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DECEMBER 17-24, 2014 VOL.20 NO.16 SEVENDAYSVT.COM
Plenty of views PAGE 18
THE KILL DEER
PAGE 32 Fiction by Gary Lee Miller
HOW TO MAKE BOOKS
Small publishers talk business
PAGE 36
GHOST STORIES
PAGE 80 An artist’s book of hauntings
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THE LAST WEEK IN REVIEW
facing facts
DECEMBER 10-17, 2014 COMPILED BY MATTHEW ROY & ANDREA SUOZZO
DEE-LICIOUS
College cops say three UVM students stole, killed, cooked and ate a frat’s chicken, Sweet Dee. Fraternal pluck or poultry abuse?
TRUE PRUE?
Patricia Prue, accused of murdering Vermont schoolteacher Melissa Jenkins wants to change her plea — to guilty. Why? So she can write to her imprisoned husband.
I
A Pretty, Gloppy Mess
Reader-submitted photos. Top and second: Deb Nilson, Hinesburg. Third: Kelly Kelly, Rochester. Bottom: Roni Darragh, Bristol
STRIKE OUT
FairPoint Communications fired a contracting firm after a replacement worker allegedly took a woman’s car and racked up charges on her credit card. What’s more expensive: giving in to the union or bad PR?
TOPFIVE
MOST POPULAR ITEMS ON SEVENDAYSVT.COM
1. “Istanbul Kebab House Moving to Burlington” by Hannah Palmer Egan. Burlington’s Das Bierhaus restaurant is closing its Church Street doors, but an Essex favorite is replacing it. 2. “Public Invited to View Burlington’s Lost Shul Mural” by Ethan de Seife. The 1910 mural was hidden in the attic of an Old North End apartment building for years, but it will soon be restored and moved to the Ohavi Zedek Synagogue. 3. “Longtime Guardian Calls Child Welfare System ‘Broken’” by Kathryn Flagg. A courtappointed guardian says Vermont’s system is failing its most vulnerable children. 4. “Gone Fission: Assessing a Future Without Vermont Yankee” by Ethan de Seife, Alicia Freese and Ken Picard. After Vermont Yankee powers down this month, what happens to the people of Vernon and surrounding areas? 5. “Mumbo Jumbo: Milne Fights On, Voters Be Damned” by Paul Heintz. The runner-up in November’s gubernatorial election isn’t calling it quits. He’s still asking the legislature to name him governor in January.
tweet of the week: @JoKnowles I cannot even name all the kinds of stuff falling from the sky today. Rain. Snow. Sleet. Freezing rain. Ice pellets. Slush. SNOWMEN. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVEN_DAYS OUR TWEEPLE: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/TWITTER
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SEVENDAYSVT.COM
t wasn’t even officially winter when a lingering nor’easter brought Vermont heavy, wet snow last week. The result was gorgeous and great for snowmen and snowballs. But it was also the stuff that weighs down limbs and power lines, with predictable results. Branches snapped, utilities were cut off and homes went dark all over the state. How bad was it? More than 100,000 homes in Vermont lost power in the storm, which started December 9. The Chittenden County Transportation Authority canceled bus service at the storm’s height, stranding riders. Crews plowed and treated roads for several days. Many Vermonters were stuck at home. It was severe enough that Gov. Peter Shumlin has announced he’s seeking a damage assessment to determine if Vermont could be eligible for federal disaster aid. Federal Emergency Management Agency funds would pay for stormrelated expenses, Alicia Freese reported on our Off Message blog. Most people had their lights back on Monday, the Associated Press reported, though new outages were happening as a result of heavy snow falling from trees. Utilities were particularly hard hit. On page 14 of this week’s paper, Kathryn Flagg writes about FairPoint Communications’ struggle to keep customers connected. FairPoint had trouble with service issues before the storm, even before its workers went on strike in October. Since then, hundreds have complained to the state about the telecom company’s phone and internet service.
CRIMINAL MIND
A “getaway bicycle” left tracks in fresh-fallen snow that led police to a man charged with attempting to rob a post office in Swanton. Smart thinking.
$162
That’s how much you could be fined for driving with snow obstructing your windows, according to the Vermont State Police. Drivers may also get busted for snow on the tops of their cars, aka failure to “secure loads.” Drive safely this holiday season!
12/13/14 1:06 PM
LOVE YA, LJ! E D I T O R I A L / A D M I N I S T R AT I O N -/
Pamela Polston & Paula Routly
/ Paula Routly / Pamela Polston
Don Eggert, Cathy Resmer, Colby Roberts Matthew Roy Margot Harrison Meredith Coeyman Xian Chiang-Waren, Mark Davis, Ethan de Seife, Kathryn Flagg, Alicia Freese, Ken Picard Paul Heintz Dan Bolles Alice Levitt Hannah Palmer Egan Courtney Copp Andrea Suozzo Eva Sollberger Ashley DeLucco Cheryl Brownell Matt Weiner Carolyn Fox, Marisa Keller Carolyn Fox Rufus DESIGN/PRODUCTION Don Eggert John James Rev. Diane Sullivan Matthew Thorsen Brooke Bousquet, Britt Boyd,
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FEEDback READER REACTION TO RECENT ARTICLES
ANOTHER THING ABOUT WINOOSKI
HEAR HERE
I wanted to submit a correction to the Winooski police story [“Small City, Big Divide: Winooski Cops Seek Community Bonds,” December 10]. I used to be a board member of the Winooski Coalition for a Safe and Peaceful Community. The WCSPC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and its executive director is Kate Nugent. Sister Pat McKittrick founded the coalition and is currently a board member; she does not run it, and it is not a volunteer group, although they do have many amazing volunteers supporting the work! Alaina Wermers
ATLANTA, GA
THERE’S A MAP FOR THAT
I just finished reading “Researching the Ravine” [December 3] and wanted to let Seven Days readers know that the UVM Libraries’ Center for Digital Initiatives makes historical maps of Burlington freely available online. There are two collections, “Historical Maps of Burlington and Winooski, Vermont,” and “Fire Insurance Maps of Burlington, Vermont.” Readers can find them at cdi.uvm. edu. These maps are invaluable for anyone researching Burlington history. Prudence Doherty
WINOOSKI
Doherty is the public services librarian for UVM Special Collections.
TIM NEWCOMB
I thoroughly enjoyed Dan Bolles’ portrait of Vermont singer/songwriter Francesca Blanchard [“The World Can’t Wait,” December 10]. I couldn’t agree more with Jacob Edgar of Cumbancha that Francesca’s is a very special talent, and I firmly believe she is in the early stages of a career that will earn her international celebrity — she’s just that good. Her original songs in both French and English are artfully crafted, oftentimes deeply personal, and her singing voice is beautiful. For the uninitiated, her debut EP, Songs on an Ovation, is required listening and, again, I agree with Mr. Edgar that if you relax and take the time to absorb the beauty of her compositions, the experience can be magical. I’d like to remind folks that the Francesca Blanchard Quartet can soon be heard and seen as part of Vermont Public Radio’s “Live From the Fort” video series, and they’ll also be performing December 31 at 9 p.m. as part of First Night Burlington’s Global Village series of music and dance performances. I have my button. Joel Najman
COLCHESTER
Najman is the host of VPR’s weekly “My Place” radio show.
wEEk iN rEViEw
Pro miro
It’s no surprise that some ousted bigwigs from the Kiss administration would like to retake Burlington City Hall [Fair Game, “Weinberger’s Restart,” November 26], but there is hardly a groundswell of discontent against Miro Weinberger. He’s done a fine job as mayor, and Burlington would be well served by a second term. Weinberger has restored competent management and vigorous leadership, put city finances on an even keel, and kept Burlington Telecom alive. City services — especially public works — are noticeably more consumer friendly. Returning the old regime would be a step back into the past. Samuel Press
burlingTOn
LiStEN UP, HEiNtz
Paul Heintz may be getting more clever, in his own mind at least, but he is out of touch with Vermonters [Fair Game: “Shumlin 2.0,” November 19]. Yes, we will see “what we want to see” because we have been here a long time. We know what is good for our state of Vermont. Heintz should stop intellectualizing for the sake of a story. He’ll be out of a job quicker than Peter Shumlin, who has much more wisdom than Heintz does. He should get real and start listening to someone other than himself. octavia Gilmore
WOOdSTOck
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[Re “Green Mountain Opera Festival Cancels Season,” November 26]: As a member of Florida Grand Opera’s administration team, I just want to clarify 8v-mirrormirror120413.indd that FGO is not in any danger of forfeiting its 74th season. All of the operas for the 2014-2015 season are scheduled and will be performed as planned. Our current “Say YES! to Opera, South Florida” comprehensive campaign is to ensure the performance quality of future seasons.
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Mazzurco manages public relations for the Florida Grand Opera.
Catch ya on the flip side, LJ.
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SEVEN DAYS
Last week’s news article titled “Meet the Brit Who Turned Around Burlington Telecom” misstated how the proceeds from the sale of Burlington Telecom will be divided. After the city and Trey Pecor split the money, Dorman & Fawcett will receive a portion from Pecor’s share, not from the city’s.
where in Burlington can I find it all…
12.17.14-12.24.14
The WTF column “What’s With the Headless Woman Mural on Pine Street?” on December 3 incorrectly listed B Corporation as the organization responsible for certifying Vermont businesses for sustainability and social responsibility. In fact, B Corporation is supported by B Labs, a nonprofit based in Pennsylvania that created and funds B Corp and all its subsidiaries, including for-profit businesses awarded B Corp status.
[Re Off Message: “‘Black Lives Matter’ Candlelight Vigil Held in Burlington,” December 13]: Black lives matter. All lives matter, including those of the unborn. The med students doing the White Coats for Black Lives, in my opinion, are hypocrites. There are more minority woman having abortions than white women. And doctors are doing the abortions. Why are they not protesting that? There are far more minority babies aborted every year than cops killing people of color. Unborn babies are innocent, unlike Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Both had committed crimes before the cops stopped them. If they had listened to the cops and done what was asked of them, they both would be alive. The time to disagree with the cop is not on the street, but in the courtroom. It is far safer for everyone.
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contents
LOOKING FORWARD
DECEMBER 17-24, 2014 VOL.20 NO.16
32
19
NEWS 14
Counting Complaints: FairPoint Customers Suffer Through Strike, Outages, ‘Troubles’
ARTS NEWS 22
BY KATHRYN FLAGG
16
18
19
BY ETHAN DE SEIFE
A Plan for the People? Burlington Progs Put Mall Man Through t he Paces
22
BY ALICIA FREESE
24
Vermont Police Wear Cameras to Record — and Avoid — Trouble BY MARK DAVIS
Excerpts from Off Message
For Future Reference: Librarians Are Digitizing Vermont’s Past Quick Lit: Eric Rickstad’s Dark Thriller
50
FEATURES 30
24
32 36
LocalStore
Shopping: Old Gold
The Hit Deer
Winter Reading
Of Royalties and Resistance
Winter Reading: Three small Vermont publishers explain their business (or antibusiness) models
41
BY SEVEN DAYS STAFF
11 21 54 65 70 80 88
Writing on the Radio
Winter Reading: Shelagh Connor Shapiro talks about her new novel and bookthemed talk show BY MOLLY ZAPP
44
Fair Game POLITICS WTF CULTURE Work JOBS Side Dishes FOOD Soundbites MUSIC Album Reviews Eyewitness ART Movie Reviews Ask Athena SEX
SECTIONS
BY MARGOT HARRISON
BY PAMELA POLSTON
VIDEO SERIES
12 28 29 47 71 75 80 88 97
BY GARY LEE MILLER
Quick Lit: Archer Mayor’s Latest Mystery Building Blocks
COLUMNS + REVIEWS
BY XIAN CHIANG-WAREN
BY MARGOT HARRISON
BY PAMELA POLSTON
72
Saving Graces
The Magnificent 7 Life Lines Calendar Classes Music Art Movies
Books: Nothing Saved Us: Poems of the Korean War, Tamra J. Higgins
FUN STUFF
straight dope movies you missed children of the atom edie everette lulu eightball sticks angelica news quirks jen sorensen, bliss red meat deep dark fears this modern world underworld free will astrology personals
27 91 92 92 92 92 93 93 94 94 94 94 95 96
CLASSIFIEDS vehicles housing services homeworks buy this stuff music legals crossword fsbo calcoku/sudoku support groups puzzle answers jobs
C-2 C-2 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-4 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7 C-9 C-9 C-10
BY JULIA SHIPLEY
BY ALICE LEVITT
Stuck in Vermont: The Cleary family
of Jericho Center burns large wooden sculptures to celebrate the winter solstice. Eva Sollberger captured the 2013 burn in this classic episode of Stuck in Vermont; this year’s burn takes place on December 20.
BY HANNAH PALMER EGAN
70
Did You Ever Know That You’re My Hero?
Music: Paying homage to unsung stars of the local music scene
This newspaper features interactive print — neato! Download the free Layar app SEVENDAYSVT.COM
Underwritten by:
Druidic Dream
Food: Wassailing with the trees in a Vermont “grove”
PAGE 18 Plenty of views
DECEMBER 17-24, 2014 VOL.20 NO.16 SEVENDAYSVT.COM
Food: A wordly chef cooks up a new Woodstock dining experience
50
COPS WITH CAMERAS
Restaurant With Rooms
VERMO NT ’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
46
Find and scan pages with the Layar logo THE KILL DEER
PAGE 32 Fiction by Gary Lee Miller
HOW TO MAKE BOOKS
Small publishers talk business
PAGE 36
GHOST STORIES
PAGE 80 An artist’s book of hauntings
COVER IMAGE SEAN METCALF COVER DESIGN AARON SHREWSBURY
Discover fun interactive content 12.17.14-12.24.14
BY DAN BOLLES
SEVEN DAYS CONTENTS 9
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SEASON OF WONDER. SEASON OF LIGHT. HAPPY HOLIDAYS! MAKE IT SPECIAL. MAKE IT A GIFT FROM
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DINNER FOR TWO: $30 THURSDAY - SATURDAY
INLCUDES BEER & DESSERT CHEERS!
