Mar 27 – Apr 2, 2019
NPR’s Tom Bodett Opens a Woodworking Maker Space in Brattleboro; NEK Storyboard Artist Brings Hollywood’s Animated Adventures to Life; Eating Up the International Fare at Two New Restos in Winooski
Cover Story
NPR Humorist and Woodworker Tom Bodett Opens a Maker Space in Brattleboro
The parking lot of the Dummerston School was packed to capacity. On both sides of School House Road, salt-encrusted Subarus and Priuses were lined up nose to tail with dirt-caked pickups and minivans. It was Town Meeting Day in Vermont. And, while the Yankee tradition might be fading in certain corners of the state, it…
Obituary: Zelda Lee Glazier, 1924-2019
Zelda Lee (Jackson) Glazier, age 94 years, of Needham, Mass., formerly of Newton, Mass., died peacefully at home on Sunday, March 24, 2019. Zelda was born in Boston, Mass., and was the devoted daughter of the late Sidney and Esther Jackson. She was a graduate of Bryant & Stratton College, the administrative director at Congregation…
The Cannabis Catch-Up: Vermont’s Medical Weed Program Numbers Are Wilting
After years of steady growth, Vermont’s medical marijuana registry is shrinking. Since hitting a high of 5,662 patients on June 7, 2018, the state-run program had shed about 400 people by March 19, according to data provided by Vermont marijuana program administrator Lindsey Wells. That means that the number of patients has wilted in the…
After the Mueller Report, How Will Welch Handle His Role?
For nearly two full years, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) has answered every question about President Donald Trump and impeachment the same way: He deferred judgment until Special Counsel Robert Mueller completed his investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. So now the report is in, although not yet publicly released. And Welch…
Obituary: Marguerite Marie “Margo” Goodrow, 1959-2019
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 26, our beloved Margo took her final gentle breath and was reunited with her beloved mother and mémère in heaven. Marguerite Marie Goodrow, who many knew affectionately as Margo, was born on January 22, 1959, in Queens, N.Y., to Gerald and Anne-Marie Bilodeau. Margo grew up in…
Art Review: Barbara Zucker’s ‘Adorned: Hairstyles of an Ancient Dynasty’ at BCA Center
Around the time when Barbara Zucker cofounded the country’s first all-women cooperative gallery, which opened in 1972 in New York City, her work took two turns. She started “excis[ing] the male model from my vocabulary,” as Zucker wrote by email to Seven Days. And she began exploring Asian art. Those decisions are evident some 47…
Obituary: Sandy Zabriskie, 1930-2019
The Rev. Dr. Alexander Clinton Zabriskie, 89 — beloved husband, father, grandfather, pastor, friend and servant of God — died peacefully March 4, 2019, surrounded by family. With his wife, Margy, he enjoyed retirement in Burlington, Vt. He was an attentive listener; charming storyteller; sailor; bridge player; performer; painter; philanthropist and world traveler; lover of…
Movie Review: ‘The Highwaymen’ Sets the Record Straight About Iconic Outlaws Bonnie and Clyde
How amazing is the myth-immolating story of Frank Hamer, the Texas Ranger who came out of retirement to nip Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow’s interstate binge of brutality in the bud? So amazing that it originally starred Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The duo signed on convinced that the project offered the perfect vehicle for…
14th Star Brewer Wins National Business Honor
Steve Gagner, founder and owner of 14th Star Brewing in St. Albans, was named the Vermont Small Business Person of the Year last week by the Vermont office of the U.S. Small Business Administration. “It’s fantastic in that it’s kind of a validation of all the hard work that the team puts in at the…
Pierre Simenon, Son of Novelist Georges Simenon, Finds Himself in Shelburne
It’s hard to find things to do with Pierre Simenon in Vermont. A former entertainment attorney and the son of a French literary lion, Simenon moved to Shelburne six years ago with his wife and two children from Malibu, Calif., where he also worked for a time as a diving instructor. He loves great white…
Food News: Sneakers Expands in Winooski; ArtsRiot Adds Hours
Life begins at 40, Marc Dysinger, owner of Sneakers Bistro, wrote to Seven Days in an email. Nearly 40 years after it opened on Winooski’s Main Street, and nine years after it moved down the block to 28 Main, the restaurant is growing — expanding its dining area to include the building’s second floor. The…
I’m Ready to Tie the Knot — He’s Not
Dear Reverend, He’s happy with the way things are. I want to marry him. He doesn’t want marriage. Thinking of leaving makes my heart hurt. What should I do? Signed, Cross Purposes, (female, 72) Dear Cross Purposes, I wish I could ask you some follow-up questions, but since I can’t, I’m going to make a…
