Mar 12-19, 2014
Vermont’s Struggling Culinary School Plans Its Next Course; Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave, National Politics and the Governor; Keb’ Mo’ Talks ‘bluesAmericana;’ Generator Builds Up Steam; Seasoned Traveler: DownStreet Eats
Cover Story
Vermont’s Struggling Culinary School Plans Its Next Course
“Order fire! Rachel, chef salad, carrot soup. All to-go!” Chef Ryan O’Malley shouts from his command post in the kitchens of NECI on Main, a kitchen-turned-classroom for students at the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier. O’Malley, in a tall white chef’s hat, watches closely as his charges — eight or so students in white…
Obituary: Allen Edward Menard, 1952-2014, Milton
Allen Edward Menard, age 61, passed away on March 13th 2014 at Fletcher Allen Hospital surrounded by his loving family. Allen was born on May 3rd 1952 to Doris Sweeney and Edward Menard, later married to Jean Menard. He leaves behind four children; Heather (Steven) Spinks; Allen (Jen) Root; Angela (Jamie) Menard; and Miranda (Everrod)…
Obituary: James Leo Delisle, Jr., 1938-2014, Colchester
James Leo Delisle, Jr., passed away March 7, 2014 at the Vermont Respite House. A complete obituary will appear on a later date. Arrangements are under the care and direction of LaVigne Funeral Home and Cremation Service.
![Rock Point School Sugaring Tours [SIV345]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/episode345_copy.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Rock Point School Sugaring Tours [SIV345]
3/7/14: For years, sugaring has been a tradition at Rock Point School in Burlington. Three years ago, it even became a part of their academic curriculum and students learn the culture, history and how-tos of syrup production at the sugar shack constructed on site. Each season, the students hold tours for about 300 local children…
In a Performance at Middlebury College, Two Brooklynites Explore the Sounds of Silence
Inspired by one of the noisiest cities in the world, musician Craig Shepard has composed a piece of music so still and spacious that most of its listeners didn’t even realize when it was being performed. That’s because Shepard, 38, performed the sonic portion of On Foot, his multimedia collaboration with partner Beth O’Brien, 37,…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one.” So says a character in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel The Unconsoled. At this juncture in your life story, Aries, it might be healing for you to make a similar declaration. Now is an excellent moment to say…
The Burlington Bread Boys, ‘The Burlington Bread Boys’
(Self-released, CD, digital download) According to prophecy — and the cyclical nature of local music — it is written that every seven years a ragtag, old-timey, good-timey, jug-band-y group composed primarily of sweaty, bearded twentysomethings should emerge from Burlington’s college ghetto to deliver Queen City denizens from the haze of whatever newfangled sound the kids…
Gunning for Reform: Burlington’s Firearms Vote May Prove Largely Symbolic
Residents of Vermont’s biggest city spoke decisively on Town Meeting Day, voting to change local laws to impose stricter regulations on firearms than the state currently allows. Despite heated objections from some corners, the vote to change Burlington’s charter passed by a margin of nearly two to one. But the elation of gun-control supporters has…
Burlington High School Food Truck Needs a Name
“Slow fast food” is coming to the Burlington food-truck scene in June. The new truck will serve locally crafted hot dogs, Misty Knoll Farms chicken fingers and root-vegetable chips — but it won’t be helmed by a chef whose fare you recognize. Not unless you’ve been dining at the Burlington Technical Center, that is, where…
Obituary: Shirley Dusablon Berard, 1934-2014, Winooski
Shirley Dusablon Berard passed away peacefully on March 12 with her loving family by her side. She was born September 25, 1934 to Russell and Anna Wescott. Left to cherish her memory are her daughters Lisa and Linda, son Roger, brothers; Russell (Jeanne), Richard (Hattie), Raymond, Larry (Sue), sisters; Joanie, Carol, and Ilean, several grand…
Truancy Enforcement Is Difficult and Uneven Across Vermont
In his 27 years as a teacher at Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans, Neal Smith says he hasn’t seen much improvement in the problem of truancy — children failing to attend public school. For example, he knows of a 14-year-old student who’s missed at least three quarters of the school year to date. The girl’s…
Seasoned Traveler: DownStreet Eats
“Nowadays, you hear about kimchi parties. Kimchi is this mysterious, precious thing,” says Elena Gustavson. The lacto-fermented cabbage seemed a little more mundane when Gustavson was growing up in Los Angeles in the 1980s. The daughter of a Korean-born mom remembers the dish as an everyday part of meals. At Sunday potlucks at her mother’s…
When Jason Merrihew Sits In, Magic Happens
Boston-based Americana band the Big Lonesome are well into their second set at Sweet Melissa’s in Montpelier when they sit their guitar player down and invite a guest player onto the stage. The show has been great so far, and it’s about to get better. The band launches into a cover of Radiohead’s “High and…
How Can I Increase My Penis Size?
