The Animal Issue August 2017
Search-and-Rescue Canines Earn Their Play; A Vermont Spa Pampers Pets; In Montpelier, a Donkey Delivers Eggs
Seriously: Keep on Stuckin’
This week Bryan speaks with Stuck in Vermont host Eva Sollberger about her fantastic 500th episode. CREDTS Written by: Bryan Parmelee and Eva Sollberger Artwork/photography by: Matthew Thorsen, Happy Tails Pet Resort and Spa, Suzanne Podhaizer, Eva Sollberger, Bryan Parmelee, dreamstime.com Logo/art direction by: Don Eggert Backdrop mural by: Anthill Collective Music/audio by: Bryan Parmelee…
Obituary: Patricia Hamilton, 1951-2017
July 8, 1951-August 10, 2017 Patricia (Ryan) Hamilton, 66, of Bradenton, Fla., and formerly of Vermont passed on August 10, 2017, after a long illness. Patricia was born second of nine children to Gloria (Beaudoin) Ryan and James T. Ryan in Burlington, Vt. She is survived by her loving husband of 28 years, Jack E.…
The Parmelee Post: In Effort to Preserve History, Burlington Erects Library Card Statue
On Friday, the city of Burlington unveiled a brand new statue designed to address growing concerns that American history is actively being erased. According to sculptor Madeline Stacks, the “Books and Other Good Things” monument was erected as a memorial to the true purveyors of history — library cards. “I want to remind passersby that…
The 500th Stuck in Vermont
7/15/17: In a state filled with artistic, unique and innovative people, one woman has documented it all. Join Eva Sollberger and a few familiar faces on a whirlwind musical adventure to find out the true meaning of being STUCK IN VERMONT. Music Soundtrack composed and performed by Nate Venet “500 Stuck in Vermonts” performed and…
Have Tools, Will Serve: Cabot Hardware Store Adds Bar
It’s not unheard of for hardware stores in Vermont to offer food. Plainfield Hardware has a deli, and, in Cabot, Sarah’s Country Diner offers breakfast and lunch at the back of Harry’s Hardware. But a bar? Never seen … until a month ago. “We’re the first [hardware store bar] in Vermont,” said Bobby Searles, who,…
A Burlington Marketing Company Goes to the Dogs
Name: Sniff & Barkens Job: Dog lifestyle brand marketing Town: Burlington Two things set Sniff & Barkens apart from the numerous other marketing agencies based in Burlington: The company functions solely on social media, and it does so with dogs. That is, Sniff & Barkens incorporates canines — and the occasional other critter — into…
Search-and-Rescue Dogs Earn Their Play
When Avery Schneider and her 21-month-old American Labrador retriever, Birdy, go to work, they often head for a big pile of rubble deep inside the Vermont National Guard’s Camp Johnson base in Colchester. The pile looks as if a medium-size box store exploded or a parking garage collapsed: Think smashed cars, broken concrete walls, storage…
Movie Review: ‘The Glass Castle’ Isn’t Worth Visiting
“The medium is the message,” Marshall McLuhan famously proclaimed. Rarely have those words rung truer than during the eternity it took to slog through The Glass Castle. Directed and cowritten by Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) and based on the highly regarded 2005 memoir by Jeannette Walls, this is another of those movies about…
Why Is It OK to Feed Birds But Not Other Wildlife?
