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VE R MO NT ’S INDE PEN DENT VO IC E OCTOBER 14-21, 2026 VOL.32 NO.6 SEVENDAYSVT.COM

VOTERS’ GUIDE INSIDE

Home Stretch VISION QUEST

PAGE 34

Visiting the “Eye of Québec”

Gov. Phil Scott has handily defeated opponents for a decade. But political newcomer Amanda Janoo is mounting a credible challenge. BY AL IS O N NO VA K , PA G E 28

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THE

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B Y ALI SON N O VA K

COLUMNS

28 COVER DESIGN REV. DIANE SULLIVAN • IMAGE JOHN DALY

Suit: Arrest by Winooski Cops Left Man With Multiple Fractures Age Appropriate?

Advocates say it’s time to treat most 19-year-old offenders as minors in court. State officials disagree.

NEWS+POLITICS 14 Bed Check

As UVM Medical Center closes two units, some nurses and families fear vulnerable patients will lose specialized care

STUCK IN VERMONT

FEATURES 28 High Impact

Our traveling reporter takes in the sights on a 660-mile Québec road trip. Destination: Manicouagan, one of the planet’s largest meteor craters

Man Charged With Beating His Wife to Death

ARTS+CULTURE 46

U.S. Education Department Dings Vermont Over Data Errors

Theater review: Northanger Abbey, Shaker Bridge Theatre

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11 Magnificent 7 13 From the Publisher 41 Side Dishes 52 Movie Review 66 Album Reviews 101 Ask the Reverend

SECTIONS 23 Life Lines 40 Food + Drink 46 Culture 54 Art 60 Music + Nightlife 52 On Screen 68 Calendar 80 Classes 81 Classifieds + Puzzles 97 Fun Stuff 100 Personals

Watch This

Previewing the Vermont International Film Festival in 48 loglines

101

Old Haunts

Eric Killorin’s “Lost & Found Vermont” pictures the state’s abandoned places

BurlinGton, VermonT

MON-WED 9:30AM-8:30PM TH-SAT - 9:30AM-9PM • SUN - 10AM-7:30PM 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.

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GERALD

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Fix Health Care. Stop Fraud. No Tax & Spend. Term limits.

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Comic Callback

SUPPORTED BY: When Tamara Jordan moved to Vermont in 2020, she didn’t buy warmer clothes — she learned to knit her own. Jordan sells her knitting patterns online, and Starcrossed Knits has more than 100,000 followers on social media. Seven Days’ Eva Sollberger met up with Jordan for a new sweater reveal.

Kendall Farrell returns to Vermont Comedy Club for a weekend of shows where he launched his career

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LOOKING FORWARD

MAGNIFICENT MUST SEE, MUST DO THIS WEEK BY RE BE CCA D R ISCOL L

OPENS FRIDAY 16

Into the Mystic Break out the Ouija board! Rokeby Museum’s annual Halloween play returns with a spooky and timely new script titled “Spirits of Rokeby: The Impending Crisis.” The spine-tingling immersive experience — inspired by Ferrisburgh’s true spiritualist history — finds local actors in period-perfect garb summoning souls from the great beyond in a dramatization of real 19th-century séances. SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 72

FRIDAY 16

WELCOME HOME

SATURDAY 17

Word Play

Ready for your close-up? At Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater, top comic Tina Friml brings her sharp wit, indefatigable positivity and candid take on living with cerebral palsy to the stage for live tapings of two sold-out shows that will become her first one-hour comedy special. The Vermont expat (We knew her when!) delivers fearless, punchy humor to local fans — who might end up cackling on-screen.

Direct from Montréal, Cirque Kalabanté presents a feast of aerial feats at Spruce Peak Arts in Stowe with its visually stunning original production WOW (World of Words). Founded by African circus artist and former Cirque du Soleil member Yamoussa Bangoura, the company stuns with gravity-defying triumphs, backed by the pulsating beats of live Afro-jazz and kora music. SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 74

SATURDAY 17

Eye on the Sky Moira Smiley and Rasa String Quartet join forces for “Roots to Sky,” an intimate, collaborative performance at the newly renovated Vergennes Opera House. Smiley’s resonant vocals and driving banjo combine with the Boston four-piece’s luminous instrumentation to explore human traditions through works both ancient and contemporary.

SEE CLUB LISTING ON PAGE 64

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 74

SUNDAY 18

Wild Things One of the oldest known food preservation methods gets its moment at the Wild Culture Fermentation Festival at Barr Hill in Montpelier. The epicurean extravaganza centers on bubbles and brine, complete with behind-the-scenes tours, demos, live music, and tastings from 15 local food and beverage artisans, including fermented-fare faves Eden Ciders and Mt. Mansfield Creamery. SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 74

OPENS THURSDAY 15

Short ’n’ Sweet Six plays. Six directors. Six casts. Intrigued? You should be! Vermont Repertory Theatre mounts The Williston One Acts at its home base, where the spotlight shines bright on local talent in a smorgasbord of shorts. Expect diverse works by voices that run the theatrical gamut — from Harold Pinter to Ian McWethy — served up at accessible lengths.

COURTESY

SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 71

The cast of “I, Chorus” in rehearsal

ONGOING

Well Heeled The Adamant Cooperative Gallery’s foot-forward group exhibit “The Shoe Show” steps into unusual artistic territory. (If you’re thinking fetishized content, guess again!) Twenty creators explore the concept of footwear as art — from ballet slippers to stilettos — using various materials not typically found on the feet, such as paint, papier-mâché, fiber and wood. SEE GALLERY LISTING AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/ART

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FROM THE PUBLISHER

North Star

For some Americans, the U.S. midterm elections can’t come soon enough; many Vermonters have already voted. In contrast, the job of the journalist — learning about and covering the candidates — takes time. It requires observing electoral hopefuls in action. A good reporter will go the distance on the campaign trail, talk to supporters, and watch and listen carefully as they field questions in real time. This approach inevitably yields more insights and revelations than a sit-down interview with a polished politician. What Kevin McCallum laid out in last week’s story about Vermont’s contest for lieutenant governor, “Fighting Words,” prepped readers for a heated televised debate. This week’s cover story is about the race for the state’s top job, between incumbent Gov. Phil Scott and economist challenger Amanda Janoo. I’m pretty sure that no one — least of all Scott or Janoo — expected the contest to be so competitive. Reporter Alison Novak set out to answer the question on the minds of many Vermonters: Jen Rose Smith Who’s Janoo? We’re publishing Alison’s cover story, “Home Stretch,” in the same issue as the Seven Days Voters’ Guide. The goal is to shed some light on those eager to represent you. Already voted and ready to move on? Hitch a ride 660 miles north with Richmond travel writer Jen Rose Smith for a rare look at a giant, ring-shaped lake in northern Québec created by a meteor more than 200 million years ago. One of the world’s largest impact craters, the Manicouagan Reservoir was made visible in 1968 by flooding engineered by Hydro-Québec. A picture snapped aboard the space shuttle Columbia 15 years later launched Jen’s obsession with the natural landmark. “The resulting photo resembles a dreamscape: a great doughnut of water 45 miles across, with a snowcapped peak at its center, tributaries furrowing away into the surrounding boreal forest and mountains hugging the edge,” Jen writes in her piece this week. “It’s really not close,” she concedes. “Yet when imagined from the Columbia’s low-Earth orbit, as I have done often over many years, the crater is just right there. A certain cruising altitude makes all the world look snug.” In short, she had to go, so in July Jen and her husband, Daniel, planned a three-day backpacking trip in the trailless mountain range adjacent to the reservoir, the Monts Groulx. In a tight, 2,500-word story, she chronicles the journey, starting

with a 15-hour drive along the north coast of the St. Lawrence River to Baie-Comeau, once home to a thriving paper mill, and up along the Route des Baleines, aka the Whale Route. Native Canadian guides, miners, blackflies and hydroelectric dams all find their way into the narrative. It’s no wonder Jen won the top prize for U.S. travel journalists last week. Funded by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, the 2026 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition singles out the nation’s most eloquent explorers. As the reigning Travel Journalist of the Year, the judges noted, Jen combines “literary elegance, immersive reporting, environmental awareness and cultural sophistication across a remarkably diverse portfolio.” Jen’s nine submissions — from a 12-month period — ranged from a first-person piece about bike-packing across Morocco to a breaking-news segment for CNN about the growing tensions between the U.S. and Canada. She experienced none of the latter while reporting on this trip. Major outlets such as National Geographic, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post regularly commission Jen’s work, but the experience of being published nationally sometimes feels like “writing into a void,” she told me. Not so when sharing travel tales with her neighbors through Seven Days. I’m quite sure she’s not doing it for the money. Our Québec Guide at sevendaysvt.com/quebec is full of Jen’s great travel stories, which include all the info you need to plan a visit north of the border. When you’re back, Seven Days will tell you everything you missed at home — including, in three weeks, election results.

HITCH A RIDE 660 MILES NORTH

WITH RICHMOND TRAVEL WRITER JEN ROSE SMITH.

COURTESY

Paula Routly If you like Seven Days and can help pay for it, become a Super Reader! Look for the “Donate” button at the top of sevendaysvt.com. Or send a check with your address and contact info to: SEVEN DAYS, C/O SUPER READERS P.O. BOX 1164 BURLINGTON, VT 05402-1164

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

OWEN LEAVEY

news

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Suit: Arrest by Winooski Cops Left Man With Multiple Fractures B Y C O LI N F L A NDE RS colin@sevendaysvt.com © ALEXANDRU CUZNETOV | DREAMSTIME

HEALTH CARE

Melissa and Michael Ewell

Bed Check

As UVM Medical Center closes two units, some nurses and families fear vulnerable patients will lose specialized care B Y H ANNA H BASSET T • hbassett@sevendaysvt.com

hen Michael Ewell started playing bingo at the University of Vermont Medical Center, his wife, Melissa, could see the fog around him beginning to lift. Michael, 73, who has multiple sclerosis and a history of neurological problems, had spent weeks in the Burlington hospital as 2024 gave way to 2025 following episodes that left him barely responsive. At times, he struggled to speak, eat or walk. Doctors eventually determined that he no longer needed acute neurological care, but Melissa, who is 74, was unable to safely care for him at their home in St. Albans. He would need somewhere else to go while the couple waited for an opening at a longterm care facility. A general medicine unit that specializes in geriatric care in the UVM hospital offered a temporary yet vital solution. Nurses there encouraged Michael to get out of bed, walk down the hall and join 14

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

other patients in the floor’s popular activity room. Melissa began to recognize the spirited husband she knew. He started reading magazines, playing games and talking with her again.

WHAT ON EARTH WOULD WE HAVE DONE IF THAT PROGRAM WASN’T AVAILABLE? ME L IS S A E W E L L

Melissa remembers leaving each evening for the 45-minute drive home, confident that her husband had the care he needed. Now, facing orders to cut costs, University of Vermont Health plans to close the five-bed unit that helped Michael recover.

The closure is part of a broader restructuring announced by UVM Health last month that will affect 199 staff positions, including 118 at UVM Medical Center. The largest cuts involve closing a 30-bed general medical unit and the program where Michael received care, which serves older patients who no longer need acute treatment but cannot yet safely leave the hospital. Both are expected to close by month’s end. To soften the blow, UVM Health plans to create 55 roles, leaving a net reduction of 144 positions, and projects annual savings of $16.8 million. Administrators say patients will receive the same quality care elsewhere in the medical center. But some nurses and families question whether the hospital can replicate the specialized attention, comfortable routines and assistance finding long-term care provided by the units that are closing. BED CHECK

» P.18

A schizophrenic man suffered a broken neck and other fractures when two Winooski cops struggled with him in his apartment building, he alleges in a lawsuit. The suit was filed in Chittenden Superior Court this month on behalf of Marc White. The complaint accuses former Winooski detective Marcus Willingham and Sgt. Michael McCormack of excessive force. It says they needlessly escalated what should have been a routine call involving a man whose mental health history was well known. Winooski’s city manager, Elaine Wang, and chief of police, Justin Huizenga, both declined to comment. McCormack did not respond to an email. Neither did Willingham, who now works as a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit says White has lived in Winooski for three decades, and he was out and about in the Onion City routinely. His mental illness was known to police, he alleges. On February 27, 2025, a Papa Frank’s employee called 911 to ask that White, then 54, a regular, be warned he was no longer welcome. White had assaulted a server, the employee reported, and was pacing outside. Willingham arrived, got out of his cruiser and ran toward White, the lawsuit says, prompting him to flee. Willingham caught up with him in his apartment building’s vestibule and took him to the ground, according to the legal claim. McCormack caught up, and a struggle ensued. White repeatedly asked the officers to let him go, the lawsuit says, referring to himself in first-person plural, saying, “We’re scared” and “We didn’t do it.” “When you try to reach for my gun, that’s what you get,” Willingham responded, according to the lawsuit. “I didn’t!” White shouted. White had fractures of his cervical spine, ankle, hand and two fingers. In November 2025, he landed back in the hospital — this time, for psychiatric care. White has since been forced to move into an assisted-living facility, the lawsuit says. ➆

Age Appropriate? Advocates say it’s time to treat most 19-year-old offenders as minors in court. State officials disagree. BY COLIN FL ANDE RS • colin@sevendaysvt.com

n 2018, Vermont lawmakers approved a historic overhaul of the state’s juvenile justice system known as “Raise the Age.” Based on science that shows young people’s brains are still developing well into their twenties, the reform was designed to divert most 18- and 19-yearold offenders into family court, where proceedings are confidential. But while the initial phase took effect in 2020, making Vermont the first state in the nation to treat 18-year-old defendants as juveniles, lawmakers have repeatedly postponed expanding the law to 19-yearolds — most recently until July 2027. The delays have come at the request of Gov. Phil Scott’s administration. After initially arguing that the Department for Children and Families needed more time to prepare, state officials now want the expansion nixed altogether.

MOST YOUTH ARE ABLE TO DESIST FROM CRIMINALITY

AFTER ONE INCIDENT. M AT THEW BERNST EIN

As lawmakers weigh whether to let the expanded law take effect next summer, a new study is adding pressure to move forward. It found far fewer 18-year-olds were convicted of new crimes after going through family court than before the reform. Supporters say the results offer yet more evidence that outcomes are better for teens who break the law when their cases are handled in a system focused more on rehabilitation than punishment. At least one key lawmaker agrees. “My inclination is to go with what the data is telling,” said House Judiciary Committee chair Martin LaLonde (D-South Burlington), who is running unopposed in next month’s election. LaLonde said he believes lawmakers will keep the expansion on track. And, should Scott be reelected in November,

LAW ENFORCEMENT LaLonde said he’d be wary of granting the administration yet another delay. “They’re going to have to have a very good excuse,” he said. Vermont’s Raise the Age law does not cover most serious crimes. Eighteenyear-olds accused of one of the so-called “Big 12” offenses — including murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault and certain sexual assaults — stay in adult court, where they are supervised by the Department of Corrections and face potential prison time if convicted. In the recent study, the Crime Research Group, a Vermont nonprofit, followed 377 family court cases involving 18-year-olds since the reform took effect in 2020. Driving offenses were the most common charge, accounting for about 43 percent of cases, followed by public disorder crimes (17 percent), assaults (16 percent), domestic assaults (8 percent) and thefts (6 percent). The study also included 10 18-year-olds accused of sexual assault and one accused of a weapon-related crime. The study found that only 7 percent of the 377 defendants were convicted of another crime in the following year. Among the 160 who could be followed for three years, about 19 percent were convicted of new offenses. Those recidivism rates were far lower than in the traditional court system. The same research group reviewed cases involving 18- and 19-year-olds who were convicted between 2016 and 2019. They found a one-year recidivism rate of 24 percent and a three-year rate of 46 percent. The researchers cautioned that the two groups aren’t directly comparable because the earlier study looked only at people who had been convicted of a crime, excluding those whose cases were referred to court-diversion programs. AGE APPROPRIATE?

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say you saw it in

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news Age Appropriate? « P.15

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

THOM GLICK

They said the results don’t establish for a fact that family court reduces reoffending compared to adult court. Supporters say the caveats don’t change the overall picture and note that the findings align with the conclusions researchers have long reported about young people and crime. “There is a deep grounding in the literature that says most youth are able to desist from criminality after one incident,” said Matthew Bernstein, Vermont’s child, youth and family advocate. The study has been received with more caution in the governor’s office, where Scott’s stance on Raise the Age has changed over time. In 2021, when vetoing a separate bill that would have prevented police from releasing arrest information about people under 20, Scott wrote that he had been assured the state could properly serve these young adults in family court before Raise the Age was fully implemented. “This has not yet been the case,” Scott wrote. “In addition to ongoing housing challenges, programs designed and implemented for children under 18 are often not appropriate for those over 18.” In family court, DCF fills the role that the Department of Corrections plays in adult court, providing supervision and coordinating services. Before any hearing occurs, the agency screens young defendants for potential treatment needs and risk of reoffending, and many cases end there, either because they are diverted into restorative justice programs or dismissed altogether. In the cases that move forward, a hearing is held at which prosecutors offer evidence to show that the teen broke the law. A judge can then place a defendant on juvenile probation — the most common outcome — and DCF draws up a detailed case plan aimed at getting the teenager the help they need to stop breaking the law. It’s a much more involved process than a typical adult court case, according to Marshall Pahl, an attorney who represents young people in juvenile court. “But there’s a payoff for that,” he said. “There’s a reason why we do it.” DCF officials, who were grappling with pandemic-related disruption, lobbied lawmakers in 2022 and 2023 to delay the expansion to 19-year-olds. They cited a need for additional caseworkers as well as a new secure juvenile facility that could temporarily house young offenders deemed to be a risk to themselves or others. That part of the juvenile justice system has been in flux since the 2020

closure of the Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center amid allegations of abuse by staff. Then, in 2024, DCF and the governor began calling for the expansion to be postponed indefinitely. In his budget address, Scott said he may have made a mistake in signing what amounted to a “policy experiment.” “We didn’t plan for, or build, the system needed to address extreme cases, or have the workforce to support it,” he said. “We focused so much on our well-intentioned goals that we didn’t think through all the possible consequences.” In an interview last week, Scott’s general counsel, Jaye Pershing Johnson, described the administration’s shift as an “evolutionary process” based on “real-life observations.” She said the governor has been leery of Raise the Age from the beginning and suggested that he signed the bill only because his DCF leaders at the time were proponents of the change. Laying out the administration’s current position, Johnson raised numerous objections to expanding juvenile jurisdiction to 19-year-olds. During the first phase of Raise the Age, DCF caseworkers have encountered challenges at times in getting 18-year-olds

— who, as legal adults, have a right to deny services — to comply with their juvenile case plans, according to Johnson. She pointed to another tool for dealing with them: youthful offender status, a middle ground between adult and juvenile court. People 21 and younger who are charged in criminal court can ask to have their case handled that way. If granted by prosecutors and judges, the youthful offender case moves to family court. But the status can be revoked if they don’t follow court orders, Johnson said, providing a proverbial stick that encourages young people to engage. Victims, meanwhile, find that the confidentiality of family court and the lack of punishment can leave them feeling unsupported, Johnson said. Those same complaints apply to 18-year-olds, of course. And yet Johnson said Scott is “cautiously optimistic” that keeping them in juvenile court makes sense, given the recent study’s findings. The administration’s position thus boils down to a single argument: Nineteenyear-olds are different from 18-year-olds in ways that make them unlikely to have similar outcomes. DCF officials say an important indicator of success lies in how much support

offenders have around them. Eighteenyear-olds are more likely to still be in school and to live at home, according to DCF, making them more likely to engage in the services offered through family court. “The buy-in you get from them really does shift from 18 to 19,” said Hannah Marble, DCF’s director of communications and legislative affairs, who previously oversaw caseworkers as a district director. The idea that 19 poses a meaningful dividing line puzzles Lael Chester, who is the director of the Emerging Adult Justice Project at Columbia University’s Justice Lab. Chester said she’s not aware of any research that would back up the idea that 18- and 19-year-olds have drastically different circumstances. Few 19-year-olds live independently, she said, and many are still in school. “They’re absolutely still dependent on other adults, financially, emotionally and practically,” she said. “They are making their way to independence, but that’s going to take years. And that is why the family court and the juvenile system is a much better fit.” For Liz Ryan, who served as the administrator of the U.S. Office of Juvenile

CRIME

Man Charged With Beating His Wife to Death BY COL IN FL AN D ERS colin@sevendaysvt.com GLENN RUSSELL/VTDIGGER

Justice and Delinquency Prevention under president Joe Biden, the Scott administration’s stance raises another question. “If there is a concern for not having enough support for 19-year-olds, why don’t you create them?” she asked. The state wouldn’t have to look far for a blueprint. A year after Vermont enacted Raise the Age, DCF officials — with the help of Chester, the Columbia University researcher — created a detailed implementation plan. The 70-page document laid out nearly a dozen broad steps that the state could take to help teens in the juvenile system, from expanding diversion programs to more community-based supports. Very few of the plan’s recommendations have been enacted, according to Bernstein, the child advocate. He said he has seen the state “treading water” for years now and feels that any time there’s positive news about Raise the Age, “the sands seem to shift.” “I wish that as much energy would go into implementing Raise the Age as has gone into not implementing,” he said. Lawmakers share that frustration. LaLonde said he believes there has been “a lot of foot dragging” among state officials because they don’t want to expand Raise the Age. He said he’s hopeful that the administration will finally be ready for the expansion next year. He will almost certainly be disappointed. While the chronically understaffed DCF has made headway on addressing vacancies — open jobs have fallen to about 7 percent, from an average of 11 in 2024 — agency officials say it will take more than just additional caseworkers to serve 19-year-olds. “When we talk about the support and systems that these young people need, it expands more broadly into mental health, housing,” said Aryka Radke, deputy commissioner of the Family Services Division. “Many pieces need to be in place to give them the best opportunity that they deserve,” Radke continued. “Given what we know and what we’ve learned, without those pieces in place, we simply do not believe there is success to be had.” Bernstein, the advocate, called DCF’s position disingenuous. The agency has had years to build out the services it says are needed to fully implement Raise the Age. Meanwhile, 18-year-olds are succeeding despite very little investment in the program. “They’re rising to the challenge,” he said. “Will the state do the same? Right now, the answer is unclear.” ➆

Bal Khadka at Tuesday’s arraignment A Burlington man is accused of bludgeoning his wife to death with a flashlight in front of their young children over the weekend. Bal B. Khadka, 44, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday morning to seconddegree murder for the killing of Lila Darjee Khadka. A judge ordered him held without bail pending a hearing later this month. Police responded to the Bobbin Mill Apartments on South Champlain Street early Saturday morning after receiving reports of loud screams coming from their unit. Officers spoke to two 10-year-old girls outside the building — the Khadkas’ daughter and her friend who was staying the night — who said they’d climbed out of a window when Bal Khadka began attacking his wife with a flashlight. Inside the apartment, officers found him trying to put shoes on his 3-year-old daughter. “He said ‘hello’ in a low calm voice and seemed unfazed by police presence,” a police affidavit said. Officers found Lila Khadka lying in bed, unresponsive and covered in blood. She was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead on Sunday evening. The Khadkas’ 10-year-old daughter told detectives that she had witnessed her father try to hurt her mother numerous times in the past. In the most recent incident, the girl said her father appeared to be using drugs prior to the attack. She drew for detectives what looked like a crack pipe and said her father had been in and out of her parents’ bedroom all night, yelling at his wife. The friend who was staying the night took an audio recording on her phone that captured the moments before and after the attack. On it, the affidavit describes, a girl can be heard screaming before what sounds like a struggle. “This is followed by what sounded like someone being struck with a hard object at least 9 times,” the affidavit says. There is then a brief pause, before a final striking sound. In a bedroom dresser, police found a flashlight with blood and hair on it. ➆ 2v-unionbank091626 1

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news Bed Check « P.14

EDUCATION

U.S. Education Department Dings Vermont Over Data Errors

FILE: THOM GLICK

B Y A L I S O N N O VAK • alison@sevendaysvt.com

The U.S. Department of Education last month imposed stringent oversight for the Vermont Agency of Education — and required it to take immediate corrective action or face a financial penalty — due to data errors the state agency self-reported earlier this year. Officials are working quickly to come into compliance with the feds, Education Secretary Zoie Saunders told the State Board of Education at a special meeting last week. But the agency is also asking the federal education department to reconsider its decision given the circumstances under which the errors were identified and the commitment the state has shown to resolving the problem. The feds’ action stems from problems the state education agency discovered after it released the annual “Vermont State Report Card” in February. After reviewing the data, agency staff realized that methodological errors dating back to 2018 had led the state to repeatedly misidentify certain schools as having persistent achievement gaps on standardized tests. At the October 8 special state board meeting, Saunders walked members through a timeline of what happened next. After discovering the issue, she said, her agency invalidated some of the previously reported data, immediately alerted school superintendents and reported the mistakes to the feds within 24 hours. In April, the agency followed up with a report to the feds, which included a commitment to redesigning its accountability system. The state didn’t hear back from federal officials but decided that it would “move forward proactively with developing a corrective action plan,” Saunders said. That plan asked the federal government for flexibility while the state moved ahead with a “full redesign” to create “a more coherent, transparent, technically defensible and sustainable” way of measuring performance data and identifying schools in need of support, Saunders said. The State Board of Education approved

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

the plan in July, and the education agency submitted it to the feds and began moving forward with the work. The state didn’t hear back from the U.S. Department of Education until September 28, when Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Kirsten Baesler sent Saunders a letter denying Vermont’s request for more time to redesign its accountability system. In the letter, Baesler wrote that the agency’s errors represented a “significant violation” and called for the state to submit a plan with a new methodology to identify schools with achievement gaps by December 15. If it did not, Baesler wrote, her department would consider Vermont a “high-risk” grantee and plan to withhold $100,000 in Title I funding, along with the potential for further action. Saunders told the state board last week that her agency will follow the feds’ orders, but she has also written a letter to Baesler asking the department to reconsider the high-risk designation, calling it “premature” given the work the state has already started to address long-standing issues. “Typically, the U.S. Department of Education will apply a high-risk designation after they have instructed the state to complete a corrective action and once the state has not done that sufficiently,” Saunders told the board. “We believe this is premature because we self-identified the issue and developed a path forward to address it.” In addition to coming up with a short-term plan to comply with the feds, Saunders said, her agency is committed to redesigning measures of student growth and identifying schools in need of intervention. The state board voted unanimously last week to support Saunders’ response to the federal government. “It’s really easy to find that you made a mistake and then try to cover it up,” board member Rich Werner said. “To take responsibility for it, I really want to give a pat on the back to everybody that’s involved.” This isn’t the first time Vermont’s Agency of Education has faced a penalty from the federal government. In January 2024, when Heather Bouchey was serving as interim education secretary, the federal government threatened to withhold money after the state failed to comply with reporting requirements related to the identification of low-performing schools. ➆

For families such as the Ewells, the concern is whether the hospital can preserve the specialized care that helped Michael recover. “What on Earth would we have done if that program wasn’t available?” Melissa asked. The two programs slated for closure serve different purposes. The general medical floor, known as Baird 3, treats conditions ranging from respiratory illnesses to alcohol withdrawal. Its patients include people with dementia, unstable housing or behavioral challenges that complicate their care. One nurse on Baird 3, who requested anonymity for fear of professional repercussions, said the unit often relieved pressure on the crowded emergency department. She fears eliminating the beds there will leave patients waiting longer for admission. The separate, alternative- care program where Michael Ewell stayed, known as “the pod,” occupied part of a different floor. It served patients who weren’t ready to return home. Heather LaRock, a nurse on the pod, said many patients had Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. Others came from homes where relatives had become overwhelmed by caregiving or from assisted-living facilities that could no longer manage the behavior caused by disease. Some patients had no safe home to return to at all. The pod’s staff included geriatric specialists, nurses, aides, an activities director and case managers. They helped patients dress, eat and establish daily routines, including communal meals, music and bingo. The routines prepared some patients for the structure of longterm care. LaRock praised the care that nurses provide on other floors but is concerned they won’t have the time to meet the specialized needs of geriatric patients while busy treating patients with more acute conditions. “My biggest worry is for the population we serve,” she said. The proposed changes also trouble staff on other floors likely to receive the relocated patients. At a press conference outside the hospital last month, nursing assistant Saer McCliment said administrators had told staff to expect patients from the closing units. The press conference was organized by AFT Vermont, the union representing nurses and other health care workers. McCliment, a unit secretary, described persistent staffing

shortages and questioned how the hospital would accommodate the additional workload. “Closing these units does not make the work disappear,” McCliment said. “It shifts the burden onto other units that are already being stretched thin.” Hospital leaders say employees affected by the cuts can apply to other positions within the organization. Sandy Greene, 52, a nursing assistant on Baird 3, is seeking reassignment but doesn’t yet know if she will land a spot. She fears a layoff could also cost her UVM-affiliated housing in South Burlington, which is contingent on her full-time employment at the medical center. Those whose positions are eliminated will remain employed for a 45-day transition period, with severance available to eligible workers who don’t find another role.

CLOSING THESE UNITS DOES NOT MAKE THE WORK DISAPPEAR. IT SHIFTS THE BURDEN ONTO OTHER UNITS THAT ARE ALREADY BEING STRETCHED THIN. S A ER M C C L I M EN T

Sarah Hoffman, the medical center’s associate chief nursing officer and vice president of nursing operations, said hospital leaders decided to close the units and make other cuts after reviewing data that included patient volumes and bed use. The average number of hospitalized patients each day has declined across the medical center over several years even as admissions have remained relatively steady, she said. Patients are generally spending less time in the hospital, leaving beds unused across multiple floors. Hoffman said administrators track readmissions to ensure that shorter stays aren’t compromising care. The medical center’s rate of readmissions within 30 days is lower than the national standard, she said. “We’re not changing the number of patients that we intend to see or that we are prepared to see,” Hoffman said. “We’re simply reducing the size of our footprint.” The two units will close to patients, leaving their hallways quiet and beds empty. But the hospital plans to keep

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between keeping medical services available and preserving a specialized program matters. After several weeks in the pod, Michael transferred to a Burlington nursing home. He slowly improved over the course of a month in the facility, owing partly to changes in his medication that allowed him to go home in February 2025. Melissa credits the hospital staff on the alternative-care unit with helping him regain enough strength and awareness to make that possible. Bingo alone didn’t restore his health. But she watched nurses and activity staff draw him back into everyday life when his prospects looked bleak. Michael’s condition has since declined again. Melissa, a retired music teacher, remains his primary caregiver at their home. The couple cannot afford extensive private assistance, and she expects he may eventually need another nursing-home placement. The cuts have left her uneasy about her own care as well as Michael’s. Melissa has considered leaving a private practice for a specialist at the medical center but now fears that doctor’s position could also be cut, leaving her in the lurch. “I can’t afford not to trust the system,” she said, “because unfortunately I need the system.” For now, Melissa leans on hope that the hospital will make good on its promise of continued care. She remembers how uncertain Michael’s future seemed when he arrived at the pod and his improvement over the weeks that followed. If he ever needs the hospital again, she hopes to be able to make the drive home to St. Albans with the same confidence she felt then. ➆

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FEED back « P.7

PASSIONATE ABOUT POLITICS We’ve received numerous election-related letters recently and are presenting some of them this week to coincide with the publication of our Voters’ Guide inside this issue. There are still two more papers before Election Day, so this won’t be the last batch, especially considering this week’s cover story on the race for governor. Brace yourself!

Scott has had nearly 10 years in office, so voters might wonder not just who his political friends are but also why he seems to have so few. And since people, not dollars, get to vote, I’d sure rather be Amanda Janoo as Election Day approaches. Alan Turnbull

CRAFTSBURY

Sabina Haskell

BURLINGTON

[Re Last 7: “Janoo Wins in a Squeaker,” August 12]: Much as I enjoy alternative media, especially Seven Days, they sometimes struggle to capture appropriate nuance, as was the case when Seven Days characterized Amanda Janoo’s recent victory as “narrow” and “a squeaker,” including barely 7 column inches inside. While technically accurate if you consider only the vote count, characterizing this victory as “a squeaker” misses the picture. Aly Richards raised $439,145; Janoo only $303,407. A PAC raised an additional $230,025 on behalf of Richards. Richards had 2.25 times the financial resources 20

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

available to fund her bid for the office, yet Janoo won. It doesn’t take a genius to interpolate: Had both campaigns been equally funded, Janoo might have defeated her opponent 2 to 1. Would that have been “a squeaker”? We already know more than we want about the incumbent, moldering in office, vetoing every innovative piece of legislation that comes his way. We need the media to educate the voters about the challenger. That means reporters need to learn what makes Janoo such a sensation. She listens; she’s not afraid to buck the establishment; she advocates for ordinary people; and she has stratospheric emotional intelligence. Please shout her story from Vermont’s mountaintops!

JERICHO

[Re Last 7: “Janoo Wins in a Squeaker,” August 12]: As the political campaigns ramp up, now is the time for those in Vermont media to not just ask tough questions but also tough follow-up questions. I mean questions on Vermont issues plus Amanda Janoo’s stance on where she stands on Israel, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and border security, plus more on her political philosophy and agenda. I appreciate Seven Days making it clear, in at least two former editions, that candidate Janoo is pleased to be associated with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani! That alone should be a red-flag wake-up

Vermont has become one of the least affordable places to live. Now more than ever, Vermonters deserve a voice in Montpelier that takes the affordability crisis seriously. As Seven Days recently reported [“Fighting Words: Lt. Gov. John Rodgers, Behind in the Polls and Cash, Takes Off the Gloves Against Challenger Molly Gray,” October 7], Molly Gray is committed to prioritizing and addressing it. She’s the best person for the job.

call to moderate Democrats who may be overrun by the Democratic Socialist movement. Are Republicans who voted in this past primary and took a Democrat ballot, thinking that Janoo would be a weaker candidate, being careful of what they wished for, knowing those leaning left are greater in numbers? Will Gov. Phil Scott shed part of his laid-back image to lay everything on the line and push aggressively for education funding reform and other critical issues? Will Vermont Democrats crave a win so much that they face destroying the Democratic Party and Vermont in the process? So little is known about Janoo. Does she have possible ties to the Democratic

Molly knows housing in Vermont is too expensive and scarce. As lieutenant governor, Molly will work to remove unnecessary barriers to housing development, advance simplified zoning laws and fast-track preapproved housing plans. Molly also understands that health care costs are crushing Vermont families. As a mom and caregiver to her own mom, who battles multiple sclerosis, Molly gets how important primary care is. She supports, as I do, publicly funded universal primary care for all Vermonters, expanding Vermont’s primary care workforce and lowering hospital administrative costs. Near-universal care for Vermont children under 18 was achieved when I was governor in the 1990s. We are long overdue for

Steven Farnham

PLAINFIELD

So far, there’s been little coverage of the upcoming governor’s race, but Alison Novak noted the candidates’ campaign finance disclosures [“Janoo Outraised Gov. Scott in September, Disclosures Show,” October 2, online]. Novak looked at the amount of money raised as of October 1 and concluded that this race will be the five-term governor’s “most competitive in a decade.” Call me a nerd, but I had to look at the public documents myself (posted by the Vermont secretary of state). Amanda Janoo got help from more than 700 “major” donors who gave an average of $325. She also took in nearly $60,000 from smaller donations — that’s at least 600 people and maybe several thousand (sub-$100 donations are not itemized.) Thus, Janoo has somewhere between 1,300 and several thousand actual people actively fueling her campaign. Meanwhile, Gov. Phil Scott’s take, as reported, was slightly less. He had just 162 “major” donors (but generous — they paid up more than $1,300 each on average). And he had perhaps as few as 116 smalldollar donors (likely more, but these aren’t itemized). As Seven Days noted, Scott’s donors include well-known developers, out-ofstate corporations and several who go by “Casella.” The people donating to Janoo are, well, people (she takes no corporate money).

Robert “Bob” Devost

Editor’s note: Turn to this week’s cover story for more about the race for governor.