SEVEN DAYS
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SEVENDAYSvt.com
FARM FRESH
GRASS GRAZED
Home for the Holidays! From our family to yours -
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LOOKING FORWARD
the
MAGNIFICENT FICENT
FRIDAY 19
Call of the Wild In 2013, Vermonters Casey Gannon and Colin Arisman spent five months hiking up the West Coast. More than 2,500 miles later, they emerged with footage for the documentary Only the Essential: A Hike From Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail. An ode to the lessons only nature can teach, the film celebrates the simple things in life.
MUST SEE, MUST DO THIS WEEK COMPI L E D BY COU RTNEY COP P
SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 58
THURSDAY 18 & FRIDAY 19
Rising Talents
SATURDAY 20
NAUGHTY OR NICE
They’re only ages 9 through 18, but the performers in the Flynn Show Choirs know their stuff. Accompanied by professional musicians, 70 singers, actors and dancers perform a medley of Broadway classics and pop hits in a fully choreographed show. Selections from Dogfight, A Christmas Story and other memorable productions delight audience members young and old.
Old St. Nick is the guest of honor at “The Comedy Roast of Santa Claus.” Local jokesters head to Zen Lounge, where they unleash a steady stream of one-liners at the man in the red-and-white suit. A stress reliever amid the holiday madness, this hilarious romp offers up big belly laughs.
SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 57
FRIDAY 19 & SATURDAY 20
Creative Culture If you’re looking for a locally made gift, the BCA Holiday Artist Market has you covered. Featuring 31 artisans, this diverse assembly of handmade wares offers items for everyone on your list. One-ofa-kind jewelry, clothing, pottery, textiles, woodwork and more reflect Vermont’s thriving artistic community.
SEE SOUNDBITES ON PAGE 71
SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 58
All-Star Lineup
SEE EYEWITNESS ON PAGE 80
Braise the Roof Fans of slow-cooked meats are in for a treat at the Great Brisket Bake-off. Diners at this annual Hanukkah dinner party arrive with their best version of the dish — or sides and sweets — in hand. Family recipes fill a spread that includes challah, latkes and other traditional eats. SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 58
MAGNIFICENT SEVEN 11
When describing his work, painter and cartoonist Robert Waldo Brunelle Jr. says, “I stubbornly cling to the 19th-century notion that art should be narrative.” This statement proves true in his new book The Lesser-Known Haunted Houses. A playful poke at the horror genre, this collection of stories and drawings takes a lighthearted approach to the scarier side of life.
FRIDAY 19
SEVEN DAYS
Ghost Stories
SEE CALENDAR LISTING ON PAGE 61
12.17.14-12.24.14
© BOWIE15|DREAMSTIME.COM
ONGOING
When you’re the vocalist and guitarist for the Grift, chances are you can persuade your musical pals to perform a benefit concert. Such is the case with “Clint Bierman’s Holiday Hootenanny.” More than 15 of Vermont’s top musicians, including Bob Wagner, Josh Panda and Russ Lawton, join Bierman at this fundraiser for H.O.P.E. and the Addison County Food Shelf.
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
MONDAY 22
FAIR GAME
F
Left Behind
SEVEN DAYS
12.17.14-12.24.14
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our years ago last week, Sen. BERNIE (I-Vt.) captivated progresYour source for sives with an eight-and-a-half-hour floor speech opposing the extension storage beds! of Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthy. But last week, as Sanders and his ilk fought a provision in a massive spending bill that would loosen Wall Street regulations, there was a new star leading the charge: Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.). Instead of bending to the will of Citigroup lobbyists, she said in a fiery speech 372 N. Winooski Ave. that quickly went viral, Congress “should www.samswoodfurniture.com have broken [the bank] into pieces.” Warren’s remarks came as two liberal grassroots organizations — MoveOn.org open fri & Sat 10am–5pm or by appointment 12v-samswoodfurniture121714.indd 1 12/10/14 4:37 PM and Burlington-based Democracy for (OPEN DAILY in December) America — joined a growing effort to coax the Massachusetts Democrat into the 2016 presidential race. And it came as 300 former staffers and volunteers for President BARACK OBAMA’s campaigns signed a letter urging her to run. “There is no more clear advocate in the fight against income inequality than Elizabeth Warren,” says DFA spokesman NEIL SROKA, who added his name to the letter. Sanders would surely disagree with that assessment. But as the Vermont indepenJewelry is dent waits for a “political revolution” to personal. ignite his own likely presidential campaign, Find your many liberals are patiently waiting for Warren. That makes her a bigger threat to heart’s the viability of a Sanders bid than presumed desire at front-runner HILLARY CLINTON. Alchemy. “For me, she’s just the right woman for the time,” says KATE ALBRIGHT-HANNA, who served as Obama’s video director during his 2008 campaign. Albright-Hanna is now deputy campaign manager of Ready for Warren, a super PAC founded last July to beat the drum for a Warren candidacy. The movement gained momentum last week when MoveOn.org pledged to invest $1 million in a separate, Run, Warren, Run campaign, intended to gather signatures and hire organizers in early presidential primary and caucus states. MoveOn will launch its effort on Wednesday in Iowa, just as Sanders wraps up his fourth trip this year to the Hawkeye State. “I love Bernie Sanders. I think he’s amazing,” Albright-Hanna says. “But we’re ready for a woman president.” Sroka says Democracy for America found much the same when it polled its leftleaning members after last month’s midterm elections. Forty-two percent backed Warren, 24 percent supported Sanders and 23 percent preferred Clinton. Corner of Pine & Howard StreetS “I think a lot of people really want to www.alchemyjewelryarts.com break that big, bad glass ceiling, and I think 12 FAIR GAME
OPEN SEASON ON VERMONT POLITICS BY PAUL HEINTZ
SANDERS
that’s why there’s this hunger for Warren,” he says. (Though DFA was founded by former governor HOWARD DEAN, the 2004 presidential candidate reiterated his support for Clinton last week in Politico Magazine, calling the former secretary of state “by far the most qualified” contender.) To be sure, liberals aren’t just excited about Warren because of her gender. The Oklahoma native spent 20 years writing about bankruptcy and personal finance at Harvard Law School and was a major force behind the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2010.
IS ELIZABETH WARREN A BIGGER THREAT TO BERNIE SANDERS THAN HILLARY CLINTON? And, let’s face it: It’s far more realistic to imagine her upsetting Clinton than a 73-yearold, grumpy white guy from Vermont who calls himself a Democratic Socialist. Even TAD DEVINE, a prominent political consultant who plans to support Sanders if he runs, concedes that Warren could crowd out the Vermonter. “I think if Elizabeth Warren gets into the race, she’s going to take up a lot of space on that side of the Democratic Party that’s looking for progressive leadership. Absolutely. No doubt about it. I’ve seen a lot of people very enthusiastic about her running, and I can understand why,” Devine says. “But I’ve seen no indication from her that she’s going to be a candidate for president.”
Devine Intervention
If Sanders does end up running, Devine will likely play a major role in the campaign — and that’s kind of a big deal. Since he tracked delegates for JIMMY CARTER’s 1980 reelection bid, the veteran strategist and ad man has worked for dozens of presidential, senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns. He served as a senior adviser to AL GORE’s and JOHN KERRY’s presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004. “Should he decide to do this, I told him I would support him and help him however he wanted me to,” Devine says. “He has the capacity to run a serious campaign for president.” That would entail, he says, raising “in the neighborhood of $50 million to put together the media you need in the early states and to put together the operations.” Given that more than 137,000 people have already contributed to Sanders’ senate
POLITICS campaigns — and hundreds of thousands more subscribe to his email lists and social media accounts — Devine thinks “Bernie is in a very strong position” to do just that. But he’ll have to get started soon. “My personal view is this race is going to get engaged really early next year,” Devine says. “This isn’t something you can put off. This isn’t like 1991, when people were announcing for president in October or November the year before.” Sanders certainly hasn’t been a stranger to early nominating states. In addition to his four trips to Iowa, he has traveled seven times this year to New Hampshire and one time each to South Carolina and Nevada. In his trip to the Hawkeye State this week, he held a town hall meeting in Ames and keynoted a Progress Iowa holiday party outside Des Moines. “I see the early landscape of a nominating process … as very favorable to a candidacy like his,” Devine says, noting that the Iowa caucuses “tend to be dominated by very progressive elements.” In New Hampshire, Devine says, “I think a lot of people who’ve supported him for many years in Vermont will have the opportunity to get in their cars and travel to a neighboring state to support him.” Devine says his decision to back Sanders isn’t “anything anti-Hillary at all,” but one he made out of loyalty and friendship to a longtime client. He was the first out-of-state consultant to work for Sanders during the then-congressman’s 1996 reelection race — and helped Sanders again in his 2006 run for the Senate. He says he has “spoken with him a few times and met with him two or three times” about a possible presidential campaign. Devine says the closest historical precedent for a Sanders run would be EUGENE MCCARTHY’s 1968 campaign, which he believes the Minnesota senator might have won in the internet age. “Should he decide to run, one of the tremendous impacts it could have on American politics is reenergizing young people,” Devine predicts.
Duck, Duck, Goose
With nary a trace of drama, Democratic legislators reelected Senate President Pro Tem JOHN CAMPBELL (D-Windsor) and House Speaker SHAP SMITH (D-Morristown) to the Statehouse’s top jobs Saturday during caucus meetings in Montpelier. The only changing of the guard came when House Democrats unanimously elected Rep. SARAH COPELAND HANZAS (D-Bradford) to succeed Rep. WILLEM JEWETT (D-Ripton) as majority leader. Rep. KESHA RAM (D-Burlington) dropped her challenge
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is who will succeed Rep. mike FiSher (D-Lincoln). The former chairman of the House Health Care Committee lost his race for reelection last month. Rep. chriS PeArSon (P-Burlington) says he would “welcome the challenge,” but says he’s “realistic” about the chances of a Progressive being entrusted to shepherd Gov. Peter Shumlin’s health care reforms through the House. According to two knowledgeable sources who refused to be named, the post will actually go to Rep. Bill liPPert (D-Hinesburg). Though Lippert hasn’t previously served on the committee, he has spent 20 years in the legislature and a decade chairing the House Judiciary Committee. Replacing him on that panel will be its vice chairwoman, Rep. mAxine GrAD (D-Moretown). Neither Lippert nor Grad returned calls seeking comment. Smith, who has said his top priority in the coming legislative session will be to reform the state’s education finance structure, appears likely to make sweeping changes to the House Education Committee. An ad hoc panel he appointed over the summer to study the issue recommended last Friday that the House Ways and Means Committee surrender its jurisdiction over education finance to the ed committee. If Smith accepts that recommendation, he’s widely expected to replace the latter committee’s chairwoman, Rep. Joey DonovAn (D-Burlington), with Rep. DAviD ShArPe (D-Bristol), a Ways and Means member and expert on education finance. “The last two sessions, I asked to be chair of the education committee,” Sharpe says. “I’m hopeful the speaker will do that, but he hasn’t made up his mind yet.” Donovan did not return a call seeking comment.
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Media Notes
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FAIR GAME 13
Eight months after Vermont PBS’ board of directors ousted longtime president and CEO John kinG, it has hired holly GroSchner to lead the station formerly known as Vermont Public Television. The Corinth resident currently serves as general counsel for the Vermont Telecommunications Authority. Interim president and CEO chArlie Smith, who will stay on until Groschner takes the reins in February, says she will be “a great leader” for the station. He says its recent troubles, which included a Corporation for Public Broadcasting investigation and fine, are “100 percent in the past.” In other media news, business and data reporter hilAry nileS left VTDigger. org on Friday after 18 months at the online nonprofit. She’s planning to work as a data consultant and freelance reporter. “It was actually a really hard decision to leave Digger,” she says. “My curiosity and my instincts were pulling me in a direction where I thought I could pursue more if I had more independence.” m
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to Copeland Hanzas last week and was appointed to the new position of caucus elections chair. Now all eyes turn to the naming of committee chairs. In the Senate, such assignments are doled out by the three-member Committee on Committees, which includes Campbell, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and the socalled “third member.” During Saturday’s caucus meeting at the Capitol Plaza, Sen. tim AShe (D/PChittenden) nominated Sen. Dick mAzzA (D-Grand Isle) to serve in that role for the umpteenth time. “I think last time around, I don’t think there’s a single person who didn’t feel like they received a great committee assignment, so I think we’ve done well,” said Ashe, who received a plum post as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. “I might argue with that one,” whispered Sen. Ginny lyonS (D-Chittenden). The committee ousted Lyons two years ago after she spent a decade chairing the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee. With Lyons’ replacement, Sen. BoB hArtwell (D-Bennington), set to retire, that chairmanship is once again open. And according to several senators, nearly a quarter of the body is gunning for it. Lyons says she would be “very happy” to return to her old job, arguing that she has proven herself “in terms of leadership and in terms of understanding the issues.” She’s not the only former chair who’s interested. Sen. Dick mccormAck (D-Windsor), who led Natural Resources from 2001 through 2002, says returning to the committee “is something I very much want to do.” To do that, though, he’d have to give up his chairmanship of the Senate Education Committee, which few seem interested in leading. Other contenders include, on the right, Sen. John roDGerS (D-Essex-Orleans) and Sen. DiAne SnellinG (R-Chittenden); and on the left, Sen. DAviD zuckermAn (P/DChittenden). Zuckerman might have a tough time getting the job, given his outspoken advocacy for Progressive/Democrat DeAn corren against Scott in the recent lieutenant governor’s race. Both Campbell and Mazza championed Scott. “My environmental record is probably stronger than what they would like to see as chair,” Zuckerman says, “and they would be concerned I’d push too far on certain things.” A likely consensus candidate could be Sen. chriS BrAy (D-Addison), who says “it would be an honor” to helm the committee. In the House, many more committees appear likely to see new leadership, though Smith, who has sole discretion to name chairs, declined to comment. Rep. mitzi JohnSon (D-South Hero) is universally expected to succeed retiring Rep. mArthA heAth (D-Westford) as chairwoman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. More of a mystery in recent weeks
The whole team at Leunig’s Bistro thanks you for your presence in 2014 and wishes you the best of the season!
