Jun 14-20, 2017
Passing It On: A Vermont Farm Family Grapples With Succession; Why a Burlington Home Has Been Vacant 48 Years; The South End Loses an Unlikely Art Champion
Cover Story
At Butterworks Farm, a Family Faces Succession
As an only child growing up at Butterworks Farm in Westfield, Christine Lazor spent lots of time alone. She’d play on the stone walls and in the tree lines at the edges of the fields. “I enjoyed being invisible,” she said, “out of the way, unobtrusive. I think I felt like part of the bigger…
Spirited Cocktail Offerings at Worthy Burger
At the Worthy Burger, the rules of engagement are clear: You go to eat burgers and drink beer in a casual but clean setting. You can get fries tossed with truffle oil and savory Parmesan pebbles if you like, or a basic green salad and pickles. When it comes to service — getting your food, adding…
Seriously: Butterworks Farm, 97 Dunder Rd., 2018 Vermont Governor Race
“Seriously Seven Days” is a new video series that takes a lighthearted look at what’s happening on the pages and behind the scenes at Vermont’s Independent Voice. In this episode, host Bryan Parmelee describes a Vermont dairy farm in transition, tells the tale of a Burlington dream house that’s been under construction for more than…
The Parmelee Post: Study: 90 Percent of All Creemee Lines the Result of Social Media
A groundbreaking study released last Thursday has shined a light on the impenetrable menace standing between thousands of Vermonters and their favorite frozen concoction. According to the Vermont Department of Economic Development report, at least 90 percent of all creemee lines are the direct result of social media usage. After several years of observation, researchers…
Memoriam: Eric H. Charbonneau
1/6/63-3/10/15 Seems unreal and kayfabe, Troll misses you babe. Our minds are so murkey and muddy, Eric misses you buddy. All other are zero, Amberlee misses her hero. We’ve shed so many tear drops, Josh misses you Pops. Can’t wait until we’re together again someday, We love you, Happy Father’s Day. Josh, Lance, Amber and…
![Butterworks Farm [SIV493]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/episode493-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Butterworks Farm [SIV493]
5/30/17: Butterworks Farm is a beloved Vermont institution, a small-farm success story in the Northeast Kingdom. Many recognize the Jersey cow on the label for Butterworks’ yogurt, kefir and cream but do you know the family behind the brand? In the 1970s, Jack and Anne Lazor carved out a niche for themselves in Vermont’s rural…
Meet the 79-Year-Old Man Who Will Oversee Vermont’s Energy Future
When the fledgling New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution went looking for a lawyer 46 years ago, they turned to Tony Roisman, a young Dartmouth College- and Harvard Law School-educated attorney already known as an expert on nuclear regulation. Roisman’s challenge of the operating license for the new Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant didn’t succeed,…
Soundbites: Mister Disaster
After only a few months of operation, Winooski’s Mister Sister — the only official LGBTQ bar in Vermont — might not be long for this world. Last Thursday, the bar’s owner, Craig McGaughan, launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise some money. His goal: $100,000. Yup. You read that right. This is not pay-back-a-loan-or-two money, nor is it upgrade-one-or-two-things…
Eat This Week, June 14 to 20, 2017: Wined and Dined
The Burlington Wine & Food Festival kicks off its weeklong edible extravaganza with a new event that explores the connections between wines and scent. Bartenders will match vinous flights with Alice & the Magician Cocktail Apothecary’s edible perfumes, helping drinkers pinpoint the wines’ olfactory idiosyncrasies. A glass of Beaujolais, say, might be misted with orange…
Farm-to-Institution Dining at Wake Robin
One night last week, the Seversons and the Larsens were eating together at a back table in Wake Robin’s dining room. The wives are sisters, and all four are friends. They have a standing dinner date on Sunday evenings and occasionally share midweek meals as well. You might say these eightysomething diners are eating experts…
Raw Milk Purveyor Henry’s Dairy Is Closing
In February 2016, Henry Cammack began selling bottles of raw Jersey milk at Bread & Butter Farm in Shelburne under the name Henry’s Dairy. This week, he closed the dairy and started selling his cows. Since Bread & Butter’s inception, providing milk from cows living on the land has been part of its model. And,…
Hackie: A Member of the Tribe
“In 300 feet, your destination is on your left.” I can never get used to the strangely inert voice of my GPS narrator. I find it off-putting, even creepy. Plus, I feel guilty using the darn device, as if I’m somehow cheating. I take pride in my well-earned knowledge of Vermont’s highways and byways, a…
