Jun 17-22, 2015
Meet Mike Smith, Vermont’s Fixer-in-Chief; Plain Talk About Jane Sanders; Hops Heaven at Craft Beer Cellar
Cover Story
Mike Smith Is the ‘Interim Fixer-in-Chief’
Burlington College was on the verge of collapse last September when Mike Smith found himself standing before a packed room of reporters, professors and students, telling it like it was. “I have been to a lot of news conferences,” the former administration secretary for Republican governor Jim Douglas told the tense crowd. “This is the…
Obituary: Carole Anne Fontaine, Burlington Vt
Carole Anne Fontaine died peacefully Thursday June 18 at home in Colchester. She leaves her husband of 31 years, Norman Fontaine. She was the daughter of Alta and Raymond M. Palmer. Carole attended the Burlington School System and graduated from Burlington High School in 1969. As a teenager she worked as a candy-striper at Mary…
Taste Test: Edson Hill in Stowe
Midway through dinner, my friend put down her fork and stared past me in incredulous alarm. “Is that a peacock?” she asked, pointing into the field behind my back. Down the hill, a large, long-tailed bird tracked through the gauzy vale. We decided it was probably a wild turkey. But, situated in a hollow off…
![Threads and Thresholds [SIV403]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/episode403.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Threads and Thresholds [SIV403]
6/13/15: Threads and Thresholds is a new work directed and choreographed by Hannah Dennison in collaboration with visual artist Leslie Anderson and composer David Severance. Held in the tiny rooms of the historic Kent Museum in Calais, the installation piece incorporates dance, theatre, art and music. The show runs June 18-21 with previews June 16-17…
Ava Marie, Kettle Steam
(Feedbands, digital download, vinyl) The 2014 debut full-length from Poultney’s Ava Marie, In Our Garden. After the War. Your Eyes Close. I Breathe Out., was not precisely a concept album, but it was stitched together with thematic threads. An attempt at high folk art, the record wove rustic, narrative storytelling with an airy, indie-folk aesthetic.…
My Partner’s Away and I Don’t Miss Him
Dear Athena, I have been apart from my partner for several weeks, and I don’t miss him at all. Is there something wrong with the relationship? Signed, Feeling Suspicious Dear Feeling Suspicious, What kind of not missing him are we talking about here? Do thoughts of him pop up now and then and make you…
Jurassic World
Jurassic World should have been told from the dinosaurs’ point of view. I (sort of) kid, but consider the two most complex and intriguing characters in this belated sequel to Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park series. One is a genetically engineered intelligent sociopath raised in isolation; the other, a skilled team player torn between her loyalties…
WTF: What’s That Apron Around the Bike Path?
Anyone who’s been down to Burlington’s Waterfront Park since spring sprung has likely noticed the sweet new stretch of bike path on the park’s northeast side: smooth-as-chocolate pavement flanked by crushed-stone shoulders. A yellow stripe down the middle reminds people not to hog the whole path. Nice. But what, exactly, is that white, waffle-patterned apron…
Soundbites: Mavis Staples Thrills the Flynn; Tommy Alexander Comes Home
Marry Me, Mavis Well, folks, another Burlington Discover Jazz Festival is in the books. And though somewhat dampened by the weather both weekends, the early returns are that it was a heck of a fest. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see as much of it this year as I typically would. But what I did catch left…
Talking Art With Alisa Dworsky
Alisa Dworsky is a familiar name to many art watchers in Vermont. Her large-scale crocheted installations wrapping the columns of the Bennington Museum and tree trunks at the Fleming Museum of Art are among a lengthy list of exhibitions and public projects. Now the textile-based artist and architectural designer has turned to collaborations with dancers.…
Theater Preview: The Bake Off, Vermont Stage Company
A.R. Gurney’s play The Dining Room is not about eating. Rather, the American playwright envisioned a series of overlapping but largely unrelated vignettes in which 18 characters act out small human dramas. When the work premiered in New York in 1982, the term “first world problem” had not yet become a meme, but WASP —…
Amy Black Finds a New Direction
Some musicians find their way early in life and take a straight-arrow path. For others, the muse can be a bit elusive. That’s the case with Amy Black. The Boston-based songwriter kicked off her career three years ago at age 40 and cut two country-tinged records before finding a place where she truly feels at…
Vermont’s Prison Chief Says It’s Time to Decriminalize Drug Possession
Vermont Department of Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito recalled spotting a young woman on a prison tour; he knew she was addicted to heroin, but she wasn’t getting treated for it. On another occasion, a former inmate who served five years on a marijuana conviction described his crime to Pallito as “possession of a vegetable.” Pallito…
Jane Says: Sanders’ Secret Weapon or a Political Liability?
The corner office in Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign headquarters has two desks — one for the candidate and one for his closest political adviser: Jane O’Meara Sanders, who doubles as his wife. Last month, she took in the view of Burlington’s City Hall Park three stories below and reflected on his choice to seek…
Will Peter Welch Ditch D.C. for Montpelier?
