Jun 5-11, 2024
Burlington Discover Jazz Festival Preview; Kids VT Summer Issue; A Developer’s Storm Cleanup Crossed Into a Burlington Park — and Left a Mark; At Fancy’s in Burlington, Chef Paul Trombly Delights in Vegetables
Cover Story
Amid Criticism, Guest Curator Adi Oasis Points Burlington Discover Jazz Festival Toward the Future
Help us pay for in-depth stories like this one by becoming a Seven Days Super Reader. The 2024 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival lineup comprises a bold, genre-mashing collection of artists. Grammy-winning jazz stars Robert Glasper and Cécile McLorin Salvant top the marquee. They’re joined by such outside-the-box selections as New Orleans bounce-music queen Big Freedia, Afrobeat star…
Obituary: Margaret Nourse, 1944-2024
Lifelong trailblazer was the first woman in her family to go to college
In Memoriam: Ezra Raymond Pouech, 1993-2023
In loving memory of Ezra Raymond Pouech. Please join us as we gather to remember and celebrate Ezra on July 20, 2024, 1 p.m., at Common Ground Center, 473 Tatro Rd., Starksboro, VT 05487.
Graduation: Presley Lewis, Class of 2024
Congratulations on your graduation. We are so proud of you. As you move into the next chapter of your life, always remember to believe in yourself and follow your dreams. Love, Dad, Mom, Steffie, Tim & the crazy cats!
Obituary: Eric Smith, 1983-2024
Gifted musician was also a mechanical wizard who was kind, generous and quick to help others
Obituary: David Stirling Peebles, 1947-2024
Montpelier man developed a retirement passion for travel with his soulmate and showed his love by preparing spectacular meals
Obituary: James DeForge, 1960-2024
Colchester man’s outlaw spirit, gift for storytelling and infectious personality drew people to him
In Memoriam: Stephen Garcia, 1948-2024
Please join us to celebrate Steve’s life on July 6, 2024, 2 to 4 p.m. Memories at 3 p.m. — please bring some to share. Coachman’s House at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vt.
Obituary: Florence Veronica Short, 1925-2024
Lifelong learner loved music, language and words
Obituary: Jodi L. (Young) Larkin, 1981-2024
St. Albans woman remembered for her big heart, kind soul and compassion
Obituary: Arthur C. Barnier Jr., 1953-2024
Burlington man was passionate about ice fishing and is remembered for loving wholeheartedly without judgment
Obituary: Selma Milchen, 1930-2024
Speech and language pathologist was an active volunteer and a professional singer who once sang under the direction of Seiji Ozawa
Celebration of Life: Ferguson and Jane Coyle McKay
Friends and family of Ferguson and Jane Coyle McKay are invited to attend a celebration of life service for both Ferg and Jane, who passed away on December 2 and December 16, 2023, respectively. The service will be held in the United Church of Cabot in Cabot, Vt., on June 22, 2024, at 11 a.m.,…
Letters to the Editor (6/5/24)
Who Bernie Blames [Re “Fighting Words: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders Has Become a Leading Critic of Israel’s War in Gaza,” May 29]: We may not accuse U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of being antisemitic, but we can question why his strongest condemnation is reserved for Israel. He seems to believe the Jewish state targets civilians and…
A Developer’s Storm Cleanup Crossed Into a Burlington Park — and Left a Mark
Seventy mile-per-hour winds ripped through Vermont in early January during a storm that closed roads, uprooted solar arrays and left thousands of people without power. In Burlington’s Kieslich Park, tree trunks splintered; fallen timber blocked a footpath and crushed a chain-link fence that separates the wooded tract from Cambrian Rise, a sprawling private development on…
Soundbites: LaMP Talk Their New Live Album
Time is a knife that pares away at each generation’s notions of what “should” be in music. But that doesn’t make it any less jarring to witness, say, the decline of the long-play album as an art form or the disappearance of its unpredictable cousin, the live album. Long gone are the days of Peter…
From the Deputy Publisher: The Next Generation
Though I’ve technically never been a teacher, through my work at Seven Days I’ve spoken with numerous students of all ages about journalism and media literacy. Most recently, I met with a class at Proctor Jr./Sr. High School over Zoom. English teacher Sarah Cheney had the students read a story in Seven Days and write…
Seven Can’t-Miss Shows at Burlington Discover Jazz Festival
During this week’s Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, the strains of jazz, funk, hip-hop and more will emanate from stages around the city, coalescing into a roiling bitches’ brew over five days and nights. Even at half the length of the festival in its heyday, the lineup presents no shortage of options. To aid the jazz-addled…
