Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2014
Checking Out Burlington Rapper Learic; Burlington College Update; Sleuthing Mike Myers in Vermont
Cover Story
Checking Out Burlington Rapper Learic
Devon Ewalt, aka Learic, is seated at a table at a bustling Burlington café, his long, sturdy frame leaning casually against his chair. A dog-eared copy of Three Days Before the Shooting…, Ralph Ellison’s unfinished second novel, rests beside his coffee mug. He furrows his dark, thick eyebrows, his mouth pursed in concentration. Then a…
Obituary: Cheryl Hanna, Burlington
Our family is devastated by the untimely death of our beloved Cheryl Hanna, loving wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and mentor to so many. She was 48. Cheryl was a force of nature. She was compassionate and thoughtful, sweet and funny, brilliant and an inspiration to so many. Cheryl was cherished by our family—by our…
Obituary: Thelma L. LaRocque, 1923-2014, Winooski
Thelma L. LaRocque, 91, a longtime resident of Winooski died Tuesday, July 29, 2014 surrounded by loving family at the Vermont Respite House in Williston following a long illness. Thelma was born in Burlington, VT on February 24, 1923, the daughter of William T. and Lottie (Flood) Bessette. She was married to David LaRocque, who…
Obituary: Malberge Clara Bessery, 1913-2014, South Burlington
Malberge C. Bessery, 100, died on Friday, August 1, 2014, peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family. Mae was born on October 23, 1913, the daughter of Joseph and Clara Poirier. She was the last surviving member of her family of seven girls and one boy born into the Joseph Poirier family. She married…
Eliam Gabriel Kirby Richter
On June 24, 2014, at Fletcher Allen Health Care, Anne Kirby Richter and Marc Richter welcomed a son, Eliam Gabriel Kirby Richter.
Obituary: Armand Antonio Marcoux, Jr.
Armand Antonio Marcoux, Jr., (Chicky) 71, passed away peacefully on Tuesday evening July 29, 2014 in Fletcher Allen Health Center with his family by his side. Armand was born June 11, 1943 in Sudbury, VT, the son of the late Armand Antonio Marcoux, Sr. and Isabelle Gregoire of Sudbury, VT. He was married to the…
Cheer Up! There’s No Bad News in Shum-Land
At a hastily arranged press conference last Thursday in his Montpelier office, Gov. Peter Shumlin revealed some pretty grim news: State economists had downgraded revenue estimates for the current fiscal year by more than $31 million. To fill that hole, Shumlin said, he had ordered his cabinet members to figure out how to cut their…
Art Review: Arthur Schaller, Norwich University
Norwich University’s Sullivan Museum and History Center seems an unlikely setting for a show of abstract, colorful collages in the shape of small billboards. Arthur Schaller’s “Billboard Buildings: Collage and Mixed Media” is situated amid permanent exhibits that go heavy on uniforms, weapons and other accoutrements of warfare. Adding to the incongruity, the museum’s other…
Work Profile: Carolyn Carlson, Civil Engineer
Name: Carolyn Carlson Town: Williston Job: Civil engineer Carolyn Carlson is a civil engineer in the structures section of the Vermont Agency of Transportation. That’s the division responsible for maintaining Vermont’s 2,712 interstate, state and town bridges. If it spans more than 20 feet over a road, river or railroad, she probably knows it. Carlson…
Letters to the Editor (7/30/14)
Odious America A big thumbs down on Merrill’s Roxy Cinema for exhibiting Dinesh D’Souza’s odious right-wing pseudo-documentary, America: Imagine a World Without Her. This alleged “film” is nothing more than a dog whistle for dim-witted Teabaggers and other low-information reactionaries. A poorly made, intellectually dishonest infomercial for oligarchic capitalism, America has earned one of the…
Burlington Artist Couple Opens South Gallery
The gallery space at the front of RLPhoto in Burlington has been relatively inactive since the monthly Creative Competitions it once hosted were moved down Pine Street to S.PA.C.E. Gallery. Photographer/owner Rick Levinson and artist Clark Derbes passed that torch to S.PA.C.E. gallerist Christy Mitchell after the South End Art Hop last fall. But next…
Sandor Katz Demonstrates Fermenting Foods
Sandor Katz was sweating. Hard. Rivulets ran from his forehead, flowing just past his preternaturally blue eyes, finally settling in that famous moustache. He’d been touring Vermont with his whole-foods medicine show all month, but he wasn’t selling cure-alls — just books. Katz is the James Beard Foundation Award-winning author of Wild Fermentation: The Flavor,…
Architect William Maclay Champions Net-Zero Building