Seven Days’ article on a recent poll [“Gov. Scott Leads Janoo by 10 Points in New Poll,” September 28, online] prompted me to write this letter. I call on my fellow Vermonters to reelect Gov. Phil Scott as we deal with uncertain times and affordability issues that affect us all. There’s a national trend by voters to back more progressive candidates, which most voters haven’t seen tested in their own state’s governing. Vermont has. Three decades of Democratic Party control of our legislature, and what has Vermont accomplished to make us more affordable? 1. Vermont ranks No. 3 for total tax burden. 2. Vermont ranks No. 3 for K-12 public school spending. 3. Vermont ranks No. 9 in overall health care spending per person and No. 10 in the economic burden of health care costs relative to median income. Oh, and Vermont ranks No. 41 in fiscal stability. I don’t care what political party you are aligned with, but I do care about how well we’re doing and whether we can make ends meet and make Vermont a place where we can encourage new folks to move. Now, that’s what I call a win! Reelecting Gov. Scott and a legislature that knows how to meet in the middle will get us all there. Join me in voting for Gov. Scott, and let’s continue to build a Vermont that we can all afford.

Socialists of America, out-of-state PACs or other money? Yes, Janoo has an impressive University of Oxford education. Did she attend Vermont public schools or elite private secondary schools? Attend a public or private college? Information, please!

the next step toward universal health care in Vermont. And having grown up on a farm in Orange County, Molly is committed to addressing the skyrocketing production costs our dairy farmers face and will be a champion for rural Vermont. As lieutenant governor, she’ll work to ensure access to local milk processing, strengthen access to local markets, and support farm viability and diversification. Vermonters shouldn’t have to choose between staying in the state they love and affording to live. Molly is prepared to take on these challenges, and I hope you’ll join me in supporting her. Howard Dean

BURLINGTON

Dean is a former governor of Vermont. [Re “Fighting Words: Lt. Gov. John Rodgers, Behind in the Polls and Cash, Takes Off the Gloves Against Challenger Molly Gray,” October 7]: I was appalled to read the details of Lt. Gov. John Rodgers’ antics in his race against former lieutenant governor Molly Gray, particularly his evidence-free insinuation that his opponent used her influence as a former elected official to help her family navigate a code violation in one of their farm buildings. This is, after all, the same John Rodgers who incurred a state violation at his cannabis farm earlier this year and who has since gotten a reduced fine and closed the case. Did he use his position as the sitting lieutenant governor to help himself out of that jam? There’s no evidence suggesting that he did, but by the standards he set during the debate, it’s now a fair question to ask. Lt. Gov. Rodgers has had two years to prove to Vermonters why they should support him for reelection. Rather than articulate any affirmative vision for our state’s future, he has used his time in office to sue his own town over a minor property-rights dispute and to elevate to the Vermont Supreme Court a Trump judicial appointee best known for prosecuting a Vermont resident for exercising his constitutional right to free speech. And now, Rodgers is spending his remaining time in office launching attack after attack on his opponent, instead of offering any specific policies of his own beyond: “I’m a farmer; trust me.” Vermonters deserve better. This sixthgeneration Vermonter and Vietnam-era veteran is proud to say: A vote for Molly Gray is a vote for Vermont. Lloyd Hulburd

WEYBRIDGE

[Re “Fighting Words: Lt. Gov. John Rodgers, Behind in the Polls and Cash, Takes Off the Gloves Against Challenger Molly Gray,” October 7]: Desperate times call for desperate campaign tactics. You might think I’m writing about President Donald Trump’s efforts to stop the inevitable blue wave that will result in Democratic control of the U.S. House and Senate. No, I’m actually writing about Republican Lt. Gov. John Rodgers and his decision to go scorched-earth negative to save himself from being replaced on the job by Democrat Molly Gray, a former lieutenant governor. Rodgers has already made one odd decision, leaving the Democratic Party to join the MAGA-dominated Republicans. That’s so out of touch with Vermonters. I’ve lived in Vermont for my entire life and never seen a negative campaign succeed here. Go ahead, Mr. Rodgers. See how it works for you. Vermonters will want no part of “Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood.” Gray is smart and tough, and she won’t succumb to your nonsense. Rodgers can’t get along with officials in his own town. He whined when he was disciplined for disobeying regulations covering his cannabis farm, even though, as an elected state official, he should have known better. Negativity drives him. Rodgers should write his concession speech now, because is he is campaigning like the loser that he will become on Election Day. John Goodrow

COLCHESTER

I’d like to urge every registered voter to use your vote on or before November 3. Voting is your protected right to state your opinion on issues and candidates and to have your opinion count. We have taken the right to vote for granted in this country for a very long time, to the extent that many people have not bothered to vote in the past. If there were ever a time to vote, it is now. Before you fill out your ballot, take advantage of the excellent voting information available, such as the Vermont secretary of state’s voter guide, the Seven Days Voters’ Guide — inside this issue — and the 2026 Vermont General Election Guide offered by VTDigger. The ACLU of Vermont also has a voter guide. All of these are available online. They provide reliable information on how and where to vote, what the issues are, candidate info, and more. Also check out Vermont Public’s website for election-related coverage. What’s at stake this time around is too important to sit this one out. Lois Price

COLCHESTER

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lifelines

OBITUARIES, VOWS, CELEBRATIONS

OBITUARIES Bob Burley, FAIA DECEMBER 11, 1927SEPTEMBER 23, 2026 SHELBURNE, VT.

Bob Burley read the New York Times nearly every day of his adult life and would have appreciated us starting in Times style: Robert A. “Bob” Burley, a longtime resident of Waitsfield, Vt., who started his brilliant 60year architectural career working with Eero Saarinen on the St. Louis Arch, left his imprint on iconic landmarks in Vermont and beyond. His dedication to historic preservation, natural site design and client collaboration earned him a national reputation. He died at his home in Shelburne on September 23, 2026, his daughter, Jill, at his side. He was 98. Born on December 11, 1927, to Alan and Mildred Burley, Bob grew up in Kenmore, N.Y., a planned community north of Buffalo. His natural talents for drawing, problem-solving, and both creative and practical thinking carried him through a successful career and a fulfilling life. His confident yet humble nature was always friendly and positive. Bob rarely said “no”; rather, he would persist to find the best solution, often an innovation rather than a compromise. He earned a bachelor of fine arts from Columbia College in 1950 and a bachelor of architecture from Columbia University in 1953. His gift for architecture was recognized early; he received six major awards upon graduation, including a fellowship and stipend to travel through Europe for a year. Bob married Pat, whom he had dated through college, following graduation, beginning their lifelong collaboration in adventure, work and family. His fellowship took them through Europe, the Middle East and into Egypt. Their adventures were many, including driving their two-seater Porsche convertible through the desert along the Nile to visit the Valley of the Kings. Imagine: no cellphones or internet, no road maps, few gas stations; just good sense, good luck, and Bob’s easy way with people, even in other languages and cultures. On return to the U.S., Bob began

his career with Eero Saarinen and Associates, at the height of its influence on architecture and design internationally. Bob later said the seven years he spent under Saarinen’s mentorship were key to his perspective and method. It was there he learned to listen to and analyze a client’s needs before beginning a design. While at Saarinen’s office, Bob led the design team for construction of the new U.S. Embassy in London, moving there for a year with his young family. When they returned to the U.S., Bob led the design team for the St. Louis Gateway Arch, charged with ensuring every detail of a beautiful and complicated structure. While still in school, Bob had organized some of the first weekend ski trips by bus from New York City to Vermont, where both he and Pat had skied earlier as members of a Buffalo ski club. With a connection to the Mad River Valley, Bob and Pat built a ski chalet on Bragg Hill, commuting on weekends from New Haven and then Manhattan to ski and vacation, always with their eyes on settling there. They moved to Fayston in 1964 and started Robert Burley Associates (later the Burley Partnership), joined by friend and fellow architect Malcolm Appleton. Pat was an integral part of the business from the start. Bob’s impact on Vermont’s built and natural environments was profound, prolonged and widespread. From the historic Number Nine Schoolhouse on Route 17 in Fayston, he helped shape the look of the state from the 1960s well into the current century. Bob’s firm was selected in the mid1960s to create a master plan for the Capitol Complex in Montpelier, a task he stayed with for more than two decades and that included designs for the historic Pavilion Hotel and a modern yet seamless addition to the Vermont Statehouse. Bob was forward thinking and masterful at attaining consensus; the results were routinely lauded as exemplary historic preservation for new uses.

In 1985, the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus dubbed Bob “Vermont’s Master Architect,” citing his work on the capitol as well as the new Trapp Family Lodge, Maple Tree Place, the addition to the UVM Library, expansion of the Woodstock Inn, Timberlane Medical Building and many award-winning residences from Maine to Florida. He was a potent force in the discussions that led to both Act 250 and Vermont’s prohibition on billboards and worked on other statewide initiatives such as Vermont’s Scenic Byways and the 1976 Bicentennial Steam Train. Bob had highprofile and successful national assignments and awards in historic preservation. He was a long-term member of the advisory panel guiding the restoration of Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest Retreat in Virginia. He was the executive director of the Taliesin Preservation Commission, a fouryear commitment to begin the restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio in Spring Green, Wisc., a National Historic Landmark. He led the American Institute of Architects (AIA) task force to preserve the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. His clever reuse of two cow barns into a library at Colby-Sawyer College earned awards from both the AIA and the American Library Association. Even as he saw the economic benefits of historic preservation, he was not bound by that as a mandate. He designed award-winning modernist buildings and was as familiar and versatile with that vernacular as he was with others. Bob did not have a signature “Burley” look. Rather, his work process was characterized by a deep understanding of a client’s needs and budget, the site, and the context. He put functionality before aesthetics, which resulted in excellent designs that exceeded client expectations. He was named a Fellow of the AIA in 1979, a rare distinction offered for exceptional contributions to the profession. Bob served two terms as president of the Vermont chapter of

the AIA; Mad River Valley residents may remember his personalized “AIA” license plate from those years. Bob was committed to public service, offering his time to initiatives that he thought would help his town, state or country have a more hospitable environment. Whether it was service on Vermont’s Committee for Scenery Preservation, the Waitsfield Historical Society or the many other public dialogues he engaged in, he was a leader and an advocate. Many saw him as a mentor. Bob’s passions extended beyond architecture. He was a dedicated Mad River Glen skier well into his eighties. He was a sailor for as many years, learning as a youngster on Lake Erie. The family graduated from a 17-foot fiberglass daysailer to a 44-foot 1939 classic wooden sloop! Together, Bob and Pat were fearless in their endeavors. In their late seventies, as a segue to retirement, the couple bought a 45-foot trawler and headed south down the Intercoastal Waterway — Pat at the helm, Bob on deck, Skipper their cat sleeping in the fo’c’sle. He was an avid reader of the New York Times, a habit he developed as a young man. Well into his nineties, he would drive 40 miles round trip to get his newspaper. His daughter used that as enticement to move closer to her: “You can have the Times delivered to your door every morning, Dad!” Leaving his home and friends in the Mad River Valley was eased by all the friends that Bob quickly made at the Residence at Shelburne Bay. He will be missed by many in Shelburne, the Valley, the architectural community, and others far and wide, for his interest, his gentleness of spirit, and his passion for his work and life. To the end, he offered to all a compliment, a word of encouragement, a funny line and a beaming smile. He was predeceased by his dear wife of 70 years, Pat; his beloved son, Todd; and his brother, Elliott. He is survived by his beloved daughter, Jill, and her spouse, Elizabeth; and nieces, nephews, extended family and many friends. There will be a memorial event to honor Bob’s life on Saturday, October 24, 2026, 2 p.m., at the Mad River Glen Basebox. All are welcome. Please bring memories and stories to share.

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Kevin Goldenbogen

MARCH 13, 1972SEPTEMBER 29, 2026 WILLISTON, VT. Kevin Goldenbogen of Williston, Vt., passed away on September 29, 2026. He was a beloved husband, father, son, brother, uncle, friend, pastor, neighbor and sojourner on this Earth, whose unwavering devotion to those he loved and dedication to welcoming the stranger and caring for others was what brought him the greatest happiness. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him. Kevin was most recently the pastor of the Charlotte Congregational Church, where he served as senior pastor for nine years; prior to that he was the pastor of the United Church of Underhill, also for nine years. His full obituary can be found here: gregorycremation.com/ obituaries. A Celebration of Life will be held on Monday, October 19, 2026, 4 p.m., at the Charlotte Congregational Church, 403 Church Hill Rd, Charlotte, VT, with a reception following in the church vestry. If you wish to remember Kevin with your actions, find a way to spread love and do good. If you wish to make a donation in Kevin’s memory, Kevin asked that they be given to the General Fund of the Charlotte Congregational Church (charlotteucc.org), or to any organization you care about that helps the little, the lost or the lonely. In Kevin’s words from his blog: “I pray my life looks like healing rather than wounding, like peace and justice rather than violence and oppression; like invitation rather than requirement; like love rather than anything less.” Amen and amen.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

lifelines

OBITUARIES, VOWS, CELEBRATIONS

OBITUARIES Larry Arthur Limoge

Burlington, Larry became a self-employed business and property owner whose integrity, determination and strong work ethic earned the respect of those who knew him. While he enjoyed success in business, his greatest sources of pride were always his family, his enduring faith and his 63-year marriage to Kathleen Margaret (McHugh) Limoge. A devoted parishioner of St. Anthony’s Parish, Larry served as a eucharistic minister and member of the Parish Council

Stewardship Committee. He was also active in the Knights of Columbus, Elks Club, Ethan Allen Club and the Lions Club, where he was especially honored to receive the Lions Club Humanitarian Service Award. Larry had a remarkable gift for making people feel welcome. Humble by nature, he treated everyone with respect, saw value in every person and created lasting connections wherever he went. Over the years, Larry and Kathy opened their home and their hearts to many of their daughters’ friends. Whether for a few days, a season or longer, numerous young people and exchange students found a welcoming place at the Limoge home and were treated like family. Larry loved caring for others through food and was known for making special breakfasts — particularly his chipped beef on toast, crêpes and galettes for the girls. Larry found joy in traveling, skiing, camping, tennis, golf,

bocce, reading and spending time with his longtime “Sometimes Seven” poker group. He treasured traveling with his siblings and visiting numerous countries throughout the years, creating memories and experiences that became cherished family stories. He also loved many trips out West filled with spontaneity and laughter with dear friends Mary and Jim. Some of Larry’s happiest moments were spent surrounded by family, whether at one of the many extendedfamily picnics, visiting his daughters for a meal, relaxing in the Florida sunshine, or enjoying favorite places such as Papoose Pond, the ocean, Barton Golf Club, and the homes he loved in Burlington and Florida. His wife and daughters fondly remember Larry’s familiar words, “Thank you for being you,” and upon entering his home greeting each one with, “Let the party begin!” Larry is survived by his

devoted wife, Kathy; daughters, Julie Limoge, Barbara Limoge-King (William), Margaret Limoge (Ellen Taggart) and Amy Kiely (Tim); grandchildren, Katy Dongmo (Pernell), Jordan Duchesneau (Laura), Olivia, Samuel and Jackson King, and Frida and Annika Kiely; great-grandchildren, Aaliyah and Jameson Carter, and Jalen Dongmo; and numerous nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his youngest brother, Roland Limoge (Joyce). He was predeceased by his siblings Jacqueline Parker, Robert and Richard Limoge, Janice Robbins, and Helene McHugh. Larry’s legacy is reflected in the countless lives he touched through his example of service, acceptance, generosity and unwavering devotion to family. Whether through a welcoming conversation, a helping hand, a shared meal or a simple act of thoughtfulness, he left people feeling valued

and included. His wisdom, steady presence and love for those around him will be deeply missed and fondly remembered. The family extends heartfelt gratitude to the University of Vermont Home Health & Hospice and the many caregivers who provided compassionate care and support during Larry’s final months. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to support UVM Home Health & Hospice or your local food bank, continuing Larry’s lifelong commitment to helping others. Family and friends are invited to celebrate Larry’s life on Friday, October 16, 2026. Visitation will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Ready Funeral Home on Shelburne Road in Burlington. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. at St. Anthony’s Church, with a reception to follow. To share memories and send condolences to the family, please visit readyfuneral.com.

started and bought companies of his own, and spent time as a business consultant. In Montpelier, Vt., Thierry served on the city council and was deeply involved with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, both on the board and as board chair. He believed strongly in giving back to the communities he loved. His generosity extended well beyond financial contributions: Among his many gifts was a water fountain at the

Kellogg-Hubbard Library, a fitting reflection of his belief that even small acts of generosity could benefit many people. Thierry loved being active and sharing the things he loved with others. Pickleball became one of his great passions. He taught countless people how to play and was instrumental in helping bring courts to both Joe’s Pond and St. Petersburg, Fla., where he and his wife, Julie, had residences. He was also an early adopter of technology and loved sharing what he knew. An enthusiastic iPhone user, Thierry taught classes at the Montpelier Senior Center, helping others discover the possibilities of technology with his characteristic patience and humor. Thierry was passionate about music of all types and later in life took up the stand-up bass and enjoyed playing music with others. But perhaps nothing

captured Thierry’s spirit more than his love of bicycling. He could ride thousands of miles in a year and traveled far and wide by bike, including memorable trips to France, where he tackled legendary climbs such as Alpe d’Huez and Mont Ventoux. He also treasured cycling adventures with his friends along the Natchez Trace and Blue Ridge Parkway. His passion for bikes extended into his garage, where he created his own workshop and could often be found repairing bicycles for friends and neighbors. If someone had a bike that needed fixing, Thierry was likely to be there with the tools — and a story. Thierry had a wonderfully curious mind and an eclectic range of interests. He was passionate about the writing of Jane Austen and even started a men’s Jane Austen book group. He approached life with a playful irreverence and was never afraid to have fun with himself. At one

point recently, in a wonderfully Thierry-like gesture, he decided to dye his hair purple. He was young at heart — playful, mischievous, quick with a joke and genuinely fun to be around. Thierry brought a sense of lightness wherever he went. He was generous not only with his resources but with his time, his energy, his knowledge and his friendship. He taught, encouraged, fixed, organized, laughed and showed up for the people around him. He leaves behind his wife of 30 years, Julie Hendrickson, and their blended family: Antoine Guerlain and his wife, Ashley, and their children, Emile and Ines; Maddie Guerlain and her partner, Tim Sider, and their children, Arlowe and Felix; Ben Schneible and his wife, Nuvid Bhuiyan; and Elena Schneible. He is also survived by his siblings, Nick Guerlain and his wife, Cindy; Natalie Denoyer and her husband, Eric; Claude

Karpuck and her husband, Scott; Peter Guerlain and his wife, Kimberly; and Caroline Feroleto and her husband, Tommy; as well as many beloved friends whose lives he touched deeply. Thierry’s sisters Elizabeth Talbot and Stephanie Guerlain predeceased him. Thierry was a true shining light in this world. He lived with enthusiasm, generosity, curiosity and an open heart. He made communities stronger, friendships richer and ordinary days more fun. His laughter, kindness, energy and unmistakable spirit will be deeply missed — and joyfully remembered by all who had the good fortune to know him. A celebration of Thierry’s life will be held on Sunday, November 1, 2026, 3 p.m., in Alumni Hall, 45 College St., Montpelier. Donations in Thierry’s memory can be made to the KelloggHubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier, VT 05602.

AUGUST 14, 1934OCTOBER 5, 2026 BURLINGTON, VT.

Larry Arthur Limoge, 92, of Burlington, Vt., passed away peacefully at home on October 5, 2026, surrounded by his beloved wife and four daughters. Born on August 14, 1934, in Burlington, Vt., Larry was the son of Arthur and Grace Fortin Limoge. He was the sixth of seven children and grew up in Burlington’s Old North End, a neighborhood that remained close to his heart throughout his life. In his youth he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, an accomplishment he carried with pride. He graduated from Burlington High School with the Class of 1952 and moved to California, where he worked at Lockheed Aircraft until he was drafted into the U.S. Navy. Upon returning to

Thierry F. Guerlain

DECEMBER 17, 1951SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 MONTPELIER, VT. Thierry F. Guerlain, a beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, friend and community leader, passed away peacefully in Burlington, Vt., on September 30, 2026. He was 74. Born in New York, N.Y., on December 17, 1951, Thierry lived his life with enormous energy, curiosity, generosity and joy. He had an extraordinary ability to become part of every community he joined — not simply as a participant, but as someone who rolled up his sleeves, brought people together and made things better. Thierry grew up in Redding, Conn., and graduated from the University of Windsor in Ontario. He worked in sales and marketing with companies including Hearthstone,

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

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Peter Edvard Beneš

AUGUST 27, 1948OCTOBER 2, 2026 JERICHO, VT. It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our dear father, děda (grandfather) and friend, Peter Edvard Beneš, age 78, of Jericho, Vt. Peter passed away on October 2, 2026, after a year-and-a-half battle with pancreatic cancer. He leaves behind his son, Joshua, and his beloved grandsons, Luke and Zachary. He was predeceased by his parents; his wife and soulmate of more than 52 years, Vera; his daughter, Christina; and his daughter-in-law, Rebecca. Anyone who knew Peter knew his remarkably positive attitude, kindness and generosity, competitive spirit, devotion to family and friends, and extraordinary strength. Peter showed his love through service. If someone he cared about needed something fixed, built, carried, cooked or simply taken care of, Peter was there. Even through tremendous hardship, he continued serving others and finding things in life to enjoy and be grateful for. Peter was born on August 27, 1948, in Konstantinovy Lázně, Czechoslovakia. His parents worked in the hotel and hospitality industry, and Peter spent his childhood

moving with his family among hotels throughout what is now the Czech Republic. Those years gave him a lifetime of stories. He raised birds, loved animals, learned to ride horses, skied, played music, rode motorcycles and developed an adventurous spirit that stayed with him throughout his life. Peter was 20 years old when Soviet-led forces invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968. He witnessed the tanks and unrest firsthand. His family soon made the difficult decision to leave the country they loved in search of freedom and opportunity. They made their way to Switzerland before immigrating to Canada and beginning a new life in Toronto. Hospitality was in Peter’s blood. In Toronto, he worked alongside his parents as they built their restaurant businesses, including Café Beneš and the Beneš Inn. But an even more important

connection was soon made between the Beneš family in Toronto and another Czech family living in Vermont. In a moment of serendipity, a longtime friend of the Beneš family was visiting Vermont when he unexpectedly crossed paths with his old friend, Al Souček. Al mentioned that he hoped his daughter, Vera, might someday meet a nice Czech man. His friend immediately thought of Peter. That unexpected connection brought Peter and Vera into each other’s lives, and what followed was a whirlwind, fairytale romance. They fell deeply in love and were married on April 24, 1971, at Saint Mary’s Church in Cambridge. They began a partnership that would carry them through more than five decades of adventures, joys and unimaginable losses. If there was ever a couple who were truly meant to find one another, it was Peter and Vera. After several years between Vermont and Toronto, Peter and Vera knew they wanted to make Vermont their permanent home. In 1975, they purchased 10 acres in Jericho overlooking Mount Mansfield and began building the home where they would spend the rest of their lives. They moved in on October 1, 1976. Remarkably, Peter passed away 50 years and one day later in that same home. Peter planted 1,000 trees around the property,

and today, those trees provide a lasting reminder of the care and love he poured into the land. Their property became much more than a house; it was the setting for horses, gardens, a swimming pool, countless gatherings and generations of family memories. Peter and Vera continued their families’ tradition in the restaurant business, operating the Continental Restaurant in downtown Burlington and later the Beneš Inn on Shelburne Road. Peter took enormous pride in good food, hospitality and making people feel welcome. The Beneš Inn received recognition from the Gourmet Diners Club of America for four consecutive years, from 1981 through 1984. Their daughter, Christina, brought tremendous happiness to their lives. In 1985, when she was 9 years old, Christina was diagnosed with leukemia. Peter and Vera stood beside her through three extraordinarily difficult years before her death. Losing Christina changed their lives forever, but they continued forward together with remarkable strength. Happier days returned with the birth of their son, Joshua, in 1989. Peter threw himself wholeheartedly into being a father. He was protective, involved, proud and always there for his son. Some of the most important things

Tom was a father, husband, teacher, opera lover, glassblower, woodworker, documentary filmmaker and advocate for the public good. He received his bachelor’s degree from Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., and held a master’s degree in fine arts from Stanford University’s Film

and Video Department. During his life he made a number of documentary films focusing on American history, including America, Lost and Found and The World of Tomorrow. In his later life he became a dedicated advocate for the town of Poultney and for the state of Vermont. Among his many projects, he was a major supporter of the efforts to enact universal pre-K and to end childhood hunger in the state. He was a donor and board member of Green Mountain College and Vermont Public Radio. His love of American history extended to the preservation of local history, including helping secure the Stone Valley Arts building and contributing to the Poultney Historical Society. Thomas’ love of the natural

world inspired him to work with the Conservation Fund to preserve hundreds of acres of forest in the hills around Poultney and dedicate them to public use. He also supported outdoor educational opportunities for the local elementary and high schools and the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. A public memorial was held on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 5 to 7 p.m., at Stone Valley Arts (145 East Main St., Poultney, VT). In lieu of flowers or other gestures, please send a donation to the Poultney Food Shelf (c/o Poultney Town Offices, 9 Main St., Poultney VT 05764) or the Young at Heart Senior Center (206 Furnace St., Poultney VT 05764). Thomas viewed them as essential to the community and supported them during his lifetime.

Thomas Phillips Johnson Jr. JUNE 6, 1939OCTOBER 5, 2026 EAST POULTNEY, VT.

Tom Johnson, 87, passed away on October 5, 2026, at the Rutland Regional Medical Center due to complications arising from degenerative neuropathy. He is survived by his wife, Ina Jean Smith; his son, Asa James Johnson; and his brother James Moore Johnson. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pa., to Thomas and Jane Johnson, he purchased land in Vermont in 1965 and had resided in East Poultney since 2006. He had been seduced by the beauty of this land which touched him deeply and motivated him. During his lifetime

Peter taught Joshua were through example: Work hard. Take care of your family. Help people when they need you. Keep going when life becomes difficult. Hold on to your faith. And never forget to enjoy life along the way. After his years in the restaurant business, Peter began a long career with the Holiday Inn. Whatever job he held, Peter carried with him the lessons of a lifetime in hospitality: Treat people well, work hard and take pride in what you do. He had an easy ability to make people feel appreciated and cared for. Outside of work, Peter loved working around his property, horseback riding, swimming, traveling, skiing and embarking on adventures with his family. Horses remained an important part of his life, including Shadow Dancer, Prince Charming, Rosie Summer, Orion and Lego. Some of Peter and Vera’s happiest years were spent riding together, traveling, and enjoying the land and home they had worked so hard to build. Nothing, however, compared with becoming Děda to Luke and Zachary. Peter loved watching them grow; sharing his home, pool and land with them; and taking them to where he grew up in the Czech Republic. He delighted in sharing the things he loved with them, putting them on a horse for their first rides and taking them skiing

for the first time. After losing Vera and Rebecca, Luke, Zachary and Joshua became the center of Peter’s world, and he remained devoted to caring for them even as he faced his own cancer diagnosis just months after Rebecca’s passing. Peter’s name, meaning “rock,” could not have suited him better. Through all of life’s joys and unimaginable hardships, Peter was a rock for his family. He was steady, strong and always there when they needed him. His greatest legacy is found in the people he loved and served and in the lessons he passed down to his family: to remain strong, to be generous, to work hard, to take care of one another and, no matter what life brings, to keep looking for reasons to be grateful. We find comfort imagining that after so many difficult goodbyes, Peter has finally been reunited with Vera, Christina and Rebecca. We can picture him together again with the people he missed so deeply, dancing the waltz with Vera once again. Peter’s celebration of life will be held on October 24, 2026, 2 p.m., at the Carriage House, 916 Route 108, Jeffersonville, VT. A reception will follow immediately. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Peter’s memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

lifelines

OBITUARIES, VOWS, CELEBRATIONS

OBITUARIES Evelyn Vinton Beliveau

Maurice retired in the early 1980s, and the couple became avid world travelers and Elderhostel attendees. Lyn was especially fond of overnight train travel and believed each Elderhostel to be “the best one yet.” In 1983, Lyn and Maurice moved into a house in Jericho, Vt., that he had built himself. She embarked on a 10-year project of transcribing the diaries of her grandfather, Gen. Francis Henry French, whom she had never met. She enjoyed this project so much she had business cards printed with “Evelyn Beliveau, Curator” on them. Lyn was a deacon of her church and a volunteer with the church thrift shops in both Essex Junction, Vt., and Lovell, Maine. Lyn was not a braggart, except when the stakes were low. She often boasted to family about her naturally

curly hair, which did not begin to go gray till she was in her seventies; her collection of (three!) cashmere sweaters; and her color-coding system for bedsheets — “green for queen, blue for two” — of which she was so ridiculously proud she insisted it be put in her obituary. (Here you go, Mom.) Her character was outstanding. Lyn was an unflappable, reassuring, kind, loving presence, a bottomless well of patience and generosity. She seldom complained, and she was empathetic toward people who were struggling. Being inclusive was important to her. She could talk to anyone about anything and was always interested in what they had to say. She was exceptionally easy to please and a great travel companion. She was more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Her home was the family gathering place, and she was the magnetic center. Things Lyn loved: roller coasters, puzzles, blue cheese, new places, storytelling, gadgets, Disney World, hauling out an aphorism for every occasion, reading (history and biography for herself; nursery rhymes and chapter books for the children in her life), playing games, baking with kids, hearing others play the piano. Things Lyn was good at:

knitting; she made countless sweaters, scarves, mittens and baby blankets and taught herself entrelac in her eighties. Playing along with “Jeopardy!”; she once passed a “Jeopardy!” test administered in Burlington but unfortunately was never called to be on the show. Reciting “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert Service. Cake decorating, including making elaborate themed cakes for grandchildren on request. Lyn had a frightfully large collection of the Three Wise Monkeys. At some point a visitor referred to “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” as her motto. She seemed astonished at that idea but considered the possibility it was true. In her later years as a widow, Lyn still traveled, but closer to home. She once tied a rope around a ball-shaped L.L. Bean ice cream maker and made ice cream by letting it bob around in the Atlantic Ocean. She became a “pub crawl” enthusiast, meeting up with family and friends for one drink at one establishment, where she would invariably order an old fashioned cocktail. She played a daily game of cribbage with one son in a tournament that went on for years. She wanted to remain in her own home, and she did. Lyn was predeceased by her husband, Maurice;

brother, John; sister Frances; and her three cousins. She is survived by her five children and their spouses: Catherine (Robert), Joe (Julie), Paul (Constance), Teresa (Steve) and Victoria (Stephen). She is also survived by 15 grandchildren: Christine (Jeff); Averil, Aliza, Jordan and Marley; Annie, Evelyn, Arthur and Jessica; Katherine (Gus), Alexander (Ellis), Ethan and Jordan; and Andrew (Jessica) and Derrick (Emily). She is also survived by six great-grandchildren, John, Ben and Connor, and Grace, Eowyn and Nicholas; by her sister Elizabeth Powel of South Dartmouth, Mass.; and many extended family members on both the Vinton and Beliveau sides. Also mourning Lyn are an unusual number of people who considered her a surrogate mother and the members of her vast fan club. The family thanks UVM Home Health & Hospice for its excellent care and counsel in the last week of Lyn’s life. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, November 22, 2026, 2:30 p.m., at the First Congregational Church of Essex Junction, 39 Main St., Essex Junction, VT 05452. Memorial gifts may be sent to the Fistula Foundation (fistulafoundation.org/howto-help). Please visit awrfh. com to share your memories and condolences.

a life does not have to be extraordinary by the world’s standards to be meaningful.

Her life was not measured by conventional accomplishments, but by something far more personal: the connections she made with her family and the love that we shared back. We honor the person Laurie was and the place she held in our lives and in those who knew and loved her. Laurie leaves behind her loving parents, Anthony and Katherine Martello; her sisters and their husbands, Cheryl and Steve Smith and Kathy and Joe Paskevich; and her brother, Anthony, and his wife, Aileen Martello. She also leaves

behind her beloved nieces and nephews, Kate and Johnny Anthony, Brenna and Mike Leonard, Jack and Jessica Smith, Amy and Matt Buchanan, Caroline and Mitch Silva, Sarah and Joe Chevalier, and Harry and McKenzie Smith and Ally and their children. She is also survived by her loving aunts, Corona Sheppard and Dorothy Corrigan, and many cousins. She was predeceased by her grandparents, Thomas and Constance Martello and Francis and Ida Johnson, as well as beloved aunts, uncles and cousins. Laurie’s family wishes to

express their heartfelt gratitude to the loving and devoted caretakers who cared for her with love, kindness and compassion throughout her life. A visitation will be held on Friday, October 16, 2026, 5 to 7 p.m., at LaVigne Funeral Home in Winooski, Vt., followed by a Mass on Saturday, October 17, 2026, 10 a.m., at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Winooski, Vt. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Francis Xavier Church or St. Francis Xavier School in her name.

1931-2026 JERICHO, VT.

Evelyn Vinton Beliveau, 95, of Jericho, Vt., died on September 30, 2026, in her home. Lyn was born in 1931. The second of four children of Bill and Catherine Vinton, she grew up on Kezar Lake in Maine, which continued to be her favorite spot in the world, no matter how many places she traveled to. Lyn graduated from Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine, and Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (1952), earning a degree in mathematics. She decided she would either be a doctor or get married. She worked briefly at GE, then met Maurice Beliveau, a mechanical engineer, on a blind date. They wed in 1953 and were married for 56 years, until Maurice’s death in 2009. The couple lived in New York State and welcomed four children before moving to Essex Junction, Vt., in 1965; a fifth child then completed the family. They named their kids in alphabetical order. She lived a busy life as a wife and mother and was a member of Home Dem and the League of Women Voters. Several of her close lifelong friendships began in Essex Junction.

In middle age and with some offspring still at home, Lyn went back to school and earned a nursing degree at the University of Vermont. She worked in gynecology at the hospital in Burlington. Although she was a professional nurse for less than a decade, it was highly meaningful to her and became an important part of her identity. Her childhood home in Maine had been a family-run summer camp for visitors from the early 1930s to the early 1950s. When she was young, Lyn worked there as a chambermaid, and her sister Fran worked as a cook. After the camp became a vacation place for family only, Fran and Lyn spent many summers there, where they more or less assumed their teenage roles and “ran camp.” These were some of Lyn’s happiest times.

Laurie Ann Martello

MARCH 5, 1958OCTOBER 9, 2026 SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT.

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It is with extreme sadness we announce that Laurie Ann Martello died on October 9, 2026, after a short illness. Laurie was born on March 5, 1958, and resided in South Burlington, Vt., for most of her life. Laurie enjoyed many adventures throughout her life — Disney World, visits to Maine and spending time with her large family. Her adventures remind us that

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

Gary William Brooks MARCH 12, 1955OCTOBER 11, 2026 COLCHESTER, VT.

