Seven Days, April 17, 2024

Waitsfield’s Shaina Taub arrives in a big way, starring in her own musical, Suffs

BY MARY ANN LICKTEIG, PAGE 26

We teamed up with Patagonia Provisions to brew a beer with organic and regenerative ingredients.

PASS JOINTS NOT JUDGEMENT

Cannabis has not been analyzed or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For use by individuals 21 years of age or older or registered qualifying patient only. KEEP THIS PRODUCT AWAY FROM CHILDREN AND PETS. DO NOT USE IF PREGNANT OR BREASTFEEDING. Possession or use of cannabis may carry significant legal penalties in some jurisdictions and under federal law. It may not be transported outside of the state of Vermont. The effects of edible cannabis may be delayed by two hours or more. Cannabis may be habit forming and can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. Persons 25 years and younger may be more likely to experience harm to the developing brain.

It is against the law to drive or operate machinery when under the influence of this product. National Poison Control Center 1-800-222-1222.

VERGENNES PICKED FOR LOCKUP

State officials have selected Vergennes to host a new secure juvenile treatment facility, according to people familiar with the selection process.

A proposal for the 14-bed lockup on a state-owned parcel in the Addison County city beat out a rival bid involving a South Burlington business park. e state has yet to announce the decision but has informed Vergennes officials, lawmakers and others involved.

“I’m really, really pleased,” Rep. Diane Lanpher (D-Vergennes) said on Monday.

Chris Winters, commissioner of the Department for Children and Families, told lawmakers in January that DCF had solicited bids for a “state-of-the-art, short-term, secure crisis stabilization and treatment facility” to house about 15 youths in either Vergennes or South Burlington. e new facility is meant to replace the Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center, a locked 30-bed complex in Essex for children ages 10 to 17 that was shuttered in 2020 as a result of dwindling use and legal action. Seven Days published a cover exposé last October, “Loss of Grace,” that detailed its mistreatment of one young woman who later died of an overdose.

Pietro Lynn, an attorney representing one of the losing bidders, said the decision was made several weeks ago. Lynn represents Billy Mauer, the owner of an undeveloped 20-acre parcel in the Meadowlands Business Park in South Burlington. Mauer teamed up with engineering

emoji that WARMING TREND

O cial ice out at Joe’s Pond in Danville happened on Sunday, April 14, at 4:02 a.m. Whoever guessed closest to that time won the annual ra e.

GLASS CASTLE

The cost of a new recycling center in Williston has ballooned to $5 million more than the amount voters approved in 2022. That’s a lot of 5-cent returnables…

firm Neagley & Chase on one of the three bids to build the facility.

State officials called Mark Neagley, the firm’s president, a few weeks ago to let him know they’d chosen one of the other two bids, according to Lynn. Both of those proposals were to build a facility on a piece of state land in Vergennes. Lynn said his clients were surprised because the South Burlington site was close to services and a population center. e state had abandoned a rural Newbury site in part because of concerns that it would be difficult to staff.

e winning bidder was South Burlington-based construction management firm ReArch, which came in with a “significantly lower” bid than Neagley & Chase, according to Lynn.

Neither ReArch CEO Johnny Illick nor Winters immediately responded to requests for comment.

Last month, the state rejected Seven Days’ request to review the bids, saying they were exempt from public disclosure until a contract was signed. But Seven Days obtained a Department for Children and Families project summary that describes an 18,400-square-foot facility with 14 beds on a piece of state-owned land off Comfort Hill Street. e property is part of the former Weeks School juvenile facility, which dates back to the 1800s. e main campus is now occupied by the Northlands Job Corps Center, a federally funded residential career-training program.

Read Kevin McCallum’s full story at sevendaysvt.com.

CLEAR STANDARDS

The feds imposed new limits on PFAS “forever chemicals” in public drinking water that are stricter than Vermont’s. Safety first.

COMING THROUGH

One person was hurt when a train hit several vehicles parked too close to the tracks in Barton during the eclipse. Too dark to see?

160,000

That’s the estimated number of out-ofstaters who traveled to Vermont to see the eclipse.

1. “‘Stuck in Vermont’ During the Eclipse” by Eva Sollberger. Video from Winooski and elsewhere captured the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

2. “Slideshow: Scenes From the Total Solar Eclipse in Vermont” by Sasha Goldstein. We crowdsourced eclipse photos from around the state and, in the end, published 90.

3. “Totally Transfixed: A Rare Eclipse on a Bluebird Day Dazzled Crowds in Northern Vermont” by Seven Days staff. Our reporters fanned out to spots across the path of totality, from prisons to mountaintops, to cover the eclipse.

4. “Goddard College to Close After Spring Term” by Anne Wallace Allen. After 86 years of progressive education, the Plainfield college is calling it quits.

5. “Q&A: Catching Up With the Champlain Valley Quilt Guild” by Seven Days staff. Eva Sollberger on the latest episode of her video series “Stuck in Vermont.” @OutdoorsAlexa

post of the week

is walleye went after my lure during the solar eclipse right after the sun came back out. Surreal experience seeing the eclipse in 100% totality from our boat in Vermont and catching my target species right after! Safely released as we always do. #SolarEclipse #lakechamplain

? ? ? ? ? ? true 802 THAT’S SO VERMONT

YOUR CASH IS IN THE MAIL

Saturday’s postal delivery brought an unexpected windfall to some Winooski residents — two crisp $100 bills, along with a cryptic note. Each envelope, postmarked from Burlington, contained the bills and a brief message, printed on a small sheet of paper headlined “RIPPLES.”

“Take one and pass one,” the note read. “If you really need em, keep em both.” ere was no return address.

Norah Kell was shocked when she opened her envelope. “I thought maybe it was a scam,” she said.

Jeffrey omas was amused after opening his. “It’s a fun little mystery,”

he said. omas said his letter carrier told him he’d been dropping off similar envelopes all day. e U.S. Postal Service did not respond to a request for comment.

One person posted a photo of their letter on Reddit, which led to speculation about its origin. Another user guessed that the message was referencing the classic Grateful Dead song “Ripple,” which has the lines, “Reach out your hand, if your cup be empty / If your cup is full, may it be again.”

Another person asked: “How do I sign up for this free cash?” Two Reddit users

wrote that they, too, had received the letter.

e sender and their motives remain unknown, as does the number of people who received a letter. Some of those who did have interpreted the message as an invitation to donate money where it’s needed.

omas said he gave $100 to the Winooski Memorial Library and another $100 to the Boys & Girls Club.

Kell has donated some of her cash to Lund in honor of a family friend who died recently. She’s contemplating what to do with the rest. “I feel a lot of responsibility to get that money to where it needs to go,” she said.

JEFFREY THOMAS

Jeffrey

Derek Brouwer, Colin Flanders, Rachel Hellman, Courtney Lamdin, Kevin McCallum, Alison Novak, Anne Wallace Allen

ARTS & CULTURE

coeditors Dan Bolles, Carolyn Fox

AssociAte editor Margot Harrison consulting editor Chelsea Edgar

Art editor Pamela Polston

Music editor Chris Farnsworth

cAlendAr writer Emily Hamilton

stAff writers Jordan Barry, Hannah Feuer, Mary Ann Lickteig, Melissa Pasanen, Ken Picard

proofreAders Carolyn Fox, Angela Simpson AssistAnt

speciAlist Bryan Parmelee senior MultiMediA producer Eva Sollberger

MultiMediA journAlist

FLIPPED ECLIPSE?

I think the time-lapse picture of the eclipse on the cover of the April 10 issue is flipped. We watched from Montpelier, and the shadow wedge entered from the bottom and traveled up the sun.

After totality, there was a sudden wedge of bright white light at the bottom that looked like the sun was shining a spotlight on us. It was not the golden sunlight; it was brilliant white and produced sharp-edged shadows.

At the end, there was not the wedge we started with; rather, it looked like something had taken a bite out of the top of the sun. That is the image you have starting the eclipse.

Your picture shows all this in reverse. I doubt if it’s a matter of where you viewed from. I’m wondering if others will take issue with this.

Michelle Brown, Logan Pintka, Kaitlin Montgomery

intern Oliver Frank

ADMINISTRATION

business MAnAger Marcy Stabile

director of circulAtion & logistics Matt Weiner

circulAtion deputy Andy Watts

AssistAnt to the publishers Gillian English

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Jordan Adams, Justin Boland, Alex Brown, Chelsea Edgar, Erik Esckilsen, Steve Goldstein, Amy Lilly, Rachel Mullis, Bryan Parmelee, Mark Saltveit, Jim Schley, Carolyn Shapiro, Casey Ryan Vock

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Luke Awtry, Daria Bishop, James Buck, Tim Newcomb, Jeb Wallace-Brodeur

FOUNDERS

Pamela Polston, Paula Routly

CIRCULATION: 35,000

Seven Days is published by Da Capo Publishing Inc. every Wednesday. It is distributed free of charge in greater Burlington, Middlebury, Montpelier,

John Taylor WILLIAMSTOWN

Editor’s note: Photographer James Buck gave this explanation: “It’s only reversed if you think of it as a leftto-right alphabet. The images reflect the passing of the moon, which came from the right and exited at the left, as they do in the photo. They are not left to right, as if the left photo happened first, but rather the actual direction of the movement of the moon.”

‘THANKS, BE!’

Everyone in the path of the April 8 eclipse had free and equal access to this awesome and inspiring event [“Totally Transfixed,” April 10]. There was no corporate sponsor or celebrity spiel, and no need for either. All humans were on equal footing to partake as each chose to do.

CORRECTION

In last week’s food story headlined “For Noshers and Fressers: Montréal’s Jewish Eateries Serve Classics From Around the World,” the origin of karnatzel was misidentified. It is Romanian.

There was an incorrect preposition in the March 27 Q&A with Eva Sollberger about her “Stuck in Vermont” episode titled, “A Ravine Ran Through It.” A gully divided Burlington through the end of — not until — the 19th century.

The solar system was in full and complete control. The event was beyond human control, even beyond advanced computer control.

Further, there was no room or cause in the eclipse event for any religious voice, political view, media opinion, blame, or earthly judgment or bias. There was not even a place for a conspiracy theory or a denial that the event happened.

What a beautiful leveling of the human playing field! Let us long remember that, for those glorious, fleeting moments, folks of every stripe and ilk could experience the grace and calm of equality for all. To the sun, moon and Earth: Thanks, be!

Hugo Liepmann MIDDLESEX

RARE EVENT

Last week’s post-eclipse edition did a lot to continue the excitement and good news surrounding the path of totality. I think we all can agree: It was a rare day. Perhaps as rare as the eclipse itself was the chance to read something positive and upbeat about the Vermont Department of Corrections [“Totally Transfixed: Captive Audience,” April 10]. Thank you for “shining the light” on the experience for inmates and staff at Northwest State Correctional Facility.

Carl Yalicki MORETOWN

Yalicki is a retired probation and parole officer with the Vermont Department of Corrections.

SANDERS V. SAUNDERS

Bernie Sanders vs. Zoie Saunders? Can Vermont cope with diverse political viewpoints? I’m not sure.

While I give credit to Seven Days for publishing both the rare Bernie Sanders interview [“Senior Senator: Bernie Sanders Sits Down With Seven Days to Talk About Aging Vermont,” April 3] and [“Top of the Class? Gov. Scott’s Pick for Education Secretary, Zoie Saunders, Faces Questions About Her Qualifications,” April 10], they show some stark revelations in content.

Once again, Bernie gets a free pass with little to no follow-up questions.

When Bernie replied about how poorly we as a nation have done in helping seniors since Lyndon B. Johnson’s massive government-welfare-state-overreach-cures-all legislation over 50 years ago, I read little about how much Bernie has done in over 30 years in Washington, D.C., for seniors!

Much overlooked: He has done zero for any tax breaks on Social Security

income and veteran pensions. In contrast, Bernie is now a millionaire with two or three homes.

Why not more follow-up questions to Bernie on how he sees other politicians as a threat to democracy? Cheap shot, Bernie!

As for Zoie Saunders: I support Gov. Phil Scott’s pick, and I hope she can create a diversity in thought over the Democratic supermajority in Montpelier and push back on the monolith and entrenched thinking in the our-way-orthe-highway and the go-along-to-getalong mentality now offered from the Statehouse to local school boards, the Vermont Principals’ Association and up to but not limited to the teachers’ union!

Just maybe, Saunders can help fix the school property tax disaster we all face.

Encourage bold new thinking!

Robert “Bob” Devost JERICHO

HOMEWORK REQUIRED

[Re “Top of the Class? Gov. Scott’s Pick for Education Secretary, Zoie Saunders, Faces Questions About Her Qualifications,” April 10]: Thank you for your informative article on Gov. Phil Scott’s choice for secretary of education. Zoie Saunders has never been a teacher, principal or superintendent. Enough said!

Seven Days did its homework in researching this issue. It is obvious Gov. Scott and his team did not.

John Devino COLCHESTER

CHEESE WAS

[Re “After 33 Years, Cheese & Wine Traders in South Burlington Shutters

Abruptly,” April 1, online]: I almost feel this letter should be in the obituaries. As we make dinner tonight, we’re drinking wine and eating cheese from our Cheese & Wine Traders Cellar Club, using our olive oil and balsamic refills, and noshing on our Vermont crackers. Our favorite bulk items from this local treasure are in the fridge, and the cider and beer purchases from its well-stocked coolers are on ice for the next social gathering. These are just groceries, but the real loss is the welcoming, unstuffy conversation about wine and recipes, as well as the overall friendliness and camaraderie we felt every time we entered, particularly from our favorite knowledgeable wine guy. We loved the tasting notes so much that we read them aloud to guests, and we all learned so much about how to enjoy this simple pleasure.

We are so sad about Cheese & Wine Traders’ demise and hope that all the friendly employees, especially our wine guy, know how happy they made us feel on every visit.

Christine Hauslein MILTON

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Waitsfield’s Shaina Taub arrives in a big way, starring in her own musical, Suffs

MUST SEE, MUST DO THIS WEEK

MAGNIFICENT

FRIDAY 19

BLACK FRIDAY

THURSDAY 18-SATURDAY 20

Final Rose

ONGOING

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 62

Ex-Hasidic queer comedian and television writer Robby Hoffman does a three-day turn at Burlington’s Vermont Comedy Club. Perhaps best known outside the comedy scene as the girlfriend of former “Bachelorette” star Gabby Windey, Hoffman has drawn comparisons to Larry David for her distinctly witty brand of kvetching.

SEE CLUB LISTING ON PAGE 57

FRIDAY 19

Ruby Anniversary

Community arts organization Grimm’s Domain celebrates the culture and heritage of Africa and Black people around the world at Diaspora: Hair or ere. is electrifying showcase at Burlington’s Main Street Landing Black Box eater features local rapper Omega Jade and headliner Rain Supreme alongside other burlesque and pole dance performers.

Vermont Studio Center in Johnson celebrates four decades of the arts with a 40th Anniversary Poetry Reading. e guests of honor — local wordsmiths Neil Shepard, Chard deNiord and Meg Reynolds — read from their work, answer questions and sign books at this literary shindig

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 62

SATURDAY 20 & SUNDAY 21

Sex Education

Better Off Alone

SEE GALLERY LISTING AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/ART

Submit your upcoming events at sevendaysvt.com/postevent

Middlebury’s Edgewater Galleries on the Green and at the Falls present “Solitude,” a group show by local artists meditating on the joy and melancholy of the titular state. e paintings featured in both exhibitions depict subjects as different as a cozy home studio and a vast, stormy landscape.

Rain Supreme

Black-led theater company JAG Productions kicks off its new JAG Underground series with the one-man show e Lesson at AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, N.H. e thoughtful play centers on a teacher who doesn’t know how to answer a young student’s questions about bodies and investigates the way we teach children about sex.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 64

SATURDAY 20 & SUNDAY 21

Petal-ing Wares

Forget spring cleaning — shoppers set about bringing springtime into their homes at the Bloom Flower & Home Market at Burlington’s Hula. More than 75 vendors offer houseplants, home décor, art, jewelry and apothecary products. Ticket holders receive a voucher for a free drink from Mad River Distillers or Burlington Beer.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 62

SUNDAY 21

A Fine Vintage

Lovers of old-book smell, rejoice: e Vermont Antiquarian Booksellers Association’s annual Spring Book, Postcard & Ephemera Fair is back. St. Albans City Hall fills up with vintage-volume vendors, period-postcard purveyors, hand-medown map merchants and antique-art auctioneers, as well as meet and greets with local authors.

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 64

"Fallen" by Jill Matthews

Still Mooning

I can’t stop thinking about last week’s eclipse. I know it’s been nine days — an eternity in the news business — since the sun silhouetted the moon in the path of totality, an awe-inspiring display for everyone lucky enough to have seen it. While the hot stories of the day burn up like so many meteors, time hasn’t faded the image of that fireringed orb for me. Judging from the conversations I’ve had in the past week, I’m not alone.

Much has already been said about the rare glimpse of our spot in the solar system. It “lived up to the hype and then some,” as Vermont Gov. Phil Scott marveled in a press conference after the event. To behold two heavenly bodies in relationship to one another — to say nothing of the other planets that became visible in the daytime darkness — gave space a dimensionality that is hard to imagine, let alone observe with the naked eye. All you had to do was look up, for three minutes, to see the universe.

Almost as wondrous as the sight above were the ones around us. “Everyone in the path … had free and equal access to this awesome and inspiring event,” as Hugo Liepmann wrote eloquently in this week’s Feedback section. “What a beautiful leveling of the human playing field!”

Seven Days reporter Derek Brouwer watched the eclipse with two guys who were parking cars on the Burlington Beltline, and he noted their reactions in last week’s group cover story, “Totally Transfixed.” Steve Goldstein spent the afternoon with inmates at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans — a choice that was not lost on a grateful former probation officer who also wrote in this week.

to the social media platform Reddit, which can be a pretty negative place. On the r/Burlington channel, visitors raved about the city and promised to return. Paraphrasing Vermont Secretary of Commerce and Community Development Lindsay Kurrle: Nature delivered the best marketing campaign money can’t buy.

While viewing the eclipse was an individual endeavor, it was also a shared experience, not unlike going to church. But organized religion made no claims on the cosmic convergence — “no corporate sponsor or celebrity spiel, and no need for either,” Liepmann noted. Often, when we gather to look skyward, it’s to watch a rocket launch, fireworks or some other human intervention in space. I’m so glad tech bro Elon Musk had nothing to do with this all-natural wonder.

“Let us long remember that, for those glorious, fleeting moments, folks of every stripe and ilk could experience the grace and calm of equality for all,” Liepmann wrote.

Other things that should not be forgotten: the improbably warm, sunny weather; flawless event planning and statewide travel logistics; 160,000 people trekked to Vermont and got exactly what they came for.

That night, I walked through downtown Burlington and saw eclipse tourists of all persuasions enjoying the city, from the waterfront boardwalk to Ben & Jerry’s on Church Street to the sunset from Battery Park. It looked like a summer night — in April. The good vibes extended

People were still talking about the eclipse at a “celebration and community cleanup” on April 14 at Burlington’s Old North End Community Center, organized by the office of Emma MulvaneyStanak. The new mayor was there, handing out rubber gloves, in an inaugural effort to put concerned citizens to work beautifying the city. Deputy publisher Cathy Resmer and I spent an hour picking up man-made detritus in Elmwood Cemetery alongside volunteers including Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad and his son.

The eclipse provided a sense of universal belonging. Seeing people combing the streets on a Sunday morning, garbage bags in hand, made me feel a deeper connection to my home on Earth.

Paula Routly

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Bags of trash at Elmwood Cemetery after a community cleanup day. PAULA

A couple watching the eclipse in Starksboro

Employees of a Certain Age

More Vermont seniors are working, due to financial need or choice. ey may help plug the labor gap.

BY COLIN FLANDERS & RACHEL HELLMAN

Cheryl Rose was ready to retire after 15 years as a care coordinator for Cathedral Square, a nonprofit that provides affordable housing for older adults. An avid crafter, she was eager to spend more time knitting and painting.

In 2021, Rose, then 64, stopped working and started living o her savings and her Social Security payments — roughly $1,900 a month. Soon, though, money became tight. After her $950 monthly apartment rent, a car payment and other expenses, almost nothing remained. Rose couldn’t a ord to eat out with friends, go to the movies or travel. Even her hobbies took a hit.

“I didn’t have enough money to buy paints,” Rose said. “I began thinking that maybe I was a little premature in retiring.”

So when a Cathedral Square maintenance coordinator position opened up last year — in the same building as her apartment in South Burlington — Rose decided to return to full-time work.

Rose now spends her weekdays coordinating work orders for leaky pipes and other maintenance needs. A few of her watercolors of flowers and pumpkin spice lattes hang in her o ce. Rose still makes time to paint but picks up her brushes less often than she’d like.

“I was told I was saving enough to live off of in retirement,” said Rose, now 67, “but with inflation and the cost of living going up, that has not been the case.” She said many of her friends are in a similar position: “We have to just keep going.”

People 65 and older represent a

fast-growing segment of Vermont’s labor force. The line between work and retirement has blurred in a state with one of the country’s oldest populations. Some

Ethics Panel Dismisses Complaint Against Ram Hinsdale

BY KEVIN MCCALLUM kevin@sevendaysvt.com

e Vermont Senate Ethics Committee has rejected a complaint alleging that Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D/P-ChittendenSoutheast) has a conflict of interest stemming from her marriage to Jacob Hinsdale, the scion of a prominent real estate family.

e five-member committee found there was no conflict between Ram Hinsdale’s work on legislation to promote housing and her husband’s job with his family’s company, Hinsdale Properties.

e firm, founded by Clark Hinsdale Jr. in the 1950s, has grown to be one of the largest apartment rental firms in the state, with more than 180 residential units and commercial properties, mostly in Burlington and Charlotte.

“It’s completely baseless,” Ram Hinsdale said of the allegation last ursday.

South Burlington resident John Bossange filed the complaint in February. Typically, the House and Senate ethics committees operate in such secrecy that they do not even confirm the existence of most complaints, nor how they are resolved.

Bossange shared with Seven Days his complaint and the April 11 letter explaining the committee’s decision. Bossange said he was “very disappointed” because the committee dismissed it after a “preliminary review” and did not conduct a full investigation.

Bossange argued that Ram Hinsdale, the chair of the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee, crafted a 2023 bill that would financially benefit her husband’s company. Act 47 required municipal zoning changes to allow for denser housing.

In his letter dismissing the complaint, Ethics Committee chair Sen. Brian Campion (D-Bennington) wrote that the panel “did not find probable cause that an ethical violation occurred.” Senate rules prevent a senator from voting on issues “in which he or she is directly interested.” Absent that, legislators are required to vote, according to guidance Campion included in his letter.

Ram Hinsdale said her work on housing “is neutral or negatively impacts my husband’s family’s business.” e construction of more housing units, which she has supported, tends to decrease rent pressure, she said. ➆

Cheryl Rose

On the Agenda

Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak’s first term starts with major staffing and spending decisions

STORY & PHOTOS BY COURTNEY LAMDIN • courtney@sevendaysvt.com

BURLINGTON

BMayor Emma MulvaneyStanak’s first few days on the job were nothing short of celebratory, including a standing-room-only swearing-in ceremony and a once-in-a-lifetime eclipse festival.

But the pomp and circumstance is giving way to more practical matters. Mulvaney-Stanak has been meeting with the city’s department heads and must

MULVANEY-STANAK’S DECISIONS IN THESE EARLY DAYS OF HER ADMINISTRATION WILL SHAPE AND SET THE TONE FOR HER THREE-YEAR TERM.

decide which ones she’ll keep on the job. She’s also considering how to implement the priorities and promises she laid out on the campaign trail. And she’ll need to figure out how to work with a Democratcontrolled city council. All of this comes as the first-time mayor grapples with a $9 million budget shortfall that she and other city officials must close within three months.

As the hard work begins, MulvaneyStanak’s decisions in these early days of her administration will shape and set the tone for her three-year term.

“It’s a very short runway for a new mayor turning over administrations to work with city staff, to work with the council in partnership and to deliver a budget that is well thought out and reflective of the priorities of the city,” she said. “But that is the reality.”

When Mulvaney-Stanak’s predecessor, Miro Weinberger, took office in 2012, he fired the director of the city’s Community & Economic Development Office on his first day. The other department heads were required to reapply for their jobs in writing.

Mulvaney-Stanak is proceeding more cautiously. She’s vowed to meet with all department heads before deciding whether a change is necessary. She also wants to quickly fill the city attorney position, which has been vacant for nearly two years.

Seven Days reached out to the 17 current department heads, three of whom replied and said they hoped to stay: CEDO director Brian Pine; Parks, Recreation & Waterfront director Cindi Wight; and Public Works director Chapin Spencer, who added, “It would be hard to find more meaningful work.” Planning director Meagan Tuttle, meantime, will leave in June for a similar position in Madison, Wis.

The mayor’s most closely watched reappointment decisions will be for two officials whose ideologies clash with her own: Police Chief Jon Murad and

Katherine Schad (left) and Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak at Monday’s council meeting

LISTEN to these stories and more:

Zoie Saunders, Gov. Scott’s Pick for Education Secretary, Faces Questions About Her Qualifications

Employees of a Certain Age « P.14

people choose to keep working because it gives them purpose or staves off boredom. Others, like Rose, feel like they have no choice. They fear they’ll outlive their savings, if they have any to begin with.

Some Vermont employers are adjusting by offering shorter, less arduous shifts to accommodate older workers, who they say are often more reliable and knowledgeable than younger applicants. And while postponing retirement may strike some as a bleak version of the golden years, the growing pool of older workers could represent a boon for employers desperate to fill jobs, while providing energetic older residents a chance to remain productive.

Workers are often forgotten after they hit 65, the customary cutoff for employment, said Glenn McRae, the director of the Northeast Transportation Workforce Center at the University of Vermont. But in reality, many have the ability and desire to contribute for far longer.

With much attention on Vermont’s broader worker shortage, McRae asked, “Why aren’t we focused on that as a decade-long stopgap measure?”

A fifth of Vermont’s population is 65 or older. The number of seniors with jobs more than doubled from 15,000 in 2005, when the state first began collecting such data, to 36,000 last year. Seniors now account for about 10 percent of the overall workforce.

That’s not just because more Vermonters are now 65-plus. A bigger share of seniors work today, a sign that, for many, retirement is coming later — if at all.

Roughly 25 percent of seniors were employed last year, compared to 18 percent in 2005. Similar trends are playing out nationally: Older Americans are projected to account for more than 50 percent of the country’s labor-force growth in the coming decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Several factors explain why. Modern medicine has lengthened lifespans and improved overall health for many seniors, making it easier to maintain longer careers. The nature of work has changed, too, with fewer people toiling in physically demanding roles in factories or on farms, compared to past generations. Often remote work is an option.

Simple financial arithmetic also plays a role. Fewer people have fixed pensions today than in previous generations, and close to half of American adults have no personal retirement savings at all, according to a recent report from the office of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Social Security benefits alone often

WORKFORCE

The number of Vermonters 65 and older has grown significantly, and that group now makes up about 20 percent of the state’s overall population. One in four seniors is currently employed.

SOURCES: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, VERMONT AGENCY OF HUMAN SERVICES

aren’t enough for seniors to live on, especially after recent years of inflation.

“They’re finding that their retirement isn’t stretching as far,” said Cameron DeRoseBarden, a financial adviser in the Burlington area. “They’ve got to find a way to supplement without withdrawing more.”

Interviews with Vermonters who are working into their seventies and beyond reflect a range of motivations for staying employed, some as intangible as Yankee self-sufficiency.

Patty Gillespie, a 73-year-old paraeducator at C.P. Smith Elementary School in Burlington, keeps working part-time solely for enjoyment. Gillespie doesn’t need a paycheck anymore; her husband,

Jeff Barrows, inherited a trust upon the death of his father, Del Barrows, the onetime owner of Johnson Woolen Mills.

But Gillespie said her job gets her out of the house to spend the day with colleagues and kids she loves. She recalled recently telling a young girl that she hoped to live to 100. “Ms. Patty,” the girl replied, “I hope you make it to way over 100.”

“Who wouldn’t love to work in that situation?” Gillespie asked.

James Commentucci, a 62-year-old recovery coach, returned to work out of need: He had burned through his savings while in the depths of his own addiction. “I had no money,” Commentucci said. “I had to get to work.”

Commentucci worked with a jobtraining program for older Vermonters called A4TD to find his position at Turning Point of Windham County three years ago. Commentucci said helping others during their darkest moments has been uplifting, but it also has been a lifeline for him.

“The backbone of my recovery has been having an income,” Commentucci said.

Wayne Lemire, a 77-year-old hayer from West Windsor, said he would keep working even if he didn’t have to, despite the physical demands.

“I want to die on the farm,” Lemire said. “I like being in the open air and listening to the sound of my tractor running.”

Most Americans expect to work well beyond 65, surveys show. But doing so can be difficult. Some people are forced to leave jobs because of health issues. Others feel like they are nudged out the door before they’re ready to go.

Older workers can find job hunting

James Commentucci

to be challenging. Organizations that assist them say they routinely hear from frustrated candidates who believe they’re being passed over because of their age. Mary Hayden, executive director of the Vermont Association of Area Agencies on Aging, said she’s heard of seniors being advised to dye their hair or get Botox treatments to improve their chances.

“Women get hit with it even sooner,” Hayden said. “Culturally, we have a lot of work to do.”

The tide may slowly be turning, however, as a shortage of working-age Vermonters spurs employers to consider candidates they may have previously overlooked. Some are making an extra effort to recruit and retain 65-andover workers.

That includes Gardener’s Supply, whose Miltonbased distribution center is largely staffed by retirement-age Vermonters. The company offers technology training and a flexible work schedule that includes four-hour shifts. Those policies were cited when the company won the Governor’s Award for Business Excellence in Supporting Mature Workers in 2018.

beneficial to states such as Vermont, where more than half the population is over 43. A state report in 2013 asserted that Vermont’s economic health depends upon keeping older people in the workforce.

I WAS TOLD I WAS SAVING ENOUGH TO LIVE OFF OF IN RETIREMENT, BUT WITH INFLATION AND THE COST OF LIVING GOING UP, THAT HAS NOT BEEN THE CASE.

CHERYL ROSE

Despite such warnings and a severe labor shortage, Vermont has done little since then to support that goal. The governor’s recognition award was paused in 2019 because of staff turnover at the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, or DAIL, and has not been awarded since. The department also cut a position responsible for building connections between older workers and employers. And a public vow from the chair of Vermont’s House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development to focus on the older workforce in 2022 has so far produced nothing solid.

A new state plan may spur fresh efforts. The Age Strong VT Plan, published earlier this year, calls for increasing the 60-and-older workforce participation rate as a way to ensure older Vermonters are financially secure.

“Generational diversity is critical for us,” said Christie Kane, the company’s vice president of human resources. “Especially given that it reflects our customer demographic.”

Clara Martin Center, a nonprofit mental health facility in Randolph, shared the award in 2018, the last year it was presented, for its efforts to retain employees past retirement age. Facing dozens of unfilled openings for social work positions, the nonprofit has sought to cobble together a workforce of semiretired employees to meet clients’ needs.

According to Jena Trombly, Clara Martin’s director of human resources and compliance, offering older employees the ability to transition to part-time work has allowed the center to retain valuable social workers. In 2022, more than a third of the facility’s employees were over 55.

While the arrangement has complicated scheduling, Trombly sees older workers as vital. “If someone’s 55 or older, they quite possibly have several decades of experience,” she said. “There’s a level of groundedness and stability in their life.”

Economists agree that keeping older workers in the labor force is particularly

It suggests expanding digital literacy programs, restoring DAIL’s “mature worker coordinator position” and collecting better data so that the state knows more about its older workforce. The plan also recommends creating a “toolkit” for businesses that want to better recruit and retain older workers and suggests making part-time workers eligible for critical benefits such as supplemental health insurance and paid leave.

Rose, the Cathedral Square employee, worries about what might happen if her health deteriorates to the point where she can no longer work and has to return to a more frugal way of life. She’d like to try retiring again in a few years but is not sure when she’ll be able to afford it.

“My goal now is to save enough to have a better cushion to fall back on,” Rose said.

For now, Rose finds fulfillment in the convenience of her working life at Cathedral Square. Many of the maintenance requests she handles come from her friends and neighbors. She enjoys the camaraderie of colleagues and once again has enough money to go out for dinner and buy craft supplies. And on Fridays, at the end of her busy workweek, she meets friends at the South Burlington Senior Center to paint. ➆

Pauline’s Restaurant Pauline’s Restaurant (1974-2024)

After 50 years of serving memorable meals, it is with great sadness that we have to report the closing of Pauline’s Restaurant at 1834 Shelburne Road in South Burlington.

The building was built in the 1960s by a French Canadian/Greek couple. It was a restaurant downstairs and their home upstairs. It was called Thelmas. After it closed, Pauline Hershenson saw an opportunity.

Originally called Pauline’s Kitchen, Pauline’s was started in 1974 or 1975 by Pauline Hershenson. Pauline was 54 when she opened the restaurant, and she had no commercial restaurant experience. She was a bookkeeper by trade for her husband’s commercial picture-framing business, but she had done quite a bit of catering out of her home in Charlotte and loved the act of creating a pleasant dining experience for people. She decided to try her hand at running a restaurant. When she conceived of Pauline’s, she didn’t want to do it by herself, so she partnered with a young couple named Jane and Chuck Tozlowski.

The three of them worked diligently with a dedicated staff to create a rather unique dining experience for that time. The concept Pauline developed was to change the menu every Thursday. There were five main course items, and once you selected your main course, you were served the appetizer of the day, the soup of the day and the salad of the day, plus your main course choice. The meal also included dessert: a choice of ice cream or sherbet.

After four years working in the restaurant, Pauline and her husband, Sandy, got divorced. Pauline decided she had had enough of the day-to-day running of a restaurant and sold the business to Jane and Chuck. Jane and Chuck lived in the small apartment above the restaurant, and Chuck was in enrolled at Vermont Law School. He would drive to South Royalton five days a week and return to work evenings in the restaurant. In December 1981, Chuck died suddenly due to a congenital heart problem.

By that time, Pauline had moved to Boston, but she returned to help Jane run the restaurant. In March 1982, they decided to sell and notified their accountant. Very shortly thereafter, the accountant told my ex-wife, Pat, that Pauline’s was for sale. I had worked at Mister Up’s in Middlebury for six years and was ready to own my own business. We met with Pauline on April 2, 1982, and we closed the deal on May 2. The prime rate was 18 percent back then, and the only reason we were able to buy the business was because Pauline was willing to finance it at 12 percent with a small down payment.

We went to work and ran the business successfully for 26 years. Along the way, I’m sure we created many wonderful dining memories for our guests. We did many special themed dinners and wine-tasting dinners featuring very rare and special wines. I introduced many exotic ingredients to the menu. One favorite: During the first year I owned the restaurant, I bought a kilo of black truffles from Paul Urbani in northern Italy. The cost was $350 per kilo at that time. Now the cost is more than $2,600 a kilo. The truffles were delivered wrapped in Italian newspaper inside a beautiful little wood strip-woven box, inside a snug Styrofoam box, inside a tightly taped cardboard box. I put the box in the walk-in, and an hour later the whole walk-in smelled of truffles! My favorite definition of truffles comes from a beautiful magazine from that era, GEO. What is it about truffles? “Truffles reek of sex, they have the aroma of a rumpled lovers’ bed.” Think about that for a minute…

We introduced lots of other exotic ingredients and cooking styles that are now much more common than they were in the mid-1980s.

In 2007, my career path changed, and I was ready to sell the restaurant to one of my capable employees, David Hoene. Now, after 17 years and many more memorable meals, David also has ended his tenure there, and the restaurant has closed.

During my time at Pauline’s, we achieved a reasonable level of success, but we did not do it by ourselves. We had many dedicated staff members who participated in the success of Pauline’s over the years. There are too many to mention, except perhaps our long-serving, dedicated manager, Anne Peck. They all took great pride in the work that they did, and I could not have done it without them. To the hundreds of good and faithful staff members who participated in the success of Pauline’s, I wish to extend a warm heartfelt thank-you!

And, of course, to our hundreds of loyal guests who supported our efforts over the years, a big heartfelt thank-you to you also!

Long live the memories … Pauline’s has now joined the long list of area restaurants that have come and gone, such as Café Shelburne and the once-mighty Sirloin Saloon. -Robert Fuller The building is now for sale or lease. Contact VT Commercial at 802-864-2000.

On the Agenda

Burlington Electric Department general manager Darren Springer. Progressives have long been wary of Murad, in part because he’s resisted efforts to bolster civilian oversight of the department. Two years ago, they blocked his ascension from acting to permanent chief. MulvaneyStanak is similarly skeptical of Murad, telling Seven Days during the campaign that she found him to be professional but “rigid” in his opinions. In an interview last week, she said she and Murad are still getting to know one another.

“I am taking that decision very seriously,” she said. “I want to make sure I’m doing right for the City of Burlington and also that we have leaders … [who can] really work in a collaborative fashion.”

As for Springer, Mulvaney-Stanak and he disagree about the future of the McNeil Generating Station, the city’s controver-

He told Mulvaney-Stanak she’d be in the clear as long as she doesn’t vote on Moir’s compensation, she said. Since taking office, Mulvaney-Stanak has asked assistant city attorneys to again review the city charter and personnel policies and report back.

Other staffing decisions have proven easier. Before her swearing-in ceremony, Mulvaney-Stanak announced she’d hired Erin Jacobsen, a former assistant attorney general for Vermont, as her chief of staff. The lifelong Democrat also served as Mulvaney-Stanak’s campaign treasurer. Former Progressive city councilor Joe Magee is her communications director, and Emma Allen, a holdover from Weinberger’s office, is her administrative assistant.

On eclipse day, Mulvaney-Stanak palled around with Allen and introduced herself to city staff working the event, many of whom belong to unions that didn’t

sial wood-fired electricity plant. Springer is a staunch defender of the facility; Mulvaney-Stanak campaigned to eventually shut it down over concerns about carbon emissions. Still, Mulvaney-Stanak appears willing to work with Springer, calling him an “innovative thinker” who’s open to conversation. Neither he nor Murad responded to interview requests.

Mulvaney-Stanak must also navigate a potential conflict of interest. Her wife, Megan Moir, is the director of the city’s water division and reports to Spencer of the public works department. He, in turn, reports directly to Mulvaney-Stanak.

In an interview last week, MulvaneyStanak said she anticipated the potential conflict before she ran for office and asked Joe McNeil, a veteran lawyer who is now the acting city attorney, to investigate.

endorse her mayoral bid. At Roosevelt Park, an official viewing site, she encountered two Parks, Recreation & Waterfront staffers. “You wanna meet us?” one of the men called from his pickup truck. Mulvaney-Stanak happily obliged and thanked them for working on an unusually busy day. Zipping around in a city-owned electric car, she greeted the firefighters and police officers.

“Guys, how’s it going? Everything’s nice and quiet, right?” she called out to a cadre of cops by Waterfront Park. They agreed it was. “OK, good! Let’s keep it that way!”

The big event out of the way, MulvaneyStanak has set her sights on the budget. The mayor last delved into Burlington

Cheryl Solis of Fall River, Mass., taking a photo of a relative with Mulvaney-Stanak

Dr. Garcia graduated from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, and has a special interest in utilizing Homeopathy, Botanical Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine. She loves providing general naturopathic care,spinal manipulation, and Dry Needling. Having been born and raised in NYC to a Puerto Rican family, providing holistic care to people of color is especially important to her.

Check out our website: vermontnaturalfamilymedicine.com and fill out the New Patient Intake Form to see Dr.Garcia! The goal of naturopathic medicine is to treat the whole person and heal the root cause of an illness, not just stop the symptoms.

spending 12 years ago, when she was on the city council, so she’s enlisted help to get a handle on the numbers. She’s working closely with Katherine Schad, the city’s chief administrative officer, and this week she formed a team of fiscal advisers.

Mulvaney-Stanak isn’t the only one getting up to speed. The council has five new members who have never created a city budget but must review and approve one before July 1.

“I’m learning about the budget and asking a lot of key questions,” Mulvaney-Stanak said. “I think it’s very helpful, frankly, to have a fresh set of eyes on the budget.”

Mulvaney-Stanak hopes that a mix of spending cuts and new revenues will help close a deficit largely caused by inflation and the end of federal coronavirus aid. Voters on Town Meeting Day approved a three-cent public-safety tax increase that would shrink the gap by $1.8 million, but Mulvaney-Stanak said she hopes not to use it. She’s also awaiting a wide-ranging efficiency study of several city departments that may identify millions in other savings.

The tight margins could make it harder for Mulvaney-Stanak to carry out her vision for community safety, which includes hiring more firefighters to respond to overdoses as part of a designated team. The program is currently funded with state opioid settlement money, and on Monday, councilors agreed to continue it through the end of the fiscal year. It’s unclear whether state funds would be available beyond then — and city money

Mulvaney-Stanak also wants to hire a special assistant for community safety, a position she proposed early on in her campaign. The temporary staffer would be charged with coordinating the city’s response to overdoses, mental health crises and crime — work that’s currently shared by staffers in several city departments.

“I would love if the council is in agreement that this is an important position, given what’s facing Burlington,” she said.

Mulvaney-Stanak is working closely with Council President Ben Traverse (D-Ward 5), who was chosen to lead the body earlier this month. The two have already agreed to talk before every council meeting, in keeping with a shared pledge to be transparent.

“[We want to] ensure we’re on the same page to the greatest extent possible,” Traverse said. “She and I both agreed that between us and councilors and the public, a policy of ‘no surprises’ is going to be a benefit to everyone.”

Mulvaney-Stanak agreed. Facing big decisions, she said she welcomes input.

“I’m a collaborative thinker,” she said. “We need to really clear the decks and make sure we’re working in tandem.” ➆

•Contribute to a more sustainable environment by lowering your energy use Window Shade Sale

Save when temps dip

As Blue Cat Steak and Wine Bar’s time in Burlington is coming to an end we’d like to heartily thank our customers and the great friends we’ve made for making this an outstanding restaurant and for a wonderful 18 years in the community.

•Help reduce your monthly utility costs with Hunter Douglas shades specifically designed to provide year-round insulation

While the team and I are moving on to new adventures, this place will always feel so special, and it’s because of the life we’ve had troubleshooting recipes (so many great ones like those in our eclectic wine dinners and some which I will be happy to leave behind, like sausage making — delicious but slow and messy) and creating cocktails and discovering exciting wines but more importantly because of the relationships we’ve developed.