In the 1970s, architects at the forefront of sustainable design were dreaming up a wildly different way to build the American home — think polyhedra in the deserts of the Southwest, or “Earthships” fashioned from packed soil and recycled materials. “Society in general reacted like, ‘This is too far out,'” recalls Waitsfield architect William Maclay…
New Richmond Marketing Agency and Collective Promotes Artists
The dual mission spelled out in its name isn’t the only unusual thing about the Richmond Food Shelf & Thrift Store. The shop, which purchases the food it donates with the proceeds from the sale of secondhand apparel, also has a far spiffier website than do most small-town thrift stores. Its clean, professional design banishes…
I Need My Partner to Step It Up a Bit More in Bed
Dear Athena, My partner has had a very restrained sexual past with his only other lover. We have come a long way toward loosening up and exploring without inhibition. However, my needs are mounting and I need him to be more confident and pleasure me fully in bed. We have tried books and audiotapes to…
Sushi Station Opens in Quechee
About a year ago, Pattanit Smansook closed her Stowe restaurant, Red Basil Thai Cuisine, and moved to Mendon, where she opened Thai Pan Authentic Thai Restaurant on Route 4 last summer. About three weeks ago, Smansook expanded into Quechee, where she’s now running a take-out sushi and Thai joint on weekends. Open Thursday through Sunday,…
An Artists’ Residency in Stockbridge Takes Shape
An hour and a half southeast of Burlington, in search of a group of millennial artists living off the grid, I stop at a bookstore in Rochester to ask for directions. I’m headed to the Sable Project, a new summerlong artist-residency program on a rural property in Stockbridge, and I’m relieved when a local’s face…
Free Will Astrology (7/30/14)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): If a farmer plants the same crop in the same field year after year, the earth’s nutrients get exhausted. For instance, lettuce sucks up a lot of nitrogen. It’s better to plant beans or peas in that location the next season, since they add nitrogen back into the soil. Meanwhile, lettuce…
Eileen Day McKusick Applies Science to Sound Therapy
A couple of years ago, Eileen Day McKusick asked her son’s teenage friend to say the first word that came to mind when she said “energy medicine.” His reply: “taboo.” “That is a pretty standard response from the mainstream perspective,” says McKusick, a sound therapist, researcher and wellness educator at Johnson State College. By now…
Finances Put Burlington College’s Accreditation at Risk
“Start a fire.” That’s the motto at Burlington College. Lately, though, the liberal arts school’s leaders have been busy putting them out. In late June, the entity that accredits New England schools — a crucial marker of legitimacy — put the Queen City college on probation, citing its fragile finances. Of the 240 schools within…
WTF: Is Mike Myers Now a Vermonter?
Is Mike Myers now a Vermonter? If you’ve been hearing a subtle whirring sound around Burlington lately, it’s likely the collective hum of the rumor mill. Local gossipmongers are all a-thrum and local Tweeters are all a-twitter about Mike Myers — he who Yeah, baby’d his rotten-toothed way into our hearts; he who invited us…
Theater Review: All in the Timing, Dorset Theatre Festival
Dorset Theatre Festival’s production of David Ives’ All in the Timing has a delightfully weightless quality — and not just because one of the six comic sketches takes place suspended on a construction girder. The exuberance of Ives’ wordplay and the joyous energy of the three ensemble performers defy gravity. But this airy comedic concoction…
Adam’s Berry Farm Takes Root in Charlotte
In early April 2013, Adam Hausmann stood facing 56 acres of field and forest, high on a hill in Charlotte, with more than 5,000 mature blueberry bushes in waiting. The berries needed transplanting, and the land, he says now, was wide open. On a recent morning, the berry farmer stands amid the neat rows of…
Refugee Advocacy Group Folds After 30-year Run
Long-simmering immigration issues boiled up again recently as tens of thousands of Central American children crossed into the U.S. Some of approximately 57,000 unaccompanied minors who have made the journey since last October could land in Vermont. Gov. Peter Shumlin has expressed a desire to help house them, while also noting that the state lacks…
Tommy Alexander, Basement Soul
(Jenke Records, CD, digital download) For a guy who’s been a central figure in seven or so records with various projects since 2011, and who’s helped birth countless other recordings through his collective/label Jenke Arts, it’s surprising that Tommy Alexander’s new record, Basement Soul, marks only his second full-length solo effort. The 12-track album, recorded…
Some Make the Case to Keep Burlington Telecom