localmatters
Counting Complaints: FairPoint Customers Suffer Through Strike, Outages, ‘Troubles’ B y Kat h ryn Flag g
SEVENDAYSvt.com 12.17.14-12.24.14 SEVEN DAYS 14 LOCAL MATTERS
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nough is enough.” That was Gov. Peter Shumlin’s message in a December 12 letter to FairPoint Communications CEO Paul Sunu. The governor urged the telecommunications company — which provides telephone and internet service for roughly 200,000 customers in Vermont — to resolve its dispute with striking workers. State officials and FairPoint customers are exasperated with the telecom, for good reason: Since the strike began October 17, residents have lodged almost 600 complaints against the company with the Vermont Public Service Department, the agency that regulates the telecommunications industry. Complaints over the same period last year totaled 93. Some customers have reported waits of three or four weeks to get downed phone service reinstated. In some cases, customers are waiting even longer for new telephone service to be installed, according to the PSD. Just registering complaints with FairPoint has also been problematic, according to PSD records: Shortly after the strike began, some customers were spending half the day on hold waiting for customer service representatives to answer their questions. Call times have gotten significantly shorter in recent weeks. Meanwhile, outages have compromised public safety. On November 28, two fiber cables broke in New Hampshire and, as a result, many Vermonters couldn’t call 911 for five hours; roughly 100 calls did not get through to the emergency line. Last week phone services cut out for several hours at the Colchester Police Department. Customers are frustrated — and, in many cases, without alternatives. In Vermont, FairPoint is considered the provider of last resort, meaning it provides phone service in parts of the state where no competition exists. The PSD estimates that for between 15,000 and 20,000 Vermonters, FairPoint is the only choice for landline telephone service. Patrick Cogan of Milton is one of the so-called “captive” customers. His internet and phone service cut out unexpectedly in late October. When he called FairPoint initially, a customer service rep told him that someone with a New Hampshire area code had canceled his service. A few days later, it clicked
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“
back on — only to fail again almost immediately. Over the next four weeks, he said, he spent an estimated 15 to 20 hours on the phone with FairPoint representatives, calling from the organic farm where he works in Jericho or from his neighbor’s house, which is a 10-minute walk from his own home. That same neighbor received robocalls from FairPoint on Cogan’s behalf — sometimes alerting Cogan that the company was canceling a service call that he hadn’t known was scheduled in the first place. At his most desperate, Cogan drove over to the FairPoint customer service building on Hinesburg Road in South Burlington. He’d seen the news about the strike, including images of picketing workers. He found an empty parking
lot and a seemingly deserted building. “There’s nobody locally I could talk to,” Cogan said. “We do have a backlog [of service calls],” acknowledged FairPoint spokeswoman Angelynne Beaudry. She said that since “our workforce walked off the job,” FairPoint has put in place a contingency plan composed of management and nonunion workers now on the job. Beaudry also said that several outages have been weather related, though she wouldn’t speak in detail about general causes for phone or internet problems. PSD officials said the company has told them that outages are taking longer to fix because replacement staff face a learning curve as they adjust to the area and learn FairPoint’s systems.
FairPoint, which is based in North Carolina, started bringing in temporary workers from other states in October to replace those on strike. Union leaders, who coordinate mobile picketing at work sites around the region, have noted license plates from as far south as Florida and Georgia. “You can’t bring people in here that don’t know the area, don’t know our plant, and expect them to do anything,” said Mike Spillane, business manager at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2326. Also on strike are members of the Communications Workers of America, a union that represents customer service employees at FairPoint. “What you’re experiencing out there right now is an unprofessional workforce that is a hodgepodge Band-Aid by FairPoint,” said Spillane. FairPoint won’t say how many workers they’ve brought in to replace the roughly 1,700 employees striking in northern New England, 370 of whom are from Vermont. Even the PSD doesn’t know the exact numbers of replacement workers. “What they’ve said is that they believe their staffing is sufficient to handle the needs of the company,” said Autumn Barnett, consumer affairs director at PSD. But, Barnett said, “It certainly has not been sufficient so far, as the numbers show.” A downed landline is especially scary for some customers; people who don’t have cell reception at home or who have serious medical conditions are particularly vulnerable. Barnett said FairPoint does prioritize outages affecting such people but that it’s impossible to know when someone might need a landline for a future emergency. It worried Jacqueline Larsen, a senior widow living alone on Lake Eden. Her cellphone doesn’t work at home, and the Lifeline button she has for emergencies relies on a working landline. “I realize FairPoint is on strike,” Larsen wrote in an email to Seven Days last week when her phone service cut out for a day, “but I need phone service reinstated ASAP.” PSD’s Barnett recently heard from a woman with a young child at home who has been without service for weeks. “I totally feel for her,” said Barnett. Meanwhile, in Milton, Cogan’s situation went from to inconvenient to Kafkaesque. When Cogan’s brother tried to call him, a woman picked up, and told him that she’d been receiving phone
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LOCAL MATTERS 15
calls intended for Cogan for a while, learns what actions are futile and quits including important messages from his trying.” doctor’s office. Hoffman’s experience speaks to what “It was three weeks into it when I regulators at the PSD have long known: found out that somehow, Service issues at FairPoint at some point, my phone predate the current strike. had been reconnected to In particular, FairPoint someone else’s line” — to consistently fails to meet that of a neighbor who one metric the department lives about a mile and a half tracks: “troubles cleared away, said Cogan. “I didn’t know her — within 24 hours.” but I do now,” he said with a chuckle. “That one, they’re kind of off the He described the outage as a huge charts,” said Jim Porter, the director hassle, and said that he felt “totally cut of the telecommunications division at off from the world.” As an PSD. In fact, the PSD agricultural worker, he approached the Vermont wanted to find seasonal Public Service Board jobs for the winter but with concerns about didn’t have a way for the issue last December, potential employers to Porter said. FairPoint’s contact him. He’d also own reports to the just waded into the world PSB showed that the of online dating. “Let me company only managed tell you,” he said. “Lousy to fix outages within timing.” 24 hours on average 48 Cogan finally broke percent of the time in the down and purchased a year leading up to July prepaid cellphone. 2014. Four and a half weeks Earlier this month, after the ordeal began, the PSD petitioned a FairPoint service the PSB to open a technician from Atlanta, formal investigation Ga., showed up; two days into FairPoint. The later, Cogan’s service investigation will take and original phone months, Porter said. number were back up Despite the slew of and running. He suspects outages, FairPoint is on that if he and his brother track to take over the MikE SpiL L AnE, hadn’t figured out the state’s 911 services next ibEw L OCAL 2326 mix-up, he could still be August. The contract without service today. is already signed, and “FairPoint really needs FairPoint has started to pull their game up,” said Cogan, “or working on the nine-month transition. they’re not going to have much more David Tucker, who directs the Vermont game to play up here.” Enhanced 911 Board, said the company’s Cogan’s considering dropping his bid was the most affordable and complete FairPoint service; a few neighbors of three submitted. already have, opting instead to rely “We’re certainly cognizant of those solely on their cellphones. But he is, by concerns at the residential level,” his own admission, not a techie guy; he’d said Tucker, but he said FairPoint has prefer to have a landline. recently taken over 911 services in Maine. In Middlesex, Patricia Hoffman Vermont officials spoke with their isn’t bothering to report her outage counterparts there, and some traveled to FairPoint. In 2010 and early 2011, to Maine to see FairPoint’s 911 system Hoffman spent many hours on the in action. “We think that the solution is phone with the company over a six- a good solution,” said Tucker. As for the week span, trying to get her phone November 911 outage — where both the service set up. primary cable routing those calls and Though her phone hasn’t been the secondary backup failed — Tucker working for about two weeks, Hoffman insisted it was “very, very unusual.” m said by email that she hasn’t called the company “because even a white rat Contact: kathryn@sevendaysvt.com
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A Plan for the People? Burlington Progs Put Mall Man Through the Paces B y A l ic ia F reese
SEVENDAYSvt.com 12.17.14-12.24.14 SEVEN DAYS 16 LOCAL MATTERS
matthew thorsen
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ast month, the new owner of the Burlington Town Center unveiled a $200 million plan to redevelop his property. What’s more, Don Sinex promised to work hand in hand with the city to bring its muchmaligned downtown mall up to date. “I’m here to listen,” he told the city council repeatedly during its December 1 meeting. If the project moves forward, it could be the biggest single private investment in Burlington history. “How could you not get excited when someone is willing to invest that money?” asked Kelly Devine, executive director of the Burlington Business Association — a view shared by numerous city leaders. But others — particularly Progressive city councilors — are urging caution in their emerging role as watchdogs of the Weinberger administration. “We shouldn’t do this just because he wants to invest $200 million,” said Progressive councilor Jane Knodell. Along with fellow Progressive councilors Selene Colburn and Max Tracy, Knodell recently sent 19 questions to Mayor Miro Weinberger asking about the city’s role in the project and requesting more details about Sinex himself. The subtext: Who is this guy? And how do we know he’ll actually listen? After college, Sinex served as an officer in the U.S. Army’s Ordnance Corps, charged with overseeing weapons systems; he said he got out early because the Vietnam War was winding down. He returned to school, earning law and business degrees before joining the large Chicago-based real estate investment company JMB Realty. He later started a New York office for JMB and worked there until he founded Devonwood Investments, in 1997. The small New York firm is staffed by a coterie of investors he’s known for many years, including his son. Devonwood doesn’t specialize in any particular type of development; it invests in everything from high-rise office buildings to multifamily housing projects. Asked by Progressive councilors for examples of his previous work, Sinex provided a list of eight projects, some of which date back to his time at JMB. Five were in New York City, including a $450 million office building on Park Avenue. His portfolio also includes a 650,000-square-foot shopping mall in Delaware and Copley Place — a mixed-use project in Boston that involved a public-private partnership. A 1971 graduate of the University of Delaware and divorced father of two, Sinex won’t divulge his age. “I will tell you that my hair is graying, but it’s not quite as gray as my age would suggest,” he said. Even with snow on the ground, he dresses more New York City than Rutland — his sweptback, mostly-black hair matches his wool coat, scarf and well-shined shoes. Sinex was looking for a place away from New York — maybe New Hampshire — when he saw an online listing for a house, surrounded by mountains, in the Rutland area. He bought it in 1997 and says he spends about 70 percent of his time there. “The only reason I’m interested in doing this is because I live in Vermont,” he said of the mall project during an interview last week. Another motivator to get it right, he assured councilors: “This is going to have my name on it for a very long time to come.” If not for his personal tie to the state, Sinex said, “I think the uncertainty that carries with a large project in Vermont
Don Sinex
would be such that I wouldn’t be interested in attempting to do it.” He experienced that uncertainty — albeit on a small scale — when trying to convert the horse barn on his Rutland property into livable space, by adding a fireplace, office, pool table, bar, surround-sound theater and swimming pool. Sinex inquired at the Rutland town office, where an official told him he didn’t need to submit any forms. Rutland City’s wastewater division had a different reaction, and a debate ensued that went on until Sinex contacted people at the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. With the agency’s assistance, Sinex recounted, “We were able to work through all these issues that seemed to be misunderstood by the local office.” Sinex, who has diabetes, was making regular visits to the University of Vermont Medical Center for experimental eye treatments when a colleague told him about the mall and mentioned that it was on the market. In the 15 months he’d been making the trip north to the hospital, he had never ventured into downtown Burlington. Sinex went to see the shopping area on a mid-April morning in 2013. Burlington Town Center was closed, but Church Street was bustling, convincing Sinex that the place had potential. At the end of the year, he and a partner — Bob Lieb of the New Jersey-based Mountain Development Corporation — bought it from General Growth Properties for $25 million — $10 million less than the asking price. He and Lieb have since parted ways. According to Sinex, Lieb wanted to preserve the mall but improve its management, while Sinex wanted to transform it into something very different. “He and I disagreed on that, so I bought him out,” Sinex explained matter-of-factly.
So far, Burlington officials have been amenable. When Sinex shared his sweeping conceptual plan — which includes a rooftop park, a convention center and hotel, 250plus apartments, offices, stores, restaurants, and possibly a cinema — Democratic councilor Karen Paul said, “It just took my breath away.” Sinex proclaimed his vision “perfectly aligned” with that of the city. The mayor, too, said, “I sense a meeting of the minds in terms of what Burlingtonians want and what the current ownership of this property envision.” Both men are referring to the city of Burlington’s planBTV, a master-planning document developed with public input and unanimously approved by the city council, which calls for mixed-used development. Being in sync with the city’s goals is important because under the proposal, Burlington would pitch in an undetermined amount of financing to pay for public infrastructure such as the park, pedestrian walkways reconnecting St. Paul and Pine streets, and a stormwater system. The city would use tax increment financing to fund its portion — meaning it would borrow in anticipation of property tax revenue. Burlington officials aren’t big fans of the current shopping center. Various leaders have recently referred to it as a grand obstruction, a chronic underperformer and a poster child for underdevelopment. The problem, according to both Sinex and local leaders: It’s a onestory-high building focused solely on shopping that occupies two prime downtown blocks and obstructs several major streets.