Last Friday in Washington, D.C., Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) was immersed in a showdown over a controversial Pacific trade accord. When President Barack Obama made a rare visit to Capitol Hill to seek fast-track authority to negotiate the deal, Welch sat just feet away. Hours later, the congressman joined his fellow Democrats in delivering the…
Peter and Meg Walker: A Landscape Architect and an Artist Still at Work
In 1964, two natives of Scotland, both graduates of the Edinburgh College of Art, met in Vermont. Meg Brannan, who was studying fine-metals jewelry design and tapestry weaving at the time, was visiting her sister and brother-in-law. The latter was Ian Tyndall, a partner in the renowned modernist landscape architecture firm of Dan Kiley, based…
Flashback: Did Bernie Sanders Really Save the Burlington Waterfront?
When U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) launched his run for president at Burlington’s sun-washed Waterfront Park last month, he claimed the spectacular public setting as a political victory. “This beautiful place was once an unsightly rail yard that served no public purpose and was an eyesore. As mayor, I worked with the people of Burlington…
Letters to the Editor (6/17/15)
Tall Enough Now [Re “Time to Grow Up? Burlington Considers New Building Heights,” June 10]: Is Burlington a physically modest small city nestled between lake and mountains, or a taller-is-better competitor of Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, British Columbia? Supporters of the new Burlington mall seem to promote the latter, asking for a variance that would…
Dance Preview: Hannah Dennison’s ‘Threads and Thresholds’
Never in his wildest dreams would Abdiel Kent have imagined that dancers would one day take over his inn and dry goods store. The owner of A. Kent’s Hotel was surely a practical man — who wasn’t in 1830s Vermont? The thought of a bunch of barefooted women (and a few men) maneuvering through his…
New Boxing Fitness Classes Hit Burlington
There’s nothing like a spousal spat to spur a good sparring session at a boxing gym. Still reeling from the one-two punch of an overdue tax payment and a squabble over savings with my husband, I’m full of piss and vinegar as I squeal my Toyota 4Runner into the parking lot of Burlington’s Row VT…
Opinion: UVM: At What Cost STEM?
“We’re here to celebrate the start of a new era at the University of Vermont,” crowed UVM president Tom Sullivan at the May 15 groundbreaking of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics — aka STEM — Complex. At 266,000 square feet, and a cost of $104 million, it is the largest capital project in the…
Downtown Grocery Takes Over Kitchen at Weston Playhouse
Vermont theatergoers have long buzzed about the historic Weston Playhouse, an acclaimed theater and cabaret whose in-house company consistently attracts professional thespians from around the country. One of the Playhouse’s traditions has been serving food from its basement kitchen — even after the space was waterlogged by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Irene. It’s a tradition…
A New Multimedia Exhibit Explores Ancient Buddhist Guru
According to Buddhist legend, the first incarnation of the holy figure Padmasambhava occurred in the eighth century, when he appeared as a small child inside a lotus blossom adrift on a lake. Regarded as unusual and holy, the child was nurtured in the Buddhist tradition and eventually became known by the name Guru Rinpoche. In…
Free Will Astrology (6/17/15)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Would you like to stop pushing and struggling for a while? Is there a clenched attitude you would love to let go of? Do you wish you could take a break from having to give so much and try so hard and be so strong? Then do it! Now would be…
Love & Mercy
The latest from director Bill Pohlad (Old Explorers) is that rare biopic that respects both its subject and its audience. Love & Mercy is the most insightful portrait of an artist and his process I’ve ever seen on screen. It presents an astonishing amount of information about not only Brian Wilson’s complicated, chaotic life but…
Enosburg’s 1906 House Adds Brunch
This spring, Jennifer Neville Bright started serving occasional brunches at the 1906 House in Enosburg Falls, the bed-and-breakfast that she renovated and recently opened. As of Father’s Day, she will open her doors for weekly brunch — reservations encouraged. Neville Bright has teamed up with chef Kurtis Rogers, who spent years in kitchens in Portland,…
Sarah-Lee Terrat’s Mural Looks Forward and Back
If you’ve ever seen the whimsically painted Fletcher Free Library van zipping around Burlington, or tiptoed over the floor murals at NRG Systems in Hinesburg, you’re already familiar with the work of Waterbury artist Sarah-Lee Terrat. The prolific artist’s résumé is as expansive as the surfaces she paints on. Primarily known for her lively public…
Michel’s German Food Comes to South Burlington
When most people think “takeout,” their minds conjure up pizza or Chinese food. But Chittenden County residents will soon be able to access fresh German cuisine on a grab-and-go basis. When it opens in late July at 1212 Williston Road in South Burlington (adjacent to Higher Ground), Michel’s German Food will offer sausages and schnitzels,…
Reverser, Southern Claw
(Self-released, cassette, CD, digital download) Local hardcore-punks Reverser are stingy when it comes to personal details. The quartet’s Facebook page does reveal the band members’ names, but it’s vague about where, exactly, in central Vermont they’re from. It also does not say who plays what. Reverser describe themselves, curtly and mysteriously, as “Resurrecting dead space.…
Waterbury’s Craft Beer Cellar Curates a World of Brews
What’s your hankering: Even More Jesus or Even Less Jesus? How about some Yin & Yang, Sour Monkey, Kentucky Ryed Chiquen or Wet Hot American Wheat? If none of these tastes tickle your fancy, how about Citra Ass Down? Or maybe crack open a Sawtooth Nitro or get Hazed & Infused? Unless you’re a seasoned…