While my husband and partner, Ozzy, has passed, I’d like to include him in this goodbye, as well. He was a leader in our tucked-away wine bar as well as the community and enjoyed it more than anyone else possible. And his energy and passion made it quite a special experience for staff and customers all, every day, to be at the Blue Cat.

We wish you the very best in the years to come, and hope to bump into you around town — as fellow diners!

Sincerely,

Mariasha Giral and your friends at the Blue Cat

OBITUARIES

Lincoln Taft Rawson

NOVEMBER 20, 1949-

APRIL 4, 2024

UNDERHILL, VT.

Lincoln “Linc” Taft Rawson passed away unexpectedly on April 4, 2024, on the Kent Rawson Family Farm. Linc was born on November 20, 1949, in Burlington, Vt. He graduated from Mount Mansfield Union High School and worked for more than 50 years on the Rawson Family Farm and as an LNA at Birchwood Nursing Home for more than 20 years. Linc was a proud father who loved his family, the Rawson Farm, maple sugaring season, vegetable gardening, playing piano, reading the Scriptures and singing. Linc was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in various positions, for more than 55

David Gladstone

APRIL 2, 1952-APRIL 12, 2024 SHELBURNE, VT.

David Elchanan Gladstone, 72, of Shelburne died peacefully on April 12, 2024, with his loving wife and daughter by his side.

Born in Burlington, Vt., he was the son of the late Dr. Arthur Gladstone and the late Esther (Dinner) Gladstone.

David graduated from Vassar College and received his MBA from the University of Vermont. David was a businessman. He was the founder and CEO of the Message Center, a Burlington-based communications company, for more than 30 years. Later, David was president of Palidor LLC, a real estate investment and management firm, for more than 16 years and until the time of his death.

years. His faith and devotion to God were unwavering. He was loved by many throughout his life for his kind and compassionate care for others.

Linc is predeceased by his parents, Kent Grindal Rawson and Lillian Woodward Rawson, of Underhill, Vt., and his brother, David Paul Rawson, of Boston, Mass. He is survived by his three sisters: Joyce Bates and her husband, John, of Williamstown, Vt.; Kathy Quesnel and her late husband, Dave, of Monkton, Vt.; and Jenny Keefe and her husband, Chuck, of Summerfield, Fla. He is also survived by eight children: Sarah, Ryan and Melissa Rawson;

game, including multiple Super Bowl attendances.

He served as a board member at the Flynn for more than a decade. He was a long-standing Rotarian and one of the youngest presidents of the Burlington Rotary Club, as well as an active member of the Chamber of Commerce.

roughout his life, David was a steadfast contributor to numerous charitable causes. He craved culture and the performing arts, in particular live music and fine art. David was a devout Patriots fan, never missing a

David will be remembered for his sharp wit and childlike sense of humor; his larger-than-life presence, warmth and infectious smile; his lust for life, adventure and fun; and, most of all, his immeasurable love for his family. His memory will be treasured and kept alive by his loving wife, Sarah; daughter, Jennifer DeVarney, and husband Adam; and two grandchildren, Chloe and Liam; sister Kerana Kraft; brothersin-law George Saiger and Leonard Swade; niece, Rachel Kraft, and husband Doug Brown; nephews, Aaron Saiger and wife Lisa Gordis, Adam Kraft and partner Lois Miller, and Ira Saiger and wife Sara; as well as family and friends throughout the country. He is predeceased by his sisters Miriam Saiger, Judy Swade and Tamar O’Brien, and brother-in-law Dr. Avram Kraft.

On David’s behalf, his family would like to thank his entire team at the UVM Medical Center, who cared for David with compassion and dignity. Above all, his family would like to thank his incredible cardiology team, many of whom he considered friends.

May his memory always be for a blessing. In lieu of flowers, donations in his honor may be made to the charity of your choice.

Abraham Rawson and spouse Crystal-Lynn; Lillian Rawson and spouse David Schlachter; Kent Rawson and spouse Ellie; Phoebe Smith, spouse Mark, and stepson Andrew Mayes and spouse Kalyn. Linc has many grandchildren and a great-granddaughter: Matthew, Ethan and Ryan Rawson Jr.; Zoe, Hayden and Jacob Barbour; Aliyah and Dominic Mayes; Luke, Samuel and Tye Rawson; Alaric and Vincent Rawson; Alexandria Smith and greatgranddaughter, Jay Rawson; as well as several cousins, nieces, nephews, close family and friends all throughout the United States and Canada.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, 3 to 4 p.m., at A.W. Rich Funeral Home, Essex Chapel. A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, May 11, 2024, 10 a.m., at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 73 Essex Way, Essex Junction, VT. e graveside service will immediately follow at the Underhill Flats Cemetery, 37 Park St., Underhill, VT. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made through GoFundMe (gofund.me/ d0b2c361) to help cover the unexpected funeral expenses suddenly placed on the family. Please visit awrfh.com to share your memories and condolences.

BIRTHDAY REMEMBRANCE

Connie Marshall

1948-2019

We all miss and love you so much, Connie. Happy birthday in heaven.

Stephanie Juaire

JUNE 25, 1966JANUARY 25, 2024 BURLINGTON, VT.

Stephanie Juaire of Burlington, Vt., passed away on January 25, 2024, at home.

Stephanie was born in St. Albans, Vt., on June 25, 1966. She spent her entire school career in the Jericho school system. She graduated from Mount Mansfield Union High School in 1985. She is survived by her loving parents, Duane and Norma Juaire, of Colchester, Vt.; brother, Aaron Juaire, and his wife, Debbie, of Underhill, Vt.; nephew, Justin Parent, and his wife, Jenna, of North Kingston, R.I.; and niece, Kelly Mitchell, of Largo, Fla. She is also survived by many uncles, aunts and cousins.

She enjoyed living in Burlington and took advantage of many of the activities the city had to offer. Stephanie enjoyed writing stories, crafting, reading, shopping, and collecting dolls and doll clothes. She was also known for her exceptional memory!

e family invites you to join them in a celebration of life in loving memory of Stephanie Ann Juaire on Saturday, April 20, 1 p.m., at Daybreak Community Church, Creek Farm Plaza, Colchester, VT.

lifelines

OBITUARIES, VOWS, CELEBRATIONS OBITUARIES

Chip Hedler

MAY 13, 1945MARCH 19, 2024

SOUTH STRAFFORD, VT.

Chip Hedler passed away in his home in South Strafford, Vt., on March 19, 2024. He is survived by his wife, Maria Cabri; his stepchildren, Cedar Davidson and Gioia Cabri; and his siblings, Susan, Martin and Alan Hedler.

He was born in Toledo, Ohio, on May 13, 1945, to Doris Sing and Richard Hedler. He initially attended the University of Toledo, but he was drafted and served as a medic in Vietnam. After the war, he became very involved as a counselor in a YMCA camp in northern Michigan, where he became a sailor and all-around outdoorsperson, as well

as a folk singer and guitar player. He later enrolled in Oberlin College, where he never quite finished due to anti-war activities and the general turbulence of the era. He eventually wound up graduating from Antioch New England with a degree

Abby Greene

JULY 18, 1960-APRIL 2, 2024

CASTLETON, VT.

Abby Scoville Harvan Greene, 63, passed away on April 2, 2024, surrounded by her loved ones at her home in Castleton, following a long illness.

She was born in New York City on July 18, 1960. She was the daughter of Michael and Frances (Barrows) Harvan. She grew up in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where she graduated from West Side High School. She earned her bachelor of science degree in social work from Castleton College in 1983.

Abby worked with children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities at the Vermont Achievement Center and ARC. She also taught special education at Fair Haven Union High School. Most recently, she worked for the Town of Fair Haven as a

in outdoor education and a certification in elementary education.

Chip was a veteran of Vermont’s one-room schoolhouses, having taught in Danville and Walden and eventually in Vermont’s last one-room schoolhouse, the Elmore School. Chip held various teaching positions over the years but eventually settled at Rumney Memorial School in Middlesex, Vt., where he taught for more than 20 years. He was fortunate to have a role in the school where his many skills could be applied. In a typical school day, Chip might replace a wireless base, teach a keyboarding lesson, show students how to use a miter saw and then see students

municipal engineer, until her retirement in 2020.

Abby enjoyed swimming, reading, gardening, jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, going for walks and the New York Times Spelling Bee. She was active in equine 4-H when her children were younger.

She was predeceased by her husband, Kelly Lee Greene, and her parents, Michael Harvan and Frances Barrows Harvan. She is survived by her partner, Peter Root; her children, Phillip M. Greene, Althea R. Greene and Valerie A. Greene; her sister, Michele Harvan Montgomery, MD; her brother, David Barrows Harvan; and her nieces, Katherine F. Montgomery and Elizabeth Montgomery Barnes. Amanda Root was like a daughter to her.

A memorial will be held at Durfee Funeral Home on April 27, 10 a.m., and she will be laid to rest at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Fair Haven.

safely onto the bus at the end of the day.

e Civil Rights Movement and social unrest which he lived through influenced his unceasing desire that the school — its personnel, practices, policies and written materials — be models of fairness and equity.

Chip was always forgiving of error, his own and others, and very understanding of the well-intentioned mistake in any form – a lesson, a line of code, a misunderstood remark or an administrative decision. In moments of reflection, he quoted one of his favorite teachers: “We all do things in the best wrong way we know how.”

After retiring from full-time teaching at Rumney, he joined the Newton School in his town

Anne Buckley

of Strafford, where he quickly became a valued member of the school community. Along the way, Chip became an accomplished guitarist and was well known and loved among the traditional music community in northern New England. He was a founding member, rhythm section and caller for the Nips (or the Parsnips), a northern Vermont contra dance band. He was a member of two local bands, Cuckoo’s Nest and Blind Squirrel, which played for many a contra dance in Tracy Hall and elsewhere around the Upper Valley. He was valued for his deep appreciation for the roots of New England dancing, as well as his ability to anchor any band and anchor the dancers’ feet to the beat.

OCTOBER 16, 1972-APRIL 8, 2024 SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT.

Anne Buckley, 51, of South Burlington peacefully transitioned from this world to her next great adventure on April 8, 2024, while at the McClure Miller Respite House, after a long-fought battle with heart disease. As always, her timing was impeccable, following the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse!

Anne was blessed with more than 13 extra years through a heart transplant in 2010. While not all of them were easy, they were all a bonus for someone who was diagnosed with a failing heart at age 30.

Anne was born to Ray and Linda Buckley on October 16, 1972, in Glens Falls, N.Y. She experienced loss at the early age of 8, with her mother dying of the same heart condition that she would eventually be diagnosed with.

During his 24 years living in Strafford, he enjoyed backcountry skiing and hiking with his wife, Maria. As an avid cyclist, he would regularly ride his vintage and lovingly restored 1959 Geminiani road bicycle up to 100 miles around the Connecticut River Valley. He was a steady and inspiring mentor for Cedar and Gioia during their formative years. A night owl himself, he could be relied on for late night homework help and sound life advice.

A celebration of life will be held on June 29, 2024; additional details will be released to the website beforehand. A website to share photos, memories or anything else about Chip can be found at sites.google.com/view/ rememberingchiphedler.

she created her home while still traveling the world, which included an extended stay in Boulder, Colo. In both Burlington and Boulder, as with anywhere she spent time, she developed deep friendships and touched many people. Anne was the kind of person you instantly enjoyed. Beautiful, hilarious and engaging, she always asked thoughtful and genuine questions to learn about the people she met.

Anne was the embodiment of resilience and persistence. After graduation from Queensbury High School, she ventured off to college at Colorado State University. is began her travel adventures, spending winters in Colorado and summers in Martha’s Vineyard. She eventually found herself in the Burlington, Vt., area, where

Often the party planner or organizer of escapades, you never had a dull moment with Anne. So many friends and family can tell stories of fabulous times with Anne. Please do that in the days and weeks ahead. She will be thrilled to live on in this way. She was sincerely moved by all the kindness and love bestowed on her and paid it forward at every opportunity. She inspired hundreds of people to persevere in their lives by telling her truly amazing life story. In honor of Anne, please consider becoming an organ and tissue donor (donatelife. net). We were all blessed with many unexpected memories and joyful times because of the heroic act of organ donation.

A memorial celebration will take place in early June in Vermont, with details to be shared at a later date. Please visit awrfh.com to share your memories and condolences.

Ann Sheperdson

MARCH 31, 1951-MARCH 5, 2024

SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT.

Carol Ann Sheperdson passed on March 5, 2024, at the McClure Miller Respite House in Colchester, Vt., from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Ann was born in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1951 and grew up in Worcester, Mass., with her parents, Virginia June Sheperdson and John Parry Sheperdson, and her brother, William Parry “Bill” Sheperdson. Ann always loved water. At summer camp in Maine, she excelled as a swimmer and was the coxswain for her rowing crew. Her family spent summers in Lake Placid, N.Y. Throughout her life, she sought out the water and the sunshine — swimming at beaches in Florida and on Cape Cod, boating and water-skiing on Lake Placid and Lake Champlain, playing tennis, and sunbathing and swimming at every available pool.

for Vermont state representative for the Addison 4-2 district in 1996 and garnered a large percentage of the vote.

Ann married Courtney Price on the shore of Lake Placid in 1988. Although they divorced in 1998, their bond was strong; they reunited a year later and were life partners until her death, dividing their time between Vermont and Florida. Courtney was an exceptional caregiver for Ann during her illness and decline, shepherding her through her final days with love, kindness and fortitude. Throughout their time together and in overseeing her care, it was important to him to honor her fierce spirit and sense of justice.

Ann attended Bancroft School in Worcester, then graduated from Dana Hall School in Wellesley. She studied psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and earned a bachelor’s degree in arts and sciences from Tufts University in Boston. She received a master’s degree in clinical mental health and guidance counseling from Antioch University New England and a certificate of advanced study in education from the University of Vermont. She worked at UVM in the continuing education department and as a lecturer in women’s studies and diversity studies; she also taught classes at Burlington College and worked as a legal clinic coordinator there. She ran

A dedicated lifelong supporter and champion of women and girls, Ann worked tirelessly to protect the rights, safety and well-being of women and children and to advocate for justice. This commitment drove her professional life, which included establishing one of the first shelters for battered women in Vermont, in Brattleboro, and teaching young children in both remote and urban settings. She worked at a transitional residential program through Lund in Burlington, Vt., counseling and supporting at-risk young mothers, and at the Bristol Family Center in Bristol, Vt. She was an avid reader and collector of books throughout her life and often volunteered at her local library. Although her dream of having her own children never came true, Ann loved kids and devoted much of her time to helping young families thrive. From childhood, she initiated and sustained enduring bonds with women and girls, finding ways to

inspire, defend and encourage them. To that end, she and Courtney established the Sarah Emily June Empowerment Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation “to support Vermont women in pioneering and leadership endeavors through women’s studies, actions, and programs.”

Ann was a generous, devoted and reliable friend to many, always remembering birthdays, holidays and anniversaries, and nurtured her friendships through phone calls, lunches and dinners, walks, boat rides, swims at the lake or pool, letters and cards, and gifts. She had an infectious laugh, a mischievous twinkle in her eye and a wonderful sense of humor. And she was a wise and quiet listener. As one friend said, “Annie was such a close pal for me … as we traversed the minefields of life … There was no one like her as a trusted confidant.” And from another: “No matter where she was, Annie always reached out to keep our relationship strong.”

As the end approached, Ann wrote: “Like most people, I have experienced incredible moments and some disappointments. In the end I have been blessed by being loved by Courtney and my friends. If there is one thing I could hope for, it would be that I have made a difference for women and girls who are suffering around the world. And I hope that we all keep trying to make this a more equitable and peaceful world.”

Ann is survived by her life partner, Courtney Price, of South Burlington, Vt.; her stepson, Noah Ashley Price, of Atlanta, Ga.; her niece, Mollie Moore Sheperdson, of London, UK; her cousins, Mary (Sheperdson) Parsons of South Chatham, Mass., and Amy Sheperdson of Carver, Mass.; and her many friends. She was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Bill. Her ashes will be buried in Paxton, Mass., in the Sheperdson family plot, along with those of her beloved dog, Sukay.

Jack Lylis

JANUARY 15, 1943APRIL 15, 2024

SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT.

Jack Lylis of South Burlington, Vt., passed away peacefully on April 15, 2024, surrounded by his family in a room filled with so much love and gratitude.

He received a BS and MS from the University of Vermont from 1960 to 1966 and remained a loyal Catamount fan until his final days.

He is survived by his wife, Sara; daughter Amanda Ahmadi; son-in-law, Afi Ahmadi; grandchildren, Maddie and Trevor Ahmadi, of Essex Junction, Vt.; daughter Stephanie Lylis of Burlington, Vt., daughter Heather Lylis of New York City; and son, Eric Lylis, and his partner, Katie Kellogg, of New Britain, Conn.

For more about his life: legacy.com/us/obituaries/ legacyremembers/jack-lylis-obituary?id=54881278.

John Shushereba Jr.

JANUARY 5, 1954APRIL 13, 2024

WESTFORD, VT.

John J. Shushereba Jr., beloved brother, father, grandfather, friend and esteemed professional, peacefully departed from this world on April 13, 2024, surrounded by loved ones. He was 70 years old.

Visiting hours will be held on April 20, 2024, 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., at Holy Family Church in Essex. A funeral mass will follow, beginning at 10:30 a.m. For a full obituary, please visit minorfh.com.

BY MARY ANN LICKTEIG

Waitsfield’s Shaina Taub arrives in a big way, starring in her own musical, Suffs

Of the hundreds of students Diane Phillips taught in her 39 years as a school vocal music director, one determined 16-year-old stands out in her memory.

Shaina Taub, then a senior at Harwood Union Middle & High School in Moretown, asked for permission to stage a cabaret at the school. With Phillips’ blessing, she selected show tunes, stitched them together with a story, assembled a pit band, and cast herself and seven theater friends. More than a chance to perform, the cabaret would serve a cause, raising money for the American Cancer Society.

Phillips peeked in from the wings as Taub ran afterschool rehearsals and saw her crack the whip when the other kids started gabbing or goofing o . Taub was short — she stands five foot three — but she was a “big personality,” Phillips said. The other kids respected her talent and her encyclopedic knowledge of musical theater and fell in line.

Phillips expected as much: “Shaina always has been a force.”

By that point, Taub had her sights set on studying musical theater at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She’d spent years paving the way: She studied piano, voice and dance and had been going to theater camp since she was 9. In second grade, she wrote a 16-page paper explaining how Broadway shows get made.

Others who knew Taub as she was growing up in Waitsfield describe her the same way: smart, focused and fearless. She developed backstories for her characters, memorized lines on time, and when she stepped on stage, she dazzled. Said Andrea Maas, her music teacher at Waitsfield Elementary School, “The kid worked like a pro from day one.”

We knew she had that “it thing,” even when she was a kid.

So no one was particularly surprised when, at age 26, Taub performed 19 original songs at Lincoln Center. Or when she created and performed in musical adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and As You Like It for New York’s Public Theater, or cowrote the Emmy-nominated opening song for the 2018 Tony Awards with Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban. Or when she collaborated with Elton John to create the songs for the musical The Devil Wears Prada that opens in London’s West End this fall. (“We got on like a house on fire from the very word go,” John says in a promotional video.)

Nor are they surprised now as Taub makes her Broadway debut in Suffs , a new musical about the final years of the women’s suffrage

Strickland, the Hill Valley High School sta er turned principal.

Burlington’s Kate Wetherhead wrote the book for The Devil Wears Prada and has acted on Broadway. Vermonter Anaïs Mitchell wrote the book, music and lyrics for Hadestown , which won eight Tony Awards in 2019, including best new musical. (Taub played one of the Fates in the show’s o -Broadway run.) And Vermont cartoonist Alison Bechdel wrote the bestselling graphic memoir that became Fun Home, the 2015 winner of best new musical and four other Tony Awards. Charlotte’s Oscar Williams played Bechdel’s brother.

Taub, however, joins an elite group that includes Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dave Malloy, Micki Grant and George M. Cohan: people who have starred in the musical they created.

Like Miranda’s 2015 smash Hamilton: An American Musical, Su s reflects the political interests of its creator and tells a historical story in a modern way. While comparisons between the two musicals are perhaps inevitable — both started with o -Broadway runs at the Public Theater Suffs producer Jill Furman said she can’t compare Miranda and Taub. “I do say that I believe that they’re the two best contemporary theater lyricists working today,” she said, acknowledging her bias: She also produced Miranda’s In the Heights and Hamilton

Of Taub, she continued, “I think it’s hard to decide which is better: her music or her lyrics. I mean, they’re both so brilliant — so potent, so powerful, so poignant.”

Setting the Stage

movement. The actor they remember as “the little girl with the big voice” didn’t just land a bit part. Shaina Taub has arrived on Broadway to star in a musical that she has written, single-handedly.

Su s — with book, music and lyrics by Taub — opens at the Music Box Theatre in New York City on April 18. Taub stars as Alice Paul, the driving force behind the turbulent campaign that took su ragists to the streets and led to the passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote.

The 35-year-old Taub, who’s also a singer-songwriter with an Atlantic Records contract, is the latest in a string of Vermonters to make it to Broadway. At least two others are there now, in the cast of Back to the Future: The Musical. Morrisville native Liana Hunt, Taub’s roommate at NYU, stars as Lorraine McFly, and Merritt David Janes of Colchester plays

As Taub’s star has risen, she’s become increasingly in demand — and harder to reach. To accommodate an interview for this story, she sliced 30 minutes out of her dinner break for a video call earlier this month. She talked from her dressing room at the Music Box Theatre, after a four-hour rehearsal and before that night’s preview performance (and before eating the brown rice bowl with chicken and dumplings she had waiting).

The interview required working through a publicist and rescheduling three times, indicators of how Taub’s life has changed since she left Waitsfield. Still, when she popped onto the computer screen — no makeup, thick brown bob pulled back with a wide fabric headband and her neck cocooned in a bulky, tweedy scarf — she looked much like the browneyed kid who had danced on so many Vermont stages.

SYNDI ZOOK

Taub, 4, as a pirate in Stowe eatre Guild’s Peter Pan

Taub, 11, playing Baby June in Lyric eatre’s 1999 production of Gypsy

COURTESY OF SUSAN TAUB

COURTESY OF SUSAN TAUB

COURTESY OF LYRIC THEATRE

Taub, foreground, as Molly in Lyric eatre’s 1998 production of Annie

BORN for BROADWAY

“I have a Post-it note on my dressing room mirror that says, ‘Zoom out,’” Taub said. Making a quadruple Broadway debut requires her to focus on the myriad demands her job presents each day. The Post-it is there to remind her to put it all in context and to remember her earlier years: “Take a step back and remember the 4-year-old at Stowe Theatre Guild,” she said. “Remember the 8-year-old in the Warren parade who would have been beside themselves to be in this position right now.”

Taub is on Broadway on her terms: harnessing the pageantry of theater to advance social good, much as she did with that high school cabaret. As Suffs opens in the midst of another polarizing election year, Taub said she hopes the musical gets people excited to vote and ignites drives for equality and justice. She hopes it can offer “a salve or an antidote to the cynicism of our time,” she added.

“I think Suffs says that change is possible but only if we act,” she said. Taub has done that. She cochairs the New York Civil Liberties Union’s Artist Ambassador program and belongs to the Resistance Revival Chorus. She and her husband, comedian and director Matt Gehring, were arrested on the steps of their apartment building in 2020 for cheering on a protest against police brutality.

it.’” Sussman took the bus to Cambridge and gave Taub a copy of Jailed for Freedom , suffragist Doris Stevens’ 1920 account of the National Woman’s Party’s role in the suffrage movement. “And I said, ‘Do you know who Alice Paul is?’

“She said, ‘No.’ And I said, ‘But you know who Susan B. Anthony is, right?’

“And she said, ‘Of course.’ And I said, ‘Well, Susan B. Anthony was long dead when women got the right to vote. There’s a whole story here — such a dramatically

compelling history that none of us have ever been taught.’”

Sussman awoke the next morning to an email Taub had sent around 5 a.m. The subject line said, “Yes.” The email said: “We have to do this.”

The ‘It’ Factor

Taub traces her interest in using theater to promote social causes to the Warren Fourth of July parade. “I loved it so much,” she said, recalling local librarians who entered clever floats to protest book banning and doctors who marched for reproductive rights. “It’s like a joyful protest march.”

The women in her show, she said, “accomplished massive, national, structural, Constitutional change,” and they did it 100 years ago, without tools that exist today. “We can do it, too.”

On the first page of her second-grade essay about the theater, Taub wrote, “Broadway shows are very hard to put together.” She was a prescient young woman. Suffs has been in the works for 10 years.

Taub had just won a Jonathan Larson Grant — an award for rising musical theater talent named for the creator of Rent — and was performing in The Tempest in Cambridge, Mass., when Rachel Sussman came calling.

The young producer had seen Taub in concert — “It felt like an electric current went through my body,” she said — along with some of Taub’s other work, including The Daughters, a musical Taub created at NYU. She wrote “so brilliantly and gave such humanity to female characters,” Sussman said.

“I remember writing to her in May of 2014 and telling her … ‘I have an idea for a project. I think you’re the person to do

Taub recalls making a red, white and blue costume and driving her Power Wheels, a Mattel motorized kids’ car. Mothers Against Drunk Driving was a popular cause at the time, she said, and she put signs on her car that said something like, “Mothers Against Drunk Driving; Kids for Candy and Driving,” and she threw candy.

The daughter of a teacher and an optometrist, Taub’s first theatrical experience was playing a pirate in Peter Pan “I was maybe 3,” she said. “My sister was 5, and I was so jealous that she was in the play with Stowe Theatre Guild, I begged, begged, begged my mom to beg them to let me be in it.”

The kiddie pirates got to pick their own names, she told Seven Days in 2016. “The pirate name I picked was Hardballs,” she said. “I got a huge laugh. That was it for me.” Wielding a foam sword, she had connected with an audience.

Her mother, Susan Taub, an elementary school teacher who made blank books for Taub and her sister to write stories in, has always supported Taub’s theatrical aspirations, Taub said. She took piano lessons with Joan Bach-Foster in Warren, dance lessons at Contemporary Dance and Fitness Studio in Montpelier, and voice lessons with Bill Reed, the South Burlington voice teacher who split his time between Vermont and Manhattan, where he taught at Circle in the Square Theatre School. He began teaching Taub when she was 9, younger than his typical student.

“She’s incredibly smart,” he said, and she had a “natural, amazing belt voice,” the term for a Broadway singing technique. “She was fearless, and it was clear that she was on the way to somewhere.”

Taub also started attending the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center when she was 9. The New York theater camp has eight stages and counts

COURTESY OF STAGEDOOR MANOR

COURTESY OF LYRIC THEATRE

Taub, seated, as Anita in the 2004 Stagedoor Manor production of West Side Story

Taub, in pink wig, playing Frenchy in Lyric Theatre’s 2004 production of Grease

Taub starring as Lucy Harris in Stagedoor Manor’s 2005 production of Jekyll & Hyde

COURTESY OF STAGEDOOR MANOR

It’s hard to decide which is better: her music or her lyrics.

JILL FURMAN

That’s where she discovered Broadway musical cast albums, she told broadway. com, and she “obsessed over them … The first two, like, the gateway drugs of cast albums, [were] Chorus Line and Guys and Dolls ,” she said. “Then it was Rent and Ragtime.” Her mom gave her cast albums for Hanukkah, her theater-loving grandparents took her to Broadway shows, and her piano teacher helped her come up with her own arrangements of show tunes.

“I got such an amazing arts education in the Valley,” Taub said.

She acted with Waitsfield’s Valley Players and commuted an hour to Burlington to perform in Lyric Theatre shows, which required 13 hours of rehearsal a week for 10 weeks. “It’s truly grueling,” said Syndi Zook, Lyric’s former executive director.

Taub appeared in Annie in 1998, just after she turned 10. Zook, who played the role of Miss Hannigan in the show and who directed the 16-year-old Taub in Grease, recalled her as grounded, professional, shy and funny: “She had that ‘it thing,’ and we knew she had that ‘it thing,’ even when she was a kid.”

As Molly, the littlest orphan in Annie, Taub had a lot of jokes. Other young actors needed help with their timing, Zook said: “You would say, ‘So say the line and then count one Mississippi, two Mississippi, then do the punch line.’ But you never had to tell that to Shaina … She was born for this.”

Nick Caycedo met Taub in Lyric’s 1999 production of Gypsy. The Colchester kid who took a notebook to Barnes & Noble to research musical theater creators had found a kindred spirit. “She knew who William Finn was,” he said, referring to a composer and lyricist whose name is likely unfamiliar to most Americans.

Other Lyric kids liked to sing and dance and maybe took a tap class once a week, he said. “But they weren’t necessarily going home and devouring every cast recording of Carousel. They weren’t memorizing the lyrics to Ragtime from top to bottom. But we were.”

Liana Hunt met Taub in Lyric’s Annie, and by the time they appeared in Grease

accordion, she lied and said she could, she confessed later. She got the role in Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 and taught herself to play — fast.

She soon found a home at the Public Theater, the 70-year-old nonprofit that operates on the principle that art and culture belong to everyone. “There was a remarkable amount of buzz about this young composer-actor-singer who was coming out of NYU,” the Public’s artistic director, Oskar Eustis, told Seven Days. So he went to hear Taub sing at the theater’s cabaret, Joe’s Pub.

“She had an incredible voice,” Eustis recalled, “but the depth and earnestness of her social commitment was something like, I’m listening to the great-granddaughter of Woody Guthrie.” Her lyrics reveal intensely personal struggles and lament gun violence, the treatment of immigrants and political failures. That tradition of protest music had largely disappeared, Eustis said. “I was immediately artistically smitten.”

“Shaina, like Woody Guthrie, both is an individual genius but is — and sees herself as — a servant to many more people than just herself,” Eustis said.

“That’s not what happens in New York,” he added, “and that may be where we’re seeing the Vermont in her.”

The Public commissioned Taub to adapt Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and As You Like It into 90-minute musicals for Public Works, its program that puts 200 New Yorkers and a handful of professional performers onstage together in Central Park.

together, they were discussing college. Both applied to NYU, early decision.

Voice teacher Reed said he dispensed with formalities when he wrote a letter of recommendation for Taub. “I said, ‘Take this girl and grab her before somebody else does.’”

Taub was just 16 when she enrolled, but she quickly gained the respect of classmates, Hunt said. “My memory of Shaina, growing up together, is that she was always the youngest person in the room and the smartest person in the room. Always.”

A Star Is Born

In her early career days after graduating from NYU in 2009, Taub relied on her piano playing, she told the Valley Reporter, her hometown weekly. She worked as an accompanist and played for mommyand-me classes. “I did every piano gig under the sun,” she said. In 2013, when asked in an audition if she could play

The community performers come from partner organizations that serve disadvantaged and marginalized people. But Taub did not lower the bar as she composed, Public Works director Laurie Woolery said. “Every time she’s up to bat, she’s … attempting to write the best musical of her life.”

Woolery collaborated with Taub to develop As You Like It and observed her during rehearsal breaks, talking with amateur actors, listening to their problems and giving feedback to the songwriters among them who shared their work with her.

Eustis added, “It was just astonishing to watch not just the skill, but the commitment to the meaning of that program.” He has worked with Taub for years now. She is, he said, both immensely collegial and incredibly stubborn: “I have never seen somebody who is easier to give criticism to and notes to. She has no defensiveness ... But I’ve also never seen a writer who will hold more tenaciously to what she believes if you don’t convince her.”

He recalled when Taub cut a song he liked from Twelfth Night. “And I explained in great detail why I thought it belonged,”

Natalie Portman, Robert Downey Jr. and Mandy Moore as alums.

Taub with Suffs coproducer Malala Yousafzai

From left: Lead producers Rachel Sussman and Jill Furman with coproducer Hillary Clinton at the first rehearsal of Suffs

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF JENNY ANDERSON

BORN for BROADWAY

he said. So she rewrote the song. “And I thought it worked great,” he said. “And it stayed in the show for about a week. And at the end of the week, she came to me and said, ‘Oskar, it’s cut.’ … She knew it was her decision, and she made it.”

Suffs sold out its off-Broadway run before opening at the Public in 2022, but it received mixed reviews. With a two-hourand-45-minute running time, it “lands like a clunky heir to the Public’s other big historical musical, Hamilton ,” the New York Times wrote.

It “isn’t preachy, exactly, but it is teachy,” the New Yorker observed.

Taub dove back in. The songwriter who once challenged herself to produce a new song each week for a residency she had in a New York club wrote a new opening song and a new finale. Countless revisions have continued throughout previews and the show is 15 minutes shorter.

“Part of Shaina’s incredible gift is her rigor and her desire to keep getting inside of the material and making it better and making it stronger and making it more powerful,” director Leigh Silverman said.

Tenacity, Silverman and others note, is a trait Taub shares with Alice Paul, the character she plays.

“You know it’s no mistake that she’s cast as Alice,” longtime friend Caycedo said.

Alice Paul met repeatedly with Woodrow Wilson to demand action on suffrage. Taub wrote to Hillary Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai to invite them to join Suffs’ production team. Both signed on as coproducers. “I’d never done anything like that before,” Clinton told CBS News’ “Sunday Morning” in a feature about the musical. “I’m a huge fan of the theater. But I said, ‘Sure. I’ll try if I can be helpful.’

“We’re in the middle of an election year,” she continued. “And I think any conversation about getting people to vote, how it took so long for women to get the right to vote, how you should not throw away, ignore, the power of your vote, I think all of that is good.”

Clinton has participated in several artistic conversations with the show’s creative team. She and Yousafzai both have attended rehearsals. “It is so great! It is so great!” Clinton gushed in the CBS segment, as she reached out to squeeze Taub’s hand.

Marching On

A cold wind cut down West 45th Street at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 5, as expectant ticket holders lined the sidewalk outside Music Box Theatre. Jennifer Kneeland, a 41-year-old literacy coach from the Bronx, saw Suffs off-Broadway and said

I think ‘Suffs’ says that change is possible, but only if we act.

SHAINA TAUB

she admires Taub’s work: ““If you’re not seeing the art that you need, create it. And that’s what she’s done.”

The video marquee above the theater doors echoed her words: “If there isn’t a trail,” it reads, next to women’s marching feet, “blaze one.”

The show opens with the jaunty “Let Mother Vote” as the genteel suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt croons, “We nurture every family just as we’re meant to do; so won’t you let us nurture the nation, too?”

It is 1913. Catt introduces the “lovely suffs” singing backup and welcomes the audience “to the National American Woman Suffrage Association’s 65th annual luncheon.” She emphasizes the number, and the irony gets a laugh. The suffrage movement had begun with the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848.

Before Catt sits down to eat, Taub strides onstage as the determined Alice Paul, a next-generation suffragist ready to interject her impatient activism into the languishing campaign. “We need a march, the first of its kind in Washington, D.C.,” she tells Catt. It would force incoming president Wilson to support a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, she suggests.

Catt prefers to win the vote state by state, believing men will consider the cause only if it is presented “in a ladylike fashion.”

Paul is brusque, businesslike and always busy. With her former field hockey teammate Lucy Burns by her side, she plans a march up Pennsylvania Avenue the day before Wilson’s inauguration. The pair recruit glamorous law school graduate Inez Milholland to lead the march on horseback.

As Wilson defers and delays for the next seven years, Paul and her team picket the White House and burn Wilson’s words in protest. The violence they endure is depicted in a modern dance, choreographed by Mayte Natalio. Suffragists flinch, duck and resist as they are attacked by onlookers and police, arrested, and thrown in jail.

Paul and others stage hunger strikes and endure force-feedings.

Onstage, towering white columns and giant wooden panels reminiscent of a cigar club suggest the imposing male opposition that suffragists are up against. But the conflict is multilayered. Catt clashes with Paul. White suffragists, afraid of alienating southern supporters, discriminate against Black suffragists, and Black suffragists disagree on how best to respond.

Black journalist Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell, the educator who cofounded of the National Association of Colored Women, don’t always see eye to eye.

The audience cheers when Harry

Burn, the young state representative from Tennessee, casts the final vote needed to ratify the 19th Amendment — but Suffs doesn’t end there.

Richard Nixon is president when a student intern for the National Organization for Women arrives to ask the now-elderly Paul to support demands the group plans to present to the White House. The intern hadn’t been born when Paul drafted the first version of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1923.

“And it still hasn’t passed?” the young woman marvels. “Shit.”

Reprising the refrain that Paul sang in Act I, the intern sings: “I want to know how it feels when we finally finish the fight.”

Paul, who lived to finish one fight, would not live to finish this one.

“Every generation needs to win these fights for freedom and liberty again, and again and again,” Taub told Seven Days. That, she hopes, is the enduring message of Suffs.

A busload of kids from her old high school will see the show Memorial Day weekend. They’ll hear the voice that once rang from the Harwood stage lead the Suffs ensemble into their finale when Taub, as the wizened Alice Paul, sings, “Will you fail or prevail? / Well you may never know, but keep marching, keep marching. / Cause your ancestors are all the proof you need that progress is possible, not guaranteed.

“It will only be made if we keep marching, keep marching on.” ➆

From left: Jenn Colella, Kim Blanck, Shaina Taub, Nikki M. James and Ally Bonino at Suffs’ first preview on March 26

COURTESY OF JENNY ANDERSON

Made in Japan

How a Vergennes boatbuilder is saving an endangered tradition — and got a credit in the new “Shogun”

BY KEN PICARD • ken@sevendaysvt.com

In February, millions of TV viewers tuned in to Hulu and FX to watch the world premiere of “Shōgun,” a 10-part miniseries based on the 1975 bestselling novel by James Clavell. Because the story is set in 17th-century feudal Japan, Disney/FX, which produced the series, needed a consultant for building the dozens of traditional Japanese canalboats, fishing vessels and samurai warships that figure prominently in the show.

Rather than scouring Japan’s maritime museums or shipyards for such an expert, the studio instead turned to Douglas Brooks, an American boatbuilder from Vergennes. The decision to hire Brooks wasn’t meant as a snub to Japan’s own craftspeople. Arguably, no one was more qualified to provide the technical knowhow, historically accurate designs and authentic rowing techniques featured in the show.

A scholar, writer and teacher of traditional Japanese boatbuilding, Brooks, 63, apprenticed under nine Japanese master boatbuilders between 1996 and 2019 and wrote six books on his experiences. His 2015 book, Japanese Wooden Boatbuilding,

CRAFT

additional watercraft for its 2021 shoot in Port Moody, B.C., they bought two flatbottomed fishing boats that Brooks had built with his students at Bates College in Maine.

“Just don’t call me a master,” Brooks said emphatically. He cringes whenever journalists use that word to describe him. “I have such enormous respect for the seriousness of the Japanese craft and its practitioners. In Japan, often you don’t call yourself a master until your own master has passed away.”

That time is fast approaching. All nine of Brooks’ teachers were in their seventies or eighties when he met them, and only four are still alive. All but two had no other apprentices, and their techniques had been passed down orally for generations. A couple of masters hadn’t built a boat in decades when Brooks studied under them.

In short, the art of traditional Japanese boatbuilding was rapidly sinking into oblivion when Brooks helped rescue it. Dean Eilertson, who worked as property master on the “Shōgun” film shoot in Vancouver, B.C., credits Brooks with preserving the ancient craft for future generations through his writing, teaching and advocacy. “Without Douglas,” he said, “all that would be lost.”

is the only comprehensive guide to the subject published in any language. Brooks has taught courses on traditional Japanese boatbuilding at schools around the

country, including Middlebury College, Harvard University, the University of Illinois and Deep Springs College in California. In fact, when Disney/FX needed

Because Eilertson is himself an avid sailor with extensive knowledge of boats, the Disney/FX studio charged him with finding an expert on traditional Japanese vessels. He immediately discovered Brooks, who provided Eilertson with more than boat suggestions and period-accurate designs. In September 2021, Brooks flew to Vancouver to train actors on rowing the boats using authentic Japanese sculling oars. As Eilertson put it, “There was nobody else out there who was going to be able to help us.”

‘THE FRAGILITY OF THE CRAFT’

Brooks and his wife, Catherine, live in a 19th-century house off Main Street in Vergennes. He’s an amiable man who seems naturally inclined to teaching, with a shipwright’s attention to detail. The couple met in 1993, when Brooks drove east from Portland, Ore., to speak at a maritime museum conference in Boston. On the way, Brooks stopped in Vermont to see the Ticonderoga steamboat restoration underway at

Douglas Brooks apprenticing with a Japanese master boatbuilder

The set of the Hulu series “Shogun”

COURTESY OF DEAN EILERTSON

COURTESY OF DOUGLAS BROOKS

Shelburne Museum. That’s where he met Catherine, who, at the time, worked at the museum as director of education. The couple began a long-distance courtship, and Brooks relocated to Vermont in 1997, the year they married. One of his first jobs after he moved was working as a restoration carpenter on the Ticonderoga . He’s since built Westernstyle vessels for the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History in Middlebury, among others.

But Brooks is best known for his Japanese watercraft. In his tiny office cluttered with papers, books, drawings and other artifacts, he showed a reporter a mid-20th-century boat schematic he had drawn on a wooden plank, which many master builders would use for sketching designs. Japanese maritime museums have thousands of such planks, Brooks said, though no one could actually use one to build a boat; the plans were deliberately left incomplete to protect the masters’ secrets.

DOUGLAS BROOKS

Next, Brooks held up a three-foot wooden stick, with three small rods protruding from it. Though the object looked as simple as a back scratcher, Brooks explained that a Japanese boatbuilder gave him this “pattern” — what his teacher called a shichizumanokata — to construct a 42-foot cormorant boat.

How? Each of the three rods protrudes at a different angle, which is critical for the hull’s assembly. Aside from those details, everything else was built from memory. To traditional Japanese boatbuilders, the Western notion of writing down their methods in a book or teaching them to strangers, as Brooks has done, would be unthinkable. To them, these techniques were closely guarded family secrets.

“There’s the fragility of the craft,” he said.

How did an American craftsman, with no Japanese heritage or Japanese language skills, gain the trust of these elderly and secretive masters? It’s a testament to the seriousness, humility and patience with which Brooks approached the task, which took him decades. Brooks’ extensive knowledge of Western-style boatbuilding didn’t hold water with his Japanese mentors, he said. He had to prove himself in their workshops, using their hand tools and centuries-old techniques.