Album Review: JUPTR, ‘Echo’
(self-released, digital) Burlington neo-soul band JUPTR have the necessary requirements to be called a supergroup. The members — Stephanie Wilson (née Heaghney), Danny Whitney, Derek Rice, Mike Dondero and Dan Ryan — are all current or former players with noteworthy local outfits, including the Renegade Groove, smalltalker, Smooth Antics and Madaila. But a supergroup is usually considered…
Book Review: ‘Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?’ by Bill McKibben
Early in his writing career, recalls Bill McKibben in Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?, he “spent a year tracing every pipe and cable that entered and exited my Greenwich Village apartment.” For his 1992 book The Age of Missing Information, he recorded everything that came across 100 channels of cable…
Soundbites: All About Mardi Gras
In-Tents Partying I hope you’re in the mood to get wild. Because this Friday and Saturday, March 29 and 30, Burlington busts out the first huge rager of 2019 whether you like it or not. I’m talking about Magic Hat Brewing’s annual Mardi Gras celebration, of course. On the off chance you have no idea…
Movie Review: Jordan Peele Takes His Place Among the Best Horror Directors by Showing That the Enemy Is ‘Us’
Some movies expand in your brain after you watch them. When I exited the theater after Jordan Peele’s 2017 breakout hit Get Out, I was happy with what I’d seen, and I felt like I knew what I’d seen — an ingenious melding of horror-film tropes, comedy and scathing commentary on racism in America. Peele’s…
Escort’s Eugene Cho Talks Disco and New Album ‘City Life’
Disco ain’t dead. Just ask Eugene Cho, cofounder of New York City ensemble Escort. The group, which at one point boasted a roster of more than a dozen players, conjures a glamorous, elegant take on one of the most divisive dance-floor genres. Escort’s version of disco recalls tunes from the genre’s late-’70s and early-’80s heyday: vocally…
Quick Lit: ‘Concerning the Holy Ghost’s Interpretation of J. Crew Catalogues’ by Elizabeth Powell
In the mid-1990s, I made a collage out of J. Crew catalogs and hung it on my wall. The only explanation I can give for this behavior is my guilty fascination with what those catalogs were selling: a sunny, casual, vaguely retro vision of trust-fund living. Long before we had “Mad Men” to moon over,…
Album Review: Isaac French, ‘Human Being’
(Self-released, CD, digital download) In a news story published by his alma mater, Castleton University, singer-songwriter Isaac French says of the title of his debut solo album, “Human Being is a double entendre to me. We all deal with struggles and heartbreaks as human beings, but it’s the way you learn from them and treat…
Dancer Camille A. Brown on Her Latest Work, ‘ink’
The concept of superhuman ability moves from the big screen to the live stage in Camille A. Brown & Dancers’ production ink, next week at the Hopkins Center for the Arts in Hanover, N.H. “I lift up our real-life super heroes of the past who paved the way for us to fly … In flight, we…
Letters to the Editor (3/27/19)
Child Care Businesses Need Help [Re “Fed Up With Vermont’s Child Care Crisis? Here’s Something You Can Do to Fix It,” March 11, paid post from Let’s Grow Kids]: There is an additional issue in the child care crisis that does not appear to be addressed by the pending legislation and no one seems to…
NEK Storyboard Artist Kevin Harkey Brings Hollywood’s Animated Adventures to Life
Anyone who’s parented young children in the last decade has probably seen Frozen more than a few times. The Walt Disney Pictures release is the highest-grossing animated feature of all time. But if the movie’s icy landscapes look strangely familiar to Vermonters, that’s not just because of repeat viewings. Kevin Harkey, the storyboard artist who…
Free Will Astrology (3/27/19)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Kermit the Frog from Sesame Street is the world’s most famous puppet. He has recorded songs, starred in films and TV shows, and written an autobiography. His image has appeared on postage stamps, and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kermit’s beginnings were humble, however. When his…
Vintage Documentary ‘Mt. Philo Commune’ to Screen at Shelburne Museum
When most people think of communes, they envision shaggy hippies, psychedelic drugs and free-love free-for-alls. But according to Bridget Downey-Meyer, those stereotypes sell the idea — and, more importantly, the ideals of communal living — short. “I want to dispel that myth,” the 73-year-old Essex Junction resident said. “There was sex and drugs and rock…
Hello, Hula: Can Russ Scully Create a Lakeside Tech Scene?