Gary William Brooks, 71, of Colchester, Vt., passed away peacefully on Sunday, October 11, 2026. Born on March 12, 1955, in Connecticut to Helen Tarte and William Brooks, Gary grew up in Essex Junction, Vt., where he attended Essex High School. He later graduated from the University of Vermont and went on to have a long career with IBM, where he worked for many years before retiring. Later in life, Gary met his longtime partner, Penny Gillander-Dame, with whom he shared the last 14 years of his life. Penny and Gary were inseparable until the end. His family is deeply grateful that Gary found Penny and that they

were able to share such a strong companionship. Penny cared for Gary with unwavering devotion, standing by him through every challenge and remaining steadfast during the final chapter of his life. Her love, patience and constant support brought Gary comfort and companionship, and their partnership was a source of strength to them both. Gary was a reserved and private person who preferred

the company of a small circle of family and friends over a crowded room. Those who knew him best appreciated his dry wit, sarcasm and selfdeprecating sense of humor. He wasn’t one for grand gestures or being the center of attention, but he had a way of delivering a perfectly timed sarcastic comment that could catch you off guard and make you laugh. Gary was comfortable being himself and enjoyed life in his own way. A lifelong New England sports fan, Gary loved just about anything Boston. He also enjoyed professional wrestling and was always up for watching just about any sporting event. Gary’s interests didn’t stop at watching sports. He enjoyed horse racing, sports betting and spending time at the casinos with his father, Bill Brooks. Gary and Bill shared a very close relationship, and Gary also enjoyed spending time with

Bill’s wife, Teresa Gokey. He especially looked forward to their time together at Lone Pine, where they shared many good memories. Bowling was one of Gary’s greatest passions as a young man and something he enjoyed for many years. And no description of Gary would be complete without mentioning his love of Coca-Cola. Family was an important part of Gary’s life, even if he wasn’t always one to express it in words. He was a dedicated brother to Peter, making time to spend with him regularly over the years. Gary was also close with his mother, Helen, and his stepfather, Lefty. He shared their love of collecting heirlooms and loved Helen’s home-cooked meals. Gary shared a particularly strong bond with his cousin, Sammy Haskins. Their relationship was much like that of brothers who were always picking

on each other, trading teasing remarks and giving one another a hard time. Beneath the jokes and playful ribbing was a deep affection and lasting connection. Sammy was an important part of Gary’s life, and their bond brought the kind of familiarity, humor and companionship that only comes from family. To his nieces and nephews, Gary was “Uncle Buck,” who didn’t always follow the rules. He was the babysitter who let the kids watch shows like “Beavis and Butt-Head” and “Ren & Stimpy” when they were probably far too young to be watching them, which naturally made him a favorite. He also made the effort to attend their sporting events and stay involved in their lives. Gary wasn’t necessarily one for big emotional speeches, but he showed up, and that was his way of showing he cared. Gary is survived by his

brothers, Peter Tarte and Jeff Brooks; his sister-in-law, Peggy Brooks; his longtime partner, Penny; his cousin, Sammy Haskins; and his nieces and nephews, Casey Brooks, Kyle Brooks and Kelly Ziner. He also leaves behind extended family and friends who knew and appreciated his unique personality and unmistakable sense of humor. We can only hope that wherever Gary has ended up, there’s an unlimited supply of Coca-Cola, every Boston team is winning, the horses always come in first, and the casino finally gives him a break. Although, knowing Gary, he’d probably still find something to complain about. A celebration of Gary’s life will be held on Thursday, October 15, 2026, 3 p.m., at On Tap Bar & Grill in Essex Junction, Vt. Friends and family are welcome to join us in sharing memories and raising a toast to Gary. Rest easy, Uncle Gary.

Want to memorialize a loved one? We’re here to help. Our obituary and in memoriam services are affordable, accessible and handled with care. Share your loved one’s story with the local community in Lifelines.

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Post your obituary or in memoriam online and in print at sevendaysvt.com/ lifelines. Or contact us at lifelines@sevendaysvt.com or 865-1020 ext. 121.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026 2h-Obit House Filler.indd 1

10/19/22 9:43 AM

ILLUSTRATIONS: JOHN DALY

Home Stretch

Gov. Phil Scott has handily defeated opponents for a decade. But political newcomer Amanda Janoo is mounting a credible challenge. BY AL IS O N NO VAK • alison@sevendaysvt.com

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

ZACHARY P. STEPHENS

n the campaign trail, gubernatorial candidate Amanda Janoo begins every town hall the same way: “What are you most proud of in your community?” she asks the crowd. Hands rise slowly at first. More shoot up after someone breaks the ice. People praise their local libraries and general stores. They talk about the generosity of their neighbors and the strength of their schools. They describe community suppers that bring people together and homegrown initiatives that improve their town’s energy efficiency or provide clothing to those in need. As they share, Janoo scrawls vigorously in a notebook, occasionally chiming in. At a basic level, the exchange imbues the room with a warm and fuzzy feeling. It also introduces a core tenet of Janoo’s political philosophy: Policy makers should build upon the strengths, resources and ideas that already exist within communities rather than focusing on what they lack. Or, as Janoo often says, “Together, we have everything we need.” It’s an oversimplified statement, as any campaign tagline is. But Janoo’s message is clearly resonating with voters. Since she announced her candidacy for governor in March, the 39-year-old economist has traversed the state to share her vision for Vermont with citizens of all stripes. Thousands have shown up — at coffee shops and senior centers, barns and auditoriums — to hear her ideas about universal primary care, bottom-up decision-making, and

Amanda Janoo speaking at a town hall in Brattleboro

why the state needs to fight back against corporate and private-equity ownership of Vermont’s housing stock, which disadvantages everyday people. Janoo’s campaign has tapped into the zeitgeist by expounding a populist message that reflects many Vermonters’ disgust with the administration of President Donald Trump, frustration about the cost of living and fear of artificial intelligence. A large contingent of volunteers has coalesced around the first-time candidate, knocking on doors, phone banking and tabling at local events. In just a few months, Janoo has transformed from a political unknown into perhaps the most

formidable challenger Republican Gov. Phil Scott has faced since he first ran for governor a decade ago. In August, Janoo won a competitive, though friendly, Democratic primary against Aly Richards, a well-connected childcare advocate with a fundraising advantage. In the months since, Janoo has drawn increasingly larger crowds at community gatherings across the state. Recent polling has found that she’s within striking distance of Scott, one of the country’s most popular governors. In September, Janoo outraised the incumbent; many of her contributions came from small-dollar donors.

Last week, just as ballots were mailed to voters, Vermont’s senior senator, independent Bernie Sanders, endorsed Janoo in a three-minute video message. She has “the energy and the leadership qualities we need right now to become a great governor,” Sanders said, praising her ideas about health care, housing and AI. U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) have also thrown their support behind Janoo. Her apparent strength presents a new challenge for Scott, who trounced his Democratic opponents in four previous reelection campaigns. The former construction company owner and stock car racer from Barre has earned a reputation as a moderate Republican who steered Vermont through some of its toughest times. He earned praise for signing modest gun-control legislation in 2018, as well as for his calm, consistent leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and catastrophic flooding in 2023 and 2024. He’s spoken out against the Trump administration and revealed that he voted for Democrats in the past two presidential elections. But the shine may be wearing off. Fewer than half of residents approve of the job he’s doing, according to recent polls from the University of New Hampshire and Vermont Public — ratings that are well below those of previous surveys. He’s alienated many with his plan to transform education by consolidating districts and giving the state more control over school spending. And he picked a battle with Vermont’s publicsector employee union, which represents nearly 6,000 workers, by demanding that

DARIA BISHOP

they return to the office for at least three days a week. He’s seeking a sixth term during a midterm election in which Republicans around the country are bracing for a Democratic wave that could shift the balance of power at the state and federal levels. That bodes well for Janoo, who has no public record to pick apart, providing little fodder for her opponent. Scott, by contrast, has served in public office since 2001, when Janoo was just 14 years old. So far, the respective camps have waged a relatively polite, issues-oriented race. Scott undoubtedly has a huge namerecognition advantage, but he’s “not riding as high as in past cycles,” said Bert Johnson, a political science professor at Middlebury College. Johnson predicted that Janoo’s campaign will benefit from “this jubilant left-wing energy out there.” The governor’s campaigning has been subdued. He’s declined to participate in several gubernatorial forums, though he still plans to go head-to-head with Janoo in three televised debates in the weeks before Election Day. He hasn’t announced any public campaign events, save for a few honk and waves. His social media account shows him mingling with locals at fall festivals, apple orchards and a car show. All the while, the governor’s message has stayed consistent. He’s positioned himself as a rare breed of moderate Republican, a check on the excesses of a Democrat-controlled legislature and a champion of affordability before that term was a buzzword. He avoids the culture wars and espouses civility. Janoo, he asserts, would raise taxes, drive the wealthy out of the state, and make Vermont less hospitable for working people and businesses. Scott “has proven when he has the right partners in the legislature, he can get things done,” Vermont Republican Party chair Paul Dame said. “Amanda Janoo is a lot of theory right now and not a lot of experience.” As Election Day draws near, Seven Days sought to find out more about Janoo, watching her on the campaign trail and speaking with family, friends and colleagues. Here’s what we learned about the political newcomer.

Who’s Janoo?

Long before Amanda Janoo was a candidate for governor, she was Mandy — the daughter of a Maine native named Judith and Vincent, an immigrant of South Indian descent born and raised in Malaysia. In the late 1980s, Vincent took a job with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at its laboratory in Hanover, N.H. The couple, who were expecting their third child,

lack of billboards. Janoo was so persuasive that Avery and another friend took a cross-country road trip to visit Janoo in the Green Mountain State after their first year of college so they could see the “utopia” for themselves. The community-centered nature of Janoo’s campaign — engaging in authentic conversations with people around the state at farm picnics and live-music events — is a true reflection of who Janoo is, Avery said. “Gathering people together to talk about ideas and have a beer,” Avery said, “that is Mandy to a T.” Janoo now works as a self-employed economic policy consultant and rents a modest apartment near Burlington’s waterfront. Childhood best friend Johanna Matson described Janoo as a “Vermont girl” who knits and cross-stitches, loves puzzles and crosswords, mends her own clothes and shops at thrift stores, not on Amazon. “She’s one of those people who walks the walk,” Matson said.

The economy has grown, and the stock market is doing great, but the gains are really only benefiting the top 10 percent, while the rest of us are left continuously worse off. AMAND A JANO O

moved from Alabama to the Upper Valley. A midwife delivered Amanda in a small home the family rented on a Norwich farm. When Janoo was a toddler, her family moved to Strafford, a town that she describes on the campaign trail as “half back-to-the-land hippies and half oldschool, ninth-generation Vermonters.” Her mom homeschooled her through sixth grade, an arrangement Judith said afforded the family the freedom to accompany Vincent on work trips. Janoo recalls volunteering during that time, serving community lunches to senior citizens and ushering at Northern Stage theater so her family members could attend performances for free. Her parents brought their kids to Town Meeting Day, which Janoo credits with teaching her about democracy and the importance of local decision-making. Janoo’s sister, Angela, a middle-school special educator in Hartford, remembers her younger sibling as “an observer” who took things in and listened more than she spoke. “She was very shy,” Angela recalled. “She used to hide behind me when people would come up and talk to her.” Janoo attended Hanover High School in New Hampshire, a public school, where she participated in Model United Nations

and “hung out in the art room a lot,” she said. During her junior year, she spent a semester in a village in the Indian Himalayas as part of a cultural exchange program offered through Sharon Academy. That experience, Janoo said, was “one of those sliding-door moments” when she realized she was interested in learning more about economic development around the world. Lara Avery met Janoo at the start of their first year at Macalester College, a liberal arts school in Saint Paul, Minn. “She had the coolest leather jacket on … and these Converse sneakers and ripped jeans,” Avery said. “Since the first day I met her, she’s always been talking about the economy. She’s always been interested in why it works the way it does.” Avery remembers Janoo as “extremely studious,” at times sequestering herself in the computer lab surrounded by piles of books. Yet Janoo also liked to spend hours talking with friends “about the economy and feminism and things that we’d read that day in class,” Avery recalled. Janoo was a huge booster for the state of Vermont, Avery said — even telling her that she hoped to be governor one day. She talked up maple creemees and general stores, the idyllic summers and

A Different Kind of Leader

Janoo has never served as a chief executive, the role she’d have if elected to the state’s highest office. The bulk of her professional work has been behind the scenes, using her economic expertise to help governments and organizations around the world develop policy in service of people and the environment. Oleksandr Chernykh, who served as state secretary of Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy, worked with a team that included Janoo in 2017 to develop the country’s economic development strategy. Those efforts “helped make Ukraine’s economy and energy system more resilient, which became especially important after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022,” Chernykh wrote in an email to Seven Days. He praised Janoo’s “systematic way of thinking” and her “strong ability to see the connection between a cause and a problem, and then between a problem and a practical solution.” Colin Robinson collaborated with Janoo on Fair Share for Vermont, a campaign launched in 2023 that has lobbied the legislature, unsuccessfully so far, to increase taxes on top-income earners to reduce cost burdens on low- and middle-income families. The idea shows up in Janoo’s policy platform as a way to pay for universal primary care. “She really has an ability to distill complex issues into understandable and relatable solutions … in a way that feels accessible to folks who might not be steeped in the wonky world of policy,” HOME STRETCH SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

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Scott and former FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell after touring flood damage in 2023

FILE: JOSH KUCKENS

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Gov. Phil Scott taking the oath of office in 2021

FILE: KEVIN MCCALLUM

said Robinson, the political director for the Vermont-National Education Association. After graduating from Macalester in 2010, Janoo received a Fulbright scholarship to research the women’s labor movement in India. While there, she reached out to a University of Cambridge professor, Ha-Joon Chang, to ask about an article he’d authored. Several years later, she was accepted into a development studies master’s program at Cambridge, where she focused on a branch of economics known as industrial policy. Chang called Janoo one of his “standout students.” In broad strokes, Chang explained in an interview, industrial policy posits that governments must proactively support and promote specific industries in service of their goals, rather than leaving that to market forces. The policy was a strategy in the government toolbox through the 1970s but fell out of favor in the following decades as the pendulum swung toward unfettered free-market capitalism. Industrial policy has experienced a resurgence in recent years, though, “because this free-market vision has failed to deliver,” Chang said. Janoo often hammers home its tenets during campaign events. “For the last 40 years or so … we’ve been told that if we cut taxes at the top, if we deregulate industries, if we weaken unions and give large corporations, investors and tech entrepreneurs more and more freedom, that wealth and prosperity … would all trickle back down to us, right?” Janoo told people at Burlington’s Foam Brewers in September. “And, to be fair, the economy has grown, and the stock market is doing great, but the gains are really only benefiting the top 10 percent, while the rest of us are left continuously worse off.” Fresh from graduate school, Janoo worked with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to help countries assess their economic policies. Philipp Neuerburg, then a UNIDO industrial policy officer, hired Janoo to help the South African government determine whether money it was giving to private companies was benefiting the country. The two also partnered to develop tools that governments could use to design better economic policies, a framework that Neuerburg said he still uses. Janoo believes deeply that government can make a difference in people’s lives, Neuerburg said. And she’s not one to “give in to the status quo and pressures of the establishment. She questions the deeper meaning of everything.” Trump’s 2016 election served as a catalyst for Janoo to come back to the United States, she said, to use her professional 30

FILE: JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

Home Stretch «

that time. The country had undergone a process in which the government asked citizens to define the society they wanted to leave for their children and grandchildren — something Janoo said she’d like to do in Vermont. Janoo worked with Wales and other governments following a similar approach to convene international gatherings so the countries could learn from each other. Howe also partnered with Janoo to share Wales’ process and outcomes with the United Nations, which released a report this year about using indicators other than GDP to measure progress. “She has been at the forefront of seeding these new ideas in systems — at the UN, in different countries and right down to the very grassroots levels,” Howe said. Janoo’s collaborative, down-to-earth approach feels very of-the-moment and reminds her of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “What is beautiful about her is her ability … to hold a room,” Howe said, whether she’s speaking with senior officials or “Mrs. Jones — as we would call her in Wales — in the city center.” Katherine Trebeck, cofounder of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, also highlighted what she called Janoo’s rare combination of strengths. Not only does she have a high level of “technical, practical, policy wonk, economic geek skills,” Trebeck said, but also “she is a genuinely loving person — loving of the planet, the people on it. She’ll be able to recruit the best people to come and work with her … to help her with this journey — because of how collegial and inclusive she is.”

‘Unfinished Business’

Scott signing gun-control legislation in 2018

experience to “try to help if I could in some way.” She believes that America’s economic insecurity has enabled Trump’s authoritarian tendencies. “It makes it easier, if people don’t feel valued, seen or secure, to accept more authoritarian, fascist narratives of scapegoating or of viewing violence as a recipe for redemption,” she told a crowd in Charlotte earlier this month. In 2020, Janoo, who’d moved back to Vermont, began working at the Wellbeing

Economy Alliance, a global organization that helps governments design policy that prioritizes the well-being of people and the planet as measures of economic success as opposed to traditional markers such as growth in gross domestic product. Scotland, New Zealand, Iceland, Canada, Wales and Finland are the so-called Wellbeing Economy Governments that the organization supports. Janoo met Sophie Howe, Wales’ first future generations commissioner, around

The matchup between Scott and Janoo amounts to a contrast in both style and substance. A recently released digital campaign ad for Scott shows a montage of photos that chronicle his tenure in office: the governor behind an arc of microphones during one of his daily pandemic press conferences; shoveling dirt from the back of a truck during flood recovery; speaking with a member of the Vermont Air National Guard; smiling as he signs a bill while onlookers applaud. “We’ve been through a lot together,” the ad states. “Now, let’s finish the job.” It portrays Scott as a steady hand on the wheel, a reliable leader who has guided Vermont through myriad challenges. The online comments indicate that the message is resonating with supporters: Phil, you have proven leadership. You have my vote as always! You continue to have my support!

During an interview earlier this month, the governor, 68, sounded slightly ambivalent about why he decided to run for a sixth term. “Sometimes I ask myself that,” he quipped. Ultimately, he said, it came down to feeling responsible to make more progress on housing, health care, education and, more broadly, affordability. “There’s a lot of unfinished business,” Scott said. He said he’s proud of his work on the Vermont Housing Improvement Program, which provides forgivable loans to property owners who create affordable

Most of the people I speak with ... are frustrated with the actual cost of living here. The property taxes are way too high, and they’re having trouble making ends meet. G O V. PHIL SCOT T

rental housing, and the Community and Housing Infrastructure Program, which funds projects that support housing development. He also touts his administration’s work to turn contaminated brownfields into usable land and the passage last year of a tax-credit program that provides relief for senior citizens and military veterans. Scott still hopes, he said, to enact regulatory reform that enables developers to build more housing; to lower health insurance costs, in part by allowing insurers to price premiums based on age; and to move forward with school-district consolidation and a new education funding formula. To follow through on his agenda, he said, he needs the support of lawmakers. Scott, who has served alongside a Democratic-led General Assembly throughout his tenure, holds the record among Vermont governors for the most vetoes: 65. “I haven’t seen much follow-through from my partners in the legislature, and I think that their natural reaction is to raise taxes,” Scott said. “My natural reaction is to live within our means, and we need to find a way to do so.” In August, the governor directed agency heads to craft lean budgets, with just a small increase to

account for the contractually negotiated raise in staff salaries and benefits. Scott knows his ideas aren’t particularly exciting, but he believes they’re what Vermont needs. “Most of the people I speak with … are frustrated with the actual cost of living here. The property taxes are way too high, and they’re having trouble making ends meet,” Scott said. “I don’t think they’re looking for anyone to sugarcoat that. I think they’re asking for results.” He believes his education transformation plan, which his administration has promoted for nearly two years, will help bring down property taxes. The proposal calls for larger, consolidated school districts and a new funding system in which the state determines how much money schools receive, rather than leaving the decision up to local voters. The plan has faced widespread criticism, especially from rural residents who worry about the potential closure of their small schools. Janoo, in contrast, has stressed her belief in the importance of retaining small, local schools — noting that research is thin on whether school-district consolidation actually saves money. “Scott has decided to make that the place where he takes his stand, and I think he’s absolutely right,” said Bud Myers, a self-described lifelong Democrat who served as deputy education commissioner under governors Howard Dean and Jim Douglas. He said he admires Scott’s commitment to ed reform and his willingness to “touch the third rail of local control.” Myers believes that the reform Scott envisions will ultimately improve education for marginalized students. “I hope he wins,” Myers said of the governor. Scott said in an interview that Vermonters “have to come to grips with the fact that we have a declining schoolage population … and we have to figure out how we provide better quality while providing an education that we can afford.” “One of the detriments to being in office so long,” Scott said, “is you have to make tough decisions … for the betterment of the state and the region and for individual Vermonters.” While Janoo is clearly intelligent, articulate and skilled at tapping into what excites people, Scott said, “we don’t really know all that much about her … Everybody knows what I believe … It’s not new. I’m in the trenches, and I’m doing the work.”

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Democracy in Action

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

Janoo speaking in Brattleboro

Cynthia Bogard at Barre’s Old Labor Hall

ALISON NOVAK

On a Sunday evening in September, around 175 Vermonters of all ages filed into the Old Labor Hall in the governor’s hometown of Barre. Cynthia Bogard, a Janoo campaign volunteer from Montpelier, presided over a merch table covered in pins, T-shirts and camouflage baseball camps emblazoned with “Janoo for You” in orange letters. “Amanda is so Vermont values,” Bogard said. “She believes in do-it-yourself and communities deciding their futures, direct democracy, all that stuff. Her whole platform tries to figure out how to pay for it. She’s thought it through.” Rather than giving a traditional stump speech, Janoo facilitated a conversation with the audience, asking questions while also laying out her background, economic philosophy and platform. “I don’t think I need to explain to you all that the health care system is collapsing,” she told the audience, before introducing her plan to provide free preventative primary care by enabling communities to hire their own town doctors and nurses and pay them directly, bypassing insurance companies. The proposal could be paid for, Janoo said, by raising taxes on the top 1 percent of earners in Vermont, which would essentially claw back the amount they’re receiving under Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill — around $200 million, according to an analysis by Montpelier’s Public Assets Institute. Scott’s campaign has called into question whether a so-called “wealth tax” would raise enough revenue to fund free universal primary care and criticized the plan as vague and unrealistic. Regarding housing policy, Janoo often cites examples from her own life to underscore her platform. She talks about being a renter in Burlington and how impossible it feels for people her age to buy a home in the state unless they have financial help from their families. She tells of how, during the pandemic, out-of-state residents bought up houses on the Northeast Kingdom dirt road where her mother now lives — noting that many of them have since moved away and kept the properties as second homes or Airbnbs. “Let’s tax private equity, corporate ownership, second homes and vacation rentals,” Janoo said at the Barre town hall. “We can reduce the property tax burden for residential Vermonters and encourage more of the housing stock to go to folks who live here all year round.” She also favors creating incentives for first-time homebuyers and home builders and expanding affordable-housing options

portfolio, managed by a brokerage firm in Barre, includes a variety of tech and artificial intelligence-related companies — including Google, Amazon, Meta and NVIDIA — each valued at $25,000 or more. Scott said he doesn’t know what stocks he owns and dismissed the idea that his holdings could present a conflict of interest. “I don’t look at them, and I don’t tell anybody what to do with them, one way or the other. I just ignore them,” Scott said. “I have not done anything to advance in that area at all.” Janoo didn’t list any stocks in her financial disclosure — one reason people like Courtney Worthington, a 45-year-old Vergennes resident, see her as a candidate who understands the struggles of everyday Vermonters. “She’s so smart,” Worthington said at an October event Janoo held in Charlotte. “I feel like she grew up in a similar era as me, where you just really had no idea life was going to be so difficult as an adult.” Janoo’s policy ideas, especially bringing back small-town medicine and providing more services in schools, are “spot on,” said Worthington, who has a son with special needs. “I don’t understand the way that people are projecting she’s going to tax us out of existence,” Worthington said. “That’s what’s happening now.”

The Final Lap

by investing in community land trusts, housing cooperatives and public housing. On education reform, Janoo believes that the state must address the true cost drivers, which she says are health insurance and additional services for students struggling with mental health or other needs. She believes a universal primary care program would help lower health insurance costs and thinks that the state should look for revenue aside from the education fund to support mental health services and other expenses that aren’t directly related to educating kids. She sees promise in what’s known as the community schools model, in which a wider array of services — such as childcare, health and dental clinics, and food shelves — are integrated into school buildings. Janoo doesn’t mince words when it comes to the dangers of artificial intelligence. “I am terrified of AI for a lot of different reasons … the technofascism that is being

advanced right now, the mass surveillance,” she told a crowd in Charlotte earlier this month. She’s in favor of a state ban on data centers and Flock cameras, which use artificial intelligence to track car license plates and people. She’s also floated the idea of taxing digital advertising. Scott, meanwhile, has a more temperate view on the rapidly changing technology. In June, he vetoed a bill that would have regulated AI data centers in Vermont, citing the “much broader consequences” it could have for the state’s “economic opportunity and long-term competitiveness.” In an interview, he said it’s unrealistic to think that data centers would come to Vermont given the state’s stringent environmental restrictions. “AI is here,” Scott said. “We need to deal with AI and not worry about the data centers being built in Vermont because they’re not going to be built here.” Scott’s mandatory financial disclosure from this year shows that his stock

At a press conference the week after the August primary, a reporter asked Scott for his reaction to Janoo’s win over Richards. “I was, I guess, a little surprised,” Scott said. “I really thought Aly would come out in the end with more support … I just assumed that there are more Democrats in Vermont than Progressives.” In a phone interview last month, Scott again characterized Janoo as a far-left candidate who he thinks is out of step with the views of the majority of Vermonters. “[While] the extreme right [and] extreme left are very loud and energetic … most of us are in the middle or moderate centrists — and that could be Democrats, independents and Republicans,” he said. But polling shows that many of Janoo’s ideas have a broad base of support. A recent one from the University of Vermont’s Center for Rural Studies, for example, found that 80 percent of respondents support raising taxes on wealthy individuals and large companies, while 73 percent favor a universal, publicly funded health care system. A Vermont Public poll released last month found that the majority of respondents support a tax on

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Fall Tune-Up Special second-home owners and believe school spending decisions should be made locally. Janoo herself has said her views don’t fit neatly under a specific banner. While she’s a proponent of ideas made popular by the Democratic Socialist movement — providing universal health care, closing the wealth gap, giving less power to corporations — she also has a libertarian sensibility. “We want to ensure everybody’s basic rights and needs are assured,” she said in an interview. “But I also … don’t think the state should be controlling everything [and should be] making sure that people have the ability to do what they want to do.”

I’m just trying to run for Vermont, and that has got to be my orientation point. A M A N D A JA NOO

Janoo’s rejection of identity politics and her focus on what matters to Vermonters are reasons she’s gained so much traction, according to May Hanlon, executive director of the Vermont Democratic Party. “What Amanda is building is fundamentally centered around people and communities,” Hanlon said, “and it represents a broader trend of … candidates that are reorienting back to the fundamental through line of human connection.” Janoo has also avoided going after the governor personally. “There are ways to call out the failures … around health care, housing, big tech, et cetera, that focus on policy and an alternative proposal, that’s not just, like, ‘Phil Scott is the worst,’” Janoo told a crowd at the Montpelier Senior Activity Center last month. “Genuinely, for me, I’m just trying to run for Vermont, and that has got to be my orientation point.” The final weeks of the campaign will be critical. Though some criticized Scott for declining to go head-to-head with Janoo at the Tunbridge World’s Fair and on CCTV’s Town Meeting TV, the governor says he is committed to appearing at three televised debates on October 21, 22 and 28. “I’m competitive by nature,” Scott said, noting his experience as a stock car racer. “You don’t have to lead the first lap.

You have to lead the last one. I’m feeling good about our campaign. Our polls are confirming what I’m feeling, and we’ll see what happens.” The Scott campaign has invited supporters to several honk and waves in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the Republican Governors Association recently gave $400,000 to an independent-expenditure political action committee, or PAC, that has started running advertisements promoting Scott and criticizing Janoo — a development that both Janoo and the Vermont Democratic Party have condemned. Janoo is maintaining a packed schedule, with meet and greets, community conversations, and town halls across the state. Her campaign is relying on a network of more than 1,500 volunteers to help spread the word, plus a welldesigned website and strong social media game. “I do think that what will win this for us is organizing,” Janoo said last month in Montpelier. “Making a list of 10 people you know who may not vote and having a conversation with them. There’s one degree of separation between any of us in Vermont.” Polling indicates that a good chunk of voters may still be undecided. Berlin resident Corinne Cooper, who attended the Barre event, is one. After Janoo’s presentation, Cooper stood in a corner of the cavernous room, nibbling on a cookie from the refreshment table. The former assistant town clerk, who has five grown kids, said she’d listened carefully to Janoo’s message but still felt conflicted about who to vote for and was generally discouraged by the current state of politics. She said she wasn’t even sure why she came that night. “I really like Phil Scott,” she said. “But on the other hand, how long has it been? I’m not really feeling like things are better, right? But would someone new get us there?” She paused, then said, “I just don’t know.” ➆

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High Impact

Our traveling reporter takes in the sights on a 660-mile Québec road trip. Destination: Manicouagan, one of the planet’s largest meteor craters. B Y J E N ROSE SM I T H

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

COURTESY OF ALEXIS PAGEAU

Manicouagan Reservoir

GUIDE sevendaysvt.com/quebec This article is part of a travel series on Québec. The province’s destination marketing organization, Bonjour Québec, is a financial underwriter of the project but has no influence over story selection or content. Find the complete series plus travel tips at sevendaysvt.com/quebec.

COURTESY OF NASA

uring a 1983 mission when the space shuttle Columbia circled the planet 166 times, one of the astronauts on board turned his camera toward a remote part of eastern Québec. The resulting photo resembles a dreamscape: a great doughnut of water 45 miles across, with a snowcapped peak at its center, tributaries furrowing away into the surrounding boreal forest and mountains hugging the edge. Called Manicouagan, it’s one of the world’s largest impact craters, gouged some 214 million years ago by a meteor that may have also triggered a minor extinction event. As the astronaut flies, Manicouagan is 500 miles northeast of Burlington; by road it’s a journey of 660 miles. It’s really not close. Yet when imagined from the Columbia’s low-Earth orbit, as I have done often over many years, the crater is just right there. A certain cruising altitude makes all the world look snug. That’s the kind of thinking, anyhow, that found me heading north over the summer, beginning a vacation with a 15-hour drive that would take me and my husband, Daniel, to the edge of the crater — and then, on foot, into the wilderness beyond it. The way to Manicouagan begins with a four-hour jaunt to Québec City, then heads east along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River — past the Catholic pilgrimage site Basilica of Sainte-Anne-deBeaupré, its sanctuary decked with supplicants’ crutches and braces, presumably cast away in the wake of answered prayers. It crosses artsy Baie-Saint-Paul, then the historic resort town of La Malbaie, which Samuel de Champlain named for its poor anchorage, a malle baye (bad bay). To reach the town of Tadoussac, we boarded the free car ferry across the Saguenay River — a glacier-carved waterway home to the southernmost population of beluga whales on Earth. A few minutes into the crossing, a trio of bobbing white marshmallows appeared off the ferry’s port side. “Belugas!” I yelped, pointing at their bodies, slick and playful in the brackish water. Our fellow passengers appeared unruffled. Tadoussac marks the start of Québec’s Route des Baleines, aka the Whale Route, a 584-mile coastal road trip signposted with a jaunty-looking blue whale, the planet’s largest animal, which can sometimes be spotted not far from shore here, as can 12 other cetaceans.

An aerial view of the Manicouagan Impact Crater captured by the space shuttle Columbia

Belugas, however merry, are presumably no big deal. “Yeah, we see whales all the time,” said a woman I met a few hours later, on a riverside walking path in Baie-Comeau, where we spent the first night of our trip at HÔTEL LE MANOIR (manoirbc.com; rooms from CA$204). The town was founded in 1936 by Chicago Tribune publisher Robert McCormick, who built a pulp and paper mill there to supply his presses back home.

JEN ROSE SMITH

SLEEP AT THE CRATER

The basic rooms at Relais Gabriel are expedient, but for a longer stay head to the waterside UAPISHKA STATION (stationuapishka.com; double rooms from CA$250 per person; breakfast/ lunch/dinner CA$20/25/50), a lodge and research hub that’s jointly owned and operated by the Manicouagan Uapishka Biosphere Reserve and the Pessamit Innu Council. Researchers studying the surrounding ecosystems make the station their home base, as do road crews and travelers stopping off en route to Labrador. (There’s also camping on-site.) The station was partly conceived as a way for young Innu to gain work Simon Landry-Asselin experience and access the territory their ancestors hunted and fished for countless generations. Meals during our three-day stay were prepared by Innu chef Simon Landry-Asselin — Le Cuisinier du Nord on TikTok — who incorporated foraged boreal ingredients into dishes such as Labrador tea-infused crème brûlée and fried cod topped with fireweed blossoms. A short path from the station leads to the edge of the reservoir. It’s a spectacular view and makes the perfect starting point for exploring Manicouagan. There are no rental boats. We brought a pair of inflatable paddleboards from Vermont and steered them toward beaches accessible only from the water.

Its first church, the 1940 ÉGLISE SAINTEAMÉLIE (eglisesteamelie.com; CA$7), was dedicated in honor of McCormick’s wife, Amy. The fine frescoes he commissioned from Italian Canadian artist Guido Nincheri (aka the “Michelangelo of Montréal”) are among the most expansive in North America. It’s now a museum.

MANICOUAGAN WAS GOUGED SOME 214 MILLION YEARS AGO

BY A METEOR THAT MAY HAVE ALSO TRIGGERED A MINOR EXTINCTION EVENT. Inside, we craned to see saints and sundry celestial beings daubed across the ceiling; behind the altar, I saw an ascending arc of faces suspended in what appeared to be soap bubbles. “What’s the deal with the bubble heads?” I asked the kid manning the front desk. “It’s a biblically accurate depiction of angels in the form of wheels that God travels around on,” he said gravely, setting down his paperback copy of Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist. Baie-Comeau hit a rough patch when the mill stopped production in 2020, he told me, with many families leaving in search of work. The factory that dominates its skyline is silent, and some of its houses seemed empty. An article about the closure in Paper Industry World cited the “structural decline of the newsprint market.”

Baie-Comeau is also where the road to Manicouagan doglegs north, upriver to the crater past four massive dams, part of the Hydro-Québec network that provides a substantial share of Vermont’s electricity. Two of the dams — MANIC-2 and MANIC-5 — open for public tours led by college students during the summer (hydroquebec.com; tours are free but require reservations). It is the dams that created the landscape that brought us here, the vast bull’s-eye of water that caught an astronaut’s lens. When Manic-5 was completed in 1968, the resulting reservoir joined up a pair of crescent-shaped lakes: Manicouagan and Mouchalagane. Only as the water rose did the crater’s vast scope and symmetry become visible. A wild thing confined is a sorry sight, whether it’s a river or a rhino, and touring a hydroelectric dam does feel a bit like visiting the zoo. Yet as I followed a guide through the growling intestines of Manic2, I was awestruck, too. I thought of the large-scale waterworks that allowed ancient cities to grow, from Egypt to China, how they laid the foundation for entire civilizations. Workers building these dams created temporary towns with bowling alleys, churches and sports leagues. Photos in the visitor center showed pink-nosed children playing in snowy wilderness. Proof that Québec could produce world-class infrastructure, the Manicouagan dams have become a symbol of the province’s “Quiet Revolution,” explained the guide, referring to the period of rapid modernization in the 1960s that left French Canadians newly confident. HIGH IMPACT

» P.36

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Hiking the Uapishka range

Baie-Comeau waterfront

COURTESY OF SÉBASTIEN ST-JEAN/TOURISME CÔTE NORDE

HIKE THE UAPISHKA

JEN ROSE SMITH

It also flooded a vast part of the ancestral territory of the Innu First Nation of Pessamit, dispossessing families who relied on the rivers for seasonal hunting and fishing journeys. “Back then, they pretty much said, ‘Here’s $200; now go away and shut up,’” our guide said. Recent years have brought a reconsideration of that history; Manic-5 now has a couple of Innu guides who share their own community’s perspectives with travelers visiting the dam. On the wall at Manic-2 is a series of artworks by Pessamit artist Natasha Kanapé Fontaine. One shows the bull’s-eye of Manicouagan rendered in patterns resembling the traditional designs the Innu use on caribou-hide coats. As our guide observed, “It’s something, but it’s a little late.” The dams also opened road access to Manicouagan Reservoir, inching Route 389 farther north into forest across decades. Today, it’s a starting point for a major overland route — branded Expedition 51 by various tourism departments — that goes north to the mining town of Fermont, then east across Labrador to the sea. It passes vast swaths of forest and mountains and not much else. It’s mostly paved now but not entirely. “Who all stops here?” I asked the attendant at RELAIS GABRIEL (pourvoirierelaisgabriel.com/en), a pleasantly ramshackle service station, café and boardinghouse at the southeastern corner of Manicouagan. Dressed in Crocs and cargo shorts, he was pulling a lasagna from the oven. In the dirt parking lot out front sat two ATVs, some 18-wheelers and a mud-spattered motorcycle. A couple of truckers nursed energy drinks at the counter. Another chain-smoked on the porch. “Who? Everyone,” the attendant said, his accent thick enough to spread on toast. “We’re the only thing there is. It’s just us.” If you’re going north, the next gas station is 155 miles away. By then, it had been raining steadily for two days. Across the road from Relais Gabriel, we’d walked a runneled dirt path to Manicouagan and found only a shoreline that vanished into cloud. We stayed the night, hoping the rain would stop before a planned three-day backpacking traverse of the Uapishka (Monts Groulx) mountain range that borders the reservoir. It was still raining in the morning, great gusts blowing sideways across the road. The motorcyclists — heading south after completing Expedition 51 from Labrador — clumped to breakfast wearing plastic shopping bags over their boots. Donning rain gear of our own, we drove to the northeast corner of Manicouagan to begin

Frescoes at Église Sainte-Amélie

A full traverse of the Uapiskha (Monts Groulx) mountains is generally between 25 and 35 miles and takes between three and five days — a remote backpacking trip suited to hikers confident in backcountry navigation. It’s most often done from north to south, starting at the Mont-Jauffret trail and returning to Route 389 via the Mont-Provencher trail. Maps are available by mail from the SOCIÉTÉ DES AMIS DES MONTS GROULX (amisdesmontsgroulx. com). The nonprofit group maintains infrastructure within the mountain range during four-day work parties held each September at a base camp at the start of the Mont-Provencher trail, where art installations in wood and stone dangle from trees and rise from the forest floor. A local mountain guide, GUY BOUDREAU (aventureuapishka. com), also leads groups on summer hikes and winter ski and snowshoe trips, though he speaks only French. Originally from the remote mining town of Gagnon — now a ghost town 48 miles up Route 389 from Uapishka Station — Boudreau lives in an off-grid cabin near the MontJauffret trail and is a remarkable source of knowledge about the region’s plants and animals. He also rents out a small hut with a woodstove to winter travelers. There are day hikes into the Uapishka mountains, too. In addition to the Mont-Jauffret and Mont-Provencher trails, there are two paths to the summit of 3,117-foot MONT-HARFANG, where summer brings a profusion of edible mountain cranberries, bilberries, blueberries, cloudberries and crowberries. (Note: The Mont-Provencher trail was officially closed at the time of publication, though some hikers still use it, as we did. If you’re planning a hike, seek updated information about access before departing.)

