Mar 18-24, 2020
Vermont’s COVID-19 Fighters Wield Info, Medicine and Disinfectant; Arts Venues Grapple With Closures; Students, and a Town, Reel From Middlebury College Campus Closure
Cover Story
Vermont’s Defensive Line: These COVID-19 Fighters Wield Information, Medicine and Disinfectant
In 1927, devastating floods in Vermont swept away 1,285 bridges, killed 84 people, and wrought widespread destruction and misery. U.S. president Calvin Coolidge toured his beloved home state the following year to view recovery efforts. An emotional “Silent Cal” delivered perhaps his most memorable remarks in Bennington: “If the spirit of liberty should vanish in…
Survival Mode: How Vermont Eateries Are Navigating COVID-19
Several weeks ago, when I first went to China Max on the basement level of CityPlace Burlington, my plan was to write about a special menu that caters largely to international students. The family-owned restaurant has a popular, affordable lunch buffet of American Chinese favorites such as General Tao chicken and lo mein noodles. It…
The Parmelee Post: Coworker Obviously Rearranged Entire Living Room Before Video Meeting
A Burlington man has been accused by his colleagues of trying to create a false impression of the kind of life he leads while working from home. Coworkers say it’s painfully obvious that Kevin from IT totally rearranged his living room before joining them in a Zoom meeting Monday. “Not to sound like a dick…
Shore Rites, ‘Shore Rites’
(Self-released, digital) The interesting part about starting a band at the precipice of a global pandemic is wondering when you’ll be able to actually perform in front of an audience. Shore Rites’ self-titled debut EP hit the internet on March 3, about a week before the U.S. joined the rest of the world in the…
ILLu, ‘B Side Instrumentals Volume XIII’
(Equal Eyes Records, digital download) ILLu, a hip-hop producer from Burlington, has been central to the scene’s explosion in recent years. He’s endlessly prolific with the beats, but the young man is also a tireless networker and collaborator. Perhaps the most important connection he’s forged is his partnership with fellow Queen City producer Rico James,…
Free Will Astrology (3/18/20)
We interrupt your regularly scheduled horoscopes to offer insights about the virus-driven turning point that the whole world is now experiencing. As you’ve probably guessed, all of us are being invited to reevaluate everything we think we know about what it means to be human. I refer to this unprecedented juncture as the Tumultuous Upgrade…
‘The Hunt’ Offers On-Target Satire for a Partisan Time
After last summer’s mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso, the idea of selling tickets to a movie about gunning down people for sport raised enough eyebrows for Universal to postpone the release of The Hunt to a less fraught weekend. So here we are, in the midst of a global pandemic and finally getting…
What’s the Worst That Can Happen If I Hold in My Farts?
Dear Reverend, I don’t know quite how to put this politely, but … I fart. A lot. I’ve been dating a guy for about a month and a half now, and I’m really worried that I’m going to let one fly in front of him. On the other hand, I’m concerned about keeping all this…
Alison Brie Plays a Grown-Up ‘Horse Girl’ in a Discombobulating Indie Drama
There’s nothing like a pandemic to remind you to check out the original content on all those streaming services you pay for. This week I watched Horse Girl, a little Netflix flick (released last month) from prominent indie producers Jay and Mark Duplass, cowriter/director Jeff Baena (Life After Beth) and cowriter/star Alison Brie. Brie is…
Vermonters Turn to Front Porch Forum to Help Their Neighbors
This space is normally devoted to what’s weird in Vermont. But right now, well, what isn’t weird in Vermont? With daily routines turned upside down, Vermonters are looking for ways to help their neighbors. Over at Front Porch Forum, the Burlington-born company that facilitates hyper-local discussions in an email newsletter, new membership numbers have doubled…
Students, and a Town, Reel From Middlebury College Campus Closure
Sam deWolf hauled a cardboard box full of belongings through his dormitory at Middlebury College and loaded it into his mother’s silver van last Friday. The 19-year-old sophomore from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the austere gray stone architecture of Forest Hall or to the handsome campus that dominates the Addison…
Pandemic Etiquette From the Emily Post Institute
Social distancing is among the most important recommendations for slowing the spread of COVID-19, more commonly known as the coronavirus. It’s also really hard. For one thing, a lot goes into self-imposed isolation: stocking supplies, finding new ways to stay connected to friends and family, figuring out WTF to watch on Netflix. Then there are…
Information Dissemination: MaryEllen Mendl