Dear Athena, I have penis envy. I stress about my size every day. Even if I’m alone, I obsess that it’s too small. What is the truth? Do women really care about the size of my manhood? Or am I just being overly paranoid? Limp, I’m about 3 inches. Erect I get to about 6…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again Sheriff’s investigators concluded that a burglar who broke into a fishing store in Rochester, Minn., was driven off by a motion-activated singing novelty fish near the door. Sgt. Tom Claymon said the would-be thief fled empty-handed after he knocked the Big Mouth Bill Bass onto the floor, and it began singing “Take…
Soundbites: Rap Battle Recap, Vermonters at SXSW
After digging in to the juicy rivalry growing between MCs Memaranda and Learic in last week’s column, my curiosity was piqued, and I had to see the showdown at the King of Vermont Rap Battle at Club Metronome on Thursday. Plus, like many in Vermont, I’d wager, my only experience with rap battles previously was…
Work: Angela Gatesy, Scientific Glassblower
The red neon sign in the window is more than just a beacon to those seeking Angela Gatesy’s workshop. It’s a testament to her skills. Gatesy herself made that neon sign, as well as the many glass animals and flowers that dot the shop’s surfaces, and they lend her workshop a homey warmth. It’s pleasantly…
Art Review: Catherine Hall at Castleton Downtown
The materials used in Catherine Hall’s current exhibition at the Castleton Downtown Gallery in Rutland read like a shopping list for an art-supply store: papier-mâché, encaustic, glass, paint, rice paper, dye, wax, resin, silk, plaster, wood, horn, glass beads. As this list suggests, the works in her plainly titled “Plaster, Paper, Paint” are disparate, but…
WTF: How Can Barre and Montpelier Be Equidistant From Mile Marker 47 on Interstate 89? (And Other Highway Mysteries)
I’m intimately familiar with Interstate 89 — or at least I like to think so. A few days a week, I drive from my home in Lebanon, N.H., to Burlington, a 195-mile round trip that takes me through the highway’s varied ecosystems. There’s the scary drop-off near mile marker 19; the lonely and often snow-whipped…
Generator Maker Space to Open This Month
One Saturday in February, eight volunteer builders and painters gathered in Burlington’s Memorial Auditorium Annex with a mission: to transform the high-ceilinged, 5,000-square-foot room into the Queen City’s first-ever maker space. When the facility, called Generator, opens on March 29, artists, engineers, programmers and tinkerers will have access to studio space, shared tools and classes…
Theater Review: ‘Good People’ at Northern Stage
In a tough world, it helps to be tougher. The characters in Good People have constructed defensive shells, and their hardness is tested in a story that’s moving, funny and complex. Watching a top-notch company of actors reveal what lies beneath those shells, and why, is a powerful theater experience. Northern Stage’s production of David…
Wage Against the Machine: Shumlin’s National Pay Play
Late last December, Senate Democrats gathered at Montpelier’s Capitol Plaza Hotel to discuss priorities for the upcoming legislative session. Sen. Peter Galbraith (D-Windham) made a brief pitch for raising the state’s minimum wage from $8.73 to $12. What did Gov. Peter Shumlin think of that, the group inquired, when he stopped by to talk about…
Infinity Brewing Joins the Burlington Craft-Beer Scene
Good things come in threes — and so, apparently, do Burlington-area microbreweries. On the heels of Williston’s Burlington Beer Company and the imminent opening of the South End’s Queen City Brewery, a pair of couples has opened Infinity Brewing Company at 80 Ethan Allen Drive in South Burlington. The brewery’s primary owners, Glenn Cummings and…
Letters to the Editor
Off the Bus? Mayor Weinberger says that he is not a participant in the CCTA negotiations and thus has no opinion [“Bus Fair? CCTA Drivers Get Ready to Strike,” March 5]. But CCTA is our bus company; its board is assigned by the city council, of which the mayor is a part. Ultimately, what happens…
An Interview With Blues Musician Keb’ Mo’
About 20 years ago, when songwriter and blues musician Kevin Moore reinvented himself as Keb’ Mo’ with his self-titled debut album, he not only earned awards and widespread praise, but picked up a less tangible honor as well. Blues fans and critics agreed that Moore inherited the mantle of generational spokesman for the blues, passed…
Tim’s Vermeer
It’s hardly surprising that a movie made by Penn and Teller would feature a mind-bending stunt. What you’re less likely to expect is that the magicians aren’t the ones who perform it. And that it’s a 17th-century Dutch masterpiece that’s pulled out of a hat. The pair, perhaps the most intellectual show-biz duo ever to…