COURTESY OF MATHIEU DUPUIS/LE QUÉBEC MARITIME

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our hike along a trail that looked more like a river. As much as the reservoir itself, the mountain range we were climbing into had inspired the trip. Uapishka’s 3,000foot summits rise from spruce forest into bare caps of subarctic tundra that’s rare at this latitude. The little-visited wilderness it holds, part of a UNESCO biosphere reserve, is a southerly refuge for northern species including gray wolves, lemmings and woodland caribou. Aside from two rough access trails carved at the north and south of the range, the traverse is entirely trailless. Once in the interior, you make your own way between peaks. After we waded across a flooded section of trail where the water reached our thighs, it became clear that the traverse might not be in the cards. We’d turn back if the crossings became hazardous, we agreed. But the rain slowed, then stopped, as we rose steadily toward the summit of Mont-Jauffret. The river running down the trail turned to mere mud. I thought of the faithful back at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, of their joyful, crutchless jigs when things took a turn for the better. Sure enough, by the time we emerged into the subalpine zone, the weather had grown mild. The ground was a thick layer of mosses, lichen, blueberries and mountain cranberries that swallowed our feet with every step. We put down our packs, stooping to graze among hundreds of ripe cloudberries — a species found in the Arctic — trembling on slender stalks. The clouds dissolved. Views opened to the south. We could see the summits that we’d cross on foot over the next two glorious days, walking up passes through waist-high ferns, stopping to swim in teacolored lakes under great constellations of blackflies. For two nights, we’d put up our small tent on the driest ground we

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TRIP INSPIRATION A 2024 documentary, Manicouagan, which can be streamed online, follows the crater from its ancient origins to Indigenous history and damming. French speakers can listen to the podcast series “SOUS LES BARRAGES” (“Beneath the Dams”) to learn more about how the Hydro-Québec projects transformed life for the Innu. The 2023 documentary Jacques tells the story of the late Jacques Duhoux, a legendary outdoorsman who lived off-grid in the Uapishka mountains for decades. His friend and neighbor Guy Boudreau has also been the subject of a few entertaining amateur film shorts, which are available on YouTube. For more information on the ecology of the Uapishka mountains, consult the dedicated chapter in the Eastern Alpine Guide, edited by Mike Jones and Liz Willey.

could find and wake to cloudless skies. We saw no people; our footprints mingled with caribou tracks. Back on that first ridge, we watched as the curtain finally lifted on Manicouagan Reservoir below us. Forest crowded the deep folds of its shoreline. I saw the rain-slicked flanks of Mont-Babel, a 3,123foot summit formed in the middle of the crater when the Earth’s crust rebounded from the force of the meteor. Elevation revealed the crater’s curve; the water made a great silvery arc bending away to both horizons. Not an astronaut’s view, perhaps, but it’s as close as my legs will take me. Giddy with beauty and sunshine, we shouldered our packs and began to walk. ➆

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Clockwise from left: Al pastor, carnitas and tinga tacos at Taquería Don Richard

The Burlington-area Mexican food scene grows in unexpected places B Y JOR D AN BAR RY • jbarry@sevendaysvt.com

eople love to grumble about bar on Pine Street and the food court of the quality of Mexican food in South Burlington’s University Mall. When Vermont, and for a long time, I checked them both out recently, I was as I’ve agreed with them. Our tacos pleasantly surprised by the food as I was by have been Americanized to a level beyond the low-key charm of their locations. Tex-Mex, and nobody needs them to be filled with mushroom chorizo. There’s Taste of Home been little hope of a well-made mole, let Doña Esa at Doma Bar, 388 Pine St., Suite 2, Burlington, donaesa.com, doma.bar alone a blush-pink mole rosa. That’s starting to change. Over the When it opened in November 2025, Doma past couple of years, a new crop of Mexi- Bar immediately felt like a cozy living room. Now, it’s also a can restaurants and pop-ups has increased dining room — but still Vermonters’ vocabuone that feels like it’s lary: We’ve got conchas inside a friend’s house. at farmers markets, Doña Esa, the posole that made the homestyle Mexican Seven Days food team’s food biz owned by Ada year-end list of best Martínez, has used bites, birria everywhere Doma’s kitchen to serve — and, sometimes, even takeout lunch since a little heat. April. On September 12, ADA MARTÍ NEZ Two of the latest Martínez and her three Mexican spots in the Burlington area, children, Azul, Alan and Adrian HernánDoña Esa and Taquería Don Richard, are dez, expanded their offerings to dine-in serving some of the best food yet, including dinner service every night Doma is open, regional home-cooked dishes and hand- Tuesday through Saturday. Last week, they made tortillas. And they’ve set up shop in added lunchtime seating. some unlikely places: a cocktail and vinyl The menu changes daily. It usually

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Comida Caliente includes tacos, “because we want to have sales,” joked Alan, who runs the front of house. But the heart of Doña Esa — the dishes Vermonters should get most excited about — is less familiar cuisine: rich soups; stew-like guisados; chiles en nogada, a celebratory roasted poblano dish in the colors of the Mexican flag made to mark the country’s Independence Day; and that mole rosa, which gets its pink color from beets and hibiscus. “Our goal is to eventually only sell homestyle dishes,” Alan said. “Most of these dishes people have never heard of.” Martínez lived in “four or five” of Mexico’s 31 states and traveled or visited family in many others before moving to Florida and then Vermont, she said. Customers from Mexico don’t always recognize the specific regional dishes she cooks, Alan said, highlighting poc chuc, a citrus-marinated grilled pork dish from the Yucatán,

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and carne polaca, a stew-like dish from Tabasco, where he grew up. “The name is translated to ‘Polish meat,’ but it has nothing to do with Poland,” he said with a laugh. Even the tacos, Alan said, aren’t always what you’d find at a taqueria: Doña Esa’s versions feature meats eaten at home such as tinga — shredded chicken seasoned with tomato, onion and chipotle — or chilorio — shredded pork seasoned with dried guajillo and ancho chiles, tomato, onion, garlic, cumin, and oregano — rather than the typical carnitas or al pastor you’d get from a street-taco vendor. Alan writes descriptions of the history and ingredients for each daily special and staple dish on Doña Esa’s website. It’s all part of the family’s approach: “We’re not just a restaurant,” he said. On a recent Tuesday morning, Martínez had placed sheet trays of painted sawdust throughout the bar, which had just gotten a fresh coat of paint itself. With a translation app, she told me that it was part of her preparation for Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday on November 1 and 2 that honors the dead. The sawdust will become an elaborate carpet, called a tapete, in front of an altar, which Doma will display from mid-October through early November — longer than usual, Martínez said, “to give customers more time to see it.” “I’m not a professional,” she said, showing me elaborate tapetes on her phone and COMIDA CALIENTE

» P.42

Enchiladas verdes at Doña Esa

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Summer Cao at Yên Vietnamese Café & Kitchen

Yên Vietnamese Café & Kitchen to Launch Soon in Winooski When SUMMER CAO announced she was relocating DONWOORI KOREAN restaurant to 22 Main Street, near the Winooski rotary, she told Seven Days that she planned to keep the lease at its previous home for a new Asian restaurant. Almost a year later, the 27-year-old expects her second eatery, YÊN VIETNAMESE CAFÉ & KITCHEN, to open at 65 Winooski Falls Way by the end of October. With Yên, Cao is sharing the cuisine of her original homeland of Vietnam and honoring her father, who died there last year, she said. Lunch and dinner service six days a week will include Vietnamese classics — such as pho noodle soup, fresh summer rolls and garlic wok-fried water spinach — plus sticky fish-sauce chicken wings and five-spice grilled chicken. The new restaurant’s name is pronounced “ee-uhn,” said Cao, who explained, “It means the sense of peace and comfort that you feel on the inside.” Her younger brother, KHOI, still works part time with her but has stepped back from a co-ownership role, leaving his sister sole owner of both restaurants. Cao has repainted and redecorated the light-filled 35-seat restaurant space and packed it with plants. Yên will offer Asian-accented mocktails and cocktails, she said, as well as Vietnamese coffee made with imported beans roasted in Brooklyn. She described the robusta species of bean as “more earthy and

nutty with twice the amount of caffeine” of arabica, which is more common in the U.S. In Vietnam, coffee is often lightened with condensed milk. For updates, follow @yencafe.vt on Instagram.

Sugar House Hotel in Winooski to Open Restaurant and Café-Bar The 115-room SUGAR HOUSE HOTEL, expected to open on October 21 at 111 Winooski Falls Way in Winooski, will host two public eating and drinking destinations — and welcome its guests with complimentary maple creemees, according to food and beverage director JACOB ENNIS. In the lobby, MOSS CAFÉ + BAR will serve espresso drinks, pastries, and sandwiches and salads from a grab-and-go cooler during the day; in the evening, the menu will include wine, beer and cocktails with small bites. On the eighth floor, the 75-seat TREETOPS restaurant will serve breakfast and dinner. Forty outdoor seats and a separate private-event space provide expansive views of the neighboring 100-acre nature preserve bordering the Winooski River. SIDE DISHES

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CONNECT Follow us for the latest food gossip! On Instagram: Jordan Barry: @jordankbarry; Melissa Pasanen: @mpasanen.

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9/27/23 4:00 PM

Comida Caliente « P.40

Meet Me in the Mall Taquería Don Richard, University Mall food court, 155 Dorset St., South Burlington, @taqueria.don.rich on TikTok

JORDAN BARRY

tempering my expectations. “But we want to share our culture, and we don’t want to lose our traditions here.” Doma is still a self-identified sapphic bar where DJs spin records and revelers of all orientations sip daiquiris, sink into a booth or get up to dance. But Doma and Doña Esa have a shared spirit and, as a duo, make a lot of sense. “I see a lot of Mexican culture in our idea of hospitality,” Doma owner Sadie Williams said. “We just want to show people a good time and have fun.” Williams and bar manager Tatiana Bruno built Doma’s cocktail menu based on their own family connections and heritage — Spanish, Mexican and “white Vermonter” for Williams, she said, and Puerto Rican and Haitian by way of New York City for Bruno. It translates to a lot of rum-based drinks, all of which pair excellently with Doña Esa’s food. Williams, who lived in Mexico City for five years, is a big fan of the central Mexican-style tostadas and sopes Martínez makes — especially with the bar’s velvety Pine Street Daiquiri ($18). On my first evening visit, my friends and I did the expected: We ordered tacos ($15 for four), chips and guacamole ($13), and enchiladas verdes ($14 for four). The

Outside Doma Bar and Doña Esa

enchiladas were smothered in a bright tomatillo-jalapeño sauce, rolled like fat cigars and stuffed full of chicken tinga. I balanced their zing with a Puerto Rico Libre ($14), a simple and sweet cocktail of Puerto Rican rum, lime juice and Mexican Coca-Cola. On a return lunch visit, I took Martínez’s advice: “All seasons, it’s soup.” The day’s special, sopa de albondigas

Chilorio COURTESY

con verduras (meatball soup with vegetables, $20) was a rich yet mild broth filled with big chunks of potato, half an ear of corn and perfectly round meatballs; it reminded me of an Italian wedding soup, without the pasta. I also ordered chilorio ($17), a shredded pork guisado — a stew-like entrée — from Sinaloa in northwest Mexico. The reddish pork was fragrant with the aroma of dried guajillo and ancho chiles, but the dish was not particularly spicy until I added a healthy pour of Doña Esa’s hot salsa. Served with corn tortillas and two sides (rice and fried plantains for an extra $1), it filled me up for lunch and left enough for dinner. Doña Esa’s tacos are great, but Martínez can count on me to contribute to the sales of everything else now, too.

Taquería Don Richard is an unusual Vermont business in a couple of ways: It’s in a mall food court, and it’s big on TikTok. In fact, TikTok was the only web presence I could find for the new Mexican restaurant in the University Mall in South Burlington; there, owner Ricardo Santamaria talks animatedly to the camera, showing bubbling pots of carnitas, trays of crispy chicharrones and, occasionally, the Victoria’s Secret storefront across the way. Some of his videos, which he’s been posting since the taqueria opened in late summer, have tens of thousands of views. Comments, in a mix of Spanish and English, give rave reviews. “By far the best tacos I’ve had on the East coast,” one commenter wrote. “You guys rule,” commented the official account for the band Guster. If anything is going to get me to the mall in 2026, it’s good tacos. And, after scrolling way down on Taquería Don Richard’s first TikTok, another tip sealed the deal: “Las tortillas están hechas a mano y eso hace toda la diferencia,” it said. The tortillas are handmade, and that makes all the difference. The commenter, along with everyone else who’s been praising the new spot, was right. When I arrived at the U-Mall for a Saturday lunch, the line was long, and at least two dozen people were already eating in the sprawling food court, where the only other businesses are a rebranded Sbarro Pizza and the Tropical Yogurt smoothie stand. Most diners had tacos — or empanadas, quesadillas or plates combining two of the three, which are the best deal on the menu. I introduced myself to Santamaria, who beamed as he took orders at the register with the open kitchen bustling behind him.

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

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JORDAN BARRY

food+drink

JORDAN BARRY

Taquería Don Richard

From top: Assorted tacos, a quesadilla, an empanada and a taco al pastor with rice and beans at Taquería Don Richard

“I’m Richard,” he said, pointing to the sign above him. “Thank you for supporting my family business.” We didn’t have time to chat more, as the line grew even longer behind me. The taqueria was out of birria that day,

which would have been my first choice. But after a quick re-scan of the menu, my backup plan was a more than suitable substitute: a combo plate ($16.50) with a taco al pastor, an empanada filled with tinga-style marinated chicken, and rice

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and beans. My husband opted for two tacos ($7.75 each), and my preschooler, skeptical of most food but especially tacos in a mall, got a plain quesadilla made with mild Oaxacan cheese ($7.75). “I’m trusting you,” the 3-year-old said, as I told him I thought the quesadilla would be good. As we waited briefly for our food, we reminisced about the food court’s storied past — particularly, my husband’s high school memories of growing up in Burlington and frequenting the Taco Bell, which was on the opposite side of the food court from where Taquería Don Richard is now, he recalled. As the mall has scaled down, that whole row of former food stalls has become a mural. Santamaria soon brought over our cafeteria trays, carefully balancing the tamarind and mandarin Jarritos sodas we’d selected ($3 each). We stopped talking and dove in — even my jaded, skeptical kid. The al pastor was loaded with pineapple, cilantro and onion, but the flavor

of the smoky, red-orange pork punched through. It even had a little heat, though I added more with a kicky, smooth green salsa — an element I hadn’t been sure about, based on the AI-generated photo of it on the menu. The real thing, as always, was better. Comparatively, the tinga inside the empanada was a little bland, but the empanada was fried to a golden crisp and served with generous slices of avocado. I still enjoyed it, though I’d stick to other fillings — and tacos — next time, because the commenter was right: The handmade tortillas make all the difference. Pliable and structurally sound, they didn’t fall apart the way a mass-produced tortilla often does. As with the regional dishes at Doña Esa, the tortillas tasted like something you’d eat at home. But then I remembered, This place is in the middle of the mall. I don’t imagine that I’ll be stopping into Victoria’s Secret anytime soon, but at least the U-Mall is getting me through the door now. ➆

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Bottling the Environment

Westfield’s Backus Distillery bets that temperature swings are what actually make a bourbon S TO RY & PHOT OS BY X E NIA TU RNER

lot goes into bourbon besides the grain, yet the element most enticing to regular imbibers is often the thing no producer can control: the air. Bourbons are defined as corn-dominant distillates aged in new American oak, but Luke Backus, 39, owner and master distiller at Backus Distillery, is proving that they are not all one and the same. This smallbatch producer in the Northeast Kingdom is quietly stewarding the evolution of bourbon’s unquantifiable appeal, the very thing hiding in each sip. Bourbon production is a heavily regulated enterprise, and Backus’ Westfield distillery — composed of a production facility and an aging center housed in two former dairy barns — follows the rules: a mash bill of at least 51 percent corn, aged in brand-new

charred oak barrels and bottled at no less than 80 proof. On the production side of the operation, silos feed whole grain into the space, where it gets rolled by hand, then moved into the cooker, where enzymes convert the starch into sugar. Outfitted with 1,000gallon fermentation tanks and a continuous column still roughly 30 feet tall, the production facility turns out a distillate not unlike its Southern counterparts. Across a gravel path, however, standard practice gives way to Backus’ intuitive approach to aging. Inspired by splitlevel sake distilleries in Japan and informed by his tenure at Seattle’s OOLA Distillery, Backus designed both facilities as uninsulated two-story edifices. His goal: to encourage the interaction between the whiskey and the wood as it ages. Because the natural, unregulated flow of air is necessary for proper maturation, the uninsulated barn exploits Vermont’s cold, dry winters and hot, humid summers to produce a bourbon that Kentucky’s climate can’t match. Temperature fluctuations daily, monthly and yearly drive the liquid into the wood and pull it back out, and Backus leaves significant headspace in his barrels to allow the air to work itself in. The air becomes a defining ingredient, affecting aroma, color and tannins. “It’s rare to see people engaging in this type of an aging program,” Backus told Seven Days. “So often you go to a distillDays ery and you see their barrels just sitting there, and it’s 70 degrees, and there’s nothing making it work.”

COPPER IN COLOR WITH AROMAS OF CHARRED OAK, BOTTLE NO. 21074 TASTES

OF RICH VANILLA AND COOKED FRUIT, WITH A WARM, GENTLE FINISH.

Backus Distillery bourbon

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

DRINK UP The barn’s two-tiered layout invites two distinct aging environments and, therefore, two different bourbon programs. Upstairs, where the four-year bourbon lives, temperatures swing aggressively. The lower level captures gentler and slower fluctuations — precisely why it’s home to Backus’ 10-year bourbon, which will reach maturation in 2030. “Those years in the barrel, you want to have activity, and the ethos of this whole thing is that you want to make it count,” he said. “So four years, but what four years?” Backus Distillery began with five barrels in 2019. While 2020 marked the Westfield native’s first production in earnest, he has been immersed in agriculture-adjacent enterprises from a young age. The son of a maple producer, Backus said his interest in distilling spirits grew out of converting sap into syrup. He wrote his senior undergraduate thesis on the birth of distillation. After earning an economics degree from Colorado College and then seeing craft spirits up close on the West Coast, Backus bought the old Westfield farm with his brother, Merlin, co-owner of Barn First Creamery. While the production barn was initially home to Merlin’s goat herd, these days it’s

Luke Backus in his distillery

a genuine rickhouse, stockpiled top to bottom with bourbon casks, each carrying its own distinct identity and sense of place. Copper in color with aromas of charred oak, bottle No. 21074 — the 74th barrel from Backus’ 2021 vintage — tastes of rich vanilla and cooked fruit, with a warm, gentle finish. Distillery tours and tastings are available by appointment, and Backus’ flagship bourbon can be found at select Vermont restaurants and retailers. It’s currently in stock at Jay Country Store and Snow Shoe Lodge & Pub in Montgomery Center, but folks need not be in the Northeast Kingdom to get a taste — Backus pours samples every Saturday at the Burlington Farmers Market, where his single-barrel, four-year bourbon is available for purchase. On a crisp September afternoon, with the sun dropping steadily from its midday perch and a soft wind out of the north, No. 21074 seemed to bottle the very essence of the reciprocal relationship between a distiller and his environment — steered, unmistakably, by the Green Mountain air. ➆

INFO Backus Distillery, 377 Kennison Rd., Westfield, backusdistillery.com

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Jacob Ennis at Moss Café + Bar

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PHOTOS: MELISSA PASANEN

The hotel, which is part of Marriott Bonvoy’s Tribute Portfolio, is a partnership between Vermont’s Nedde Real Estate and national hospitality firm Lodging Capital Partners. It is being touted as Marriott International’s first all-electric property, and Ennis said the owners hope to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification, the highest rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council. Creemees are among many Vermont touches at the new hotel, which boasts light fixtures by Burlington’s AO Glass, locally crafted woodwork, rooms named for real sugarhouses around the state and the Nedde family’s own syrup in bottles behind the registration desk.

The restaurant menus will similarly emphasize local, said Ennis, 42. The New York native moved to Vermont in 2019 to become executive chef at Warren’s PITCHER INN after working at several other luxury Relais & Châteaux properties around the U.S. He left for the opportunity at Sugar House Hotel and has since hired a team that includes executive chef STEVE ZENO, formerly of Montpelier’s CAPITOL PLAZA HOTEL, and sous chef SEAN RICHARDS, who owned Burlington’s Queen City Café. Their menu will lean classic, Ennis said. Breakfast offerings will include buttermilk pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, and maple granola with LARSON FARM & CREAMERY yogurt from Wells. Dinner will range from starters, such as maple-glazed meatballs or a warm beet salad with goat cheese, to a cider-brined pork chop or grain-and-kale-stuffed squash. ➆

Roll & Stroll 1:30 PM, City Hall Park Sunday, October 25, 2026 After Party at Old Spokes Home Brought to you by:

The view from the eighthfloor deck of Sugar House Hotel's Treetops restaurant

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COURTESY OF KATA SASVARI

culture

THEATER

From left: Carolyn Carter, Molly Kate Babos and Michael John Improta

Novelty Act

Theater review: Northanger Abbey, Shaker Bridge Theatre B Y A L E X BROW N • alex@sevendaysvt.com

dapting a book for the stage comes down to chucking out all the description that can’t turn into action. Reimagining a 19th-century novel as a three-actor, quickchange performance is another feat altogether, and playwright Zoe Cooper upends theatrical storytelling in her rollicking treatment of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. The Shaker Bridge Theatre production captures the dizzy joy of a heroine coming of age with staging that topples theater’s rules. Cooper’s 2024 play follows Austen’s story with a twist or two. Three actors take on all the essential roles, plunging into a set of trunks for costume changes. In addition to pulling out bonnets and cravats, they narrate just as fiction does. Cooper’s characters are free to announce settings and passage of time, make cutting asides, and burnish everything with an author’s voice. The main character loses herself in sensational novels; why shouldn’t the playwright surround her with narration? With scenes abbreviated into witty 46

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

exchanges wrapped in commentary, the performance flies as fast as thought. Bill Coons directs with an emphasis on humor and physicality, which can be one and the same in a show filled with dancing and vigorously bouncing carriage rides. Actors Molly Kate Babos, Carolyn Carter and Michael John Improta have the superb concentration they need to zip themselves in and out of multiple characters tossed on the waves of romance, society and literature. The script sets up the character switches, but what exhilarates us is watching live performers make these tight turns. From the moment the actors roll a trunk past the bright pink wall of an otherwise empty stage, the production conveys improvised fun. The company’s male player is the one to try on a dress with a pregnancy bump, and gender is up for grabs for everyone. Cooper anchors each actor in one main character, all the names often shortened with chummy familiarity: Catherine is Cath (Babos), Henry is Hen (Improta)

and Isabella is Iz (Carter). Carriages are built from trunks and tables, and the scene change into a ballroom is nothing but Cath tugging a stunning chandelier across the ceiling like a beautiful airborne pet on a leash. This show is a game of imagination suspended over a typical love story. Catherine is ordinary — let-me-countthe-ways ordinary — as narrated glimpses of her country childhood prove. Immersion in gothic stories prepares her only for the life of a heroine, ready for a world of shipwrecks, spooky castles and torment endured. It’s clearly preferable to a dreary future of producing babies for a boring husband. The usual romantic problems await when she leaves her country home for the high society of Bath and the hope of adventure. Cath is at first a nervous spectator at the balls of the city’s sophisticates. Soon she is noticed by the handsome, melancholy Henry. They dance. The choreography showcases English country dance and cotillion steps, while embodying the starting and stalling of a courtship. Cath is witty and bold; Henry a bit gloomy and oddly savvy about fashion and fabric. Their last dance ends with an argument, just the sort of infuriation that leads to love. But not before Cath becomes fast friends with Isabella. The two are linked by their love of reading and energized by the sheer relief of being able to say what they think. To maintain their friendship

after inevitable marriage, Cath suggests each marry the other’s brother. Sisters-inlaw can stay close. Though Iz’s brother is a slack-jawed numbskull whom Cath can’t abide, she nevertheless juggles two suitors. And here Cooper creates a third choice for Cath, to Austen’s two: embracing the queer potential of female friendship. Iz and Cath love each other. Their declaration is the play’s exuberant high-water mark, with Cath so dazzled she can only say, “I have never read a story like this.” Babos, as Cath, can hurl herself onto a fainting couch with maximum misery and then rise up to face haughty high society or whatever might haunt an ancient abbey. Behind bangs betraying Cath’s youth, Babos conveys a girl with the courage to squint into a heroine’s future while plainly making it up as she goes along. Carter gives the free spirit Iz magnetic charm and the scrumptious scorn of an Austen character. She also portrays whole handfuls of auxiliary characters, sometimes in conversation with each other. With passion, wit, and a scarf or hat, she constructs Cath’s world, person by person. Improta plays numerous women, from Cath’s mother — ever on the brink of giving birth — to the matron who steers Cath into Bath society. As Hen, Improta radiates a brooding dignity; as Iz’s brother, he’s less stimulated by Cath than by a doltish lust for speed when driving a carriage with her in it. The final section of the play follows the novel’s parody so faithfully that it gets tangled in the excesses Austen was ridiculing. Iz disappears, deflating the most enchanting relationship in the play. When Cath finally reaches Hen’s real and leaky abbey, she finds a fortune-hunting father instead of fiends. After the fizziness of so many characters leaping between scene and narration, the play flattens to labored exposition, suddenly hard to follow. There’s life in it, but it wheezes to its happy ending. The unsatisfying conclusion doesn’t diminish the overall jauntiness of the theatrical experience. Cath sets out to live in what novels have shown her, what she calls “the world as it ought to be.” The virtuoso performances and invigorating freshness of Northanger Abbey take viewers to another world that very much ought to be. ➆

INFO Northanger Abbey, by Zoe Cooper, from the novel by Jane Austen, directed by Bill Coons, produced by Shaker Bridge Theatre. Through October 25: Thursdays through Saturdays, 7 p.m.; Saturday, October 24, 2:30 p.m.; and Sundays, 2:30 p.m., at Briggs Opera House in White River Junction. $25-45. shakerbridgetheatre.org

LIGHTING BOOKS

Ashley Woo’s Debut, Wildwood, Is a Gothic Thriller of Witches and White Elephants COURTESY OF DANA READ

B Y M A R G O T H ARRI S O N margot@sevendaysvt.com

CRAFTS

Starcrossed Knits When Tamara Jordan moved from the West Coast to Vermont in 2020, she knew she’d need scarves and sweaters to stay warm, but she didn’t buy them — she learned how to knit her own. Motivated by her new hobby, she began to design knitting patterns for romantic summer tops, sweaters based on tarot cards and a cardigan inspired by a famous unicorn tapestry. Jordan sells her patterns online, and Starcrossed Knits has gained more than 100,000 followers on social media. During this age of fast fashion and throwaway clothing, Jordan spends hours working on her creations. “As a knitting designer, I’m knitting the things that I’m posting,” she said. “Every single inch of this fabric was in my hands, and I spent that time with it because I was inspired by it or loved it or wanted it.” In the latest episode of “Stuck in Vermont,” Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger met up with Jordan at Shelburne Farms on a sunny fall day for a knitting adventure and the reveal of a new sweater.

Ashley Woo

The novel’s well-crafted plot suggests a witchy twist on Rosemary’s Baby, with enough gaslighting to illuminate a Victorian block. Besides being terrorized by the supernatural, Elinor is dismayed by a new sense of imbalance in her once-egalitarian marriage. “Now, I’m pregnant and frightened, believing in ghosts. Now, my husband is looking at me like I’m something to be protected,” she reflects. “The thought shouldn’t unsettle me, but it does.” Every theme and motif in Wildwood is flatly stated this way; nothing remains implied or ambiguous. There’s evocative creepiness in Elinor’s realization that there might be “something inherently foreboding about rural landscapes, from the vulnerability that comes with space.” But the novel’s approach to that dread tends to be straightforward and literal. As a result, Wildwood doesn’t get under our skin in the way the most haunting ghost stories do. Elinor’s internal monologue often feels more perseverating than purposeful, and this admittedly picky reader was distracted by infelicities and errors (“wretch into the toilet”) in the final copy. For readers who prefer their horror neither highbrow nor gory, however, Wildwood offers satisfying spookiness and ample surprises in the Jennifer McMahon vein. And local fans of gothic thrillers will appreciate how Woo links the story to broader issues of who “belongs” in the Green Mountain State. Who hasn’t wondered if our vibrant autumn woodlands are haunted by the echoing footsteps of those who came before? ➆

INFO Wildwood by Ashley Woo, Harper Perennial, 352 pages. $19.99. Woo joins Flynn Berry for a discussion of the novel on Thursday, October 15, 7 p.m., at the Norwich Bookstore. Free.

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Officially speaking, Vermont loves its transplants, but it’s not always easy being a newcomer to the state. Novelist Ashley Woo is herself a 2019 transplant from Boston to Norwich. And in Wildwood, her recently released debut, the experience is downright chilling. Like many gothic novels, Wildwood kicks off with an unexpected inheritance. Elinor Leighton is nine weeks pregnant and has just lost her tech job when she learns that her great-uncle died and left her Wildwood, his run-down 18th-century mansion in rural Vermont. The catch: To secure the property, she’ll have to reside there an entire year. Fright fans will recognize this as a classic horror setup: If you need to bribe people to live in your palatial home, it’s probably haunted. Woo delivers on that premise, with some modern wrinkles. Elinor, who narrates the novel in present tense, has idyllic memories of Wildwood from childhood visits. But once she and her husband, Topher, move in, she grows restless and nervous, uncomfortable in her new role as a stay-at-home wife. The eerie woodland mural in their bedroom haunts her dreams. Soon she’s hearing whispers in the forest and having frightening visions of a woman being hanged as a witch. As all good Vermonters know, only one witch trial has ever been documented in the state (and the “witch” survived). Trying to prove that Wildwood was caught up in the same hysteria as Salem, Mass., Elinor gets the runaround from the local historical society and even her own husband, who thinks she’s losing it. For his part, Topher is increasingly enthralled with their new neighbors, the Brooks, an oldschool Vermont dynasty with a newly trendy cashmere business. Glamorous Madeline Brook has welcomed the Leightons with open arms, but could she be hiding secrets that explain Wildwood’s strange and contentious history?