Years ago, before becoming a journalist, I worked for the Center for Wildlife Information, a Missoula, Mont.-based nonprofit. The organization’s mission is to reduce human/wildlife conflicts, many of which require that the “nuisance” animal be relocated or destroyed. Most often, however, the nuisance animals are humans themselves, whose behaviors — such as improperly storing food…
Art Review: ‘Birding by the Numbers,’ Birds of Vermont Museum
Most art shows can be viewed without particular attention to their settings, but “Birding by the Numbers” is inseparable from its locale. The Birds of Vermont Museum in Huntington organized the community art exhibit to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The show’s avian depictions, whether sewn, painted, photographed or sculpted, sit comfortably amid the museum’s permanent…
How Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War Inspired Brian McCarthy’s Latest Album
In the final moments of his first inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln said, “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.” He closed the impassioned speech with a plea to what he called “the better angels of our nature,” an artful way of imploring Americans…
Movie Review: ‘Annabelle: Creation’ Is Less Than the Sum of Its Creepy Parts
Posters for Annabelle: Creation tout it as “The Next Film in The Conjuring Universe.” That’s right: The ghosts and demons whose “true” stories Ed and Lorraine Warren chronicled over decades of paranormal investigation now have their own extended universe, just like superheroes. Anything to distract the audience from the realization that these films are just…
Buckley: An Essay on the Love and Loss of a Best Friend
I first met Buckley 16 years ago. I was in Brooklyn visiting my friend Ben, who had just adopted this spastic, year-old (we thought) puppy from a nearby shelter. He’d been found on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike, so the shelter had given him the rather unimaginative name Jersey, which Ben changed, thankfully.…
The Animal Issue, 2017
Clearly, life is better with furry friends. Or feathered, or scaly. Pets inspire this annual issue, but so do stories about wildlife (“nuisance” bears) and barnyard beasts (an egg-delivering donkey — yes, really). In these pages we learn about two social-media endeavors in Burlington: the RAD Girls Club, which finds homes for adoptable pups; and…
Eat This Week, August 16 to 22, 2017: No Farms, No Food
Kingdom Farm & Food’s annual multiday foodie extravaganza officially kicks off this Friday, but you can whet your palate as early as Wednesday, August 16, with a greenhouse supper at Wolcott’s Sandiwood Farm. On Thursday and Friday, catch pasture management and draft animal workshops as well as a farmers market in Hardwick, and hit up Caledonia…
Vermont Artisan Village Grows in Shelburne
A new community is taking shape off Route 7 in Shelburne. On 20 acres, Burlington-based architect Graham Goldsmith is constructing a group of buildings designed to evoke Vermont’s agricultural heritage while supporting contemporary food and beverage enterprises. Goldsmith owns the property located at 120 Graham Way, east of Route 7 and a bit south of…
Trouble Bruin: Vermonters Are Reporting More Problems With Bears
David Kachajian was washing dishes at home in Richmond last month when something caused his border collie to wake up from a nap and growl. Kachajian heard a scratching noise at the front door. Maybe it’s the UPS guy, thought Kachajian, a Swanton police officer who is not easily rattled. He walked to the front…
A Vermont Women’s Shelter Takes in Pets, Too
More pets than people are living this week at the Clarina Howard Nichols Center in Lamoille County, which provides a home for women and children fleeing domestic or sexual violence. At staff meetings, a pug on the premises hops into people’s laps. “It brings a totally different vibe to the house,” said Ally Scanlon, family…
Soundbites: R.O.C. Out
Hello, friends. I’m at a loss for words after the (unfortunately) all-too-believable bullshit that went down in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend. Feeling tongue-tied is shitty for a writer. But you know what’s even shittier than that? Hatred, bigotry, ignorance and intolerance. But, since this is a music column and not a political one, I’ll segue…
Leahys in Love: A Senator and His Spouse Weather Cancer
On August 25, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and his wife, Marcelle, will celebrate a milestone that few people reach: their 55th wedding anniversary. They remain very much in love, and, although the senator is the one in the spotlight, they consider themselves equal partners in life. For the past 14 years, however, there’s been a…
Ask Athena: How Do I Make a Long-Distance Relationship Work?
Dear Athena, My girlfriend and I have a long-distance relationship. It just started. I’m not sure it’s going to work. She kind of wants to keep it open but will try being monogamous at first. I don’t know how to do this and need advice. What can we do to stay together? She won’t be…
Brookfield Institution Ariel’s Restaurant for Sale
Ariel’s Restaurant in Brookfield is for sale, its owners announced Monday morning on Facebook. Lee Duberman and Richard Fink have run the restaurant for 21 years out of their 19th-century home on Sunset Lake. The married couple plans to sell the business and move to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where they have spent the…
Letters to the Editor (8/16/17)