Crumbs: Shelburne Bakery Closes; August First Goes Screen-Free
Sometimes the restaurant fairy smiles on a new endeavor. Other times “she shits on you,” says Michel Mahe. With last month’s opening of the Lobby in Middlebury, he says, the fairy smiled on him. But in the last weekend in February, Mahe closed a restaurant for the first time. Adjacent to Mahe’s the Bearded Frog…
Like Father, Like Son
Which shapes a child more, nature or nurture? Many Americans would pick the latter, optimistically convinced that kids come to resemble those who raise them in the ways that matter most. For the parents in this Japanese drama from writer-director Hirokazu Koreeda, however, the question isn’t abstract. They’ve just discovered that their 6-year-old son isn’t…
Mertz, ‘The Good in The Bad’
(Self-released, CD, digital download) In 2009, then-Burlington-based rapper Mertz released his debut recording, The Rise Above It EP. Though not without its flaws, the EP suggested the next generation of local hip-hop was in capable hands. Then he promptly left the Green Mountains for Providence, R.I. There he focused on another outlet, Present Rhymes, a…
Erin Go BTV: Celebrating a Once-Scorned Immigrant Group
Burlington’s newest refugee groups — the Bhutanese, Somalis, Sudanese and Tibetans — might see their futures prefigured in this week’s celebration of one of Burlington’s oldest refugee groups: the Irish. “You can point your way forward if you understand where you’ve been,” says Vermont Irish-American historian Bill McKone. “That’s true for all the refugees who…
Blu-Bin Brings 3-D Printing to the Masses on Church Street
Dan Riley tiptoes slowly in a semicircle, holding a digital camera at his knees as he scans something on the floor of his Church Street print shop. As the camera feeds spatial coordinates into a computer, a partial 3-D image materializes on-screen. “That’s pretty good,” says Riley, critically scrutinizing the fuzzy picture. “We can take…
How Much ‘Green’ Does Green Up Day Require?
Vermont’s Green Up Day is a rite of spring. But it’s not a right — as citizens discovered two weeks ago, when the organization’s president, Melinda Vieux, announced that a steep drop in corporate funding could imperil the annual volunteer cleanup effort. Donations from Vermont companies have steadily declined over the past six years, Green Up…
Obituary: Jean Brett, 1927-2014, Colchester
Jean Brett of Colchester, Vermont, passed away on March 12, 2014. Jean was born in the Bronx on September 29, 1927, to Hugh Paul and Veronica Sheridan. Jean had wonderful memories of her parents, extended family and friends. As a young child she attended Catholic school and developed a deep abiding faith in God which…
A New Wing at the West Branch Gallery Embraces Landscape Painting
Stowe’s 13-year-old West Branch Gallery & Sculpture Park is expanding — again. It wasn’t that long ago that co-owners Chris Curtis and Tari Swenson created the cozy Upstairs Gallery in their high-ceilinged quarters just off the Mountain Road. Later this month, they’ll reveal the latest addition: a wing for landscape painting. Called, appropriately enough, “Landscape Traditions,” the…
Obituary: Franklin Swift Billings Jr., 1922-2014, Woodstock
Franklin Swift Billings Jr. died on March 9, 2014 in his family home and the place where he was born at 4 Bond Street, Woodstock, Vt. He was 91. Billings was born on June 5, 1922, the son of Gertrude Freeman (Curtis) Billings and Vermont Governor Franklin Swift Billings. He was educated in Woodstock and…
The Bryce Dance Company Moves Through the Aging Process
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes “aging” as a “gradual change in an organism that leads to increased risk of weakness, disease and death,” a definition that accurately reflects cultural attitudes. But the 15 current members of the Burlington-based Bryce Dance Company — whose ages range from early twenties to mid-sixties — beg to differ. To You,…
Eavesdropping at the New England Meat Conference
Stock your meat case with unusual cuts. Treat your farm like a business. Keep in mind that “whole carcass channels make a lot of sense.” Ag- and flesh-related wisdom was plentiful at last weekend’s New England Meat Conference, which drew roughly 400 farmers, butchers, smokers, packagers, researchers and others to a hotel conference center in…
A Couple of Accomplished Quartets Tackle Debussy and Mendelssohn
The longstanding and excellent Borromeo String Quartet returns to Vermont this weekend. And this time, the foursome will bring along a newer quartet: Gioviale, an award-winning student ensemble at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where Borromeo has been in residence since it formed 25 years ago. Called “4 x 4,” the concert is part…