Douglas Brooks (right) with students in his 2022 Japanese boatbuilding course at the University of Illinois

A traditional Japanese tub boat from Sado Island

Brooks grew up in Deep River, Conn., the son of a carpenter. Living near the Connecticut River fostered an early love of watercraft and sailing. By high school, Brooks worked at a local yacht club and owned a small sailboat.

While attending Trinity College, Brooks participated in a semester-long program at Mystic Seaport Museum. His woodworking skills landed him an assignment with the museum’s boatbuilder, and the pair built a boat together that’s still on display.

The following year, Brooks spent a semester at the University of Oregon, where he roomed with a Japanese student from Hiroshima named Nobu Hayashi. The two became good friends. “For nearly a decade after we graduated, he kept begging me to visit Japan,” Brooks said.

After graduating in 1982, Brooks landed a job at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park Museum as an assistant boatbuilder. When he finally left the museum in 1990, he wrote his Japanese friend to share the news.

“Nobu immediately wrote me back with an envelope, a plane ticket and a note that said, ‘Now you have no excuses,’” Brooks said.

Brooks arrived in Japan with a rail pass and a Lonely Planet travel guide. He stopped at all the usual tourist destinations and visited Hayashi and his family in Hiroshima.

“I got about halfway through my trip and realized I was burnt out. I felt like I couldn’t look at another shrine and another temple,” Brooks recalled. “But I remember very clearly saying to myself: There’s one thing I never get tired of looking at, and that’s wooden boats.”

Brooks began exploring Japan’s coastline looking for traditional wooden vessels. In Tokyo, Hayashi took him to Asakusa, an old section of the city. Brooks had read an article about a boatbuilder there and remembered his name: Sano. With directions to the Sano Shipyard and Hayashi as his interpreter, he met Sano and his son, who were eighth- and ninth-generation boatbuilders, respectively.

“What I came to discover is Japanese boatbuilders were all elderly and they had no apprentices,” Brooks said. “And next to nothing was written down.”

STEM TO STERN

Indeed, by the 1990s, traditional wooden boatbuilding in Japan was foundering. Nearly all the master boatbuilders Brooks met had been in their teens during World War II. The last generation to follow their fathers into the profession, they came of

WHAT I CAME TO DISCOVER IS JAPANESE BOATBUILDERS WERE ALL ELDERLY AND THEY HAD NO APPRENTICES. AND NEXT TO NOTHING WAS WRITTEN DOWN.

DOUGLAS BROOKS

age at a time Japan was bouncing back; it had become the world’s second-largest economy. Meanwhile, fiberglass boats were putting wooden-boat builders out of business. The old masters saw the writing on the wall. “They turned to their sons and said, ‘Go work for Panasonic,’” Brooks said.

On his first trip to Japan, Brooks visited Sado Island, in the Sea of Japan, known for producing a round wooden boat that resembles a barrel. There, Brooks met Koichi Fujii, the last surviving builder of taraibune, or Japanese tub boats.

Brooks tried to interview Fujii to learn how his barrel-like boats were made. To answer his questions, the old master led Brooks to his workshop and demonstrated for him instead — not because of a language barrier, but because, even in Japanese, Fujii lacked a vocabulary for his techniques. In Japan, apprentices learn through silent observation.

When Brooks returned to Sado Island, in 1994, he realized that the only way to thoroughly document and preserve Fujii’s craft was to become his apprentice and build a boat with him. However, when Brooks told his interpreter what he

wanted to ask Fujii, she refused. As Brooks recalled, she told him: “You’re a foreigner, you don’t speak Japanese, and this is the wrong protocol.”

The next day, Brooks said goodbye to Fujii and returned to his inn. Later that night, the innkeeper knocked on his door and informed him that Fujii had come to see him. Assuming something tragic had happened, Brooks hurried down to the kitchen, where Fujii and his wife were waiting with the innkeeper, drinking tea.

“Mr. Fujii looks at me and says something, and my interpreter gasps,” Brooks recalled. “She looks at me and says, ‘He’s asking you to become his apprentice.’”

Brooks returned to Sado Island in 1996. By then, he spoke a smattering of Japanese, mostly nouns and verbs related to boatbuilding. He lived with Fujii for two weeks, and they built a traditional tub boat

together. After that, Brooks never saw his teacher again. In 1999, Fujii died in a tragic accident.

Later, Brooks wrote a how-to guide about his apprenticeship, The Tub Boats of Sado Island: A Japanese Craftsman’s Methods. His drawings of the unusual vessels were the first ever published. The Tub Boats of Sado Island is now well known not only among wooden boatbuilders but also Japanese barrel makers.

Brooks has since returned to Japan numerous times, usually to seek out other boatbuilders. Since the trade has no professional guild or directory, Brooks would travel the coast, looking for wooden fishing fleets. Upon finding one, he’d approach a local fisherman and ask, “Is there a wooden-boat builder here?”

Assuming the master hadn’t already died, as was often the case, Brooks would

Brooks teaching Japanese boatbuilding at the University of Illinois in 2022

A traditional riverboat built by Douglas Brooks for Kuma River Boat Cruises COURTESY KUMAGAWA KUDARI COURTESY OF FRED ZWICKY

visit the man’s workshop — all his teachers were men — and ask for instruction. Often, the masters said nothing, and Brooks would return another day and ask them again. One of Brooks’ teachers said no to him for 15 years before he finally relented.

“I think they reached a point where they realized what was about to be lost,” Brooks said. “I was their last chance.”

SEA CHANGE

Though a traditional Japanese apprenticeship lasts six years, Brooks, whose trips were usually grant-funded, would only work with his masters for as long as it took them to build one boat together — from two weeks with the Sado Island boatbuilder to seven months with his Tokyo teacher, a fourth-generation master.

All of his teachers taught Brooks the way they’d been taught, meaning the first tool he handled was a broom. At the beginning, Brooks did nothing but sweep, sometimes for days on end. In Japanese, the word for craftsperson, kibishī, also means “strict.”

“My work had to be perfect, or I was handed the broom and sent back to sweeping,” Brooks said.

In a customary six-year apprenticeship, a student might never touch a tool for the first two years. Come year three, however, “If you’re asked to do something, you’re expected to know how to do it,” Brooks said. “I got the same treatment.” All the construction was done in complete silence.

Brooks’ skills at Western-style boatbuilding served him well, even if his teachers wouldn’t openly acknowledge it. He remembers the day when he overheard his teacher talking to other boatbuilders about him. Brooks’ ears pricked

up when he heard the Japanese word his master used to describe him: “serious.”

“I honestly don’t think there’s been a more complimentary thing said about me in Japan,” Brooks said.

There’s one element of his Japanese lessons that Brooks didn’t adopt, however: its secrecy. Brooks’ success in documenting and teaching the traditional boatbuilding process has attracted attention well beyond Hollywood. His work coincides with Japan’s nascent back-tothe-land movement, in which a growing number of Japanese youths, disaffected by modern corporate culture and the idea of “living in a box in Tokyo,” are rediscovering forgotten rural skills. Brooks is regularly contacted by people from Japan and elsewhere who want to take his classes and learn the trade. He’s also won contracts to build tourist vessels for Japanese river-tour companies.

“Fifteen years ago, I would have said to myself, Me and several hundred old boatbuilders are the only people on earth who care about Japanese boats,” he said. “Now, my dream would be to create a boatbuilding school, because that’s the only way to save this craft.”

In all his boatbuilding classes, Brooks and his students complete the vessels they build together by embedding in them a Shinto shrine, then holding a launch ceremony, both practices he learned from his Japanese masters. Traditional shrines often contain rice cakes, vegetables, cloth dolls and a five-yen coin. The Japanese word for the coin, kōun, also means “good fortune.” Also included: a pair of handcarved wooden dice. Why?

“You’re going out on the ocean and taking a chance,” Brooks said. “This is dangerous stuff.” ➆ INFO

Learn more at douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com.

Traditional Japanese hand tools

Dinner Party

Ondis serves seasonal fare with a side of community in Montpelier

BY SUZANNE PODHAIZER

In July 2016, I spent one last day scrubbing down the tiger-lily-orange kitchen walls of my recently closed Montpelier business, Salt Café, and locked the door behind me. Since 2010, when I left my full-time job at Seven Days to open a restaurant, I’d spent nearly every day there, making flourless chocolate cake, rolling out sheets of herbed pasta or washing the dishes when a dishwasher called in sick. When times were tight, which was sometimes for months, I even spent my nights on a bedroll stretched out beneath the dining room tables, dreaming to the burble of chicken stock simmering on the stove.

MONTPELIER IS HAVING A ROUGH DAY, BUT FOR A WHOLE YEAR ... ONDIS [IS] HELPING PEOPLE FEEL OK RIGHT NOW.

Salt was located at 207 Barre Street, just steps from Hunger Mountain Co-op, and until three weeks ago, I hadn’t set foot in the building since that summer day eight years ago. What lured me back? One peek at the menu of Ondis, a new restaurant that opened in December after long-lived Kismet — which began in that space, moved downtown for a few years and then returned — closed its doors.

Ondis is co-owned by bartender couple Emma Sanford and Christopher Leighton.

(He also owns Après cocktail lounge in Stowe, in partnership with Mirror Mirror owner Lindsay Chisholm.) They hired culinary school grad and longtime area chef Max Vogel to run the kitchen.

Together, the trio serves up a playful, creative seasonal menu with exceptionally crafted drinks that put fresh twists on the classics. The restaurant vibe is cool and urban, with neutral tones on the walls and concrete and metal accents in the décor. There are just 20 indoor seats, but the opening of a seasonal patio will double the capacity.

Christopher Leighton and Emma Sanford of Ondis

Compressed watermelon at Ondis

KNAYTE LANDER

SIDEdishes

Pauline’s Café in South Burlington Closes After Almost Half a Century

Pauline’s Café at 1834 Shelburne Road in South Burlington has closed just a couple of years shy of its 50th anniversary. ROBERT FULLER, the building’s owner and former chef-owner of the restaurant, confirmed that current chefowner DAVID HOENE shuttered Pauline’s without advance notice in early April. Hoene declined to comment.

“It’s a sad, sad story after almost 50 years,” Fuller said. “I’m very disappointed to see it end this way.”

Fuller, who will turn 78 this summer, said he plans to put the building on the market and has no interest in finding a new tenant for the two-story restaurant, which has about 100 seats. “Obviously, I would like it if someone would buy the building and continue to run it as a restaurant,” he said.

Founded in the mid-1970s by Pauline Hershenson, Pauline’s was known for its classic menu, which included

French onion soup, crab cakes with beurre blanc sauce, chicken schnitzel and bananas Foster.

Fuller bought Pauline’s in 1982. Hoene started working there in 2001 and bought the restaurant six years later from Fuller, a prolific local restaurateur who also owned LEUNIG’S BISTRO & CAFÉ and led a group effort to open BOBCAT CAFÉ AND BREWERY in his hometown of Bristol.

During a 2023 interview, Hoene said he grew up one of 15 children in Boise, Idaho. “We hunted, grew a lot of our own food, and everybody cooked,” he recalled. “It was always a skill I had. I have a passion for cooking and serving people.”

At the time, Hoene declined to share his age but noted, “I’ve been at this for 45 years. All of my best friends [in the business] have retired.”

Melissa Pasanen

Lot Six Brewing to Open in Jeffersonville

A new brewpub will liven things up near Smugglers’ Notch this spring. LOT

SIX BREWING is targeting an early May opening in the former Brewster River Pub & Brewery at 4087 Route 108 in Jeffersonville.

It’s an unexpected project for JUSTIN MCCARTHY, former ZERO GRAVITY CRAFT BREWERY director of brewing operations; and ADAM SHIRLOCK, who will serve as

general manager. The two Underhill residents and longtime friends “had sworn off a beer and food [business] when the property came up for sale,” McCarthy said. “It’s a great spot, so we figured we’d take up the brewpub mantle.”

Head chef JEFF SILVER — a veteran of Richmond’s the BIG SPRUCE and HATCHET

Crab cake appetizer at Pauline’s Café FILE: DARIA BISHOP

“Something I really enjoy about our space being so small,” Leighton said, “is that it feels like something you’d find in a city, in some way … It’s a space where people can translocate.”

On a Thursday evening in late March, entering Ondis from the quiet, chilly residential street and emerging into a sleek, metropolitan restaurant, filled with customers shooting oysters and clinking glasses of wine, did feel something like walking into a wardrobe and landing in Narnia. After taking a seat near a collection of cookbooks and some potted plants, a friend and I pored over the winter menu, which has since changed for spring.

At the next table, Sofia and Michael Philbrick — coincidentally, customers of mine at Salt and now fervid Ondis regulars — insisted that we order the truffle fries ($16). We obeyed, ordering those along with much of the rest of the menu. The fries were labor-intensive and stunning, made by stacking layer after translucent layer of potato, cutting out rectangular slices, and frying them until golden and crisp. They were served with a sunny hemisphere of truffle aioli and topped with a blizzard of shredded cheese and chives.

The Philbricks come to Ondis for the “intimate atmosphere” and excellent service, Sofia said. “I really appreciate the time [Leighton] takes to explain the wine and the dishes,” she noted. She added that she never feels like she’s being rushed, even when all the tables are full.

Other pros for the Philbricks include the interesting selection of sauces that accompany the raw oysters, the price-toquality ratio and the fact that the menu is well designed for people who want to share dishes with their companions.

Given the parade of plates at our table, I was grateful indeed to be splitting with a friend. In addition to the fries, my favorites included Moroccan spiced carrots, blistered but still bright, sprinkled with powdered pistachio and mounded with a tangle of microgreens ($12); plump shrimp perched on a cake of grits, accompanied by seared corn kernels ($17); and pillowy steamed buns stuffed with Korean-style pickles and battered-and-fried oyster mushrooms ($15).

On the new menu, there is still a steamed bun ($20), but now it’s filled with lobster salad and microgreens, drizzled with yuzu-flavored Japanese mayo. A mezze appetizer, featuring a selection of dips and dippables, has been transmuted into an entrée with the addition of lamb kebabs and homemade flatbread ($40).

There are completely fresh items, too: pork belly with ramp cream and apple-fennel slaw ($12); chicken congee with crispy chicken skin and chile oil ($20); and sea scallops with pancetta, beech mushrooms, bok choy and cognac-miso beurre blanc ($18).

At the moment, the food list is happily heavy on seafood thanks to deliveries from Wood Mountain Fish, and the owners are continuing to build relationships with Montpelier-area farmers and artisans. “We want to work with smaller producers who are doing stuff off the beaten path,” Leighton explained. In the past, he’s purchased seaberries and tiny northern kiwis from East Hill Tree Farm in Plainfield to use in cocktails.

THE DRINK LIST BRIDGES THE LIMINAL SPACE BETWEEN BLIZZARDS, MUD AND THE FIRST TENDER MOMENTS OF SPRING.

On the current drink list — which bridges the liminal space between blizzards, mud and the first tender moments of spring — there are still what Sanford refers to as “spirit-forward” drinks that feel warming in chilly weather and hint at sunnier times to come. Think vodka with celery shrub and fresh pineapple ($13) and tequila milk punch flavored with tulsi, rose and lime ($14).

The one truly classic drink on the menu is a gin and tonic ($10) in honor of Sanford’s late mother, for whom the restaurant is named. Sanford, who grew up in nearby Marshfield, learned to love food and drink, and sharing them with community, from her family.

“My parents always cooked, and their friends were always over having dinner parties,” she recalled. “Dining was this special thing of getting everyone together. It held importance to me, and when we were naming [the restaurant], that spoke to us.”

Leighton and Sanford live in Plainfield, and both previously tended bar in Montpelier at Barr Hill. When they learned that Kismet was closing, they began dreaming of opening a business there, close to home.

“We went back and forth on what we wanted the space to be,” Sanford recalled. “Chris and I are both bar people, but there’s a commercial kitchen, so it seemed kind of silly not to do food.”

But the couple couldn’t find a chef who seemed like a good fit and were resigned to serving only drinks and snacks. Then, just before the opening, Vogel — a New England Culinary Institute grad who was running the kitchen at the Reservoir in Waterbury — showed up for an interview.

“Max has been entirely in charge of the food program, and we’re really

Sea scallops with pancetta, beech mushrooms, bok choy and cognac-miso beurre blanc

PHOTOS: JEB

WALLACE-BRODEUR

Tequila milk punch

appreciative to have him,” Leighton said. “We give him the space to be creative, and the business runs with him, because of him. He’s super talented.”

With three visionaries packed into a sardine can of a kitchen, how does the menu-planning process work? First, Vogel “will lay out his brainchild,” Leighton said. “We’ll collectively look at it and make decisions about what we think will work and what might not work.”

If a dish excites the trio but would be hard to source for an entire season, it might become a special. “We do a seasonal menu that will be the skeleton for three months,” Leighton noted, “but something will change nearly every day.”

Although the drinks are intended to complement the food, Sanford explained, they are not necessarily created with specific pairings in mind. “It’s more based on seasonality,” she said. The use of fresh, local ingredients in both the food and the cocktails — including herbs and specialty items grown by the owners in their garden — creates a harmony that makes the complex beverages and intricate dishes taste great together.

With all the buzz around their business, managing a small number of seats could be a tricky task. So Sanford and Leighton eschew reservations and instead use a wait list for in-person and online table requests. Locals can drop onto the list digitally, from the comfort of their living rooms. After receiving a text that a table is available, they have 15 minutes to scoot over to Ondis and claim it.

I caught Knayte Lander, co-owner of Buch Spieler Records, on the way to

band practice prior to dinner at Ondis. Lander is impressed by the restaurant’s execution. “Their cocktail is, like, ‘vodka cocktail,’ and then it comes out, and it’s simple in its presentation yet completely unmakeable by [me],” he said. “They’re not showboating … They’re just really well trained at what they’re doing.”

Leighton summed up the philosophy that he and Sanford share: “We take the extra time and do the simple things really well. It makes all the difference.”

Diners seem to appreciate the effort. “The town is struggling to recover from a flood,” Lander said, referring to last July’s catastrophic rainfall. “Montpelier is having a rough day, but for a whole year. My aunt used to say that in times of distress, frivolity is important. Ondis isn’t frivolous, but it’s helping people feel OK right now.”

Lander echoed Leighton’s observation about Ondis having a different feel from its immediate environs, and from Montpelier in general. “Ondis is giving this otherworldly vibe,” he mused. “It seems equal parts European and incredibly urban, with attention to detail plus a very nice, comfortable atmosphere. It’s not your home. You’re transported.” For a moment in time, the Ondis space actually was my home, and I’d worried that it would be painful to be back. Because the space was lovely and the food was exciting and the company was friendly, it wasn’t. ➆

Blueberry and white chocolate ice cream sandwich

How Now, Brown Cow

Monument Farms Dairy’s chocolate milk inspires devotion

BY MELISSA PASANEN • pasanen@sevendaysvt.com

In 2017, the media seized on a data point from a survey suggesting that 7 percent of American adults believed chocolate milk comes from brown cows.

Clickbait aside, the lesson was not actually how far removed people are from the source of their food but the risk of misinterpreting research with little context. Without knowing how the question was posed, we have no idea whether those respondents thought, for example, that dairy cows are simply more likely to be brown, as opposed to the black Angus commonly associated with beef.

But if we lived in a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory world in which brown cows produced chocolate milk, 55 of Monument Farms Dairy’s 550-head herd would not be black-and-white Holsteins.

About 10 percent of the roughly 151,100 gallons of milk produced monthly on the Weybridge farm becomes chocolate milk, Monument Farms Dairy co-owner Jon Rooney said. Sold in half gallons for $3.49$3.99 and pints for about $1.49 throughout the Champlain Valley and northwestern Vermont, the cocoa-rich milk boasts a velvety viscosity that has made it an enduring favorite in my home.

As our 26-year-old, Alex, wrote by text, “the famous chocolate milk is not only a must-have for me when I make the trek home to Burlington from NYC but it has become a must-have for many of my friends who come with me.”

Alex recalled the wonder of stepping into the Middlebury College cafeteria during a teen soccer camp and spying a Monument Farms chocolate milk dispenser.

“I was geeking,” he said. “I still wish I could get one in my kitchen.”

His older brother, Nikko, chimed in from Seattle to say the chocolate milk is one of the things he misses most about Vermont. (I’m sure he means after his mother.)

“It’s in a class of its own,” Nikko, 29, wrote. “The texture defies what I considered possible for chocolate milk.”

Rooney, 65, is one of three third-generation owners of the 2,900-acre farm

SMALL PLEASURES

and bottling facility. He said the family has made chocolate milk for as long as he can remember, at least since the early 1960s.

His grandparents, Richard and Marjory James, started the farm with 26 acres in 1930. Their daughter, Millicent, grew up washing milk bottles and worked on the farm until 10 days before she died, at 86, in 2014. Her son and two of his cousins, Peter and Bob James, now run the operation with three members of the fourth generation.

As plant manager, Rooney supervises all processing, including mixing chocolate milk. The secret, he said, is combining the farm’s high-quality milk with a meticulously composed flavor blend that includes “really high-grade cocoa

powder,” two kinds of sugar and artificial vanilla flavor. Carrageenan and cornstarch are key to the milk’s smooth texture, Rooney said. They keep the cocoa blended evenly rather than letting it settle on the bottom.

Rooney noted that a few co-ops won’t carry Monument Farms’ chocolate milk, due to the artificial vanilla. But he doesn’t dare mess with the winning formula — which is endorsed by a wide range of people beyond my kids.

My colleague Jordan Barry’s husband, Kevin, said Monument Farms won his recent “semi-serious, semi-scientific” taste test because it reminded him most of a classic black and white milkshake made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.

Right before I grabbed a half gallon from the supermarket cooler recently, Noah Sullivan, a senior at the University of Vermont, grabbed his own. He said he became “very much an appreciator” of Monument Farms chocolate milk soon after arriving at college.

“It’s just good,” Sullivan said. “It’s just right.” ➆

Small Pleasures is an occasional column that features delicious and distinctive Vermont-made food or drinks that pack a punch. Send us your favorite little bites or sips with big payoff at food@ sevendaysvt.com.

COURTESY OF KEVIN BARRY

SIDEdishes

— will serve “eclectic pub fare” such as tater-tot poutine and karaage chicken sandwiches, McCarthy said. Beverage director ROB KARMIN will develop a mix of “fun things to drink in the mountains,” including Old World wines, classic cocktails, boozy milkshakes, mocktails and ROOKIE’S ROOT BEER floats.

The brewery’s first releases include an IPA, an American-style pale ale and a pilsner-style lager. They’ll be contract-brewed at Zero Gravity while the Lot Six team installs a seven-barrel brew system.

McCarthy has a longstanding relationship with the Zero Gravity team: He started at the original brewpub at AMERICAN FLATBREAD BURLINGTON HEARTH in 2013 and was running the Burlington brewery’s production facility by 2021, when he left to spend more time with his young children. Before that, he was head brewer at South Burlington’s Magic Hat Brewing.

Lot Six’s beer will be available only at the brewpub. McCarthy plans to brew a mix of traditional beer styles from around the world and hoppy beers “to appease the masses,” he said. “We’ll be as old-school as we want to be, and as newschool as we have to be.”

Jordan Barry

REDCAN Restaurant Coming to White River Junction

Chef JASON MERRILL and his wife, LESLIE, plan to open a restaurant called REDCAN in downtown White River Junction early this summer. The name honors Jason’s late mother’s favorite drink, Coca-Cola in a red can. It will offer “polished, contemporary-style dining” with a raw bar and dinner menu featuring many local ingredients, he said.

REDCAN’s location at 129 South Main Street was formerly TRAIL BREAK TAPS & TACOS, which is moving to 5945 Woodstock Road in Quechee with a May reopening planned. Merrill will remain a hands-on partner in the Worthy Group, which owns WORTHY BURGER in South Royalton and WORTHY KITCHEN in Woodstock and operated Worthy Burger Too in Waitsfield from

November 2018 to April 2022. Merrill said that restaurant did well, but “two of our employees were looking for kitchen space to get into the cannabis game. They made us an offer we could not turn down.”

The Merrills, who are in their forties, had “been talking about doing something together” for several years, Jason said. They are currently renovating the space, which will have 70 to 90 seats, including high-top and standard dining tables and bar seating.

Jason is working on developing the menu and connecting with farms in the Upper Valley. While the offerings will be “fish-heavy,” they’ll also include more terrestrial fare, such as locally raised Wagyu beef strip loin with confit potato and wild mushrooms. Burgers won’t be on the roster, he added.

CONNECT

Melissa Pasanen

From left: Adam Shirlock, Rob Karmin and Justin McCarthy of Lot Six Brewing

Leslie and Jason Merrill

CANNABIS

Chewing the Phatty

“Cannasations” podcaster Kris Brown aims to “humanize” Vermont’s weed culture

BY KEN PICARD • ken@sevendaysvt.com

Kris Brown was in a supermarket last year when he noticed a “tall, skinny white dude” watching him intently as Brown and his family made their way through the aisles. A six-foot-two, muscular, tattooed Black man who’s lived in Vermont since 2013, Brown is never surprised when white people eyeball him. He steeled himself for a confrontation.

When the man finally approached Brown, he said, “Kris from ‘Cannasations,’ right? I listen to your podcast. I heard your voice and knew it had to be you.”

For much of his life, people have commented to Brown about his velvety baritone voice. He jokes that it often helped him get the attention of women. A few years ago, with his career on the rocks and his life adrift, he decided to put it to a di erent use.

While embarking on a new career as a professional voice-over artist, the 39-year-old Virginia native and cannabis enthusiast launched a podcast called “Cannasations w/ Kris.” Once a week, for 35 minutes to an hour, Brown sits down in his Je ersonville studio with members of

Vermont’s cannabis industry and, as the name suggests, hosts a conversation about weed.

Since dropping his first episode on November 11, 2022, Brown has interviewed dispensary owners, farmers, bakers, a former copturned-grower, and even a Vermont Cannabis Control Board commissioner. With 53 episodes under his belt and nearly 4,400 downloads, Brown hears from listeners who turn on his show while they’re getting high, chilling out or commuting.

Though he can’t yet claim to be “the voice of Vermont’s cannabis community,” as he’d like, Brown recently reached a milestone. On February 21, by invitation, he delivered a devotional before lawmakers in the Vermont Statehouse as part of Black History Month.

MY WHOLE GOAL IS TO SIT AROUND, KICK IT AND TALK.

“Someone told me I rumble the walls in their grow facility,” he said, laughing as he imagines his voice as the soundtrack of a cannabis harvest. “It’s amazing, because it’s something I created.”

KRIS BROWN

In less than two years, Brown, a combat veteran and convicted felon with no previous experience in journalism, broadcasting or sound engineering, has seeped into the consciousness of Vermont’s weed community like an edible kicking in.

smoking any more than he does on his podcast. First-time listeners who tune in expecting a deep-in-the-weeds analysis of terpenes, trichomes and hydroponic growing techniques will be disappointed. A former chef, Brown might discuss his time in the military, or how he smokes meat. “Cannasations w/ Kris” is as much a conversation on cannabis as it is about cannabis.

Brown grew up in Martinsville, Va., a rural town near the state’s southern border. “Basically, I could walk into my backyard and be in North Carolina,” he said. Raised Baptist and conservative, Brown was smoking weed by age 15. One day, his mother found his pot seeds.

“I got my ass whooped,” he said. “She called the preacher and said, ‘You better come get him before I kill him, because my son ain’t gonna be stealing my TV for no weed.’”

Brown was shocked by the notion that pot might inspire property crimes. “I never stopped smoking,” he said. “I just hid it a little better.”

After high school, Brown joined the Army and trained as a combat engineer handling explosives, a job that left him deaf in one ear. In 2006 and 2007, he was deployed in Tal Afar and Ramadi, Iraq. Though he couldn’t o cially get high in the combat zone, he smuggled back from Europe a potent strain of marijuana called AK-47.

“That was the enemy’s weapon,” he explained. “My mentality was ... if we die by this shit, at least we smoked it first.”

Like many vets, Brown came home and was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He committed an armed robbery in Watertown, N.Y., and spent four years in prison. After his release in 2011, he met his future wife, and the couple moved to Vermont in June 2013. Brown has three kids, ages 18, 15 and 11.

Brown greeted a reporter at his hillside home in Jeffersonville overlooking Route 15. Dressed in brightly colored pajama bottoms and a Lake E ect Cannabis T-shirt, he led the way to his studio, a converted bedroom whose walls are plastered with stickers from local cannabis companies. Smack-dab in the middle of the cannabis collage is a poster from Reefer Madness, the 1936 antimarijuana propaganda film — a reminder, he said, of how far cannabis has come. Brown fired up a fat blunt, as he does with all his guests. This one, he noted, contained an indica from Sunset Lake Cannabis in the Champlain Islands. But he didn’t dwell on what he was

As a convicted felon, he struggled to find a job. He worked in asbestos removal, a job he’d hated in prison. Then, on his wife’s suggestion, he used the GI Bill to attend New England Culinary Institute, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in food and beverage business management in 2018.

Brown spent a few years cooking at ArtsRiot in Burlington and the Inn at Essex (now the Essex Resort & Spa), but he struggled with the stress of working in commercial kitchens. One day, he blew up at his colleagues at Two Sons Bakehouse in Johnson and was forced to leave, an incident that still embarrasses him.

A course at Such a Voice, a Vermontbased school for voice-over professionals, helped Brown land a public-television gig

Kris Brown

AWARDS

Two Vermonters Awarded Guggenheim Fellowships

BY KEN PICARD • ken@sevendaysvt.com

Two Vermonters, both members of the faculty at Dartmouth College, have been awarded prestigious fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Vievee Francis, of White River Junction, is an award-winning poet and associate professor of English and creative writing at Dartmouth. Francis’ fourth book, e Shared World, which Seven Days Jim Schley reviewed last April, is currently a finalist for a Vermont Book Award.

Francis is researching and writing her fifth book, a collection of poems and considerations, titled Cleaning the Houses of the Dead

that harm and begin to rethink some very old and embedded thinking around whose labors matter and who gets to decide who is worth being here or not.”

Francis, a Texas native who’s been at Dartmouth since 2016, called the Guggenheim fellowship “affirming. It lets me know my work is being seriously considered.”

“I am looking at the idea of labor and of cleaning — everything from maid culture to ideas around ethnic cleansing,” Francis said, in a written statement from Dartmouth College. “I’m looking at what we consider to be unclean, and how we use ideas around cleanliness to do great harm. I want to start a discussion about how to mitigate some of

Laura Ogden, of South Strafford, is a Dartmouth professor of anthropology and special adviser to the college’s provost on climate and sustainability. Honored for her work on conservation, environmental change and colonialism, Ogden has conducted ethnographic research in the Florida Everglades, Tierra del Fuego and urban environments throughout the United States. Calling the Guggenheim award “an enormous honor and a rare moment of feeling like my work is on the right path,” Ogden said she plans to use the fellowship to complete her current project, e Book of Birds: A Memoir of Extinction, about the conservation effort, which began in the 1980s, to save the California condor from extinction.

Francis and Ogden were among 188 winners of Guggenheim fellowships, chosen from a pool of nearly 3,000 applicants throughout the United States and Canada. e financial grants, which vary in amount from fellow to fellow and are not made public, are meant to provide the recipients with considerable time and freedom to pursue their work.➆

INFO

Learn more at gf.org.

Bookstock Literary Festival Abruptly Folds

BY MARY ANN LICKTEIG •maryann@sevendaysvt.com

Annual literary festival Bookstock announced on Monday that it is ending after 15 years — just weeks before its 2024 event. e Woodstock festival scheduled for June 21 to 23 is canceled.

Cofounder and board chair Peter Rousmaniere told Seven Days that conflicting visions for the festival prompted some participating organizations to pull out. He declined to name them. “It was a decision on their own, which I respect,” he said.

More than two dozen local organizations have participated in Bookstock, Rousmaniere said in a press release, and, “We asked a lot from them.” Some have moved on, he continued. “ is development is understandable. But this makes the festival not viable.”

Finances were not a problem, he told Seven Days

the festival to be one of an array of cultural amenities that would attract people to move to Woodstock. “It was really set up, in effect, to draw people into town,” he said, “and organizations that are in a small town like this are necessarily focused on their own constituents.”

Calls to Yankee Bookshop, Pentangle Arts and Norman Williams Public Library, three of the festival’s six festival cofounding businesses, were not immediately returned. e other cofounders are North Chapel, Woodstock History Center and the ompson Center. e tension among participating organizations wasn’t new, Rousmaniere said. “It had been there for a while, and we thought we could manage it, and we just couldn’t.”

In a phone interview, Rousmaniere said participants who preferred a smaller festival aimed at a local audience disliked the direction Bookstock had been moving in the past two years as it grew and attracted out-of-staters. “Last year, 80 percent of the people who came to the festival were from outside the immediate area,” he said.

Rousmaniere and the other three board members wanted

e three-day festival has featured as many as 60 authors and drawn 1,500 attendees to multiple venues each year, requiring 60 volunteers and intricate logistics that Rousmaniere likened to “a complicated watch.”

When the founders launched Bookstock in 2009, “We wanted a really lively, inspiring, fun event” that allowed authors and audience members to interact, Rousmaniere said. Over the years, Bookstock has hosted more than 400

authors, ranging from Pulitzer Prize winners to emerging local writers. Author events were free.

e “Unbound” exhibit at Artistree Community Arts Center, eatre & Gallery typically kicked off the weekend, adding a visual art component to the literary affair. More than a dozen tents erected on the town green housed exhibitors — writers’ groups, publishers, self-published authors — and a used book sale.

Events moved online in 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID19 pandemic. When Bookstock returned in person, in 2022, it did so as a nonprofit supported by a $20,000 start-up grant from Woodstock’s Economic Development Commission. e grant was renewed in 2023 and allowed Bookstock to hire three part-time staffers.

is year’s author lineup was to include three-time National Book Award finalist Lauren Groff; National Book Award finalist and Norwich-based high school principal Ken Cadow; former Vermont poet laureate Ellen Bryant Voigt; author, sociologist and policy maker Nikhil Goyal; and Vermont children’s writer Tamara Ellis Smith.

Cadow told Seven Days in an email that he received an email from Bookstock on Sunday. “I am certain that it was a very tough decision, and it seems as though they had gotten quite far with planning, and were doing so in good faith,” Cadow wrote. “I think it’s a sign of how thin people are stretched who try to work for the greater good!”

Rousmaniere hinted that Bookstock may return: “We’re proud of what we’ve done, and maybe there might be something that comes back after people sort things out in the town.”

INFO

Learn more at bookstockvt.org.

Laura Ogden

Vievee Francis

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE/ROBERT GILL

‘Tattoo Living’ Celebrates Body Art at Bennington Museum

BY KEN PICARD • ken@sevendaysvt.com

The Bennington Museum has various permanent and traveling displays of artwork and historical memorabilia, from its “Gilded Age Vermont” exhibit to the world’s largest public collection of paintings by Grandma Moses. Most days, the bodies of work don’t talk to the visitors or walk out the door when the museum closes.

But on Friday, April 19, the Bennington Museum will host an exhibit titled “Tattoo Living” that celebrates bodily adornment. The one-night-only event, featuring as many as 16 live models, will delve into the art and imagery that Vermonters wear on their bodies.

“We’re asking people to put themselves on display, which is kind of an odd concept,” said Deana Mallory, the museum’s director of public programs. Why tattoos? “It’s amazing art,” she added, “and we celebrate art in our region in all of its forms.”

What’s next for

More than a dozen models answered the museum’s call for entries, and all were selected. On the night of the show, each model will wear a label with their name and a brief history of their tattoos. Later, visitors will get to vote for their favorites; the winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to Body Blend Studio, a tattoo and piercing shop in Shaftsbury and a sponsor of the exhibit. During an open-mic session, tattooed museum guests will have a chance to share the stories behind their own tats.

How each “piece” will be displayed is up to the models, Mallory explained. Some may arrive in jeans and T-shirts, while others may wear bathing suits to better exhibit their canvases.

“The only thing we don’t allow are [visible] private parts,” Mallory noted. “It’s a family-friendly event.”

This is the fourth time the Bennington Museum has celebrated the artistry of the region’s body-art collectors and tattoo artists. The first such event, in 2015, was the brainchild of Bennington Museum’s thenexecutive director, Robert Wolterstorff. Though not tattooed himself, Wolterstorff had long been fascinated by the body art he saw in and around Bennington.

Rather than displaying photos of these creative works, Wolterstorff opted instead to bring the tattoo collectors themselves into the gallery.

These exhibits aren’t about the regional history of tattoo artistry generally but the stories behind each model’s body art, whose meanings vary from person to person. As Mallory explained, one participant has full tattoo sleeves on both of his arms, with images representing his years of addiction. Another model has Native American symbolism drawn from his ancestry. Yet another model, who’s studying to become a tattoo artist, collects tats in different styles, almost like a design book.

Mallory has her own tattoo, from

decades ago, of the Chinese character for “friendship.” While she admitted that it’s not necessarily one she would choose today, Mallory likened tattoos to mixtapes, which “take you right back to that time and place in your life.”

In an apparent nod to tattooing’s history as outsider art, this year’s show will have a carnivalesque atmosphere, with music, food and live entertainment. Alyx Hilshey, a nationally touring magician and sleight-ofhand expert, will perform.

Assuming the museum gets the requisite state permits, artists from Body Blend Studio will be doing live tattooing at the event.

And while Mallory won’t be adding to her own body art collection — she claims she’ll be too busy — the museum’s curator, Jamie Franklin, has offered himself up. Franklin said he’s wanted a tattoo for years. He’s seriously considering one

a

INFO

“Tattoo Living,” Friday, April 19, 6 p.m., at the Bennington Museum. $10; free for children under 17. benningtonmuseum.org

based on

print in the Bennington Museum, which depicts a two-headed snake found in Lake Champlain in 1761. ➆

A live model at a previous tattoo exhibit at the Bennington Museum

and a role in a movie that was never released. More offers were slow to materialize.

Despondent, Brown then had what he called a “supernatural experience.”

At the 2022 New England Cannabis Convention, he encountered a man who was the spitting image of his friend who’d died by suicide a year earlier. Unprompted, the man told Brown, “You should start a podcast.”

Brown spent the rest of the convention discussing the idea with cannabis professionals. Initially, he thought he’d use the podcast merely to get his name and voice out there. But soon he began to enjoy talking about a subject with which he was very familiar.

In the wider world of podcasts, “Cannasations w/ Kris” is less a house ablaze than a smoldering joint; each episode averages 83 downloads. But Vermont’s cannabis professionals have taken notice. Brown has interviewed Will Read, founder and CEO of the weed marketing firm CannaPlanners in Burlington; Callie Chapman, president and founding partner of Onward Analytics, a Colchester quality-control testing lab; and CCB commissioner Kyle Harris.

When Brown invited Dusty Kenney, owner of Lamoille County dispensary Cambridge Cannabis, to be a guest on the podcast, Kenney initially balked. He’d done other weed podcasts, he said, and wasn’t interested in one that sounded like “a puff piece.”

But after listening to a few episodes, Kenney changed his mind and appeared on “Cannasations” last year. Why the change of heart?

“A lot of these other [podcasts] are this cliquey high school stuff,” Kenney said. “Kris is no drama. He’s completely positive and uplifting … And you can’t get over that voice!”

Brown has since inked an endorsement deal with Cambridge Cannabis, which gives him a small cut of the sales of Cannasations Royal Kush pre-rolls. A QR code on the package label links to his podcast.

Humble as he is, Brown believes he’ll eventually become a “humanizing” voice for Vermont’s cannabis industry. “My whole goal is to sit around, kick it and talk,” he said. “It’s just a cannabis conversation, know what I’m saying?” ➆ INFO

“Cannasations w/ Kris” is available on most podcast platforms. Learn more about Kris Brown’s voice-over work at withakvo.com. Chewing

on screen

Civil War ★★★★

For those of us who love A24, Civil War is a milestone: It earned the quirky indie distributor its highest opening weekend box o ce to date. Granted, built-in controversy surely drew many viewers to this dystopian drama from English writer-director Alex Garland (Men, Annihilation, Ex Machina), which depicts a U.S. civil war in the present day.

The deal

We join said war already well in progress. It all appears to have started when the unnamed U.S. president (Nick O erman) decided he wanted a third term.

The secessionist “Western Forces” are preparing to march on Washington, D.C., and depose the would-be dictator. Two Reuters reporters, writer Joel (Wagner Moura) and photographer Lee (Kirsten Dunst), hope to get there first and interview the president. Veteran correspondent Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) tags along, though he warns them the loyalists aren’t friendly to journalists.

Joining their road trip through the combat zone is a very green photojournalist, Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), who talked her way onto the expedition and craves mentorship from the hardened Lee. The trek will open her eyes and test her resolve to get the story.

Will you like it?

Civil War has caused much recent rumbling on social media, with critics charging that the movie is a bait-and-switch. When A24 released a map of the factions in the film’s alternate history, many revolted. Where are the politics? they demanded. Where is the expected red-versus-blue state conflict? Did the non-American filmmaker play it safe by taking ideology out of the equation? In a world in which Texas and California are on the same side, how do we even know whom to root for?

So be warned: If you crave a film about progressives fighting the forces of MAGA — or the reverse — this isn’t it. But as a whiteknuckle cautionary film about the horrors of a modern civil war on American soil, Civil War succeeds brilliantly at immersing us in the chaos.

Lean on exposition, the screenplay is vague about how long ago the conflict started, but we can hazard a guess based on the characters’ state of fatigue bordering on apathy. They no longer debate the issues or

contemplate a return to normalcy. Yet we see evidence of past atrocities everywhere: Discarded vehicles litter the interstates, as in a zombie movie. People congregate in refugee camps. Cell service doesn’t exist. When the journalists enter a small town where shops are open for business, they express shock, as if pockets of even apparent peace are few and far between.

Let’s be honest: No matter how Garland framed the civil war, we would never have stopped arguing about whether his scenario was plausible. Our own problems and predictions would have dominated our attention. By deliberately withholding the specifics, he forces us to narrow our focus to the things that actually matter to the characters: the adrenaline rush of danger and the logistics of survival.