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culture

From left: Lauren MacKechnie, Roya Millard and Clara Kuhn rehearsing Crime and Punishment, A Comedy

‘Rocky’ Rebound Essex Community Players returns from real-life drama S TO RY & PHOT O BY MARY ANN LICKTEIG • maryann@sevendaysvt.com

he show didn’t go on, but the theater company has. In the spring, Essex Community Players canceled its 2025-26 season finale, The Rocky Horror Show, after members of the crew received anonymous threats. Scrapping the beloved musical comedy cost the allvolunteer nonprofit $5,800 and sparked a storm of speculation as the theater company became the unwitting star of a real-life whodunit. Four of its nine board members resigned amid the turmoil, which attracted national attention. Months later, area actors and crew members questioned whether they should be involved with the Players. One who had been with the company for 15 years severed ties. Beth Wilbur jumped into the fray. The longtime set designer, who served on the board some 10 years ago, wasn’t involved with Rocky Horror, but she observed how those who had been were “deeply impacted by its outcome,” she wrote in an

THEATER

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

email. “The impact I felt was a need to step in and make things better — classic middle child!” Elected board president in July, Wilbur sees a bright future for the 68-year-old community theater. Collectively, current board members possess the variety of skills theater administrators need, she said, and the “determination to launch a stellar new season.” It opens on Friday, October 16, with Crime and Punishment, A Comedy, a new show from Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen, the writing team behind Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors. Their 90-minute romp riffs on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s famous novel “and all of Russian literature,” they say on their website. Audience members don’t have to know Crime and Punishment to enjoy the show, director Nan Murat said. Greenberg and Rosen didn’t even read it, she noted: “They read the CliffsNotes version and then wrote the play.” Five actors play 50 characters. At a recent rehearsal, action moved quickly as veteran performers Roya Millard, Lauren

MacKechnie and Clara Kuhn slipped in and out of various accents, employing props and accessories — a babushka and cigarette, a newsboy cap, shot glasses — as they switched personae. Murat and stage manager Helen Jurnak, seated behind a folding table in Essex’s historic Memorial Hall, read the lines of the two missing cast members — Sarah Storjohann and Stephen Moore — and supplied sound effects: Bong, bong, bong. Whoosh. Typewriter, typewriter, typewriter. Confidence, competence and camaraderie prevailed. That in itself was a welcome scene, given the way the prior season ended. While anonymous threats ultimately forced The Rocky Horror Show’s cancellation, a confluence of more mundane factors contributed to the show’s demise, according to longtime Players actor and director Adam Cunningham, who was on the board then and is now vice president. Neither Rocky Horror director Patrick Cope nor producer Jane Healy had put on a musical before. Their inexperience

resulted in miscalculations in managing time and money, Cope told Seven Days in April. He and Healy did not reply to requests to comment for this article. Rehearsals lacked momentum, and Cunningham faults the board for not paying closer attention. A month before opening night, the company learned that Cope’s decision to make the male Rocky character a woman violated the show’s licensing agreement, forcing actors to scramble. Then the threats arrived. The first text, sent to music director Kenny Grenier and a board member, came from someone claiming to represent the licensing agency and threatened to revoke the Players’ rights to the show. Another text said: “Patrick and Kenny need to be gone.” The most ominous: “Oh just you wait for rehearsal tonight. It’s coming and you deserve it.” That’s when the Players canceled the show. Essex Police announced in August that the threats had come from Grenier himself, a revelation that landed in a segment on the comedic NPR news quiz show “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” The dummy phone numbers Grenier used to send the texts were tied to an IP address registered to his home, police said. The music director confessed to sending the texts as a way “to step away from the production for alleged personal safety issues instead of the true reason of what he described as difficulties with the cast and crew,” police reported. He was cited for sending false reports to law enforcement, a misdemeanor, and the case was referred to the Chittenden County Community Justice Center for resolution. Grenier, who can avoid prosecution if he completes the community justice program, did not reply to an email from Seven Days. Police said last week that they had nothing new to report on his case. Prior to police solving the case, Murat and Millard had proposed Crime and Punishment, A Comedy, which Broadway World called “fast, fluid, and fun,” as this season’s opener. But amid the firestorm this summer, both had reservations about going through with it. Vermont’s theater community is small. Murat, who began directing with the Players 16 years ago, feared continued association with the company could harm her reputation, especially following allegations on social media that bigotry played a role in canceling Rocky Horror. The cult classic celebrates sexual liberation, queer identity and raucous fun, and its Essex cast members were female, trans and/or nonbinary. “I just wanted to make sure all the goodwill I have built up as a director would not be tarnished,” Murat said. Millard, a transgender man, had other concerns. He does not believe that the

company discriminates against queer One actor’s parent had recently died, people, he said. In his first show there, in and several actors were “chronically ill” 2015, he played Madame Arcati in Blithe during the run of Daddy’s Girl, StapleSpirit, “and at the time, I was a butch ton said. Cast members asked that one lesbian, engaged to a woman,” he said. In performance be canceled to give them his next show he played a man. In real a night off, Stapleton said, but director life, he’d started using male pronouns Don MacKechnie, also a board member, and asked his theater colleagues to refer refused, even though only a handful of to him using he/him. “And to a person, tickets had sold. every member of that board, who had Board treasurer MacKechnie said in then known me for two years using she/ an email that the request to cancel the her pronouns, tried their damnedest,” he play’s penultimate performance on Octosaid, adding that the company went out of ber 31 did not come from the actor whose its way to invite him back for this season. parent had died. The bigotry charge “doesn’t hold Tickets sales had started soft, he water,” Millard went on, but it has acknowledged, but they picked up, and by reverberated. When showtime, the house Crime and Punishment was half full. The cast auditions were posted, had three days off he said, actors asked, prior to that perfor“If I audition, will I get mance and one virtual blacklisted?” rehearsal to run lines, Millard’s primary MacKechnie said. worry was the board’s “I personally and ability to support the we as a company DO B E TH WILBU R care about the wellproduction. He wanted being of our cast and to hear its version of the Rocky Horror saga. He and Murat crew members and have gone to extreme discussed the issues with Cunningham lengths at times to support them during and another board member before going our productions,” his email said. “In forward with the new show. “Everything the end though, ECP is a business, we I was told made me feel comfortable going advertised that there was going to be a back in,” Murat said. “Roya and I were performance that evening and the actors both saying we feel like we’ve come home.” knew that going into auditions.” The board has learned from the Wilbur and MacKechnie said they and incident and recalibrated, according to other board members are committed to Cunningham: “We’ve taken those lessons moving forward. “We have some great to heart.” ideas in the works that I hope we can roll Going forward, he said, board out in 27-28,” Wilbur said in an email. members will read licensing contracts Those include establishing a patron carefully, improve communication and donor program; investing in software planning, and ensure that they more to streamline operations and cut costs; closely monitor the progress of the improving marketing; and recruiting company’s shows to identify problems more volunteers, starting with teens. earlier. Still, not all former members of But first, the curtain will rise on a the Players are convinced. new season. Crime and Punishment runs “There would need to be some very through October 31. The season continmajor changes for me to even consider ues in December with the premiere of going back,” said actor Thalie Stapleton, Trap Day, a drama set in a lobstering a 15-year Players veteran who stage village off the coast of Maine, by Burlmanaged Rocky Horror. Stapleton, who ington playwright Lesley Becker. Agatha resigned from the board in April after a Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, short stint, “grew up in Memorial Hall,” the popular mystery adapted by Ken they said, and had found mentors and a Ludwig, completes the lineup in the second family there. But they had become spring. disenchanted even before the Rocky This time, all parties involved hope, Horror collapse. the whodunit remains onstage. ➆ “Ultimately, from experiences I had in the last few shows I did and my experi- INFO ences in the board meetings, I realized Crime and Punishment, A Comedy, by Gordon that my values no longer aligned with the Greenberg and Steve Rosen, directed by values of Essex Players,” Stapleton said. Nan Murat, produced by Essex Community Stapleton alleged that nonbinary Players. October 16-31. Fridays, 7:30 p.m.; and neurodiverse actors have received Saturdays through October 24, 7:30 p.m.; unfriendly treatment and that the board Saturday, October 31, 2 p.m.; and Sundays, prioritized finances over the well-being 2 p.m., at Memorial Hall in Essex. $21-25. of its cast during a production last year. essexplayers.com

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

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culture

COURTESY OF PIETRA BRETTKELLY FILMS

• Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building: How the filmmaker’s family dealt with his dad’s HIV diagnosis in ’90s Mexico City. • Whispers in May [doc]: In China, a girl’s first period sends her on a mountain odyssey. • Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep: Young girls struggle with their roles in Bedouin tribe. • Zweitland: Two brothers on two sides of separatist violence in 1960s Italy.

Not Enough People Are Talking About This!

Crocodile

Watch This

Previewing the Vermont International Film Festival in 48 loglines B Y M ARG OT HAR RI S ON • margot@sevendaysvt.com

ast year, attendance at the annual Vermont International Film Festival hit a 13-year high, according to executive director Steve MacQueen. With its weekly screenings at Burlington’s Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, the festival’s parent organization has built a strong local following. It helps that VTIFF’s program guide sells the offerings with gusto. Perusing the guide to this year’s 10-day festival, which begins on Friday, October 16, inspired me to create a Hollywoodstyle logline for each film — short, snappy and to the point. In addition to the 48 features below — assume they’re fiction unless you see “[doc]” — VTIFF includes several programs of shorts and six classics from 1976. To find the film(s) for you, look for the heading that best describes your most recent social media status update.

FILM

So Bored of Samey Crap!

• 9 Temples to Heaven: Student of acclaimed Thai surrealist offers Buddhist ritual road movie. • Clarissa: Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, but make it modern Nigeria. • Everything Else Is Noise: Chamber music meets chamber farce. • Iron Boy: Pixar refugee creates animated 50

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

labor of love about farming, disability, coming of age. • A Page of Madness: A surreal silent from 1926. A score improvised live 100 years later. • The Only Living Pickpocket in New York: He’s John Turturro, and Steve Buscemi is his fence. • Soy Mario: Trans taxi driver in Mexico City faces unexpected pregnancy.

I’m Just So Mad at the World Right Now

• All of a Sudden: Director of Drive My Car makes last-ditch defense of empathy against capitalism. • Ben’Imana: Rwandan director explores the limits of forgiveness in the wake of genocide. • A Bit of Light: Iranian doctor contemplates suicide over the state of the world. • Fatherland: What did literary lion Thomas Mann think of his native Germany in 1949? Pawel Pawlikowski (Ida) has ideas. • Minotaur: Russian dissident filmmaker tells story of corruption and marital dysfunction at start of the invasion of Ukraine. • The Red Hangar: In 1973, fascism comes to the Chilean military. • The Seoul Guardians [doc]: How South Korea said no to autocracy.

Let’s Start the Oscar Pool!

• Everytime: Austrian family goes on vacay, and shit gets weird. Look for the “shot of the year,” according to VTIFF program notes. • Fjord: Cannes Palme d’Or winner, legal drama, big stars, big issues. • A Girl Unknown: Foster child ballerina in China seeks her identity. • Josephine: Eight-year-old witnesses assault — can dad Channing Tatum help? • Look Back: Hirokazu Kore-eda crafts live-action version of beloved manga about manga love. • Mouse: No-wallowing tearjerker from directors of Ghostlight about coming of age with grief. • Queen at Sea: Juliette Binoche and stepfather clash over Mom’s ability to make decisions with dementia. • Rose: A 17th-century village isn’t ready for a war veteran’s (Sandra Hüller) secret.

Please Take Me Somewhere/when Else

• Coward: A gay love story during World War I, with show biz! • Dao: A wedding, a funeral, two continents, three hours. • Elephants in the Fog: Third-gender community in Nepal investigates mysterious disappearance. • La Gradiva: French teens on field trip to Naples — how much attention will they pay to the art? • Labrador: Autopsy of Silence: A murder mystery on a freighter in the North Atlantic, with an Inuk lead. • Once Upon a Time in Harlem [doc]: Wish you’d attended a party at Duke Ellington’s apartment in 1972?

• Adam’s Apple [doc]: Filmmaker documents her trans son’s coming of age. • Amazomania [doc]: Colonialist anthropological opportunism in the Amazon. • Cotton Queen: In female Sudanese filmmaker’s debut, teen fights for her village’s autonomy. • A Fox Under a Pink Moon [doc]: Young woman artist just wants to get out of Iran. • The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony [doc]: In Pakistan, undocumented girls tumble to empowerment. • Jail Time Records [doc]: Cameroonian prison inmates make music. • Land: I Saw and I Didn’t See [doc]: Former VTIFF director deconstructs her Zionist upbringing. • Rehearsals for a Revolution [doc]: An elegy for decades of Iranian resistance. • Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong [doc]: Shit happens, and you better hope wastewater facilities can handle it. • Union Town [doc]: Revered documentarian chronicles labor battles at Amazon, UPS, DoorDash.

Found This Random Cool Thing

• Agnus Dei [doc]: Cute lambs at the Vatican! • Crocodile [doc]: Young Nigerians make it big with YouTube sci-fi. • Her Game Is Hardball [doc]: What about women who don’t want to play softball? • The Last Critic [doc]: Robert Christgau has opinions on rock criticism. Featuring Winooski’s Autumn Records. • Nuisance Bear [doc]: What happens to the “polar bear capital of the world” during climate crisis? • The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Why not again? • Test: Can Midwestern lifter become bodybuilding champ? ➆

INFO Vermont International Film Festival, Friday, October 16, to Sunday, October 25, at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center in Burlington. Tickets $6-12; festival pass, $150. See the schedule at vtiff.org.

Real People. Real Jobs. Meet employers, collaborators and recruiters face-to-face at the…

PRESENT

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24 • HULA, BURLINGTON • FREE CAREER+TECH EXPO: 10 A.M.-3 P.M. PRESENTATIONS: 11 A.M. & 1 P.M.

FILE: SAM SIMON

At this annual career and tech expo, talk with dozens of exhibitors who are looking for local hires with expertise in engineering, manufacturing, coding, digital marketing and more. Recruiters from Vermont colleges and universities will offer a wide array of tech-related opportunities. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS:

Real Things: BETA, Hazelett and Rigorous 11 A.M. PRE-JAM PEP TALK Prepare to maximize your time on Tech Jam day. Attend a free, virtual Tech Jam Boot Camp with career coach Sue Schlom of the Targeted Resume a week prior, on Friday, October 16, noon-1 p.m. Register online.

INSTANT HEADSHOT LOUNGE Come camera-ready and get a professional profile pic by Storyworkz. Book by 10/23 for a discounted $15 session. Limited walk-ups.

Representatives from local product design and manufacturing companies discuss what they’re looking for in potential employees. From airframe assembly team leads to casting experts to robotics engineers, these companies are looking to fill a variety of openings.

Totally Unreal: How Deepfakes Are Changing Everything 1 P.M. Recently featured in the New York Times, Dartmouth professor Hany Farid discusses the difficulty of discerning what is real in a world full of AI slop and digital fakery. Learn what you can do to avoid being fooled.

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

10/5/26 11:36 AM

on screen The History of Concrete ★★★★★

COURTESY OF MAGNOLIA PICTURES

f you want to earn any money as a nonfiction filmmaker, direct a portrait of a boomer music icon. This is one of the lessons that John Wilson (HBO Max’s “How To With John Wilson”) learns and utterly fails to apply in his new documentary, The History of Concrete, which is about music, among many other things (concrete included). Wilson’s genrebending film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is playing at Partizanfilm in Burlington and the Savoy Theater in Montpelier as of press time.

The deal

You (Wilson narrates the doc in second person) once helmed a successful cable show and were even described as a “celebrity” on “Jeopardy!” But now your show is over, your royalty checks are shrinking, and the long shadow of AI looms over your industry. Seeking a new direction, you attend a workshop on how to write those perennially popular Hallmark movies. You watch a Hallmark movie in which the “holiday hunk” is an affordablehousing developer. Speaking of housing, you really need to fix the crack in the foundation of your New York City home so the basement stops flooding. You give it a try with some concrete mix from the Home Depot. Your savvier friend laughs at your pathetic effort. And suddenly you’re thinking about concrete — where did it come from? Why is everything made of it? Why does it seem to be crumbling all around you? And that’s it; that’s your next movie. But how on Earth do you sell The History of Concrete to investors on a Zoom call?

REVIEW

Will you like it?

According to its logline, this documentary chronicles Wilson’s attempt to use the Hallmark formula to market the movie we’re watching. In reality, at no point in The History of Concrete do we see Wilson actually try to convince anyone that his movie is a heartwarming romantic affirmation, or even that it has a coherent dramatic arc. He’d be a bald-faced liar if he did, because The History of Concrete is a stream-of-consciousness ramble through seemingly disparate subjects, the opposite of a digestible formula. And it’s so entertaining that I couldn’t care less about the false advertising. The Hallmark detour has a purpose, just 52

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Built dudes compete for the title of World’s Best Bricklayer in comedian John Wilson’s fascinating meta-documentary.

not the one the logline suggests. Wilson posits that Hallmark movies represent our desire to live in an idealized past. By contrast, we associate concrete with relentless development and modernity. Yet, in reality, concrete dates back to ancient Rome — Wilson takes a jaunt to Italy to prove it — and it’s already part of American urban history, as evidenced by New York’s antiquated, decaying concrete structures. Through his artfully collaged anecdotes, Wilson demonstrates that it’s easier to flee to Hallmark-style nostalgia than it is to face concrete realities (so to speak). Reporting from a concrete industry convention, he juxtaposes alarming talk of climate crisis and lunar colonization with a conga line and a World’s Best Bricklayer contest. Bit by bit, he gathers support for his thesis: “It seems like we spend more money re-creating the stuff we miss than trying to preserve what’s actually disappearing.” With his herky-jerky delivery, New York accent and self-deprecating humor, Wilson isn’t your typical documentarian. But in The History of Concrete, he’s neither navel-gazing nor trying to persuade us that he’s a man of the people, Michael Moorestyle. While Wilson uses candor to engage us, his personal story is ultimately just an entry point for a maze of curiosities. His

meme-like sight gags (drawn from street footage) and bizarre tangents come at us so fast we never get bored. For instance, a trip to see the nation’s oldest concrete street leads Wilson to a driving school where a woman describes her husband’s fatal accident. A patch of his tattooed skin hangs on her wall. Wilson visits the owner of the tattoo-preservation business — yet another way of clinging to the past. Meanwhile, back in New York, Buddhist monks create and destroy a sand painting in a ritual designed to embrace transience. Day after day, chewing gum accumulates on concrete sidewalks, a visible record of passersby. A newly built concrete high-rise is already falling apart. Everywhere we look are decay and renewal, lofty ambitions brought low, and plucky opportunism. Wilson may have sold The History of Concrete as a throwaway gag, but it evolves into a shaggy-dog quest for enlightenment. By the end, when he scores city council footage to the monks’ chanting, his humble subject has taken on weirdly vast dimensions. Will you learn about concrete? Yes. Will you never take concrete for granted again? Also yes. Even as he reminds us that adventurous filmmaking is an

endangered species, Wilson gives us reasons to fight for it.

MARGO T HARRI S O N margot@sevendaysvt.com

IF YOU LIKE THIS, TRY… “HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON” (three seasons, 2020-2023; HBO Max, YouTube Primetime): Half tutorial and half memoir, the filmmaker’s comedy docuseries features him dishing out practical advice to folks on New York streets. UNLESS SOMETHING GOES TERRIBLY WRONG (2025; Thursday, October 22, 4:15 p.m., Film House, Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center in Burlington): The Vermont International Film Festival (see preview, page 49) is a great place to catch boundary-pushing documentaries. This “buddy comedy about poop” (in the words of the program guide) profiles another part of our dangerously aging infrastructure: a wastewater facility. YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING (2026; currently scheduled to open locally on October 23): Speaking of unique documentaries, one of Wilson’s frequent collaborators, Nathan Fielder, brings us what sounds like a disturbingly intimate portrait of tech fraudster Elizabeth Holmes as she prepares to do time.

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NEW IN THEATERS MUSK: Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) offers his “thorough and unvarnished analysis” of the tech billionaire in this documentary. (232 min, R. Essex) SENSE AND SENSIBILITY: Two sisters must seek husbands in director Georgia Oakley’s new take on the Jane Austen classic, starring Daisy EdgarJones and Esmé Creed-Miles. (131 min, PG. Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Marquis, Savoy, Star, Welden) STREET FIGHTER: Two estranged fighters reunite for a dangerous tournament in this martial-arts action flick based on the video games. Noah Centineo stars; Kitao Sakurai directed. (119 min, PG-13. City Cinema, Essex, Majestic, Paramount, Star, Sunset, Welden) WHALEFALL: When a grieving diver (Austin Abrams) is swallowed by a whale, he has just one hour to escape in this survival thriller from Brian Duffield, based on Daniel Kraus’ novel. (106 min, PG-13. Capitol, City Cinema, Essex, Majestic, Sunset)

CURRENTLY PLAYING

THE SOCIAL RECKONINGHH1/2 Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed this fact-based story of a Facebook engineer (Mikey Madison) who brings the company’s secrets to the press. (112 min, R. Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Marquis) SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAYHHH1/2 Can Peter Parker (Tom Holland) stay under the radar? (145 min, PG-13. Majestic)

PAUL À QUÉBEC (Catamount, Wed 14 only)

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THE STATE OF FARMING (Welden, Mon only) VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (VTIFF, all week)

*BIG PICTURE THEATER: 48 Carroll Rd., Waitsfield, 496-8994, bigpicturetheater.info. Closed through April 29.

FORGOTTEN ISLANDHHH1/2 Two friends get trapped in a world that steals their memories in this DreamWorks animation. (109 min, PG. Bijou, Majestic, Welden)

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

PRIMETIMEHHHH Robert Pattinson plays “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen in Lance Oppenheim’s fact-based drama. (110 min, R. Essex, Majestic, Partizanfilm [Wed 14 & Thu only]; reviewed 9/30)

SPIRITED AWAY (Big Picture [Sat only], Essex [starts Sat])

FILIPINANAHHHH A teenager’s worldview expands as she works at a fancy golf club in the Philippines in this dark dramedy from Rafael Manuel, starring Jorrybell Agoto. (100 min, NR. Partizanfilm [Wed 14 & Thu only])

PRACTICAL MAGIC 2HHH Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock reprise their roles as sister witches in Susanne Bier’s legacy sequel. (110 min, PG-13. Capitol, Majestic, Sunset, Welden; reviewed 9/16)

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978) (Partizanfilm, Wed 14 only)

OPEN THEATERS

OTHER MOMMYHH An 8-year-old (Arabella Olivia Clark) has a nice mom and a monstrous one (both Jessica Chastain) in this adaptation of Josh Malerman’s supernatural horror novel. (93 min, R. Bijou, Essex, Majestic, Paramount, Star, Sunset)

t y ea r!

HOUSE (Catamount, Fri only)

DIGGERHHH1/2 In this satire from Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman), Tom Cruise plays the world’s most powerful man facing a catastrophe of his own making. (128 min, R. Majestic, Stowe, Welden; reviewed 10/7)

INSIDIOUS: OUT OF THE FURTHERHH1/2 A young mom (Amelia Eve) discovers she has a disturbing connection to the spirit world in this horror sequel. (106 min, PG-13. Sunset)

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OLDER FILMS AND SPECIAL SCREENINGS

COYOTE VS. ACMEHHHH Looney Tunes’ Wile E. Coyote sues the Acme corporation in this live action/animated comedy. (101 min, PG. Majestic, Playhouse)

THE HISTORY OF CONCRETEHHHH1/2 In this comic meta-documentary, director John Wilson explores the building material, Hallmark movies, the dire state of the film industry and much more. (101 min, NR. Partizanfilm [Wed 14 & Thu only], Savoy; reviewed 10/14)

Saturday oct.244 thanks for anoth

VERITYHH1/2 An author (Dakota Johnson) uncovers sinister doings in Michael Showalter’s adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s thriller. (114 min, R. Bijou, Capitol, City Cinema, Essex, Majestic, Star, Sunset, Welden)

BARRY LYNDON (Savoy, Sun only)

HEART OF THE BEASTHHH1/2 A Special Forces officer (Brad Pitt) and his dog must survive in the Alaskan wilderness in David Ayer’s adventure drama. (101 min, PG-13. Bijou, Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Sunset, Welden)

finale

TONYHHHH Dominic Sessa plays the young Anthony Bourdain in this dark comedy inspired by his memoir. Matt Johnson directed. (106 min, R. Catamount)

ANGEL AND THE BADMAN: An injured outlaw (Zachary Levi) tries to start a new life in a rancher’s daughter’s care in this remake of the 1947 Western, directed by Julio Quintana. (105 min, PG-13. Big Picture, City Cinema, Majestic)

THE CYCLE OF LOVE: This documentary reenacts a street artist’s 6,000-mile bike journey to reunite with his beloved. (98 min, NR. Savoy)

Season

RESIDENT EVILHHHH Cowriter-director Zach Cregger offers his cinematic take on the zombie horror game franchise. (90 min, R. Essex, Majestic, Stowe, Sunset; reviewed 9/23)

(* = upcoming schedule for theater could not be confirmed at press time)

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

CATAMOUNT ARTS: 115 Eastern Ave., St. Johnsbury, 748-2600, catamountarts.org *CITY CINEMA: 137 Waterfront Plaza, Newport, 334-2610, citycinemanewport.com 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. PARAMOUNT TWIN CINEMA: 241 N. Main St., Barre, 479-9621, fgbtheaters.com PARTIZANFILM: 230 College St., Unit 13, Burlington, 276-4588, partizanfilm.org. Closed October 16 through 29. PLAYHOUSE MOVIE THEATRE: 11 S. Main St., Randolph, 728-4012, playhouseflicks.com *SAVOY THEATER: 26 Main St., Montpelier, 229-0598, savoytheater.com THE SCREENING ROOM @ VTIFF: 60 Lake St., Ste. 1C, Burlington, 660-2600, vtiff.org STAR THEATRE: 17 Eastern Ave., St. Johnsbury, 748-9511, stjaytheatre.com *STOWE CINEMA 3PLEX: 454 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-4678, stowecinema.com SUNSET DRIVE-IN: 155 Porters Point Rd., Colchester, 862-1800, sunsetdrivein.com *WELDEN THEATRE: 104 N. Main St., St. Albans, 527-7888, weldentheatre.com SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

Old Haunts

art

Eric Killorin’s “Lost & Found Vermont” pictures the state’s abandoned places BY AL ICE D ODGE • adodge@sevendaysvt.com

PHOTOGRAPHY

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

of these buildings,” he said, “that once bristled with activity and now are just completely forgotten.” Killorin finds his sites through social media and a community of like-minded explorers, then accesses them with various degrees of difficulty. He spotted the Edelweiss Lodge near Killington on a drive; using the camera he had on hand, he shot stark, creepy images of its empty rooms, where real leaves have accumulated on the forest-themed polyester bedspreads. Getting to the East Haven radar station — a remnant of Vermont’s role in the Cold War — was more of a challenge. Killorin drove as far up the rutted road as he could, and when his e-bike couldn’t quite tackle the 30-degree incline, he hiked the last couple of miles. It was worth it for his eerie pictures of the mountain site, where OLD HAUNTS

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COURTESY PHOTOS: ERIC KILLORIN | ERICKILLORIN.COM

he phrase “ghost photography” might conjure sepia images from 19th-century spiritualist séances or grainy night-vision paranormal reality TV footage. What is a ghost if not an absence made manifest? The best seasonal stories entice us with weird details, promising a narrative but leaving it unresolved, a cold October wind whistling through the plot holes. The photos in Eric Killorin’s “Lost & Found Vermont” series, while not exactly capturing spectral figures, fit that bill. The 71-year-old from Middlebury took up photography as a retirement project three years ago and combined it with his love of exploring abandoned places and learning about their history. “There’s something about the solitude

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Clockwise from top left: The asbestos mine, Eden; inside the mine facilities; a bathroom at the Means Mansion in Middlebury; a room at the Edelweiss Lodge in Mendon

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

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COURTESY PHOTOS: ERIC KILLORIN | ERICKILLORIN.COM

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

FIND ALL ART SHOWS + EVENTS AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/ART

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FALL EXHIBITIONS

Will Kasso Condry, Knight of Wands, 2023 (detail)

OCT. 16, 2026 — JAN. 23, 2027

Opening reception for Dark Botanica, Taken to Heart: Kathleen Schneider, and Forms of Connection: Tristan Bates

OPENING RECEPTION FRIDAY, OCT. 16, 5-7 PM BCA Center, 135 Church Street Dark Botanica exhibiting artist Megan Bogonovich, Dark Botanicals 7, 2026

BCA’s fall exhibitions are supported in part by the Maslow Family Foundation. Dark Botanica has support from Higher Ground Presents, Red Wagon Plants, and American Meadows. Hospitality sponsors: Lake Champlain Chocolates, City Market Onion River Co-Op, and Sugarsnap Catering. Burlington City Arts is supported in part by the Vermont Arts Council & the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Clockwise from top left: The Means Mansion in Middlebury; the atrium of the Diamond Run Mall in Rutland; the Green Mountain Racetrack in Pownal; inside the Diamond Run Mall in Rutland; the radar station in East Haven

Old Haunts « P.54 operators reported a UFO sighting in 1961. Killorin often portrays places that once held throngs of people, such as the Green Mountain Race Track in Pownal and the Diamond Run Mall in Rutland. The former was established in the early ’60s to draw tourists to the state; its stands, with room for thousands, are now rusting and covered in graffiti. At the mall, Killorin said, where every inch of interior glass has been smashed, he was understandably freaked out when he entered to see people emerging from a wall. They turned out to be other urban explorers, not zombies. Ghosts of industry haunt Killorin’s projects. Massive equipment silently rusts at the Belvidere asbestos mine in Eden, which shut down in 1993 amid growing awareness of its health hazards. The huge piles of tailings make an apt metaphor for the scale of environmental

toxicity; a dangling phone receiver and an empty office chair speak to the ensuing human costs of the shutdown. More intimate pictures paint less gloomy portraits. Killorin grew up helping his parents rehab old buildings, so when new owners bought the abandoned 200-year-old Means Mansion in Middlebury, he showed up to document their painstaking renovation, which has lasted for going on three years. The images start spooky, documenting peeling wallpaper and broken windows, but progress to show the workers’ smiling faces as they bring the place back to life. Asked how he chooses Vermont places to photograph, Killorin said, “You could stop every 10 feet and photograph an abandoned barn, but there’s got to be a story.” ➆

INFO See all of “Lost & Found Vermont” at erickillorin.com.

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ANTIQUES APPRAISALS: An appraisal session with art experts Robin Starr and Christopher Fox from Bonhams Skinner, New England’s oldest auction house. Preregister at sdavis@stjathenaeum.org or 820-745-1393. St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, Saturday, October 17, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. $10 per item; $25 for three items.

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BONNIE ACKER: “Color Journeys,” vibrant abstract oil paintings inspired by the natural world. Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery, Shelburne, through October 31.

HANDS-ON COMMUNITY BIOMATERIAL SCULPTURE WORKSHOP: A workshop led by Lia Rothstein that explores the creative possibilities of sustainable art through the design and creation of an ephemeral art installation made from innovative, natural and biodegradable biomaterials. AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon, N.H., Saturday, October 17, 1-3 p.m. By donation.

NANCY PAWLOWSKI: “The Current Circus: Finding Some Purpose,” sculpture and multimedia installation by the MFA candidate. Reception and artist talk: Thursday, October 15, noon-2 p.m. Julian Scott Memorial Gallery, Vermont State UniversityJohnson, through October 30. ‘FRACTURED, NOT BROKEN’: A community quilt designed, pieced and painted by incarcerated participants in a quilting workshop at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield and stitched and completed by more than 100 community members throughout Windham County. Reception: Thursday, October 15, 5:30 p.m. Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, through November 1. ‘DARK BOTANICA’: A group show of works by Alina Bliumis, Cameron Davis, Dylan Griffin, Marcie Scudder, Megan Bogonovich, Sian Fan and Sage Tucker-Ketcham, who reimagine the symbolism of flowers and plants through darker associations with transformation, desire, mortality and crisis. Reception: Friday, October 16, 5-7 p.m. BCA Center, Burlington, October 16-January 23. KATHLEEN SCHNEIDER: “Taken to Heart,” sculpture, textiles and prints made through the methodical, time-intensive processes of dyeing, sewing, printing and assembling and exploring the relationship between personal experience and larger social and political histories. Reception: Friday, October 16, 5-7 p.m. BCA Center, Burlington, October 16-January 23. TRYSTAN BATES: “Forms of Connection,” an investigation of fragmentation and unity as interconnected states rather than opposing conditions. Reception: Friday, October 16, 5-7 p.m. BCA Center, Burlington, October 16-January 23. SALLY GIL: “Rain Seen From a Cave,” an exhibition of 10 new and recent mixed-media and collage works on paper. Reception and artist talk: Friday, October 16, 5-7 p.m. 571 Projects, Stowe, through April 9. ASPEN LAPHAM FERSCH AND SEQUOIA ISIS MAYER: A mixed-media collaboration by the Rochester artists, including portraits of impactful family members and friends, and found objects of deep personal importance. Reception: Friday, October 16, 5-7 p.m. Canal Street Art Gallery, Bellows Falls, October 16-December 13. ‘FORM AND FUNCTION’: A group show of functional works including pieces by Chris Archer, Whitney Barrett, Robert Burch, Robert DuGrenier and others. Reception: Friday, October 16, 5-7 p.m. Canal Street Art Gallery, Bellows Falls, October 16-December 13. SANDY SHERMAN: “Grotoons,” a series of paintings inspired by art-historical grotesques from the margins of illuminated manuscripts. Reception: Friday, October 16, 5-7 p.m. Canal Street Art Gallery, Bellows Falls, October 16-December 13. ANA KOEHLER AND HANNAH CIERI: An exhibition of figurative paintings by Koehler and ceramics by Cieri. Reception: Friday, October 16, 5:30-8 p.m. Soapbox Arts, Burlington, October 16-November 14. 'THREE SCULPTORS': Works by Nancy Deifenbach, Sachiko Yomata and Kim Morrison that express each artist’s connection to Vermont and to nature. Reception: Saturday, October 17, 2-4 p.m. Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild Backroom Gallery, St. Johnsbury, October 17-November 13. MARGARET JACOBS: “Rooted in Land, Shaped by Fire,” recent work by the Akwesasne Mohawk artist on themes of stewardship, cultural continuity and environmental change. The exhibition was developed with contributions from students in

SOCIAL SUNDAY: An opportunity for children and caregivers to stop in and complete a 15- to 30-minute activity during the two-hour workshop. Milton Artists’ Guild Art Center & Gallery, Sunday, October 18, 1-3 p.m. Free. PORTRAIT DRAWING AND PAINTING: A drop-in event where artists can practice skills in any medium. T.W. Wood Museum, Montpelier, Monday, October 19, 10 a.m.-noon. Free; $15 suggested donation.

Hickory Dickory Dock Forgo measuring time through 30-second TikTok videos for a moment in favor of the ticks and tocks of an older form of technology: the clock. “Time Keeping” at the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History in Middlebury brings together devices ranging from the enormous lead-coated copper numbers that originally adorned the steeple clock of the Congregational Church of Middlebury down to the tiny carved ivory gears and cogs of a watch from 1865. Alongside clocks of various shapes decorated with reverse-glass paintings, watch fobs, ladies’ reticule purses and truly weird 19th-century calendars, the museum presents contemporary collages by Norwich artist Luciana Frigerio assembled in antique clock cases. Where the historical artifacts embellish the measurement of time with brass doodads and intricate illustrations, Frigerio’s pieces seem to suspend it, creating dreamlike scenes from old portraits, seascapes and maps of constellations. In an adjacent room, visitors are encouraged to take their own photos and record their thoughts for inclusion in a community time capsule — another old technology that preserves the current moment.

‘TIME KEEPING’ On view through January 2 at the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History in Middlebury. henrysheldonmuseum.org

winter term courses. Reception: Tuesday, October 20, 5-7 p.m. Johnson Memorial Building, Middlebury College, through November 20. VERMONT STATE UNIVERSITY FACULTY EXHIBITION: The inaugural exhibition from faculty at the Castleton, Johnson and Lyndon campuses, featuring work in a range of mediums including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, mixed media, video and ceramics. Reception: Saturday, October 24, 1-3 p.m. Vermont State University-Castleton Bank Gallery, Rutland, October 15-December 12. ANDREW ORR: “A Journey of Place: Year One Series,” four paintings that form the first collection of works in the artist’s five-year project documenting a trek through the Vermont landscape. Paintings are available for sale only via ballot drawing during the closing reception. Reception and ballot sale: Saturday, November 7, 5-7 p.m. Bryan Fine Art Gallery, Stowe, through November 7.

VISUAL ART EVENTS 'CATALYST' ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION: University of Vermont studio faculty Mildred Beltré, Misoo Bang and Erika White discuss the current exhibition and their practices with curator Heather Ferrell and manager of campus and community engagement Phil Morin. Fleming Museum of Art, University of Vermont,

GET YOUR ART SHOW LISTED HERE AND ONLINE!

PROMOTING AN ART EXHIBIT? SUBMIT THE INFO AND IMAGES BY THURSDAY AT NOON AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT OR ART@SEVENDAYSVT.COM.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

“Depths” by Luciana Frigerio

EXHIBITIONS

Burlington, Wednesday, October 14, 5 p.m. Free. ARTIST TALK: DEBRA PRIESTLY: A discussion with the artist, whose work explores themes of memory, ancestry, history and cultural preservation. Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Wednesday, October 14, 8-9 p.m. Free. LIFE DRAWING AND PAINTING: A drop-in event for artists working with the figure from a live model. T.W. Wood Museum, Montpelier, Thursday, October 15, 7-9 p.m. Free; $15 suggested donation. FALL 2026 EXHIBITIONS OPENING RECEPTION: The artists and community celebrate the opening of the exhibitions “Dark Botanica,” “Taken to Heart: Kathleen Schneider” and “Forms of Connection: Trystan Bates.” BCA Center, Burlington, Friday, October 16, 5-7 p.m. Free. ‘FREE SELF-EXPRESSION’: An open forum in which the public is invited to celebrate community by sharing performance, music, reading, speaking, dancing, and take-home art and writing. Canal Street Art Gallery, Bellows Falls, Friday, October 16, 5-8 p.m. Free. ARTIST TALK: ALTHEA BILODEAU LAMB: A discussion with the artist of her fiber artwork, which includes hand-dyed natural fibers felted into outerwear, scarves, shawls and bags. Refreshments at 6 p.m.; talk at 7 p.m. Brandon Artists Guild, Friday, October 16, 6 p.m. Free.

VISUAL ART IN SEVEN DAYS:

ART LISTINGS ARE WRITTEN BY ALICE DODGE. LISTINGS ARE RESTRICTED TO ART SHOWS IN TRULY PUBLIC PLACES.

OPEN STUDIO: A guided meditation followed by an hour of art making in any medium and concluding with a share-and-witness process. Many art materials available. In person and online. Expressive Arts Burlington, Tuesday, October 20, 6:30-8:30 p.m. By donation.

CALLS TO ARTISTS ‘GLASSTASTIC’: An invitation to kids in grades K-6 to draw pictures of imaginary creatures for the beloved biennial exhibition. Glass artists from around New England select and reinterpret the drawings as sculptures, which will be on view from March 13 to July 3, along with all drawings that are submitted. Guidelines and submission forms at brattleboromuseum.org. Deadline: December 15. Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. Free. ‘SMALL WORKS’: Now accepting submissions of up to six works of art per artist for the annual holiday exhibition of artwork measuring 12 inches or less. All works accepted. Submit via the online form at spacegalleryvt.com. Deadline: October 25. The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery, Burlington. $6 per piece; $5 for members. ‘SMALL WORKS’: Seeking works for the annual holiday exhibition, which features 12-by-12-inch or smaller two-dimensional and three-dimensional works that would fit inside an imaginary 8-inch cube. Exhibition runs from November 13 to December 19. Deadline: October 31. Artistree Community Arts Center, South Pomfret. ➆

Additional art listings are on view at sevendaysvt.com/art. Find all the calls to artists, ongoing art shows and future events online.

