Tracy Dolan was traveling one night on a remote road in northeastern Afghanistan when local warlords stopped the car she was riding in. It was 2002, just a few months after the fall of the Taliban, and Dolan was working for the nonprofit ChildFund International to set up schools for Afghan children, most of whom…
Mark Frier, co-owner of Tres Amigos on the Mountain Road in Stowe, confirmed that the restaurant and its associated Rusty Nail Stage music venue have closed permanently as of October 29. The closure was a result of the pandemic, Frier acknowledged in a phone interview. The Mexican restaurant was doing OK despite tight staffing and increased…
Folino’s will open its third Chittenden County pizzeria before the end of the year at 129 Market Street in Williston, in the same complex as Healthy Living Market & Café. “If everything goes according to plan, we’re looking at December 1,” said Bobby Seaman, a longtime Folino’s employee and general manager of the new pizzeria. Folino’s was founded…
Family matriarch embarked on her final RV adventure
“Tootie” worked tirelessly in the criminal justice and mental health fields
Sunlight reflected off of polished mahogany boards as I sat in the empty dining room of an elegant country restaurant. I was three years sober, and I was scheduled to meet with the owners of the fine-dining establishment I had been working at for several months. In the weeks leading up to our meeting, I…
North Williston farmer’s life revolved around the land, his family and his friends
Longtime Vermonter had an unsinkable spirit and wicked sense of humor
Longtime Jeffersonville resident immersed himself in his passions on the ski slopes and race track
The title poem of Michael Collier’s newest collection captures the poet at his best. “The Missing Mountain,” originally published in Dark Wild Realm (2006), combines images of specific objects and memories with lush description and satisfying philosophical twists. The unrhymed yet tightly controlled stanzas are composed of lines with a natural musical quality, somewhere between…
Photojournalist James Buck spent much of the last week with residents at the Sears Lane homeless encampment in Burlington ahead of Tuesday’s scheduled eviction. Many of the residents who spoke with him declined to provide their full names. Here’s what they did tell him. Noah, 31 After he turned 18, Noah was homeless in downtown…
In Daniel Mills’ world, every town is a ghost town, and everyone in them is haunted. The places and characters in the Hinesburg author’s new 12-story collection, Among the Lilies, are besieged by disturbances both mundane and supernatural. It’s impossible to say which are more terrifying. Past lovers linger, refusing to loosen their grip on…
There are landing places — and then there are landing places. The two meet near the intersection of Airport Drive and Airport Road in South Burlington, where Burlington International Airport and its aviation affiliates surround Eldredge Cemetery on three sides. The cemetery is nestled between Beta Technologies and Heritage Aviation, bordered on two sides by…
Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune is beloved by fans of brainy science fiction, and it’s notoriously difficult to adapt to film. The 1984 version was a box office bomb that nearly derailed the career of up-and-coming director David Lynch. The Syfy Channel miniseries was more faithful to the book (and its sequels) but lacked the…
new in theaters ANTLERS: Scott Cooper (Hostiles) directed this horror drama in which a teacher (Keri Russell) suspects her student may be connected to a creature haunting their small town. With Jesse Plemons and Jeremy T. Thomas. (99 min, R. Essex, Majestic, Star) LAST NIGHT IN SOHO: A newcomer to London (Thomasin McKenzie) has thrilling…
Jeanne Agner has lived in hilly Vermont for nearly 40 years, but she grew up in northwest Ohio, which is “as flat as flat could be.” That’s why the Richmond resident was surprised to learn from a friend that a young man from her hometown had embarked earlier this year on a difficult journey through…
White sheets shrouded the furniture like so many ghouls lying about the room. Tucker Foltz, the education programs manager at Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh, led me through the historic Robinson home and into the original kitchen, which dates back to the 1790s. Due to seasonal closures, the pandemic shutdown and restoration work, visitors haven’t crossed…
Vermont, the most vaccinated state in the country — the poster child for America’s pandemic response — is in the midst of its worst surge of COVID-19 infections to date. What gives? State officials wish they knew. They have been puzzling over this question for weeks and say the answer likely involves factors common to surges…
The snipe, a shorebird found all over the world, is attracted to marshes and their yummy invertebrates. Long legs facilitate wading around in the muck, and a skinny, elongated bill with highly sensitive nerve endings enables the bird to detect and slurp up dinner. This family of shorebirds also comes with handy plumage that helps…