Dunst gives a masterfully tight-wound performance as Lee, who is a spiritual sister to Jeremy Renner’s soldier character in The Hurt Locker. A photographer of combat since college, she thrives in circumstances that would break other people, but the lifestyle is taking its toll. Lee doesn’t want to mold Jessie into her likeness, yet the alternative is to leave the younger woman defenseless. So she educates her, instructing her not to think too hard about the horrors she shoots with

her camera: “We record so other people ask the questions.”

To Lee, the essence of journalism is a hard-won objectivity that serves posterity even as it dehumanizes the witnesses, stripping them of human sympathies. That ideal eventually rebounds on her as the plot reaches a denouement that is as gripping as it is inevitable.

Despite its naturalistic style, Civil War doesn’t disdain war movie clichés. We can see fairly early on where the character arcs of reckless rookie Jessie and paternal veteran Sammy are headed. The movie doesn’t give viewers the satisfaction of seeing their real-life political enemies destroyed, either. The trappings of dystopia aside, it’s simply another modern war story, with the same dread and absurdism that we saw in early films about the Iraq War (remember those?).

But it all takes place on American soil, and that’s a political statement in itself. As Jamelle Bouie of the Times wrote in his newsletter, “The point … is to shake Americans of the delusion that we could go to war with each other in a way that would not end in catastrophic disaster.” Or, as he put it more succinctly on TikTok, “Be careful what you wish for.” Civil War is a cautionary tale about how violence, justified or not,

takes on a self-perpetuating life of its own. It’s a reminder we may need.

MARGOT HARRISON margot@sevendaysvt.com

IF YOU LIKE THIS, TRY...

THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR (2016; Netflix, rentable): If you crave a movie about modern American civil war that does take a clear side, you could do worse than this pulpy action series in which working folks battle a regime that has legalized the ritual murder of the powerless.

“GENERATION KILL” (seven episodes, 2008; Max): Civil War reminded me of this miniseries based on Rolling Stone correspondent Evan Wright’s book about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It evokes the boredom and brutality of modern warfare with subtle critique and dark humor.

THE HURT LOCKER (2008; MovieSphere, PLEX, rentable): Like Lee and Joel, the protagonist of Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscarwinning film about a bomb disposal squad in Iraq is dangerously hooked on the adrenaline of constant peril.

Kirsten Dunst plays a photojournalist in a U.S. war zone in Alex Garland’s controversial cautionary tale.

COURTESY OF A24

Landscape Award Winners

Vermont Nursery & Landscape Industry

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HONOR AWARD

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MERIT AWARD

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HONOR AWARD

Gavin Boyce-Ratliff Landscape Design, LLC

https://www.gbrlandscape.com / Beaver Meadow Garden / Gavin Boyce-Ratliff

VNLA/Green Works Annual Awards

2023 Horticultural Achievement Award

Kristina MacKulin

VNLA / North Ferrisburgh, VT

www.vnlavt.org

2023 Environmental Awareness Award

Holly Greenleaf

Greenleaf Design LLC / Huntington, VT

https://www.hollygreenleaf.com/

2023 Retailer of the Year Award

Peet Farm Greenhouse VT / Cornwall, VT

https://pfgvt.com

2023-2024

2023 Allen B. Crane Horticultural Employee Acknowledgement Award

Anika Adams

Elmore Roots Fruit Tree Nursery / Elmore, VT

https://elmoreroots.com

2024 Young Nursery Professional of the Year Award

Linzy Vos / Rocky Dale Gardens / Bristol, VT

https://www.rockydalegardens.com

2024 Student Merit Awards

Erin Camire / UVM

Ryan Winegar / VSU

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NEW IN THEATERS

ABIGAIL: Criminals who kidnap a gangster’s cute ballerina daughter get a rude awakening in this horror flick. With Kathryn Newton and Giancarlo Esposito. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not) directed. (109 min, R. Essex, Majestic, Sunset)

HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS: A woman (Anamaria Marinca) finds herself forced to raise her girlfriend’s two daughters in this acclaimed comedy-drama from Macedonia. Goran Stolevski directed. (107 min, R. Capitol)

THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE: British special ops fight the Nazis in this action flick loosely based on Operation Postmaster, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Henry Cavill. (120 min, R. Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Star)

SASQUATCH SUNSET: Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough play a Bigfoot couple in an offbeat adventure comedy from David and Nathan Zellner (Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter). (89 min, R. Savoy)

SPY X FAMILY CODE: WHITE: This animated action comedy is based on the Spy x Family manga series. Kazuhiro Furuhashi directed. (110 min, PG-13. Essex, Majestic)

CURRENTLY PLAYING

ARCADIANHHH Nicolas Cage plays a dude fighting monsters with his teen sons in a postapocalyptic landscape in this horror thriller from director Benjamin Brewer. (92 min, R. Majestic)

ARTHUR THE KINGHH1/2

A stray dog inspires an athlete (Mark Wahlberg) to fight the odds in an endurance race. (90 min, PG-13. Majestic)

BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN: Special operatives must overcome their differences to face an apocalyptic threat in this Hindi action thriller. (164 min, NR. Majestic)

CIVIL WARHHHH Journalists race toward a Washington, D.C., threatened by rebels in this dystopian action thriller from Alex Garland (Men), starring Kirsten Dunst and Wagner Moura. (109 min, R. Big Picture, Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Paramount, Playhouse, Roxy, Savoy, Star, Stowe, Sunset, Welden; reviewed 4/17)

DUNE: PART TWOHHH1/2 The saga of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and the spice planet Arrakis continues in Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi series. (166 min, PG-13. Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Roxy; reviewed 3/6)

THE FIRST OMENHHH1/2 In this prequel to The Omen horror series, an American woman (Nell Tiger Free) in Rome discovers a plot to arrange the birth of the Antichrist. (120 min, R. Majestic)

GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIREHH1/2 A new generation of ghostbusters joins the old one to fight an evil force that threatens Earth with a new ice age. (115 min, PG-13. Bijou, Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Marquis, Paramount, Star, Sunset, Welden)

GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIREHH1/2

The two legendary monsters square off again in this action adventure from Adam Wingard (Godzilla vs. Kong). (115 min, PG-13. Big Picture, Bijou, Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Marquis, Star, Stowe, Sunset, Welden)

KUNG FU PANDA 4HHH Po (voice of Jack Black) must train his warrior successor in this animated adventure. (94 min, PG. Bijou, Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Paramount, Star, Sunset, Welden)

LA CHIMERA: An archaeologist (Josh O’Connor) gets embroiled in a black market for stolen artifacts in this acclaimed romantic adventure from director Alice Rohrwacher (The Wonders). (130 min, NR. Roxy)

LOVE LIES BLEEDINGHHHH Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian play a gym manager and a bodybuilder who fall in love, but criminal entanglements threaten their dreams. (104 min, R. Roxy, Sunset; reviewed 4/3)

MONKEY MANHHH1/2 In this action thriller set in Mumbai, Dev Patel (who also directed and cowrote) plays a young man who goes on a revenge crusade against the oppressors of the powerless. (121 min, R. Essex, Majestic, Stowe, Sunset)

PROBLEMISTAHHH1/2 An aspiring toy designer takes a job with an eccentric New York artist in this comedy. (104 min, R. Roxy)

WICKED LITTLE LETTERSHHH The women of a small town investigate to see who has been sending profane missives in this comic period piece with Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley. (100 min, R. Roxy)

OLDER FILMS AND SPECIAL SCREENINGS

THE BOY AND THE HERON (Roxy)

CHALLENGERS (Essex, Mon only)

IN THE NAME OF FORGOTTEN WOMEN (Savoy, Mon only)

METROPOLITAN OPERA: LA RONDINE (Essex, Sat only)

MIGRATION (Sunset)

SHREK 2 20TH ANNIVERSARY (Essex, Majestic)

OPEN THEATERS

Catamount Arts’ theater is currently closed until further notice. (* = upcoming schedule for theater was not available at press time)

*BIG PICTURE THEATER: 48 Carroll Rd., Waitsfield, 496-8994, bigpicturetheater.info

*BIJOU CINEPLEX 4: 107 Portland St., Morrisville, 888-3293, bijou4.com

CAPITOL SHOWPLACE: 93 State St., Montpelier, 229-0343, fgbtheaters.com

*CATAMOUNT ARTS: 115 Eastern Ave., St. Johnsbury, 748-2600, catamountarts.org

ESSEX CINEMAS & T-REX THEATER: 21 Essex Way, Suite 300, Essex, 879-6543, essexcinemas.com

MAJESTIC 10: 190 Boxwood St., Williston, 878-2010, majestic10.com

MARQUIS THEATER: 65 Main St., Middlebury, 388-4841, middleburymarquis.com (closed for renovation April 8 to 22).

*MERRILL’S ROXY CINEMAS: 222 College St., Burlington, 864-3456, merrilltheatres.net

PARAMOUNT TWIN CINEMA: 241 N. Main St., Barre, 479-9621, fgbtheaters.com

PLAYHOUSE MOVIE THEATRE: 11 S. Main St., Randolph, 728-4012, playhouseflicks.com

SAVOY THEATER: 26 Main St., Montpelier, 2290598, savoytheater.com

STAR THEATRE:

Alisha Weir in Abigail

art

Sky High

“Phased” at Burlington’s S.P.A.C.E. Gallery takes on the eclipse

BY PAMELA POLSTON • ppolston@sevendaysvt.com

Chinese astronomers began to predict solar eclipses in the fourth century BC. Scientists have known the day and time, down to the second, of the April 8, 2024, totality for ages. Nikki Laxar didn’t need quite that much time to prepare for “Phased,” but the eclipse-inspired exhibit was a no-brainer for a place with a thing for space. That is, S.P.A.C.E. — a studiogallery located in Burlington’s Soda Plant. Laxar, the owner and curator, called upon six other local artists whose work shares a “theme of the cosmos and the atmosphere we know,” according to the exhibit description.

REVIEW

“I curated the artists and let them choose what to exhibit,” Laxar clarified. “I asked them to submit five to 10 pieces.”

Accordingly, there are at least five works from each artist; they vary in mediums, style and size, as well as how they convey celestial phenomena.

In a couple of her lovely watercolors, Deana Allgaier paints the now-familiar image of totality, but other works convey the kind of star-studded nighttime sky seen in areas with low light pollution. “Across the Universe in Turquoise” is one such serene scene: a reflective lake surrounded by shadowy conifers and an eruptive aurora borealis. For a small painting, it captures unknowable majesty.

Susan Smereka’s seven mixed-media collages abstract the cosmic concept, but something explosive is happening in “You Cannot Ignore.” The square composition is a result of printing, drawing, sewing and tearing. A large black round shape with spiky extensions dominates the upper left, with shredded paper falling from it like ash onto the bottom of the frame. Quick marks in hot colors burst across the image, resembling fireworks.

Though best known for her printmaking and collage works, Smereka’s largest contribution to “Phased” features figuration in oil and gold leaf on burlap. More a wall hanging than a painting, per se, “Hemera Eclipsed” depicts both animals and gods a liated with mystical activities in the sky

throughout history. Hemera was the Greek goddess of daylight.

Mike Konrad literally nailed the art of the orb with large-scale works using repurposed old doors and other found

materials. Three of his creations consist of wood exactingly cut into skinny triangles and fitted together around an o -center vanishing point. While the pockmarks and chipped paint on the wood betray its

material origins, the designs result in a visual vortex that might yank a viewer into another dimension. Don’t look too long, just in case.

According to Laxar, the most unusual

"Everything Grows Stronger in the Light" by Mike Konrad IMAGES COURTESY OF NIKKI LAZAR

piece from Konrad owes its life to epic dumpster diving — for old keyboards.

“Everything Grows Stronger in the Light” is composed of some 3,500 keys from PCs. A large sphere in the center of the assemblage consists mainly of lighter-colored keys — with some words subtly spelled out — while the background is all black keys.

Two other Konrad works have the same composition, but the spheres — one white, one black — are made of multiple layers of found cord wrapped in inscrutable patterns and attached to antique nails. Forget the moon; these works are mandalas.

Laxar herself contributed a dozen analog collages to the exhibition. Working with photographs from old magazines and other ephemera, she has long slipped a celestial element into her creative adaptations of women, wildlife and botanicals. In a small shadow-box frame, “Embrace” subtly reveals an eclipsed sun behind the sweet image of a mother and infant. Blossoms and butterflies flutter around them. The woman’s face is a miniature constellation. To the baby, after all, she is the universe.

Kristin Richland brings the cute. In paintings suggestive of children’s books, she mixes bunnies and the cosmos; a nostalgic viewer might immediately recall the novel (or film) Watership Down. In “Sunset Moon,” a rabbit leaps skyward through swirling clouds, apparently striving for a lunar landing. On the nose for this exhibition, “Totality” features the fully eclipsed sun and a fluffle of bunnies gazing up at it in wide-eyed wonder.

Erin Bundock aptly embraces not only the theme of “Phased” but also the circle. In five round paintings, her characteristic cartoony figures variously knit the dark side of the moon, catch a comet, dream of the Milky Way and lovingly hold the sun. In the largest piece, “Dance of the Eclipse,” constellation-like figures in electric purple link arms and do-si-do.

Jen Blount’s small acrylic-on-wood paintings morph from classic moonlit landscape to utter abstraction. The family of colors in the former becomes a quilt of squares, triangles and pyramids, with shifting light and shadow, in “Blue Sky Spectrum.” In her version of “Totality,” a black circle with an aura of gold appears at the center of geometric forms. Some pieces are removed to let the starlight in. Call it sacred geometry.

The solar eclipse is over, and Vermont’s visiting hordes have returned home. But the unforgettable phenomenon lives on in artworks. “Phased” is a worthy homage. ➆

From top: "Sunset Moon" by Kristin Richland; “Embrace” by Nikki Laxar; “Across the Universe in Turquoise” by Deana Allgaier

Sparrow Art Supply in Middlebury Finds a New Nest

BY PAMELA POLSTON • ppolston@sevendaysvt.com

What a difference a ceiling makes. A high ceiling, that is. When Beth Bluestein moved her Middlebury store, Sparrow Art Supply, to 44 Main Street earlier this month, regular customers remarked on how much bigger it is than the previous location. “In fact, it’s a little smaller,” she said cheerfully. “The old space was 1,000 square feet; this one is 750.” But the vertical airiness — and light from tall windows — has everyone pleasantly fooled.

Perhaps more importantly, Sparrow’s new quarters can accommodate customers who couldn’t navigate the steep stairs to the basement shop at 52 Main, or who never even noticed its narrow entrance. “People have been discovering us here,” Bluestein, 32, confirmed.

She and her sole employee, sewer-designer Katie Zuanich, also have been able to arrange their display shelves in a more accessible way, even while allowing ample wall space for a community gallery. Bluestein has prioritized exhibiting local artists from the start. The current show, “Green Gold,” features seven artists and is intended to be “a celebration of new beginnings,” according to Sparrow’s website. The show’s title is a nod to the Robert Frost poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay.”

Sparrow is the only art-supply store in Addison County, which means that there was none before Bluestein came along. A painter who favors plein air watercolors, she said she was motivated to open the store in 2022 “because it was needed.” Now, Bluestein revealed, she’s working on a “delivery service to Burlington.” The city recently lost its sole outlet, Vermont Art Supply, when owner John Bates passed away.

Bluestein and her boyfriend — now husband — were COVID19 refugees from New York City three years ago. “His job went remote; I lost mine,” she said. “Moving to Vermont in five or 10 years [had been] the plan.” The pandemic sped up their timeline. The couple soon became first-time homebuyers, finding a house near Middlebury. They got married just as Bluestein was embarking on a business. “It was a lot,” she admitted with a laugh. (Her

CALL TO ARTISTS

ARTS ACCESS SUMMIT: Inclusive Arts Vermont invites community members, organizations, artists and educators to participate in a daylong virtual conference on May 15 about access in the arts. Organizer and educator Jeff Kaspar delivers a keynote address titled “Dreaming Resilience.” Learn more and register at inclusiveartsvermont.org. Online, through May 13. Info, 556-3668.

husband, Mitch Bluestein, has subsequently launched his own podcast production company, Modry Media.)

Why name the store Sparrow? It was the first species Bluestein identified outside her new Vermont home, for starters. “And it’s kind of an everybird,” she suggested. “We think art can be for everyone.”

That attitude is reflected in her approach to inventory. In addition to the expected assortment of acrylic paints, markers, pencils and sketchbooks, Sparrow carries arty items for all ages, from avocado-shaped erasers to X-Acto knives. Branded merch includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, caps, beanies and pouches.

A blue neon sparrow adorns the wall behind the cashier desk, right next to a window with an Otter Creek view. On the table, one of the many eye-candy stickers flaunts a tongue-in-cheek motto: “TRUST ME. I’m an artist.”

“People are now seeing these products in a new light, literally,” Bluestein said. “We’re so lucky to have such a vibrant, supportive community. I think that’s why we’re still here.” ➆

INFO

Sparrow Art Supply is at 44 Main Street in Middlebury. “Green Gold” is on view through May 11. sparrow-art-supply.square.site

OPENINGS + RECEPTIONS

‘ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL’: An exhibition of the work of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects of New York, Marlon Blackwell Architects of Arkansas, Susan T. Rodriquez Architecture of New York, Turner Brooks Architect of New Haven, Conn., Middlebury College Habitat for Humanity Housing Design and Solar Decathlon Houses, and McLeod Architects Community Design Build Projects. Johnson Memorial Building, Middlebury College, through April 30. Info, jmcleod@middlebury.edu.

ARTHUR GRAHAM RESCH: “Everyday I Live and I Live Every Day,” a solo art exhibit as part of a senior capstone project. Reception: Thursday, April 18, 6-7 p.m. McCarthy Art Gallery, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, through April 20. Info, bcollier@smcvt.edu.

BENNINGTON PROJECT INDEPENDENCE: An exhibition of sketches, paintings, textile creations and collages by participants in the local adult day services program. Closing reception: Friday, April 19, 1-2 p.m. Bennington Museum, through April 21. Info, 447-1571.

BFA EXHIBIT: An exhibition featuring drawing, painting, photography, ceramics and mixed-media art by Victoria Alinovi, Owen Whitney and Kate Vogan. Reception: Thursday, April 18, 3 p.m. Julian Scott Memorial Gallery, Vermont State UniversityJohnson, through May 3. Info, 635-1469.

‘CYCLES’: A touring exhibition of works on the theme of cycles in nature, body, mind and spirit by 25 artists with disabilities. Reception: Thursday, April 18. 4:30-6:30 p.m. Vermont Statehouse Cafeteria, Montpelier, through April 29. Info, info@ inclusiveartsvermont.org.

DREW WILLIAMS: “Stories For...,” a solo art exhibit as part of a senior capstone project. Reception: Thursday, April 25, 5 p.m. McCarthy Art Gallery, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, April 23-27. Info, bcollier@smcvt.edu.

HCRS SPRING ART SHOW: Artworks by staff and clients of Health Care and Rehabilitation Services of Windham County. 118 Elliot, Brattleboro, through April 28. Info, 118elliot@gmail.com.

HOLLAND DIERINGER SWEENEY: Colorful multimedia artworks that straddle fantasy and intellect. Reception: Saturday, April 20, 2-4 p.m. Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild Backroom Gallery, St. Johnsbury, April 20-May 30. Info, 748-0158.

‘ILLUMINATION’: An annual fundraising exhibition and auction featuring donated works by local artists. Live and silent auction party: Saturday, April 27, 6-9 p.m. AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon N.H., through April 27. Info, 603-448-3117.

JUDY HAWKINS: A solo exhibition of oil paintings by the Westminster West artist. Reception: Friday, April 19, 5-7 p.m. Canal Street Art Gallery, Bellows Falls, April 19-June 15. Info, 289-0104.

MEMBERS EXHIBITION: The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery in Burlington seeks submissions of artwork from current, returning and new members for an upcoming two-month exhibition. Members may show any one artwork of their choice. Apply at spacegalleryvt.com.

Deadline: April 29. Online. Info, spacegalleryvt@gmail.com.

‘STAINS!’: The Museum of Everyday Life in Glover is seeking contributions to its 2024 exhibition, opening in July: anything from personal artifacts accompanied by

QUILT WORKSHOPS:

MARGARET JACOBS: “Kinship,” steel sculptures and hand-crafted jewelry by the Akwesasne Mohawk artist. Artist talk: Thursday, April 18, 6-7 p.m. BCA Center, Burlington, through May 11. Info, 865-7166.

PETER SCHUMANN: Giant anti-war paintings, woodcuts and prints by the Bread and Puppet Theater founder. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, through May 23. Info, 262-6284.

ART EVENTS

VISITING ARTIST TALK: REBECCA WELZ: The New York City-based sculptor discusses her mixed-media works. Red Mill Gallery at Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Wednesday, April 17, 8 p.m. Free. Info, 635-2727.

PHOTOS: PAMELA POLSTON

Katie Zuanich and Beth Bluestein

appointment today!

TALK: ‘TREES AND REWILDING’: Shelby Perry, wildlands ecologist with Northeast Wilderness Trust, leads a discussion in conjunction with current art exhibit “Rise: Trees, Our Botanical Giants.”

The Gallery at Mad River Valley Arts, Waitsfield, Thu., April 18, 5 p.m. Free. Info, 496-6682.

OPEN HOUSE: The B Corp design firm welcomes visitors with an exhibition by French artist Lucas Beaufort. Driven Studio, Burlington, Friday, April 19, 6-10 p.m. Info, 622-3310.

SPRING ART OPENING: A public reception for artists whose works are displayed in the library’s gallery spaces, with music and refreshments. Pierson Library, Shelburne, Friday, April 19, 7-9 p.m. Free. Info, 985-5124.

TATTOO LIVING EXHIBITION: Models share their body-art stories and tattoo artists show off their work in the museum’s fourth Living Art event. Bennington Museum, Friday, April 19, 6-9 p.m. $10; free for members and children under 17. Info, 447-1571.

FAMILY ART SATURDAY: An outdoor drop-in art-making activity inspired by a current exhibition of metalwork and jewelry by Margaret Jacobs. BCA Center, Burlington, Saturday, April 20, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. Info, 865-7166.

TREVOR CORP & STEVE SHARON: Closing day of an exhibition featuring abstract paintings by the Vermont artists. Stowe Mountain Resort Midway Base Lodge, Saturday, April 20, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Info, 279-0165.

DANCE, PAINT, WRITE!: Explore the intersection of modalities in a meditative flow that weaves together movement, painting and writing. Accessible to adults and teen regardless of mobility. No experience required. Offered in person and via Zoom. Expressive Arts Burlington, Sunday, April 21, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. $25 per session. Info, 343-8172.

BIPOC MAKER NIGHTS: WOODWORKING: Hosted in partnership with the Root Social Justice Center, affinity spaces for anyone who identifies as Black, Indigenous or a person of color to create community around woodworking. Bring a woodworking project to repair or make. HatchSpace, Brattleboro, Mondays, 5:30-8:30 p.m., through May 19. Free. Info, 552-8202.

TALK: MARLON BLACKWELL: “Radical Practice,” as part of the “Architecture for All” symposium, the architect and AIA Gold Medalist discusses his firm’s practice of emphasizing projects in the public and civic realm. Dana Auditorium, Sunderland Language Center, Middlebury College, Monday, April 22, 5:45-7 p.m. Free. Info, jmcleod@ middlebury.edu.

TALK: SUSAN RODRIGUEZ: “Designing at the Intersection of Place, Purpose, History and Community Culture,” as part of the “Architecture for All” symposium, the New York architect discusses designing in the public realm and the creation of buildings and spaces that distill the essence of cultures and communities. Dana Auditorium, Sunderland Language Center, Middlebury College, Monday, April 22, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Free. Info, jmcleod@middlebury.edu.

TALK: ARCHITECT TURNER BROOKS: “Memories, obsessions, preoccupations with space,” as part of the “Architecture for All” symposium, the New Haven, Conn.-based architect and educator discusses space as it relates to the human body. Dana Auditorium, Sunderland Language Center, Middlebury College, Tuesday, April 23, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Free. Info, jmcleod@ middlebury.edu.

TALK: BILLIE TSIEN: “Open,” as part of the “Architecture for All” symposium, the architect discusses her firm’s commitment to the idea that a building represents a belief system, exemplified by the way a building contains and nurtures the events and people inside. Dana Auditorium, Sunderland Language Center, Middlebury College, Tuesday, April 23, 5:45-7 p.m. Free. Info, jmcleod@ middlebury.edu.

TALK: ‘THE ECONOMIC & SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE ARTS IN VERMONT’: Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility cohosts a networking event with refreshments and a discussion about the far-reaching economic and social impact of the arts in Vermont. The Stone Church, Brattleboro, Tuesday, April 23, 5-8 p.m. Free. Info, 416-0420.

TALK: ‘DESIGNING FOR A COLLECTIVE FUTURE’: As part of the “Architecture for All” symposium, architects Andrea Murray and Megan Nedzinski share information about Vermont Integrated Architecture’s proactive design and construction processes. Johnson Memorial Building, Middlebury College, Wednesday, April 24, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Free. Info, jmcleod@middlebury.edu.

TALK: JOHN MCLEOD: “Architecture for All: Community Engagement through Architecture,” as part of the “Architecture for All” symposium, a discussion of three examples from practice and teaching that demonstrate architecture’s ability to serve anyone and anywhere. Johnson Memorial Building, Middlebury College, Wednesday, April 24, 5:45-7 p.m. Free. Info, jmcleod@middlebury.edu. ➆

girlingtongarage.com

music+nightlife

SUNDbites

News and views on the local music + nightlife scene

BY CHRIS FARNSWORTH

Kick the Jams Out: Catching Up With Umphrey’s McGee

Rock and roll and adulthood are strange bedfellows. One minute, you’re a kid in a stinky, sweaty room filled with beer bottles and roaches (both kinds), huddled with some friends and playing music. The next thing you know, you’re a “professional musician” traveling 200 days a year, the stinky rooms have turned into studios, and you have a family waiting for you after the tour. You’d be surprised how quickly it happens.

Just ask JOEL CUMMINS. The keyboard player and founding member of jamprog band UMPHREY’S MCGEE of South Bend, Ind., has been at it for 26 years, since he and his bandmates met as students at the University of Notre Dame in December 1997.

“It’s hard to look at things from now to then, honestly,” Cummins admitted as we caught up by phone. “I think we maybe had a five-year plan at some point? We were just trying to put one foot in front of the other and make music. It’s always been simple in that way, at least.”

Thirteen studio albums and more than 2,000 live performances later, that method has clearly worked for Umphrey’s, as the band has risen to great success in the jam and progressive-rock worlds. Their beyond-eclectic sound, covering funk, metal, new wave, country and everything in between, has inspired a dedicated fan base across the country. But they seem to have a special bond with Burlington: According to Cummins

(with the help of fan site allthings. umphreys.com), Umphrey’s have played in the Queen City area 24 times.

They’ll make it 26 with two shows this week at the Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington: Wednesday and Thursday, April 24 and 25.

“It’s a little wild to realize how long we’ve been doing this,” Cummins said. “The biggest di erence now is that we go on the road to catch up on sleep and focus on the music, because when we get home we all get assaulted by our children! It used to be the other way around: We’d party on the road and come home to recover.”

Cummins thinks the life changes have actually helped the band focus more on chemistry and the instrumental interplay

and improvisation that Umphrey’s are known for. As he and his bandmates age, their musical tastes and styles have inevitably shifted.

“We’ve gotten better and better at listening to one another and interacting in the songs,” Cummins said. That evolution has helped the band keep its sound diverse, an important part of its appeal. “We don’t have a ‘sound’ like PHISH or the [GRATEFUL] DEAD,” he said. “We don’t have boxes. We can get heavy; we can get electronic.” Or they can lean into dream pop, as on their latest album, Asking for a Friend

As Cummins explained, the band’s recorded material might not resonate with some as “jam band” music. When they play live, however, Umphrey’s

Listening In

(Spotify mix of local jams)

1. “SWERVE” by Big Homie Wes

2. “REAL PEACH” by Henry Jamison

3. “COUPLE MORE HOURS” by Armanodillo

4. “I WANNA MAKE OUT WITH YOU” by Hannah Hannah, Eric George

5. “BURN” by Fawn

6. “ANGEL” by Dwight & Nicole

7. “OUT OF HERE” by Maryse Smith

delight in taking their songs and pulling them apart, improvising and extending. They call this process the “Jimmy Stewart method,” a term coined after a 2001 late-night jam in the dark at the Jimmy Stewart room of the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel.

“We also call it ‘Jazz Odyssey’ sometimes,” Cummins added with a laugh. “We’re all big Spinal Tap fans, so you’ll see ‘JO’ on the set list a lot, which is just code for improvisation.”

Umphrey’s know their fans like the jams, which is one reason they make sure to stu their live show with them. As much as they love leaning into their prog-rock side, the jams get their fans dancing. Still, Cummins pointed out that the band upped its prog-rock credibility when DREAM THEATER drummer MIKE PORTNOY guested with Umphrey’s in 2023 during drummer KRIS MYERS’ recovery from rotator cu surgery.

“We love existing in both spheres,” Cummins said. “At the end of the day, we’re trying to give people a show that covers a lot of area. When you’ve been at something for 26 years, having new sounds to experiment with is both fun and very necessary.”

As he excused himself to pick up his 5-year-old daughter from a doctor’s appointment, Cummins o ered a parting thought.

“The best part of being in a band is getting that chemistry where you can try anything with each other,” he said. “I honestly think that principle is the same with the band as it was when we first started out.”

For tickets to the shows, visit highergroundmusic.com. ➆

Umphrey’s McGee

Umphrey’s McGee

On the Beat

Who doesn’t love The Little Mermaid and sex lube?

(That got your attention, didn’t it?)

University of Vermont sex educator JENNA EMERSON is back with a new song to make us laugh while teaching such axioms as “Sex is better when it’s wetter, take it from me.”

“Under the Sheets” is Emerson’s latest The Little Mermaid-themed parody song, combining her two passions: comedy and sex ed. She debuted the project in 2020 with “I Want to Be a Sex Educator,” a comedic riff on “Part of Your World.” Dressed as the titular mermaid in the music video, Emerson sang on the rocky shores of Lake Champlain.

For “Under the Sheets,” she switched up from cosplaying Ariel (an obvious choice, as Emerson herself is a redhead) to Sebastian the crab, who extols the benefits of using lube during sex.

The videos allow Emerson to combine her job and her favorite hobby. “I started out writing these songs in 2019 at a comedy night I used to host,” she said in a phone interview, referring to “Sex With Jenna” at the now-defunct Revelry Theater in Burlington. “I’d make these raunchy parody songs and sprinkle in little bits of helpful information.”

For every “wet” joke in the songs, there are plenty of tips, such as that glycerin can lead to yeast infections. Good to know!

Both Little Mermaid parodies are up on Emerson’s YouTube page, and one more video might be on the way.

“I think it needs to be a trilogy,” Emerson said. “We need to do something with Ursula, I’m thinking. I mean, the comedic potential in parodying a song like ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ is just off the charts!”

The latest edition of Farmers Night at the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier is a special one: a tribute to late, great folk musician PETE SUTHERLAND

Seven Shows Not to Miss

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA at the Flynn, Burlington, May 2

THE WAILIN’ JENNYS at the Paramount Theatre, Rutland, May 12

BLKBOK at Spruce Peak Arts, Stowe, May 30

NEGATIVLAND & SUE-C at Epsilon Spires, Brattleboro, June 1

PIXIES and MODEST MOUSE at Place Bell, Laval, Québec June 9

songs that he composed or was inspired by. Sutherland’s longtime friend LT. GOV. DAVID ZUCKERMAN will say a few words to kick off the event, which features

GREY LARSEN, CINDY KALLET, TOM MACKENZIE, JIM BURNS, OLIVER SCANLON, PATTI

CASEY and FIONA, and EMMETT STOWELL

The Farmers Night series was established in the early 1900s and showcases artists from all over the state in the House chamber. For more information, visit legislature.vermont.gov.

The Burlington native, who died in November 2022 from cancer, was a skilled multi-instrumentalist, singersongwriter and teacher who played in bands such as the CLAYFOOT STRUTTERS and PETE’S POSSE and led YOUNG TRADITION VERMONT, a folk program for young Vermont musicians.

On Wednesday, April 17, musicians with ties to Sutherland will perform

Filmmakers HOLY SMOKES dropped a new video last week, continuing a hot streak of creating visuals for some of the 802’s best hip-hop acts.

Their latest joint is for former 99 NEIGHBORS rapper MAARI’s new track, “Eyes Wide Shut.” A moody affair shot mostly around dusk and in an empty movie theater, the video follows maari as he’s stalked by a white rabbit.

“I’m just praying this rap game will never turn me into a ghost,” he raps

ROSEBUD BAKER at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, June 28 and 29

SPOON at Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington, September 15

while staring at a cake with a flaming “99” candle. Then someone blows it out, in a not-so-subtle reference to the dissolution of the popular hip-hop collective this year.

It’s another quality video from the filmmaking duo of brothers PAT and SEAMUS BRENNAN, who have created clips for local rappers such as CONSWANK and CHARLIE MAYNE. Watch “Eyes Wide Shut” on YouTube.

The alt-country keeps coming from Montréal, following recent releases from the likes of NORA KELLY, whose excellent Rodeo Clown dropped last summer. The latest Canadian honkytonk export is CLAY HAZEY, former frontman for the folk-rock band CAPE CARTEL. He goes country on his first solo record, which is scheduled to drop on June 1.

In anticipation of the album, Hazey has released a set of singles to streaming services. “Red” and “Not Hard to Forget” are both on Spotify, while “Past Two feat. Sierra Lundy” debuts on Friday, April 26. The tracks show off Hazey’s transition to all things western swing and pedal steel, with a mix of traditional tones and hints of grittier terrains. Check them out at clayhazey.com. ➆

Spoon

Pete Sutherland

CLUB DATES

live music

WED.17

Adirondack Jazz Orchestra (jazz) at Olive Ridley’s, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 7 p.m. Free.

Bent Nails House Band (rock, blues) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 8 p.m. Free.

Evan Alsop (singer-songwriter) at Two Heroes Brewery Public House, South Hero, 6 p.m. Free.

Fresh Pressed Wednesday (indie) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 8 p.m. $10.

Jazz Night with Ray Vega (jazz) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

Jazz Sessions (jazz) at the 126, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free.

John R. Miller, the Deslondes (roots) at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington, 7 p.m. $18/$22.

Live Jazz (jazz) at Leunig’s Bistro & Café, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Queen City Rounders (singersongwriter) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

Trae Sheehan, Nick Granelle (folk) at Despacito, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $10.

Wednesday Night Dead (Grateful Dead covers) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. $5.

Willverine (electronic) at the Wallflower Collective, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. Free.

THU.18

All Night Boogie Band, Tall Travis (blues, folk) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 8 p.m. $10.

Badfish: A Tribute to Sublime (tribute) at Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington, 7 p.m. $20/$25.

Bloodshot Bill, the Red Newts (rockabilly) at Monkey House, Winooski, 8 p.m. $5/$10.

Bob Gagnon Quartet (jazz) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

Cooked, Torn, Skud, Blossom, Commitment in Pain (hardcore) at Club Metronome, Burlington, 7 p.m. $12/$15.

Double You, Hilltop (jam) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 8 p.m. $10/$15.

Elijah Kraatz, Trio de Rumba (jazz, folk) at Hugo’s, Montpelier, 7:30 p.m. Free.

Frankie & the Fuse (rock) at Red Square, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

Hans Williams, Brooks Hubbard (singer-songwriter) at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington, 7 p.m. $25/$30.

Hogback Hollow (folk) at Stone’s Throw, Waterbury, 6 p.m. Free.

House Dunn (acoustic) at 1st Republic Brewing, Essex, 6 p.m. Free.

Find the most up-to-date info on live music, DJs, comedy and more at sevendaysvt.com/music. If you’re a talent booker or artist planning live entertainment at a bar, nightclub, café, restaurant, brewery or coffee shop, send event details to music@sevendaysvt.com or submit the info using our form at sevendaysvt.com/postevent.

Oi to the World

There really are no bands quite like punk supergroup ME

FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES. Consisting of members of legendary acts such as the Ramones, Rocket From the Crypt, the Damned, Lagwagon and NOFX, these punk idols get together to play hard-bopping covers of everything from Motown songs to Japanese pop, all in their own heavy-riffing style. Whether trashing a quinceañera or ruining a Bar Mitzvah — just google it — Me First and the Gimme Gimmes deliver high-energy punk classics. The band rolls through South Burlington on Sunday, April 21, for a show at the Higher Ground Ballroom. THE DEFIANT and ULTRABOMB open.

Jesse Agan (covers) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 6 p.m. Free.

Marc Edwards (acoustic) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 9 p.m. Free.

Tom Bisson (folk) at the Filling Station, White River Junction, 6 p.m. Free.

Troy Millette Duo (folk) at Black Flannel Brewing & Distilling, Essex, 6 p.m. Free.

VT Synth Society Presents: Strange Synth Night (synth) at Despacito, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

FRI.19

Barbie N Bones (rock) at the Old Post, South Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

Brett Hughes (country) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 4 p.m. Free.

Bruiser & Bicycle, Noah Kesey Magic Band (rock) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free. Covered Up (covers) at Olive Ridley’s, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 6 p.m. Free.

Craig Mitchell’s Birthday Bash with Purple, DJ Disco Phantom (tribute, DJ) at Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington, 8 p.m. $15/$20.

Dave Mitchell’s Blues Revue (blues) at Red Square, Burlington, 2 p.m. Free.

Dizgo & Yam Yam (jam) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 8 p.m. $15.

Eleanor Freebern (singersongwriter) at Stone’s Throw, Richmond, 6 p.m. Free.

Eric Bushey and Justin Bedell (singer-songwriter) at Two Heroes Brewery Public House, South Hero, 6 p.m. Free.

Footworks (folk) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 9 p.m. Free.

George Nostrand (acoustic) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 6 p.m. Free.

High Summer, Japhy Ryder (soul, jam) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. $10.

Hissy Fit, earthshine (indie) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $10.

Jake Whitesell (jazz) at Bleu Northeast Kitchen, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. Free.

Jesse Agan (singer-songwriter) at 1st Republic Brewing, Essex, 6 p.m. Free.

Mihali & Gubbulidis (jam) at Pickle Barrel Nightclub, Killington, 8 p.m. $30.

PET House (folk) at Jericho Café & Tavern, 7 p.m. Free.

Rap Night Burlington (hip-hop) at Drink, Burlington, 9 p.m. $5.

The Returnables (power pop) at Red Square, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

Sarah Bell (singer-songwriter) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 7 p.m. Free.

The Shane Murley Band (folk rock) at 14th Star Brewing, St. Albans, 6 p.m. Free.

Ski Club, Kitbash, Rose Asteroid (post-punk, indie) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 10 p.m. $10/$15.

Small Change (Tom Waits tribute) at Hugo’s, Montpelier, 7:30 p.m. Free.

Some Kind of Nightmare, Doom Service, Corrupt World, Dead St Dreamers, Violet Crimes (metal, hardcore) at Despacito, Burlington, 8 p.m. $10.

Something Reckless (rock) at Gusto’s, Barre, 9 p.m. Free.

Sticks & Stones (covers) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 9 p.m. Free.

Tim Brick (country) at Whammy Bar, Calais, 7 p.m. Free.

TURNmusic presents Parker Shper, Morgan Moore and Tommy Crane (jazz) at the Phoenix, Waterbury, 7:30 p.m. $15-$30.

Uncle Jimmy (Americana) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 5 p.m. Free.

Underground Experiment with DJ Dagon (DJ) at the Underground, Randolph, 7 p.m. $10.

SAT.20

420 Fest (metal, hardcore) at Despacito, Burlington, 5 p.m. $10.

Bad Horsey, Issac Matthews, Jerborn, Troy Millette & the Fire Below (rock, folk) at 14th Star Brewing, St. Albans, 4 p.m. Free.

Barn Cat, DuoMango (jam) at Light Club Lamp Shop, Burlington, 7 p.m. $10.

Burlington Electronic Department Showcase (electronic, hip-hop) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 9 p.m. $10/$15.

Cleary/Gagnon/Saulnier Jazz Trio with Amber Delaurentis (jazz) at the Phoenix, Waterbury, 7:30 p.m. $15-$30.

Dan Parks (covers) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 5 p.m. Free.

The Danielle Nicole Band, Kevin Burt & Big Medicine, Soulful Femme (blues, jazz) at Retro Live, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 7 p.m. $25.

Drunk Off Diesel (punk) at Monopole, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 10 p.m. Free.

Fabian Rainville (covers) at Red Square, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

Forest Station (bluegrass) at the Den at Harry’s Hardware, Cabot, 7 p.m. Free.

Hillary Kisal, Blue Moon (folk) at Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge, Burlington, 8 p.m. $10.

Hit Squad (covers) at Olive Ridley’s, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 9 p.m. Free.

Iba Mahr (reggae) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 8 p.m. $20.

Ira Friedman (jazz) at Bleu Northeast Kitchen, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. Free.

Left Eye Jump (blues) at Red Square, Burlington, 2 p.m. Free.

Live Music Saturdays (live music series) at Dumb Luck Pub & Grill, Hinesburg, 7 p.m. Free.

Marlon Asher (reggae) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. $30/$40.

Mihali & Gubbulidis (jam) at Pickle Barrel Nightclub, Killington, 8 p.m. $30.

Moondogs, No Showers on Vacation, Scram!, Comatose Kids (rock, jam) at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $15/$18.

The Motet, Consider the Source (funk) at Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington, 7 p.m. $22/$25.

Phillip Hyjek Trio (jazz) at Jericho Café & Tavern, 7 p.m. Free.

Rough Suspects (covers) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 9 p.m. Free.

She Was Right (covers) at Two Heroes Brewery Public House, South Hero, 6 p.m. Free.

Uplift 2024 (jam, reggae) at Lost Nation Brewing, Morrisville, 4:20 p.m. $25/$22.50.

SUN.21 // ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES [PUNK]

music+nightlife

live music

SAT.20 CONTINUED FROM P.55

Wild Leek River, Danny & the Parts (country, Americana) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $5.

WiseAcres (folk) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 8 p.m. Free.

SUN.21

Bluegrass Brunch (bluegrass) at the Skinny Pancake, Burlington, noon. Free.

Hopeless Otis, Model 97 (punk) at Despacito, Burlington, 5 p.m. $5.

Issac French (acoustic) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 1 p.m. Free.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, the Defiant, Ultrabomb (punk) at Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $29.50/$34.50.

