Oct 4-10, 2017
WRUV DJ Melo Grant Celebrates 33 1/3 Years Spinning Hip-Hop; Unprecedented Growth at ACLU-VT; Living Tree Alliance Cultivates Earth-Based Judaism
Cover Story
DJ Melo Grant Celebrates 33 1/3 Years on the Hip-Hop Airwaves
Melo Grant can’t sit down. Well, she can, of course, if she chooses to. But throughout a recent broadcast of her two-hour radio show, “Cultural Bunker,” on University of Vermont station WRUV 90.1 FM, the diminutive hip-hop DJ, dressed head-to-toe in muted, unassuming gray tones, rarely stopped moving, let alone indulged in a breather. “I…
Fact Finders: Librarians’ Tips for Helping Kids Make Sense of Online Information
Upon entering the Burlington High School library, visitors confront a large multimedia display that’s intended to provoke and challenge them. It focuses on the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August and the violence that erupted afterward. One enlarged photo shows white supremacist demonstrators carrying tiki torches. Another captures the moment when several people…
Diapers for Days at Dee Physical Therapy
Dee Physical Therapy’s annual Great Diaper Drive — a project that collects disposable diapers for families served by the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) — doesn’t officially start until late October. But the event’s organizer, Jason Fitzgerald, secured his biggest donation ever this summer. Burlington-based Seventh Generation pledged 57,994 diapers — more than the drive…
The Parmelee Post: Documentary Film Crew to Track Migration Patterns of Leaf Peepers
Biologists from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department have teamed up with a documentary film crew from East Calais to produce what is expected to be the most ambitious nature documentary series ever filmed in the Green Mountain State. The series, “Peepers Creepers,” will feature previously unseen footage of exotic foliage observers — aka “leaf…
Seriously: Happiness is a Warm Vinyl Record; Door-to-Door Localvore; Still Soldiering
In this episode, Bryan waxes poetic on vinyl records, delivers an exciting update in Burlington’s budding grocery war and highlights a few bright spots in a week filled with bleak news. CREDITS Written, filmed and edited by: Bryan Parmelee Artwork/photography courtesy of: Matthew Thorsen, Jordan Adams, Intervale Food Hub, Jeb Wallace-Brodeur, Bryan Parmelee, Dreamstime.com, Archives.org…
Hiking Tot-Friendly Trails
I love hiking with my 1-year-old daughter, Virginia, but I’m in no shape to carry her up steep inclines. So on a sunny day in early September, we set out with my friend, Rachel, to tackle a trail suitable for both toddlers and adults: the Watershed Center trails near the Bristol/New Haven border. The Watershed…
Rock Star: The Sky’s the Limit for This Teen Climber
Name: Ben Blackmore Age: 16 Town: Charlotte Ben Blackmore keeps scaling new heights. Literally. The day before Kids VT caught up with the 16-year-old Charlotte rock climber, he’d successfully bouldered Touching the Sky, one of the most difficult climbs at Smugglers’ Notch. In contrast to sport climbing, which requires harnesses and clipping to bolts along the…
![The Orange Owl [SIV506]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/episode506-4-scaled-e1755134230432.webp?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1)
The Orange Owl [SIV506]
9/28/17: Akshata Nayak founded The Orange Owl in 2010 and is based in Essex. Her vegan, handmade skincare line features unique scent combinations like cloves, cinnamon, pepper and ginger. Most of these smells are connected to stories from Akshata’s life and she took Eva on a walk in the woods to tell us more. Music:…
Eat This Week, October 4 to 10, 2017: Cinematic Cuisine
Will they serve hard-boiled eggs à la Cool Hand Luke or offer Hannibal Lecter’s second-favorite meal — lamb with fava beans and Chianti? Who knows? What is known is that during the Five Easy Courses event — a benefit for the Vermont International Film Festival — Penny Cluse Café chefs Charles Reeves and Maura O’Sullivan…
Apartment Complexes Sprout in Suburban South Burlington
Jennifer Bliss helped her daughter, Kayla, out of their car with the 5-year-old still swathed in a pink tutu from dance class. Then they headed into their South Burlington digs — not on a suburban cul-de-sac, but in a new, five-story apartment building amid a sea of car dealerships. The building is a residential oasis…
Hackie: Twizzlers
A couple stood on the Pearl Street sidewalk in front of the UU, the church from which Burlington’s Church Street takes its name. They appeared to be in their late twenties. At their feet sat two well-worn suitcases and at least one stuffed trash bag. As I approached, the man flagged me down. “Do you…
Vermont Weirdos Unite for a Festival All Their Own