Vermont Crafters Get Medieval at the Renaissance Faire
Expect to see men, women and children dressed in chain mail or flowing gowns with bodices later this month in Stowe. On June 24 and 25, they’ll gather at the Mayo Events Field for the second annual Vermont Renaissance Faire. Last year, according to organizer Jeffrey Folb, more than 2,200 people visited on the first…
Album Review: Kyle Chadburn, ‘Faded Colors in Darkened Skies’
(Self-released, digital download) Vermont has long been a bastion for twang. From folk and bluegrass to rockabilly and country, mountain music is as much a part of our denim-patched cultural fabric as dairy farms and progressive politics. But in recent years, one particular strain of the ever-nebulous Americana idiom has seemingly gone missing: melodic alt-country.…
Wren Kitz Dematerializes on His New Album
During his recent performance at the BCA Center in Burlington, experimental singer-songwriter Wren Kitz disappeared. Not literally, of course. But, after delivering a bashful introduction to a dozen or so attendees, he fell so deeply into his process that, when his set concluded nearly an hour later, it was clear he hadn’t noticed that the…
VNA Versus Bayada: Is Home-Care Competition Good for Vermont?
Vermont’s nonprofit home-care providers did everything in their power to prevent a for-profit, New Jersey-based competitor from setting up shop in the state eight years ago. They failed to stop Bayada Home Health Care but later succeeded in getting lawmakers to enact a 10-year ban to prevent any other home-health entities from following its lead.…
Sculptor Bruce MacDonald Completes the Periodic Table
For the past three years, Burlington-based artist Bruce R. MacDonald has been working in his South End studio to, in his way, make the elements of the periodic table visible. He has cut, sanded, ground and otherwise altered 118 22-by-22-inch panels, primarily of stainless steel, one representing each element. He calls these collective works “Visible…
Letters to the Editor (6/14/17)
A Word on ‘That Bird’ Your WTF [“What’s That Bird That Calls ‘Dorito?'” June 7] about birdsongs struck a wrong chord. I did not tell your writer that it would be difficult to identify a bird based solely on call or song. What I said was that it would be difficult to identify a bird…
Movie Review: ‘It Comes at Night’ Masterfully Builds Existential Dread
Exactly which “night” is writer-director Trey Edward Shults alluding to with his teasingly enigmatic title? That “good night” into which Dylan Thomas implored us not to “go gentle”? The “Endless Night” to which William Blake informed us some are born (while others are “born to sweet delight”)? The “Night primaeval” of Alexander Pope’s “The Triumph…
Woodbelly Pizza Serves Up Slices in the Capital
A mobile pizza business will soon settle down in Montpelier on Thursdays, when Woodbelly Pizza starts serving pies and slices at its commissary kitchen at 87 Barre Street. Woodbelly, which was based on Provender Farm in Cabot, has moved to the Montpelier space previously occupied by Butterfly Bakery of Vermont. The pizza makers have already…
Movie Review: ‘My Cousin Rachel’ Offers Twists, No Easy Answers
It’s not easy to write a compelling story with a protagonist who’s a clueless nincompoop, but midcentury best seller Daphne du Maurier excelled at it. In her Rebecca (1938), the deceased title character way overshadows the mousy heroine. And in My Cousin Rachel (1951), set in the Victorian era, the callow hero is no match…
Ask Athena: My Mom Isn’t OK With Me Being Gay
Dear Athena, My mom is not really OK with me being gay. She says she is, but I don’t think she is. At first she wouldn’t talk to me. Now we talk, and things have been good, but then she said not to bring anyone home. Now I have met someone, and I want to…
Local Tibetan Shares Stories About the Dalai Lama
Multicolored Tibetan Buddhist tapestries hang on the walls of Pasang Thondup’s living room in South Burlington, along with photos of his wife, Nyima Bhuti, and an illustrated map of Tibet. Among these keepsakes are two archetypal symbols of Tibet: a framed photograph of the Dalai Lama — the spiritual leader of Tibetans — and a…
A Never-Ending Home Construction Project Vexes a Queen City Hood
Beautiful, pricey homes with trim lawns line a dead-end street in Burlington’s South End. Runners jog and children play along the quiet tract. Situated by Oakledge Park and Lake Champlain, it cuts through one of the Queen City’s most desirable neighborhoods. Smack-dab in the center, though, 97 Dunder Road stands out. The property has no…
It’s 2018 Time: Who Might Challenge Gov. Scott?