Sunday Brunch Tunes (singersongwriter) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 10 a.m.

Vallory Falls, Lyndhurst, Ivory Daze, Fisher Wagg (punk) at Despacito, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $10.

TUE.23

Atmosphere, HEBL, NOFUN! (hip-hop) at Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington, 8 p.m. $35/$40.

Big Easy Tuesdays with Jon McBride (jazz) at the 126, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

Bluegrass Jam (bluegrass) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 7 p.m. Free.

Chicky Stoltz Trio (rock) at Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Waitsfield, 5 p.m. Free.

Cohort B, Greaseface, Brunch (punk) at Light Club Lamp Shop, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. $10.

Dobbs’ Dead (Grateful Dead tribute) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 9 p.m. $10/$20.

Honky Tonk Tuesday with the Hogtones (country) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 9 p.m. $10.

Zosha Warpeha & Matthew

Evan Taylor (folk) at the Phoenix, Waterbury, 7:30 p.m. $15-$30.

WED.24

Fresh Pressed Wednesday (indie) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 8 p.m. $10.

Jazz Night with Ray Vega (jazz) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. Free.

Jazz Sessions (jazz) at the 126, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free.

Justin Mazer’s Mondo Jam-Piece (jam) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. $10.

Live Jazz (jazz) at Leunig’s Bistro & Café, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Nick Waterhouse, Ben Pirani Trio (singer-songwriter) at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington, 7 p.m. $20/$25.

Queen City Rounders (singersongwriter) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

Umphrey’s McGee (jam) at Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington, 7 p.m. $45/$50.

Wednesday Night Dead (Grateful Dead covers) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. $5.

Wet-Aid 3 (fundraiser) at Radio Bean and Light Club Lamp Shop, Burlington, 8:30 p.m. $10.

Will Warren (singer-songwriter) at Two Heroes Brewery Public House, South Hero, 6 p.m. Free.

Willverine (electronic) at the Wallflower Collective, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. Free.

djs

WED.17

Local Dork (DJ) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

The Mid Week Hump with DJs Fattie B and Craig Mitchell (DJ) at Monkey House, Winooski, 7 p.m. Free.

THU.18

DJ Chaston (DJ) at Red Square Blue Room, Burlington, 11 p.m. Free.

DJ Two Sev (DJ) at Red Square, Burlington, 11 p.m. Free.

Guest Selector: DJ Kev (DJ) at Paradiso Hi-Fi, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

Vinyl Night with Ken (DJ) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 6 p.m. Free.

FRI.19

DJ Craig Mitchell (DJ) at Red Square Blue Room, Burlington, 10 p.m. Free.

DJ JamStar (DJ) at Olive Ridley’s, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 9 p.m. Free.

DJ Kata (DJ) at Red Square, Burlington, 10 p.m. Free.

DJ Taka (DJ) at Light Club Lamp Shop, Burlington, 11 p.m. $10/$15.

Guest Residency: Scott Mou (DJ) at Paradiso Hi-Fi, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

Hon Doolius (DJ) at Light Club Lamp Shop, Burlington, 9 p.m. $5.

Latin Night with DJ JP Black (DJ) at Einstein’s Tap House, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

One Direction vs Harry Styles (DJ) at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington, 8 p.m. $18/$20.

SAT.20

420 Glow Party (DJ) at Gusto’s, Barre, 8 p.m. $20/$25. Blanchface (DJ) at Manhattan Pizza & Pub, Burlington, 10 p.m. Free.

DJ A-Ra$ (DJ) at Red Square, Burlington, midnight. Free.

DJ Raul (DJ) at Red Square Blue Room, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

DJ Two Sev (DJ) at Einstein’s Tap House, Burlington, 10 p.m. Free.

Guest Selector: Ryan Forde (DJ) at Paradiso Hi-Fi, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

Matt Payne (DJ) at Red Square Blue Room, Burlington, 10 p.m. Free.

Molly Mood (DJ) at Red Square, Burlington, 10 p.m. Free.

SUN.21

Mi Yard Reggae Night with DJ

Big Dog (reggae and dancehall) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free.

WED.24 // WET-AID 3 [FUNDRAISER]

Start the Presses

The University of Vermont’s student-run alternative newsmag the Water Tower is an all-volunteer affair, so sometimes a little fundraising is necessary. What better way to do so than throwing a big party? Wet-Aid 3 features 10 bands in and around the UVM scene, including RABBIT FOOT, ZOIE PARTY, DJ FLOW KITTY LURN, BLAZER and JERSEY DAVE. It all goes down on Wednesday, April 24, at Burlington’s Radio Bean and next door at the Light Club Lamp Shop.

TUE.23

The Vanguard - Jazz on Vinyl (DJ) at Paradiso Hi-Fi, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

WED.24

Dance Party (DJ) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 8 p.m. Free.

Local Dork (DJ) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

The Monthly Rotation (DJ) at Paradiso Hi-Fi, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

open mics & jams

WED.17

Bluegrass Jam (bluegrass) at Stone’s Throw, Richmond, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Irish Sessions (Celtic, open mic) at Burlington St. John’s Club, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Lit Club (poetry open mic) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Open Mic (open mic) at Monopole, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 10 p.m. Free.

Open Mic with Danny Lang (open mic) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 7 p.m. Free.

THU.18

Open Mic (open mic) at Whammy Bar, Calais, 7 p.m. Free.

Open Stage Night (open mic) at Orlando’s Bar & Lounge, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

MON.22

Open Mic (open mic) at Despacito, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

TUE.23

Open Mic Night (open mic) at Drink, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

WED.24

Irish Sessions (Celtic, open mic) at Burlington St. John’s Club, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Open Mic (open mic) at Monopole, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 10 p.m. Free.

Open Mic with Danny Lang (open mic) at Taps Tavern, Poultney, 7 p.m. Free.

comedy

WED.17

Standup Comedy Open Mic (comedy open mic) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 8:30 p.m.

THU.18

Comedy Night (comedy) at Bent Nails Bistro, Montpelier, 7 p.m. Free.

Distracted Sets (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 9 p.m. $5.

Robby Hoffman (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $25.

FRI.19

Robby Hoffman (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. $25.

SAT.20

Robby Hoffman (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. $25.

SUN.21

$5 Improv Night (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 7 p.m. $5.

TUE.23

Free Stuff! (comedy) at Lincolns, Burlington, 9:30 p.m. Free.

WED.24

Comedy Night (comedy) at Olive Ridley’s, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 8 p.m. Free.

Trivia Night (trivia) at Nectar’s, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Trivia Thursday (trivia) at Spanked Puppy Pub, Colchester, 7 p.m. Free.

FRI.19

Karaoke (karaoke) at McKee’s Pub & Grill, Winooski, 9 p.m. Free.

Karaoke Friday Night (karaoke) at Park Place Tavern & Grill, Essex Junction, 8 p.m. Free.

Karoke with DJ Big T (karaoke) at McKee’s Pub & Grill, Winooski, 9 p.m. Free.

SAT.20

Trivia with Dillon (trivia) at Whammy Bar, Calais, 7 p.m. Free.

SUN.21

Sunday Funday (games) at 1st Republic Brewing, Essex, noon. Free.

Venetian Karaoke (karaoke) at Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

MON.22

Music Trivia (music trivia) at Standing Stone Wines, Winooski, 6 p.m. Free.

Trivia (trivia) at the Filling Station, White River Junction, 6 p.m. Free.

Standup Comedy Open Mic (comedy open mic) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 8:30 p.m.

Whale Tales: An Evening of Comedic Storytelling (comedy) at Club Metronome, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

trivia, karaoke, etc.

WED.17

Karaoke Night (karaoke) at Drink, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

Trivia Night (trivia) at Stone Corral, Richmond, 7 p.m. Free.

Venetian Trivia Night (trivia) at Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

Wednesday Team Trivia (trivia) at Einstein’s Tap House, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free.

THU.18

Karaoke and Open Mic Night (karaoke, open mic) at 14th Star Brewing, St. Albans, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Karaoke Night (karaoke) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. Free.

Karaoke with Matt Mero (karaoke) at Olive Ridley’s, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 8 p.m. Free.

Radio Bean Karaoke (karaoke) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free.

Trivia (trivia) at Highland Lodge, Greensboro, 7 p.m. Free.

Trivia Night (trivia) at Four Quarters Brewing, Winooski, 6 p.m. Free.

Trivia Night (trivia) at McGillicuddy’s Five Corners, Essex Junction, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Trivia with Craig Mitchell (trivia) at Monkey House, Winooski, 7 p.m. Free.

TUE.23

Godfather Karaoke (karaoke) at the Other Half, Burlington, 10 p.m. Free.

Karaoke Tuesdays (karaoke) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free.

Karaoke with DJ Party Bear (karaoke) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 9:30 p.m. Free.

Karaoke with Motorcade (karaoke) at Manhattan Pizza & Pub, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free.

Music Bingo (music bingo) at Stone Corral, Richmond, 7 p.m. Free.

Taproom Trivia (trivia) at 14th Star Brewing, St. Albans, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Trivia Night (trivia) at the Depot, St. Albans, 7 p.m. Free.

Trivia Tuesday (trivia) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 7 p.m. Free.

Tuesday Trivia (trivia) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

WED.24

Historically Close Friends Presents “Paper and Mud” (theater) at Radio Bean, Burlington, 7 p.m. $10.

Karaoke Night (karaoke) at Drink, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

Trivia Night (trivia) at Stone Corral, Richmond, 7 p.m. Free.

Venetian Trivia Night (trivia) at Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

Wednesday Team Trivia (trivia) at Einstein’s Tap House, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free. ➆

REVIEW this music+nightlife

Frankie White, brain dead (SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL)

The standard trajectory of an on-the-rise Vermont singer-songwriter goes like this: A youngster from a small town makes some waves locally, spends a few years building buzz, and then departs for college or a bigger market than the Green Mountains can o er. From locally beloved songwriters such as Francesca Blanchard to breakout stars like Noah Kahan, it’s a pattern we’ve seen repeated over and over.

Colchester native Frankie White is following her own game plan. The 24-year-old returned to Vermont in 2022 after attending Loyola University New Orleans. While in college, she performed on the southern tour circuit, honing her chops in bands.

Back home, White wasted no time before immersing herself in the local scene, releasing a raw yet promising EP, Short Fuse. She assembled live band Frankie & the Fuse, indulging her alt-rock tendencies, and soon locked down a weekly residency at Red Square in Burlington.

On her latest release, brain dead, White levels up. Recorded and mixed by New Orleans musician

Community Garden, Me vs Me

(SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL)

Ever wander around a city at 3 a.m.? Alone under the neon lights, on streets usually thronged with people, you experience a stillness that is at once soothing and concerning. You’ve found peace and quiet in a place where they don’t belong, and there’s this palpable absence you can’t quite shake.

From the moment I hit play on Community Garden’s new EP, Me vs Me, I was overcome with that feeling of walking aimlessly on late-night boulevards. The title track washed in with all the Burlington band’s trademark post-punk, glacial indie-rock tones: guitarist Alex Raine’s echo-heavy guitars, Remi Russin’s wire-taut bassline and drummer Evan Raine’s driving, New Order-esque beats. Listening to Alex’s

Mars Cooper, the four-song EP benefits from fuller production that allows White’s sophisticated songwriting to shine.

The title track harks to White’s indie-pop roots. Over a vamping piano and soft-rock backing, she roasts an ex: “Ooh, I made it clear / Why don’t you disappear?”

A sharp edge glistens beneath the EP’s gentle production, and one gets a sense that the band might perform these songs louder and maybe even faster live.

ghostly voice singing “Look at me, my worst adversary,” I couldn’t shake the blurry, red-lights-reflected-on-wetpavement ennui.

To be fair, I had learned only the day before that Me vs Me serves as Community Garden’s swan song. Russin and twin brothers Alex and Evan have been playing music together since grade school. They formed the band Entrance to Trains, releasing the excellent Thirty Days Without an Accident in 2018, before adopting their new moniker two years later and dropping Don’t Sweat It.

But, as happens to many a band in the Burlington scene, real life intruded. Alex will move to Albany, N.Y., this summer, bringing what feels like a premature end to one of the area’s most

But restraint serves the project well. Cooper keeps the focus on White’s vocals, putting the singer front and center in the mix, where she belongs. Her voice has a timeless appeal, and it’s thankfully lacking some of the modern-day singer-songwriter vocal tropes — there’s no “baby voice” singing here.

“crab” is the EP’s ballad, a shimmery, piano-driven lament that features White harmonizing with herself to gorgeous e ect. “I’m stuck, I’m sliding through some quicksand,” she sings. “And you’re an inch away / But say you don’t have a hand.”

In a 2023 interview with local nonprofit Big Heavy World on the radio show “Rocket Shop,” White named Radiohead and Death Cab for Cutie as inspirations. She channels the former influence on “ugly,” vamping on a B minor chord and recalling the British band’s “Exit Music (for a Film)” before moving back toward the piano balladry of more contemporary heroes such as English singer-songwriter Birdy.

White deploys that intriguing combination of styles most strongly on the EP’s final track, “no in between.” Her grungier instincts show through as a growl sneaks into her vocals. “Can someone get me out of this cycle?” she sings. “I’m hurting other people more than myself / And therapy makes me crazy more than it helps.” The song closes an impressive record from an artist who chose to return to the Vermont music scene.

brain dead is streaming on all major services. Frankie & the Fuse play Red Square in Burlington on Thursday, April 18.

CHRIS FARNSWORTH

promising acts. You see, this is a review for a now-defunct band. After playing a farewell show at Radio Bean last week, Community Garden have ceased to be. And that awareness adds a layer of absence to Me vs Me. That’s not to say the EP is a downer. “You’ve Got This!” plays like a road map to staying positive, with Alex running through a litany of ways to avoid apathy. Channeling NYC post-punk rockers Beach Fossils, Alex’s and Evan’s voices harmonize almost robotically over a bouncing rhythm and chiming guitars.

The band recorded with indie musician and producer Kevin Bloom (Dead Shakers) at his SpIcY wOrLd studio, just as they did for Don’t Sweat It. Bloom has dialed in Community

Garden’s sound even better this final go-round. A sharper edge helps to push the band into Sonic Youth territory on “Social Anxiety”— one of the more aggressive moments in the Community Garden catalog.

There’s a feeling of lyrical and musical closure on “AGPCFB,” which brings both the record and the band to a close. Alex confesses his conflicted feelings — “All in all, I need to do the best thing for me / But every time I try, I just feel selfish and mean” — and the band plays out a long, searching jam that slowly, inevitably winds down.

Rock bands have something in common with comic book characters — they don’t always stay dead. Here’s hoping Community Garden return one day, but either way, they left us with a wonderful parting gift.

Me vs Me is available at communitygarden.bandcamp.com.

CHRIS FARNSWORTH

Frankie White

it’s time to nominate!

Help us celebrate the best of Vermont by nominating your favorite businesses, people and places through April 28 at sevendaysvt.com/daysies-vote.

Scan with your phone for quick access to the ballot!

PRESENTED BY

START YOUR CAMPAIGN:

Learn about promotion options on the ballot and beyond and get an official campaign kit at sevendaysvt.com/daysies-info.

MAY 27-JUNE 9

Pick the best from top finalists.

calendar

APRIL 17-24, 2024

WED.17

agriculture

HONEYBEES AND HUMAN

CULTURES: Local honeybee enthusiast Jean-Jacques Maury teaches gardeners about the world of these pollinators. Jaquith Public Library, Marshfield, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 426-3581.

business

2024 QUEEN CITY BUSINESS

BUILDER: Professionals gather for an afternoon of networking. Delta Hotels Burlington, South Burlington, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, 829-5066.

QUEEN CITY BUSINESS

NETWORKING INTERNATIONAL GROUP: Savvy businesspeople make crucial contacts at a weekly chapter meeting. Burlington City Arts, 11:15 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, 829-5066.

climate crisis

ECO-RESILIENCY

GATHERING: FALL IN LOVE WITH A CLIMATE

DENIER: A monthly virtual meeting contemplates how to meet ideological opponents with love. 6-7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, akmckb@ gmail.com.

crafts

YARN CRAFTERS GROUP: A drop-in meetup welcomes

knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers and beyond. BYO snacks and drinks. Must Love Yarn, Shelburne, 5-7 p.m. Free. Info, 448-3780.

dance

WEST COAST SWING DANCING: People pair up for a partner dance and move to every genre of music. Bring clean shoes. North Star Community Hall, Burlington, lessons, 7 p.m.; dance, 8-9:30 p.m. Donations. Info, team@802westiecollective. org.

fairs & festivals

ANNUAL FUNDRAISING FEST: The Caroline Fund raises money to support their mission of helping women in crisis. Burlington St. John’s Club, 5-7 p.m. Free. Info, 864-7218.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section.

ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN

FILM SERIES: ‘THE COLOUR OF INK’: A 2022 documentary follows a Toronto inkmaker as he harvests pigments from berries, bark, flowers, rocks and rust. Burlington City Hall Auditorium, 6-8 p.m. Free. Info, 865-7166.

DANCE ALUMNI TAKEOVER: ‘IN SPLENDID UNISON’: Choreographer Nancy Spanier and her muse Paul Oertel

These community event listings are sponsored by the WaterWheel Foundation, a project of the Vermont band Phish.

LIST YOUR UPCOMING EVENT HERE FOR FREE!

All submissions must be received by Thursday at noon for consideration in the following Wednesday’s newspaper.

Find our convenient form and guidelines at sevendaysvt.com/postevent

Listings and spotlights are written by Emily Hamilton Seven Days edits for space and style. Depending on cost and other factors, classes and workshops may be listed in either the calendar or the classes section. Class organizers may be asked to purchase a class listing.

reminisce on their careers in this 2018 doc. Mahaney Arts Center, Middlebury College, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Free. Info, 443-2808.

‘FUNGI: THE WEB OF LIFE

3D’: Sparkling graphics take viewers on a journey into the weird, wide world of mushrooms, which we are only just beginning to understand. Northfield Savings Bank 3D Theater: A National Geographic Experience, ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 10:30 a.m., 12:30, 2:30 & 4:30 p.m. $3-5 plus regular admission, $14.50-18; admission free for members and kids 2 and under. Info, 864-1848.

‘GREAT WHITE SHARK

3D’: Viewers learn the true story behind one of our most iconic — and misunderstood — predators. Northfield Savings Bank 3D Theater: A National Geographic Experience, ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, noon, 2 & 4 p.m. $3-5 plus regular admission, $14.50-18; admission free for members and kids 2 and under. Info, 864-1848.

‘OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET

3D’: Scientists dive into the planet’s least-explored habitat, from its sunny shallows to its alien depths. Northfield Savings Bank 3D Theater: A National Geographic Experience, ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 11:30 a.m., 1:30 & 3:30 p.m. $3-5 plus regular admission, $14.50-18; admission free for members and kids 2 and under. Info, 864-1848.

‘TINY GIANTS 3D’: Through the power of special cameras, audiences are transported into the world of the teeniest animals on Earth. Northfield Savings Bank 3D Theater: A National Geographic Experience, ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 11 a.m., 1 & 3 p.m. $3-5 plus regular

Find visual art exhibits and events in the Art section and at sevendaysvt.com/art. film

See what’s playing at theaters in the On Screen section. music + nightlife

Find club dates at local venues in the Music + Nightlife section online at sevendaysvt.com/music.

Learn more about highlighted listings in the Magnificent 7 on page 11. = ONLINE EVENT

THROUGH APR. 20 | TALKS

Modern Philosophy

Vermonters expand their minds at Public Philosophy Week, a statewide series of talks and panels that kicked off on April 14 and continues through April 20. At Burlington’s Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge, Seven Days own Melissa Pasanen moderates a conversation between farmer Aaron Carroll (pictured) and chef Kevin Markey about lab-grown meat. Sheila Liming, author of Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time, expounds at Autumn Records in Winooski. Thinkers learn Aristotle’s views on friendship and its relationship to justice during Martha Woodruff’s address at Middlebury’s Little Seed Coffee Roasters. And Everywhere Philosophy reexamines “The Twilight Zone” in light of the AI boom at Brattleboro’s Brooks Memorial Library.

PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY WEEK

Wednesday, April 17, through Saturday, April 20, noon-9 p.m., at various locations statewide. Free. Info, publicphilosophyweek@gmail.com, publicphilosophyweek.org.

admission, $14.50-18; admission free for members and kids 2 and under. Info, 864-1848.

food & drink

BARR HILL COLLABORATION: James Beard Award finalists serve up five courses centered on honey and juniper and perfectly paired with gin cocktails. Paradiso Hi-Fi, Burlington, 5-10 p.m. $100; preregister. Info, 540-1183.

WHAT’S THAT WINE

WEDNESDAYS: Aspiring sommeliers blind-taste four wines from Vermont and beyond. Shelburne Vineyard, noon-6 p.m. $15. Info, 985-8222.

games

PUZZLE SWAP: Participants bring completed puzzles in a ziplock bag with an image of the puzzle and swap for a new one. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 2:30-5 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

health & fitness

CHAIR YOGA: Waterbury

Public Library instructor

Diana Whitney leads at-home participants in gentle stretches supported by seats. 10 a.m. Free. Info, 244-7036.

language

BEGINNER IRISH LANGUAGE

CLASS: Celtic-curious students learn to speak an Ghaeilge in a supportive group. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, noon-1 p.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

ELL CLASSES: ENGLISH FOR BEGINNERS AND INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS:

Learners of all abilities practice written and spoken English with trained instructors. Presented by Fletcher Free Library. 6:30-8 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, bshatara@ burlingtonvt.gov.

INTERMEDIATE IRISH LANGUAGE

CONVERSATION AND MUSIC: Speakers with some experience increase their fluency through conversation and song. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 10:30 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 863-3403.

SPANISH CONVERSATION: Fluent and beginner speakers brush up on their español with a discussion led by a Spanish teacher. Presented by Dorothy Alling Memorial Library. 5-6 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, programs@damlvt.org.

music

CONCERT CHOIR & CATAMOUNT

SINGERS: Andrea Maas and Stefanie Weigand conduct a diverse selection of songs by unique and experimental composers. University of Vermont Recital Hall, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 656-3040.

FARMERS NIGHT: CONCERT

HONORING THE LATE PETE

SUTHERLAND: Friends, students, collaborators and fans pay tribute to the late giant of Vermont folk music. House Chamber, Vermont Statehouse, Montpelier, 7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 828-0749.

U.S. ARMY FIELD BAND Two ensembles join forces to perform works ranging from orchestral masterworks and operatic arias to Sousa marches, jazz classics, and Broadway musicals. The Flynn, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 863-5966.

québec

‘FIFTEEN DOGS’: Hermes and Apollo make a drunken bet that grants 15 pups the power of human consciousness in this modern-day fable. Sylvan Adams Theatre, Segal Centre for Performing Arts, Montréal, 1 & 8 p.m. $25-68. Info, 514-739-7944.

sports

GREEN MOUNTAIN TABLE

TENNIS CLUB: Ping-Pong players swing their paddles in singles and doubles matches. Rutland Area Christian School, 7-9 p.m. Free for first two sessions; $30 annual membership. Info, 247-5913.

talks

HENDRIK VAN

GIJSEGHEM: An archaeologist explains the unlikely events that led to the burning of Canada’s first Parliament building. Presented by Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain Region. Noon-1 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, info@aflcr.org.

JOE SEXTON: The Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist joins Seven Days publisher Paula Routly to discuss how he reported one of his most acclaimed stories.

COURTESY OF AARON CARROLL

George D. Aiken Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, 4-6 p.m. Free. Info, 864-5684.

KAZIAH HAVILAND: A Vermont designer shares ideas for expanding affordable housing options in the Mad River Valley. Live stream available. Yestermorrow Design/ Build School, Waitsfield, 6:30-8 p.m. Free. Info, 496-5545.

PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY WEEK: Philosophy enthusiasts ponder many topics, including AI, lab-grown meat, cannabis and doomscrolling. See calendar spotlight. Various locations statewide, noon-9 p.m. Free. Info, publicphilosophyweek@ gmail.com.

SPACE CAFÉ: Space enthusiasts from the Vermont Astronomical Society host a conversation with light refreshments. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 5:306:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-4918.

STORIES OF LIFE AND WORK IN

WINOOSKI: Recorded interviews from Vermont Folklife tell the oral history of the Onion City. Heritage

Winooski Mill Museum, 6:30-8 p.m. Free. Info, 388-4967.

theater

‘BLIZZARD’: World-class Québec circus-arts act FLIP Fabrique takes the stage by storm with a show about wintry wonder. Vermont State University-Lyndon, Lyndonville, 7 p.m. $16-56; free for students. Info, 748-2600.

words

POEMCITY 2024: The beloved local festival of words, hosted by Kellogg-Hubbard Library, fills National Poetry Month with readings, workshops and talks. See kellogghubbard.org for full schedule. Various Montpelier locations. Free; some activities require preregistration. Info, 223-3338.

PORSHA OLAYIWOLA: The Boston-based writer, performer and futurist reads from her collection I Shimmer Sometimes Too. Unitarian Church, Montpelier, 7-8:30 p.m. Free. Info, 262-2626.

FAMI LY FU N

Check out these family-friendly events for parents, caregivers and kids of all ages.

Plan ahead at sevendaysvt.com/family-fun

Post your event at sevendaysvt.com/postevent.

WED.17

burlington

FAM JAM: Vermont Folklife hosts a tuneful get-together for musicians of all ages and skill levels. BYO instruments. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 6:307:30 p.m. Free. Info, ytv@vtfolklife.org.

LEGO TIME AT THE NNE BRANCH: Creative kids ages 4 through 11 construct their very own creations. Fletcher Free Library New North End Branch, Burlington, 11 a.m.noon. Free. Info, 863-3403.

STEAM SPACE: Kids in kindergarten through fifth grade explore science, technology, engineering, art and math activities. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

TODDLER TIME: Librarians bring out books, rhymes and songs specially selected for young ones 12 through 24 months. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

chittenden county

BABYTIME: Caregivers and infants from birth through age 1 gather to explore board books and toys. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 10:30-11 a.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

PLAY TIME: Little ones build with blocks and read together. Ages 1 through 4. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 1010:45 a.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

READ TO A DOG: Kids practice their literary skills and share stories with Emma the therapy dog. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 3:30-4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

TINKER TIME: SNAP CIRCUITS: Kids use circuits to ring a bell or switch on a light.

THU.18 activism

LOW-COST TRAFFICCALMING TECHNIQUES AND WALK/BIKE SOLUTIONS FOR RURAL VERMONT: A Local Motion info session discusses how low-cost infrastructure changes can improve pedestrian and cyclist safety. 6-7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 861-2700.

business

HIRING2DAYVT VIRTUAL

JOB FAIR: Job seekers get a chance to meet with employers from around the state, thanks to the Vermont Department of Labor. 11 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 828-4000.

community

IS AN ADU RIGHT FOR YOU?:

The South Burlington Affordable Housing Committee hosts an educational forum on accessory dwelling units. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library

Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 3-4 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

mad river valley/ waterbury

TEEN HANGOUT: Middle and high schoolers make friends at a no-pressure meetup. Waterbury Public Library, 3-6 p.m. Free. Info, 244-7036.

THU.18 burlington

‘BLUEY’S BIG PLAY’: Beloved kids’ TV characters Bluey and Bingo get up to all sorts of high jinks in this musical, puppet-filled show. The Flynn, Burlington, 6 p.m. $39-59. Info, 863-5966.

BABYTIME: Pre-walking little ones experience a story time catered to their infant interests. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

GROW PRESCHOOL YOGA: Colleen from Grow Prenatal and Family Yoga leads little ones in songs, movement and other fun activities. Ages 2 through 5. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

LITERACY AT THE LAUNDROMAT: Becca and Julie from Fletcher Free Library read stories to little ones and hand out library cards. Free laundry for participants. King Street Laundry, Burlington, 3-4 p.m. Free; limited space. Info, 863-3403.

chittenden county

KIDS BOOK CLUB K-2 AND THEIR

PARENTS: Little bookworms and their caregivers learn to love reading together through sharing, crafts and writing activities. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 4-5 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, nliuzzi@southburlingtonvt.gov.

PRESCHOOL MUSIC WITH LINDA

BASSICK: The singer and storyteller extraordinaire leads little ones in indoor music and movement. Birth through age 5. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 10:30-11 a.m. Free. Info, 878-4918.

PRESCHOOL PLAYTIME: Pre-K patrons play and socialize after music time.

& City Hall, 7-8 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

crafts

KNIT FOR YOUR NEIGHBORS: Fiber artists of all abilities make hats and scarves to keep their neighbors warm. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 2-5 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

KNITTING GROUP: Knitters of all experience levels get together to spin yarns. Latham Library, Thetford, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 785-4361.

MENDING WORKSHOP WITH RAMBLING REPAIR: Locals bring their own clothing to darn and fabric for patches to this sewing class. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 4-5:30 p.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

dance

DANCE ALUMNI TAKEOVER: PANEL

DISCUSSION: Seven Middlebury graduates discuss their dance careers. Dance Theatre, Mahaney Arts Center, Middlebury College, 5-6 p.m. Free. Info, 443-2808.

Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 878-4918.

STORY TIME: Little ones from birth through age 5 learn from songs, crafts and picture books. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 10-10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

stowe/smuggs

WEE ONES PLAY TIME: Caregivers bring kiddos 3 and younger to a new sensory learning experience each week. Morristown Centennial Library, Morrisville, 10 a.m. Free. Info, 888-3853.

mad river valley/ waterbury

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: Games, activities, stories and songs engage 3- through 5-year-olds. Waterbury Public Library, 10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 244-7036.

FRI.19

chittenden county

OPEN BARN: Families take self-guided tours of resident horses, donkeys, pigs, goats, sheep, ducks and turkeys. Merrymac Animal Sanctuary, Charlotte, 3-6 p.m. $15. Info, merrymacfarm@gmail. com.

TEEN ADVISORY GROUP: Teenagers in grades 6 through 12 meet new friends over pizza and take an active role in their local library. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

TEENS-ONLY OPEN MIC: There are no grown-ups allowed at this supportive performance night for talented teens in grades 6 through 12. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

TODDLER STORY TIME AT THE SANCTUARY: Farm-themed stories and meetings with rescued farm creatures delight little ones. Merrymac Animal Sanctuary, Charlotte, 10:30-11 a.m. $1015. Info, merrymacfarm@gmail.com.

upper valley

STORY TIME: Preschoolers take part in tales, tunes and playtime. Latham Library, Thetford, 11 a.m. Free. Info, 785-4361.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section.

COME AS YOU ARE MOVIE

SERIES: ‘SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN’: Romantic songs and rollicking tap numbers distinguish this enduring 1952 classic. Lebanon Opera House, N.H., 4 & 7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 603-448-0400.

‘FUNGI: THE WEB OF LIFE 3D’: See WED.17.

‘GREAT WHITE SHARK 3D’: See WED.17.

HIRSCHFIELD SCREENING: ‘I SAW

THE TV GLOW’: A surreal latenight program opens up a portal to another dimension in this freaky 2024 flick. Dana Auditorium, Sunderland Language Center, Middlebury College, 7-9 p.m. Free. Info, 443-3190.

‘OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET 3D’: See WED.17.

‘TINY GIANTS 3D’: See WED.17.

WILD & SCENIC FILM FESTIVAL: Vermont Natural Resources

SAT.20

burlington

FAMILY PLAYSHOP: Kids from birth through age 5 learn and play at this school readiness program. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 10-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

STORIES WITH GEOFF: Little patrons of the library’s new location enjoy a morning of stories and songs. Fletcher Free Library New North End Branch, Burlington, 11:1511:45 a.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

chittenden county

SATURDAY STORIES: Kiddos start the weekend off right with stories and songs. Ages 3 through 7. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 10-10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

TEEN STOMP ROCKETS: Aspiring astronauts ages 13 through 18 design and test foot-powered missiles. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 1:30-2:30 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

MON.22

burlington

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: Bookworms ages 2 through 5 enjoy fun-filled reading time. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

upper valley

STORY TIME WITH BETH: A bookseller and librarian extraordinaire reads two picture books on a different theme each week. Norwich Bookstore, 10 a.m. Free. Info, 649-1114.

TUE.23 burlington

BAD POETRY NIGHT: Teen wordsmiths write and share their worst stanzas over refreshments. Ages 11 through 18. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 6-7 p.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

SING-ALONG WITH LINDA BASSICK: Babies, toddlers and preschoolers sing, dance and wiggle along with Linda.

Council presents an evening of inspiring shorts about science, equitable outdoor access and environmental resilience. Film House, Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Burlington, 5:30-9 p.m. $12. Info, 223-2328.

food & drink

APRIL LAGER-PAIRING DINNER: After a brewery tour, diners dig into blue cheese arancini, beef bourguignon and Black Forest cake matched with malty brews. von Trapp Brewing Bierhall, Stowe, 6-9 p.m. $80; preregister. Info, 253-5712.

FREE WINE TASTING: Themed wine tastings take oenophiles on an adventure through a region, grape variety, style of wine or producer’s offerings. Dedalus Wine Shop, Market & Wine Bar, Burlington, 4-7 p.m. Free. Info, 865-2368.

games

DUPLICATE BRIDGE: A lively group plays a classic, tricky game THU.18 » P.62

Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

chittenden county

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: Little ones enjoy a cozy session of reading, rhyming and singing. Birth through age 5. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 10:3011 a.m. Free. Info, 878-4918.

TODDLERTIME: Lively tykes gather for short stories, familiar songs, rhymes and fingerplays. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 10:30-11 a.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

VACATION CRAFTYTOWN: From painting and printmaking to collage and sculpture, creative kids explore different projects and mediums. Ages 8 and up, or ages 6 and up with an adult helper. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 1-2:30 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

WED.24 burlington

STEAM SPACE: See WED.17.

TODDLER TIME: See WED.17. chittenden

county

BABYTIME: See WED.17.

COMICS CLUB: Graphic novel and manga fans in third through sixth grades meet to discuss current reads and do fun activities together. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 3-4 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

EGGSTATIC!: Kids ages 6 through 10 learn how eggs work and why they evolved for some species. Birds of Vermont Museum, Huntington, 10-11:30 a.m. $15-35; preregister; limited space. Info, 434-2167.

PLAY TIME: See WED.17.

VACATION CRAFTYTOWN: See TUE.23.

mad river valley/ waterbury

LEGO CHALLENGE CLUB: Kids engage in a fun-filled hour of building, then leave their creations on display in the library all month long. Ages 9 through 11. Waterbury Public Library, 3-4 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 244-7036. K

with an extra wrinkle. Waterbury Public Library, 12:30-4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 244-7223.

WEEKLY CHESS FOR FUN: Players of all ability levels face off and learn new strategies. United Community Church, St. Johnsbury, 5:30-9 p.m. Donations. Info, lafferty1949@gmail.com.

language

ITALIAN CONVERSATION GROUP: Semi-fluent speakers practice their skills during a conversazione with others. Best for those who can speak at least basic sentences. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, noon-1 p.m. Free. Info, 863-3403. lgbtq

TILLIE WALDEN: The Vermont cartoonist laureate presents a look at the intersection of indie comics and LGBTQ identity. Cobleigh Public Library, Lyndonville, 7-8 p.m. Free. Info, 626-5475.

music

BRADFORD BRINGALONG

SINGALONGS: Locals bring their friends and their voices to a joyful community jam. Bradford Academy, 5:45 p.m. Free. Info, jennifer@dandjmusic.com.

ITALIAN NIGHT: Music from Opera Company of Middlebury’s Youth Opera Company, demos from a glassblowing maestro, and wine and apps from Dedalus make for a perfectly Venetian evening. AO Glass, Burlington, 7-9 p.m. $75. Info, hello@aoglass.com.

KEVIN BURT AND BIG MEDICINE: The bluesman and his band channel Bill Withers and big love. Chateaugay Town Hall Theater, N.Y., 7-10 p.m. $20. Info, 518-578-8085.

STUDENT RECITAL: University of Vermont music students prove their chops in a variety of genres. University of Vermont Recital Hall, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 656-3040.

U.S. ARMY FIELD BAND: The Soldiers’ Chorus and the Brass Quintet perform. University of Vermont Recital Hall, Burlington, 3-5:30 p.m. Free. Info, 656-3040.

québec

‘FIFTEEN DOGS’: See WED.17, 8 p.m. seminars

ECOGATHERINGS: Sterling College hosts online learning sessions digging into big ideas such as joy, rage, climate change, mutual aid, food and art. See ce.sterlingcollege.edu for upcoming topics. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, ecogather@ sterlingcollege.edu.

talks

PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY WEEK: See WED.17.

theater

‘AIRSWIMMING’: Two friends confined to a hospital for the criminally insane in the 1920s construct alter egos to survive 50 years of confinement. Hepburn Zoo, Hepburn Hall,

APR. 18 | WORDS

Middlebury College, 7:30-9 p.m. $5. Info, 443-6433.

‘I AM MY OWN WIFE’: Stoph Scheer plays every character of every gender in this solo show about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a real-life trans woman who survived Nazi Germany. Lost Nation Theater, Montpelier City Hall, 7:30-9 p.m. $10-30. Info, 229-0492.

‘PROXY’: The Parish Players premiere a new drama about Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Eclipse Grange Theater, Thetford, 7:30-9 p.m. $15-25. Info, 785-4344.

‘THE TRAIL TO OREGON!’: The VTSU-Lyndon Twilight Players perform an R-rated, interactive send-up of an iconic vintage video game. Alexander Twilight Theatre, Vermont State University-Lyndon, Lyndonville, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Donations. Info, kxd06190@vsc.edu.

‘YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN’: The University Players bring the “Peanuts” characters to musical life in this hilarious, joyful production. Off Center for the Dramatic Arts, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $5-10. Info, aaron.solomon@ uvm.edu.

words

ERIC H. CLINE AND GLYNNIS

FAWKES: The historian and the Vermont cartoonist launch 1177

B.C.: A Graphic History of the Year Civilization Collapsed. Call of Kinnaru play live tunes. See calendar spotlight. Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge, Burlington, 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 448-3350.

INQUISITIVE READERS BOOK

CLUB: Bookworms dig into a new horizon-expanding tome each month. St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, 6-7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, henningsmh@yahoo.com.

LEILA PHILIP: The awardwinning science writer shares from Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America. Pierson Library, Shelburne, 7-8 p.m. Free. Info, 985-5124.

MARJORIE NELSON MATTHEWS: The local author launches her novel The Red Wheelbarrow. Norwich Bookstore, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 649-1114.

PETER ORNER AND NANCY

WELCH: The authors of Still No

Word From You and Ten More Things About Us, respectively,

read and sign books. Livak Ballroom, Dudley H. Davis Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, 6-7 p.m. Free. Info, 656-3056.

POEMTOWN: Readings from local wordsmiths and open mics punctuate National Poetry Month. See poemtown.org for full schedule. Various Randolph locations, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 728-5073.

POEMCITY 2024: See WED.17.

VIRTUAL POETRY OPEN

MIC: Wordsmiths read their work at an evening with local performance poet Bianca Amira Zanella. Presented by Phoenix Books. 7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 855-8078.

FRI.19 activism

SLEEP-OUT FOR HOMELESS

VETERANS: Activists camp out overnight to raise donations for the Veterans’ Place. Depot Square, Northfield, 5-6 p.m. Free; donations accepted. Info, dweggler@ gmail.com.

dance

‘DIASPORA: HAIR OR THERE’:

Grimm’s Domain throws an electrifying celebration of the art and culture of the African diaspora, featuring such performers as rapper Omega Jade and burlesque headliner Rain Supreme. Ages 18 and up. Black Box Theater, Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Burlington, 6-10 p.m. $20 -35. Info, grimmsdomainvt@ gmail.com.

fairs & festivals

SOLO JAZZ PIANO FESTIVAL: Concerts, workshops and presentations celebrate everything to do with tickling the ivories. Vermont Jazz Center, Brattleboro, 7:309:30 p.m. $26-131. Info, 254-9088.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section.

‘FUNGI: THE WEB OF LIFE 3D’: See WED.17.

‘GREAT WHITE SHARK 3D’: See WED.17.

It’s Ancient History

It may feel like society is on the brink of a breakdown right now, but don’t worry: We’ve been through this before. Acclaimed historian Eric H. Cline and Vermont cartoonist Glynnis Fawkes celebrate the launch of 1177 B.C.: A Graphic History of the Year Civilization Collapsed, a comic book adaptation of Cline’s award-winning 2014 work of (almost) the same name. The book’s accessible illustrations take readers of all ages back in time to the abrupt end of the Bronze Age, where a perfect storm of wars, revolutions, earthquakes and droughts doomed the ancient Egyptians, Trojans and Babylonians. Ancientmusic specialists Call of Kinnaru supply live tunes.

ERIC H. CLINE AND GLYNNIS FAWKES

Thursday, April 18, 7-9 p.m., at Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge in Burlington. Free; preregister. Info, 448-3350, phoenixbooks.biz.

‘OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET 3D’: See WED.17.

‘TINY GIANTS 3D’: See WED.17.

food & drink

ADVENTURE DINNER FRENCHIE

FOUR-COURSE FEAST: Flavors of the French countryside delight taste buds alongside wine pairings, available for an additional fee. Ellison Estate Tasting Room, Stowe, 5-7 & 7:30-9:30 p.m. $85; preregister. Info, 248-224-7539.

games

MAH-JONGG: Tile traders of all experience levels gather for a game. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 1-3 p.m. Free. Info, 878-4918.

health & fitness

GUIDED MEDITATION

ONLINE: Dorothy Alling Memorial Library invites attendees to relax on their lunch breaks and reconnect with their bodies. Noon-12:30 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, programs@damlvt.org.

ONLINE PRESCRIPTION

MEDICATION RESOURCES: Locals learn how to digitally order and save money on their prescriptions. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, Noon-1:30 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 863-3403.

lgbtq

RPG NIGHT: Members of the LGBTQ community gather weekly to play games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Everway. Rainbow Bridge Community Center, Barre, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Free. Info, 622-0692.

music

DALY, COONS & CASSELSBROWN: Three of Vermont’s buzziest songwriters form a high-octane supergroup for the evening. Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, 7:30 p.m. $22-33. Info, 382-9222.

FRIDAY NIGHT PIANO: A performance of piano rolls from the 1900s through the present — and from ABBA to Led Zeppelin — entertains as audiences eat snacks around the firepit. Main Street Museum, White River Junction, 5-10 p.m. Free. Info, info@mainstreetmuseum.org.