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Burlington Town Center is a product “six to seven to eight to nine months worth of the now-discredited urban renewal of public vetting and public inquiry and movement that razed neighborhoods in the public openness and public this and public mind name of revitalization. In 1958, voters ap- that,” Sinex said, “I recognize we may be proved the demolition of several city blocks, nowhere.” though it would take nearly two more There was laughter in the crowd during decades to build the thing. Before it was a the press conference announcing the projbody shopping mall, the site hosted Burlington’s ect, when council president Joan Shannon “Little Italy,” a hotel, a furrier, boarding said, “I don’t think there will be many house and the Grand Union Tea Company people chaining themselves to the mall headquarters. building and claiming its historic virtues, The mayor acknowledged, “It would be but you never know.” birth tragically ironic if, in our attempt to address Why bend over backward for public some of the errors of the past, we made buy-in? One possible reason: City officials VISIT OUR NEW major new mistakes,” in a memo respond- have suggested that the project will require ing to questions posed by the Progressive exceptions to zoning rules, which, Wright councilors. predicted, “will be interesting debates to Similarly, when Republican councilor say the least.” Kurt Wright asked about the project’s As for financing, Sinex isn’t too con1 MILL ST, SUITE 236 AT THE CHACE MILL www.essexoutlets.com facebook.com/pages/Essex-Outlets PRENATALMETHOD.COM | 802. 829.0211 potential risks, Peter Owens, cerned about lining it up. 21 Essex Way, Essex Junction, VT | 802.878.2851 director of the Community “Some of my partners are and Economic Development extremely well-heeled, if you 12/8/14 12v-essexshoppes121714.indd 10:29 AM 1 12/13/14 1:40 PM Office, responded, “That’s the will,” Sinex said. According to12v-PrenatalMethod121014.indd 1 key question. It’s not how great a document provided to the can this be. It’s what can go city council, one investor is wrong.” already interested in providing Experienced team. Quality work. Competitive pricing. At Weinberger’s request, $100 million. “I think raising Sinex has agreed to particithe money will be the easier of pate in a “public development the two tasks,” Sinex said — the process” before he completes other being securing approval. state and city zoning re“Obviously when the quirements. A committee of rubber hits the road, there two city councilors and two will be some tough negotiaDOn SinEx planning commission memtions about how far he’s willbers will advise the mayor’s ing to go in order to provide administration. The committee will hire the public benefits that at least I will be consultants to assist them — for which expecting from this project,” Knodell said. ConstruCtion serviCes: remodeling • excavation • additions • rot repair • decks & fences • Sinex has agreed to foot the $150,000 Sinex and city officials anticipate longfinish carpentry • kitchens & baths • design/build • insurance work • basements • egress bill — and they’ll hold at least four meet- term economic benefits, including up to windows • siding • fix to sell • tile • drywall • roofing • slabs • demolition • handyman • ings at which residents can weigh in. 1,600 new jobs. But Knodell, an economics window & door installation • foundation repair • concrete Afterward, they’ll negotiate a develop- professor at the University of Vermont, Painting serviCes: EPA lead certified • interior/exterior • ment agreement with Sinex that outlines predicted that most of them will be “very c o n s t r u c t i o n , i n c. power washing • wall repair • textured ceiling removal both the city’s and Sinex’s respective low-wage” and said she’s looking for asB U I L D • PA I N T • R E M O D E L responsibilities. surance that “people working in those jobs www.polliconstruction.com The city council, which will eventually have the opportunity to live there.” vote yea or nay on the project, signed off on Steve Goodkind, the Progressives’ canWeinberger’s proposed plan last Monday — didate for mayor, said he’s skeptical about 6h-polli061213.indd 1 6/6/13 10:24 AM but not before asking a number of additional “megaprojects” but agreed that the mall questions. The goal is to start the process should be redeveloped. Like Knodell, he immediately and have an agreement signed said he’ll be watching “to see if this is good in May. for all groups of people.” Burlington’s It’s not unusual for the city to enter into zoning rules require that 15 to 25 percent development agreements on large projects. of the units in new developments be What’s new, according to Weinberger, is made “affordable” — that is, housing that making those discussions public. doesn’t cost more than 30 percent what a Weinberger lauds Sinex as an “energiz- household earning 80 percent or less than ing” person, “a great listener” and a person the median income brings in. who “follows through on commitments.” Knodell’s concern is that Sinex creates That’s a reference to Sinex successfully clos- mostly high-end apartments and upscale ing on the mall deal after several prior plans shops because they generate more profit, with developers fell through — and landing and “our downtown becomes an enclave for an L.L.Bean store, which opened on Cherry the affluent.” “What do we do,” she asked Street, adjacent to the mall, last month. Sinex, “when [our goals] aren’t necessarily Sinex points out that his track record in aligned?” Burlington also includes convincing the city “I don’t know the magic formula, but I to do away with two-hour free parking at am committed to the process and notion of the mall’s parking lot — a decision that met affordable housing,” Sinex responded. But, with some resistance. he added, “It has to pencil out.” m But he demurred when asked where he gbymca.org • 862-YMcA expected conflict on his new project. After Contact: alicia@sevendaysvt.com
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localmatters
Vermont Police Wear Cameras to Record — and Avoid — Trouble b y mar k d av i s
12.17.14-12.24.14 SEVEN DAYS 18 LOCAL MATTERS
Law Enforcement
Oliver parini
SEVENDAYSvt.com
I
n early November, a video that quickly went viral showed Burlington police officers using force against a seemingly defenseless man lying in the middle of the street. A witness used a cellphone to record a cop repeatedly striking the man, whose hands appeared to be underneath him. The video received widespread media coverage, and many questioned whether the police used excessive force. Burlington police insisted they had done nothing wrong. To support their argument, they released their own video of the incident. Captured on a body camera worn by a backup officer on the scene, the police video showed a more volatile scene than the witness-shot footage, with at least a dozen bystanders pouring out of a bar close to where officers were trying to handcuff the man. It also showed officers chatting amiably with some witnesses shortly after the arrest. The police videos, along with other details released by the department, helped quell the public outcry. The incident was the first major test of an initiative that will soon become a permanent policy in Queen City policing. By the end of December, every Burlington police officer will wear a video camera and be under orders to film potentially confrontational situations. A handful of Burlington’s police officers have been wearing cameras as part of a twoyear pilot project, the results of which have bolstered the department’s plan to equip the entire department with body cams. Police body cameras have recently received national attention after widespread protests of the police killings of unarmed black citizens in Ferguson, Mo., and New York City. President Barack Obama proposed spending $75 million to help outfit 50,000 officers with body cameras in an effort to rebuild trust between the public and the police. “This is not a problem just of Ferguson, Mo.,” Obama said in a statement. “This is a national problem. But it’s a solvable problem.” It is hard to find anyone in Vermont who thinks outfitting police with body cameras is a bad idea. Defense attorneys and police critics say cameras solve the problem of “he said, she said” testimony. Law-enforcement officials say body-mounted cameras can support the actions of police — and avoid excessive-force arguments. “It provides the best evidence for everybody,” Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan said. “It provides trust and transparency.” However, officials acknowledge that it is unclear whether the public will have access to videos of controversial police encounters.
Historically, Vermont police agencies have been loath to release records that involve allegations of officers violating the law. Along those lines, law-enforcement officials say they haven’t created guidelines for releasing body-camera footage to the public, but are weighing several exemptions they could employ to keep records confidential. For example, Burlington Police Chief Mike Schirling said he could refuse to publicly release videos that identify victims or witnesses related to a criminal case. Asked if the department would release videos in which officers appear to use excessive force, Schirling replied, “I don’t know the answer to that. That is going to be the biggest challenge, the balance between privacy and the public’s right to know.” Attorney General Bill Sorrell is against releasing videos captured by police cruiser cameras; in one case, he opposed an attorney’s request to release a video of then-state auditor Tom Salmon being stopped and investigated for driving under the influence in 2010. Though Salmon’s case had already ended in a plea deal, Sorrell argued that the release of the video, which occurred despite his objection, could threaten the integrity of
criminal prosecutions and set a “dangerous precedent.” Donovan acknowledged that protocols for releasing police recordings to the public have yet to be worked out. “Practices should be developed about that,” Donovan said. “There has to be a stated policy to what extent body cameras are public record or are evidence that you acquire during discovery,” St. Johnsbury defense attorney David Sleigh said. “Every criminal case by definition is current litigation — except when police feel like releasing information when it makes them look good.” Schirling said footage from the November incident in Burlington does not have any “evidentiary value” in the ongoing cases against the men arrested that night. At the prosecutors’ request, his department is withholding additional footage that is considered evidence, he said, even though it reflects favorably on his officers. Schirling said that he would use Vermont’s public records law as a guide for generating video protocols, which includes several exemptions for records that “interfere with enforcement proceedings” and could therefore deprive someone of a fair trial.
Meanwhile, the main benefit of police body cams may have nothing to do with the footage they generate. Studies suggest that cameras increase accountability and make both cops and citizens less likely to act inappropriately. In Rialto, Calif., use of police force fell by 60 percent, and citizen complaints dropped 88 percent, after cops started wearing cameras, according to a study from the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology. Last year Taser International CEO Rick Smith told Vermont lawmakers that improper Taser use dropped 60 percent when officers were wearing cameras. “They’re useful because of the deterrent effect,” said Hinesburg defense attorney Robert Appel, who has sued police in use-of-force cases. “They have the effect of making people behave, because nobody wants to look like an asshole on camera.” Sleigh agreed, referring to the camera as a “prophylactic device,” more likely to preempt bad behavior than to give the public a view into police activities. Schirling concurred. “The process of recording something alters what’s police cameras
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EXCERPTS FROM THE BLOG
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Disclosure: Paul Heintz worked as Peter Welch’s communications director from November 2008 to March 2011.
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An influential state lawmaker plans to introduce a bill restricting local use of the Pentagon’s surplus equipment program, which Vermont police agencies have used to obtain an arsenal of military gear. Janet Ancel (D-Calais), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, told Seven Days she is concerned that police are obtaining the equipment through the federal 1033 Program with little oversight or public debate. Ancel expects the House Government Operations Committee to hold hearings on her bill in the upcoming legislative session. “I want public discussion and legislative focus on the program,” Ancel said. “I have concerns about the use of military hardware, particularly by some of our smaller law-enforcement agencies. It’s a subject we need to discuss. The bill is a vehicle for the discussion.” Currently, police apply directly to the state’s 1033 Program coordinator, an official with the Vermont National Guard. Often citing the war on drugs, agencies ranging from the Vermont State Police to the Middlebury Police Department have obtained 158 assault rifles, 14 military Humvees, one mine-resistant vehicle, and scores of scopes, sights and other equipment, according to a Seven Days review of nearly 4,000 pages of documents. Lawenforcement agencies have requested, but been denied, more than twice as much stuff. Ancel said her bill would establish a state overseer who would approve or deny police requests to the Pentagon and write rules to govern training and use of the equipment for individual departments. Ancel said multiple lawmakers have indicated they would be cosponsors, but the bill, modeled on one in New Jersey, is not yet finalized. Her preliminary draft appoints the attorney general as state overseer. Attorney General Bill Sorrell initially seemed interested but has since expressed concerns, Ancel said. Sorrell told Seven Days that his office may not be best suited for the task. New Jersey is one of five states in which the attorney general is appointed by the governor and therefore has direct oversight of the state police, Sorrell said. Sorrell is independently elected and has no formal supervisory role over the state police or other police agencies. Sorrell suggested that the Law Enforcement Advisory Board is a “better fit to exert authority over the 1033 Program.” “If the legislature wishes it to be the AG, we will do some further research to try better to understand how resource intensive this task might be,’ Sorrell added. You can see how much military equipment your local police agency has obtained through the 1033 Program in an interactive database on sevendaysvt.com.
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CHARL IE ENSC OE
“At a time when the middle class continues to disappear, and the gap between the very rich and everyone else grows wider, this bill comes nowhere close to reflecting the needs and priorities of America’s working families,” he said. In his own statement, Leahy said he too was “very disappointed” in the last-minute inclusion of controversial policy provisions that have no place in a spending bill. “These provisions force us into a choice between shutting down the government or enacting bad policy without the benefit of offering amendments and debating these far-reaching changes to current law,” he said. But Leahy also hailed the inclusion of funding for priorities of his, ranging from support for Lake Champlain to anti-heroin task forces. And as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he said the bill marked a partial return to the traditional appropriations process and away from stopgap spending bills punctuated by government shutdown threats. “No bill is perfect, especially one of this size,” he said. “But this bill moves us away from governing by autopilot, and takes off the table the threat in one, two or three months of yet another government shutdown. Any resolution that punts these difficult appropriations decisions puts at greater risk important funding that will help Vermont.” And, he said, somewhat pointedly, “Any senator opposing this bill because of the riders it includes should remember that a continuing resolution or omnibus spending bill passed next year will contain many more, and some far worse.”
Would-Be Bill to Curb Police Militarization
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
Hundreds of protesters — bundled in winter clothing amid heaps of plowed white snow — gathered outside Burlington City Hall last Friday evening for a “Black Lives Matter” candlelight vigil. The evening event came a day before larger demonstrations were planned across the country — from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., to New York City — to protest police brutality and the recent killings of unarmed black men, including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York City. Vicki Garrison, the event’s organizer, read the names of those who she said have been “lynched by our justice system,” following each with, “We love you.” Those gathered then stood in silence, candles held in gloves and mittens. Protesters held signs aloft that read, “Black Lives Matter,” “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” “White Silence Is Violence” and “I Can’t Breathe.” Speakers trudged up city hall’s steps to use a megaphone to address the crowd, telling of personal struggles with racism in Vermont and elsewhere, and reflecting on issues of race, education and the legal system in America today. One speaker, an American history teacher living in Vermont for more than 25 years, urged parents to “teach your children the truth of history … Teach your children how to care for people.” Another said that, while the police have been “awesome” to him in Vermont, “there are instances, as a black male living in this country, you fear for your life.” Between speakers, the crowd joined in chants: “Get up, get down, do this for Michael Brown!” “Hey hey, ho ho, white privilege has got to go!” “One, two, three. Stop police brutality!” Lots of laughs followed one speaker’s assessment of the crowd: “I don’t see black or white; y’all look peach to me!” A Facebook event listing for the demonstration read, “This is a peaceful demonstration, and we will not engage with hecklers,” but none were to be found. Enthusiastic cheers followed each speaker. After almost an hour and a half in the cold, Garrison thanked the crowd for braving the weather, and invited everyone to attend a “die-in” at Saint Michael’s College on Sunday. “Be the new norm! Thank you for coming!”