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music+nightlife

endall Farrell has a go-to whenever he comes back to Burlington. “I have a special, special place in my heart for Taco Gordo,” the comedian told Seven Days in a recent phone call. “I was an OG fan back when it was just a taco cart on Church Street, and I’d show up looking ratty as hell after standing at a hotel desk all day.” Farrell, 33, worked at the Hilton Garden Inn, just upstairs from Vermont Comedy Club — a convenient commute for an up-and-coming standup. As it has for several local comics who’ve since moved on to bigger scenes, the venue played a key role early in Farrell’s career. He won the 2015 Vermont’s Funniest Comedian contest there and was regularly tabbed as a local opener for nationally touring comics booked at the club, such as Michelle Wolf. At the same time, he hosted weekly and monthly comedy showcases at venues around Burlington, manufacturing precious stage time for himself and other local comics. He honed his craft until he felt ready to take the next step. In 2017, he left the relative comfort and safety of Burlington for the far more competitive New York City scene. In the years since, Farrell has steadily grinded and just as steadily found success. He’s drawn accolades from the New York Comedy Festival and headlined the Breakout Artist Comedy Series at Carolines on Broadway, as well as opened for the likes of Rachel Feinstein and Matteo Lane. In August, Farrell went viral on Instagram with a joke about the gender spectrum, part of a recent series of walkand-talk social media bits in which he riffs on everything from politics to dating. Farrell had long been reluctant to devote much energy to social media. But as other rising comics have found — such as his friend and fellow Vermont expat Tina Friml, who returns to the state this week (see page 11) — Farrell discovered that putting himself out there online pays dividends. And he’s found a way of doing it in Kendall Farrell fashion — which is to say, smart, saucy and a little smarmy. “It’s so important to figure out how to keep having fun, even when the work is hard,” the Vernon native said. “If you can’t find a way to enjoy it, you’ll get drummed out from sheer fatigue.” This week, Farrell returns to where it all started. He headlines four shows at Vermont Comedy Club this Thursday to

in material, so you’re seeing a lot of great comics doing really good jokes — it can be intense. But competition breeds innovation; it helps you learn your craft.

COMEDY

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

Comic Callback

COURTESY

Kendall Farrell returns to Vermont Comedy Club for a weekend of shows where he launched his career BY C H R IS FAR NS W O R TH • farnsworth@sevendaysvt.com

Saturday, October 15 to 17. Then, on Sunday, October 18, he’ll tape his first special at Littlefield in Brooklyn. Farrell chatted with Seven Days about his time in Burlington, what it’s like for Vermonters in the New York scene, and the ups and downs of creating online content. You’ve been doing standup for more than a decade now. What’s changed from when you first got onstage? When I started, I was definitely doing it just for fun. And that’s what I love about the Vermont comedy scene: A lot of people do it there for the sheer joy of creative expression. They don’t necessarily have bigger goals; they just want to be funny onstage. I love that. And it’s a great place to cut your teeth. You can get so much stage time in Vermont to develop your craft. I got some early encouragement that made me think it could be more than that. And I did spend a lot of time debating whether or not to stay in Vermont and just

do this for fun or make the move to New York and really go for it. Having other Vermont comics in New York, like Carmen Lagala, must have made the decision a little easier, yes? Oh, yeah. There’s so many couches for Vermont comics to stay on in Brooklyn right now. And we’re all really tight — we have an expat group chat; we see each other at open mics all the time. Carmen came first, then me; Anya Volz is down here; Ash Diggs is here; Mike Thomas just moved down. There’s at least 10 or 15 of us here, a lot of mutual support. I’m so glad that before I moved down, I’d stay on Carmen’s couch or watch her cat for her while she was on the road. I took the time to get the feel for the city before making the move. Because it’s fun but also just so massive. Open mics in Vermont, they’re fun and supportive. In New York, it’s much more competitive. Comics are going to open mics to hone their hours and dial

What did New York teach you as a comic? When you first start out at open mics, you’re really just doing an impression of other comics — at least I was. I was writing in the voices of other comedians like Sarah Silverman and Margaret Cho, who are big influences. But the more you get onstage, you start to shed that and develop your own voice. The main thing is, the joke writing will improve. Having a good sense of humor feels like a quality people are just kind of born with, but joke writing is a tangible skill that you can and will get better at with persistence. My joke writing is much, much better now, and my voice onstage is more coherent. You’ve been posting material on social media, something you’ve resisted in the past. Do you enjoy creating online content, or is it more a function of the job? I had, and still have, serious reservations about playing the whole social media game as a comic. Making a ton of money for these shitty tech companies while posting my material for free — yeah, I don’t love it. But you get to the point where you have to accept that one of the only paths to financial success in standup is to grow a large social media following. That’s the way to sell tickets right now, whether I like it or not. Watching other comics like Tina Friml grow their following on social media has been really instructive. When I asked Tina and other comics about it, the advice they’ve given me is basically, Hey, it’s not really that deep. Just post something every day, as much as you can. So leading up to my special coming out, I’ll be putting out clips and building some hype, hopefully. What did you make of the recent controversy surrounding popular standup comic and actor Sebastian Maniscalco after he kicked a ton of comics off SiriusXM’s “Raw Comedy” channel, replacing it with a new channel that features dead comics like Bob Hope and Joan Rivers? That was a big deal, especially for comics like Carmen, who really depend on those royalty checks from SiriusXM. Those checks pay the rent, man. To lose out to COMIC CALLBACK

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GOT MUSIC NEWS? MUSIC@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

COURTESY

Trio Bohémo African Rhythms Sextet

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On the Beat I was today years old when I learned that RANDY WESTON’s seminal 1960 jazz record Uhuru Afrika was so powerful that it was banned by the apartheidera South African government. You really know you’ve made a classic when it gets canceled by racists. And if you’re wondering if the members of the 1960s South African Board of Censors just made a generational whiff when they blacklisted Weston’s record, they also banned the BEATLES’ White Album a few years later. So, y’know, at least they were consistent in their bad taste. Weston, an acolyte of THELONIOUS MONK — ever heard of him? — became famous for fusing modern jazz with African sounds and rhythms. The Brooklyn-born composer, pianist and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master died at age 92 in 2018, but an all-star sextet will perform a tribute to his music at Vermont Jazz Center in Brattleboro on Saturday, October 17. The AFRICAN RHYTHMS SEXTET is composed of musicians who played with Weston for years, including his own piano protégé, SHARP RADWAY, and NEA Jazz Master BILLY HART on drums.

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As Weston wrote in his memoir, African Rhythms, “I came to be a storyteller; I’m not a jazz musician; I tell stories in music.” Well, he told a lot of stories over his 70-year career. Head over to Vermont Jazz Center to take it all in. Tickets are available at vtjazz.org. I’ve been noticing bands putting a little more oomph into their album-release shows, and I’m here for it. Making records is freaking hard, so go ahead and celebrate it, I say. Take Montpelier synth-pop act PLUTO RISING: The band is dropping its debut ON THE BEAT

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FEATURING SONGS OF CAT STEVENS, GORDON LIGHTFOOT & HARRY CHAPIN

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music+nightlife

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On the Beat « P.61 album, After Dark, on Friday, October 16. That night, its members throw a cosmic-themed launch party at Hugo’s in downtown Montpelier. Guests are encouraged to “embrace the theme and come dressed in sparkles, sequins, space suits, or whatever cosmic attire inspires them,” the band said in a press release. Signature Pluto Rising cocktails will help send you into orbit. If you’re thinking of heading to the space dance, you can preview the album at plutorising.bandcamp.com. Singles “Soldier of Fortune” and “Gyroscope” are both streaming and will get you into the proper synth-disco vibe. To the surprise of no one, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the stuff we as a community lose when local venues go under. Not being able to pop by Honky Tonk Tuesday at Burlington’s Radio Bean still feels weird, and I can’t tell you how much I miss Nectar’s trivia night — shout-out to SHANA, the hostess with the mostest. As bad as losing all the shows has been, it’s also colossally sucked

that beloved recurring special events have lost their homes. I’m thinking specifically of the Burlington Record Fair that Nectar’s hosted in recent years. Would my finances improve if I missed out on one of my favorite record fairs? OK, first off: How dare you ask such a thing? So rude. Though you’re definitely correct. That’s not the point! When your friendly neighborhood music editor gets the big sads, he needs his retail therapy and vinyl fixes, all right? Thankfully, not only did the Burlington Record Fair survive and move to Burlington City Hall Auditorium this year, but the folks at Zero Gravity are hosting a whole other record fair on Sunday, October 18. (Screw you, disposable income. Prepare to be annihilated!) For the second year running, the South End brewery welcomes multiple vendors with boxes upon boxes of goodies waiting to be dug out and added to your own crate. Get more info on Zero Gravity’s Instagram. And good hunting!

C HRI S FARN S W O RT H

COURTESY

Kendall Farrell

NEW! Night Protocol at the Seven Daysies party JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

YOU’RE JUST

Comic Callback « P.60 Follow our new Instagram page for a curated feed of the best local events, including staff picks and what’s on sale at sevendaystickets.com.

Do you still keep up with the Vermont comedy scene? Oh, hell yes! I love coming back and seeing the talent developing in Vermont. Donavin Andronaco is super funny. I also love Nic Sisk and Zoe Bernstein; they’re great. Vermont is an amazing incubator

from your next great time. @sevendaysoutandabout 62

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

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the estate of Bob Hope is rough. It was just one more blow to working-class comedians, who are already struggling. I have some hope. I saw Sebastian posted [asking] for some time to figure it out. I hope he figures it out quickly, because in the meantime a lot of people are trying to figure out how to pay their rent. Sebastian, learn from Ed Sheeran!

9/8/26 12:03 PM

for new comics; it’s such a supportive place for the arts. And I tell all of them: Come crash on our couches! Get a feel for New York if you want to make the next step. It can be a grind, a challenge, and you’re going to be performing where the difficulty setting is cranked up to the max. But I’m telling you: As a comic, that’s what you want. ➆ This interview was edited for clarity and length.

INFO Kendall Farrell, Thursday and Friday, October 15 and 16, 6:30 p.m.; and Saturday, October 17, 6:30 and 8 p.m., at Vermont Comedy Club in Burlington. $15-20. vermontcomedyclub.com

CLUB DATES live music

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.

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help you get laid using a more classic approach: a dating game. At the live game watchful eye of Emerson, a certified professional sexual educator. After the game

Bluegrass Nights (bluegrass) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

wraps up, DJ GAYBAR kicks off an after-party for dancing and mingling. Who needs an app? It all goes down on Friday, October 16, at the Higher Ground Ballroom in

Dark Star Project (Grateful Dead tribute) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. $10/$15.

South Burlington.

Eric Bailey (singer-songwriter) at Two Heroes Brewery & Public House, South Hero, 6 p.m. Free.

THU.15

The Band Memo, Acid Wash (jam) at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington, 8 p.m. $15.

Funk Jam (funk) at the 126, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free. George Murtie (covers) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 6 p.m. Free. Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye: A Leonard Cohen Tribute (tribute) at Monkey House, Winooski, 7 p.m. $5/$10. Lincoln Sprague (piano) at Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge, Burlington, 5 p.m. Free. Rusty K Boose (bluegrass) at Shelburne Vineyard, 6 p.m. Free.

FRI.16

Ali McGuirk (soul, R&B) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. Free. Ali T (singer-songwriter) at 1st Republic Brewing, Essex, 6 p.m. Free. Bad Horsey (covers) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 9 p.m. Free. Blood Eclipse, Applesnozz, Jesse Chain Saw, Revolt, Joe Pro, Barnyardie Dubs (EDM) at Burlington Odd Fellows Hall, 7 p.m. $10. The Bressetts (acoustic) at Gusto’s, Barre, 7 p.m. Free.

COURTESY

Copilots (jazz) at Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free. Danny & the Parts (Americana) at Shelburne Vineyard, 6 p.m. Free. Dead Man Strumming (Grateful Dead tribute) at River Roost Brewery, White River Junction, 5 p.m. Free. Duncan MacLeod Trio (Americana) at Two Heroes Brewery & Public House, South Hero, 6 p.m. Free. Fiddlehead Hollow (folk) at 14th Star Brewing, St. Albans, 5 p.m. Free.

Nico Suave & the Mothership (Led Zeppelin tribute) at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $15. Pluto Rising (rock) at Hugo’s, Montpelier, 7:30 p.m. Donations. Radio Cowboy (covers) at Switchback Beer Garden & Smokehouse, Burlington, 5:30 p.m. Free. Revolution Roadshow: Jackson & the Janks Honkytonk Dance Party (country, rock) at VFW Post 648, Rutland, 6 p.m. $20.

Thomas Morgan + Emi Makabe (jazz) at the Mill, Westport, N.Y., 7 p.m. $30.

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

TURNmusic Presents: James Harvey Unit with Tony Jones (jazz) at the Phoenix, Waterbury, 7:30 p.m. $15-30.

Organ Fairchild (Grateful Dead tribute) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7 p.m. $12.

David Harrison (singersongwriter) at Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Waitsfield, 3 p.m. Free.

Two Sev, JP Black, RPMZ, Chaston (DJ) at Red Square, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

Jeff & Gina (acoustic) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 1 p.m. Free.

Vinyl Night (DJ) at Poultney Pub, 6 p.m. Free.

Maplecore Fest (metal) at Stone Church, Brattleboro, 2 p.m. $31/$36.

Vinyl Thursdays (DJ) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

Myra Flynn (soul, R&B) at the Whammy Bar, Calais, 7 p.m. $10.

Adam Ezra Group (Americana) at Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington, 8 p.m. $25. Baby Fearn (indie pop) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

DJ Taka (DJ) at Standing Stone Wines, Winooski, 11 p.m. $10.

Chris Powers (acoustic) at Gusto’s, Barre, 9 p.m. Free. DNA (acoustic) at Poultney Pub, 6 p.m. Free.

Wine & Jazz Sundays (jazz) at Shelburne Vineyard, 5 p.m. Free.

Executive Disorder, Psychomanteum (metal) at Burlington Odd Fellows Hall, 7 p.m. $10. Forest Station (bluegrass) at the Den at Harry’s Hardware, Cabot, 7 p.m. Free.

Twin Fin: The California Sober Tour (rock) at Afterthoughts, Waitsfield, 7 p.m. $20.

SAT.17

DJ Dakota (DJ) at Gusto’s, Barre, 9 p.m. Free.

Friday Night at Specs (DJ) at Specs Cafe & Bar, Winooski, 7 p.m. Free.

Horn of the Moon Orchestra (funk) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 8:30 p.m. Free.

Moonbird (covers) at the Old Post, South Burlington, 8 p.m. Free.

Rupert Wates, the Early Risers (singer-songwriter) at Stage 33 Live, Bellows Falls, 7 p.m. $20.

FRI.16

Windborne (vocal music) at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Upper Valley, Norwich, 4 p.m. $30.

Borrow the Bones (folk) at Bent Nails Roadhouse, Middlesex, 7:30 p.m. Free.

Jackson & the Janks (country, rock) at Vermont State University-Randolph, Randolph Center, 7 p.m. $20.

Will & Evan (folk) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 4 p.m. Free.

Thirsty Thursday (DJ) at Rí Rá Irish Pub & Whiskey Room, Burlington, 10 p.m. Free.

Ecstatic Dance Vermont (DJ) at Capital City Grange, Berlin, 7 p.m. $10 donation.

Troy Millette & the Fire Below (Americana) at Stowe Cider, 5 p.m. Free.

Jake Swamp and the Pine (Americana) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 8 p.m. $15/$20.

THU.15

Sunday Brunch Tunes (singersongwriter) at Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 10 a.m.

Garrison Bones (singersongwriter) at Babes Bar, Bethel, 7:30 p.m. Free.

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

djs

DJ Viu (DJ) at Einstein’s Tap House, Burlington, 10 p.m. Free.

HiFi (funk) at Hugo’s, Montpelier, 8 p.m. Free.

Ian Sweet, Meg Elsier, Lost Film (indie) at Stone Church, Brattleboro, 8 p.m. $21/$25.

Bluegrass Nights (bluegrass) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

Seth Yacovone (acoustic) at the Alchemist, Stowe, 4 p.m. Free.

Smokey Newfield Project (folk) at Jericho Café & Tavern, 6 p.m. Free.

Two Towns (folk) at the Alchemist, Stowe, 4 p.m. Free.

Beatrice Anne, Odin Scott Coleman, Danny & the Parts (indie) at Monkey House, Winooski, 8 p.m. $10.

The Dulce Duo (folk) at Four Quarters Brewing, Winooski, 7 p.m. Free.

Myra Flynn (soul, R&B) at the Phoenix, Waterbury, 7 p.m. $20.

FRI.16 // SEX WITH JENNA [DATING SHOW]

WED.21

Switchel (folk) at Jericho Café & Tavern, 6 p.m. Free.

SUN.18

Vanessa Collier (blues, soul) at Retro Live, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 7 p.m. $20.

The Eyetraps, Mooncusser (indie rock) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

The So & So’s (rock) at Standing Stone Wines, Winooski, 8 p.m. $10.

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

Prince Daddy & the Hyena, Combat, Walter Etc. (rock) at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $25.

Buena Vista Orchestra (Cuban) at Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington, 8 p.m. $40.

North Beach Dub Allstars (Sublime tribute) at the Alchemist, Stowe, 4 p.m. Free.

Two Towns (rock) at 1st Republic Brewing, Essex, 6 p.m. Free.

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

Big D and the Kids Table, Devon Kay & the Solutions (ska, punk) at Afterthoughts, Waitsfield, 8 p.m. $30.

The Nobby Reed Project (blues) at Dick Wright Public House, Franklin, 6 p.m. $10.

Jatoba (bluegrass) at Stone Church, Brattleboro, 7 p.m. $25/$31. Jeff & Gina (folk) at Two Heroes Brewery & Public House, South Hero, 6 p.m. Free. Judge, Get a Grip, Special Guests, Outnumbered (punk) at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $30. Los Songoros (Latin) at Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge, Burlington, 7 p.m. $15. Mike MacDonald (acoustic) at Stowe Cider, 4 p.m. Free.

TUE.20

SAT.17

Dance Party with DJ Party Bear (DJ) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 9 p.m. Free.

All Them Witches, Emma Ruth Rundle (rock) at Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington, 8 p.m. $35.

DJ Big Dog (DJ) at Thingz From Yaad, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

Big Easy Tuesdays with Jon McBride (jazz) at the 126, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free.

DJ Lavilamod (DJ) at Shelburne Vineyard, 6:30 p.m. Free.

Dead Is Alive with Dobbs’ Dead (Grateful Dead tribute) at Einstein’s Tap House, Burlington, 8 p.m. $15. Faul Durand, Maggie Lawrence, Josh Linker, Evan Lynch (singersongwriter) at Monkey House, Winooski, 7 p.m. Free. Irish Night with RambleTree (Celtic) at Two Brothers Tavern, Middlebury, 7 p.m. Free.

DJ Kwame (DJ) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 9 p.m. Free.

Mr Cheng, Mother of Pearl, Aras, Raul, Matt P (DJ) at Red Square, Burlington, 5 p.m. Free. Sparkomatik (DJ) at Monkey House, Winooski, 8 p.m. $10.

TUE.20

Bashment Tuesday (DJ) at Akes’ Place, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free. Local Dork (DJ) at Foam Brewers, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free.

Rehash, the Flooks (indie rock) at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $20. Sprezzatura (jazz) at Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Waitsfield, 5:30 p.m. Free.

OPEN MICS & JAMS SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

» P.64 63

music+nightlife open mics & jams

THU.15

Kendall Farrell (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. $15/20. Kendall Farrell (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. $15/20.

Open Mic (open mic) at Poultney Pub, 7 p.m. Free.

Sex With Jenna: Dating Show (dating show) at Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington, 8 p.m. $18.

Open Mic Night (open mic) at the Tunbridge General Store, 5 p.m. Free.

THU.15

Open Mic (open mic) at the Whammy Bar, Calais, 7 p.m. Free.

SUN.18

Justin McKinney (comedy) at Barre Opera House, 7:30 p.m. $32.

MON.19

TUE.20

Bluegrass Jam (bluegrass) at Poultney Pub, 7 p.m. Free. Doug’s Open Mic (open mic) at Two Heroes Brewery & Public House, South Hero, 6 p.m. Free.

WED.21

Jazz Jam (jazz) at the 126, Burlington, 9 p.m. Free. Jazz Jam with Nina Towne (jazz) at the Phoenix, Waterbury, 6 p.m. $10.

Karaoke with DJ Vociferous (karaoke) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 9:30 p.m. Free.

SAT.17 // EXECUTIVE DISORDER, PSYCHOMANTEUM [METAL]

Bang Your Head There was a time when the Burlington metal community

trivia, karaoke, etc.

noise. While that staple is no more, the scene persists. The Burlington Odd Fellows Queen

WED.14

Country Line Dancing (line dancing) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 7:30 p.m. Free.

Karaoke Friday Night (karaoke) at Park Place Tavern & Grill, Essex Junction, 8 p.m. Free. Karaoke with Cam (karaoke) at Monopole, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 9 p.m. Free.

Open Mic (open mic) at Bent Nails Roadhouse, Middlesex, 7 p.m. Free.

Queer Bar Takeover and Drag Show (drag) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 8 p.m. Free.

Poetry Open Mic (open mic) at Standing Stone Wines, Winooski, 7 p.m. Free.

Trivia (trivia) at Alfie’s Wild Ride, Stowe, 7 p.m. Free.

$5 Improv Night (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 7 p.m. $5.

Karaoke 101 with Tenacious T (karaoke) at Two Brothers Tavern, Middlebury, 9 p.m. Free.

held down a monthly night at the late, great nightclub Nectar’s. Metal Monday was

Open Mic (open mic) at Poultney Pub, 7 p.m. Free.

WED.14

TUE.20

All That Jazz Open Mic Comedy (comedy) at the 126, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

Live Band Karaoke (karaoke) at Bent Nails Roadhouse, Middlesex, 7 p.m. Free.

comedy

Trivia with Craig Mitchell (trivia) at Monkey House, Winooski, 7 p.m. Free.

SAT.17

Kendall Farrell (comedy) at Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington, 6:30 & 8:30 p.m. $15/20.

Open Mic (open mic) at Stone Corral, Richmond, 7 p.m. Free.

Trivia with Brain (trivia) at Charlie-O’s World Famous, Montpelier, 8 p.m. Free.

Tina Friml (comedy) at Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, 7 p.m. SOLD OUT.

Olde Time Jam Session (open jam) at the Den at Harry’s Hardware, Cabot, noon. Free. Monday Night Open Mic (open mic) at Pearl Street Pub, Essex Junction, 6 p.m. Free.

Trivia Monday with Top Hat Entertainment (trivia) at McKee’s Original, Winooski, 7 p.m. Free.

FRI.16

WED.14

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

Trivia Monday (trivia) at Black Flannel Brewing & Distilling, Essex, 6 p.m. Free.

COURTESY

CONTINUED FROM P.63

Trivia (trivia) at Rí Rá Irish Pub & Whiskey Room, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free. Trivia (trivia) at Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free.

treasured among area headbangers, a confluence of local and touring acts that brought the City Lodge holds its own metal night this Saturday, October 17, with sets from Peru, N.Y.,

Taproom Trivia (trivia) at 14th Star Brewing, St. Albans, 6:30 p.m. Free. Trivia Night (trivia) at Gusto’s, Barre, 6:30 p.m. Free. Trivia Tuesday (trivia) at On Tap Bar & Grill, Essex Junction, 7 p.m. Free.

WED.21

thrash act EXECUTIVE DISORDER (pictured) and Albany, N.Y.’s PSYCHOMANTEUM.

Karaoke Friday Night (karaoke) at Park Place Tavern & Grill, Essex Junction, 8 p.m. Free.

THU.15

Karaoke with Cam (karaoke) at Monopole, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 9 p.m. Free.

Don Mahogany Third Thursday Trivia (trivia) at Butter Bar & Kitchen, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free. Karaoke (karaoke) at Gusto’s, Barre, 8 p.m. Free. Karaoke Friday Night (karaoke) at Park Place Tavern & Grill, Essex Junction, 8 p.m. Free. Karaoke in the Alley (karaoke) at Red Square, Burlington, 8 p.m. Free. Trivia (trivia) at Four Quarters Brewing, Winooski, 6 p.m. Free. Trivia (trivia) at Einstein’s Tap House, Burlington, 6 p.m. Free. Trivia Night (trivia) at 1st Republic Brewing, Essex, 6 p.m. Free. Trivia Night (trivia) at Babes Bar, Bethel, 7 p.m. Free.

Trivia Night with College (trivia) at Bent Nails Roadhouse, Middlesex, 7 p.m. Free.

FRI.16

Boogie Bingo (bingo, DJ) at the Alchemist, Stowe, 5 p.m. Free. Karaoke Friday Night (karaoke) at Park Place Tavern & Grill, Essex Junction, 8 p.m. Free. Karaoke with DJ Big T (karaoke) at McKee’s Original, Winooski, 9 p.m. Free. Supernova: Geek Out Freak Out (drag, burlesque) at Standing Stone Wines, Winooski, 7 p.m. $12.

Good Time Line Dancing (line dancing) at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $15. Sunday Funday (games) at 1st Republic Brewing, Essex, noon. Free. Trivia (trivia) at Zenbarn, Waterbury Center, 5:30 p.m. Free.

MON.19

Trivia (trivia) at Alfie’s Wild Ride, Stowe, 7 p.m. Free. Trivia (trivia) at Rí Rá Irish Pub & Whiskey Room, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free. Trivia (trivia) at Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free. ➆

Retro Game Night (gaming) at the Den at Harry’s Hardware, Cabot, 6 p.m. Free.

SAT.17

Queeraoke with Lizzie Murderz (karaoke) at Standing Stone Wines, Winooski, 9 p.m. Free.

say you saw it in

SUN.18

Family-Friendly Karaoke (karaoke) at Old Soul Design Shop, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 5 p.m. Free.

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obsessed? Find, fix and feather with Nest Notes — an e-newsletter filled with home design, Vermont real estate tips and DIY decorating inspirations. Sign up today at sevendaysvt.com/enews. SPONSORED BY

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

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r o f g n i l l Fa

E V

O M NT R

Find your place in Washington County. Local Knowledge Real Connections

Stream the Heart of Vermont Podcast Local voices. Vermont stories. Events • Resources • Jobs Board

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

10/12/26 9:23 AM

music+nightlife

REVIEW this

Every week, Seven Days gets new music from Vermont artists. To keep up with the deluge, music editor Chris Farnsworth occasionally takes on six releases at once. From brand-spankin’-new LPs to records that almost slipped through the cracks (emphasis on the latter this time around), here are the freshest sounds from the Green Mountains.

Step Twin, Dust Bowl (SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL)

Oh, to have a time machine. I’d travel back to an American high school in the 1990s, just to tell all the white boys that their beloved strain of angsty alt-rock would come back in vogue in 2026, largely thanks to marketing trends and legacy acts reuniting. We’d all be straining to shout “poseur” and “sellout” first. What, then, to make of this new wave of grunge? Burlington’s Step Twin are an excellent case study. Duo Peter Benjamin and Nick Skarmeas dropped their four-song debut EP, Dust Bowl, in February. The band channels the doom and sludge of Alice in Chains on opener “Dust.” Featuring plenty of yowling and spoken-word passages, it would have slotted in comfortably on 99.9 the Buzz’s modern-rock playlist in 1998. Step Twin know what they’re doing, however, and keep their tongue firmly in cheek. For all the brooding textures, the songs have a sense of humor, such as when the band uses the metaphor of eating a hot dog to tackle existentialism on “Dog.” Over a plodding bass line and almost tribal drums, Step Twin craft a moody piss-take of a tune. “Life is like a dog, with condiments involved,” Benjamin sings. “So chew me up and spit me out / Everything is over now.” KEY TRACK: “Reap” WHY: Step Twin give their grunge the “MTV Unplugged” treatment. WHERE: steptw1n.bandcamp.com

Bluephonics, Bluephonics (SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL)

Former Blues and Beyond guitarist Tim Howe is back with a new band called Bluephonics. A gifted player and composer whose music exists at the intersection of schmaltzy yacht rock and breezy blues and jazz, Howe is joined by drummer Taylor Starbird and bassist Danny Roda in a seriously chilled-out trio. They released Bluephonics in September 2025. Whether navigating tight turns and thick grooves on instrumental opener “Be Here Now” or indulging its hothousejazz side on “Open My Eyes,” the band purrs like a perfectly tuned-up highway cruiser, ready to hit the road in supreme comfort. The record takes a few pop-rock detours, such as “Sagittarius A,” which suffers from a torpid melody. But the band bounces right back with an atmospheric, late-night slice of slow-burning R&B on “Feeling Something’s Wrong.” It’s a strong debut from an experienced crew of Vermont bluesmen stretching their wings just enough to bring fresh textures to an otherwise dialed-in sound. KEY TRACK: “Wooden Ships” WHY: The only cover on Bluephonics, the song finds the band tackling the Crosby, Stills & Nash tune with aplomb. WHERE: Spotify

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

Taken Alive, This World Is Exhausting

Fossil Record, The Ruins of Iapetus

Formed from the ashes of several other bands postpandemic, Taken Alive are a New England emo and poppunk outfit made up of musicians from Vermont and Connecticut. After debuting in 2022 as NRVS, the band rebranded and added members before releasing its first single, “Movies on Repeat,” as Taken Alive in 2023. The quartet dropped its debut album, This World Is Exhausting, in March, a 10-track collection of radio-friendly pop punk, raw power screamo and slickly produced hardcoreleaning jams. The band has a knack for crafting huge, anthemic choruses, such as on “Spinning,” which captures the emo power of a Thrice song, and the electronic-flavored banger “In My Head.” Taken Alive are no basement DIY band but rather a group that carries enough power, sophistication and studio prowess to make a push for bigger stages befitting their massive, pump-your-fists-in-the-air and jump-inthe-pit tunes, such as “Subscribe to Stay Alive.”

I don’t know if this is a purely Vermont problem, but having a music community with such a strong jam band presence can irk the poor folks in progressive rock. The line between the two genres has always been blurry, and while jam acts have no problem getting tagged as prog, you do not want to mislabel a prog band as a jam band. Trust someone who’s been properly cursed out for doing so. Props to Burlington’s Fossil Record, the first band I’ve seen describe its sound as “anti-jam.” Indeed, the band’s debut LP, The Ruins of Iapetus, released in January, is by no means an extended jam. An eccentric and introspective collection of prog rock, ’70s British pastoral folk, jazzy interludes and nigh-orchestral movements, the record rarely goes where you think it will. At nearly 10 minutes, opening track “Rust” feels like five songs in one. Whether fans of classic Yes or King Crimson will find the kind of prog rock they want on The Ruins of Iapetus is debatable; the band skews closer to Gentle Giant or the Strawbs with a strong vein of folk whimsy running through songs such as “Vienna ’38” and “Maple Street.”

(PNWK RECORDS, CD, DIGITAL, VINYL)

KEY TRACK: “Circle Life Advice” WHY: The closing track captures the band in all of its modes, from introspective, melodic verses to a vocal cord-shredding chorus of pure rage. WHERE: takenalive.bandcamp.com

Eloise & Co., avec Elodie (SELF-RELEASED, CD, DIGITAL)

When accordionist Rachel Bell and fiddler Becky Tracy of Brattleboro’s Eloise & Co. joined forces with Canadian piano phenom Rachel Aucoin in 2018, the connection and chemistry between the musicians was so potent that they planned to start on an album the following year. The process was put on hold during the pandemic, however, and that hiatus eventually stretched longer than four years. In October 2025, the trio finally released avec Elodie, a gorgeous and lush instrumental record that allows each player plenty of space to shine and interact with one another in equal measure. The album’s songs have a truly timeless quality, and not just because some of them are traditional balfolk and Celtic folk tunes. A kind of ethereal magic passes between the women as they link up on “Bal/Dejol pont de Lion”: Aucoin’s fingers dance across the keys in a tense, building figure before Bell and Tracy soar in to join her. KEY TRACK: “Haven” WHY: It says something about the trio’s skill that its own compositions can stand beside the record’s traditional tunes. WHERE: eloiseandco.bandcamp.com

(SELF-RELEASED, CD, DIGITAL)

KEY TRACK: “Wishing Well (pt I): Overture/Bees” WHY: I’ll

probably get an email about this, but there’s a wee bit of Phish in the tune. WHERE: fossilrecordvt.bandcamp.com

Chris Clark, Across a Carnival (SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL)

Every now and again, you come across a new artist who sounds like they should have a 20-album discography already. West River Valley singer-songwriter Chris Clark is just such a dude. It seems almost inconceivable that Across a Carnival, released in August, is the first record from Clark. From the world-weariness of the Americana foot-stomper “I’m Trying” to the gorgeous, minor-key folk instrumental “Behind the Screen Door” to the deceptively simple country grandeur of “There You Are,” the songs feel like they’ve existed for decades. Some of that worn-in quality is due to the production; Hungrytown’s Ken Anderson produced the record, and it sounds suitably covered in dust, with Clark’s deep, at times gravelly voice riding easy atop simple yet evocative arrangements. But it’s Clark’s effortlessly authentic songwriting that gives the record its real power. When he’s in full troubadour mode, as on the road-worthy “Never Look Back,” Clark’s music becomes a story you have to finish. KEY TRACK: “Sparks Around Almost” WHY: A sedate, mournful tune streaked with harmonica, the song showcases Clark’s vagabond melodies. WHERE: chrisclarkband.bandcamp.com

C H R I S FA R N S WO R T H

CHAMP’S

HALLOWEEN PARTY

You are invited! Friday, October 23 | 5:30–7:30 pm SCAN CODE TO BUY TICKETS!

Job of theWeek

Join Champ and Vermont Teddy Bear for a monstrous celebration at ECHO! Come spend a special Halloween night trick-or-treating at your local science and nature museum! Dress up as your favorite mythical creature while enjoying family-friendly hands-on activities and delightfully spooky (but not scary!) fun. SPONSORED BY VERMONT TEDDY BEAR.

DIRECTOR OF SALES High Mowing Organic Seeds SPECIAL GUEST

Get the scoop on this position from High Mowing Organic Seeds CEO Andrea Tursini.

What are some specific challenges of this position, and why is it important? The Director of Sales will be the strategist of our revenue growth strategy and the leader who inspires our sales team to exceed their potential. They will shape how we enter new markets, deepen relationships with key accounts and position our brand as the go-to choice for organic seeds. This leadership will directly influence our market share, customer loyalty and long-term profitability. This leader will face the challenge of team building with remote employees located across the United States and Canada and of keeping that team connected to the operations base here in Vermont.

Tell us something unique about High Mowing Seeds. In 1996, at the age of 19, High Mowing’s founder, Tom Stearns, began a seed-saving project in his backyard. Thirty years later, High Mowing is a dynamic independent seed company with a collection of more than 750 non-GMO, certified organic vegetable, herb, flower and cover crop varieties. We’re proud to employ over 50 knowledgeable, passionate employees and to supply thousands of retailers, commercial growers and home gardeners across the United States and Canada. The High Mowing team is full of farmers and gardeners who grow and cook and eat the varieties we sell. We are drawn together by the art of growing food, and in a world full of division and disaster, this feels like a powerful work to be doing. Organic agriculture provides tangible solutions to a host of environmental, social and economic issues, and organic seed is the foundation of that system. Apply for this great local job and many more: jobs.sevendaysvt.com

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A TALK ON CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

Effective prayer: Finding healing and wholeness in divine Love Prayer, grounded in divine Love and spiritual law, offers a reliable foundation for healing, personal growth, and experiencing our inseparable connection to God.

Saturday, October 24th at 10:30 a.m.