In ‘The Quarry Project Echoes,’ Artists Reflect on Hannah Dennison’s Singular Dance Production
Outside the Kents’ Corner State Historic Site in Calais, passersby can only guess at the 19th-century brick building’s many lives. Inside its warren of rooms, exposed lath and patchy wallpaper hold memories like treasure. Right now, a more recent story unfolds in an exhibition called “The Quarry Project Echoes.” Its contents include dancers’ dresses; a…
Life Stories: Joseph ‘Joe’ Moore Jr. ‘Was the Tornado’
Joe Moore (November 27, 1948-March 26, 2024) introduced himself to Vermont the same way he would announce his presence on stages throughout the Green Mountains for the next 50 years: loudly. As the legend goes, the tenor saxophonist had been traveling to Canada to hook up with a touring band that had invited him to…
On the Beat: Music Returns to ArtsRiot, Grace Potter Launches the Grand Point Foundation
In case you missed it, ArtsRiot in Burlington has quietly reopened amid the construction and roadwork on Pine Street. The South End venue known for its “Destroy apathy” tagline has been in limbo for years now, immersed in an odyssey of weirdness that started when the original owners sold the club in 2020. A couple…
Andrew Richards, ‘The August Session’
(Self-released, digital) “Andalucian Love,” the first track on Burlington native Andrew Richards’ new LP The August Session, establishes an immediate sense of setting. Moshe Elmakias’ flowing piano run evokes the sights and sounds of summer in the city: sunlight reflected off cars parked on busy streets, the mingling of birdsong and street noise. This is…
Girls Don’t Play Nice in the Compelling but Unfocused Crime Drama Series ‘Under the Bridge’
When teenage boys commit murder, it’s another news day. When teenage girls do it, everybody wants to know why. The 1997 murder of 14-year-old Reena Virk in Saanich, British Columbia — a suburb of quaint Victoria — shocked Canada and inspired literary works, sociological analyses and the acclaimed 2005 book Under the Bridge: The True…
Ana Koehler’s Paintings at Waterbury Studios Explore Our Bodies, Ourselves
In 1964, Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart famously attempted to define obscenity by saying, “I know it when I see it.” But images of the body have never been easy to categorize, even when social mores were stricter. Today, the once-mainstream idea that the body is obscene is regularly challenged by artists such as Burlington’s…
Now Playing in Theaters: June 5-11
new in theaters BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return as maverick Miami police officers in this action-comedy. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys for Life) directed. (115 min, R. Essex, Majestic, Marquis, Star, Sunset, Welden) KIDNAPPED: THE ABDUCTION OF EDGARDO MORTARA: In the 19th century, the Papal police…
Of Montreal, ‘Lady on the Cusp’
(Polyvinyl, CD, digital, vinyl) Imagine what groups like indie-rock band Of Montreal have endured. Breaking out in the Athens, Ga., scene with their 1997 debut LP, Cherry Peel, Of Montreal arrived just before the iPod revolution. They weathered the subsequent, inevitable slide into streaming services becoming the music industry’s dominant force. Helmed by bandleader and…
Q&A: Volunteer Leonard Prive Picks Up Roadside Litter Between Underhill and Westfield
Johnson resident Leonard Prive has always loved nature and keeping things clean. He worked as a custodian for the Burlington School District for 39 years before retiring in 2015. During the early days of the pandemic, Prive decided to get off his couch and pick up trash along Routes 15, 100C and 100 between Underhill…
Book Review: ‘Liquid, Fragile, Perishable,’ Carolyn Kuebler
From its very first words, Middlebury writer Carolyn Kuebler’s debut novel Liquid, Fragile, Perishable has a decidedly odd stylistic trait. Every paragraph is very short, rarely longer than two lines or a couple of sentences, and a line space firmly intervenes between each segment. Here’s an example, from the vantage point of a teenager named…
UVM Grad Wins $200K Grand Prize to Help His Painting Business Grow
Zach Dunn has more work this summer than he can handle. The house-painting company he started with two friends is booked out until next year. In April, the trio, whose company is called Painting With Purpose, won more than $200,000 in a University of Vermont entrepreneurship contest, a huge boon for their small biz. The…
Free Will Astrology (6/5/24)