During a crisis, accurate and timely information is often the most precious commodity. Much of the job of providing Vermonters with crucial coronavirus data falls to MaryEllen Mendl, executive director of the United Ways of Vermont, and her team of community resource specialists at the Vermont 2-1-1 program. Mendl described 2-1-1 as “phone Google —…
Letters to the Editor (3/18/20)
The Virus Is a Symptom [Re Off Message: “Middlebury College Closing Campus Amid Coronavirus Fears,” March 10]: The coronavirus, aka COVID-19, is clear evidence of the United States’ lack of preparedness for health crises and pandemics. As a student at the University of Vermont, where courses have just been switched to remote instruction, I find…
College Student and Volunteer First Responder: Gabrielle Stevens
Many students who attend Vermont colleges are headed off to extended spring breaks this week and will resume classes remotely when break ends. But not Gabrielle Stevens. The 21-year-old premed student at Saint Michael’s College plans to stick around and continue her volunteer work with St. Mike’s Fire and Rescue. “It’s rewarding to be able…
Novelist Christian Guay-Poliquin on ‘The Weight of Snow’
In recent weeks, COVID-19 has forced millions of people into compulsory retreat and wreaked havoc on the global economy, a reminder of the fragility of human-engineered systems. The Weight of Snow, by Québécois novelist Christian Guay-Poliquin, presents another kind of shutdown — a widespread power failure, compounded by an epically fierce winter, that tests the…
Art Review: ‘Art and Social Justice,’ T.W. Wood Gallery
Vermonter Thomas Waterman Wood believed that art is important to society. In 1895, the nationally recognized Montpelier artist donated 42 paintings and etchings to found a museum in the city. He wanted Vermonters to have access to art. The resulting T.W. Wood Gallery was one of Vermont’s first museums. After the Great Depression, it gained…
How Local Performing Arts Venues Are Reacting to COVID-19
Call it “Black Friday.” On Friday, March 13 — yeah, we know, right? — performing arts venues of all shapes and sizes across Vermont began responding to the threat of the novel coronavirus pandemic by announcing postponements, cancellations and, in some cases, complete closures. By Monday morning, it was easier to make a list of…
Breaking Out the Disinfectant: Tara Cullinan
Tara Cullinan stocked up on gloves and masks a month ago, when she first began noticing the spread of coronavirus. She figured her Shaftsbury-based business, EFX Cleaning Services, would use them whether the virus struck Vermont or not and that it couldn’t hurt to stock up. She’s glad she did. Shortages of masks, gloves and…
What Is the Large Metallic Structure at the Border in Highgate?
Most travelers entering Vermont from Québec at the U.S. port of entry at Highgate Springs continue southbound on Interstate 89 immediately after answering the barrage of questions from U.S. immigration and customs agents. But those who take a short breather just south of the border may notice a large metallic structure located near a small…
Soundbites: An Uncertain Time
Sick Beat: Part 2 I don’t really know where to start. I know saying “I don’t know where to start” is a cliché, and pointing out that it’s a cliché is a cliché, but I think I’m past the point of caring about the originality of my opening line. There’s far more important stuff going…
A Pandemic Complicates Sanders’ Hopes for a Comeback
Jim James, the bushy bearded leader of My Morning Jacket, stood onstage Monday night in a full-length, baby-blue jacket and performed a solo acoustic set for thousands of enthusiastic supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) presidential campaign. It was, in a way, a standard election-eve rally for Sanders, featuring impassioned speeches from campaign cochair Nina…
Québec’s Sucrerie de la Montagne Offers a Warm Sugar Shack Tradition
Editor’s note: This story was assigned and written before the current COVID-19 pandemic very quickly turned life upside down worldwide. As of press time, the sucrerie will be closed until March 28 or longer, per a provincial government order. We decided to publish the story to inform readers about the sucrerie, a place we might…
Sherpa Foods of South Burlington Wins Chobani Incubator Prize
Sherpa Foods of South Burlington is the recipient of a 2020 Chobani Incubator award, which will give the company opportunities ranging from a $15,000 grant to guidance about marketing and labeling. Founded in 2015 by the husband-and-wife team of Nurbu and Phura Sherpa, the company makes beef and vegetarian Nepalese momos and three sauces to…
In Middlebury, Iluminar Coffee Focuses on Transparent Sourcing
The specialty-coffee scene in Addison County continues to grow with the addition of small-batch roaster Iluminar Coffee, whose beans are currently sold online and at Lost Monarch Craft Coffee in Middlebury’s Stone Mill Public Market. Daniel Gutierrez is a coffee industry veteran and familiar face behind the bar at Lost Monarch and its sister shop,…