Bobby Lewis, CS Christian Science practitioner Member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship

LO C AT I O N First Church of Christ, Scientist 420 S. Union St. Burlington, VT (corner of Bayview and S. Union)

CO N TAC T christianscienceburlington.org fcbclerk@gmail.com 802-864-4709

4t-FirstChurch101426.indd 1

H O S T E D BY First Church of Christ, Scientist, Burlington Bobby Lewis joins us from Buena Vista, CO Uplifting one hour public talk Easy free street parking

FOR SCAN O E IN F MOR

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

10/7/26 1:32 PM

calendar O C T O B E R

WED.14

agriculture

CEMA 216 SOIL HEALTH TESTING TRAINING: Participants learn about the monitoring process, then gain hands-on experience by processing samples for farmers. Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Free; preregister. WEDNESDAYS WITH FARMER FRED: The site’s resident farmer and storyteller demonstrates historical agricultural tools and techniques, including sheep shearing, rye harvesting and cider pressing. President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site, Plymouth, noon-2 p.m. Regular admission, $4-12; free for kids under 6.

business

VERMONT WOMENPRENEURS BIZ BUZZ BURLINGTON: A monthly networking meetup provides a space for female business owners to connect over coffee, tea and snacks. Deep City, Burlington, 9:45-11:15 a.m. $14; free for members; preregister.

community

COFFEE & CONVERSATION: Licensed therapist Sarah Morrison Yates hosts a weekly opportunity for neighbors to chat over a cup of joe. Coffee and snacks provided. St. George Historic Schoolhouse, 10 a.m.-noon. Free. CURRENT EVENTS: Neighbors have an informal discussion about what’s in the news. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 10:30 a.m.noon. Free. ‘STORIES FROM THE HEART: HONORING THE SPIRITS OF THOSE WHO HAVE LEFT THIS WORLD’: Five neighbors share

true, unscripted stories of loss, grief and remembrance, followed by a luminary walk and a community memory altar for listeners. Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, 6:30 p.m. $5-15 sliding scale. VERMONT WOMEN’S MENTOR TRAINING: Offering a steady hand and a fresh start, volunteers step up to pair with formerly incarcerated individuals and help navigate the road to community reentry. Mercy Connections, Burlington, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Free.

conferences

VERMONT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION FALL CONFERENCE: Housing champions navigate the shifting landscape of infrastructure programs with panels, presentations and breakout sessions. Light refreshments provided. Vergennes Opera House, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. $50-70; preregister.

crafts

GREEN MOUNTAIN CHAPTER OF THE EMBROIDERERS’ GUILD OF AMERICA: Anyone with an interest in the needle arts can bring a project to this monthly meeting. Holy Family Parish Hall, Essex Junction, 9:30 a.m.1 p.m. Free. YARN & YAK: A weekly club for fiber fanatics of all skill levels makes knitting and crocheting more sociable. Milton Artists’ Guild Art Center & Gallery, 5-7 p.m. Free. YARN CRAFTERS GROUP: A drop-in meetup welcomes knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers and other fiber artists. BYO snacks and drinks. Must Love Yarn, Shelburne, 5-7 p.m. Free.

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. Seven Days calendar writer Rebecca Driscoll selects and writes calendar spotlights. To help process the hundreds of event submissions we receive each week, some listings are compiled with the help of AI. Driscoll reviews, edits and verifies every entry before publication. Learn more about highlighted listings in the Magnificent 7 on page 11.

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

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dance

SQUARE DANCE CLUB: Swing your partner ’round and ’round! The Cast Off 8’s club leads the way at an introductory session in an inclusive setting. Lothrop Elementary School, Pittsford, 6:30-8 p.m. $7.

environment

‘WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ALASKAN SEA OTTERS?’: Veteran science educator Steve Schenk shares fascinating facts about the world’s smallest marine mammal, then invites listeners to apply the scientific method to solve the mystery of its disappearance in 1990s Alaska. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier, 6 p.m. Free.

etc.

MUSEUM TOURS: A guided tour charts a course through regional history, uncovering the archaeological secrets hidden beneath the waves. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Free. ‘PHILADELPHIA II’ OPEN HOURS: History buffs handle artifacts and test their rowing skills aboard a replica gunboat that brings the living and working conditions of Revolutionary War soldiers to life. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, 10 a.m.-noon. Free. TOASTMASTERS OF GREATER BURLINGTON: Those looking to strengthen their speaking and leadership skills gain new tools. Virtual option available. Generator Makerspace, Burlington, 6-7:30 p.m. Free; preregister.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section.

FIND MORE LOCAL EVENTS IN THIS ISSUE AND ONLINE: art Find visual art exhibits and events in the Art section and at sevendaysvt.com/art.

film See what’s playing in the On Screen section.

music + nightlife Find club dates at local venues in the Music + Nightlife section online at sevendaysvt.com/music.

= ONLINE EVENT = GET TICKETS ON SEVENDAYSTICKETS.COM

ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN FILM SERIES: ‘GOOD WORK: MASTERS OF THE BUILDING ARTS’: Marjorie Hunt and Paul Wagner’s 2018 documentary highlights master craftspeople creating and preserving iconic structures across the U.S. Virtual option available. 118 Elliot, Brattleboro, and Burlington City Hall Auditorium, 6:30 p.m. Free. REPERTORY WEDNESDAY SERIES: ‘INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS’: When strange seeds drift to Earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow in this 1978 cult-classic body-horror remake by Philip Kaufman. Partizanfilm, Burlington, 8 p.m. $9.50-12.

food & drink

COMMUNITY COOKING: Helping hands join up with the nonprofit’s staff and volunteers to make a yummy meal for distribution. Outright Vermont, Burlington, 6-8 p.m. Free. CUPPA ON CAMPUS: Community members mingle over tea and coffee, swapping bright ideas for the future of the property. The Creative Campus at Goddard, Plainfield, 8-10 a.m. Free. DANVILLE FARMERS MARKET: Villagers connect over live music and family-friendly activities at a weekly gathering featuring Northeast Kingdom produce, artisan wares and culinary creations. Danville Town Green, 3:30-7 p.m. Free. MARKET ON THE GREEN: Shoppers feast their eyes on fresh produce, prepared foods and artisanal goods as they enjoy live local music. Woodstock Village Green, 3-6 p.m. Free.

health & fitness

CHAIR YOGA: Waterbury Public Library instructor Diana Whitney leads at-home participants in gentle stretches supported by seats. 10 a.m. Free. REAL TALK ABOUT SEX: ‘CONSENT BEYOND YES/ NO’: A monthly Zoom gathering facilitated by certified sexuality educator Sarah Goodrich allows for frank, respectful conversations about the topic. 7-8 p.m. Free. RECOVERY DHARMA: Individuals struggling with addiction gather weekly for an evening of meditation, topical readings and open discussion in a supportive environment. First United Methodist Church, Burlington, 6-7 p.m. Free.

holidays

QUEEN CITY GHOSTWALK: WICKED WATERFRONT TOUR: Stepping through Burlington’s salty past, a local history stroll for adults dredges up rail, sail and scandalous tales on Lake Champlain while unearthing the shore’s spectral lore. Union Station, Burlington, 7 p.m. $25.

language

ITALIAN CONVERSATION GROUP: Practitioners sharpen their skills and connect with neighbors at a bimonthly meetup facilitated by a native speaker. South Burlington

down and observe the natural world through sketching and writing, followed by an optional group reflection. Rock Point Center, Burlington, 10 a.m.-noon. By donation; preregister.

Public Library & City Hall, 10-11 a.m. Free. LANGUAGE LOUNGE: Lunch breaks transform into global conversation circles as participants hone their multilingual abilities. See kellogghubbard.org for details. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier, noon. Free.

québec

‘THE SECRET CHORD: A LEONARD COHEN EXPERIENCE’: Toronto theater company Soulpepper mounts its tribute concert showcasing the unparalleled artistry, lyricism and introspection for which Cohen was known. Sylvan Adams Theatre, Segal Centre for Performing Arts, Montréal, 1 & 7:30 p.m. $38-80.

MONTPELIER SOCIAL HOUR: Francophones at all proficiency levels drop in to converse and enjoy a cash bar and extensive menu. Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain Region, Burlington, 6-7:30 p.m. Free; cost of food and drink.

lgbtq

seminars

THE ALL-INCLUSIVE DYKETACULAR: A weekly get-together and listening party celebrates the LGBTQ+ community with feelgood tunes, dancing and drinks. Doma Bar, Burlington, 5-10 p.m. Free; cost of food and drink.

DRAGONFRAME STOP-MOTION ANIMATION: SPOOKY LAB EDITION: Tim Burton would be proud! Creators learn how to use software and props to bring eerie tales to life. The Media Factory, Burlington, 6-8 p.m. Free; donations accepted; preregister.

QUEER WRITERS’ GROUP: LGBTQ+ authors meet monthly to discuss their work, write from prompts, and give each other advice and feedback. Rainbow Bridge Community Center, Barre, 5:30-7 p.m. Free.

FAMILY-TO-FAMILY CLASS: NAMI Vermont hosts an informative weekly seminar for individuals with a loved one who is struggling with mental health. 6-8:30 p.m. Free; preregister.

music

JULIA KEEFE INDIGENOUS BIG BAND: Native American history takes center stage as a powerhouse ensemble weaves rich cultural lore with bold, brassy arrangements. Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., 7:30 p.m. $30.

sports

LIVE IN THE ORCHARD: THE MEATPACKERS: The popular local band serves up its signature brand of contagious bluegrass rhythms. Shelburne Orchards, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Free.

WHALEBOAT WEDNESDAYS: Lake lovers embark on a unique aquatic adventure by rowing and sailing a traditionally rigged wooden craft across the water. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, 4-7 p.m. $60 suggested donation.

GREEN MOUNTAIN TABLE TENNIS CLUB: Ping-Pong players block, chop and lob in singles and doubles matches. Rutland Area Christian School, 7-9 p.m. Free for first two sessions; $30 annual membership.

WESTERLUND-HAGEN: Childhood friends Joe Westerlund and Trever Hagen combine their distinct solo sounds on drums and trumpet into four compositions born out of earlier improvisations. Alexander Twilight Theatre, Vermont State University-Lyndon, 7 p.m. $10-25; free for VTSU staff, faculty and students.

outdoors

THE AMAZING CORN MAZE: Five full acres of puzzling twists and turns challenge families’ directional skills, followed by a sweet reward of maple creemees. Silloway Maple, Randolph Center, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $10. NATURE JOURNALING: Artist and naturalist Lorna Dielentheis teaches participants how to slow

talks

FALL SPEAKER SERIES: Local experts construct a picture of Vermont’s historic preservation landscape with interesting case studies and anecdotes. See yestermorrow.org for details. Yestermorrow Design/Build School, Waitsfield, 6:30 p.m. Free. LAMA ROD OWENS: In an interactive talk and guided meditation, the Buddhist minister, author and activist helps seekers meet the moment by examining and repairing our relationships to each other and to the land. Center of Recreation & Education, O.N.E. Community Center, Burlington, 6 p.m. By donation.

These community event listings are sponsored by the WaterWheel Foundation, a project of the Vermont band Phish.

OCT. 16 | MUSIC ‘THE ALIENS’: The school’s theater department mounts Annie Baker’s Obie Award-winning play exploring the power of connection. Royall Tyler Theatre, University of Vermont, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $10-22.

words

BYO BOOK CLUB: Bookworms turn pages of their choosing at a quiet reading hour, then swap literary takes over alcohol-free drinks. Mesmer Kava, Burlington, 6-8 p.m. Free; cost of drinks. CHUCK WENDIG & DELILAH DAWSON: The best-selling fantasy authors dissect Wendig’s apocalyptic new novel, The Calamities, in a lively literary chat. Phoenix Books, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free. FFL BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP: Readers convene via Zoom to discuss Trish O’Kane’s Birding to Change the World, her memoir detailing what birds taught her about grassroots activism and healing from trauma. 6:30-8 p.m. Free. JARVIS COFFIN: An author reads from his new book, Calmly on the Waters: Seasonal Essays From Monadnock, a collection of quiet reflections that invites readers to slow down and observe the natural world. The Norwich Bookstore, 7 p.m. Free. POETRY POTLUCK: Got words? Folks gather to swap stanzas and dishes at a community-driven feast of verse. Wandering Vine, St. Johnsbury, 7-9 p.m. Free.

ROB MULLEN: A wildlife artist, naturalist and expedition canoeist shares his visually spectacular celebration of the world’s largest terrestrial ecosystem, Boreal Wilderland: Art, Science and Adventure in Earth’s Greatest Wilderness. Waterbury Public Library, 6:30 p.m. Free. VERMONT READS BOOK DISCUSSION: Vermont Humanities scholar Dr. Alan Berolzheimer facilitates a conversation about Tillie Walden’s graphic novel Charity & Sylvia, based on the true history of an openly lesbian couple in 19th-century Vermont. St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Free.

THU.15 business

FALL VISITORS DAY: Shelburne BNI hosts a welcoming morning of connection, sharing and conversation for local business owners. Trinity Episcopal Church, Shelburne, 8:30-10 a.m. Free. HIRING2DAYVT VIRTUAL JOB FAIR: Time for a new gig? The Vermont Department of Labor offers a meet and greet with employers from around the state. 11 a.m.-noon. Free. ‘MAKING IT TOGETHER: STEAM TO MANUFACTURING’: Makers gather for a hands-on, high-energy forum to connect, learn and engage in meaningful exchanges with peers across business, education and government. Generator Makerspace,

FAMILY FUN 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.14

burlington

‘CHAMP: AMERICA’S LAKE MONSTER’ EXHIBIT: Curious minds dive into the science and history of Vermont’s most iconic legend at this family-friendly exhibit featuring interactive games, a design studio, multimedia displays, a 30-foot sculpture and photo ops. ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Regular admission, $17-23; free for members and kids 2 and under. STORIES & SONGS FOR LIBRARY LITTLES: Tots get their bodies moving and brains firing with books, music and unstructured social time. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. ‘VERY ERIC CARLE’ EXHIBIT: Young bookworms revel in colorful hands-on installations that transform the beloved author’s stories into interactive journeys of discovery. ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 10 a.m.-5

Burlington, 1:30-5:30 p.m. Free; preregister.

community

OUR OWN WAY HOME MEETING: A free parent-led network helps local families of adults with developmental disabilities find each other and create residential options together. 7-8 p.m. Free; preregister. COURTESY OF SEBASTIAN SCHUTYSER

theater

‘YOURSTORY: A CIRCLE FOR MIDLIFE WOMEN’: In conjunction with World Menopause Day, this gathering honors the power and beauty of the midlife change with story sharing and writing. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 5 p.m. Free; donations accepted; preregister.

crafts

Plucky Performance At the Hopkins Center for the Arts in Hanover, N.H., artist-in-residence Wu Man demonstrates why the New York Times crowned her “the world’s finest player of the pipa.” What’s a pipa, you ask? A four-stringed instrument with a pear-shaped wooden body, more commonly referred to as the Chinese lute. The virtuoso composer and educator — also called the “Jimi Hendrix of the pipa” by the global music community — astounds with an intimate solo performance that perfectly balances preservation of antiquity with forward-thinking innovation. Expect an expansive repertoire highlighting both traditional Chinese music and contemporary works by today’s top composers.

RECITAL SERIES: WU MAN

KNIT FOR YOUR NEIGHBORS: Crafters of all skill levels spin yarn into community warmth by stitching hats and scarves for the South Burlington Food Shelf. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 2-5 p.m. Free. KNITTING GROUP: Knitters of every experience level get together to spin yarns. Latham Library, Thetford, 7 p.m. Free. WOODWORKING LAB: Visionaries create a project or learn a new skill with the help of mentors and access to makerspace tools and equipment. Patricia A. Hannaford Career Center, Middlebury, 5-8 p.m. $7.50.

Friday, October 16, 5:30 (sold out) & 8 p.m., at Morris Recital Hall, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H., with a free talk at 7 p.m. at Top of the Hop. $24-50. Info, 603-646-2422, hop.dartmouth.edu.

p.m. Regular admission, $17-23; free for members and kids 2 and under. ‘WILD KRATTS LIVE 2.0’: The stars of the Emmy-nominated children’s show rescue creatures and confront a comic villain on stage. Flynn Main Stage, Burlington, 3:30 & 6:30 p.m. $38.71-199.52.

chittenden county

BABYTIME: Lullabies and lap play set a gentle rhythm as infants and their caregivers sing, rhyme and connect. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 10:30-11 a.m. Free. CHILDREN’S STORY TIME WITH CHRISTINE: Young bookworms wiggle, sing and turn pages at an interactive session led by a former early childhood educator. Wild Meadows Books & Café, Williston, 10:30 a.m. Free. HAFTY CRAFTY: Early school dismissals mean extra time to make art using provided supplies. Best for ages 8 and up, or 6 and up with an adult. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 1-2 p.m. Free.

barre/montpelier

BABY & CAREGIVER MEETUP: Wiggly ones ages birth to 18 months play and explore in a calm, supportive setting while adults relax and connect on the sidelines. Jaquith Public Library, Marshfield, 10:3011:30 a.m. Free. BASEMENT TEEN CENTER: A drop-in hangout session welcomes kids ages 12 to 17 for lively games, arts and crafts, and snacks. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier, 2-6 p.m. Free.

upper valley

STORY TIME: Early literacy takes center stage as infants and toddlers engage in a melodic mix of books and songs. Norwich Public Library, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Free.

THU.15

NARRATIVES FOR CHANGE WORKSHOP SERIES: Outright Vermont offers a virtual space for folks seeking to address hazing, harassment and bullying in schools with systemic change. 4-6 p.m. Free; preregister.

burlington

BABY & ME CLASS: Parents and their infants ages birth to 1 explore massage, lullabies and gentle movements while discussing the struggles and joys of parenthood. Greater Burlington YMCA, 9:45-10:45 a.m. $10; free for members. ‘CHAMP: AMERICA’S LAKE MONSTER’ EXHIBIT: See WED.14. FLYNNZONE FAMILY NIGHT: ‘DANCE THROUGH TIME’: Parents and kids work together with teaching artist Rose Bedard to move through dance styles that have shaped — or have been shaped by — important moments in U.S. history. The Flynn, Burlington, 5:30 & 6:20 p.m. Free; preregister. GROW PRESCHOOL YOGA: Colleen from Grow Prenatal and Family Yoga leads kids ages 2 to 5 in songs, movement and other fun activities. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free.

MINECRAFT MEETUP: Fans of the sandbox game from ages 7 to 12 gather with fellow enthusiasts to play on the library’s private server. Snacks provided. Fletcher Free Library New North End Branch, Burlington, 5-6:15 p.m. Free. ‘VERY ERIC CARLE’ EXHIBIT: See WED.14.

chittenden county

PLAY TIME: Patrons ages birth to 5 unleash their energy at a morning of unstructured amusements and socializing. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Free. TEEN SWITCH GAMING: Players ages 13 to 18 toggle into action with the library’s Nintendo Switch console. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 4-5 p.m. Free. TODDLERTIME: Little wigglers enjoy a storytime with catchy songs and rhythmic fingerplays. For ages 1 and up with an adult. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 9:15-9:45 & 10:30-11 a.m. Free.

barre/montpelier

BASEMENT TEEN CENTER: See WED.14. OWL BANDING & PIZZA FOR TEENS: Animal lovers ages 13 to 18 join biologists as they capture, tag and release pint-size northern saw-whet owls. North Branch Nature Center, Montpelier, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Free. STORY TIME: Kids and their caregivers meet for stories, songs and bubbles. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 2nd Floor, Children’s Library, Montpelier, 10:30-11 a.m. Free.

THU.15

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stowe/smuggs

WEE ONES PLAY TIME: Caregivers bring kiddos under 4 to a new sensory learning experience each week. Morristown Centennial Library, Morrisville, 10 a.m. Free.

mad river valley/ waterbury

BUSY BEES PLAYGROUP: Blocks, toys, books and songs engage little ones 24 months and younger. Waterbury Public Library, 10-11:30 a.m. Free.

FRI.16

burlington

BURLINGTON FNG: Self-identified LGBTQ+ and questioning youths ages 13 to 19 gather weekly to socialize in a supportive environment. Outright Vermont, Burlington, 6:30-8 p.m. Free. ‘CHAMP: AMERICA’S LAKE MONSTER’ EXHIBIT: See WED.14. DROP-IN: An afterschool hangout space invites teens ages 13 to 19 to relax, connect, grab a snack or browse the nonprofit’s clothing closet. Outright Vermont, Burlington, 2:30 p.m. Free. FAMILY FRIDAY WITH LINDA BASSICK: Caretakers and wee ones enjoy a weekly morning mashup of muffins and music played by the local legend. Pingala Café North Avenue, Burlington, 9-9:30 a.m. Free. FRI.16 SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

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education

GAP YEAR INFORMATION NIGHT: Experiential education expert Julia Rogers shares how time off before college can build teens’ confidence, skills and clarity before their next big step. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 6-7 p.m. Free.

environment

BTV CLEAN UP CREW: Good Samaritans collect and dispose of needles, trash and other unwanted objects. BYO gloves encouraged. Top of Church St., Burlington, 7:30-10 a.m. Free.

present, Vermont director and photographer Jim Westphalen documents his efforts to capture the beauty of America’s weathered barns and other fading structures. A Q&A with Westphalen follows. Dana Auditorium, Sunderland Language Center, Middlebury College, 6:15 p.m. Free. ‘WILD RESCUE 3D’: Dedicated wildlife rehabilitation teams rescue and release injured and orphaned animals back into nature in this heartwarming documentary short. ECHO 3D Theater, Burlington, 11:30 a.m., 1:30 & 3:30 p.m. $3-5 plus regular admission, $17-23; free for members and kids 2 and under.

‘PROTECTING OUR WATERSHED: UNDERSTANDING THREATS TO LAKE CHAMPLAIN’: Environmentally minded visitors discover the ecological threats facing Vermont’s waterways at this interactive environmental exhibit. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, 1-3 p.m. Free.

food & drink

etc.

games

SPITFIRE SHIPWRECK VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE: Through a high-tech tour, history buffs submerge themselves in a 3D model of a 1776 gunboat resting on the lake floor. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, 10 a.m.-noon. Free. THIRD THURSDAY TWILIGHT SERIES: Shoppers stroll historic streets, explore local businesses, and connect with the makers, artists and entrepreneurs who bring creativity to the community. Various Vergennes locations, 4-7 p.m. Free.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. ‘PENGUIN ISLAND 3D’: Shot on the dramatic, uninhabited sub-Antarctic Crozet Archipelago, this thrilling documentary short zooms in on a lone male suitor seeking his special someone among a colony of rivals. ECHO 3D Theater, Burlington, 11 a.m., 1 & 3 p.m. $3-5 plus regular admission, $17-23; free for members and kids 2 and under. ‘SEA OTTERS: A WILD FAMILY ADVENTURE 3D’: First-time mom Bella teaches her pup how to survive on the wild British Columbia coast in this unforgettable cinematic journey. ECHO 3D Theater, Burlington, 10:30 a.m., 12:30, 2:30 & 4:30 p.m. $3-5 plus regular admission, $17-23; free for members and kids 2 and under. ‘SHARK KINGDOM 3D’: A highstakes investigation into the underwater realm reveals how humanity’s future hinges on the fate of the ocean’s toothiest inhabitants. ECHO 3D Theater, Burlington, noon, 2 & 4 p.m. $3-5 plus regular admission, $17-23; free for members and kids 2 and under. ‘VANISH: DISAPPEARING ICONS OF A RURAL AMERICA’: In a remarkable story of past and

OPENS OCT. 16 | THEATER

ADVENTURE DINNER PUMPKIN FEST POP-UP NIGHT: Gather your coven! A ghoulish feast features tricks and treats from the diabolical mind of chef Eric Hodet. Adventure Dinner Clubhouse, Colchester, 5-9 p.m. Free; cost of food and drink; preregister.

CHESS FOR FUN: Sharp minds select an opening gambit, go on the attack and protect their king in friendly competition. Cobleigh Public Library, Lyndonville, 5-8 p.m. Free. DADS & DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: New and experienced dad-venturers try their hand at the riveting tabletop role-playing game. Premade characters and extra dice available. The Guild Hall, Burlington, 7-9 p.m. Free. DUPLICATE BRIDGE GAMES: Snacks and coffee fuel bouts of a classic card game. Burlington Bridge Club, Williston, 12:30 p.m. $6. FRIENDLY GAME OF BRIDGE: Strategic thinkers have a blast with the popular card game. Heineberg Senior Center, Burlington, 1-3 p.m. Free. PEER SUPPORT DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Beginners wanted! Players get lost in the fantasy-filled tabletop role-playing game while focusing on teamwork, connection and community building. Morgan House, Burlington, 6-8 p.m. Free. 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. Free; donations accepted.

health & fitness

COMMUNITY MINDFULNESS: Volunteer coach Andrea Marion leads a weekly practice for stress reduction, followed by a discussion and Q&A. 5-6 p.m. Free; preregister. SEATED TAI CHI: Adina guides at-home participants — including those with limited mobility or difficulty standing — through a sequence of slow, connected movements. Sponsored by the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library. 1 p.m. Free; preregister.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

The cast of The Diary of Anne Frank

COURTESY

THU.15

Truly Good at Heart

Library, Burlington, 6:30-8 p.m. Free; preregister.

On June 14, 1942, a 13-year-old Jewish girl named Anne Frank began to document her daily life under Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. Twenty-two days later, she, her family and three others went into hiding in the annex of her father’s office building. At Hyde Park Opera House, Lamoille County Players brings their story to the stage with The Diary of Anne Frank, a poignant historical drama adapted from Frank’s journal entries. The play takes place between 1942 and 1944 and chronicles the day-to-day struggles of life in cramped quarters with the omnipresent threat of fascism looming outside, reminding audience members of humanity’s capacity for maintaining hope against all odds.

tech

TECH HELP: Users with digital dilemmas seek expert guidance about everything from smartphone settings to ebook downloads. Norwich Public Library, 1-4 p.m. Free.

‘THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK’

TECH MEET-UP: Franklin County digital devotees talk shop over specialty brews and artisanal pastries at this monthly networking opportunity. Catalyst Coffee Bar, St. Albans, 7:30-9:30 a.m. Free; preregister.

Friday, October 16, and Saturday, October 17, 7 p.m.; and Sunday, October 18, 2 p.m., at Hyde Park Opera House. See website for additional dates. $15-20. Info, info@lcplayers.com, lcplayers.com.

theater

language

ITALIAN CONVERSATION GROUP: Parla Italiano? Language learners practice pronunciation and more at a friendly gathering. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, noon-1 p.m. Free. LANGUAGE LOUNGE: See WED.14. MANDARIN CONVERSATION CIRCLE: Volunteers from Vermont Chinese School help students learn or improve their fluency. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 11 a.m.-noon. Free.

music

GREEN MOUNTAIN CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL: ELIZABETH CHANG & JIAYAN SUN: A lauded violinist and a Steinway pianist join forces to present an intimate performance of music from the

classical and early Romantic eras. Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Burlington, noon. Free. LIVE MUSIC: A rotating cast of local musicians, unbeatable sunset views, locavore pours and tasty treats make for a memorable time at the vineyard. See maquambarnandwinery.com for lineup. Maquam Barn & Winery, Milton, 6-8 p.m. Free; cost of food and drink. MUSIC IN THE GALLERY: BENJI ARESTY: A genre-busting singer-songwriter cultivates a sound that feels at once ancient and modern. St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, 1 p.m. Free. WESTERLUND-HAGEN: See WED.14. Dibden Center for the Arts, Vermont State UniversityJohnson, 7 p.m.

outdoors

THE AMAZING CORN MAZE: See WED.14.

québec

‘THE SECRET CHORD: A LEONARD COHEN EXPERIENCE’: See WED.14, 7:30 p.m.

talks

SOCIAL JUSTICE SPEAKER SERIES: ADI LIVNY: A Middlebury College Israel Institute teaching fellow presents on “Defining Zionism: From Herzl to Mamdani.” Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, Burlington, 5:30 p.m. Free. LUIS A. VIVANCO: A University of Vermont professor of anthropology rolls through the history of the bicycle and how it entered into Vermont life. Fletcher Free

10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL: The Parish Players raise the curtain on seven short plays ranging from hilarious to heartwarming. Eclipse Grange Theater, Thetford, 7 p.m. $10-25. ‘THE ALIENS’: See WED.14. ‘GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFOLK’: Gospel Hollow Players bring original songs and drama to the stage under the codirection of Chris Colt and Tom Blachly. Calais Town Hall, 7 p.m. $20. ‘NORTHANGER ABBEY’: Sheltered Catherine Morland’s world is widened when she leaves her family to join high society in Bath in Shaker Bridge Theatre’s playful reimagining of Jane Austen’s coming-of-age novel. Briggs Opera House, White River Junction, 7 p.m. $25-45. ‘VENUS IN FUR’: A frustrated director and a mysterious actress blur the line between reality and

LIST YOUR EVENT FOR FREE AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT

role-play in David Ives’ sensual comedy of power and obsession, staged by Déjà Rêvé Actors Guild. Off Center for the Dramatic Arts, Burlington, 7 p.m. $20-40. ‘THE WILLISTON ONE ACTS’: Vermont Repertory Theatre presents two weekends of fresh, fast-paced storytelling that celebrates the creative spirit of local talent. The Rep, Williston, 7 p.m. $20.

words

ANNALEE NEWITZ: A visionary author shares her new science fiction novel, A Wall Is Also a Road, in conversation with fellow writer and historian Andrew Liptak. Phoenix Books, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free; preregister. ASHLEY WOO: A Vermont author discusses her chilling debut gothic mystery novel, Wildwood, with fellow writer Flynn Berry. The Norwich Bookstore, 7 p.m. Free. BOOK CLUB: Lit lovers dissect Kazuo Ishiguro’s 1989 Booker Prize winner, The Remains of the Day, about an aging English butler who looks back on his life of service with regret. Wild Meadows Books & Café, Williston, 6:30-8 p.m. Free. CREATIVE WRITING SERIES: Expert Marguerite Dunlop hosts a weekly opportunity for aspiring wordsmiths to hone their craft, swap constructive feedback and pick up fresh techniques. Refreshments provided. Haskell Free Library & Opera House, Derby Line, 1-3 p.m. Free; preregister. JENNIFER MCMAHON & ANN DÁVILA CARDINAL: The two lauded horror authors dive into haunted conversation about their thrilling literary worlds. Bear Pond Books, Montpelier, 7 p.m. Free. KATHERINE ARDEN: Lit lovers get a peek into the New York

FOMO? Find even more local events in this newspaper and online:

art 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 = GET TICKETS ON SEVENDAYSTICKETS.COM

Times best-selling author’s newest tale of mystery and enchantment, The Unicorn Hunters. Stowe Free Library, 7 p.m. Free. MORNINGS, MUFFINS & MYSTERIES: Lit lovers link up to discuss the month’s twisty page-turner. St. Albans Free Library, 10:30 a.m. Free. NO PRESSURE BOOK GROUP: Bibliophiles share whatever recs they like at this low-key Zoom hangout hosted by Waterbury Public Library. 7-8 p.m. Free.

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conferences

GREAT VIBES.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. ‘THE CAT AND THE CANARY’: Relatives of an eccentric millionaire gather in his mansion on the 20th anniversary of his death in this 1927 silent classic, made spookier by a live score played by composer Jeff Rapsis. Fairlee Town Hall Auditorium, 7 p.m. Free; donations accepted. ‘PENGUIN ISLAND 3D’: See THU.15. ‘SEA OTTERS: A WILD FAMILY ADVENTURE 3D’: See THU.15. ‘SHARK KINGDOM 3D’: See THU.15.

WOMEN RISING: An inspiring community of female-identifying leaders and supportive allies convenes for powerful conversation, practical insight and meaningful connection. Hula, Burlington, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. $49300; preregister.

VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: Cinephiles keep their eyes glued to the big screen at this annual showcase of international, independent and local flicks. See vtiff.org for full schedule. Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Burlington, -25. $6-12.

education

‘WILD RESCUE 3D’: See THU.15.

TEACHERS’ NIGHT OUT: Vermont educators enjoy a relaxed, informal evening of conversation while previewing the center’s new exhibits. Burlington City Arts, 4-5 p.m. Free.

etc.

CLOSING RECEPTION: Museumgoers toast to the season’s end with light refreshments, reflective conversation and opportunities to get out on the water for one final sail. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, 2-4 p.m. Free. ECHO AFTER DARK: MEMENTO MORI: An after-hours night at the museum serves up a macabre ball with hands-on science encounters, death and decomposition talks, dancing, and crafts. Ages 18 and up. ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 6-9 p.m. $25-30. JANE AUSTEN WEEKEND: ‘SENSE AND SENSIBILITY’: A leisurely weekend of literary-inspired diversions includes afternoon tea, a Regencystyle dinner party, English country dancing, Sunday brunch and talks. The Governor’s House in Hyde Park. Various prices. MUSEUM TOURS: See WED.14. QUEEN CITY GHOSTWALK: DARKNESS FALLS TOUR: Paranormal historians highlight spooky happenings throughout Burlington at this perennial favorite hailed by Yankee Magazine as one of New England’s best haunted walks. 199 Main St., Burlington, 7 p.m. $25; preregister. ‘REAL VERMONTERS DON’T MILK GOATS’ CELEBRATION: Locals flock to the 43rd-anniversary edition tour of the best-selling book of humor by Frank M. Bryan and the late Bill Mares. York Street Meeting House, Lyndon, 4-7 p.m. Free.

ALL DAY! Find your groove for any mood.

Country Hits. Party Central.

Big D & Bubba bring the morning laughs, House keeps the midday party rolling and Betty B. turns up the drive home. Your all-day lineup for the hottest country hits!

Country comfort. Turned up.

games

Your favorite country throwbacks from the ’80s through the 2000s—the songs you know by heart and sing out loud! Kim Ashley in the morning, Dayna D. midday and House taking you home.

DUPLICATE BRIDGE GAMES: See THU.15, 10 a.m. MAH-JONGG: It’s not just for old ladies! Tile traders of all experience levels gather for a rousing game. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 1-3 p.m. Free.

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. LAUGHTER YOGA: Spontaneous, joyful movement and breath promote physical and emotional health. Virtual option available. Iyengar Yoga Center of Vermont, Burlington, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Free.

Rock muscle. Alternative edge.

Kick off your day in rockin’ style with Greg & The Morning Buzz—New England’s #1 weekday morning show. Jam out with Betty B’s Lucky Lunch, then let House & Hammer ride shotgun on the drive home!

WEEKLY MEDITATION: Expert Zac Ispa-Landa shares tools to quiet the mind, slow down and reset. Outright Vermont, Burlington, 8-8:45 a.m. Free.

Chill

WHITE CANE AWARENESS DAY WALK: Participants honor the legacy of Anne Connelly — a cofounder of Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired — with a celebratory amble that retraces her historical route from Pearl Street to city hall. Downtown Burlington, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free.

Hits

Ease back and sing along.