MATTHEW THORSEN
MATTHEW THORSEN
‘Black Lives Matter’ Vigil Held in Burlington
In a rare split within Vermont’s congressional delegation, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) voted last Saturday night in favor of a $1.1 trillion spending bill that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called “totally crazy.” The Senate passed the measure, which funds much of the government through next September, by a vote of 56 to 40. Sanders joined 21 Democrats and 18 Republicans in opposing it. Vermont’s third delegate, Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.), also voted against the bill, when it passed the House Thursday night. Like many liberals, Sanders and Welch took issue with two policy riders attached to the spending bill that would roll back regulations governing Wall Street banks and dramatically increase the amount of money donors can give to political parties. In a statement released ahead of Saturday’s vote, Sanders also faulted the legislation for failing to invest in infrastructure improvements and environmental programs.
FILE: MATT MORRIS
Leahy Splits With Sanders, Welch on ‘Cromnibus’
localmatters Police Cameras « p.18
not to begin to describe the nature of today’s environment.” Case in point: In 2013, Winooski police began wearing body cameras after a confrontation was recorded by a passerby — but not the cops. During the incident, a Winooski officer shot a mentally ill man in the leg and subsequently faced a criminal charge. A passerby captured the incident
They have The effecT of making people behave, because nobody wants to look like an asshole on camera. R O bE RT AppE L , d E f E n S E AT T ORn E y
to the footage, which is routinely released to defense attorneys during court proceedings. Schirling said the department does not alter its police-cam footage. Of the roughly 35,000 incidents Burlington police have responded to this year, 70 involved officers using force, according to Schirling. He said those officers equipped with companion cameras welcomed them. Of those without, “We had them saying, ‘We want them now,’” he said. “They don’t want to face criticism for things they shouldn’t be criticized for … Hyper-scrutinized does
on a cellphone camera but failed to record any events leading up to the shooting. At the time, former Winooski police chief Steve McQueen told WCAX he regretted that the shooting wasn’t filmed by an officer, saying that body-cam footage could lend context to police encounters with the mentally ill. Elsewhere in Vermont, Hartford police outfitted patrol officers with cameras four years ago, after officers were accused of racial bias for beating a naked, semiconscious black man inside his own home. The officers were responding to a mistaken
burglary report called in by the victim’s housekeeper, who did not recognize the man. Deputy Hartford Police Chief Brad Vail said using the cameras has been a “positive experience,” for officers. Vail said he has reviewed footage in roughly 20 citizen complaints against officers. In most cases the video exonerated the officer of wrongdoing, while in roughly five cases the video showed that the officer “could have handled it better, or violated procedures.” In response, Vail said, he has disciplined officers, though none have been fired or charged with a crime. The department just signed a five-year contract for cameras, storage and software for $45,000, Vail said. The ACLU’s Gilbert said he is optimistic that body cameras will “increase police accountability” and improve relations between law enforcement and the public. Not a moment too soon. Last Friday, hundreds of people gathered on Burlington’s Church Street to protest the recent police shootings in Ferguson and New York City. “A true record is a true record,” Gilbert said. “You can’t hide behind your version of events.” m Contact: mark@sevendaysvt.com, 865-1020, ext. 23, or @Davis7D
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happening, which is exactly what we want to happen,” he said. The wallet-size cameras are worn on officers’ chests and are activated under specific circumstances: during arrests, traffic stops and mental health calls; when responding to a reported crime; and for calls “reasonably foreseeable” to lead to confrontations. Schirling said that the cameras don’t run constantly because the batteries don’t last long, and storing video from all 65 officers’ 10-hour shifts would be too pricey to maintain. At present, Burlington police have paid $30,000 for 60 cameras and one year of video storage and maintenance. Some critics don’t like the idea that officers get to decide when and what to shoot. “We think the use of body cameras is a good idea, as long as they can’t be turned off whenever an officer wants to,” said Allen Gilbert, executive director of the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. “There are examples of stuff that you want to see on a video camera. All of a sudden it’s not there.” Schirling said that he hopes future cameras will record ceaselessly and storage space will be more affordable. “If the technology allows for that, that’s exactly what we want to do,” Schirling said.
“The technology will evolve. In 10 years, you will hear officers say, ‘I can’t go on the road; my camera is broken.’” In Burlington, police footage deemed unimportant is deleted after 90 days. Videos of any arrest, or any incident that could lead to criminal charges or additional investigation, are kept indefinitely, Schirling said. Officers and supervisors have access
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lifelines OBITUARIES
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS
OBITUARIES, VOWS, CELEBRATIONS
Casden, of Woodmere, N.Y. Neither Catherine nor Suzanne ever used the “step-” prefix. She is also survived by her granddaughter, Alexandra Kelley-St. Clair, of Northfield, Vt.; her grandson, Liam Kelley-St. Clair, of New York City; her stepgrandsons Jared Borriello and his wife, Rena, and Bradley Borriello and his fiance, Rachel, all of New York City, and Sidney Corren, of Burlington, Vt. Other survivors include Kevin’s wife, Karen Amirault, of Burlington, Vt.; and Suzanne’s husband, Raffaele Borriello, MD, of Woodmere, N.Y. Catherine’s stepdaughter Terri Diane Casden-Thompson, predeceased her, as did her brother, Joseph Harrington. Graveside services took place at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, N.Y., on Friday, December 12. Catherine Casden was a beautiful woman of exceptional warmth and compassion. She is deeply mourned and will always be remembered by all who knew her.
Catherine H. Casden
Pursuant to the requirements of 17 V.S.A. Sec. 2645, public hearings concerning proposed amendments to the Burlington City Charter will be held on Friday, January 16, 2015 at 12:00 noon and Monday, January 26, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. in Contois Auditorium, City Hall, Burlington, Vermont. The Burlington City Council has voted to place the following four proposals to amend Sections of the Burlington City Charter on the ballot of the Annual City Meeting to be held March 3, 2015. Pursuant to 17 V.S.A. Sec. 2645(a)(6), the City Council has further determined that the proposed charter amendments are too long or unwieldy to set out in amended form and has determined that the printed ballot shall utilize the following short form questions. An official copy of the full proposed charter amendments is on file for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk, and copies shall be made available to members of the public upon request. The first proposal is as follows: “Shall the City of Burlington Charter, Acts of 1949, No. 298, as amended, be further amended to delete the requirement that certain appointed members of City boards and department heads be required to be legal voters of the city of Burlington and instead require that they be Burlington residents, by amending sections 48, 120, 130, 183, 196, 203, 218, 226, 276, 277, and 322, to reflect the change from ‘legal voter’ to ‘resident’ of Burlington?”
1927-2014, WOODMERE, N.Y.
The second proposal is as follows:
Catherine H. Casden died peacefully on December 9, 2014, in the loving care of her son and daughter. She was in a hospice setting in the home of her daughter, Suzanne Casden, in Woodmere, N.Y. Catherine touched many lives with her generous spirit and loving heart. It is no exaggeration to say that to know Catherine well was to love her. In addition to her family, she had numerous friends in New York, as well as in Florida, where she and her husband, Sidney Casden, had lived for the past 41 years. Born in Hackensack, N.J., on January 7, 1927, Catherine grew up in Richmond Hill, Queens, N.Y., the daughter of Joseph and Mae Harrington. She attended public schools and began working in the garment industry in Manhattan, N.Y., as a young woman. Catherine became a buyer of junior dresses at Best & Co. on Fifth Avenue in the 1950s and later held a similar position with Associated Dry Goods, working at Lord & Taylor, the company’s flagship department store on Fifth Avenue. It is a testament to Catherine’s intelligence and dedication that she was able to make a successful career in a highly competitive industry at a time when many women faced insurmountable barriers to professional advancement. Her first husband, Jeremiah Kelley, died in 1969. In 1970, Catherine married Sidney Casden, the owner of the RCS manufacturing firm in Manhattan’s garment district. Sidney Casden died on January 12 of this year at age 92. The couple lived in Woodmere prior to enjoying a long and happy retirement in Ormond Beach, Fla. Catherine worked there for various charitable organizations and liberal political causes and candidates. Catherine is survived by her son, Kevin J. Kelley, of Burlington, Vt., and Atlantic Beach, N.Y., and by her stepdaughter, Suzanne
“Shall the City of Burlington Charter, Acts of 1949, No. 298, as amended, be further amended to change the term lengths of appointed City board members to a uniform three years, by deleting section 121 and amending sections 126 and 276, which would change the terms of airport commissioners and planning commissioners to four years and clarify the terms of library commissioners as three years, except that any commissioner in office at the time of enactment of this amendment shall remain in office until the conclusion of the term to which that commissioner was appointed?” The third proposal is as follows:
1949-2014, BURLINGTON
The fourth proposal is as follows:
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An official copy of the proposed charter amendments is on file for public inspection in the Office of the City Clerk, and copies will also be made available to members of the public upon request.
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“Shall the City of Burlington Charter, Acts of 1949, No. 298, as amended, be further amended to amend subsections (a) and (b) of Section 65 of Article 25 Appropriations, to provide that the City Council may by resolution create reserve funds to pay for capital or operating expenses of City departments, which revenues and expenditures will be identified in the City budget (as amended), kept in separate accounts, and expended for any legal purpose for which the fund was established?”
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Diane LeClair LaMotte, 65, of Burlington, Vt., passed away on December 5, 2014, joining her loving husband and soul mate, Erwin, who predeceased her on September 15, 2014. Diane was born on April 7, 1949, in Colchester, Vt., to Arthur Rene LeClair Sr. and Margaret (Hodet) LeClair. Diane enjoyed cross-stitching, knitting and reading. She was a member of AA for 29 years, helping others with her wisdom, patience, kindness and love. She leaves her three daughters, Toni, Tina and Tami; her grandson, Aric LaMotte, who they raised from age 6 months; her sister, Laurie LeClair; and seven other grandchildren and one great-grandson. Diane was predeceased by her parents, her brother Arthur Rene LeClair Jr., and her sister Susan. A memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 20, 2014, at LaVigne Funeral Home and Cremation Service. Visitation will be December 20 from 4 p.m. until the time of service. Condolences may be shared with the family online at lavignefuneralhome.com.
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
Diane LeClair LaMotte
“Shall the City of Burlington Charter, Acts of 1949, No. 298, as amended, be further amended to remove requirements about political affiliation on certain boards, by deleting section 123 and amending section 322, which would remove the requirement of political affiliation for the boards of assessors, tax appeals, public works commissioners, cemetery commissioners, police commissioners, light commissioners, fire commissioners, airport commissioners, park and recreation commissioners, planning commissioners, and Church Street Marketplace commissioners?”
STATEof THEarts
For Future Reference: Librarians Are Digitizing Vermont’s Past B Y E THA N D E SEI FE
That was a queer lot of witnesses that testified, either directly or indirectly, at the Ward trial last week. Clautier’s horse “Baby,” [sic] came first and following after came a sleigh, two pieces of beet, two partly burned candles, an old tin lard pail, a No. 9 overshoe, a pine stick, a fragment of an old newspaper, a bit of The Caledonian, a man’s tracks in the snow, sleigh tracks on a cross road and nobody knows what may yet be brought in by either side.
22 STATE OF THE ARTS
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It seems a curious happenstance, this parade of horse-drawn detritus. Who was Clautier? What was at stake in this Ward trial, the name of which is dropped so casually? And what’s this about beet pieces? Thanks to an initiative called the VERMONT DIGITAL NEWSPAPER PROJECT, any historically minded citizen can now dig
into this and other happenings in the state’s rich (and sometimes weird) history. The project has so far digitized some 260,000 pages of Vermont newspapers, all of which are now easily searchable and browsable online. A few clicks, and the everyday details of the past unfold at high resolution on one’s monitor. Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress, the VDNP is part of a larger, national effort to provide access to the periodicals that give firsthand accounts of the country’s history. The project — which has a staff of eight in its main offices at the University of Vermont — also receives support from the VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY, the VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARIES and Middlebury’s ILSLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY. Since 2005, the National Digital Newspaper Program has digitized millions of pages from 37 states, with more added daily. Issues from 59 state newspapers make up Vermont’s contribution to this valuable database, which is housed on the servers of the Library of Congress. Scanning through old newspapers may not be everyone’s idea of light holiday reading. But even a quick foray into the archive yields historical gold for any curious
Vermonter — and especially for scholars, genealogists and teachers. UVM researchers and librarians have created tutorials and educational aids for these and other likely users of the files. JEFFREY D. MARSHALL, the UVM library’s director of research collections and director of the VDNP, notes that the database offers much of interest for even the casual reader. “If you’re interested in a particular historical era or year, just browsing through the papers can be very entertaining,” he says. According to restrictions imposed by current copyright law, VDNP may digitize only those periodicals published between 1836 and 1922. But even that relatively short time span opens myriad windows onto Vermont history. KARYN NORWOOD, digital support specialist for VDNP, says that “anyone with any sort of interest” will find something worthwhile. A person interested in cooking, for instance, can plumb the files for historical recipes. COURTESY OF VERMONT DIGITAL NEWSPAPER PROJECT
S
omething odd took place one February day in 1886 in what would come to be called the Northeast Kingdom. The St. Johnsbury Caledonian, the newspaper in the area’s biggest town, announced the following on its February 18 cover page, under the headline “A Queer Lot of Witnesses”:
Cronaca Sowersiva, March 20, 1909
To convert the pages into searchable, digital form, archivists start not with the old, brittle newspapers but with the reels of microfilm on which they were archived in the predigital era. The microfilm negatives are sent to a third-party vendor, which returns to UVM a duplicate negative (eventually archived at the LoC) as well as a positive copy. The negatives then go to a vendor in Utah, where every page is digitized into files of four different formats.