Add Weirdofest to the list of offbeat celebrations in Vermont. Onion River Campground owners Jaquelyn Fernandez Rieke and Raul Fernandez hosted the third annual fest on Saturday at their Marshfield property. “It’s like a big party,” said Fernandez Rieke, adding that it’s “youth-driven.” Indeed. At just 12 years old, Xavier Woogmaster served as master of…
Living Tree Alliance Cultivates Earth-Based Judaism
On an unpaved road in Moretown, amid woods and meadows along Dowsville Brook, one of Vermont’s newest cohousing projects is under way. It looks like the typical rural intentional community, with solar panels, wooden structures and chickens. But Living Tree Alliance is not all that typical. It’s a Jewish project and, as part of a…
Movie Review: Aubrey Plaza Uses All Her Filters in the Instagram Satire ‘Ingrid Goes West’
As online culture competes with the movies, it’s also inspiring more and more of them. On the heels of the horror flick Friend Request, here’s an indie comedy whose plot pivots around the use and misuse of Instagram. It may be tempting to say that Ingrid Goes West, the feature directorial debut of Matt Spicer,…
Movie Review: Tom Cruise Flies High Again in ‘American Made’
Tom Cruise never gives his megawatt movie-star grin a rest, but, for the moment, he truly has something to smile about. After The Mummy handed the actor the most humbling flop of his career this summer, he’s back in top form — Top Gun form, you might even say. Watching him streak through the sky…
A Lyrically Inspired Not-Quite-Interview with Tricky
When I heard Tricky was coming to perform in Vermont, I dropped what I was doing and texted one of my best friends from high school. We were huge fans of the trip-hop pioneer during our formative years and spent many nights bonding over the British rapper’s gravelly voice, sample-heavy production and overall avant-garde weirdness.…
Art Review: ‘Spirited Things: Sacred Arts of the Black Atlantic,’ Fleming Museum
Just past the entrance of the Fleming Museum exhibition “Spirited Things: Sacred Arts of the Black Atlantic” stands a vitrine containing a leather whip, a choker with a heart-shaped rhinestone padlock, and a plastic “male chastity device,” all made in the early 2000s. For a show of religious art and objects created by Africans, African…
Album Review: Near North, ‘Most Every Night’
(Self-released, LP, digital download) Franklin County power trio Near North took their sweet time releasing a full-length album. They dropped their debut EP, Get Loud, back in 2012 and followed it two years later with another EP, On the Rafters. You’d think their first LP would offer a wholly new collection of songs, but Most…
Taryn Noelle Talks Dance, Music, Theater and Teaching Kids
It’s ironic that, even after two successful decades in the state’s entertainment industry, Taryn Noelle still describes herself, half-jokingly, as “moonlighting in Vermont.” The Toronto-born choreographer, stage performer, director and teacher has more professional irons in the fire than a blacksmith. She has choreographed and directed for Lyric Theatre, the Stowe Theatre Guild and the…
Letters to the Editor (10/4/17)
Cave Save It is great that search and rescue groups are getting organized in Vermont [“After a Hiker’s Death, Vermont Finds Ways to Improve Search and Rescue,” September 27]. Cavers — those who explore, map and preserve caves — have been organizing rescue groups and providing training for many years. Steve Hazelton of Rutland has…
ACLU of Vermont Experiences Unprecedented Growth
U.S. Border Patrol officials met privately with Vermont college administrators on September 14 to talk about why agents had boarded buses and questioned passengers, including international students, about their legal status. Though he hadn’t been invited, Jay Diaz, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, learned of the meeting at Champlain College…
Album Review: Wool See, ‘Leaving / Left’
(Heaven Noise Recordings, CD, cassette, digital download) Leaving / Left is the fourth album from Wool See, a self-described “imaginary rap band” created by rapper and producer IAME. While Vermont usually specializes in nurturing homegrown talent and watching them leave, IAME is a recent arrival from Portland, Ore. He was an established commodity in the…
Despite Transgender Ban, Norwich University Cadets Soldier On
Luka Salvatore has wanted to join the Marines since age 9. The Cincinnati native’s grandfather, father, uncles and brother all served in the military. Until recently, the senior cadet at Norwich University in Northfield, the nation’s oldest private military academy, was poised to follow suit. Upon graduation, Salvatore intended to train at a police academy…
Fashion Revolution in the Upper Valley