That’s right, my friends. Some readers may howl at the idea, but it’s time for a first look at the 2018 campaign for governor. In particular, let’s consider who might be seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge first-term Republican Gov. Phil Scott. Too early, you say? “I’ve only had this job for six months,”…
South End Arts Community Loses an Unlikely Champion
Two weeks ago, Sue Powers affixed a handwritten note to a fence outside a trailer in Burlington’s South End. It said that anyone who was curious about what had happened to the trailer’s occupant, her friend Michael “Mick” Deloreto, should call her. Powers was compelled to take it down after only a few days; her…
Vermont Officials Warn: That Cute Raccoon Is Not a Pet
Here’s a tip from your friendly state game wardens: Leave wild baby animals alone. Vermont’s Fish & Wildlife Department says this is the time of year when people spot that itty-bitty raccoon, fawn or skunk and think, New pet! Not quite. Despite your best intentions, officials say animals that appear abandoned are actually quite well…
Album Review: NODON, ‘Covfefe EP’
(Self-released, digital download) Good punk thrives on bad politics. In 1980, the election of Ronald Reagan awakened a whole generation and made careers for the likes of the Dead Kennedys, among others. Decades later, the invasion of Iraq gave new purpose to groups such as NOFX and Rise Against. So it makes sense that 2017…
Free Will Astrology (6/14/17)
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Actress Marisa Berenson offers a line of antiaging products that contain an elixir made from the seeds of a desert fruit known as prickly pear. The manufacturing process isn’t easy. To produce a quart of the potion requires 2,000 pounds of seeds. I see you as having a metaphorically similar challenge…
A Tribute to Michael ‘Mick’ Deloreto
A new public memorial of sorts recently appeared in Burlington’s South End: the name “Mick,” emblazoned in all-capital purple and black letters on the second-floor exterior of 339 Pine Street. Over the M, written in smaller, cursive letters, are the words “Rest in Peace.” The unsanctioned commemoration rises above the inconspicuous tractor trailer yard where…
‘Moriah’: A Work of Dark Fiction Set in Vermont
Homegrown author Daniel Mills has gained a bit of a following in the horror community over the past few years. Since 2009, the Vermont native and University of Vermont employee has been steadily publishing: His output includes a number of short stories (many collected recently in The Lord Came at Twilight), the novel Revenants: A…
Review: ‘Art Works,’ Studio Place Arts
Aluminum, brass, copper, metal, mixed media, steel, stone, thread and wood speak to the strength and delicacy of the 20 works currently on exhibit at Studio Place Arts. Inspired by the theme of play, “Art Works” is a group show of 13 artists that encourages viewers to do some “playing” of their own. Many works…
New Takes on a Perennial Summer Fave: Strawberries
Some foods never overstay their welcome. People may tire of beets or green beans or the endless zucchini that become baseball bats in many a home garden. But strawberries? These delectable members of the rose family are eternally enticing. Local crops were delayed a few weeks by the cold, wet spring, so the season is…
Caledonia Spirits to Open Distillery in Montpelier
If all goes according to plan, Hardwick-based Caledonia Spirits will open a 30,000-square-foot riverfront distillery on Barre Street in Montpelier in the spring of 2018. The new facility, designed by Colchester’s Wiemann Lamphere Architects, will house all the company’s production of its popular Barr Hill gin, vodka and other spirits, as well as a full-service…