Start the day smiling with The TJ Show, then settle into the Champlain Valley’s handpicked diverse mix of feel-good hits from the ’80s to today.

holidays

‘THE BANK BACKROOMS: A LIMINAL SPACE HAUNTED HOUSE’: The bank opens its doors for brave souls to enter — if they dare! — and take in spooky scenes. Proceeds benefit Steps to End Domestic Violence. NBT Bank, Burlington, 7-9 p.m. Free. HALLOWEEN HORSEBACK ADVENTURE: Saddle up for a spooky trot through decorated trails before warming up with post-ride cocoa, pony petting and apple bobbing. Better Days FRI.16

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Ranch and Equine Services, Vergennes, 5:30-9 p.m. $60. PITTSFORD HAUNTED HOUSE: A classic community tradition features a torch-lit wagon ride through creature-inhabited woods, a guided walk to various spooky scenes and live music. Proceeds benefit the town’s volunteer fire department. Ages 6 and up. Pittsford Haunted House, 6-9 p.m. $10-15.

language

LANGUAGE LOUNGE: See WED.14.

lgbtq

RPG NIGHT: Members of the LGBTQ community get together weekly for role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Everway. Rainbow Bridge Community Center, Barre, 5:308:30 p.m. Free.

music

ANA GUIGUI: An acclaimed pianist and vocalist entertains listeners with a wide variety of styles and genres. The Brandon Inn, 7-9:30 p.m. Free. DRUM CIRCLE WITH JEAN JACQUES MAURY: From mastering basic techniques to building a shared rhythmic vocabulary, an all-abilities music-making session taps into a deep mind-body connection. Jaquith Public Library, Marshfield, 6-7 p.m. Free. LANE SERIES: TRIO BOHÉMO: The dynamic ensemble from Prague and Budapest dazzles listeners with chamber music mastery. The University of Vermont Recital Hall, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $5-40. LIVE FROM THE MEADOW: MUSIC FRIDAYS: A new weekly music series invites community members to spend a relaxing evening listening to live tunes by talented local artists. Wild Meadows Books & Café, Williston, 6:30-8 p.m. Free. RECITAL SERIES: WU MAN: A composer, educator and virtuosic performer of the pipa — a fourstringed Chinese lute — brings ancient traditions to the stage. See calendar spotlight. Morris Recital Hall, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hanover, N.H., 5:30 & 8 p.m. $40. THE TRAVELIN’ MCCOURYS: This acclaimed progressive bluegrass outfit features the sons and bandmates of music legend Del McCoury. Spruce Peak Arts, Stowe Mountain Resort, 7 p.m. $43.45-54.15. UPPER VALLEY BAROQUE: Artistic director Filippo Ciabatti conducts the ensemble in Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s expressive “Stabat Mater” on period instruments. The Campus at Marlboro Music, 7 p.m. $25-35. VERMONT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WOODWIND QUARTET: In “Winds in Motion,” the ensemble’s principal woodwind players transport listeners to Europe and back with charming music by an array of composers, including Charles Gounod and

COURTESY OF DANIEL SCHECHNER

FRI.16

OCT. 16-18 | WORDS George Gershwin. Old South Church, Windsor, 6 p.m. Free. YELLOW BRICK ROAD: A TRIBUTE TO ELTON: Listeners remember when rock was young and find that their feet just can’t keep still at this pitch-perfect performance of the English superstar’s greatest hits. Barre Opera House, 8 p.m. $42.

NIGHT SKY VIEWING: Stargazers hike to a high-altitude meadow to peep celestial bodies through high-powered lenses with local expert George Springston. Stranahan Town Forest, Marshfield, 6 p.m. Free.

MAKERS MARKET: Browsers discover unique, handmade goods and meet the talented people behind them at a weekly showcase of local artists, bakers, distillers and crafters. Addison West, Waitsfield, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free.

sports

OPEN DINGHY SAILING: Skippers with sailing knowledge celebrate the end of the week with a nautical adventure. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, 4-7 p.m. $40 suggested donation; preregister.

community

SISTERHOOD CAMPFIRE: Women and genderqueer folks gather in a safe and inclusive space to build community through journaling, storytelling, gentle music and stargazing. Leddy Park, Burlington, 7-9 p.m. Free.

talks

tech

‘CONSIDERING THE IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’: A panel of college faculty members discusses Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical letter, “Magnificent Humanity: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.” St. Augustine Church, Montpelier, 6:30 p.m. Free. MORNING TECH HELP: Experts answer questions about phones, laptops, e-readers and other devices in one-on-one sessions. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free; preregister.

theater

10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL: See THU.15. ‘THE ALIENS’: See WED.14. BORDERLANDS: ‘CALYPSO AND ODYSSEUS’: This immersive outdoor theater event reimagines Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey with shadow puppetry and projected imagery tucked among the trees. Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms, 6 p.m. $15-25.

‘CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, A COMEDY’: Essex Community Players takes on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s turn-of-the-century masterpiece, reimagined as a SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

HEX ON FASCISM: Witches in costume work their magic to take a stand against authoritarian and ultranationalist ideologies. Top of Church St., Burlington, 2-3 p.m. Free.

BAT BAZAAR: Vampires, ghouls, ghosts and goblins flock to an annual Halloween market featuring handmade local jewelry, clothing, prints and other spooky delights by queer artists. Spiral House Art Collective, Burlington, noon-4 p.m. Free.

THE AMAZING CORN MAZE: See WED.14.

‘MAKING SENSE OF REGENCY ENGLAND’: An informal presentation sheds light on the carriages, currency and postal system of Jane Austen’s era. Refreshments provided. The Governor’s House in Hyde Park, 8 p.m. $19; preregister.

activism

bazaars

outdoors

EDUCATION & ENRICHMENT FOR EVERYONE FALL LECTURE SERIES: ALEX ZAKARAS: A University of Vermont professor of law, politics and political behavior presents on the topic of “Freedom for All: What a Liberal Society Could Be.” Faith United Methodist Church, South Burlington, 2 p.m. $8 cash or check; free for members.

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dance

Fully Booked The Brattleboro Literary Festival’s silver anniversary is one for the books, with a starstudded roster of literary award winners. Since 2002, the scholarly fête has showcased more than 900 noteworthy names, including late Nobel Prize winner Saul Bellow. This year, more than two dozen authors descend upon the town to draw readers into their written worlds. Unmissable moments include talks by New York Times bestselling author Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, whose 2016 debut, The Nest, is currently in development with AMC Studios; Vermont poet laureate Bianca Stone (pictured); and renowned Antiguan American essayist and North Bennington resident Jamaica Kincaid, who received the coveted Langston Hughes Medal in 2021.

BRATTLEBORO LITERARY FESTIVAL Friday, October 16, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, October 17, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; and Sunday, October 18, 11 a.m., at various Brattleboro locations. Free. Info, 802-365-7673, brattleborolitfest.org. 90-minute romp with five actors playing more than 50 zany characters. Essex Memorial Hall, 7:30 p.m. $23-25.

in their new home. Ilsley Public Library, Middlebury, 7:30 p.m. $5.

‘THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK’: Lamoille County Players presents the Tony Award-winning theatrical adaptation of The Diary of a Young Girl, recounting the Frank family’s years in hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. See calendar spotlight. Hyde Park Opera House, 7 p.m. $15-20.

‘THE S-CREEMEE DREEMEE PUPPET SLAM’: An avant-garde evening of puppetry for adults showcases a variety of subjects and styles served up by local and traveling artists. Junktiques Collective, Burlington, 7-10 p.m. $10-20 sliding scale.

‘GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFOLK’: See THU.15. ‘LEFT & LEAVING’: Middlebury Community Players mounts a staged reading of local playwright A. Jay Dubberly’s bittersweet comedy following a young Vermont couple’s attempt to host the perfect holiday gathering

‘NORTHANGER ABBEY’: See THU.15.

‘THE SPIRITS OF FRANKLIN’: Reenactors evoke local history through first-person presentations highlighting the lives of six notable residents. Proceeds benefit the Franklin Historical Society. Franklin Town Hall, 7 p.m. By donation.

‘SPIRITS OF ROKEBY: THE IMPENDING CRISIS’: Actors re-create séances based on historical transcripts and real-life accounts of Victorian spiritualism. Rokeby Museum, Ferrisburgh, 5-9:30 p.m. $20-25. ‘VENUS IN FUR’: See THU.15. ‘THE WILLISTON ONE ACTS’: See THU.15.

words

BRATTLEBORO LITERARY FESTIVAL: Wordsmiths flock to the 25th-anniversary edition of the beloved author showcase, featuring three days of readings and discussions with decorated writers. See calendar spotlight. Various Brattleboro locations, 7:30 p.m. Free.

BERLIN CONTRA DANCE: Dancers of all ages and abilities learn at a gathering that encourages joy, laughter and friendship. Bring clean, soft-soled shoes. See capitalcitygrange.org for callers and bands. Capital City Grange, Berlin, 8-11 p.m. $5-20 sliding scale. DANCES OF UNIVERSAL PEACE: Neighbors build community at a participatory interfaith afternoon of sacred song and movement. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Free.

environment

DIRT & DEMOCRACY LAND USE PANEL: A group of community leaders — including Democratic candidate for governor Amanda Janoo — dig into conversation about the current state of Vermont’s land-use policy. Vermont State UniversityRandolph, Randolph Center, 5:30 p.m. Free; donations accepted; preregister.

etc.

AGING IN PLACE WITH PETS VOLUNTEER DAY: Helping hands provide elderly or disabled program participants with the emotional and physical assistance necessary to help them keep their pets. 345 Pine St., Burlington, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Free; donations accepted. ANTIQUE APPRAISAL WITH BONHAMS SKINNER AUCTIONS: What’s your great-grandma’s teapot actually worth? Experts Robin Starr and Christopher Fox assess community members’ fine art, furniture, décor and beyond. St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, 10 a.m. $10-25; preregister.

CALCUTTA FUNDRAISER: Community members catch up over a delicious dinner catered by Boves, then vie for prizes in support of Post 91 American Legion Baseball’s youth programming. American Legion, Post 91, Colchester, 5:45-9:45 p.m. $125. ‘THE CHAPLAINS OF MOUNT INDEPENDENCE’: A history-filled day honors the important role of military chaplains during the Revolutionary War, as well as the legacy that continues in today’s Vermont National Guard. Mount Independence State Historic Site, Orwell, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Regular admission, $1-8; free for children under 6. JANE AUSTEN WEEKEND: ‘SENSE AND SENSIBILITY’: See FRI.16. OPENING DAY: Community members check out a new retreat center for folks experiencing grief, loss, change and death. See griefcenterofvermont.com for full schedule. The Grief Center of Vermont, Essex Junction, noon5:30 p.m. Free; preregister for some events. QUEEN CITY GHOSTWALK: DARKNESS FALLS TOUR: See FRI.16. SNEAKER SOIRÉE: Partygoers ages 18 and up help Girls on the Run make strides at an annual fundraiser featuring scrumptious hors d’oeuvres, dessert, a silent auction and live music by DJ Mega Luna. The Essex Resort & Spa, 6-10 p.m. $25-75.

Gumbo complete the weekend. Farmhouse Inn at Robinson Farm, Woodstock, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $5 suggested donation.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. MET OPERA IN HD: ‘MACBETH’: Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in Giuseppe Verdi’s operatic adaptation of the immortal tragedy following a scheming couple determined to seize power at any cost. Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., 1 p.m. $22. ‘PENGUIN ISLAND 3D’: See THU.15. ‘SEA OTTERS: A WILD FAMILY ADVENTURE 3D’: See THU.15. ‘SHARK KINGDOM 3D’: See THU.15. ‘VANISH: DISAPPEARING ICONS OF A RURAL AMERICA’: See THU.15. Stowe Cinema 3Plex, 7:30 p.m. $18; preregister. VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: See FRI.16. ‘WILD RESCUE 3D’: See THU.15.

food & drink

BREAKFAST IS SERVED: Hungry locals pile their plates with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes and home fries. McIndoes Academy Community Center, McIndoe Falls, 8-10:30 a.m. By donation.

‘A SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTS’: A sparkling gala fundraiser summons philanthropic locals for an evening of art, music and dance to support the year ahead. Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, 5-9 p.m. $25-50.

BURLINGTON FARMERS MARKET: Live local music lends flair to dozens of stands overflowing with seasonal produce, flowers, artisanal wares and prepared foods. 345 Pine St., Burlington, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Free.

WALKING TOUR OF MIDDLEBURY: Locals learn about the town’s bustling history from the 1780s to the 1980s on this one-mile trek narrated by Todd Goodyear. Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History, Middlebury, 2-3 p.m. $12-20.

CHAMPLAIN ISLANDS FARMERS MARKET: Talented artisans and vendors showcase their farmfresh veggies, meats, eggs, flowers, honey and other goodies. St. Joseph’s Church, Grand Isle, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free.

fairs & festivals

ARTOBER FEST: There’s talent aplenty at this autumnal fundraiser for Stone Valley Arts, featuring eye-catching art, local brews, Bavarian fare and live music by the Hermit Hollow String Band. Stone Valley Arts, Poultney, 5-7 p.m. $35. BEAN & BREW FESTIVAL: Imbibers are all abuzz about samples of local coffee and beer and the sounds of Medicine Tribe and Lara Cwass Band. Ages 21 and up. Jay Peak Resort, noon-6 p.m. $35. FLAXTRAVAGANZA!: The homestead celebrates a successful flax harvest with historically accurate fiber demonstrations, reenactments, games and traditional crafts. Ethan Allen Homestead Museum, Burlington, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. VERMONT ARTISAN FESTIVAL: More than 50 of Vermont’s talented artists display their exquisite works. Family fun, live music and bites from Green Mountain

JANE AUSTEN TEA: Regency revelers jam out at a Victorianstyle tea party while learning about the teatime traditions of the writer’s era. The Governor’s House in Hyde Park, 2 p.m. $48; preregister. NORTHWEST FARMERS MARKET: Browsers stock up on produce, preserves, baked goods and other treasures to the beat of live music. Taylor Park, St. Albans, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. ST. JOHNSBURY FARMERS MARKET: Growers, bakers, makers and crafters gather weekly at booths centered on local eats. Pearl St. & Eastern Ave., St. Johnsbury, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Free.

games

CHESS CLUB: Proficient players of all ages face off and learn new strategies. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 11 a.m. Free. D&D & TTRPG GROUP: Fans of Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop role-playing games embark on a new adventure with a rotating cast of game

FILE: SAM SIMON

LIST YOUR EVENT FOR FREE AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT

masters. Virtual option available. Waterbury Public Library, 1-5 p.m. Free.

health & fitness

HU CHANT: ANCIENT MANTRA FOR A MODERN WORLD: Eckankar in VT invites community members of all faiths, traditions and walks of life to a 20-minute group chant, followed by quiet contemplation and spiritual conversation. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 1-2 p.m. Free. OUT OF THE DARKNESS WALK TO PREVENT SUICIDE: Community members turn hope into action and embark on a noncompetitive journey of remembrance. Proceeds benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Veterans Memorial Park, South Burlington, 9 a.m.-noon. Funds raised; preregister.

holidays

HALLOWEEN BASH: Costumes are encouraged at this spooky soirée replete with wood-fired pizza and steamed hot dogs. BYOB. Deblois Auto, Barre, 3 p.m. Free. HALLOWEEN HORSEBACK ADVENTURE: See FRI.16. HAUNTED OPEN HOUSE: Local nonprofit Jenna’s Promise hosts fall revelers of all ages for an afternoon of costumes, pumpkins, candy ... and a few surprises lurking in the basement. Jenna’s House, Johnson, 3-6 p.m. Free. PITTSFORD HAUNTED HOUSE: See FRI.16.

music

AFRICAN RHYTHMS SEXTET WITH BILLY HART: Masters of the genre take the stage to celebrate the enduring legacy of legendary jazz pianist and composer Dr. Randy Weston. Vermont Jazz Center, Brattleboro, 7:30 p.m. $25-60 sliding scale. ANA GUIGUI: See FRI.16. APPLE HILL STRING QUARTET: The internationally acclaimed chamber music four-piece treats listeners to a dynamic program spanning continents and centuries. First Congregational Church, Lebanon N.H., 4 p.m. $30; free for kids under 18. ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL: The 10-time Grammy Award-winning swing ensemble helmed by guitarist Ray Benson revives American roots music with a concert of irresistible rhythms. Paramount Theatre, Rutland, 7 p.m. $35-95.

REAL PEOPLE. REAL JOBS. Introduce yourself to reps from these fine local organizations at Tech Jam! WANT TO EXHIBIT?

SPACE IS LIMITED. TECHJAM@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

COMMUNITY PARTNERS • BETA Technologies • Champlain College • Data Innovations • GBIC • GlobalFoundries • Hazelett • Hula • Marvell • Northfield Savings Bank • Norwich University • Simmonds Precision • UVM Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) • Vermont Technology Council • Vermont State University • VTel SUPP ORTING PARTNERS • The Targeted Resume • WCAX • Vermont Public

TECH JAM BOOT CAMP

FRIDAY, OCT. 16, 12-1 P.M

BEFORE THE JAM

Learn helpful tips on networking and getting hired at this free, pre-Jam webinar hosted by Sue Schlom of the Targeted Resume.

OTHER EXHIBITORS • Accessible Web • Aprexis • Aviatron • ARC Business Solutions • Burlington Telecom • Center for Technology, Essex • Champlain Cable • Community College of Vermont • Creare • Creative Micro • Generator Makerspace • GoCaboodle • GPMS International • Green Mountain Power • Green Mountain Semiconductors • Hack Club • Hayward Tyler Inc. • Husky Technologies • Launch VT • Myti • NDI • OnLogic • Oru • PCC Pediatrics EHR Health Solutions • Prime Engineering LLC • State of Vermont | Agency of Digital Services • UVM Advance • VELCO • Vermont Air National Guard • Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom • Wildlife Imaging Systems

PRESENT

CATAMOUNT ARTS BLUEGRASS NIGHT: HOT PICKIN’ PARTY: Acclaimed father-daughter duo Bob and Sarah Amos host the Burlington bluegrass outfit for an evening chock-full of traditional tunes. Alexander Twilight Theatre, Vermont State University-Lyndon, 7 p.m. Free. CELEBRATION OF COMMUNITY & DIVERSITY: Shidaa Projects presents an energizing afternoon of West African rhythms through SAT.17

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SATURDAY, OCT. 24 • HULA, BURLINGTON • FREE R E G I S T E R A T T E C H J A M V T. C O M

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drumming and dance. Lost Nation Theater, Montpelier City Hall, 3-5 p.m. Free. DANA ROBINSON: Thoughtprovoking lyrics meet country-blues rhythms at a performance dedicated to the quiet grit and breathtaking beauty of Vermont’s landscapes. Albany Town Hall, 7 p.m. $10-20. FRED EAGLESMITH AND THE VELVET FROGS: A Canadian singer-songwriter known for his storytelling style and rural narratives serves up high-octane alt-country and roots tunes. Bellows Falls Opera House, 7:30 p.m. $24-50. LIVE IN THE ORCHARD: QUEEN CITY CUT-UPS: An acoustic Americana outfit from Burlington displays its intricate harmonies, lyrics and fingerpicking for outdoor listeners. Shelburne Orchards, noon-2 p.m. Free. MOIRA SMILEY AND RASA STRING QUARTET: In “Roots to Sky,” the genre-busting singer and composer helms a performance of lush, percussive arrangements of ancient and contemporary folk songs. Vergennes Opera House, 7 p.m. $20-40. PLAINFIELD ARTS PRESENTS: MARSH LIGHTS: A beloved Vermont acoustic roots quintet performs original progressive bluegrass and folk songs featuring mandolin, banjo and upright bass. Plainfield Town Hall Opera House, 7 p.m. $20 suggested donation. ‘STORY SONGS OF THE 70S’: A folk-rock act featuring Maine singer-songwriter Tom DiMenna plays music by vinyl-era legends Gordon Lightfoot, Cat Stevens and Harry Chapin. Haskell Free Library & Opera House, Derby Line, 7 p.m. $25-30. TONY VACCA’S FUSION NOMADS: The titular percussionist and balafon player helms a concert blending jazz and global music traditions, featuring help from special guest artist Massamba Diop. Virtual option available. Next Stage Arts, Putney, 6 p.m. $10-25. UPPER VALLEY BAROQUE: See FRI.16. Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph, 3 p.m. $25-45. VERMONT PHILHARMONIC: Pianists Alison Cerutti and Sylvia Parker join the storied ensemble for “Dual Delights,” featuring Carl Czerny’s “Concerto for Piano Four-Hands” and Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1. Highland Center for the Arts, Greensboro, 4 p.m. $5-25. VERMONT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WOODWIND QUARTET: See FRI.16. Brattleboro Music Center, 7 p.m. $20-25. VERMONT YOUTH PHILHARMONIA: Dr. Yutaka Kono conducts the young symphony orchestra in selections that are relevant to their lives, including some by contemporary, diverse composers and works from movies and other media. Elley-Long Music Center, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, 5:30 p.m. $5.

outdoors

THE AMAZING CORN MAZE: See WED.14. BIRD MONITORING WALK: New and experienced avian admirers take an outdoor stroll to observe flying, feathered friends. Green Mountain Audubon Center, Huntington, 8-10 a.m. Free; donations accepted. FIRES WITH FATHERS: Dads trade surface-level banter for deep dialogue and vulnerability at this intentional outdoor gathering focused on community building. Rock Point Nature Trails, Burlington, 8-10 p.m. Free. HERBAL PLANT WALK: Seasoned experts guide budding herbalists on an info-packed trek through the sanctuary’s lush grounds. White Dove Herbal Sanctuary, Montpelier, 10-11:30 a.m. By donation. SENSING THE SEASON: Nature lovers hone their observation abilities to study seasonal shifts at this self-guided outdoor stroll ending in shared discoveries. Rock Point Center, Burlington, 10:30 a.m. Free; preregister. TREE ID & NATURAL HISTORY TOUR: Master naturalist Gene O. Desideraggio guides attendees in identifying native species. Red Rocks Park, South Burlington, 10 a.m. $10-15; preregister. WEEKLY BIRD WALK: Featheredfriend seekers join expert Lachlan Ziegler for a morning trek to sharpen their identification skills. Rock Point Center, Burlington, 8-10 a.m. Free; preregister.

québec

‘THE SECRET CHORD: A LEONARD COHEN EXPERIENCE’: See WED.14, 7:30 p.m.

sports

NORDIC SKI SWAP & TACOS: Frost Mountain Nordic invites snow sports fans to find new homes for gear that might otherwise sit in the garage or end up in a landfill. Mary Hogan Elementary School, Middlebury, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free.

talks

MARGARET FOWLE: In “The Bald Eagle’s Comeback in Vermont,” a conservation biologist shares fascinating facts about the apex raptors and their impressive recovery. Waterbury St. Leo’s Hall, 1 p.m. Free; donations accepted.

theater

10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL: See THU.15.

‘SPIRITS OF ROKEBY: THE IMPENDING CRISIS’: See FRI.16. ‘VENUS IN FUR’: See THU.15. ‘THE WILLISTON ONE ACTS’: See THU.15. ‘WOW (WORLD OF WORDS)’: Montréal circus troupe Cirque Kalabanté showcases the beauty and artistry of African culture in a dazzling spectacle of gravity-defying acrobatics. Spruce Peak Arts, Stowe Mountain Resort, 7 p.m. $42.45-53.15.

words

BRATTLEBORO LITERARY FESTIVAL: See FRI.16, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. RYAN HAGEN: A climate activist and author shares his practical handbook, Your Guide to Climate Action: How to Move Beyond Your Footprint and Make a BIG Impact. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 11 a.m.-noon. Free. WRITE NOW!: Wordsmiths of all experience levels hone their craft in a supportive and critique-free environment. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier, 10 a.m. Free.

SUN.18

conferences

MILLER SYMPOSIUM: ‘THE GERMAN ARMY AND THE HOLOCAUST’: A full day of expert talks hosted by the school’s Center for Holocaust Studies examines the experience of the country under fascism. University of Vermont Alumni House, Burlington, 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Free.

dance

THE LONELY DAYS ARE GONE: COMMUNITY SQUARE DANCE TOUR: Dancers kick up their heels to traditional tunes played by Dorset fiddler and singer Ida Mae Specker and her all-star band. Ferrisburgh Union Meeting Hall, 4-6:30 p.m. Free.

etc.

‘THE GRAVE SIDE OF HALLOWEEN’: Connoisseurs of creepy tour nearby Elmwood Cemetery, then enjoy a light luncheon, live music by Woody Woodhead and a presentation on iron grave markers by Miles McCallum. Proceeds benefit the Burlington History & Culture Center. ONE Community Center, Burlington, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Free; donations accepted. JANE AUSTEN WEEKEND: ‘SENSE AND SENSIBILITY’: See FRI.16.

‘THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK’: See FRI.16.

QUEEN CITY GHOSTWALK: FRIGHT BY FLASHLIGHT: Author and historian Thea Lewis helps adventurous attendees become experts in vintage ghost-hunting techniques and scholars of paranormal lore. Lakeview Cemetery, Burlington, 6 p.m. $25; preregister.

‘GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFOLK’: See THU.15.

fairs & festivals

‘THE ALIENS’: See WED.14. BORDERLANDS: ‘CALYPSO AND ODYSSEUS’: See FRI.16. ‘CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, A COMEDY’: See FRI.16.

‘LEFT & LEAVING’: See FRI.16. ‘NORTHANGER ABBEY’: See THU.15.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 14-21, 2026

VERMONT ARTISAN FESTIVAL: See SAT.17, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. ‘PENGUIN ISLAND 3D’: See THU.15. ‘SEA OTTERS: A WILD FAMILY ADVENTURE 3D’: See THU.15. ‘SHARK KINGDOM 3D’: See THU.15. VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: See FRI.16. ‘WILD RESCUE 3D’: See THU.15.

food & drink

STOWE FARMERS MARKET: An appetizing assortment of fresh veggies, pasture-raised meats, milk, berries, herbs, beverages and handcrafted wares tempts shoppers. Stowe Farmers Market, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. SUNDAY WINE TASTING: Oenophiles swirl and sip their way through a rotating selection of vinos while learning about the producers and regions behind the pours. Bar Renée, Burlington, 1-4 p.m. $5-8. WILD CULTURE FERMENTATION FESTIVAL: Wanna be starting something? Diverse demos and samples bubble up at this showcase of 15 Vermont vendors’ pickled products, beverages and other anaerobic goodies. Barr Hill, Montpelier, noon-4 p.m. $8-10. WINOOSKI FARMERS MARKET: More than 25 area growers and bakers offer local and global fare against a backdrop of live music and activities. Winooski Falls Way, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free.

games

DUPLICATE BRIDGE GAMES: See THU.15, 1 p.m.

health & fitness

BURLINGTON INSIGHT MEDITATION COMMUNITY: Certified instructors lead hourlong sessions of the ancient contemplative practice rooted in compassion and generosity. Hood Plant, Burlington, 5:30-6:30 p.m. By donation.

10-11:15 a.m. Free; donations accepted. MANSFIELD UPHILL RUNNING RACE: Fleet-footed participants run, hike, walk or bound their way up the mountain — at their own pace — at this 1.7-mile climb to the resort’s Cliff House. Stowe Mountain Resort Midway Base Lodge, 9 a.m.-noon. $50; preregister.

québec

‘THE SECRET CHORD: A LEONARD COHEN EXPERIENCE’: See WED.14, 7:30 p.m.

sports

FOOTBALL ON THE BIG SCREEN: Gridiron fans score with NFL action, pit-smoked meats and locally brewed pints. Switchback Beer Garden & Smokehouse, Burlington, noon-9 p.m. Free.

music

SUNDAY POLO MATCH: Pack a tailgate picnic and prepare to experience the fast-paced thrill of the traditional equestrian team sport. Amdez Polo Club, Shelburne, 3 p.m. $10-20.

ALASDAIR FRASER BAND: This family quartet — whose eponymous leader was dubbed “the Michael Jordan of Scottish fiddling” by the San Francisco Examiner — brings string virtuosity and rich harmonies to traditional tunes and original compositions. Catamount Arts Center, St. Johnsbury, 7 p.m. $30. DANA ROBINSON: See SAT.17. Montpelier Performing Arts Hub, 4 p.m. $10-25. JUNCTION SONG CIRCLE: Traditional tunes in any language are welcome at this instrumentfree community music group. Greater Hartford United Church of Christ, Hartford Village, 2-4 p.m. Free. LIVE IN THE ORCHARD: OTTER CREEK: The local bluegrass band plays old-timey tunes that get those toes tappin’ and fingers snappin’. Shelburne Orchards, noon. Free.

talks

DR. ZACHARY BENNETT: A Norwich University historian dives into the role of the Winooski River during the Revolutionary War. Ethan Allen Homestead Museum, Burlington, 2 p.m. Free.

theater

10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL: See THU.15, 2 p.m. ‘THE ALIENS’: See WED.14, 2 p.m. BORDERLANDS: ‘CALYPSO AND ODYSSEUS’: See FRI.16. ‘CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, A COMEDY’: See FRI.16, 2 p.m. ‘THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK’: See FRI.16, 2 p.m. ‘GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFOLK’: See THU.15, 2 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: See THU.15, 2:304:30 p.m.

‘NORTHANGER ABBEY’: See THU.15, 2:30 p.m.

SOUND BATH & SOUND MASSAGE: Experts Kirk Jones and Jed Blume guide listeners through an immersive soundscape with tone-matched gongs, hand pans and crystal bowls. Seven Stars Arts Center, Sharon, noon-1:30 p.m. $35-40.

words

‘STORY SONGS OF THE 70S’: See SAT.17. Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Burlington, 4 p.m. $15-35. VERMONT PHILHARMONIC: See SAT.17. Barre Opera House, 2 p.m. $5-25.

DAD GUILD RUN CLUB: Fathers hit the pavement — rain or shine — at this weekly 3.5-mile morning jaunt through the Queen City. Burlington Greenway, 7:30 a.m. Free.

VERMONT YOUTH ORCHESTRA: In “Hummel * Gershwin * Schoenberg: An American in Paris” the talented ensemble journeys across centuries of musical traditions, from a military march recently discovered in Vermont to the cinematic sounds of Hollywood. Flynn Main Stage, Burlington, 3 p.m. $21-24.

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,

THE AMAZING CORN MAZE: See WED.14.

NEW LEAF SANGHA MINDFULNESS PRACTICE: New and experienced meditators alike sit together in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. Hot Yoga Burlington, 6-7:45 p.m. Free.

CHAMPLAIN VALLEY BUDDY WALK: Community members hit the pavement to raise awareness and funds for programs that benefit people with Down syndrome. Veterans Memorial Park, South Burlington, 1 p.m. $10.

HEADY TROTTER FOUR-MILER: A winding course takes runners through downtown Stowe, culminating in a celebration with live music, doughnuts, lawn games and food trucks. Proceeds benefit Green Mountain Adaptive Sports. The Alchemist, Stowe, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. $45-50; preregister.

outdoors

VERMONT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WOODWIND QUARTET: See FRI.16. Ludlow Auditorium, 2 p.m. Free.

WESTFORD MUSIC SERIES: MARSH LIGHTS: A beloved Vermont acoustic roots quintet performs original progressive bluegrass and folk songs featuring mandolin, banjo and upright bass. Westford Common Hall, 4 p.m. Free.

BRATTLEBORO LITERARY FESTIVAL: See FRI.16, 11 a.m. JUDITH JANOO & SCUDDER PARKER: Two decorated local poets lift spirits with inspired selections from their collections. Jaquith Public Library, Marshfield, 2 p.m. Free.

MON.19 crafts

HAND-STITCHING GROUP: Embroiderers, cross-stitchers and other needlework aficionados chat over their latest projects. Waterbury Public Library, 6-8 p.m. Free.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. DADS’ NIGHT OUT: ‘STREET FIGHTER’: Estranged competitors Ryu and Ken Masters get thrown back into combat when the mysterious Chun-Li recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament in this 2026 martial arts flick. Essex Cinemas & T-Rex Theater. Free; preregister to receive show time. ‘PENGUIN ISLAND 3D’: See THU.15.

LIST YOUR EVENT FOR FREE AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT

‘SEA OTTERS: A WILD FAMILY ADVENTURE 3D’: See THU.15. ‘SHARK KINGDOM 3D’: See THU.15. ‘THE STATE OF FARMING’: The Franklin and Grand Isle Farmers Watershed Alliance and UVM Extension host a screening of the new documentary about Vermont’s ever-evolving agricultural landscape. A Q&A with local farmers follows. Welden Theatre, St. Albans, 6 p.m. Free; preregister. VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: See FRI.16.

music

ONION RIVER CHORUS REHEARSAL: The non-auditioned community ensemble conducted by Richard Riley invites interested vocalists to join in spirited song. Bethany United Church of Christ, Montpelier, 7-9 p.m. Free.

outdoors

THE AMAZING CORN MAZE: See WED.14.

québec

‘WILD RESCUE 3D’: See THU.15.

‘THE SECRET CHORD: A LEONARD COHEN EXPERIENCE’: See WED.14, 7:30 p.m.

games

theater

BURLINGTON ELKS BINGO: Players grab their daubers for a competitive night of card stamping for cash prizes. Burlington Elks Lodge, 6 p.m. Various prices. MAH-JONGG MONDAYS: Tile traders gather for friendly bouts of the ancient game of skill, strategy and luck. St. Albans Free Library, 1-3 p.m. Free.

language

LANGUAGE LOUNGE: See WED.14.

lgbtq

BOARD GAME NIGHT: LGBTQ tabletop fans bring their own favorite games to the party. Rainbow Bridge Community Center, Barre, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Free. PROUD LITTLE STATE LAUNCH PARTY: Community members celebrate a new series of short comics on LGBTQ+ topics with art-making activities, a display of objects from the VT Queer Archives, snacks and free copies of the latest issue. KelloggHubbard Library, Montpelier, 5:30 p.m. Free.

FOMO? Find even more local events in this newspaper and online:

art 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 = GET TICKETS ON SEVENDAYSTICKETS.COM

SHAKESPEARE OUT LOUD: Thespians, language lovers and listeners gather to give voice to tragic star-crossed lovers in an unstructured, open-role script reading of the Bard’s Romeo and Juliet. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 4-5:30 p.m. Free.

words

ANIME GROUP: Fans of Japanese animation and comics convene weekly to swap ideas, read stories and connect over shared interests in hand-drawn media. Pathways Vermont Morgan’s Place Peer Support Center, Burlington, 6-8 p.m. Free. THE HIVE WRITING COLLECTIVE: Wordsmiths of all stripes sharpen their craft, share feedback and generate creative energy at this workshop hosted by local writer Spencer Wilkins. Wild Meadows Books & Café, Williston, 4-5:30 p.m. Free. SCRIPTWRITERS’ GROUP: Got a story to tell? Talented local writers swap techniques and constructive critiques. Junction Arts & Media, White River Junction, 5:30-7 p.m. Free; preregister. TILLIE WALDEN: The New York Times best-selling author and former Vermont cartoonist laureate shares her new graphic novel, Charity & Sylvia, about an openly lesbian couple in 19th-century Weybridge. Community College of Vermont, Winooski, 6 p.m. Free; preregister.

TUE.20

community

CURRENT EVENTS DISCUSSION GROUP: Brownell Library holds a virtual roundtable for neighbors to pause and reflect on the news cycle. 10-11:30 a.m. Free.

crafts

ALL HANDS TOGETHER COMMUNITY CRAFTING GROUP: Marshfield spinning maven Donna Hisson hosts a casual gathering for fiber fans of all abilities to work on old projects or start something new. Jaquith Public Library, Marshfield, 6-7:30 p.m. Free. WATERCOLOR DROP-IN: Painters bring their own supplies to a weekly, instruction-free session

PUPPY

CAMP

to brush up on their skills in a communal setting. Waterbury Public Library, 10:30 a.m. Free.

Socialization and Training for pups under 17 weeks

environment

MINI CLEAN UP CREW: Good Samaritans turn their morning routine into civic pride by tidying up and refreshing the city’s much-loved green space. BYO gloves encouraged. Burlington City Hall Park, 8-8:30 a.m. Free.

Sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Let us do the "heavy lifting" to help you pave the way toward a happy, healthy, well-behaved puppy!

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section.

‘PENGUIN ISLAND 3D’: See THU.15. ‘SEA OTTERS: A WILD FAMILY ADVENTURE 3D’: See THU.15. ‘SHARK KINGDOM 3D’: See THU.15. ‘THE STATE OF FARMING’: See MON.19. VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: See FRI.16.

Visit FETCHTHELEASH.BIZ for more info • 85 Pearl St, Burlington 6h-FetchtheLeash091626.indd 6

BARRE OPERA HOUSE

‘WILD RESCUE 3D’: See THU.15.

9/11/26 4:54 PM

BOH PRESENTS

health & fitness

BEGINNER TAI CHI: Weight transference and mindful breathing help practitioners cultivate agility through a contemporary sequence of quintessential martial arts postures. Virtual option available. Unitarian Universalist Church, Springfield, 10-11 a.m. Free. COMMUNITY MEDITATION: All experience levels engage in the ancient Buddhist practice of clearing the mind to achieve a state of calm. First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington, 5:15-6 p.m. Free; donations accepted. ‘FANNING THE FLAMES (A MENOPAUSE WORKSHOP)’: Planned Parenthood of Northern New England hosts an interactive info session designed for adults who are (or will be) experiencing the midlife change. Stowe Free Library, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Free. TAI CHI: Practitioners get a feel for the Chinese martial art combining controlled breathing, meditation and slow, gentle movements. Ida Boch Park, Bradford, 10-11 a.m. Free.

language

October 16•8 pm Sponsored by Hanson & Doremus• 802 Cars BOH PRESENTS COMEDIAN

OCTOBER 17 7:30 PM