They knew it would be bad, but no amount of catastrophizing could have prepared Zach Andrews and Marie Thompson for what they found last Friday upon returning to what had been home. The flood that sent them fleeing the Berlin Mobile Home Park four days earlier had plastered the floors of their double-wide home with…
Deborah Henken and Bryan Fantie of Gaithersburg, Md., announce the engagement of their daughter, Samara Rose Fantie, to Carl Elliott “Ott” Lindstrom, son of Timothy and Jessica Lindstrom of Williamsburg, Va. Samara received degrees from Amherst College and American University and is a 2D/3D digital artist and the CCO of a video game development startup.…
Elizabeth Parker, the senior warden of Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Montpelier, knows she’s lucky that her church sits slightly higher than ground level and didn’t get the worst of the flooding that damaged so many buildings in Montpelier on July 10. But the water did rise enough to soak the wooden floorboards of the…
Running water has been restored to Marshfield village 10 days after a historic flood caused a landslide that broke pipes from its well. Now, state officials are repairing their relationship with Marshfield residents. That’s because Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison explained the state’s inaction on the issue by falsely claiming publicly that Marshfield’s volunteer emergency…
After Seven Days’ editors, proofreaders and graphic designers finish putting together the paper on Tuesday night, they pass the metaphorical baton to Matt Weiner, director of circulation and logistics. It’s his job to get 35,000 copies of the issue into the hands of readers across Vermont. Last week, that was more difficult than usual. Matt…
A year after Vermont embarked on a first-in-the-nation program to test hundreds of schools for toxic airborne chemicals known as PCBs, the findings have already led to several lawsuits. In mid-June, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark announced that she was suing Monsanto, the sole U.S. manufacturer of PCBs, over alleged harm to Vermont’s natural resources,…
Vermont music venues took a beating in last week’s storms and flooding. Charlie-O’s World Famous, Hugo’s Bar & Grill and Bent Nails Bistro in Montpelier sustained significant damage and canceled all of their shows (see “In the Mire”). Waterbury and Barre went through the wringer, too — just check the pictures on Gusto’s Facebook page…
On the morning of their Seven Days interview, the members of folk-punk band Tall Travis gathered at the location they’d chosen under a mulberry tree on Burlington’s Main Street. The six musicians — some of them barefoot — milled around in the mulch. They’d come to the same tree yesterday, they shared. Bassist Theodore “Teddy”…
CANCER (Jun. 21-Jul.22): The sometimes overly clever author Oscar Wilde said, “When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.” I reject that warped view of reality and assure you it will have no bearing on your life in the coming weeks. If you formulate your prayers with care and discernment, they will…
(Yellow Dog Records, CD, digital) An ex-lover of mine really, really hated The Lord of the Rings. She had a litany of gripes about J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy saga, including what she described as its “obsession with nepotism.” She didn’t love the story’s reliance on bloodlines and heritage, often contrasting it to the real world,…
Standing Ovation Thank you, Seven Days, for publishing Erik Esckilsen’s exceptionally comprehensive and well-written piece on Bill Blachly and Unadilla Theatre [“Well Played,” July 12]. Having known Bill since the mid-1960s, and as a former Unadilla cast member, I thought I knew a lot about the subject, but there were interviews, history and insights in…
(Self-released, CD, digital) Franklin native Josh Worman returned to his home state of Vermont in 2014 after years of living in New York City and Nashville, Tenn. The singer-songwriter and guitarist wasted no time in reestablishing his musical connections, recording several albums’ worth of his genre-skewing brand of roots rock, including the 2018 legalization anthem…
George Gross plucked a perfect-looking cucumber from a mud-caked plant and shook his head. He can’t sell that cucumber or any other growing at Dog River Farm. When the floodwaters of the river receded from his fields in Berlin last week, they left deep-green cucumbers and hundreds of other vegetables intact but potentially contaminated. He…
Across the state, as torrential rain and flash flooding caused destruction and chaos last week, Vermonters posted videos and photos online of their battered towns, overflowing rivers and deteriorated roads. Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger was in Burlington filming the raging Winooski River at the falls and crowdsourced videos from around the state…
By the time I caught up with the comedy Joy Ride this weekend, it had already been declared a bomb, yet another casualty of a box office climate in which would-be blockbusters no longer bust blocks and mid-budget movies languish. Maybe the raunchy comedy genre is one that people prefer to wait and stream. Maybe…
Dear Reverend, I’ve been hanging out with this guy for a while. We have a lot of fun and the sex is great, but he has started dropping hints about wanting me to suck on his toes. I’m no prude, and I’m cool with trying new things, but I’m not so sure about this one.…