Quick Lit: Eric Rickstad’s Dark Thriller
I
n 2000, Viking Penguin put out ERIC RICKSTAD’s debut novel, Reap, which probably ranks as the least Rockwellian coming-of-age tale ever set in Vermont. While the novel’s prose was literary and its landscape descriptions impeccable, its lurid explosions of violence suggested that Rickstad might have a brighter future as a crime writer than as the next HOWARD FRANK MOSHER. Now the Bennington County author has realized that promise with The Silent Girls, a psychological thriller released initially as an ebook by HarperCollins’ Witness Impulse imprint. (A paperback will follow in January.) The novel is technically a mystery: The protagonist, Frank Rath, is an ex-cop and PI helping out an understaffed Northeast Kingdom police department. But Rickstad takes his plot to places where the gritty Vermont whodunits of ARCHER MAYOR and DON BREDES seldom tread. There’s an existential grimness here — and a touch of Stephen King.
Indeed, the novel’s first chapter, set on Halloween in 1985, could easily function as a stand-alone horror story. After that freak-out of a teaser, the narrative jumps to present day. A 16-year-old emancipated minor has gone missing in tiny Canaan, her car abandoned on the road’s shoulder.
Since the police chief’s on vacation, and the lead detective has an awkward family connection to the case, Rath offers to investigate. But the search stirs up old fears about his own family — namely, his niece, Rachel, whom Rath has raised as a daughter. For the past 17 years, he’s hidden from her the ugly truth about how she was orphaned, assuaging a guilty conscience with devotion to her well-being. Now that she’s off to college, though, he worries he can’t protect her. Rath soon begins to suspect that the missing girl is connected to a string of others, one of whom has just been found dead. And the bizarre condition of her corpse suggests that the crime may have had motivations political, religious, fanatical or all three. In its early chapters, The Silent Girls is a familiar kind of book: a meticulous procedural chock-full of local color. Rickstad shows his formidable descriptive talents as Rath questions people connected to the
missing girl, discovering telling details such as “a metal storm door caved in from being slammed against the porch rail, perhaps by the savage mountain winds up here, perhaps by a savage temper.” Then the story gets pleasantly weird. Then positively out there — culminating in a climax that Thomas Harris could have plotted, complete with full-blown gothic motifs. And what follows that is far from sedate aftermath. Rath’s all-encompassing preoccupation with evil and innocence drives The Silent Girls: It reminded me of Tightrope, the 1984 movie where Clint Eastwood plays a cop obsessed with protecting his daughters from the dark perversions he sees everywhere. “What bloody, evil thumbprint might have been pressed into Rachel’s soul?” Rath wonders in one unusually purple passage, contemplating his daughter’s fondness for horror movies. “What demonic sound track recorded in the coils of her brain?”
Got AN ArtS tIP? artnews@sevendaysvt.com
History Back at UVM’s Bailey Howe liBrary, ar- force in establishing Vermont’s branch of chivists like Norwood and librarian erenst the National Digital Newspaper Program, including writing its initial grants. anip do the hard work of processing and uploading the digital files. They also use The project recently received its third optical character-recognition software to and final two-year, $325,000 NEH grant; turn what are essentially digital photos by late summer 2016, all grant-supported into keyword-searchable documents. VDNP efforts will draw to a close. While That software is “far from there are still plenty more perfect,” Marshall says, newspapers to digitize, but it’s a tremendous Marshall says that, by boon to both archivists the time the money runs and researchers. out, the project will have The project’s advisory “pretty well covered the committee, an 11-person major titles.” He acknowlpanel of librarians, jouredges that VDNP does nalists and archivists, not have the resources to uses NEH guidelines to digitize every small-town decide which newspapers paper, but he hopes to JEF F REy D. mARSHAl l , UVm are priorities for digitizacontinue with the artion. Obvious choices chiving project even after include major papers in larger cities — e.g., federal funding stops coming in. the Burlington Free Press and the Rutland Norwood stresses the value of learnHerald — but of equal historical value ing local perspectives on historical issues. are the lesser-known gems. Norwood is “Having not just the syndicated stuff but particularly keen on Cronaca Sovversiva, local and statewide news gives you that an Italian-language anarchist paper peek into the past,” she says. “For local published in Barre by Luigi Galleani, to communities, these newspapers are a phewhom she refers as a “really notable 20th- nomenal resource.” century anarchist leader.” Not only is the After all, someone has to figure out paper’s content unusual, Norwood says, what was up with those St. Johnsbury but its artwork is especially accomplished. beets. m Marshall and Norwood meet with Seven Days in the small office previously INFo occupied by former project director Birdie Access the Vermont Digital Newspaper Maclennan, who died in March. Marshall Project at library.uvm.edu/vtnp or and Norwood describe her as the driving chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
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readable novel whose language is as creatively wrought as its plot twists. Rickstad certainly isn’t the first writer to explore the dark shadows of the Green Mountains. But it’s hard not to share the glee with which he debunks the illusions that tourists harbor as they drive the NEK’s byways: “Here, the air was sweeter. Here, they were alive. Safe.” Little do those leaf peepers know that one of the New York Times’ Top 10 Foliage Drives is “known to locals as Murder Road” and marred by a residue of human blood: “a dark smear like that left by a deer mauled by a logging truck.” That image is Rickstad’s pitchblack vision in a nutshell.
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STATE OF THE ARTS 23
Rickstad gives Rath an intriguingly ambiguous moment when he wonders if the criminal he’s pursuing might have something in common with him: the willingness to kill to preserve a certain vision of innocence. For the most part, though, Rath is the closest the novel has to a moral compass, and it bears out his view of the world as a nest of depravity. “Death lurked everywhere. Death was alive and well,” the narrator muses at one point; a page later, a campus road is “a rapist’s fantasy.” Nowhere is safe for young women in this novel — and their desire for independence sends them straight into the jaws of danger. Another strong perspective might have offered relief from this bleakness. But, while the novel is told in third person, the other characters whose minds we explore tend to echo Rath’s views or recede quickly from the narrative. Whatever one thinks of its pulpier elements, The Silent Girls is a compulsively
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Quick Lit: Archer Mayor’s Latest Mystery
B
24 STATE OF THE ARTS
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Building Blocks They say good things come to those who wait. We’d add that good things are more likely to materialize if you work your tail off. Both tactics have worked, apparently, for the Center for Arts and Learning in Montpelier. That group of nonprofit art and educational organizations has bought itself a building and is now looking to become more of a presence in the larger arts community. Almost two years ago, we reported that a handful of nonprofits housed in the former Central Vermont Catholic School aimed to take over those quarters, owned by the Catholic Diocese, at 46 Barre Street. The River Rock School, the Summit School of Traditional Music and Culture and the Monteverdi Music School were already established in the place. The T.W. Wood Gallery was just moving in, having lost its longtime location at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. This week, CAL president Stephen Falbel reports that the group — minus the Summit School, which opted not to take on the financial commitment — has purchased the building. Finding a way to support the purchase involved considering and then dismissing an
romantic lead to a strong and competent female character.) But Beverly, after examining the remains of her cousin, doesn’t call Joe for a hug; she calls him for help. Ben had been a photographer during the war, Beverly tells Joe, and recently picked up the camera again … to shoot strangely beautiful, enigmatic images of the piles and tunnels inside his home. Surprisingly for a recluse, he allowed Beverly’s daughter, Rachel, a student at the University of Vermont, to make him the subject of a video documentary. When Rachel discovered
Ben’s cache of photos from Vietnam, she persuaded him to include some of them in an exhibit at UVM’s Fleming Museum, alongside his artful photos of trash. Unfortunately for Rachel, as Joe soon discovers, someone else wants the rest of Ben’s wartime photos — desperately enough to kill for them. But who — and, all these decades after Vietnam, why? The escapade that follows sends Joe on a search that extends as far as Philadelphia, where a woman has been found tortured to death. She, of course, is germane to Mayor’s quickly thickening plot. Hers and Ben’s are not the only bodies that will turn up in this tale. And Joe’s job is not only to solve the murders, but to protect Rachel from the same fate. While Mayor is adept with adrenalinerush pacing, he has a more satisfying talent for pausing just long enough to develop a scene, or a character, with evocative description: Owen Baern drove an unmarked four-wheel-drive vehicle to the end of a badly rutted, overgrown dirt road that finally ran out of ambition at a clearing on the edge of Ben Kendall’s property. It was past the foliage season, and what leaves were slated to fall had done so, leaving a
skeletal superstructure of stark and empty hardwoods crowding in from all sides, as well as a dark blanket of rotting vegetation underfoot. To Joe’s eyes, it set the perfect backdrop to the bleak, time-pummeled collection of aging buildings before him, guarded by a thrown-up palisade of twisted and rusting machine parts that made the totality look like some sole survivor’s last stand in a postapocalyptic wasteland.
Mayor’s novels have a literary quality in moments like these — moments that are sometimes like the precious few seconds at the top of a roller coaster. Proof Positive offers the inevitable red herrings, subplots and twists of the genre, but it also enriches its readers simply by dropping us into the lives of Mayor’s central characters, just as the 24 volumes before it did. And while the author has allowed his engaging cast to evolve over time, we can be grateful that neither Mayor nor his players have yet aged out of their roles. Pam e l a P o lsto n
INFO Proof Positive by Archer Mayor, Minotaur Books, 304 pages. $25.99.
Courtesy of the Center for arts and Learning/Rebecca Elgood
enjamin Kendall, a Vietnam vet with PTSD and a severe hoarding disorder, is found dead in his home, crushed by a mountain of papers. But was it an accident? Or made to look like one? Medical examiner Beverly Hillstrom finds the autopsy results inconclusive — and unsettling. And not just because Ben Kendall was her cousin. Archer Mayor wastes no time in presenting a body, and setting up a riveting whodunit, in Proof Positive. That is the point, after all, of detective fiction, and the Newfane author gets to it with alacrity. What sets his Joe Gunther novels — this is Mayor’s 25th — apart in the crowded field of murder mysteries is their Vermont setting. Readers who happen to live in the Green Mountain State get the bonus of familiarity: with the landscape, towns, history and even, at times, the very buildings in which the stories unfold. Then again, most local readers are likely not familiar with the seedy underbelly of Vermont that Joe Gunther — head of the state’s (fictive) Bureau of Investigation — and his stalwart crew routinely navigate. As fans of the series know, down-toearth Joe and crisply brilliant Beverly, longtime professional colleagues, became lovers several books ago. (To his credit, Mayor has always given the role of
Art/Music
Members of the Center for Arts and Learning board
avenue that would have involved a federal grant. In the end, it was the Vermont State Employees Credit Union that provided financing, Falbel says. Now the consortium’s board — consisting of two members from each nonprofit — can focus on improving the space. Plans for the physical plant include bringing accessibility to ADA standards, for which fundraising will be necessary. CAL’s leadership is also hoping to serve a community need, says Falbel,
by making it a sort of clearinghouse for arts presenters in central Vermont. “We want to hire someone to do outreach and try to coordinate events,” he says, “so as not to compete with each other.” Providing this service would additionally “raise the visibility of CAL,” Falbel notes. Down the road, the group would like to find the money to hire a building manager — a role Falbel himself has played, in addition to his day job at Steadman Hill Consulting and his
parallel career as a singer with the Green Mountain Monteverdi Ensemble of Vermont, Counterpoint Chorus and
other ensembles. Meanwhile, the public can check out the digs that once housed a Catholic school and convent during regular visiting hours, Tuesday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m., at the Wood Gallery. PA M E L A P OL S TO N
INFO cal-vt.org
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THE STRAIGHT DOPE BY CECIL ADAMS
Dear Cecil,
Would life have evolved differently on Earth if we’d never had a moon? Would dark nights have resulted in our ancestors getting pwned in their caves, or would they have evolved X-ray vision? Naman Dixit
below) and creating additional heat, which helps keep the core from cooling too quickly. It’s insurance against getting chucked into interstellar space. In the young and restless early years of a solar system, the gravitational force of the larger planets (read: Jupiter and Saturn) may interfere with the orbits of the smaller ones, sometimes flinging them out of the system altogether. Computer simulations suggest that even if this had happened to Earth, the warming properties of the moon’s gravitation described above might well have kept temps high enough for water to remain liquid and for life to evolve anyway. (Incidentally, other simulations have demonstrated that the presence of the Earth-moon team is the only thing keeping Mercury where it belongs:
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spin rate and tides throughout the early development of life. It’s a steadying influence. In order for life to develop on Earth, we needed stable temperatures and a regular climate. Variations of even one degree in Earth’s axial tilt relative to orbit may have led to ice ages in the past. The moon, with its large mass, acts as a major stabilizing force on our axis (as well as helping keep us within the habitable zone). Without it, we could have ended up like Mars, whose moons are much smaller and whose tilt may vary over a span of 60 degrees. In the search for extraterrestrial life scientists regularly prioritize planets with similar-size moons attached. With no moon, of course, our fates would be drastically different because of the misalignment of our astrological signs, but on the plus side we wouldn’t hear any more about that lunar-cycle/menstruation myth. Would mooning still be popular? Would Pink Floyd still exist? These are questions that have not been subjected to the hard discipline of the sciences, leaving us to only imagine the potential horrors in store. Missed opportunities for night vision notwithstanding, let’s be grateful for what we have.