TUSK: This Fleetwood Mac tribute band excites fans with note-for-note renditions of the beloved rock band’s greatest hits. Paramount Theatre, Rutland, 7 p.m. $35. Info, 775-0903.

UVM LANE SERIES: RON ARTIS II & THE TRUTH: A guitarist and vocalist brings the blues into the 21st century. University of Vermont Recital Hall, Burlington, 7:30-9:30 p.m. $6.50-39.50. Info, 656-4455.

outdoors

NATURAL SELECTIONS: A NBNC FUNDRAISER: Poets, nature writers, musicians and photographers perform their wild work. North Branch Nature Center, Montpelier, 7-9 p.m. $15-30 suggested donation. Info, 229-6206.

québec

FESTIVAL DE LA VOIX: The human voice gets its time in the spotlight at several astounding concerts. See festivaldelavoix.com for full schedule. Various Québec locations, 7:30 p.m. Prices vary; preregister. Info, 514-758-3641.

sports

WORLD OF HURT WRESTLING: Vermont Pro Wrestling Entertainment returns with another unmissable matchup. Center of Recreation & Education, O.N.E. Community Center, Burlington, 7-9 p.m. $20-25. Info, 373-4632.

talks

PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY WEEK: See WED.17.

tech

MORNING TECH HELP: Experts answer questions about phones, laptops, e-readers and more in one-on-one sessions. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 846-4140.

theater

‘AIRSWIMMING’: See THU.18.

‘I AM MY OWN WIFE’: See THU.18.

‘PROXY’: See THU.18.

‘SOMETHING ROTTEN!’: Two playwright brothers attempt to outsell Shakespeare in this Tony Award-nominated Elizabethan

farce, presented by We the People Theatre. Briggs Opera House, White River Junction, 7:30 p.m. $15-30. Info, 727-0781.

‘THE TRAIL TO OREGON!’: See THU.18, 7:30-9:30 p.m.

‘YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN’: See THU.18.

words

40TH ANNIVERSARY POETRY

READING: Local literary luminaries Neil Shepard, Chard deNiord and Meg Reynolds read from their work in honor of the venue’s ruby anniversary. Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, 8-9 p.m. Free. Info, 635-2727.

POEMCITY 2024: See WED.17.

SAT.20 bazaars

BLOOM FLOWER & HOME

MARKET: House plants, home décor, art and apothecary products get shoppers in the mood for springtime. Hula, Burlington, noon-6 p.m. $8; preregister. Info, hello@bloomflowerandhome. com.

cannabis

EARTHJAM: Bud lovers bring their bongs and blunts to a festival featuring live music, vendors, a dab bar and more. Clarke Permaculture Farms, Alburgh, 1-11 p.m. $10. Info, clarkepermaculturefarms@gmail. com.

climate crisis

‘KISS THE GROUND’: After a screening of this hopeful 2020 documentary about regenerative agriculture, audiences enjoy a discussion, refreshments and writing letters to their representatives in honor of Earth Day. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 1-3 p.m. Free. Info, 373-0178.

crafts

CAN/AM CON 2024 SCALE MODEL

SHOW AND CONTEST: Makers of tiny planes, trains and automobiles (among other things) peddle their wares and compete for the blue ribbon. Williston National

Guard Armory, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. $1. Info, 399-8866.

dance

MONTPELIER CONTRA DANCE:

Dancers balance, shadow and do-si-do the night away to gender-neutral calling and live tunes by the Russet Trio. Capital City Grange, Berlin, beginners’ lesson, 7:40 p.m.; dance, 8-11 p.m. $5-20. Info, 225-8921.

‘SEASONS: SPRING’: Avant Vermont Dance concludes its yearlong series with a modern ballet performance that conjures blooming flowers and growing greens. Comtu Cascade Park, Springfield, 5-6 p.m. Free. Info, info@avantvt.com.

environment

EARTH DAY TREE PLANTING: Locals help NBNC plant hundreds of shrubs and trees. North Branch Nature Center, Montpelier, 11 a.m.2 p.m. Free. Info, 229-6206.

etc.

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF PRAIRIE

HOME COMPANION: Garrison Keillor hosts a delightful variety show of comedy, music and archival video. The Flynn, Burlington, 7 p.m. $72.31-93.27. Info, 863-5966.

fairs & festivals

KINGDOM MAPLE FESTIVAL: The “Maple Center of the World” celebrates Vermont’s signature sweet, complete with a pancake breakfast, street fair, maple history tours and plenty of kids’ activities. See calendar spotlight.

Various St. Johnsbury locations, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Free; fee for some activities. Info, 748-8575.

REPAIR FAIR: The Addison County Solid Waste Management District teaches community members of all ages repair skills, and handy folks fix their fixer-uppers. American Legion Post 27, Middlebury, 10 a.m.1 p.m. Free. Info, 388-2333.

SOLO JAZZ PIANO FESTIVAL: See FRI.19, 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section.

‘FUNGI: THE WEB OF LIFE 3D’: See WED.17.

‘GREAT WHITE SHARK 3D’: See WED.17.

‘OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET 3D’: See WED.17.

‘TINY GIANTS 3D’: See WED.17.

food & drink

BURLINGTON WINTER FARMERS

MARKET: Dozens of seasonal stands overflow with produce, artisanal wares and prepared foods. Burlington Beer, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. Info, 560-5904.

ETHIOPIAN AND ERITREAN

CUISINE TAKEOUT DINNER: Foodies from the Old North End and beyond sample Mulu Tewelde’s spicy, savory, succulent meals. Vegetarian options available; bring your own bag. Center of Recreation & Education, O.N.E. Community Center, Burlington, . $23-24. Info, 881-9933.

NONALCOHOLIC POP-UP BOTTLE

SHOP & TASTING: Nonalcoholic spirits and shrubs delight sober sippers. The Soda Plant,

Burlington, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. Info, 578-2512.

games

BEGINNER DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Waterbury

Public Library game master Evan Hoffman gathers novices and veterans alike for an afternoon of virtual adventuring. Teens and adults welcome. Noon-4 p.m. Free. Info, 244-7036.

CHESS CLUB: Players of all ages and abilities face off and learn new strategies. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

LEARN TO PLAY MAH-JONGG:

ST. PETER’S CEMETERY

Pauline Nolte teaches a seven-week course on the American and Chinese styles of this ancient game. Waterbury Public Library, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, judi@waterburypubliclibrary. com.

COMMITTEE BINGO: Players vie for cash prizes at this weekly event to support cemetery improvements. St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Vergennes, 5-9 p.m. $510. Info, 877-2367.

health & fitness

COMMUNITY YOGA CLASS: An all-levels session offers a weekly opportunity to relax the mind and rejuvenate the body. Wise Pines, Woodstock, 10-11 a.m. Free; donations accepted. Info, 432-3126.

PRIDE HIKES: LAMB SEASON AT SHELBURNE FARMS: All ages, orientations and identities are welcome to pet baby sheep, meander through the sugar bush and witness the start of spring. Shelburne Farms, 1-3 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, sarah.hooghuis@audubon.org.

music

BURLINGTON CHORAL SOCIETY:

VERDI’S REQUIEM: Giuseppe Verdi’s arrangement is performed with piano, horn, double bass, marimba, percussion and four vocal soloists. Elley-Long Music Center, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, 7:30-9:30 p.m. $30. Info, 708-1078.

CARIBBEAN RAIN: Good vibes and great energy bring the music and storytelling of Jamaica to the Green Mountain State. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, noon-1 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

AN EVENING OF NORTH INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC: Pat Lambdin and Amit Kavthekar present traditional ragas on the sarod and the tabla. Burlington City Hall Auditorium, 6:30-8:30 p.m. $1025. Info, 279-5940.

SESSION AMERICANA WITH ELEANOR BUCKLAND: e Bostonbased folk-rock band teams up with the Luna Wiles singer. Sam Robbins opens. Live stream available. Next Stage Arts Project, Putney, 7:30 p.m. $10-25. Info, 387-0102.

UPPER VALLEY CHORAL

FESTIVAL: Stefanie Weigand conducts student singers from across Vermont and New Hampshire in an uplifting program. Lebanon Opera House, N.H., 7:30 p.m. $15. Info, 603-448-0400.

‘YE BOUNDLESS REALMS OF JOY’: Social Band performs celestial choral songs from the Renaissance through the present. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 7:30-9 p.m. $18 suggested donation. Info, 355-4216.

THE YOUNG TRADITION TOURING

GROUP: Teen musicians delight viewers with a recital featuring the Putney Trad Group and Laurel Swift’s Fiddleheads Trad Ensemble, followed by a community contra dance. e Putney School, 7-9 p.m. Donations. Info, 388-4967.

outdoors

APRIL BIRD-MONITORING WALK: Community scientists watch for warblers, spy sparrows and hear hawks to contribute to Audubon’s database. Green Mountain Audubon Center, Huntington, 8-10 a.m. Free. Info, 434-3068.

québec

‘FIFTEEN DOGS’: See WED.17, 8 p.m. seminars

PJC RAD HISTORY SERIES: FOLK

SONGS: Lefties learn about the tradition of radical American roots music. Peace & Justice Center, Burlington, 1-3 p.m. Free. Info, 863-2345.

Sweet Spot

e town of St. Johnsbury stakes its claim to the title “Maple Center of the World” during the Kingdom Maple Festival, a daylong celebration of all things sweet and sticky. Attendees of all ages satisfy their sweet tooth at a pancake breakfast, stock up on treats at a maple-themed bake and yard sale, browse the stalls at a sugary street fair, and shop at the last indoor farmers market of the year. For a fee, curious townsfolk hop on the maple history tour bus with industry expert Matthew omas and learn how the Cary and Maple Grove companies became titans of the sugaring business.

APR. 20 | FAIRS & FESTIVALS

KINGDOM MAPLE FESTIVAL

Saturday, April 20, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., at various St. Johnsbury locations. Free; fee for some activities. Info, 748-8575, discoverstjohnsbury.com.

music

talks

PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY WEEK: See WED.17, noon-9 p.m. theater

‘AIRSWIMMING’: See THU.18, 2-3:30 & 7:30-9 p.m.

‘I AM MY OWN WIFE’: See THU.18.

JAG UNDERGROUND: ‘THE LESSON’: Tyrone Davis Jr.’s one-man show about a teacher struggling with how best to approach sex education kicks off JAG Productions’ new performance series. AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon, N.H., 7 p.m. $30. Info, 332-3270.

‘PROXY’: See THU.18.

‘SOMETHING ROTTEN!’: See FRI.19.

‘THE TRAIL TO OREGON!’: See THU.18, 7:30-9:30 p.m.

‘YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN’: See THU.18, 1 & 7:30 p.m.

words

AN EVENING WITH DAVID SEDARIS: e best-selling satirist sits down to discuss his work, including his most recent collection, Happy-Go-Lucky. Paramount eatre, Rutland, 7 p.m. $30-50. Info, 775-0903.

POEMCITY 2024: See WED.17.

RICK WINSTON: e local film historian shares from his memoir, Save Me a Seat!: A Life with Movies. e Screening Room @ VTIFF, Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Burlington, 1-2 p.m. $5; preregister. Info, 660-2600.

WRITERS’ WERTFREI: Authors both fledgling and published gather to share their work in a judgment-free environment. Virtual option available. Waterbury Public Library, 10 a.m.noon. Free; preregister. Info, judi@ waterburypubliclibrary.com.

SUN.21

bazaars

BLOOM FLOWER & HOME

MARKET: See SAT.20.

community

COMMUNITY CARE DAY: Volunteers hand out food, clothing and other necessities to community members in need. Rainbow Bridge Community Center, Barre, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. Info, 622-0692.

HUMAN CONNECTION CIRCLE:

Neighbors share stories from their lives and forge deep connections. Pickering Room, Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 3-4:30 p.m. Free; preregister; limited space. Info, humanconnectioncircle@ gmail.com.

crafts

YARN CRAFTERS GROUP: See WED.17, 1-3 p.m.

fairs & festivals

SPRING BOOK, POSTCARD & EPHEMERA FAIR: Bibliophiles meet authors, taste beer, and browse thousands of old, rare and antiquarian titles along with maps, letters, postcards and prints. St. Albans City Hall, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. Info, 527-7243.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section.

‘FUNGI: THE WEB OF LIFE 3D’: See WED.17.

‘GREAT WHITE SHARK 3D’: See WED.17.

‘THE KITE RUNNER’: Shaima

Aslami Hussain Zada delivers an epic meal to accompany the 2007 adaptation of Khalad Hosseini’s famous novel. Epsilon Spires, Brattleboro, 5-9 p.m. $5-65. Info, info@epsilonspires.org.

‘OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET 3D’: See WED.17.

‘TINY GIANTS 3D’: See WED.17.

health & fitness

KARUNA COMMUNITY

MEDITATION: A YEAR TO LIVE

(FULLY): Participants practice keeping joy, generosity and gratitude at the forefront of their minds. Jenna’s House, Johnson, 10-11:15 a.m. Free; donations accepted. Info, mollyzapp@live.com.

FELLOW PYNINS: e award-winning Oregon folk duo lets loose its keen harmonies. United Community Church, St. Johnsbury, 7 p.m. $25. Info, 748-2600.

‘SIMPLY SPRING’: An hour of joyful music and poetry benefits the FCCB Music Fund. First Congregational Church of Berlin, 4-5 p.m. Free; donations accepted. Info, 229-0338.

‘YE BOUNDLESS REALMS OF JOY’: See SAT.20. Charlotte Congregational Church, 3-4:30 p.m. $18 suggested donation.

outdoors

SPRING WILDFLOWERS

PROGRESSION: Museum volunteer Mary Ann Schlegel points out the season’s earliest ephemerals during a walk through the trails. Birds of Vermont Museum, Huntington, 10 a.m.-noon. $5-15; preregister; limited space. Info, 434-2167.

québec

‘FIFTEEN DOGS’: See WED.17, 2 & 7 p.m.

talks

LUIS VIVANCO: Cyclists and history buffs find common ground during a University of Vermont professor’s lecture on the fascinating story of how the bicycle came to Vermont. Winooski Senior Center, 2-3:30 p.m. .Free. Info, 655-4879.

ROBERT GRANDCHAMP: A historian gives a riveting talk on the history of masonry in early Vermont. Ethan Allen Homestead Museum, Burlington, 2-3 p.m. Free. Info, 865-4556.

theater

‘I AM MY OWN WIFE’: See THU.18, 2-3:30 p.m.

JAG UNDERGROUND: ‘THE

LESSON’: See SAT.20, 5 p.m.

‘PROXY’: See THU.18, 3-4:30 p.m.

‘SOMETHING ROTTEN!’: See FRI.19, 3 p.m.

words

POEMCITY 2024: See WED.17.

POETRY MONTH CELEBRATION: Local writers share their work in a relaxed, cafe-style setting. Town Hall eater, Middlebury, 2 p.m. Free; preregister; limited space. Info, 382-9222.

needed. Freeman International Center, Middlebury College, 6:307:30 p.m. Free. Info, 443-5832. politics

LEGISLATIVE FORUM: State representatives discuss issues with their constituents. Virtual option available. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 6-8 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

words

POEMCITY 2024: See WED.17.

TUE.23 community

CURRENT EVENTS

MON.22 agriculture

HEALTHY SOIL, HEALTHY

EARTH!: Transition Town Jericho hosts an Earth Day panel for farmers, scientists and citizens. Community Center in Jericho, 7-8:30 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, ttjericho.vt@gmail.com.

climate crisis

RESILIENCE IMPLEMENTATION

STRATEGY KICK-OFF: e state’s Climate Action Office invites Vermonters to share input on a plan to build a more climate-resilient future. 5-6:15 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 522-9555.

dance

WEST AFRICAN DANCE AND DRUM CLASS: Participants learn songs, rhythms and moves from across the African diaspora. Ages 13 and up. Wilson Hall, McCullough Student Center, Middlebury College, 5-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 443-3168.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section.

‘FUNGI: THE WEB OF LIFE 3D’: See WED.17.

‘GREAT WHITE SHARK 3D’: See WED.17.

‘OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET 3D’: See WED.17.

‘TINY GIANTS 3D’: See WED.17.

games

MONDAY NIGHT GAMES:

Discounted wine by the glass fuels an evening of friendly competition featuring new and classic board games, card games, and cribbage. Shelburne Vineyard, 4-7 p.m. Free. Info, 985-8222.

language

ENGLISH CONVERSATION CIRCLE: Locals learning English as a second language gather in the Digital Lab to build vocabulary and make friends. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, noon-1 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140.

music

DROP-IN KOREAN DRUMMING: Participants learn samulnori percussion techniques. No experience

DISCUSSION GROUP: Brownell Library holds a virtual roundtable for neighbors to pause and reflect on the news cycle. 10-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 878-6955.

crafts

LEARN TO CROCHET AND KNIT: Novices of all ages pick up a new skill. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 5-6 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6955.

dance

SWING DANCING: Local Lindy hoppers and jitterbuggers convene at Vermont Swings’ weekly boogie-down. Bring clean shoes. North Star Community Hall, Burlington, beginner lessons, 6:30 p.m.; dance, 7:30-9 p.m. $5. Info, 864-8382.

environment

JOSEF GÖRRES AND EMILY

JOHNSTON: An environmental researcher and an employee of the Addison County Solid Waste Management District inform townsfolk how to combat invasive jumping worms. Congregational Church of Middlebury, 7-8:30 p.m. Free. Info, 453-3755.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section.

‘FUNGI: THE WEB OF LIFE 3D’: See WED.17.

‘GREAT WHITE SHARK 3D’: See WED.17.

‘OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET 3D’: See WED.17.

‘TINY GIANTS 3D’: See WED.17. language

PAUSE-CAFÉ FRENCH

CONVERSATION: Francophones and French-language learners meet pour parler la belle langue Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 5-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 343-5493. music

CHROMATICATS & JAZZ VOCAL

ENSEMBLE: Songs of grief and renewal from around the world shine in a concert directed by Amber deLaurentis and Tom Cleary. University of Vermont Recital Hall, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 656-3040.

MAMUSE: Fed by the folk and gospel traditions, Sarah Nutting and Karisha Longake provide a musical

tune-up for the heart. Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph, 7 p.m. $35-60. Info, 728-9878.

seminars

ECOGATHERINGS: See THU.18, 6-7:30 p.m.

words

AMY ALLEN: Shelburne’s new poet laureate launches her chapbook Mountain Offerings with a reading, signing, and Q&A. Phoenix Books, Rutland, 6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 855-8078.

BURLINGTON LITERATURE GROUP:

EMILY HENRY’S ‘FUNNY STORY’

RELEASE PARTY: Buyers of the beloved romance author’s newest offering get free prizes and enjoy a scavenger hunt. Phoenix Books, Essex, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. Info, 872-7111.

POEMCITY 2024: See WED.17.

POETRY GROUP: A supportive dropin group welcomes those who would like to share and listen to poetry. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 11 a.m.noon. Free. Info, 846-4140.

WED.24

community

CURRENT EVENTS: Neighbors have an informal discussion about what’s in the news. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 10:30 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 878-4918.

crafts

YARN CRAFTERS GROUP: See WED.17.

dance

WEST COAST SWING DANCING: See WED.17.

film

‘GREAT WHITE SHARK 3D’: See WED.17.

‘OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET 3D’: See WED.17.

‘TINY GIANTS 3D’: See WED.17.

food & drink

WHAT’S THAT WINE

WEDNESDAYS: See WED.17.

health & fitness

CHAIR YOGA: See WED.17.

language

BEGINNER IRISH LANGUAGE CLASS: See WED.17.

ELL CLASSES: ENGLISH FOR BEGINNERS AND INTERMEDIATE

outdoors

SEE IT. SKETCH IT. BIRD IT.: An interactive program uses bird carvings and other items to learn how to sketch birds. No drawing experience required, and all materials are supplied. Birds of Vermont Museum, Huntington, 1-3 p.m. $1535; preregister. Info, 434-2167.

sports

GREEN MOUNTAIN TABLE TENNIS CLUB: See WED.17.

talks

AMY TOMASSO: A community planning expert shares ideas for expanding affordable housing options statewide. Live stream available. Yestermorrow Design/

theater

‘GOLDEN GIRLS: THE LAUGHS

CONTINUE’: Four drag queens star as Sophia, Blanche, Rose and Dorothy in this hip-breakingly hilarious parody. The Flynn, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $53.50-85. Info, 863-5966.

words

AMY ALLEN, MARY ELDER JACOBSEN AND KIM WARD: Three poets celebrate National Poetry Month with readings from their latest collections. Norwich Bookstore, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 649-1114.

POEMCITY 2024: See WED.17. ➆

Mille Regretz

This concert is conducted by VSO Music Director Andrew Crust & is preceded at 6:30 p.m. by a free pre-concert discussion with Crust & VSO’s guest artists for insight into the evening’s program.

classes

THE FOLLOWING CLASS LISTINGS ARE PAID ADVERTISEMENTS. ANNOUNCE YOUR CLASS FOR AS LITTLE AS $16.75/WEEK (INCLUDES SIX PHOTOS AND UNLIMITED DESCRIPTION ONLINE). SUBMIT YOUR CLASS AD AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTCLASS.

beverages

All the details: gbymca.org

5:45 p.m. Cost: $45 for the 12-week program. Location: Williston Village Community Park, 250 Library La. Info: Kasie Enman, 802-238-0820, firststridesvermont@gmail.com, firststridesvermont.com.

martial arts

maintenance and adjustments. From novices to pros, all skill levels welcome. Scholarships offered. u., May 9, 6-8 p.m. Cost: $40. Location: Old Spokes Home, 331 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington. Info: 802-863-4475, sevendaystickets.com.

SHIFTING ADJUSTMENT WORKSHOP:

PRETTY IN PINK ROSÉ TASTING!: Jump into spring with Standing Stone Wines and Vermont Wine Merchants with this awesome rosé class and tasting. Discover something new and learn how rosés are made. We’re going to have fun!

Tue., Apr. 30, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cost: $40.

Location: Standing Stone Wines, 33 Main St., Winooski. Info: 802-540-7160, sevendaystickets.com.

culinary

pastries with traditional fillings, guided by La Isla De Encanto Kitchen. Enjoy cooking, storytelling and a taste of Puerto Rico. Maximum 12 students, BYOB. Tickets are refundable up to 7 days before. Sat., Jul. 13, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Cost: $75. Location: Richmond Community Kitchen, 13 Jolina Ct. Info: 802-434-3445, info@richmondcom munitykitchen.com, sevendays tickets.com.

AIKIDO: THE WAY OF HARMONY: Cultivate core power, aerobic fitness and resiliency. e dynamic, circular movements emphasize throws, joint locks and the development of internal energy. Inclusive training and a safe space for all. Friendlier than Cobra Kai: Visitors are always welcome! Adult basic classes 5 days/week. Membership rates incl. unlimited classes. Contact us for info about membership rates for adults, youths & families. Location: Aikido of Champlain Valley, 257 Pine St., Burlington. Info: Benjamin Pincus, 802-951-8900, bpincus@burlington aikido.org, burlingtonaikido.org.

Unravel the mysteries of drivetrains and derailleurs in our workshop! Discover how to adjust shifting systems, chains and gears. Learn about their functions, troubleshooting and maintenance. Scholarships available. u., May 16, 6-8 p.m. Cost: $40. Location: Old Spokes Home, 331 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington. Info: 802863-4475, sevendaystickets.com.

meditation

16T-BiteClubfiller.indd 1 12/21/20 6:07 PM

BERRY GALETTE WORKSHOP: Join us for an in-person workshop in downtown Waterbury! Learn to make an extra-flaky homemade pie crust and delicious berry or other fruit filling. Enjoy a slice during the class, then take home your custom galette and the recipe. Recipe can be vegan or vegetarian but not gluten-free. Please disclose allergies when you register. Tue., May 14, 6-7:30 p.m. Cost: $85. Location: Red Poppy Cakery, 1 Elm St., Waterbury Village Historic District. Info: 203-400-0700, sevendaystickets.com.

BUTTERCREAM CAKE DECORATING:

You’ll learn the basics of filling and crumb-coating a cake and styles of buttercream piping, with lots of fun colors to make your cake special. You’ll go home with some great new techniques and a six-inch cake that serves 12. Select your flavor in the questionnaire section when you register. u., May 30, 6-7:30 p.m.

SIZZLE & SIMMER: EVERYDAY COOKING SUMMER CAMP FOR KIDS!:

MEDITATION IN THE SALT CAVE: Celeste Hartwell leads a transformative meditation and healing class in the serene Purple Sage Salt Cave, fostering abundance and release. Experience halotherapy’s benefits while immersed in Himalayan salt ambience. Arrive by 6:45 p.m. Cost includes session and halotherapy. No electronics; bring clean socks. Wed., May 8, 7-8 p.m. Cost: $70. Location: Purple Sage, 21 Essex Way, Ste. 224. Info: celeste@divine feminineleaders.com, sevendays tickets.com.

music

Cost: $85. Location: Red Poppy Cakery, 1 Elm St., Waterbury Village Historic District. Info: 203-4000700, sevendaystickets.com.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE PIZZA: We’ll make a chocolate chip cookie recipe in giant form so we can top it with your choice of ganache, buttercream, caramel, white chocolate, fun candies, sprinkles and more! We will also get the chance to eat a slice during the class, then you’ll take home your whole cookie pizza. Tue., Jun. 4, 6-7:15 p.m.

Cost: $65. Location: Red Poppy Cakery, 1 Elm St., Waterbury Village Historic District. Info: 203-400-0700, sevendaystickets.com.

Join Sizzle & Simmer for a summer of culinary fun! Learn practical skills, try new foods and build confidence with Elizabeth King, a licensed educator. From homemade pasta to savory pies, explore the joy of cooking! Limited spots available. Visit kinggirlskitchen.com for details. Aug. 12-16, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Cost: $350. Location: Richmond Community Kitchen, 13 Jolina Ct. Info: 802-434-3445, sevendaystickets.com.

WHISK & WONDERS: BAKING FUN

MUSIC TOGETHER FAMILY MUSIC: e Music Together philosophy is that all children are musical. Parents learn how to integrate music into a child’s early learning environment and have fun while doing it. With simple instruments, included mp3s and songbooks, and our joyful moving bodies, you have a weekly dose of international musical fun. Every Wed., 9-9:45 a.m., starting May 1. Cost: $175/family for 8 weeks of classes, incl. books and music code. Location: Murmurations Aerial Studio, 208 Flynn Ave., Burlington. Info: 617-8724432, emilyarwenmott@gmail.com, songiverstudio.com/classes.

yoga

POSTPARTUM DOULA TRAINING:

CUBAN NIGHT: Join us for Latin flavor and fun! Janina will teach her family recipes for ropa vieja, yucca con mojo and a Vermont twist on a Cuban classic for dessert — a maple flan. You’ll learn to make all three recipes, and we’ll finish off the class by having dinner together to enjoy all our hard work. Fri., May 17, 6-8 p.m. Cost: $100. Location: Red Poppy Cakery, 1 Elm St., Waterbury Village Historic District. Info: 203-4000700, sevendaystickets.com.

SABOR BORICUA IN EVERY BITE:

Experience Puerto Rican empanadillas and coquito in our culinary adventure! Learn to craft savory

SUMMER CAMP FOR KIDS: Join King Girls Kitchen’s Whisk & Wonders summer camp! Kids explore ingredients and create treats such as cookies, muffins, and cupcakes. Taught by licensed educator Elizabeth King, the camp focuses on fun, confidence-building and practical kitchen skills. Limited spots available. Refundable tickets. Visit kinggirlskitchen.com for more info. Jul. 8-12, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Cost: $350. Location: Richmond Community Kitchen, 13 Jolina Ct. Info: 802-4343445, sevendaystickets.com.

fitness

FIRST STRIDES VERMONT: Women beginning or returning to running and/or walking are invited to join us in this 12-week program based on mentoring, peer support and lifestyle habits. Every Wed. beginning May 1,

outdoors

BREAK ADJUSTMENT WORKSHOP:

Master bicycle brakes in our workshop! Gain insights on brake types,

Serve women and families in your community during a time of huge transition and growth by becoming an Ayurveda postpartum doula. You will learn about pregnancy, birth and postpartum through the lens and language of Ayurveda while receiving training in traditional postpartum care practices, balanced with practical understanding for modern women. May 13-17, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Cost: $1,195/ weeklong workshop w/ VSAC grants avail. Location: e Ayurvedic Center of Vermont, 34 Oak Hill Rd., Williston. Info: Allison Morse, 802-872-8898, info@ ayurvedavermont.com, ayurveda vermont.com.

Facing Change: Life’s Transitions and Transformations

WED., APR. 17 ONLINE

Joe Sexton: How I Got e Story

WED., APR. 17

GEORGE D. AIKEN CENTER, UVM, BURLINGTON

Eco-resiliency Gathering: Fall in Love with a Climate Denier

WED., APR. 17

ONLINE

Kevin Burt and His Band Big Medicine

THU., APR. 18

CHATEAUGAY TOWN HALL THEATER, CHATEAUGAY, N.Y.

One Night Stand

THU., APR. 18

OLD SPOKES HOME, BURLINGTON

Vermont Pro Wrestling Entertainment presents World of Hurt Wrestling

FRI. APR. 19

O.N.E. COMMUNITY CENTER, BURLINGTON

Underground Experiment with DJ Dagon

FRI., APR. 19

THE UNDERGROUND - LISTENING ROOM, RANDOLPH

TURNmusic presents Parker Shper with Morgan Moore and Tommy Crane

FRI., APR. 19

THE PHOENIX, WATERBURY Non-Alcoholic Pop-Up Bottle Shop & Tasting

SAT., APR. 20

THE SODA PLANT, S. BURLINGTON

3rd Annual

EARTHJAM

SAT., APR. 20

CLARKE PERMACULTURE FARMS, ALBURGH

SAT., APR. 20

Spring Cultural Activities: Square or Plaza Dancing 广场舞

FAITH UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, S. BURLINGTON

Ethiopian and Eritrean Cuisine Takeout Dinner

SAT., APR. 20

O.N.E. COMMUNITY CENTER, BURLINGTON

Uplift 2024

SAT., APR. 20

LOST NATION BREWING, MORRISTOWN

e Danielle Nicole Band, Kevin Burt & Big Medicine, Soulful Femme

SAT., APR. 20

RETRO LIVE, PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.

Burlington Choral Society: Verdi’s Requiem

SAT., APR. 20

ELLEY-LONG MUSIC CENTER, COLCHESTER

Cleary/Gagnon/Saulnier Jazz Trio Residency, feat. Brian Boyes

SAT., APR. 20

THE PHOENIX, WATERBURY

Spring Wildflowers Progression I

SUN., APR. 21

BIRDS OF VERMONT MUSEUM, HUNTINGTON

Focaccia

Art Workshop

TUE., APR. 23

RED POPPY CAKERY, WATERBURY

Zosha Warpeha + Matthew Evan Taylor

TUE., APR. 23

THE PHOENIX, WATERBURY

Eggstatic! (For Kids!)

WED., APR. 24

BIRDS OF VERMONT MUSEUM, HUNTINGTON

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housing » APARTMENTS, CONDOS & HOMES on the road »

CARS, TRUCKS, MOTORCYCLES pro services »

CHILDCARE, HEALTH/ WELLNESS, PAINTING

APPLIANCES, KID STUFF, ELECTRONICS, FURNITURE music »

INSTRUCTION, CASTING, INSTRUMENTS FOR SALE jobs

NO SCAMS, ALL LOCAL, POSTINGS DAILY

Ranger

AGE/SEX: 9-year-old neutered male

ARRIVAL DATE: February 19, 2024

SUMMARY: is handsome former stray came to HSCC in “ruff” shape. He was very thin and had mobility issues, but he’s doing much better now on medication and steadily gaining weight. He would love to find a new best friend who enjoys leisurely strolls and couch naps as much as he does. Ranger is currently available for adoption from an HSCC foster home. Visit our adoption center or call us to learn more about meeting Ranger!

DOGS/CATS/KIDS: Ranger has no known history living with other dogs, cats or children. We would recommend proper introductions between Ranger and any other dogs and think Ranger will be most successful in a home without cats.

Visit the Humane Society of Chittenden County at 142 Kindness Court, South Burlington, Tuesday through Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. or Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 862-0135 or visit hsccvt.org for more info.

DID YOU KNOW?

HSCC can facilitate dog-to-dog introductions! If you’re interested in adopting and you already have a dog at home, we can introduce your dog to a potential new pal here to see if they get along.

Sponsored by:

services: $12 (25 words) fsbos: $45 (2 weeks, 30 words, photo) jobs: michelle@sevendaysvt.com,

on the road

AUTO

DONATE YOUR CAR TO CHARITY

Running or not! Fast, free pickup. Maximum tax deduction. Support Patriotic Hearts. Your car donation helps veterans! 1-866-5599123. (AAN CAN)

CAREGIVING

CAREGIVERS AVAIL.!

Looking to age in your home but need a little assistance? We have trained avail. caregivers to provide that extra support. Call 802-9233434 today.

CLEANING

CHASE CLEANING SERVICES

You know what would make cleaning more

fun? A maid! I can offer you personal & quality service. I have competitive rates w/ over 10 years experience. Reliable & trustworthy. Great refs.! Come home from work knowing that your house has been thoroughly cleaned. Just relax: Your housework has been taken care of! Currently servicing Chittenden County. Call 802-355-6929 or email rd8chase@gmail.com.

FINANCIAL/LEGAL

$10K+ IN DEBT?

Be debt-free in 24-48 mos. Pay a fraction of your debt. Call National Debt Relief at 844-9773935. (AAN CAN)

DISABILITY BENEFITS

You may qualify for disability benefi ts if you are between 52-63 years old & under a doctor’s care for a health condition that prevents you from working for a year or more. Call now! 1-877-247-6750. (AAN CAN)

FREE AUTO INSURANCE QUOTES

For uninsured & insured drivers. Let us show you how much you can save! Call 855-569-1909. (AAN CAN)

HEART-CENTERED FINANCE

Whether you contact Oak Maple w/ a fi nancial plan already in place & simply want to have a sounding board or hammer out details, or whether you show up w/ a shoebox full of receipts & a heart full of anxiety, once you connect w/ the team at Oak Maple, you are not alone. We aim to provide that deep peace of mind that comes from being organized & feeling understood. We will work w/ you until your plan feels right for you. To fi nd out more, go to oakmaple.com.

HEALTH/

WELLNESS

PSYCHIC COUNSELING

Psychic counseling, channeling w/ Bernice Kelman, Underhill.

questions? classifieds@sevendaysvt.com 865-1020 x115

40+ years’ experience. Also energy healing, chakra balancing, Reiki, rebirthing, other lives, classes & more. Info, 802-899-3542, kelman.b@juno.com.

HOME/GARDEN

AGING ROOF? NEW HOMEOWNER? STORM DAMAGE? You need a local expert provider that proudly stands behind its work. Fast, free estimate. Financing avail. Call 1-888-292-8225. Have the zip code of the property ready when calling! (AAN CAN)

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES

In as little as 1 day! Affordable prices. No payments for 18 mos. Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & military discounts avail. Call 1-866-370-2939. (AAN CAN)

DYNAMIC CARPENTER

DUO

Looking for help w/ your next project? We offer a range of experience on interior & exterior projects. Call/text 413230-1461 to set up an estimate today!

LOCKSMITH 24-7 We are there when you need us for home & car lockouts. We’ll get you back up & running quickly! Also, key reproductions, lock installs & repairs, vehicle fobs. Call us for your home, commercial & auto locksmith needs! 1-833-237-1233. (AAN CAN)

NEED NEW WINDOWS? Drafty rooms? Chipped or damaged frames? Need outside noise reduction? New, energyeffi cient windows may be the answer! Call for a consultation & free quote today. 1-877248-9944. You will be asked for the zip code of the property when connecting. (AAN CAN)

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

HUD Office of Fair Housing 10 Causeway St., Boston, MA 02222-1092 (617) 565-5309

PEST CONTROL

Protect your home from pests safely & affordably. Roaches, bedbugs, rodents, termites, spiders & other pests.

Locally owned & affordable. Call for service or an inspection today! 1-833-237-1199. (AAN CAN)

WATER DAMAGE CLEANUP & RESTORATION

A small amount of water can lead to major damage & mold growth in your home. Our trusted professionals do complete repairs to protect your family & your home’s value! Call 24-7: 1-888-290-2264.

Have zip code of service location ready when you call! (AAN CAN)

MEN’S WATCHES WANTED

Men’s sport watches wanted. Rolex, Breitling, Omega, Patek Philippe, Here, Daytona, GMT, Submariner & Speedmaster. Paying cash for qualifi ed watches. Call

Call 877-589-0747. (AAN CAN)

— OR — Vermont Human Rights Commission 14-16 Baldwin St. Montpelier, VT 05633-0633 1-800-416-2010 hrc@vermont.gov

All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 and similar Vermont statutes which make it illegal to advertise any preference, limitations, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, handicap, presence of minor children in the family or receipt of public assistance, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or a discrimination. The newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate, which is in violation of the law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. Any home seeker who feels he or she has encountered discrimination should contact:

CALCOKU BY JOSH REYNOLDS

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK:

Fill the grid using the numbers 1-6, only once in each row and column. The numbers in each heavily outlined “cage” must combine to produce the target number in the top corner, using the mathematical operation indicated. A one-box cage should be filled in with the target number in the top corner. A number can be repeated within a cage as long as it is not the same row or column.

SUDOKU BY JOSH REYNOLDS

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: HHH

Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers one to nine. The same numbers cannot be repeated in a row or column.

ANSWERS ON P.72

H

HHH

IN ACCORDANCE WITH VT TITLE 9 COMMERCE AND TRADE CHAPTER 098

Storage Units 3905. Enforcement of Lien, Champlain Valley Self Storage, LLC shall host an auction of the following units on or after 5/4/24:

Location: 2211 Main St. Colchester, VT

Contents: household goods

Rose Parizo: #558

Lisa Friedman: #663, #662, #968

Auction pre-registration is required, email info@ champlainvalleyselfstorage.com to register.

PROPOSED STATE RULES

By law, public notice of proposed rules must be given by publication in newspapers of record. The purpose of these notices is to give the public a chance to respond to the proposals. The public notices for administrative rules are now also available online at https://secure.vermont.gov/

SOS/rules/ . The law requires an agency to hold a public hearing on a proposed rule, if requested to do so in writing by 25 persons or an association having at least 25 members.

To make special arrangements for individuals with disabilities or special needs please call or write the contact person listed below as soon as possible. To obtain further information concerning any scheduled hearing(s), obtain copies of proposed rule(s) or submit comments regarding proposed rule(s), please call or write the contact person listed below. You may also submit comments in writing to the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, State House, Montpelier, Vermont 05602 (802-828-2231).

Eligibility Criteria for Temporary Housing Assistance.

Vermont Proposed Rule: 24-E04

AGENCY: Agency of Human Services, Department for Children and Families

CONCISE SUMMARY: This emergency rule maintains categorical eligibility for families with children under 18 years of age or who are 18 or 19 years of age and attending school as adopted under Secretary of State emergency rule filing number 23-E11. This rule also maintains the language in rule 2650.1 authorizing the Department to withhold payment from motels for lodging licensing violations, along

with the updates to the basic needs standard chart in rule 2652.4 and the methodology for calculating the 30 percent income contribution in rule 2652.4.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Heidi

Moreau, Agency of Human Services, Department for Children and Families 280 State Drive, NOB 1 North, Waterbury, VT 05671 Tel: 802-595-9639

Email: heidi.moreau@vermont.gov URL: https://dcf. vermont.gov/esd/laws-rules/current.

FOR COPIES: Amanda Beliveau, Agency of Human Services, Department for Children and Families 280 State Drive, HC 1 South, Waterbury, VT 05671 Tel: 802-241-0641

Email: amanda.beliveau@vermont.gov.

Emergency Housing Transition Benefit.

Vermont Proposed Rule: 24-E05

AGENCY: Agency of Human Services, Department for Children and Families

CONCISE SUMMARY: Households eligible for the Emergency Housing Transition Benefit; the Department for Children and Families; motels/ hotels serving General Assistance clients; and shelters and organizations serving unhoused populations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Heidi

Moreau, Agency of Human Services, Department for Children and Families 280 State Drive, NOB 1 North, Waterbury, VT 05671 Tel: 802-595-9639

Email: heidi.moreau@vermont.gov URL: https://dcf. vermont.gov/esd/laws-rules/current.

FOR COPIES: Amanda Beliveau, Agency of Human Services, Department for Children and Families 280 State Drive, HC 1 South, Waterbury, VT 05671 Tel: 802-241-0641

Email: amanda.beliveau@vermont.gov.

NOTICE OF SELF STORAGE LIEN SALE

Burlington Self Storage, LLC 1825 Shelburne Road South Burlington, VT 05403

Notice is hereby given that the contents of the self storage units listed below will be sold at public auction by sealed bid.

Name of Occupant Storage Unit

Macleod, Unit #30 – 10x15

Said sales will take place on Friday 04/26/24, beginning at 10:00am at Burlington Self Storage (BSS), 1825 Shelburne Road, South Burlington, VT 05403.

Units will be opened for viewing immediately prior to auction. Sale shall be by sealed bid to the highest bidder. Contents of entire storage unit will be sold as one lot. The winning bid must remove all contents from the facility at no cost to BSS, on the day of auction. BSS, reserves the right to reject any bid lower that the amount owed by the occupant or that is not commercially reasonable as defined by statute. STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT

In re ESTATE of Diane Circe NOTICE TO CREDITORS

To the creditors of: Diane Circe late of Colchester.

I have been appointed to administer this estate. All creditors having claims against the decedent or the estate must present their claims in writing within four (4) months of the date of the first publication of this notice. The claim must be presented to me at the address listed below with a copy sent to the Court. The claim may be barred forever if it is not presented within the four (4) month period.

Dated: April 9, 2024

Signature of Fiduciary: /s/ Launa L Slater

Executor/Administrator: Robert Circe, c/o Launa L Slater, Wiener & Slater, PLLC, 110 Main Street, Suite 4F, Burlington, VT 05401 phone: 802-863-1836 email: launa@wsvtlaw.com

(https://anrweb.vt.gov/ANR/Act250/Details. aspx?Num=300033-14A).