Thanks From the Kibabu Family Re [“Deaths Prompt Review of Swimming, Safety Programs for New Americans,” July 19]: From the bottom of our hearts, the Kibabu family would like to thank everyone who supported us during the difficult time of the loss of our son and brother Christian Kibabu Poso, who drowned in Lake Champlain…
Free Will Astrology (8/16/17)
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “If you love someone, set them free,” said new age author Richard Bach. “If they come back, they’re yours; if they don’t, they never were.” By using my well-educated intellect to transmute this hippy-dippy thought into practical advice, I came up with a wise strategy for you to consider as you…
Album Review: Comrade Nixon, ‘Feels Like a Thousand Years’
(Rat Pâté Records, digital download) Authenticity and punk rock are strange bedfellows. I don’t know what “real” punk is anymore — if I ever did. I know just enough not to believe anyone who tells me what it is, unless they can prove it. More than any other genre, punk has to feel like itself.…
Play and Pampering at Happy Tails Pet Resort
Jemma and Mayhem took a brief respite from their midmorning dip in the indoor splash pool to saunter over to the observation window and watch their human caretakers enjoying a cup of coffee in the retail boutique. Neither Jemma (a Cockapoo) nor Mayhem (a Labradoodle) were scheduled for a dog massage, “pawdicure” or the weekly…
Nurse Shortage Puts Vermont Parents on the Hook for Kids’ Care
Natalie Briggs spent the first six months of her life in hospitals. Born at 30 weeks with an extra chromosome, she couldn’t breathe or swallow on her own. She was deaf. Doctors predicted she’d be permanently confined to a hospital bed. Now nearly 8 years old, Natalie has short brown hair and a big grin.…
This Year’s Giant Corn Maze is Bear-able
Nothing says mysterious yet wholesome fun like bears “drawn” in a cornfield, right? Right? Or, perhaps, when you’ve been walking through a corn maze for a couple of hours in the August sun, it doesn’t really matter what that maze looks like. Either way, every summer Mike Boudreau of the Great Vermont Corn Maze in…
Album Review: The Edd, ‘I’m With Bob’
(Self-released, CD, digital download) I don’t smoke weed anymore. And I haven’t touched hallucinogens for the better part of a decade. I’m by no means a teetotaler; it’s just that at some point the mind-bending effects of those particular substances simply lost their appeal. But as I delved into the disorienting grooves of the Edd’s…
Québec’s Foresta Lumina Attracts Visitors to the Light
Lava ran down the side of the cliff, and rocks began to crumble into the gorge. Behind the rubble, a glowing hidden chamber revealed itself to the enthralled crowd. Inside it danced a young woman surrounded by fairies. Then the rocks realigned themselves again into a normal cliffside, one among many in the Eastern Townships…
Oh, Canada: Immigrants Seeking Hope Step Across the Border
There’s one reason to take a taxi to the end of Roxham Road in Champlain, N.Y.: the U.S.-Canadian border. The remote spot, 30 miles south of Montréal, has become a conduit for people fleeing U.S. immigration crackdowns announced by President Donald Trump. The exodus to Canada started last winter, when Trump tried to institute a…
An Artist Finds Her Niche in Drawing Animals
In 2008, Corrina Thurston got a migraine that never stopped. Loud sounds and bright lights hurt her head. She didn’t sleep, and she could barely walk. Confined to a dark room, she had to drop out of St. Lawrence University in her first year. Prior to her illness, the now 27-year-old Barre native did not…
Old Dog, New Trick: Vermont Wields Enhanced Animal Cruelty Law
Ashley Husk was at home in Ferrisburgh, and nine months pregnant, when she heard a distant gunshot on August 8. She stepped outside to see her dog, Keira, running down the street toward her. Husk wasn’t surprised; loud noises had always startled the animal. But once inside, Keira paced nervously and wouldn’t sit down. Husk…
The RAD Girls Club Seeks Homes for Adoptable Dogs
By day, Chelsea Edson is a stylist and photography coordinator for April Cornell. Katie Falcone works in sales and marketing for the Radio Vermont Group. But by night — and on weekends — these women use their branding chops to sell prospective pet parents on winsome pit bulls and playful mutts, using tools like their…
Vermont Artist to Record Solar Eclipse in S.C.
As August 21 approaches, excitement about the upcoming total solar eclipse is growing steadily across the U.S. As expected, the infrequent celestial event is providing a catalyst for discussions of science and superstition and, yes, politics, among the masses and the media. Morrisville artist and Johnson State College assistant professor Michael Zebrowski is one of…
Delivering Eggs by Donkey in Montpelier
When it’s time to deliver the eggs from the chickens that scratch and peck among the towering piles of earth at Montpelier’s Vermont Compost, Kaleigh Hamel, 19, and Ruby, 17, do the job together. Hamel is the brains of the operation, making sure the invoice is printed, acting as driver and interacting with staff at…
Northfield Social Club Combines Brewery and Coffee Roaster
Almost a year ago, Andrew Leichthammer and Scott Kerner opened Good Measure Brewing in the old IGA grocery store building at 17 East Street in Northfield. Kerner also co-owns Montpelier’s Three Penny Taproom and a coffee biz called Carrier Roasting. Now, under the name Northfield Social Club, with the help of “imaginative banking work,” Kerner…