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established that the life-sustaining conditions found on Earth have been enhanced to some degree by its lunar companion; the only debate is about how much. Some of the more commonly proposed benefits of moon-having: It got rid of primordial pollution. The moon most likely formed when some smaller planet struck Earth about 4.5 billion years ago, ejecting chunks of debris that eventually coalesced in orbit. Crucially, this collision may also have stripped away a thick proto-atmosphere that was trapping the heat of earth’s molten surface. Without this rather violent development we might have ended up like Venus, where life is only imaginable by Ray Bradbury. It keeps us toasty. This impact also contributed to the heating of the Earth’s iron core, which provides us with our relatively strong magnetic field. This, in turn, protects us from radiation (at least somewhat — see last week’s column on skin cancer) and solar winds. And the pull of the moon’s gravity acts on every molecule on Earth, powering the tides (see
CARAMAN
F
irst of all, get your superpowers straight: While X-ray vision is undoubtedly a useful feature, it wouldn’t do much to prevent midnight toe-stubbings among the Cro-Magnons. Infrared vision, sure — but if you’re hung up on how we could have evolved into some cooler, laser-eyed super-species without that crappy moon holding us back, you’re not counting your evolutionary blessings. By most accounts we wouldn’t even have developed vertebrae without the moon, let alone eyeballs. Dark nights would be the least of our problems. Cosmologically speaking, Earth has been extremely lucky. Our sun’s energy output has remained relatively stable throughout much of the evolution of life. Our orbit is safely in what’s called the habitable zone, where a planet’s surface can support liquid water. We’ve avoided being smashed to smithereens by comets, sucked into black holes or irradiated by supernovae. With all the hazards of the universe in the way, the chances of life developing on any planet are pretty small. It’s fairly well
Without us, its gravitational interaction with Jupiter would drag it into a high-stakes run-in with Venus, which would likely result in Mercury’s getting ejected from orbit and bonking into who knows what along the way. It’s too bad we couldn’t save Pluto, too, but of course that was just politics.) It creates tides. The moon’s orbit used to be a lot closer to the Earth, thus generating much stronger, higher tides. These waves left extensive tidal pools, where the ocean’s primordial soup of amino acids and other organic compounds could be concentrated via repeated evaporation. Synchronization between tidal flow and exposure to solar UV radiation may have resulted in the petri dish necessary for life to evolve. Tides were likely helpful, too, in the transition of life onto land, depositing small organisms and biomass into semiaquatic marshlike environments. Evidence for all this is found in 3.5 billion-year-old stromatolites — stratified rock formed by ancient bacterial action — whose layers show the moon’s influence on the earth’s
WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT By pamela polston
Questions from the road
courtesy of Phoenixci/Dreamstime.com
SEVEN DAYS 12.17.14-12.24.14 SEVENDAYSvt.com
W
e get lots of questions from readers for this column, which is awesome. You spot a local mystery; we try to figure it out. But with just 26 columns a year, we can’t get to them all. Also, some of the questions are total stumpers, some we’ve already answered in previous issues, and some make us wonder why the sender didn’t just look it up online. Seriously, people, you can use Google as well as we can. Promise. For this final column of the year, we thought we’d share a sampling of questions we received in 2014 that fall into the most popular category. Let’s call it Streets and Roads. For one reason or another, we haven’t answered them … yet. But we’re sharing them with you below. (Note to the Vermont Agency of Transportation: Motorists are puzzled out there. And you thought cellphones were a safety hazard.) • What happened to the signs marking the highest elevation on Interstate 89 in Vermont (i.e., evidence that you had moved from the Connecticut River watershed to Lake Champlain’s, or vice versa)? They were in Brookfield but I haven’t seen them in at least a decade.
28 WTF
• What about the exit-numbering system, sequential versus more common/standard way of using mile markers? • Between mile markers 67.0 and 68.0, there used to be some green, vertical,
shutter-like boards standing up in a (mile-long) row between the northbound lane of I-89 and Route 2. I believe their purpose was to block headlight brightness from one road to interfere with the other; they certainly performed that task splendidly. These barriers are all gone now — WTF? • Since I-89 connects to I-189, and I-189 connects to the south end of Dorset Street, why no access to and from the south end of Dorset Street to and from I-89 via Exit 13? Seems it would relieve much of the congestion in the clusterfuck at Exit 14 by those who could take Kennedy Drive and bypass Williston Road. • I know the salt’s bad for the car and bad for my dog’s little paws, but how bad is it? I’m curious to know what the environmental impact of all this salt is, how much is used every year and if the benefit of using salt above other substances outweighs the negative impacts. • I’ve been wondering WTF is going on with the state of Vermont and its sudden lack of a dead-roadside-critter detail. There was once a time when the deceased skunks, raccoons and the like were picked up within hours of a call, if they didn’t find them themselves. Now, even deer seem to be left nearly where they fell. The only exceptions seem to be when there is guts everywhere, and even then it’s just pushed to the side of the road. It’s
horrifyingly gross. Is this the image we want to convey to tourists? Hell, I’m grossed out and I was raised here … and I’m an EMT! • WTF is up with cars being allowed to parallel park on the wrong side of a two-way street in Burlington? I’ve been here for years and never understood how it is legal here, when it is illegal everywhere else in the world. It is always totally unsafe, sketchy and random when a car pulls across the center line in search of a parking spot. There are some nightmare spots in town where the bike lane is in the “door zone” of all the cars, and the wrong-way car drivers can never see bikes in the lane (let alone cars coming in the right direction) when they try to pull out of their spot, blind, across the lane going the wrong way. • (1) Why does the interchange where I-89 meets I-91 in White River Junction have no number? It is the only unnumbered exit in the entire U.S. Interstate System that I can recall coming across. Every other time two interstates meet, the exit has its proper number on each separate highway, but from 89 getting onto 91, there is no number. When the roads were built, did someone just forget, and start the numbering up the road at Quechee? (2) When is Vermont going to enter the 21st century and renumber our interstate exits by mile marker? That would, of course, fix the problem in
No. 1. The exit onto 91 would become Exit 1, and the Quechee/Woodstock exit would become Exit 3 (or whatever the mileage is). I vaguely recall hearing that the legislature was considering this, and I noticed that when they replaced all the signage a few years ago, they wisely put the exit-number signs on separate, replaceable boards below the signs with the town names. That raised some hopes, but nothing has come of it. • I travel the state a fair amount and have noticed dozens of roadside places to fill water from sources that have been developed via a flowing pipe, but none is as consistently busy as the one just south of Hardwick on Route 14. I hardly ever go by there when someone isn’t filling jugs at the 1896 granite trough and pipe. What’s the history of it? Why is this one so incredibly popular? • The sign put up this spring where Gore Road (in Buels Gore) comes out onto Route 17 East (going over the Appalachian Gap): ‘Number of Days Since Last Motorcycle Accident:_____.’ Who put it there and why? Whoever has answers to any of these, do let us know. And keep your WTF questions coming! m
INFO Outraged, or merely curious, about something? Send your burning question to wtf@sevendaysvt.com.
WORK
VERMONTERS ON THE JOB
WINTER READING
B Y E T HA N D E SEI FE
A
lec Julien reads more closely than most people. It’s not that the Burlington graphic designer necessarily has a better grasp of complicated ideas — though he’s a smart guy with a master’s in philosophy. It’s just that when he reads text, he sees more in it than most readers. That’s because Julien is a font designer. On a snowy December day, Julien sips hot cider at Muddy Waters and explains that he can’t help but analyze the fonts that surround him. Some of the fliers on the coffee shop’s bulletin board Alec make him grimace; but he admires one, Julien promoting a Shelburne Museum event, for balance and wellBurlington its chosen type. Julien, 49, estimates that he’s designed about Font 50 fonts. He’s so skilled Designer in the art that Focal Press approached him to write a book on the subject. FontFace: The Complete Guide to Creating, Marketing & Selling Digital Fonts was published in 2012. It’s a lucidly written, step-by-step manual on the process of font creation, from character design to software tips to making one’s letters stand out in a crowded type marketplace. It may seem unusual for a graphic designer to spend so much time working on typefaces. But the very mission of a font designer is to treat printed characters as graphic elements. Julien tells Seven Days how and why we read not just for content but for aesthetic pleasure.
MATTHEW THORSEN
Letter Head
NAME
TOWN JOB
COURTESY OF ALEC JULIEN
from the ’70s. Most of the inspiration is from hand lettering. That’s the stuff that’s totally unique. SD: Are some glyphs harder to design than others? AJ: Numbers have always been the hardest for me. There are very few of them for which you can just take parts from letters and assemble numbers from them. The numeral 5 is a huge pain in the ass. So are 3 and 2!
INFO
alecjulien.com Work is a monthly interview feature showcasing a Vermonter with an interesting occupation. Suggest a job you would like to know more about: news@sevendaysvt.com.
WORK 29
SD: Why were you approached to write a font-design book? AJ: I had published some articles on ilovetypography.com, which is the world’s biggest font blog. [In 2007,] I published this two-part series, “So You Want to Create a Font.” Looking back on it now, I cringe a
Contact: ethan@sevendaysvt.com
SEVEN DAYS
SD: Where do you get your ideas for new fonts? AJ: I love old movie posters from the ’30s, ’40s, ’50s, because they have a lot of hand-lettered work that’s one of a kind and gorgeous. I got inspiration for my latest font from an old issue of some magazine
A glyph from one of Alec Julien’s fonts in progress
SD: Do you consider fonts to be objects of utility or beauty? AJ: There’s no one purpose. [Once, in an online forum, a commenter] said, “Beautiful fonts are all well and good, but you don’t look at an ax and say, ‘What a beautiful ax!’ You say, ‘How usable is that going to be for the purposes that I need it?’” I go two ways about that. I totally admit that she was right for a lot of purposes. On the other hand, I love a beautiful font, because I spend a lot of my adult life looking at them and trying to figure out what makes them beautiful. I think there’s value to that on an aesthetic level. But if you can’t use it, then all its beauty is for naught.
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SD: Why should writers care about fonts? AJ: When you use good fonts and use them in the right way, you’re setting up your design in a good, viewable, aesthetically pleasing way that does matter, even if you don’t notice it. Stephen King should care about that. Maybe people won’t notice if his books are typeset in a shitty manner, but maybe they will, subconsciously, and they’ll have a less good experience than they would otherwise.
little — so innocent and misinformed! But it struck a chord with a bunch of people. Yesterday, I talked to John Boardley, the head of I Love Typography, to see how many hits that page has gotten. He said that the last time he’d checked, it was around a million.
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SEVEN DAYS: How did you get started with font design? ALEC JULIEN: I have a long-standing relationship with typography, dating back to high school. This was the 1970s in New York City, and the graffiti movement was in full swing. I thought it was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen, and then I looked down at my own handwriting, and it was just terrible. I said, “I have to fix this.” I realized that letterforms aren’t just there for utility, and they’re not just for getting across information. They can be beautiful in their own right. Still, in a lot of my early fonts, I tried to make all the glyphs [font elements such as letters and punctuation marks] beautiful in their own right, and didn’t worry enough about how they would cohere. They just didn’t hang well together on the page.
SD: Why should readers care about fonts? AJ: I was reading a Stephen King novel a couple years ago, and it was set in some awful form of Garamond. The italics for some Garamonds are very inconsistent; the axes are all off. And I was just angry every five pages. But maybe readers shouldn’t care [about fonts]. If you walk into a really well-built house, maybe you don’t have to notice that all the joists are set exactly properly and everything is level. Maybe you don’t notice it because you shouldn’t notice it. It just looks right.
LocalSt
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Help you r neighbo state and rs, your yourself — spend holiday d your ollars in Vermont! In LocalS tore, a se ries of article s through out the holiday s eason, Se ven D features locally ow ays ned shops in Vermont.