The words “fashion show” might evoke thoughts of glossy lips, doll-like eyes and rail-thin bodies. That standard has been slow to evolve on an international scale — shout-out to the trans and plus-size models making inroads out there. But for the past 15 years, Revolution in White River Junction has been staging fashion shows that fly…
Ask Athena: Our Best Friends Are Getting Divorced
Dear Athena, My wife and I have been friends with this other couple since before we all got married more than 10 years ago. Now they are splitting up. I am sad for them and want to be there for both of them, but I am angry about some of the things the wife did…
From Strip Tease to Family Fare at Fringe Fest
People, get ready: The Burlington Fringe Festival is back. The fifth almost-annual event — it took a hiatus in 2015 — will burst onto the stage of Off Center for the Dramatic Arts next week, October 12 through 15. This year’s fest includes 25 acts, more or less organized by level of bawdiness. Thursday’s Blue…
Soundbites: Slam Dunk; Autumn in Winooski
Slam Dunk It’s a week of firsts for both Higher Ground and the Vermont music scene in general. On Saturday and Sunday, October 7 and 8, HG hosts dunk!USA, the South Burlington club’s first-ever on-site, indoor music festival. The two-day mosh is the first stateside edition of the annual dunk!festival in Zottegem, Belgium, which focuses…
VYO Director Benjamin Klemme: Passion and Patience
A full-time directorship in the youth-orchestra world is rare. That’s one reason why the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association’s search last year for a new music director drew 98 applicants from as far as Venezuela, Russia and France. The organization also commands respect as a member of the League of American Orchestras, explains executive director Rosina…
Saudi Arabian Writer Mohammed Hasan Alwan in Burlington
English speakers will have to wait to find out exactly why Mohammed Hasan Alwan won the 2017 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Raised in Saudi Arabia and currently dividing his time between Toronto and Riyadh, the 38-year-old author has had only a few short works translated into English — not including his prize-winning novel, A Small…
Girls Nite Out Takes a Leap With ‘Ripcord’
For its fall production, Burlington theater company Girls Nite Out presents Ripcord, a 2015 work by playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. Directed by Abbie Tykocki, the show is at GNO’s usual performance space, the Main Street Landing Black Box Theater in Burlington. Amid a deluge of daily political drama, Ripcord is a refreshing comedy about two retirement-home…
Water Wariness: Concerns Rise Over Scott’s Commitment to Cleanup
Tensions have flared between environmental advocates and Gov. Phil Scott’s administration in recent days, sparked by concern that the administration plans to slow-play the federally mandated cleanup of Vermont waterways. At a September 22 meeting of the state’s Act 73 Clean Water Advisory Group, Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore made comments interpreted by…
Free Will Astrology (10/4/17)
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)You’re a good candidate for the following roles: 1. a skeptical optimist who is both discerning and open-minded; 2. a robust truth-teller who specializes in interesting truths; 3. a charming extremist who’s capable of solving stubborn riddles; 4. a smooth operator who keeps everyone calm even as you initiate big changes; and…
Barfly: Chatting Up Waterworks Owner David Abdoo
Tuesday is trivia night at Waterworks Food + Drink in Winooski, but the fun and games started for us before the contest kicked off. The theme last week was “adult sitcoms.” We brought our own laughs. Soaking up the extra dose of summer, my friend and I sat outside at a table overlooking the Winooski…
Finer Fare at Royalton’s Wild Roots
A wedge of green melon rested on the plate between the scallops. Grilled to juicy softness outside, the melon was lukewarm, firm in the middle, and dusted with lemon-scented sumac and chiles en polvo. Beneath scattered young herbs, a slab of bacon was singed on the surface but melty within, oozing fat onto the ripe…
Intervale Food Hub to Begin Home Delivery
Signing up for an Intervale Food Hub subscription used to involve scrolling through a list and choosing a pickup site. Then, each week, customers traveled to their chosen location and grabbed a basket of groceries aggregated by the IFH from area farmers and food producers. Now, the process of acquiring that food has gotten simpler:…
More BBQ for White River Junction: Wicked Awesome
Already the home of Big Fatty’s BBQ, White River Junction will have a new barbecue restaurant by the end of October. Wicked Awesome BBQ will serve New England-style barbecue at 93 Beswick Drive six days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., said chef-owner David McInnis. The 30-seat restaurant, serving beer and wine, takes…