No hearing will be held and a permit will be issued unless, on or before April 30, 2024, a party notifies the District 4 Commission in writing of an issue requiring a hearing, or the Commission sets the matter for a hearing on its own motion. Any person as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1) may request a hearing. Any hearing request must be in writing, must state the criteria or subcriteria at issue, why a hearing is required, and what additional evidence will be presented at the hearing. Any hearing request by an adjoining property owner or other person eligible for party status under 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1)(E) must include a petition for party status under the Act 250 Rules. To request party status and a hearing, fill out the Party Status Petition Form on the Board’s website: https://nrb. vermont.gov/documents/party-status-petitionform, and email it to the District 4 Office at: NRB. Act250Essex@vermont.gov. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law may not be prepared unless the Commission holds a public hearing.

For more information contact Stephanie H. Monaghan at the address or telephone number below.

Dated this April 9, 2024.

By: Stephanie H. Monaghan District Coordinator 111 West Street Essex Junction, VT 05452 802-261-1944

stephanie.monaghan@vermont.gov

ACT 250 NOTICE

MINOR APPLICATION 4C0971R-6

10 V.S.A. §§ 6001 - 6111

Application 4C0971R-6 from Allen Brook School, Attn: Chris Giard, 497 Talcott Rd, Williston, VT 05495 and Town of Williston School District, 7900 Williston Road, Williston, VT 05495 was received on April 5, 2024 and deemed complete on April 8, 2024. The project is generally described as construction of a gravel wetland with two pretreatment practices on Allen Brook School’s property to improve stormwater runoff water quality. The project is located at 497 Talcott Road in Williston, Vermont. This application can be viewed online by visiting the Act 250 Database: (https://anrweb.vt.gov/ANR/ Act250/Details.aspx?Num=4C0971R-6).

No hearing will be held and a permit will be issued unless, on or before May 1, 2024, a party notifies the District 4 Commission in writing of an issue requiring a hearing, or the Commission sets the matter for a hearing on its own motion. Any person as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1) may request a hearing. Any hearing request must be in writing, must state the criteria or subcriteria at issue, why a hearing is required, and what additional evidence will be presented at the hearing. Any hearing request by an adjoining property owner or other person eligible for party status under 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1)(E) must include a petition for party status under the Act 250 Rules. To request party status and a hearing, fill out the Party Status Petition Form on the Board’s website: https://nrb. vermont.gov/documents/party-status-petition-

TOWN OF JERICHO, VT NEW HIGHWAY GARAGE

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

MUNICIPAL PROJECT MANAGER (MPM) SERVICES

PHASE-1 3/18/24

1. Background

On March 5, 2024, the residents of Town of Jericho voted to approve a bond of $4.15 million for the construction of a new town maintenance facility. Following this approval, the Town is seeking the services of a Municipal Project Manager (MPM) to assist with permitting, design and construction of the facility. MPM services will be split into two phases. Phase-1 Preconstruction and Phase-2 Construction. In advance of the bond vote, the Town completed a feasibility study prepared by Ascent Consulting LLC. To review the study, follow this link: https:// jerichovt.org/Highway-Department/news_feed/ town-maintenance-facility-2

The Town reserves the right to negotiate Phase-2 Construction Services with the successful Phase-1 Preconstruction Services provider. All questions related to this project should be directed to Paula Carrier, Asst. Town Administrator pcarrier@jerichovt.gov.

2. Schedule

The following dates will drive the anticipated schedule for Phase 1 planning.

a. 3/25/24: Post Phase-1 MPM RFP Services

b. 4/29/24: RFP Response Due, 5PM EDT

c. May 2024: Selection of MPM Services

d. May 2024-April 2025: Duration of Phase-1 Services

e. May 2025: Construction Starts

3. Scope of Services

The MPM will provide services and guidance to the Town and its municipal interest. The town requires the following services for the Phase-1 Preconstruction. The purpose of Phase1 Preconstruction is to assist the town with the design, permitting and preparation for the bid package. It is anticipated that the design will be at 100% by end of January 2025 for February 2025 bidding.

a. Duration of Phase-1 Preconstruction Services is from May 2024 through April 2025.

b. Prepare RFP for design services for civil, architectural, structural, MEP/FP, special inspections. Respond to design services RFIs and document. Assist the Town with posting and advertising the RFP.

c. Analyze design service proposals and make recommendations to the Town.

d. Prepare design services contracts, review pay requests for Town approval.

e. Attending design meetings, ensure design is aligned with schedule and budget.

f. Assist with State and local permitting requirements.

g. Facilitate a design kick-off meeting outlining schedules and goals of the project to the design team.

h. Document updates to design and permitting status. Report to the Selectboard at meeting on the first Thursday of each month.

i. Provide cost estimates as the design progresses to ensure the project design aligns with budget.

j. Assist and provide Value Management services as needed. Provide guidance to design team regarding lessons learned from previous maintenance facility projects.

k. Prepare prequalification RFP for general contractor bidders. Post, review and background check qualifications, make recommendations to the Town.

l. Prepare bid package, send to prequalified bidders, respond to RFIs, assist the Town with bidding process, prepare bid analysis, perform descoping and make recommendations to the Town.

m. MPM is to include in their cost computer, cell phone, vehicle, business and vehicle insurance and personal protective equipment. Reimbursable costs are to be included in the cost of services.

n. Clearly identify any services that will be performed by a sub-consultant.

4. Submission requirements To be considered responsive to this RFP, each response to the RFP must include the following requirements. The Town reserves the right to reject all proposals result from this RFP to: 1. negotiate with any or all qualified proposers 2. to waive any formality and technicalities 3. to solicit new proposals or 4. to cancel in part or in entirety this RFP if found to be in the best interest of the Town. Solicitation of this RFP in no way obligates the Town

LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT

Vermont Agency of Transportation Public Notice - Herbicide Spraying

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) has requested from the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets, a permit to apply the following herbicides: Garlon 4 ULTRA, Garlon 3A, Oust Extra, Escort, Krenite S, Polaris, and Roundup Custom to control unwanted vegetation along all State highways. Operations are authorized to start approximately May 15 th , 2024, but will not begin untilthe appropriate notification requirements are completed. The application will be made by certified pesticide applicators using mechanically controlled equipment and hand-controlled methods. The methods employed are intended to avoid or eliminate drift. Residents along the rights-of-way (ROW) are encouraged to protect sensitive environments or water supplies within 100 feet of the ROW limits, and to avoid entering the ROW as spray trucks pass and until products dry. Residents should notify VTrans of the existence of any water supplies within 100 feet of the State’s ROW. Citizens wishing to inform VTrans are urged to contact the nearest District Transportation Administrator as follows: District 1 - Bennington - (802) 447-2790, District 2 - Dummerston - (802) 254-5011, District 3 - Mendon - (802) 786-5826. District 4 - White River Junction - (802) 295-8888, District 5 - Colchester - (802) 655-1580, District 6 – Berlin – (802)-917-2879, District 7 - St. Johnsbury - (802) 748-6670, District 8 - St. Albans – (802) 524-5926, District 9 – Derby – (802) 334-7934. The contact person at the State Highway Department Headquarters is Brandon Garretto, Vegetation Management Admin, 2178 Airport Rd, Dill Bldg Unit A, Barre, VT 05641 or brandon.garretto@ vermont.gov. Contact can also be made using the VTrans Internet Web page at https://vtrans.vermont.gov/operations. The appropriate place to contact with comments other than VTrans is the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, Agriculture Resource Management and Environmental Stewardship, 116 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05602, (802) 828-2431. The link to their web page that would describe the VTrans herbicide application permit request can be found at http://www.VermontAgriculture.com.

8h-VTrans041724.indd 1 4/15/24 2:06 PM

to award a contract. Each respondent is responsible for their own cost in preparation of this RFP. Late proposals will not be accepted. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. It will be the responsibility of the respondent to confirm proposals have been received by the Town.

Electronic submissions are due no later than 5PM EDT on 4/29/24 to Paula Carrier. There will not be a public bid opening. Complete RFP will include:

a. Cover letter

b. Overall Consultant Description: provide primary contact information, location of office, any and all staff or sub-consultant who will be involved in the project.

c. Resume of each staff member

d. Project experience with references

e. Proof of business insurance

f. Cost Proposal

5. Evaluation and Selection

The Town of Jericho Selectboard will evaluate the proposals. Selection criteria will be based on maintenance facility project experience, estimating capabilities, staff experience and cost proposal. The Town reserves the right to request additional information and or require a onsite interview of party submitting.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

Pathways Vermont, in collaboration with Duncan & Wisnieski Architects, is soliciting proposals for qualified Construction Managers for the renovation of a community/group home located at 141 Maple Street, Burlington, Vermont. This project entails retrofitting an existing building for Pathways Vermont’s A Home for Soteria Project. The objective is to convert the current structure into a nurturing environment tailored for young adults experiencing mental health challenges seeking additional support in a community setting. Utilizing the principles of Therapeutic Design, the project aims to establish a space conducive to healing. The scope prioritizes major renovations on the first floor while minimizing interventions in the basement, second floor, and roof areas. Envelope improvements will achieve thermal and acoustic comfort. The first floor will be fully accessible and compliant with ADA requirements.The DEADLINE for the proposal is April 30, 2024 by 5PM. Proposals shall be submitted by email to Jenny Johnson jenny@pathwaysvermont.org and Sam Beall samb@duncanwisniewski.com. Any questions about the RFP should be directed to the same. Minority-owned, women-owned, locallyowned and Section 3 businesses are strongly encouraged to respond. This project is subject to the City of Burlington Livable Wage ordinance and adherence to VHCB procurement guidelines. https://shorturl.at/hFGVZ

STORAGE UNIT SALE

Notice is hereby given that the contents of the following will be sold to the public by sealed bid. The sale is being held to collect unpaid fees, late charges and expenses of the sale.

Jeff Cameron Unit 139

Storage Unit sale will take place on April 30, 2024 at 4:30pm at Fort Ethan Allen Mini Storage, 120 Hegeman Avenue, Colchester, VT 05446. CITY

The City of Essex Junction City Council will hold a public meeting to discuss proposed changes in water, wastewater, and sanitation rates. The meeting will be held at the City Office, 2 Lincoln Street, Essex Junction, Vermont, and remotely via Zoom and accessible on the City’s website, www.essexjunction.org, or by calling the following conference call number:

Join Zoom Meeting

Audio Only: (888) 788-0099

Meeting ID: 944 6429 7825

Passcode: 635787

Water, Wastewater and Sanitation rates are proposed to increase a combined 3.31% or $21.72 per year for an average user consuming 120 gallons of water per day. The Large User Water rate is proposed to increase 42.61% to $0.157 per 1,000 gallons. The Wholesale Wastewater Treatment rate is proposed to increase 0.59% to $4.171 per 1,000 gallons. The Water, Wastewater and Sanitation budgets are available at www.essexjunction.org.

Please direct questions to Finance Director Jess Morris at jmorris@essexjunction.org 802-878-6944.

STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT PROBATE DIVISION

Engelberth Construction, acting as Construction Manager seeks qualified subcontractors and suppliers for the City of Burlington Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport (BTV) Project NexT, located in South Burlington, VT. Federal Disadvantage Business Enterprise (DBE), Women-Owned, Veteran-Owned, Minority-Owned subcontractors and suppliers, and Small Businesses are strongly encouraged to submit a bid proposal.

Project Description: The project consists of a 64,500sf expansion of the existing North terminal at Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport, demolition of a portion of the existing terminal, utility construction, utility and generator relocation, new aircraft apron construction, geothermal wells, new passenger boarding bridges, and interior renovation of a portion of existing 2nd floor concourse level. The total estimated finished floor area of the expansion is 36,000 square feet. An unfinished lower level of approximately 28,500 square feet is also part of the building.

Schedule: Construction is scheduled to begin Summer of 2025 and be completed during the Spring of 2026.

The construction work contains but is not limited to the following: cast-in-place foundations, polished concrete, masonry, structural steel, metal fabrications, heavy timber construction, interior finish carpentry, dampproofing & waterproofing, fluid-applied membrane air barriers, thermal protection, roofing, metal panel siding, fireproofing, joint sealants, doors-frames-hardware, coiling doors, grilles, OHD doors, aluminum storefront / curtain wall, metal stud framing & GWB assemblies, acoustical ceilings, flooring / tile, painting & finish, signage, misc. specialties, tie back and life anchors, entrance mats & frames, elevators, sprinkler system, plumbing & HVAC, electrical, sitework, exterior concrete paving, fencing, and landscaping.

Funding: This project is funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and will adhere to the Federal and City of Burlington procurement and contracting guidelines, including Davis Bacon wage rates and City of Burlington Livable Wage Ordinance, Compliance with FAA Buy American, Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO), City of Burlington annual Pre-Qualification and Women and Construction Trade Ordinance (WACTO), and BTV Badging Qualification. DBE, Women-Owned, Veteran-Owned, Minority-Owned, and Small Businesses are encouraged to submit quotes.

Any interested subcontractors and suppliers should contact Engelberth Construction by sending an email to: Preconstruction3@Engelberth.com

Please include your company name, address, phone number, contact name, and the scope of work you wish to bid. When the Bid Package is finalized, a formal invitation to bid will then be sent to you which will include electronic access to relevant documents including the plans and specifications.

Engelberth Construction, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Further information about Engelberth Construction is available at www.engelberth.com

Legal Notices

NOTICE OF STORAGE UNIT DISPOSAL FOR NON-PAYMENT

Notice is hereby given pursuant to title 9 chapter 98 of the Vermont statutes.

A lien has been placed on the following storage units for non-payment.

Exit 16 Self Storage 295 Rathe Rd Colchester Vt. 05446

Dianne Fayette E48

Josh Leonard L32

Jefferey Nolan K32

Route 7 Climate Storage 189 Northside Dr Shelburne Vt 05482

Madina Mohamed G48

Taylor Sikes G37

Julianna Graves I12

If full payment is not received by the facility by April 27th the unpaid unit will be disposed of at the facilities discretion.

For questions, please call:

Exit 16 Self Storage 802-497-0404

Route 7 Climate Storage 802-985-4212

BURLINGTON DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD

TUESDAY, MAY 7, 2024, 5:00 PM

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

Hybrid & In Person (at 645 Pine Street) Meeting

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83225696227?p

wd=SGQ0bTdnS000Wkc3c2J4WWw1dzMxUT09

Webinar ID: 832 2569 6227

Passcode: 969186

Telephone: US +1 929 205 6099 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799

1. ZP-24-58; 140 North Prospect Street (RL, Ward 1)

Marian E. Price 2005 Rev. Trust / Marian E. Price / Patrick Weise

Seeking a variance for north setback to add an ADA compliant WheelPad on lot with 3’ X 4’ connection to house (reopened public hearing).

2. ZAP-24-3; 32-34 Hickok Place (RM, Ward 3) Mary Vanburen Swasey / Francis Swasey / Mel Hurlbut Appeal of administrative denial, ZP-24-52, to replace existing slate roof with an asphalt shingle roof for the installation of solar panels.

Plans may be viewed upon request by contacting the Department of Permitting & Inspections between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Participation in the DRB proceeding is a prerequisite to the right to take any subsequent appeal. Please note that ANYTHING submitted to the Zoning office is considered public and cannot be kept confidential. This may not be the final order in which items will be heard. Please view final Agenda, at www.burlingtonvt.gov/dpi/drb/agendas or the office notice board, one week before the hearing for the order in which items will be heard. The City of Burlington will not tolerate unlawful harassment or discrimination on the basis of political or religious affiliation, race, color, national origin, place of birth, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, veteran status, disability, HIV positive status, crime victim status or genetic information. The City is also committed to providing proper access to services, facilities, and employment opportunities. For accessibility information or alternative formats, please contact Human Resources Department at (802) 540-2505.

HOWARD CENTER

If you received services from Howard Center and would like a copy of your record, please contact Howard Center’s Health Information Department at 488-6000. In order to protect individuals’ privacy, the agency routinely destroys healthcare records after retaining them for the number of years required by law.

THE CONTENTS OF STORAGE UNIT 01-4255

Located at 28 Adams Drive Williston, VT 05495 Will be sold on or about the 25th of April 2024 to satisfy the debt of Justin Hudson-Sabens. Any person claiming a right to the goods may pay the amount claimed due and reasonable expenses before the sale, in which case the sale may not occur.

Pursuant to the Vermont Self-Storage Facility Act

Sec. 2.9 V.S.A Chapter 98 Units will sold by sealed bid.

Viewing by appointment. Call us at 802-891-9374 to schedule.

Appts for viewing and sealed bidding will be 4/25 9:00 AM-4:30 PM

Bid will be opened on 4/25 at 4:45 PM. Winning bidder will be notified by phone.

5x10 – Lillian Joseph, David Markwell, Tim Parrow, Serina Shows

10x10 – Connor Towne, Justin Hall-Stasiuk

10x20 – Melissa Bouffard, Steve Bergman, Laura Blair

Storage unit will be sold as one lot. All winning bidders will be required to pay a $100.00 deposit which will be refunded once unit is left empty and broom swept clean.

The winning bid must remove all contents from the facility by the end of the weekend corresponding with date of bid acceptance at no cost to EZ Access Self Storage. We reserve the right to reject any bid lower than the amount owed by the occupant. We reserve the right to remove any unit from the auction should current tenant bring his or her account current with full payment prior to the start of the auction.

Storage Unit Address:

387 Route 7 South, Milton, Vermont

NORTHSTAR SELF STORAGE WILL BE HAVING A PUBLIC AND ONLINE SALE/AUCTION FOR THE FOLLOWING STORAGE UNITS ON APRIL 25, AT 9:00 AM

Northstar Self Storage will be having a public and online sale/auction on April 25, 2024 at 9am EST at 681 Rockingham Road, Rockingham, VT 05151 (Units R02, R19, R58), 615 Route 7, Danby, VT 05739 (D36, D85), 1124 Charlestown Road, Springfield, VT 05156 (Units S97, S108) and online at www.storagetreasures.com at 9:00 am in accordance with VT Title

9 Commerce and Trade Chapter 098: Storage Units

3905. Enforcement of Lien

30, 2024.

Application 4C1039-1B from Nautilus Holdings LLC 28 Howard Street, Suite 302, Burlington, VT 05401 was received on April 4, 2024 and deemed complete on April 12, 2024. The project is generally described as construction of exterior site improvements to provide new loading docks on the east and west sides of the building, a new catch basin on the west side, and a reduction in the total number of parking spaces from 139 to 96. The project is located at 115 Wellness Avenue in Williston, Vermont. This application can be viewed online by visiting the Act 250 Database: (https://anrweb.vt.gov/ANR/ Act250/Details.aspx?Num=4C1039-1B).

No hearing will be held and a permit will be issued unless, on or before May 7, 2024, a party notifies the District 4 Commission in writing of an issue requiring a hearing, or the Commission sets the matter for a hearing on its own motion. Any person as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1) may request a hearing. Any hearing request must be in writing, must state the criteria or subcriteria at issue, why a hearing is required, and what additional evidence will be presented at the hearing. Any hearing request by an adjoining property owner or other person eligible for party status under 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1)(E) must include a petition for party status under the Act 250 Rules. To request party status and a hearing, fill out the Party Status Petition Form on the Board’s website: https://nrb. vermont.gov/documents/party-status-petitionform, and email it to the District 4 Office at: NRB. Act250Essex@vermont.gov. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law may not be prepared unless the Commission holds a public hearing. For more information contact Stephanie H. Monaghan at the address or telephone number below.

Dated this April 15, 2024.

By: Stephanie H. Monaghan District Coordinator 111 West Street Essex Junction, VT 05452 802-261-1944 stephanie.monaghan@vermont.gov

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING

Town of Underhill Development Review Board (DRB)

Appeal of a decision of the Zoning Administrator

Monday, May 6, 2024 @ 6:30 PM

At the Underhill Town Hall, 12 Pleasant Valley Road, Underhill, VT

The Underhill Development Review Board will hold a hearing based upon an appeal of a decision of the Zoning Administrator, per Section 10.5(A) of the Town of Underhill Unified Land Use & Development Regulations adopted March 1, 2011 and last amended March 3, 2020. The appeal is related to a decision of the Zoning Administrator regarding a firewood processing operation located at 633 Pleasant Valley Road. The subject property is located in the Mount Mansfield Scenic Preservation Zoning District. The hearing will commence at 6:30 PM at the Underhill Town Hall, 12 Pleasant Valley Road, on Monday, May 6, 2024. The hearing will also be accessible via the Go-To-Meeting platform. Additional information, including information to access the public meeting on the Go-To-Meeting platform, may be obtained on the Town’s website calendar under May 6, 2024 or by contacting the Clerk of the Development Review Board. The hearing is open to the public. Pursuant to 24 VSA § 4464(a)(1)(C) and 4471(a), participation in this local proceeding is a prerequisite to the right to take any subsequent appeal. If you cannot attend the hearing, comments may be made in writing, prior to the meeting, and mailed to: Matt Chapek, Clerk of the DRB, P.O. Box 120 Underhill, VT 05489 or to: bigskymaple@myfairpoint.net

Winooski Valley Park District

Applications may be submitted to the Clerk/ Treasurer’s Office, 149 Church Street, Burlington, VT 05401 Attn: Lori NO later than Wednesday, May 15, 2024, by 4:30 pm. If you have any questions, please contact Lori at (802) 865-7136 or via email lolberg@burlingtonvt.gov.

City Council President Traverse will plan for appointments to take place at the June 10, 2024

City Council Meeting/City Council With Mayor Presiding Meeting.

PUBLIC HEARING

COLCHESTER DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD

Pursuant to Title 24 VSA, Chapter 117, the Development Review Board will hold a public hearing on May 8, 2024 at 7:00pm to hear the following requests under the Development Regulations. Meeting is open to the public and will be held at 781 Blakely Road.

a) FP-24-09 CERRA FRIETS FAMILY TRUST, STEWART HALL & KATRINA DUCIS, AND CLAUDE & WENDY PARENT: Final Plat Application to amend a previously approved 3-lot Planned Unit Development. Amendment is to request additional PUD Buffer crossings as permissible under §9.07C(8) in order to install the required underground utilities to serve Lots 2 and 3 of the subdivision. Request also includes blasting and removal and earth material in excess of 100 cy. No other site modifications are proposed at this time. Property is located in the Residential One (R1) and Shoreland Overlay (SD) Districts. Subject property is located at 115 Moonlight Ridge, Account #71-0030030000000.April 17, 2024 [CONTINUED]

RECRUITERS:

YOUR TRUSTED LOCAL SOURCE. JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Marketing Manager

Choose Your Own Adventure Gamebooks

Details & to apply: cyoa.com/ pages/job-openings

Administrative Coordinator

The Intervale Center seeks a dynamic, missiondriven Administrative Coordinator with a passion for community food systems. The Administrative Coordinator supports the Center’s staff and Board of Directors to create a welcoming and highly productive organization and is an invaluable conduit for information and direction holding many aspects of dayto-day operations together. An ideal candidate has at least two years’ experience in this or a similar role; excellent communication; strong computer skills; great time management and attention to detail; and is self-motivated, conscientious, and proactive. Intervale Center is an E.O.E. that values diversity of experience, background, and perspective to enrich our work. Applications by members of all underrepresented groups are encouraged. Full job description and how to apply can be found at intervale.org.

FLORAL MERCHANDISER

MILTON, Part time

3 mornings per week (Tuesday, Friday, Sunday) approximately 15-20 hours. Fun and flexible job, perfect for a creative person who likes to work independently

Please contact Nathalie at the number below: 518-420-3786

Join the Flynn & be part of a team striving to make the community better through the arts. All backgrounds encouraged to apply. This is a full-time, benefited, in-person position.

Shared Living Provider

Seeking a gentle/thoughtful Shared Living Provider willing to provide complete personal care for a man over 40 years of age. An accessible home will best meet his needs. He enjoys going for car rides, watching his favorite shows, music, and male companionship. Annual stipend of $60,000 plus room and board and a generous respite budget.

Call (802)355-6094 or e-mail sdonohue@ howardcenter.org with interest.

New GRAD RN program helps ensure success!

Kick-start your nursing career at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) with our innovative Nurse Residency Program. Designed for passionate new grads, the program offers wrap-a-round support for long-term career excellence. Beginning in summer 2024, full-time positions will be available in departments such as Med Surg, Emergency and more. Applicants need a Vermont or multi-state RN licenses, BLS certification, and to be a graduate of an accredited nursing program. Program pillars include Leadership, Patient Outcomes, and Professional Roles. New grads are provided daily support and collaborative guidance. Join NVRH for competitive compensation, benefits, and a supportive environment where patients, community and employees thrive. St. Johnsbury, Vermont.

Apply now at www.nvrh.org/careers

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION

Visit our website for more details: flynnvt.org/About-Us/ Employment-and-Internship-Opportunities

Email materials to: HResources@flynnvt.org

No phone calls, please. E.O.E.

Are you ready for a new career?

Look no further! We’re hiring!

Route Service Representatives

RSR’s

Foley

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

NOW HIRING

We are Hiring: Sleep Technician

Experienced, Skilled Carpenter

$60/hour | Housing Included

$60/hour Housing Included

13-week contract with possible extension

13-week contract with extension

If you have a passion for working with youth, we have the career opportunities for you!

JOIN THE GREAT TEAM at Burlington's communitysupported non profit bike shop doing important work making bikes accessible to all. As we gear up for the busy season, we are hiring for the following:

Flexible schedule: 2 to 3 nights/weekyour choice!

Flexible schedule: 2 to 3your choice!

See the positions with a $5,000 sign on bonus!

RPSGT Certification required

RPSGT Certification

To apply, send resume to jlarock@chsi.org, or call Jill LaRock at 802-888-8228.

Associate Director of Human Resources

Saint Michael’s College is seeking a dynamic, diplomatic, culturally responsive HR professional with experience looking at HR through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to support the overall operations of Human Resources at the College. Areas of focus for the Associate Director will include oversight of talent acquisition, onboarding, retention, employee/labor relations, employee leaves, total compensation, staff and faculty DEI, and associated compliance. The Associate Director will be a primary point of contact for managers and employees regarding a broad range of complex employee and labor relations issues. The Associate Director will assist the Director and all members of the Human Resources team in building upon and advancing the important work of developing and implementing strategic initiatives around employment with diversity, equity, and inclusion at the forefront.

For job description, benefits and to apply, please visit: bit.ly/SMCADHR

Scan the QR code to view job descriptions & apply.

Retail Associate Inventory Coordinator Mechanic or Senior Mechanic Service Manager

Learn more at: oldspokeshome.com/people/ employment-opportunities

Conservation Field Supervisor

Support crews in the field

Mentor Members & Leaders

Experience Vermont’s forests & mountains

Expand your professional conservation network

Gain leadership and administrative skills

This is a seasonal staff position

Monday to Friday; May to November

Typical week: visit several crews, camp overnight 1 or 2 nights per week.

Find this & more opportunities at vycc.org/positions

Do you have a knack for donor stewardship and want to make a difference in VT communities?

SEEKING A DIRECTOR OF DONOR IMPACT

The Vermont Community Foundation is looking for a Director of Donor Impact to oversee our impact strategy, co-create marketing campaigns, and provide excellent service for our fundholders. Bring a growth mindset to help drive charitable impact on our Philanthropy team!

If this sounds like a good fit for you, visit VERMONTCF.ORG/CAREERS for a complete job description and instructions for applying.

JOB TRAINING. WELL DONE.

Join the Community Kitchen Academy!

Community Kitchen Academy (CKA) is a 9-week job training program featuring: Hands on learning, national ServSafe certification, job placement support and meaningful connections to community. Plus... the tuition is FREE and weekly stipends are provided for income eligible students!

At CKA you’ll learn from professional chefs in modern commercial kitchens and graduate with the skills and knowledge to build a career in food service, food systems and other related fields. Throughout the 9-week course, you’ll develop and apply new skills by preparing food that would otherwise be wasted. The food you cook is then distributed through food shelves and meal sites throughout the community. CKA is a program of the Vermont Foodbank, operated in partnership with Capstone Community Action in Barre and Feeding Chittenden in Burlington. Next sessions in Barre start May 7th and August 5th. APPLY: vtfoodbank.org/cka

RED HOUSE BUILDING is currently seeking an experienced, skilled carpenter to join our wood shop team. This is a full-time position with flexible scheduling, benefits, and hourly pay based on skill level. The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 5 years experience with milling, cabinet construction, shop safety, and comprehensive use of machinery. This position is primarily based at our wood shop in Colchester, but job site installations are also included in the responsibilities.

If you are a reliable, motivated, and skilled person who is interested in being a part of unique, custom home building then please submit your resume to info@ redhousebuilding.com

Store Team Member/ Buyer

The Roots Farm Market is looking for a full time Store Team Member/ Buyer. This is a customer-facing position that involves time spent interacting with customers on the store floor as well as purchasing and buying to help keep the store well stocked. We are looking for positive, motivated and flexible people who are willing to wear many hats and multitask to get the job done. Must share our passion for local products and organic produce. $20/hour starting. For job description and to apply: therootsfarmmarket.com/ job-openings

VERMONT PUBLIC IS HIRING!

We are Vermont’s unified public media organization (formerly VPR and Vermont PBS), serving the community with trusted journalism, quality entertainment, and diverse educational programming.

• Managing Editor & Senior Producer, Vermont Edition

• SVP People & Culture

We believe a strong organization includes employees from a range of backgrounds with different skills, experience & passions.

To see more openings & apply: vermontpublic. org/careers

Must be able to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Vermont Public is a proud equal opportunity employer.

Part-time Public Safety Officer

Are you looking to make a difference in people’s lives? The Department of Public Safety at Saint Michael’s College is inviting applications for a part-time Public Safety Officer from those looking to enhance their skills. This position requires the flexibility to problem-solve in a wide range of situations, both demanding and rewarding. A successful candidate will possess the ability to work effectively in a college environment seeking a balance between education and enforcement. This position allows the employee to make their own pre-tax contributions to a 401(k) account, paid time off, paid holidays, employee and family assistance program, well-being programs, and opportunities, discounted gym membership, paid volunteer time, use of the campus athletic facilities and the library, and countless opportunities to attend presentations, lectures, and other campus activities.

The starting pay for this position is $20 per hour. For job description, benefits & to apply, visit: bit.ly/SMCF24PTPSO

MEMBER SERVICES REPRESENTATIVE

General Summary of Job Responsibilities: Reliable, detail-oriented person with excellent customer service skills needed in a fastpaced, team-oriented office that works with WEC members to perform a variety of billing functions and data entry. Primary duties of the position include answering the telephone, working with members, responding to billing inquiries, receiving and processing payments, collecting delinquent accounts, and entering billing data.

Must be able to communicate effectively with members and employees of the Cooperative, and with representatives of other organizations as required. High school diploma with emphasis on business courses and two years’ experience in an office environment or an associate’s degree in business required. Knowledge of Microsoft Office and cashiering experience preferred.

Submit cover letter and resume to Teia Greenslit, Director of Finance & Administration, Washington Electric Cooperative, P.O. Box 8, E. Montpelier, VT 05651, or teia.greenslit@wec.coop. Washington Electric Cooperative is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

MANUFACTURING TEAM MEMBER

Super Thin Saws, of Waterbury, VT, manufactures precision circular sawblades and similar tooling, primarily for the woodworking industry. We are seeking highly motivated individuals to work and grow in our manufacturing operation.

Candidates must be mechanically inclined. Previous experience with measuring tools such as micrometers, calipers, and dial indicators is desired. We will provide training to successful candidates.

Super Thin Saws provides excellent benefits, including medical, good pay, and flexible work hours.

To apply: please send your resume to bookkeeping@ superthinsaws.com or call 802-244-8101

MU LTIPLE POSITIONS OPEN!

Are you our next Guest Services Representative? Buyer? Produce Associate? Scan to see all open positions!

ST AFF CURATED BENEFIT S

Apply online at healthylivingmarket.com/careers

Paralegal Essex, Vermont

On-site but may transition to a hybrid arrangement.

Serve as an ongoing resource to agents and their employees and respond to inquiries and requests in a friendly, efficient, and timely manner regarding preparation of title insurance policies, residential and commercial real estate closings, Prep Express Online and any related matters. This is a very dynamic position which changes continuously based on agent demands.

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s/Associate’s Degree as a paralegal and/or related field

• 5 years’ experience as a real estate paralegal in Vermont

• Proficiency with real estate closing software

For details and to apply: catic.com/about-us/careers. E.O.E.

FARM TO PLATE NETWORK MANAGER

Join our team to strengthen VT's food system. Responsible for supporting the Network's focus areas of: food access, healthcare and community health, workforce development and education systems, racial equity, farmland access and land use planning, and community development.

FT salary between $63-66k, great benefits, casual but professional hybrid work environment, and an organizational culture where people feel valued, are energized, and can support forward-thinking solutions to our food system and climate challenges.

VSJF is an E.O.E. committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and a strong sense of belonging in the workplace.

PLEASE READ full job description here: vsjf.org/about-vsjfvermont/job-openings

Send cover letter & resume to jobs@vsjf.org by 5pm 5/13/24.

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

Drivers, Route Drivers, and Substitute Drivers

Full-time Housekeeper

Orange Southwest School District Randolph, Braintree, Brookfield

Come join the OSSD Transportation Team. Great hourly wage with a flexible schedule.

Contact Craig Russell, Transportation Coordinator - 24 Central Street, Randolph, VT 05060 (802) 728-9276 crrussell@orangesouthwest.org

Wake Robin, Vermont’s premier senior living community, is seeking a full-time Housekeeper and offers you a better work/life balance with a 4-day work week. Our work day is 8.5 hours with a paid half hour for lunch, and we make up the difference so you get paid for a full 40 hours.

In this community, appreciation and respect are very important. You’re not just cleaning a space; your work is helping to care for people who know you by name and say thank you regularly. In addition to our great benefits program, Wake Robin also helps you meet the challenges outside of work for life balance. Wake Robin is invested in a better life for its residents, staff and the community at large. Come see why this community is for you!

Compensation: Starts at $18.25/hour, increases depending on experience. Wake Robin offers competitive benefits. Schedule: Let’s talk

*Due to our vulnerable resident population, the COVID vaccine is encouraged but not required.

Immediate Openings

1 Full-time position

1 Part-time position

The ideal candidates will commit to:

• Excellent customer service skills

• Ability to guide customers towards making design decisions

• Attention to organization

DENTAL HYGIENIST

Middlebury Pediatric Dentistry is looking for a dental hygienist to join our practice. Help us take care of Vermont kids’ oral health! Four day work week. Competitive salary. Benefits include retirement plan, health insurance, 2 weeks paid vacation, licensure, and CE.

Please send your resume to: frontdesk@middleburypediatricdentistry.com 2h-MiddleburyPediatricDentistry041724.indd

Customer Care/ Fulfillment Associate

• Comfortable with computer entries, and follow up with customer phone requests

Send resumes to: ragsandriches@ comcast.net.

Check us out at: arteefabricsandhome.com.

Immediate Openings For:

School Bus Drivers

Route Drivers

Substitute Drivers

Orange S.W. School District: Randolph, Braintree, Brookfield

Join our Transportation Team. Earn a great hourly wage with a flexible schedule.

crrussell@orangesouthwest.org

Are you a creature of habit, conscientious and good with details? Do you like to get up early and finish work by 3:30-4pm? This might be the job for you. We are looking for honest, hardworking individuals to join our team. This is a fun and unique job for the right person. We are a family-owned distributorship. We have a loyal clientele of 1000+ Holistic Veterinarians across the US who are fun and interesting. You’d come in early to pick/pack orders and then process them for USPS and UPS pickups in the afternoon. Afternoons are spent restocking shelves, reordering, and checking in inventory. Work in a recently renovated building with huge windows and lots of natural light. We share the building with Qi Vet Clinic (qivet.com) & have four-legged employees in our midst. We pay well & o er great benefits, including healthy, homemade meals cooked onsite. Check us out at: atimetohealherbs.com

Contact: Therese Fafard: tfafard@comcast.net. Please, take the time to write a personalized cover letter along with your resume.

Innkeeper & Operations

The Wilson House

The ideal innkeeper will be welcoming, diligent, and possess the ability to juggle many tasks and priorities. Must be hands-on in all aspects of the day-to-day operations with a focus on providing an exceptional guest experience for a small bed & breakfast. The schedule is flexible but includes evenings, weekends, and holidays. The innkeeper is an important team member who will nurture and help to grow the organization. Preference will be given to people in recovery, particularly those with hospitality experience. Compensation includes competitive salary, housing + utilities, health insurance and retirement benefits. Apply by May 1st, expected start date July 1st.

Send resumes to: kim@wilsonhouse.org

You’re in good hands

Director of Development

We’re hiring a Director of Development who will champion the community-centric fundraising strategies and vision that sustain the resources needed to build a Vermont where all LGBTQ+ youth have hope, equity, and power. FT, salaried, 35-hour per week position, with comprehensive benefits. Full information & application details at outrightvt.org/jobs-andinternships.

High School Language Arts & Literature Teacher

Join our small creative alternative school! Pacem School is hiring a part-time high school language arts and literature teacher for Mondays and Wednesdays this fall. Experience working with students ages 14 to 18 and a passion for teaching literature and writing is required. Apply online: pacemschool. org/about/employment

Line Cook

The Bobcat Cafe and Brewery is looking for a full time experienced line cook who loves the challenge of serving high quality food in a fast paced kitchen. Must be available nights and weekends.

Pay ranges from $27-$31 per hour depending on tips. Not a bad place to trade hours of your life for money. salty.evc@gmail.com

Part-Time Dispatch Switchboard Operator

The Public Safety/Fire & Rescue Departments at Saint Michael’s College are inviting applications for a Part-Time Dispatch Switchboard Operator to dispatch radio calls and operate the College switchboard. The successful candidate will be responsible for answering all incoming calls and directing calls to the appropriate party quickly, accurately, and professionally. This role receives all emergency calls for SMC campus and the surrounding community and dispatches emergency personnel accordingly. Dispatch, switchboard, and emergency services experience desirable, but we will provide training for a motivated and dependable person with demonstrated aptitude.

The rate of pay is $17.25 per hour.

For job description, benefits & to apply, please visit: bit.ly/SMCM23PTD

School Engagement Specialist

LRC is hiring a 32-40 hr/wk School Engagement Specialist (SES). SES apply restorative case management practices to help children/youth and their families struggling with school attendance navigate multiple systems of support to address barriers to school engagement. They build relationships with youth and families and utilize established and collaborative connections with school personnel, DCF, and human services providers in the community, to help families develop and implement plans for improved school attendance. The SES use methodologies rooted in restorative practices, whereby parents and children feel heard and acknowledged, and their dignity and resilience are upheld.

This position is ideal for someone with an understanding of restorative work in schools, excellent communication, collaboration, and organizational skills, and those who are interested in a workplace that promotes employee well-being and is known for its inclusive and collaborative work environment. A bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience required.

The hourly pay rate is between $21.97 and $23.12. A generous benefits policy provides $12,000 annually for each employee to pay for the benefits they need, such as: medical, dental, vision, and supplemental insurance, and retirement. Additional benefits include 27 paid days off and 17 paid holidays, pre-tax dependent care deductions, paid family medical leave, an annual training stipend, and life insurance.

Please submit a cover letter and resume to: info@lrcvt.org

LRC is an equal opportunity employer and invites applications from professionals with lived experience. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

General Assembly

IT User Support Specialist

The Legislative support

offices are currently hiring. The nonpartisan offices are an interesting, challenging, and exciting place to work.

You will be part of a highly professional and collegial team that is proud of, and enthusiastic about, the mission of the state legislature.

v To apply, please go to 'Career Opportunities' at legislature.vermont.gov.

Optician or Optician Trainee

Busy primary care optometry office looking to hire a licensed optician (or trainee) either full time or part time. We are open M-F 8am- 6pm. Choose between Four 10 hour days or Five 8 hour days. We are looking to hire for personality first. Must be good with people. We are happy to train the right candidate.

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: $20.00-$25.00/hour

Approx. hours: 32-40/week

Benefits: Flexible schedule, Health Insurance ,HSA, 401K, Professional development assistance, Vision/ eyeglass benefit

Send resumes to: mleipert@oeberlin.com

Champlain Community Services has been voted one of the Best Places to Work in Vermont for the sixth year in a row and we would love to have you as part of our team.

JOIN US!

Work at CCS and support our mission to build a community where everyone participates and belongs. E.O.E. Visit ccs-vt.org

Trivia Hosts

Seeking responsible, engaging, quick witted and charismatic individuals to host weekly trivia night programs and other events! We’ll provide everything needed to run a successful trivia night, including proper training. Hosting is a great way to earn some fun money, entertain a crowd, and become a “local celebrity.”

We are looking for hosts in the following areas:

Barre/Montpelier

St Albans

Bridgewater

Stowe

Compensation: This is a part time position. Competitive pay with opportunity to host additional accounts.

To apply, please email resume to:  info@pubgeeks.com

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

ASSOCIATE CLIENT SERVICE CHAMPLAIN INVESTMENT PARTNERS

 Are you skilled at interpersonal and written communication?

 Are you a team player, capable of working independently?

 Are you organized, detail-oriented, adaptable, and able to manage time effectively in a fast-paced environment?

 Do you understand basic investment concepts, especially those applicable to the equity asset class?

You may be a candidate to join our team

A Bachelor’s Degree, along with proficiency in Microsoft Office, is required. At least 1-3 years of relevant experience in client service support, marketing, or proposal writing, preferably in the investment management industry. Experience with Responsive (formerly RFPIO), Microsoft PowerBI, Python and SQL is a plus.

Community Bankers

BUILDERS | MAKERS | DOERS®

There is no better time to join our Team!

3v-802Events040324.indd 1 4/2/24 12:22 PM

Northfield Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest LOCAL BANK in Vermont. We are committed to providing a welcoming work environment for all. Consider joining our team as a Community Banker at our Marketplace or Richmond location!

Relevant Skills:

Receptionist/ Administrative Assistant

Busy Burlington Law Firm seeks an on-site, full-time Receptionist/ Administrative Assistant. Administrative experience preferred. Duties include fielding calls, greeting visitors, processing mail, maintenance of office supplies, scheduling meetings, filing, correspondence, billing support, and other clerical tasks. The ideal candidate will be motivated and polished, with strong communication, computer, and organizational skills. MSK’s practice focuses on real estate, commercial transactions and related litigation. We offer a competitive salary and benefits package, and a family friendly work environment.

