 10 years. Our sex life used to be hot and heavy, but it wound down. We’ve been trying to rekindle things, but something happened that derailed it. In the middle of sex, my wife got aggressive and told me to slap her on the…
Free Will Astrology (7/18/18)
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Self-described skeptics sometimes say to me, “How can any intelligent person believe in astrology? You must be suffering from a brain dysfunction if you imagine that the movements of planets can reveal any useful clues about our lives.” If the “skeptic” is truly open-minded, as an authentic skeptic should be, I…
Search and Replace: Hiring New Nonprofit Leaders Isn’t Easy
Gil Livingston spent more than a quarter century working at the Vermont Land Trust: one year as legal counsel, 16 as manager of land conservation, 10 as president. During his tenure, the Montpelier-based organization protected 350,000 acres across the state. Livingston shepherded countless projects, from saving backcountry ski terrain in Bolton to creating a 12-acre…
Theater Review: ‘Twelfth Night,’ Lost Nation Theater
Since William Shakespeare’s texts are now drenched in footnotes and study guides, it might seem his plays need to be explained. Not so. They need to be performed. Lost Nation Theater’s production of Twelfth Night proves that insightful acting and inventive staging let Shakespeare’s words intoxicate the audience. Director Amanda Rafuse ditches the pantaloons for…
Movie Review: Don’t Have High Hopes for the Clichéd Action Flick ‘Skyscraper’
Here’s a good use of digital effects: plunking a 225-story skyscraper that looks like a postmodern tree stump on the skyline of Hong Kong. And here’s another: plunking Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the exterior of that skyscraper. Skyscraper sounds like a recipe for the ideal turn-off-your-brain summer movie: The Towering Inferno with CGI and…
Agencies Alarmed by Bhutanese Refugee Suicides
On the morning of April 10, Indra Mainali was running errands in preparation for his daughter’s birthday party when he received a frantic phone call from his wife. Indra’s father, Hari, had called her and said, “If you want to see me for the last time, come to Ethan Allen Homestead.” Indra rushed home and…
The Scale Poke Bar Offers Fishy Fare in Williston
As food goes, poke isn’t a natural fit for a state without a seacoast. With origins in Hawaii, the dish traditionally features raw fish that is sliced — poke (pronounced “pokay”) means “to cut or slice” in Hawaiian — and prepared simply. It could be served with chopped scallions and sweet onions, or seasoned with…
The Friendly Toast Opens in Downtown Burlington
The Friendly Toast, equipped with retro furnishings and a friendly staff, opened Monday morning at 86 St. Paul Street in Burlington. At the site of the former Bluebird Tavern, it’s the fifth branch of a New England chain that launched 18 years ago. The restaurant has 72 menu items, roughly the same number of employees,…