Good Jam The Vermont Tech Jam 2021 was fabulous. The venue certainly contributed to that, but the planning, organization and participants were exceptional. How can I receive or view the presentation by Martine Rothblatt and Kyle Clark? Peter Rowan Essex Junction Editor’s note: The video of the Tech Jam’s keynote presentation, an interview with Beta…
The phrase “knock on wood” has an imprecise origin, but its meaning is clear: striking knuckles on wooden objects supposedly wards off bad luck. Burlington woodworker Noah Burton says the idiom was just one inspiration for his company’s name, Knock Knock Natural Coffins & Custom Woodworking. “It’s death — death coming a-knocking,” he said with…
Just a few weeks after Teal Wiegand lost her restaurant job in March 2020, she knew she was ready for a career change. Restaurants that had stayed open in the early months of the pandemic offered only takeout, so tips — the bulk of a server’s pay — had become largely a thing of the past.…
When he’s not shooting for Seven Days, freelance photographer James Buck documents disaster-relief and humanitarian efforts in some of the harshest spots on Earth. Since the end of 2018, he has worked as a volunteer for the nonprofit Project HOPE in Ethiopia, Namibia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Indonesia and post-hurricane Bahamas. Earlier this year, the…
When I was just a wee little music reviewer running around telling adults the Eagles sucked, I had a formative Halloween when I learned the true meaning of the spooky season. No, it isn’t candy. Pretending you are someone else is super cool, but that’s not it, either. Partying with your friends is also great,…
Yard work isn’t typically on the list of job responsibilities for a school administrator. But on a recent Friday, Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools superintendent Libby Bonesteel, clad in a baseball cap and blue jeans, pushed a lawn mower outside Montpelier High School for an hour. School librarian Sue Monmaney posted a picture of the unlikely…
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Mardi Gras is a boisterous festival that happens every February all over the planet. One hot spot is New Orleans. The streets there are filled with costumed revelers who enjoy acting in ways that diverge from their customary behavior. If you want to ride on a float in the parade that…
(Bone Ta Pick Records, CD, digital) As anyone who’s spent time in Burlington’s Old North End knows, a distinct sort of neighborhood pride abounds in the blocks between Manhattan Drive and Pearl Street. While not immune to the bougie gentrification afflicting other parts of the Queen City, the ONE still reflects its humble roots. It’s…
Dear Reverend, I bought an old house six months ago. At the closing, the previous owners gave me a photo of the man who built the house in the 1920s, who they believe still haunts the place. I’ve definitely felt his presence here, and lately I’ve been having very vivid erotic dreams about him. I’m…
(Great Bear Records, CD, vinyl, digital) The self-titled debut album from bluegrass and folk act the Faux Paws has some interesting pedigree. Brattleboro-based singer-guitarist Andrew VanNorstrand and his brother Noah both played in the successful contra dance act Great Bear, along with their mother, Kim Yerton. The third member of the Faux Paws, Chris Miller,…
Ahead of a 9 a.m. eviction on Tuesday, protesters arrived at a Burlington homeless encampment and started chanting, anticipating a confrontation with city police. The group of 30 brought strength in numbers, as well as signs. The activists offered to chain themselves to structures at the Sears Lane camp if city officials attempted to remove…
Last year, when Dara Lavallee joined a cadre of dairy devotees to take an online cheesemaking course, she was the only student choosing cultures and calibrating temperature to make cheese out of plants, specifically cream from soaked cashews. Instead of turning up their noses, her classmates were fascinated — and impressed. “‘That’s beautiful!'” she recalled…
Phelan O’Connor, co-owner of Pigasus Meats in South Hero, was raised vegetarian. He never thought much about his diet until he started working on the school farm while studying at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. Tending beef cattle there, O’Connor saw firsthand how animals can interact with the land in both positive and negative…
Longtime Burlington restaurateur Sam Lai and his wife, Li Lin, opened Café Dim Sum at 95 St. Paul Street on October 15. The 20-seat restaurant occupies the former location of HJ House and offers a traditional Chinese dim sum menu of small plates with pots of tea. Everything is made from scratch, designed for sharing…
Downtown music destination Nectar’s became famous for its early support of Phish back in the 1980s and, to a lesser extent, for its gravy fries. In April, chef Michael Crowell-Hall returned home to Vermont after almost 20 years and quietly took over the night spot’s kitchen. He recently debuted a fall menu that balances late-night…
Something Wicked Sunday 31 Foul Contending Rebels Theatre Cooperative, Burlington’s feminist acting troupe, gets those fires burning and cauldrons bubbling for a special Halloween performance of Macbeth at ArtsRiot. Audience members are encouraged to dress in their Prohibition best for this fully immersive staging set in the 1920s speakeasy scene. Justice Everywhere Friday 29 Philonise…