GEMINI (May 21-Jun. 20): Off the coast of West Africa is an imaginary place called Null Island. A weather buoy is permanently moored there. Geographers have nicknamed it “Soul Buoy.” It’s the one location on Earth where zero degrees latitude intersects with zero degrees longitude. Since it’s at sea level, its elevation is zero, too.…
Parents Create a Residence in Monkton Where Disabled Adults Can Have a Safe and Stable Home
In 2021, Elizabeth Campbell founded a nonprofit organization in hopes of creating a home where people with disabilities, including her son, could receive 24-hour care in a family-like setting. She didn’t expect to find the perfect place right away. But the day her Developmental Disabilities Housing Initiative was awarded $170,000 from the state last summer,…
My Dog Is Sick and I’m Nervous About Attending My Cousin’s Wedding
Dear Reverend, My cousin is getting married at the end of June. The wedding is only about an hour’s drive from where I live. The couple have rented out an inn for some family, myself included, to stay the night before and the night of the wedding. I would love to be there, but my…
Burlington Discover Jazz Festival Headliner Cécile McLorin Salvant Transcends Musical Eras
Whenever a talented young musician appears on the scene, there are the usual hallmarks of rising up the ranks to stardom, from appearing on Spotify playlists to trending on social media to, hopefully, picking up accolades and awards. And when a newcomer is really good, the elder legends start weighing in. In the case of…
Vermont Sportswriter Alex Wolff Helms an Anthology to Honor a Late Colleague
The death of 49-year-old sportswriter Grant Wahl, who suffered a ruptured aortic aneurysm while covering the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, shocked journalists around the world. “I was knocked flat by the news,” New Yorker editor David Remnick, one of Wahl’s favorite professors as an undergraduate at Princeton University, said in an interview with Seven…
Can a Team of Devotees Keep the ‘White River Valley Herald’ Going?
Katie Vincent-Roller, co-owner of the White River Valley Herald, starts her Thursdays at 2 a.m. That’s when Vincent-Roller, who works full-time as a high school language teacher, awakens to drive to the Valley News headquarters in Lebanon, N.H. There, she picks up 3,700 copies of the weekly regional newspaper she owns with her husband, Tim…
At Fancy’s in Burlington, Chef Paul Trombly Delights in Vegetables
Thanks to Paul Trombly, it’s easier than ever to eat your vegetables. The 44-year-old Burlington chef opened his first solo brick-and-mortar venture on April 24 in the cozy Oak Street restaurant space he shares with lunchtime counterpart Poppy café and market. At Fancy’s, the former Honey Road chef and Mister Foods Fancy food truck owner…
Rogue Rabbit’s Pizza al Taglio Squares Up in Burlington
It’s been a long time since I’ve had a late-night slice of pizza. These days, I prefer a late afternoon slice — and instead of a pitcher of PBR, I pair it with an espresso tonic or a cheeky Negroni. Burlington’s Rogue Rabbit, a new Roman-style café at 9 Center Street, has all that and…
Burlington Bagel Bakery to Add Fourth Outpost, in Williston
The family behind the three-location Burlington Bagel Bakery plans to open a fourth bakery in Williston this fall in the former Friendly’s restaurant at 5876 Williston Road. Avery Fersing, 27, co-owns the business with her parents, Kyle and Tammy, and her brother, Hayden. They run bakeries on Church Street in Burlington, on Shelburne Road in…
Sweet Alchemy to Close Essex Café but Continue Baking
Sweet Alchemy Bakery & Café in Essex will close its retail bakery and café at the end of June, but its vegan and gluten-free baked goods will remain available at stores in the Burlington and Montpelier areas. Co-owner Bhava Carr, 38, said she and her husband and business partner, Kunja Kumar, 37, plan to offer…
Mattarello Baked Goods Opens in Winooski
Winooski has a new destination for custom cakes and European treats. On April 16, Alma and Orhan Smailhodzic opened Mattarello Baked Goods at 25 Winooski Falls Way, Suite 110. The bright pink-and-gold-decorated space offers a wide array of bakery goods, as well as coffee and savory breakfast and lunch items. Alma began her bakery business…
The Magnificent 7: Must See, Must Do, June 5-11
Podcast Away Wednesday 12 Erica Heilman, the storyteller behind the acclaimed Vermont podcast “Rumble Strip,” kicks off a summer speaker series at South Hero’s Worthen Library. Reflecting on her 10 years at the mic, Heilman gives listeners a look behind the curtain of her Peabody Award-winning show, which depicts life in the Green Mountains with…