new in theaters BARBIE: Yes, it’s here, in all its pinkness — Margot Robbie plays the Mattel toy as she experiences her first-ever existential crisis. With Ariana Greenblatt, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Ryan Gosling. Greta Gerwig directed. (114 min, PG-13. Big Picture, Essex, Majestic, Marquis, Palace, Roxy, Star, Stowe, Sunset, Welden) OPPENHEIMER: Director Christopher Nolan tells…
For the 12th time in her two decades as executive director of Studio Place Arts in Barre, Sue Higby found herself mucking out the basement last week. The city was subject to serious flooding from the monsoon-strength rains that devastated much of central Vermont. Cleanup — of basements, streets and many granite sculptures on Main…
Theaters, music venues, libraries, bookstores and other cultural institutions were among Vermont businesses damaged by floodwaters last week. Hundreds of artists have been forced to pivot as business and building owners around the state assess damage and start to rebuild. Seven Days visited eight organizations in Montpelier. While some are forced to remain closed for…
In the media coverage of today’s fervid culture wars, the word “book” frequently appears with the word “banned” — an abhorrent shotgun wedding of associations. But the artists in a current exhibit at Burlington’s S.P.A.C.E. Gallery ignore the political fray, in effect shelving hate, fear and intolerance and putting remarkable creativity on display. “The Art…
Toward the beginning of Beetlejuice, the 1988 comedy-horror blockbuster directed by Tim Burton, the ghosts of Barbara and Adam Maitland (played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) look down in shock from their hilltop country farmhouse as another, living family arrives to move in. In East Corinth, where the movie was filmed, residents have spent…
For a Superfund site, Burlington’s Barge Canal is teeming with life. On a recent July morning, cattails swayed in the breeze as birds swooped overhead. A frog jumped across a path dotted with yellow flowers, and a woodchuck scurried to its den. A cargo train rumbled by, a reminder of the area’s industrial past. The…
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 loomery of loons. So this regular feature is our way of introducing you to a handful of books by Vermont authors. To do that, we contextualize each book…
Mike Stridsberg had pumped close to seven feet of floodwater out of the basement of his Berlin home last Wednesday when he realized he needed a longer hose to finish the job. Powerful storms had ripped through the state just two days before, but his friend Bob Nelson’s hardware store had already reopened. The store,…
The past 10 days have made it tough to think about celebrating summer, with so many Vermont communities experiencing devastating losses due to flooding. Thankfully, other parts of Vermont were spared the worst of the weather and remain open for business. In fact, they need our business to make the most of their summer season.…
John Hurley’s mother showed not a hint of hesitation when he asked her, 34 years ago, if he should buy White Cottage Snack Bar. It’s like Bubbling Brook, he told her, the been-there-forever, summers-only restaurant with five ice cream windows in Westwood, Mass., where he grew up. White Cottage had opened in Woodstock in 1957.…
Barre man traveled around the world with an open mind and an open heart
Full Spectrum Wednesday 26 Fans of folk flock to see Rainbow Girls at Next Stage Arts Project in Putney. This eclectic, tender roots trio combines heavenly harmonies, plush instrumentals and hopeful, honest, social justice-oriented lyrics into a textured, tuneful tapestry. Upbeat Americana act Pete Muller & the Kindred Souls open. Rock On Saturday 22 &…
Dedicated nurse practitioner will be remembered by the words she lived by: adventure is out there
David Wulfson is sleeping in his truck again. Back in 2011, the CEO and co-owner of Vermont Rail System lived out of his pickup for weeks while repair crews worked around the clock to get the company’s 400-mile railroad network up and running again after Tropical Storm Irene. The damage to Vermont’s train tracks and…
Stoney stood in his crate and complained loudly, his high-pitched whines echoing in the near-empty B.O.R. Ice Arena in Barre. But the brindle mutt immediately quieted down once Cathy Plas, a volunteer with the Central Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team, or CVDART, leashed him for a quick walk outside. “He’s been very vocal this whole…
The last preflood photos Barre restaurant owner Rich McSheffrey has of the sprawling basement storage and mechanical area under his Cornerstone Pub & Kitchen are time-stamped 5:40 p.m. on July 10. That’s when rushing floodwaters reached the basement electrical outlets and the security cameras went dead. By that time, McSheffrey already knew things were not…
Waitsfield residents gathered beside the covered bridge over the Mad River for the town’s weekly outdoor Round Up on Wednesday evening. Run by riverside restaurant the Sweet Spot, the event was a good-natured kickback. DJ Xav Wav spun crowd-pleasers such as “Take Me Home, Country Roads” on vinyl, and families fanned out with paper plates…
Nine days after celebrated architect David Adjaye was accused of sexual misconduct, Shelburne Museum announced it will no longer engage the architect to design its planned Perry Center for Native American Art, a $12.6 million building scheduled to open in spring 2026 and intended to showcase a significant collection of Indigenous art. Related The museum…
Nurse devoted her life to her family and to caring for others