The local response verged on rejoicing six months ago, when Mayor Miro Weinberger announced at a celebratory press conference that Citibank had agreed to settle its lawsuit against Burlington Telecom. Progressives and independents on the Burlington City Council joined Weinberger’s Democratic allies in welcoming the deal. Citibank had agreed to accept $10.5 million to end…
The Modern Grass Quintet, Bellwether
(Self-released, CD, digital download) On their self-titled 2012 debut, the Modern Grass Quintet introduced local audiences to a new strain of bluegrass whose roots run to the origins of the genre yet bloom in the light of more contemporary influences. The seminal works of Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs is always fertile and…
News Quirks (7/30/14)
Curses, Foiled Again Police investigating a burglary in Lakewood, Wash., found a plaque on the front lawn of the home naming Alfred J. Shropshire III, 49, as a local car dealer’s “Salesperson of the Month.” When questioned, Shropshire confirmed the award was his and was charged with the crime. (United Press International) Police charged Perry…
A Sampler of Local Verse to Read Far From Home
No more cozying up with your book by the woodstove — it’s summer now, and there are plenty of plein-air places to read! At the risk of seeming like a control freak, I offer four new volumes by Vermont poets with suggestions for where to savor each one. To Read in a Hammock The recumbent…
Four More Vermont Albums You Probably Haven’t Heard
So many records, so little time. Seven Days gets more album submissions than we know what to do with. And given the ease of record making these days, it’s difficult to keep up. Still, we try to get to every local release that comes across the music desk, no matter how obscure or far out.…
Bear Pond Celebrates Vermonter’s New Book With a ‘Pop-Up Museum’
Imagine for a second an object out of context. A glass eye. A butterfly mounted in a box embossed with Chinese characters. A Cortland apple. A “coiled piece of clothesline rope.” A jar full of “soil black as India ink, a spider web of moisture creeping up the inside of the glass.” Each of those…
Soundbites: Previewing the Precipice
On the Edge When you stop and think about it, the number, variety and quality of music festivals that happen every summer in Vermont are pretty astounding. From the biggest multi-date fêtes to afternoon homegrown hoedowns and about a bazillion others in between, there’s something to suit almost any musical taste, summer schedule and budget.…
![A Day in the Islands [SIV363]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/episode363.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
A Day in the Islands [SIV363]
7/26/14: The Lake Champlain Islands are a popular summer tourist attraction with 200 miles of shoreline, breathtaking views and many small businesses catering to visitors. Halfway between Burlington and Montreal, a unique community thrives in the islands, including many artists who are inspired by their surroundings. Eva takes a day trip to South Hero, Grand…
And So It Goes
Are you sitting down? I’m about to coin a new phrase, and I wouldn’t want to knock you over with its culturally observant pithiness. Ready? Wrinkle porn. That’s the classification I’m going to use from now on for the increasingly common phenomenon of crappy films distinguished solely by the fact that their casts are on…
Lucy
Lucy is a silly science-fiction flick built on a concept disclaimed by actual scientists and, had it lasted much longer than 90 minutes, it might have become a drag. But writer-director Luc Besson is an expert at hitting the audience’s sweet spot, and the film goes by in such a blur of eye and brain…
Obituary: Victoria Pawlaczyk, 1989-2014, Burlington
Victoria Pawlaczyk, 25, went to be with the lord unexpectedly on Monday July 28th, 2014, after a lifelong struggle with diabetes and its complications. Victoria was born in Burlington, VT on January 28th, 1989. She went to Georgia Elementary School, and The Garvin School in Williston. Victoria was dearly loved by her family and friends.…
La Boca’s Wood Fired Pizzeria Opens in Burlington
Though heavily populated, Burlington’s North Avenue is hardly a culinary corridor. And few restaurateurs have been eager to do something about that. New North End residents Peter Grimard and Marylene Boileau just did, however, by opening La Boca’s Wood Fired Pizzeria last Tuesday at 1127 North Avenue, in a former KeyBank branch. “My wife wanted…
Pete’s Greens Opens a Store in Waterbury
Things got a whole lot brighter on Route 100 in Waterbury last Tuesday, when Pete’s Greens Farm Market opened at 2802 Waterbury-Stowe Road. And yes, that Pete is indeed Pete Johnson, who started his Craftsbury farm Pete’s Greens in 1995. This is the farm’s first store outside its home base, where the Pete’s Greens Farmstand…