Please forward your cover letter and resume to Deborah Sabourin, Business Manager, MSK Attorneys, dsabourin@mskvt.com

• Customer Service, Cash Handling (we’ll train you!)

• Even better… if you have prior banking experience, we encourage you to apply!

• If you are 18 or older and have a high school diploma, general education (GED) degree, or equivalent, consider joining the NSB Team!

Opportunity for Growth

NSB has training opportunities to engage employees and assist with professional development within our company. The average years of service for an NSB employee is 9! If you’re looking for a career in an environment that promotes growth, join our team!

What NSB Can Offer You:

• Competitive compensation based on experience.

• Well-rounded benefits package, Profit-Sharing opportunity.

• Excellent 401(k) matching retirement program.

• Commitment to professional development.

• Opportunities to volunteer and support our communities. Work-Life balance!

Please send an NSB Application & your resume in confidence to: Careers@nsbvt.com

E.O.E. / Member FDIC

•

•

Security Guard

Chocolate Thunder Security

- Seven Daysies recipient for Best Bar Bouncer in 2021, 22, and 23 - is looking for a few good people to fill out our ranks of trained and state licensed security guards.  We will train you in verbal de-escalation techniques, patrolling, site management, basic investigation, crowd control and reporting. After completing our training you will be certified in CPR, basic first aid, and will become licensed as a Security Guard with the State of Vermont. Paid training, signing bonuses, and hourly rates starting at $20 an hour.

Apply online: bit.ly/ChocThunderJobs.

Director of Finance

VPQHC is looking for a dynamic individual to join our team as Director of Finance! As the Director of Finance, you’ll play a pivotal role in ensuring the financial health and sustainability of VPQHC, a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality in Vermont. This is your chance to make a real impact in the healthcare sector while utilizing your expertise in finance. This is a senior level position. Excellent benefits, hybrid work option.

Read full job descriptions and apply at vpqhc.org/ employment

On-Call Organizer

Part-Time, As-Needed, $20/hour

Successful candidates will be kept on a roster of On-Call Organizers, who give short-term assistance to various organizing campaigns. You will work under the direct supervision of the Union Local leading the campaign with additional support from the VT AFL-CIO. You may do anything from writing phone banking scripts to canvassing to supporting organizing committees. You will have the opportunity to work with a tight-knit team of officers and organizers and develop skills in relationship building, public speaking, strategic research, and campaign execution.

Education and Experience:

• High school diploma or equivalent

Multiple Positions Open

PCC is hiring for multiple positions, including a Chief Financial Officer, Software Quality Assurance (QA) Analyst, and an experienced Web Developer to join our team. Check out our careers page (www.pcc.com/careers/) for more details regarding each position. While you are there, you will also see information on our unique benefits (AAA, cellphone, internet, 401(k), low-cost health insurance premiums, and more). To apply, please email a cover letter and resume to jobs@pcc.com with the specific job title in the subject line.

Lead & Assistant Teachers

VIP’s onsite daycare is seeking Lead Teachers as well as full and part-time Center Assistants to join our team of passionate child care  providers. For over 30 years the Roots Child Development Center has been nurturing infants, toddlers and preschoolers in Colchester, VT.

Housed within the headquarters of Vermont Information Processing, Roots is attended by 50+ children of VIP employees. Roots employees enjoy exceptional benefits and a fun, collaborative work environment with a great team! Positions range from $18-$21.50/hour depending on qualifications.

Primary Job Responsibilities:

• Develop age-appropriate lessons and activities that promote and support the building of social skills, practical capabilities and self-esteem

• Collaborate with lead teachers to supervise, guide and encourage child’s learning and development

• Organize nap and snack hours and supervise children to ensure their safety at all times

• Communicate with parents regularly on their child’s day to day progress

• Maintain a clean and tidy classroom consistent with health and safety standards

Job Requirements:

• Some organizing experience, preferably in labor organizing

• Some experience as a non-managerial worker, preferably a rank-and-file union member

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods of sitting in a car or at a desk and working on a computer

• Prolonged periods of standing and walking

• Must be able to carry organizing supplies, such as flip charts, markers, boxes of literature, etc.

Interested candidates may email a resume with references and a cover letter to Executive Director Liz Medina, info@vtaflcio.org

The Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO is committed to creating an organization representative of the diversity within the working class. We are actively seeking applications from qualified candidates from groups currently underrepresented in our organization. The Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO is an E.O.E.

• High School Diploma or GED

• 1-2 years of relevant childcare experience with groups of children from grade 3 or younger

• Ability to lift 25-30 lbs, squat/kneel/sit on the floor and speak with children and families to ensure the health and safety of each child

Must meet at least one (1) of the following qualifications as a Lead:

• 21 college credits in early childhood education or related field OR

• Associate’s Degree from an accredited college in early childhood education or related field OR

• Completed certification in one of the following: Registered Child Care Apprenticeship Program, Child Care Certificate from the Community College of Vermont, or Vermont Early Childhood Career Ladder Level 3 Certificate

Benefits you’ll enjoy:

• BlueCross BlueShield health insurance

• 3 weeks of paid time off

• 6 paid holidays and 4 paid floating holidays

• Paid Parental Leave

• ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Program)

• 401k and Profit Sharing

• Health Savings and Flexible Spending accounts

• Life and Disability Insurance

• Vision and Dental expense reimbursement

• Paid Professional Development training hours

• Onsite fitness center and heavily discounted gym membership to the Edge

• Onsite cafe serving breakfast, lunch and snacks

• Onsite health clinic for employees & families

Apply here: public.vtinfo.com/careers or reach out to careers@vtinfo.com

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

Assoc. Financial Advisor

www.onedayinjuly.com/careers Opportunities for growth. No financial industry experience necessary. Burlington, VT

Airworthiness Engineer, Beta Air LLC, South Burlington, VT. Responsible for driving projects w/FAA & foreign regulatory agencies. Req. bach. in Elec. Eng’g, Sys. Eng’g, or rel. +12 mo. exp. w/: App. Lifecycle Mgmt. Software (e.g. DOORS, Polarion, JAMA, or JIRA), Type Cert. Program Planning (e.g. FAA Order 8110.4C), at least 2 of the following: ARP4754A, ARP4761, DO-160, or DO-178, and new & novel tech. being developed in the aviation industry for electric aircraft incl. eVTOL. 25% nat’l. & int’l travel. To apply, email resume to careers@beta.team.

WHERE YOU AND YOUR WORK MATTER

When you work for the State of Vermont, you and your work matter. A career with the State puts you on a rich and rewarding professional path. You’ll find jobs in dozens of fields – not to mention an outstanding total compensation package.

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES TECHNICIAN III – WATERBURY

Come do work that matters as a member of the small, dedicated team at the Vermont Board of Medical Practice, where we license physicians and investigate complaints about medical care. We seek an efficient and organized self-starter to provide administrative support handling mail and phones, maintaining files, and assisting physicians with medical licensing. This is a full-time in-office position in Waterbury and offers State of Vermont employee benefits. For more information, contact Jane Malago at jane.malago@vermont.gov.

Department: Health. Location: Waterbury. Status: Full Time, Limited Service. Job ID #49616. Application Deadline: April 25, 2024

Head of Rescue Services

The Town of Shelburne is seeking candidates for a full-time, exempt leadership role for their Rescue Department (Shelburne Rescue). This position is Shelburne Rescue’s first full-time non-volunteer Head of Rescue Services. Shelburne Rescue is a municipal, combination (paid/ volunteer) ambulance service providing 911 emergency medical services to the Town and its neighboring communities. The Head of Service has the primary responsibility for executive oversight for Shelburne Rescue. The Department Head serves as the chief executive of the squad and represents both the Town of Shelburne as well as the Department and its providers to the public, the district and the state. The Department Head is expected to participate in emergency responses and is responsible for the leadership, management, and administration of the Department. This is to be accomplished through departmental planning, strategic visioning, and the development of long-term and short-term goals for the Department and its providers. Through the supervision of the Training Officer and lead providers (“Crew Chiefs”), the Department Head ensures the professional and efficient conduct of the Department operations.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• National Registry of EMTs Paramedic Level Certification

• 5+ years’ experience in EMS with increasing levels of responsibility

• Emergency Vehicle Operations Certification or similar

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Supervisory/leadership experience

• VT EMS District 3 Credentialing / Paramedic Experience

• Firefighting experience (FFI or above)

• Interest in supporting the Town of Shelburne Fire Department emergency responses

• Bachelor’s Degree in EMS/Paramedicine/Emergency Management or similar

APPLICATION PROCESS:

Please submit your resume and complete the employment application, or contact Adam Backus, Town of Shelburne HR Assistant, at (802) 985-5121, abackus@shelburnevt.org. Equal Opportunity Employer

Publishing Coordinator

Prospect Press seeks a Publishing Coordinator. We are a small company located in Burlington, Vermont, which publishes college textbooks for courses in Information Systems. Responsibilities will include tracking the progress of manuscripts through the development process, soliciting reviews, liaising with production contractors, uploading textbooks into our distributors’ systems, helping maintain our customer database, and helping promote our textbooks at professional conferences. A central responsibility of this position will be to assemble and maintain a cloud-based tracking procedure to coordinate development, production, and promotion of our growing product line. The ideal candidate will have 3+ years of relevant experience; interests in publishing, higher education, and Information Systems; excellent communication skills; a positive learning attitude; and be highly organized, detail conscious, and a team player. College degree required. This is an in-person position. Salary is $26.50 per hour for a 35-hour work week. To apply, send an excellent cover letter and a resume to Andy.Golub@ProspectPressVT.com

Director of Program & Fund Development for International NGO

PH International (Project Harmony, Inc.) is an international non-profit with 40 years of experience focusing on civic engagement, cross cultural learning, and increased opportunities in the digital age. The U.S. headquarters is located in Waitsfield, VT with field offices in Armenia, Republic of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine with projects implemented in additional countries.

PH International is seeking a full-time Director of Program and Fund Development based in the Vermont office. This is a senior management position leading the design and development of new programs and the funding and proposals that support them. The DPFD will be a dynamic and creative individual with excellent technical writing and communication skills. A solid understanding of program development, implementation, and cross-cultural considerations is essential. Experience with USG funding, compliance, OMB requirements, and budget development are required. Working in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment, the DPFD will have opportunities to lead and learn about new technologies and best practices at the cutting edge of citizen engagement, exchange programming, civic education, youthoriented programs, cross-border initiatives, legal education, and educational reform.

For job description and to apply: ph-int.org/vacancies. Application deadline: April 24, 2024.

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Mike Bouffard LENDER

James Gunger

Cary Dube

“He

JEN SORENSEN

HARRY BLISS

barked at God again.”

KRISTEN SHULL JULIANNA BRAZILL

ARIES

(MAR. 21-APR. 19)

I suspect two notable phenomena will coalesce in your sphere sometime soon. The first is a surplus supply of luck. I’m not sure why, but the fates will be sending surges of good karma your way. The second phenomenon is this: You might not be entirely alert for the potential luck flowing in your direction, and it may not leap out and grab you. That could be a problem. Fortunately, you are reading this oracle, which means you are getting a heads-up about the looming opportunity. Now that you realize that you must be vigilant for the serendipitous blessings, I’m confident you will spot them and claim them.

TAURUS (Apr. 20-May 20): You will be wise to summon extra love and rapport as you ruminate on your vivid upcoming decisions. Wouldn’t you like to bask in the helpful influences of smart allies who respect you? How nurturing would it feel to receive healing encouragement and warm appreciation? I suggest you convene a conference of trusted advisers, good listeners, sunny mentors, wisdom keepers and spirit guides. Maybe even convene a series of such gatherings. Now is an excellent time to call in all your favors and get the most inspirational support possible as you navigate your way to the next chapter of your life story.

GEMINI (May 21-Jun. 20): If you drink alcohol, don’t operate a forklift or backhoe. If you gamble, protect yourself with safeguards and have a backup plan. If you feel called to explore altered states of consciousness, consider doing meditation, dancing or chanting holy songs instead of ingesting drugs. If you have an itch to go hang gliding or skydiving, triple-check your equipment. And if you have the urge to try to walk on the water, don a life jacket first. But please note, dear Gemini: I am not advising you to timidly huddle in your comfort zone. On the contrary. I highly recommend you stretch your limits. Just be secure and smart as you do.

CANCER (Jun. 21-Jul. 22): I plotted out my usual astrological reckonings for your current destiny. Then I slipped into a meditative trance and asked the spirits to show me future scenes that correspond to my assessments. In one prominent vision, I beheld you partying heartily, navigating your avid and inquisitive way through convivial gatherings. In other scenes, I saw you engaged in lively discussions with interesting people who expanded your understanding of the meaning of life in general and the meaning of your life in particular. I conclude that intelligent revelry will be a main theme for you. Productive excitement. Pleasurable intrigue. Connections that enliven and tonify your imagination.

LEO (Jul. 23-Aug. 22): The theory of synchronicity proposes that hidden patterns are woven into our lives. Though they may ordinarily be hard to detect, they can become vividly visible under certain circumstances. But we have to adjust the way we interpret reality. Here’s a clue: Be alert for three meaningful coincidences that happen within a short time and seem related to each other. I predict the emergence of at least one set of these coincidences in the coming weeks — maybe as many as four. Synchronicities are coming! You have entered the More-Than-Mere-Coincidence Zone.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sep. 22): Psychologists J. Clayton Lafferty and Lorraine F. Lafferty wrote a book called Perfectionism: A Sure Cure for Happiness. It’s based on their work with clients who damaged their lives “in the illusory

pursuit of the unrealistic and unattainable standard of perfection.” In my observation, many of us are susceptible to this bad habit, but you Virgos tend to be the most susceptible of all. The good news is that you now have an excellent chance to loosen the grip of perfectionism. You are more receptive than usual to intuitions about how to relax your aspirations without compromising your competence. As inspiration, consider these words from author Henry James: “Excellence does not require perfection.” Leadership expert R.R. Stutman adds: “If perfection is an obstacle course, excellence is a masterful dance.”

LIBRA (Sep. 23-Oct. 22): “Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which they never show to anybody,” wrote author Mark Twain. I agree that everyone is a moon and has a dark side. But it’s important to note that our dark sides are not inherently ugly or bad. Psychologist Carl Jung proved to me that our dark sides may contain latent, wounded or unappreciated beauty. To be healthy, in fact, we should cultivate a vigorous relationship with our dark side. In doing so, we can draw out hidden and undeveloped assets. The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you Libras to do this.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Your current state has metaphorical resemblances to idling in your car, waiting and waiting and waiting for the red light to change. But here’s the good news: I expect the signal will turn green very soon — maybe even within minutes after you read this horoscope. Here’s more good news: Your unlucky number will stop popping up so often, and your lucky number will be a frequent visitor. I’m also happy to report that the “Please don’t touch” signs will disappear. This means you will have expanded permission to consort intimately with influences you need to consort with.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I think it’s time to graduate from your lessons in toxic kinds of enchantment and launch a new experiment with healthy kinds of enchantment. If you agree, spend the next few days checking to see if any part of you is numb, apathetic or unreceptive. Non-feelings like these suggest you may be under the enchantment of influences

that are cramping your imagination. The next step is to go in quest of experiences, people and situations that excite your imagination, rouse your reverence and raise your appreciation for holy mysteries. Life will conspire benevolently on your behalf if you connect yourself with magic, marvels and miracles.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Luther Burbank (1849-1926) was a practical artist. Using crossbreeding, he developed more than 800 novel varieties of vegetables, fruits, grains and flowers. Among his handiwork was the russet Burbank potato, a blight-resistant food designed to help Ireland recover from its Great Famine. My personal favorite is his Flaming Gold nectarine, one of the 217 fruits he devised. I propose that Burbank serve as your role model in the coming weeks. I believe you have the power to summon highly pragmatic creativity.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): L.R. McBride wrote the book The Kahuna: Versatile Mystics of Old Hawaii. He describes the role of the kahuna, who is a blend of sorcerer, scholar and healer. At one point, a kahuna gives advice to an American tourist, saying, “You have moved too fast for too long. You have left part of yourself behind. Now you should slow down so that part of you can catch up.” I’m offering you the same advice right now, Aquarius. Here’s your homework: Dream up three fun things you can do to invite and welcome back the left-behind parts of you.

PISCES (Feb. 19-Mar. 20): In the course of my life, I have heard the following three statements from various people: 1) “Everything would be better between us if you would just be different from who you are.” 2) “I would like you more if you were somebody else.” 3) “Why won’t you change to be more like the person I wish you would be?” I’m sure you have heard similar pronouncements yourself, Pisces. But now here’s the good news: I don’t think you will have to endure much, if any, of such phenomena in the coming months. Why? First, because you will be more purely your authentic self than you have ever been. Second, because your allies, colleagues and loved ones — the only people who matter, really — are likely to be extra welcoming to your genuine self.

SUNNY SIDE OF LIFE

I have built a new house, new life in the NEK. I’m a young 67, active and always busy doing something, whether it’s work or play. Now that the house is done, it’s time to be outdoors creating my gardens and yard. I’m looking for a positive, happy, possibly nude gardener and creator that complements my own creative energy. MRO67 67, seeking: W, l

SINGLE CAT OWNER

WOMEN seeking...

THERE’S MUCH MORE TO DO!

Looking for someone to share adventures and laughs, long talks and quiet times, dinners out and dinners in. I am a retired educator, still enjoying working with children and storytelling around northern Vermont. I live a busy, fun but not fancy country life. I love to travel and have new experiences. Hoping to find someone to join me. warmandgentlelady, 70, seeking: M, l

GENUINELY HAPPY, SEEKING SAME

Easygoing, life-loving sixtysomething in search of a man comfortable in his own skin who loves deep conversations. All the usuals apply: Must love dogs. It’s the way to my heart, for sure. Must also love the outdoors and not in a fanatic way. Enjoy being in nature. And finally, for now anyway, must love a good belly laugh. Joyful, 64, seeking: M, l

GENUINE, THOUGHTFUL, PASSIONATE

Solo tiny-farming in the hills is sublime, but this unscripted homesteading comedy could use more characters: a partner in permaculture, a paddling companion, cross-country/backcountry ski buddy, Scrabble challenger. Some other favored pastimes: sailing, reading, Champlain Islands camping in fall, vegetarian cookery, making you laugh. Life is good. Just missing someone special to share the journey. nordicbette242 53, seeking: M, l

WANT TO RESPOND?

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All the action is online. Create an account or login to browse hundreds of singles with profiles including photos, habits, desires, views and more. It’s free to place your own profile online.

l See photos of this person online.

W = Women

M = Men

TW = Trans women

TM = Trans men

Q = Genderqueer people

NBP = Nonbinary people

NC = Gender nonconformists

Cp = Couples

HELLO, BEAUTIFUL

If you are looking for perfect, well, sorry to say, but that isn’t me. If you want someone who is loving, caring, happy, funny, down-to-earth, fun-loving, who will adore you and cherish you, is openminded, loyal, trustworthy, that would be me! nhpoohdot 55, seeking: W, l

HELLO FROM SOUTH BURLINGTON

sunshines, 43 seeking: M, W, Q, Cp Respond

Gp = Groups

CUTE OLD CHICK!

I am compassionate, still a thrill seeker (I just zip-lined in Costa Rica), curious about the world and using the Google machine to search for answers. My bucket list is long. Get your passport out and let’s go! 70 years young, originally from Vermont, retired, enjoy long walks, gardening, biking, anything on water, eating sushi. ExoldVermonter 70 seeking: M, l

LIVING THE NEXT CHAPTER

Hello. I am looking for someone to spend this next chapter of life with. I enjoy taking walks, going for rides on the back roads with no destination in mind. I love the ocean. It’s my happy place. I enjoy going out for a meal now and then but am just as content to stay in. My grandchildren are my joy. Ajb 60, seeking: M, l

CARING, STRONG, NEVER LATE

Hello. I first want to start with that I am a breast cancer survivor. Absolutely nobody in this world is perfect. I have been through many different things, which has made me to be a very strong woman. If you cannot handle someone who is strong and independent, I am not the person for you. I speak my mind. Msviclynn, 62 seeking: M, l

A FRESH START

I’m smart, work hard and want someone who can help me play hard. I’m not looking to meet “soon,” nor do I want an instant relationship (I just got out of one), but I am open to it if the right person comes along. I feel like I just woke up from a long nap — entertain me! Freshstart 57, seeking: M, l

CREATIVE WOMAN SEEKS LIBERATED MALE

I want a guy who was raised by a liberated mother. I am creative, witty, talented, graceful and devilish. Someone once said I think out of both sides of my brain — organized and artistic. I once auditioned for and was selected to sing backup for the Shirelles. People think I’m fun to be with. Maybe you will, too. San2Lus, 74 seeking: M, l

HARDWORKING, INDEPENDENT TEACHER, GARDENER

Recently divorced after 25 years. Looking to rediscover fun! I am a hardworking, independent and very active person. Big gardener. Like to be outside, hanging with friends and family. Enjoy going out for dinner/drinks/ dancing or hanging out at home. Pretty easygoing. La 54 seeking: M, l

BIODYNAMIC, SAGACIOUS ARTIST

Desire meaningful conversation, companionship, laughter and love. I am family- and community-minded with philanthropic tendencies; broadly studied in history, art, science and spirituality; well traveled and influenced by world cultures. I lead a conscientious, healthy lifestyle and keep a clean home, hands and heart. Retired, actively pursuing my passions and enjoying my grandchildren. Are you similarly inclined? Eruditee 60, seeking: M, l

INTROVERTED EXTROVERT TO DANCE

Are you a grown-up and still curious, playful, inquisitive, ever learning? I thrive outdoors in every season and relish reflective company, solitude and togetherness, sharing ideas and inspiration, and desires to love in a way that we feel free. I see that many of us here wonder how to describe themselves. Aren’t we all more than we can say? esmeflying 60, seeking: M, l

NATURE GIRL

New to the area and looking for friends and dates for the first time in my life. I feel weird even doing this (does everyone say that?). I’m in my 50s but slim and fit and honestly look younger than I am. Prefer slim, tall men but honestly don’t care much as long as you’re openminded, fun and a good conversationalist. Highmeadows 58, seeking: M, W, NC

SMART, SELF-AWARE, KIND SEEKS SAME

Smart, self-aware and kind seeking same. AnneShirley 48, seeking: M

HONEST, EASYGOING, STRAIGHTFORWARD

Vermonter retired from dairy farming, looking for a friend to share lunch, to get to know each other — what likes and dislikes we have in common, and what type of relationship we are looking for together. retired70 76 seeking: M

THIS COULD BE GREAT, RIGHT?

Calm, peaceful woman hoping to connect with a kind, smart, liberal, dog-loving guy. I work in a medical practice and also have a small business and live in northern New York. I am a widow but so ready for a great second chapter!

Julie2085 66, seeking: M, l

NO-DRAMA RIVER LOVER

Seeking conversations, hikes and walks, sharing a meal. Compatibility with where we each are in life. Hanging out with friends, watching a movie, just talking. Love learning about science, metaphysics, new music but also appreciate dad jokes to send to my grandkids, watching podcasts and reading mystery books. greentara 65 seeking: M, l

MEN seeking...

EVERY DAY ABOVEGROUND IS GOOD

Active, athletic, open minded, optimistic and positive. Seeking long-term relationship with a like-minded woman. Davidus 60, seeking: W, l

NEW TO THIS

In great shape, look much younger than age. Hardworking homeowner who enjoys the outdoors, good food, traveling, riding my Harley, weekends on the boat. Any real adventure.

Midvte, 53 seeking: W, TW

DOWN-TO-EARTH

Hi. I’m looking for someone who likes to smile. I enjoy gardening, riding motorcycles, metal detecting, boating. I enjoy a cozy night at home with that special someone, maybe sitting around a fire. brian69 55, seeking: TW, l

Longing for someone to spend time with, eating amazing lunches or dinners and maybe having long car or camping trips. melvin4503 72, seeking: W, l

KARAOKE SINGER

Single, new in Vermont. Seem female. Enjoy karaoke, comedy, poetry. 30 to young 60 y/o, please reply. Albert1 70, seeking: W, l

NATIVE VERMONTER LOOKING FOR FUN

I’m 48, 250 pounds, working on it. Just a laid-back Vermonter looking for fun. I am in a complicated relationship, but I will send a picture if you would like — just ask. I’m fun, adventurous and enjoy nature. I’ve been told that I’m kind and friendly, but that is subjective and something you would have to determine for yourself. jjay1120 48, seeking: W

PASSIONATE YET KINKY

I am at ( vergennesman at yaho dot com ) 61-y/o male who wants to meet someone to become FWB who is open-minded, not afraid of trying new things sexually. I am looking for a trans woman, female or trans male. Looking4sez 61, seeking: W, TM, TW

LAID-BACK

I am easygoing and just looking for a companion. AJ, 54 seeking: W

STONER DEADHEAD LIVING HIS LIFE

Been on this mountain for 25 years. Empathetic, compassionate, generous egoist. Creative tool-using lover of science, magic and humanity. Maker of music, pizza, tie-dyes and other creative oddities. Seeking a fun distraction. A muse. Growth. A dinner companion. A break from solitude. If magic happens, I am not likely to run away.

MountainAnarchist 58, seeking: W, l

FIT, EMOTIONALLY AVAILABLE, DEEP CONVERSATIONALIST

Seeking an intellectually aware woman with a tender heart who enjoys both serious and goofy conversations and who values emotional and physical intimacy in a LTR with a man who has far less body hair than many on the dating sites! I’m a light hiker, travel, enjoy going out, do light yoga and pickleball. Into personal growth and moderate outdoor activities.

SometimesPoetVT, 56, seeking: W, l

FINDING PEACE IN VERMONT

Oh, boy. I love summer. March to the end of November I find the most appealing, though hiking and hockey do help me cope with winter. But there is nothing better than a meal off the grill, IMHO. I am not a fan of TV. I like to be busy. We live but once. So let’s live! Exploring_Vermont 60 seeking: W, l

LIFE IS POETRY

I like to believe my heart is in the right place. I work on being aware and open-minded, considerate and a good listener. I’m artsy and eclectic. Music, art and literature are the simple things that make me happy. I’m looking for someone to share life with and write our own poetry. Someone who is kind and self-aware. DogberryTouchstone 60, seeking: W, l

I am a human services worker and a college graduate. Have traveled to 47 states. I am definitely an outdoors person and also like to attend a wide variety of events. I recently ended a 23-year relationship and am ready to move on. Looking for a sincere woman, preferably in Chittenden County, for dating and a long-term relationship. kevinvermont 63, seeking: W, l

TRANS WOMEN seeking...

RECENTLY RELOCATED, ADVENTUROUS, FREE SPIRIT

I’m a gorgeous, white, 100 percent passable trans lady who is 57 and could pass as 30 — yes, 30! I long for love, laughter and romance, along with loving nature. I want a man who’s all man, rugged, handsome, well built but prefers a woman like myself. It’s as simple as that. We meet, fall in love and live happily ever after. Sammijo, 58, seeking: M, l

FABULOUSLY FUTCH

Tall, smart trans woman looking for my people. I live in Middlebury. Any background in punk or politics is a plus — let’s make some noise! sashamarx, 54, seeking: M, W, TM, TW, Q, NC, NBP, Cp, l

GENDERQUEER PEOPLE seeking...

BABY BUTCH SEEKS GUIDANCE

(Not sexual or romantic.) If you’re queer, an activist or anything of the like, I would love to connect! I’m a genderweird (truly) babydyke butch, and I desperately want to learn from older queers. As much research as I’ve done on gay history, I always want to learn more and connect. If there are any other butches out there, please reach out! antweed 18, seeking: TM, TW, Q, NC, NBP, l

LET ME WRITE YOUR STORY

Truly just here to explore everyone else. Dating weirds me out, and sex is so intimidating, so just let me be your friend. I promise I’m actually kinda cool. orion_nebula, 28, seeking: M, W, TM, TW, Q, NC, NBP, l

COUPLES seeking...

LOOKING FOR FUN PEEPS

Fun, open-minded couple seeking playmates. Shoot us a note if interested so we can share details and desires. Jackrabbits 60, seeking: W, Cp

FUN COUPLE LOOKING FOR EXPLORATION

We are a secure couple who enjoy the outdoors, good wine, great food, playing with each other, exploring our boundaries and trying new things. We are 47 and 50, looking for a fun couple or bi man to play and explore with us. We are easygoing, and we’d love to meet you and see where our mutual adventures take us.

vthappycouple 50, seeking: M, Cp, Gp

LOVERS OF LIFE

We are a 40s couple, M/F, looking for adventurous encounters with openminded, respectful M/F or couples. Looking to enjoy sexy encounters, FWBs, short term or long term.

HEALTHY LIVING BARISTA

i SPY

BLUE HAIR, DON’T CARE

If you’ve been spied, go online to contact your admirer!

dating.sevendaysvt.com

YOU SANG ‘COME OUT TO PLAY’

Blue hair, Supercuts stylist. Something about the look in your eyes made me want to get to know you. It was a glow of confidence and beauty. I gave you a wave on my way out. If you’re interested, I Spy back. When: Saturday, April 6, 2024. Where: Williston. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915981

FATHER AND DAUGHTER AT AL’S

You were tall and potentially handsome (too far away to tell), standing outside, in line for a creemee. For some reason you were facing the road. I was headed home on a bus and wearing a navy bandanna. We glanced at each other before the light changed. I wonder what was on your mind. Hope you enjoyed your day together. When: Friday, April 5, 2024. Where: outside Al’s, the weekend of the eclipse. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915980

MILTON HANNAFORD

CHECKOUT LINE

We were standing next to each other in different lanes. I made a comment that it was as busy as I had ever seen it, and you said it must be the solar eclipse. You got through your lane a cart ahead of mine. If you see this message, I would like to get together sometime and chat some more. When: Saturday, April 6, 2024. Where: Milton Hannaford checkout line. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915979

ARE YOU THE QUEUE?

You laughed. You liked the word “queue,” found it quaint. Asked me, “Do you come here often?” You kept brushing your hands all over me! Long-bearded man, rough-handed construction man. Foxy Market was so busy that night. We had to fly, my friend and I, to Barre. You have my number? Those breeze-block dogs, give me a call! When: Friday, April 5, 2024. Where: East Montpelier. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915978

How did you know my true wild name?

Clever, bravo! You see my beauty! I’ll play on this brand-new day. The sun is up, with an eclipse. Time to make a move. I’m wearing that daisy chain, eyes wide open. Looking up, as the light goes to dark. Sing to me. I want to hear your heart’s desire sung. When: Thursday, April 4, 2024. Where: central Vermont. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915977

GOOD MEASURE CONNECTION

You came to my show. We made lots of eye contact throughout and chatted afterward. I loved your dance moves and long hair. You were tall, named Austin and originally from the Carolinas. You commented on my eye shadow and left before I could ask for your number. Let’s go dancing together sometime? When: Saturday, April 6, 2024. Where: Good Measure Brewery. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915976

FOUR OF MY FAVORITE KIDS

About 20 years ago, I had the honor and privilege of loving and caring for four wonderful children. I left my whole heart with them when that job ended. I’ve missed them every day since. I love you, Anthony, Rowie, Xanny and Princess Liah. If you ever need anything, I’ll help you in whatever ways I am able. Love, Seerah.

When: Thursday, August 1, 2019. Where: Cabot Ct., Burlington (many years ago). You: Group. Me: Woman. #915974

KEVIN FROM 20 YEARS AGO

Kev, thank you for “The Office.” It’s brilliant and amazing. I was way too burdened by life to realize exactly what you had done for me. A few years ago, the dust settled and it became clear. That show will always belong to us. One day I hope we get credit for it. Take good care of yourself.

Sarah. When: Thursday, August 1, 2019. Where: Cabot Ct., Burlington (many years ago). You: Man. Me: Woman. #915973

Dear Reverend,

My sister is obstinate about saying Taylor Swift sucks when it’s objectively clear that she is talented, not just musically, but also as a media mogul. I think my sister is stuck in patriarchal thinking that keeps her from appreciating a woman who is successful for doing “girly” things. How do I get her to release herself from the chains of patriarchy and admit that Taylor Swift kicks ass?

You served me a latte with almond milk. You: beautiful smile, jeans and black top. Would love to chat. Sigh. When: Saturday, April 6, 2024. Where: Healthy Living, Williston. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915975

LOVELY CUSTOMER AT DELI

You were waiting for your sandwich beside the table where I was eating, and you left an impression on me. You were wearing a long, dark green coat, a light olive-green dress and dark stockings. You had a winter hat on with a pompom on top. I think I overheard the deli staff call you “Caroline.” I’d love a chance to introduce myself over a cup of coffee. When: Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Where: Top of the Block Sandwich Shop. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915972

HANDSOME HANDYMAN

I spy a tall, dark-haired hunk often fixing up the house next door. Wondering if you wanted to grab a Caprese sandwich at City Market sometime soon? When: Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Where: N. Prospect St., Burlington. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915971

SNACKY CLUSTERS GOT YOUR ATTENTION?

Handsome guy. Your gorgeous eyes definitely got my attention. I’d really like to know if there’s a chance I could meet you for dinner, lunch, breakfast, bag your groceries, carry your bags to the car? Don’t be shy; your eyes weren’t. When: Monday, March 25, 2024. Where: Trader Joe’s. You: Man. Me: Man. #915970

EVERYTHING SHE DOES IS MAGIC

Were you singing to me? You were fingering those bass strings expertly at open mic night. I raised my glass in your honor, a salute to your bravery. Later you were standing beside me, waiting to seal your instrument back into its large case! You radiated heat, a tantalizing “come hither” vibration. You could ask for my number. Why not? When: Thursday, March 21, 2024. Where: the Whammy Bar. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915969

TRUE NORTH

I spy, out of the corner of my eye, someone driving by. It feels like we’re strangers passing like ships in the night. I give way when all I want is to be overtaken. When: Saturday, March 16, 2024. Where: central Vermont. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915967

Dear Not So Swift,

Although blaming your sister’s disdain for Taylor Swift on patriarchal thinking is an intriguing idea — and likely the subject of many an academic essay — there may be an easier explanation.

Some people are born contrarians, hardwired to dislike just about anything simply for the fact that it is popular with the masses. I hate to admit it, but I’d have to include myself in this group.

Case in point: When I was about 15, the musician Prince was becoming extremely popular and I would have none of it. I went so far as having a letter published in Newsweek magazine stating my belief that he was just a flash in the pan who stole his style from the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Little Richard. However, after

FULL MOON, SPICY MERMAID

I see your soul under the full moon. It peers into mine when you look into my eyes. Our beings intertwined in such a beautiful way. The way life flickers against our beings like flames from a fire. We have traveled across time and space to be where we are together. You are loved unconditionally, beautiful woman! Many adventures ahead. When: Friday, March 22, 2024. Where: Calais. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915968

UPSTAIRS NEIGHBOR

To the petite college girl who lives above me: I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to come downstairs to say hi. I’m sure we’d click. If things get heated, we can call the fire department and they’ll be here in seconds flat. When: Sunday, March 17, 2024. Where: Burlington. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915966

WILD SATURDAY NIGHT, ESSEX HANNAFORD

6:45 p.m. You: orange jacket, brown hair, shopping with a single grocery bag, sporting the only mustache I’ve ever found attractive in my life. Me: purple jacket, messy ponytail, shopping with my mom. We made eye contact in the produce section, and I smiled at you by the Mexican food. You looked like a deer in headlights. When: Saturday, March 9, 2024. Where: Hannaford, Essex. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915965

RICHMOND, SATURDAY MORNING, JOGGING HELLO

Just before 11 a.m. Me: M, tall, graying hair, glasses. You: F, petite, black hair in a bun, jogging up Bridge Street as I walked from home to the post office. Then you turned left by the dentist. We’ve waved hello before as you’ve jogged by. Wondering if you’d like to talk sometime over coffee/tea/ whatever? When: Saturday, March 9, 2024. Where: Richmond village. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915964

THREE IS BETTER THAN TWO

The secretary of state’s website says only three people in the entire state voted “Ceasefire” in the primary. Just so happens I’m one and I work with the second person. Who’s our third? Kind and curious to meet a like-minded voter! Free Palestine! When: Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Where: somewhere in a Green Mountain State polling center. You: Group. Me: Woman. #915962

VIOLET

I was waiting in line to vote, you were on your way out, and our eyes locked for much more than a mere moment. Buy a lady lunch at Leunig’s? When: Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Where: Ward 3 polls. You: Man. Me: Trans woman. #915963

NEWSBOY CAP CUTIE!

I first saw you in line at Trials of Cato and Talisk. Was a bop, eh? You looked at me several times and had the cutest cap. Just wanted to inform you that you look like some 1920s dreamboat.

Sigh! When: Saturday, January 27, 2024. Where: Higher Ground.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915961

RE: LOOKING FOR A COMPANION

That’s what I’m talking about! Glad you found someone who respects you. Dating is hard. As the folks from America said, “Don’t give up until you drink from the silver cup.” When: Saturday, March 2, 2024. Where: Seven Days I Spy. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915960

LOVE YOU

I feel like I’m getting onto a boat for a long journey, but all I want is to go back to the shore to live with you. I believe firmly that my heart, mind and soul always were and still are with you. When: Thursday, February 29, 2024. Where: life. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915958

PAULA ON MATCH

Seen your ad on Match. St. Albans, early 60s, woman. Like your photo, nicelooking gal. Wanted to write and say hi, but your ad was gone. Miss seeing you. Looking for long-term friendship. Are you coming back to Match? We could chat or have a date. I sent you a like.

Your secret admirer. When: Thursday, January 25, 2024. Where: Match. com. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915957

CONDUCTOR BUMBLE

Hi, Conductor Bumble! Thanks for a nice ride to NYC — or maybe you got off in Albany with the “crew changes.” Your smile and overall pleasant demeanor made the trip more delightful. Just stay out of the maple-flavored “goodies.”

When: Saturday, February 24, 2024. Where: Amtrak, Ethan Allen Line. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915956

a day at the beach smoking pot and listening to Purple Rain with a group of punk rockers, I changed my tune and became a great fan. So much so that on the day Prince died, I felt a profound sense of mourning.

All this to say: Even us true-blue contrarians can have a change of heart.

It’s also possible that your sister is just razzing you, as siblings often do. Either way, it’s her; she’s the problem. I suggest you just shake it off and don’t worry your pretty little mind; people throw rocks at things that shine.

Good luck and God bless, The Reverend

What’s your problem?

Send it to asktherev@sevendaysvt.com.

I’m a gay male, 65 y/o, seeking gay men for new friendships. Outgoing, fun, loving person seeking meaningful connections. “Best friend” kinda guy here! is is not an ad for sex; friendship only. Looking forward to hearing from you. #L1746

He needs it bad, and she needs it more: ISO ideal M/F couple in need of attentive oral assistance to complete their lovemaking pleasure. Mature M welcomes your thoughts. #L1747

I’m a GM, early 60s, looking for playtime friends. Can be long- or short-term. Nice guy, easygoing and fun to be with. #L1745

Woman, 63. NEK, single, work full time. Healthy, adventurous, curious, kind. Seek male friend to hang out with, explore, share conversation, meals. Not into divisive politics. Definitely into nature/beautiful surroundings. If romance happens, that would be wonderful. #L1744

Very active, elderly gent who lives alone seeks a lady with similar interests to share his lovely home. Splendid views, huge deck, paved highway, free TV and Wi-Fi. I enjoy snowmobiling, antiques, classic cars, parades, long rides, eating out, flowers and community involvement. Seeking a woman who enjoys the same. #L1738

70, young-looking, good shape. Enjoy karaoke, singing, comedy. Seek female, 45 to young 70s. I am 5’9, hazel eyes, 163 pounds, black hair. #L1743

I’m a SWM, early 60s, island dweller seeking a SF. Do you like shots of tequila and getting caught in the rain? Do you like walks in the islands and the taste of Champagne? Do you like making love at midnight in a sweet summer sweat? Do you like any of these items? Come with me and escape. Active. Athletic. Adventurous. #L1742

I’m a 73-y/o male desiring a woman in her 70s or 80s to experience together the joys of a sensuous relationship. Phone number, please. #L1741

I’m a SWM seeking a bi male and bi female for fun times. Clean, nonsmoking, drink ok. Any age, race. Nudist, movies, porn. Send phone number. #L1739

NEK prince, 74, seeks princess. I’m very attentive, sweet and good-looking, seeking the same in a woman, 60 to 74. Writer a plus. Don’t need a maid; want a partner to love and be loved by. Nice home on romantic property. No Trumpers. #L1737

Not a romantic/sexual request! Young, handsome woman seeking butch mentor (25 to 45) for guidance in self-expression, strength and intersocietal relations. #L1735

I’m a 67-y/o woman seeking a 55- to 76-y/o man. I am looking for a man to enjoy inside and outside — one who finds time to be a companion, is not a couch potato, and enjoys the outdoors, traveling, golf, fishing, etc. Leave your cell number. #L1733

I am a 25-y/o male forager, tinkerer and dumpster diver seeking like-minded empathetic woman of a similar age. #L1729

I’m a woman, 80 y/o, seeking a man, 70 to 80 y/o. I want friendship as well as a companion. Also like the outdoors in the summer. Swimming, boating and just reading at home. Like going out to eat once in a while. #L1734

Kind, loving and sincere 72y/o woman looking for a male companion/friend to spend time with and get to know. #L1726

Let’s do some things — coffee at Black Cap Coffee, dinner, the Green Mountain Film Festival, music at Hugo’s or Bent Nails Bistro. Woman, early 70s, seeking man of similar age to explore common interests. #L1732

I’m a 62-y/o female who wants a male companion to have fun with, maybe go for some drinks or smoke a bowl. Young in spirit, but I’m not into the romantic part of relationships anymore. Simply looking for a goofy friend to take me out on the town. #L1730

I’m 47, seeking a male. I’m 5’6, 206 pounds, looking for someone to marry me and who is very wealthy. Please respond. #L1728

56-y/o single, sincere gentleman looking for one female partner for fun/experiences in St. J. Healthy, fit, humorous, not bad looking. Honest, tolerant, respectful. Open mind/heart. Just a tad lonely, and that is a good thing for us. #L1727

I’m a lifelong good-looking senior Vermonter. BA at Saint Michael’s College. Had a 750 Honda for 10 years to explore Arizona and Vermont. Live with my cat. Regular gardening indoor and out. Seeking a companion who is caring and honest for love and sexual experiences. #L1725

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