Front-end loaders and construction workers crisscrossed the cavernous space that was once the factory floor at Blodgett Oven. Standing in the middle, in a hard hat and down jacket, Russ Scully described his vision for the gutted manufacturing plant on the shore of Lake Champlain in Burlington’s South End. “The energy of this building, in…
Women Vets Take Center Stage in New Upper Valley Play ‘Deployed’
The U.S. military has made recent strides toward gender equity, such as the Pentagon’s opening of all frontline positions to women in 2015. Yet the past decade has also seen numerous revelations of gender discrimination, harassment and even rape in the service. Locally, Nicola Smith and Samantha Lazar have documented the unique experience of being…
Vermont Still Has No Plan to Pay for Clean Water
Vermont lawmakers have spent more than two decades debating how to clean up Lake Champlain and the state’s other polluted waterways. Four years ago, they committed to finding a long-term, stable source of funds to get the job done. Two years ago, state Treasurer Beth Pearce offered up a menu of options to do just…
Eat This Week, March 27 to April 2, 2019: Taco Philosophy
In Groton, Artesano Meadery celebrates the University of Vermont’s second annual Public Philosophy Week with a thinker’s taco throwdown in collaboration with Danville’s Nacho Mama. With glasses of handcrafted honey wine (sweet or dry) in hand, visitors fill their plates from the taco bar and ponder the nature of introspection and dream jobs with Middlebury…
Work: Lee Decker Makes Peace With Pests
Name: Lee Decker Town: Essex Junction Job: Technician, Nature’s Way Pest Control Lee Decker has never minded rodents or insects. “I was always interested in bugs and playing in the dirt and stuff like that. Nothing’s ever bothered me,” said Decker, who was raised in the small town of Northville, N.Y., just west of Saratoga…
Sticky Fingers: Neighbors Lend a Hand After Thief Steals Sap Buckets
As Vermont’s maple syrup producers opened their sugarhouses to the public last weekend, Fred’s Shed stayed shut. The owner, Fred Hopkins, didn’t have anything to boil. The week before, a vandal had stolen 100 of Hopkins’ sap buckets right from the taps along Maquam Shore Road in St. Albans. The bucketeer dumped the frozen sap…
WTF: Why Are There More Owl Spottings in Vermont This Year Than Normal?
Posting wildlife photos on social media is as quintessentially Vermonty as driving a mud-splattered Subaru in March or boasting about close-encounter-with-Bernie stories to out-of-state friends and family. But lately, it seems, Green Mountain folks have been posting an unusually large number of pictures of owls they’ve spotted out and about during daylight hours: perching in…
Campaign Workers Unite! Sanderistas Join Growing Political Labor Movement
The labor movement has changed since Ray Bettis got his start operating cranes at a Barre granite shed nearly two decades ago. His union, the United Steelworkers Local 4, now represents librarians and municipal employees — not just coal miners, tire manufacturers and paper mill workers. Still, Bettis was surprised when a pair of political…
Eating Up the International Fare at Winooski’s New Sweet Babu and Dale Boca
It’s no wonder that Winooski has been jocularly called the “Brooklyn of Vermont.” With its diverse and increasingly youthful population, the burg across the river from Burlington has become a hotbed of creative international cuisine. As Lorena Neironi Rossi, co-owner of Argentinian restaurant Dale Boca Café, put it, “I love Winooski because of the variety.…
The Fish & Chip Opens in South Burlington
A restaurant that serves more than its name suggests opened in mid-March at 1210 Williston Road in South Burlington. The Fish & Chip is a 40-seat restaurant at the former site of the Wooden Spoon Bistro, which closed in 2016. In addition to battered and fried fish served with French fries and coleslaw, the restaurant…