Old Gold
12.17.14-12.24.14 SEVEN DAYS 30 FEATURE
What party first brought you to Old Gold? Back in my not-so-distant college days, friends and I would trek to the vintage-and-costume mainstay in downtown Burlington on Friday afternoons to snag last-minute weekend wear: wigs, corsets, sequined leggings, things with feathers. Since it first opened on Burlington’s Main Street in 1973, Old Gold has been a one-stop shop for prom queens, drag queens, festivalgoers, downtown darlings and sloppy undergrads. “I have a hard time defining our clientele,” says current owner Kari Eisenberg. “Most people assume we cater to college and younger, but it is in no way unusual for me to help a mom and her 15-yearold … and then turn around and help a 75-year-old man get a tuxedo for somebody’s retirement party.” Put simply: If you’ve been festive in northern Vermont any time over the past four decades, you’ve probably been there. And if you haven’t, you’re really missing out. For refined affairs, Old Gold offers velvet smoking jackets, Europeancut suits, hand-beaded 1920s reproduction dresses, contemporary formal wear and the aforementioned tuxedos. For the bold, there are bullet bras, pasties, bodysuits, neon-hued ruffled undies and leather harnesses. For holiday parties, there are racks of ugly Christmas sweaters and sequined shift dresses. Most people enter Old Gold with a mission. “I get a lot of people at their wits’ end,” Eisenberg admits. They might be searching for a dress
Kari Eisenberg
PHOTOS: MATTHEW THORSEN
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
180 Main Street, Burlington, 864-7786
from a particular era (the store’s warehouse has options from the ’20s to the present); an adjustable leather harness at a low price point (just google it); a costume-party mask; an outfit for burlesque class; even a perfectly worn-in Brooks Brothers dress shirt to wear to Grandma’s. “It’s really an eclectic mix,” Eisenberg says. “I wouldn’t say that one category outweighs another in any way, and we love that. It keeps it fresh.” Walking into Old Gold can be a bewildering — or bedazzling — experience. Shelves are lined with go-go boots in a range of colors. There’s a wall of wigs, a funky magnet collection and an assortment of cozy knitwear. But the primary focus is clothing. Eisenberg, who took over the store in the mid-’90s from its original owner, regularly visits trade shows for new apparel (only small labels, mostly American-made) and vintage. She picks every piece of the inventory herself. “We’ve always been apparel with, like, side notes in accessory,” Eisenberg says. “Though accessory is really good when retail business in general isn’t doing so well.” Accessory is also really good when customers want to doll up an outfit. That might be suspenders, a bow tie, fishnet stockings, a boa, sunglasses or costume jewelry. Should your occasion call for them, you’ll even find handcuffs. Old Gold also stocks quality basics such as knit hats, comfy flannel, warm stockings and a variety of denim at reasonable prices. “I don’t look at how much other people charge for things,” Eisenberg admits. “I base my price on how much I paid for it. Jacking prices makes me feel like a real jerk.” In addition to Old Gold’s unique inventory, that ethos has kept customers coming back through the years, Eisenberg says. “People expect Old Gold to be here and to have a familiarity,” she observes. “I have people come in during UVM alumni weekend and say, ‘I was shopping here in the ’80s and it still feels and looks the same; it’s so reassuring.’ Or somebody who lived here in their twenties and moved away, but comes back to visit Mom and Dad, will say, ‘It’s such a relief that you’re still here; it makes me feel like I’m home.’ “I hope our reputation is that we’re so tried and true,” Eisenberg says. “And that we’ll be here, no matter what. No matter how big and corporate things get, we’re here. We’re not going down!” XI AN C HI AN G-WARE N
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32 FEATURE
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WINTER READING
K
urt was driving the kids back to Mona’s, Sarah Vaughan crooning Now it was spring, or at least getting there; “mud season,” they called it on the radio, Stip strapped into his booster seat reading Captain here, and most of the snow had gone. The road to Mona’s house, which used Underpants, Kate in the front tethered to her iPhone and listening to to be his house, too, had become a kind of sloppy Chutes and Ladders of washanything but Sarah Vaughan, when the deer exploded from a thicket board hills and rutted flats. As they walked toward the deer, their feet sank into at the edge of the muddy back road, caught the Subaru’s fender and tumbled up the frigid mud, spoiling his Eccos and Stip’s new Nikes. Already, Kate stood over the hood. He heard the soft clatter of legs on metal first, then the moony way too close to the deer and, as he watched, she took another step closer. white belly bloomed in the windshield and as quickly vanished. Jesus. Davis D. Conrad would have a field day: “With blatant disregard, the By the time he yanked the car over and stopped, the deer had staggered Defendant exposed them to the dangers of an injured wild animal, etc., etc.” back up onto its rickety legs in the road behind them, weaving like a punch- The prick. drunk fighter. Turning in their seats, they watched as the deer folded down onto the rutted track and leaned over on its side. lose up, the deer looked dead: neck extended improbably, legs folded against “What the fuck!” Kate shouted, which Mona, Kurt’s ex, would have seits belly, black nose pointed toward the opposite side of the road from which verely censured, hit deer or not, but Kurt let it go. Kate had just turned 15; at it had come. Kurt was preparing the words of an impromptu funeral oration this point, he considered anything that trumped the iPhone a plus. when Kate turned toward him, her huge, blues eyes moist behind her sturdy “Dad, a deer!” Stip chirped, still all curiosity at 7. wire frames. “A dying deer, obviously,” Kate said, pulling out her earbuds. Before Kurt “Dad, it’s still breathing. Should we call a vet?” could speak, she’d scrambled out of the car. Frantically, Kurt inventoried his knowledge of deer, “Kate, hold on,” he said half-heartedly, knowing it which included Bambi and Lyme disease. He had no idea would do no good. Behind him, Stip’s seat buckle clicked if veterinarians worked on wild animals, and couldn’t pay open. for it if they did, with outrageous child support, higher “Dad, can I go, too?” because Mona had the kids more, which was like paying a Mona would have nixed this in a second, for more than premium for agony. He could pull the credit cards, which one reason. The movie had run later than expected, then he’d done more times than he wanted to think about he’d taken them for gelato; he’d been supposed to drop since the split, still paying his half of the mortgage, the them off by seven, and it was already 7:45. Mona’s lawyer, mire of debt growing. And suddenly, he realized that Kate a combative viper by the name of Davis D. Conrad, had had called him “Dad.” already sent a letter about the late drop-offs, but the idea She hadn’t done that in months, no matter how he’d that she’d take him back to court over that seemed ridicutried. Anything he’d said — about people deciding they lous. Kurt only had the kids two days every other week. loved and respected each other but couldn’t live together, how he would still be her father no matter what — had How was he supposed to be a father if he didn’t have the been tainted by Mona’s blurry personal boundaries, the time? He and Mona had been separated for nearly six times when she “let slip” this tidbit or that, and Kate had BY GARY L E E M I L L E R “accidentally overheard.” months, divorced for three; more and more, he felt the “You bailed on us,” Kate had screeched at him early kids drifting. At night, he lay awake, churning through a slough of anger and fear. How could Mona keep them away from him like this on, “’Cause you wanted to get your dick wet!” He didn’t need to guess where that particular phrase originated. — and what would happen if he lost them? There were other things, things he’d done on his own, missing a few pickEarly on, he’d tried in all sorts of desperate ways to keep the kids close. He’d gotten some favorite recipes from Mona, baked macaroni and cheese and ups, for one. And some drinking, which Stip hadn’t seen but Kate had. Over homemade pies. He’d done amusement parks and county fairs, shopping trips time, she’d sunk into a pool of bitterness; communication, when it came, was and “camping” in his tiny apartment’s backyard. All that gained him little le- laden with sarcasm and mitigated through the ever-present earbuds: Yes, Kurt. verage, but then he’d discovered the ultimate power: permissiveness. It wasn’t No, Kurt. You should have thought of that before you left us, Kurt. Delivered in monotone, for maximum effect. Would she hate him forever? Possibly. But right, necessarily, but it worked. “All right,” he told Stip. “You can go. But you have to take my hand. This is then there was “Dad,” hanging on the expectant spring air. He let go of Stip’s hand, rummaged through the pocket of his Red Sox a wild animal.” hoodie and pulled out his cell. It was already 7:53. Mona had called four times, “No, it’s not,” Stip said, a bit incredulous. “It’s a deer.” As he shucked the boy out of the car seat, Kurt’s heart fluttered. They’d but, anticipating this, he’d put the phone in airplane mode. He’d plead signal come to Vermont from Manhattan, where wild animals meant red-tailed hawks loss, which in Vermont was always a sure bet, although it wouldn’t stop her — flying over Central Park, squirrels hustling peanuts by the park benches. The or Davis D. Conrad — from raking the muck, if it came to that. The thing to do was get them home. The sun had begun to fall behind the only deer he’d seen up close had hung dead in the bay of their new neighbor Ed humpy spine of the Worcester Range; the air grew thicker with cold. They had Pierce’s saggy, one-car garage, dripping blood onto the cement.
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The Hit Deer
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school in the morning, and probably homework tonight. And the deer would be dead, if not within the next five minutes, within 10. But Kate moved closer to him, put her hand on his arm. “Dad, we can’t just let it lie here.” “OK, honey,” Kurt said. “I’ll call the vet. But if no one’s there, we have to just go.” He punched in the number of Valley Veterinary. It was a Sunday, and he got the recorded answer he expected: Take your pet to the emergency center, 20 miles up I-89. He left a message and slipped the cellphone back into his pocket. So here they were. Deer stretched out on the red mud. No help or sign of it. “Well, we have to do something,” Kate said. It astonished him, actually, that she wasn’t doing something herself. Short, skinny, her wispy red hair tailing from under the black wool watch cap she wore summer or winter, she never let much stand in her way. First in war, first in peace, first with an alternate opinion, which was how he’d been at her age. But now she stood silently, hands wadded into the pockets of her jeans, waiting for him to act.
W
as the animal suffering? Kurt saw moisture on its nostrils, thin spumes of mist dispensed with every exhalation. An eyelid leaned open when Kate shifted on her feet. An ear twitched. Kurt noticed the rise and fall of the deer’s rib cage, slow but regular. He took a step forward and paused, then took another. It surprised him how small the deer looked up close. It was a small doe. Stip weighed 50 pounds, and the deer couldn’t have been double that, not much bigger than Boffin, their chocolate Lab, which now lived with Mona. In the deepening twilight, Kurt squatted over a mud puddle and leaned close enough to touch the doe. At that distance, he could see through the stiff, reddish hair to the pinkish skin below. Her eyes stayed closed. An emerald-bodied fly lit on her flank, and her tail flopped weakly, startling it away. Then the fly returned. Did this mean she really was dying? Kurt turned to Stip and Kate. “You two, move back.” Stip obeyed, but Kate stood her ground. “Kate.” “Oh, for Christ’s sake. It’s not a grizzly bear.” He waited, and she conceded a half step. Kurt knelt now, his right knee sinking slowly into the rusty sludge, his left braced by a cold, flat stone. Then he saw the cut, a tiny, jagged split in the doe’s skin just aft of her ribs. Without thinking, he reached out to push the hair back from the wound, to get a better look. “Fuck!” The doe’s back hoof hit his forehead with the force of an air hammer. Before he knew what had happened, he lay in the greasy slough, his glasses smeared and puddle water leaking into his mouth. “Daddy!” shrieked Stip, and ran to him. Rolling in the mud and trying to get up, Kurt pushed the boy away. “It’s dangerous,” he said sternly. Stip started to blubber. “No. No. Hey, Stipper,” Kurt said, calmly as he could. “It’s OK. I just don’t want you to get hurt, is all.” He felt blood leaking from his left nostril. A dull hum possessed his skull. “Awesome work, Kurt,” Kate said. “Kate, this is not the time.” “When is? Kurt.” The therapist had told him this; Kate couldn’t control her reflexive anger, and when she saw him as weak she would attack. But right now, he was furious. He smudged the mud off his glasses with his finger and glared. “Don’t look at me like that, Kurt,” Kate said. And just then her iPhone rang. “Kate, don’t.” But it was too late. “Hey, Mom. Yeah. We’re halfway up Wilkins Road. Dad hit a deer with the Subaru and then tried to be a hero. It kicked him in the face … I know, right?”
They watched for a long minute,
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the doe cutting a luxurious wake through the water.
Dizzy and nauseated, Kurt levered himself to a sitting position. Freezing water bled though the seat of his khakis. Kate held out the cell. “Kurt, it’s for you.” He hadn’t spoken to Mona for the better part of a month. But the minute he heard her voice, its choppy cadence, the lightly veiled condescension — she was the one with the house, the high-end job at the Agency of Commerce, the new boyfriend, and nearly full custody of the kids — it was back to the same battle. “Kurt, you were supposed to be here at seven. What happened this time?” “This time?” He was upright now, still a bit unsteady, the slippery, uneven ground making balance a problem. He lowered his voice, but Kate stepped closer, intent on espionage. His anger still sizzling, he covered the phone with a muddy hand and pointed to the ground at her feet. “Stay there. Do not move. Do you understand?” His anger battened her down; she nodded and stayed. Squishing through the churned soil, he headed toward the front end of the Subaru and 50 feet or so beyond, far enough that he could speak normally and neither of the kids could hear. As he lifted the phone, a steady torrent of fly buzz tickled his ear; apparently Mona hadn’t waited for him to answer her question and had proceeded to the persecution phase of the conversation. “…and for God’s sake, if you’d had them home on time, this wouldn’t have happened. They might have been killed.” “Mona.” “Of course, that doesn’t matter to you, Kurt. And of course, you have no respect for the fact that Colin is coming over, and I cooked a special dinner for all of us.” “Look, Mona. I don’t care about your dinner with Colin. And I don’t care what time it is. I am dealing with something that’s not in the custody manual. So if you could work with me here…” “Daddy!” Dusk had settled now; indigo shadows thickened the woods. Through a corner of his still-bleary lenses, he saw Stip gesturing with a small white hand. “Not now, Stip. Just a minute.” “Manual?” Mona said. “I’m not reading from a manual. I’m talking about modeling consideration for the children.” “The children? The children are happy. They’re not in a concentration camp. They went to a movie and had gelato.” “Daddy!” Stip shouted. “The deer!” Kurt turned just in time to see the doe, now on its feet again, wobble across the roadside ditch and into the thicket. Before he could say a word, Kate followed. Kurt jammed the phone in his pocket and started to run. The mud squirreled beneath his ruined Eccos; snowmelt splashed on his pant legs. He slipped and fell, but adrenaline turned it into more of a bounce, and he was up and running again. “Kate!” he hollered. “Kate!” Of course, she didn’t answer. By the time he reached the Subaru, she was into the woods and gone. He turned to Stip, put a hand on his shoulders. “Stipper,” Kurt said, “I want you to stay here, no matter what.” “Dad, this is messed up.” “I know it is. And it’s my fault. I’m sorry, Stip. I really am.” He put his own cellphone in Stip’s hand, showed him how to use the flashlight app. “Check it out,” Kurt said, trying to sound reassuring. “It’s just like a real flashlight. Stay here, and I’ll be back in a minute.” With that, he plunged into the black thicket. “Kate!” Ahead he heard a thud, an exhalation and a muted curse. “Kate! Are you OK? Sweetie, come back.” Silence. Willow branches formed a spiky tangle that tore at his clothes, and the footing was even less certain than it had been on the road. The stub of a broken branch jabbed him hard in the cheek. He stumbled over a scabby heap of leftover snow and nearly fell, then grabbed a tree branch and righted himself. “That deer will be fine!” he shouted into the darkness. “It’s going home to its mother.”
Christ, he thought. Did everything want its mother most of all? He’d made it 20 yards into the woods by then, panting and desperate. The blood from his nose flowed freely, and the only thing to wipe it on was his shirt. Which didn’t matter, because it was covered with mud anyway. “Kate, can you please?” Silence again. “Daddy, I’m scared!” Stip shouted from the road, his voice fainter with the brush and the distance. For a moment, Kurt flashed on a kidnapper, an accident with a sliding car. “It’s OK, Stipper! I’m just helping Kate get out of here.” Which he would, if he knew where she was. “Dad!” Stip hollered. Louder, this time, higher. “Kate, did you hear that? Your brother’s scared.” Silence. And then Kate’s cellphone, still in his pocket, started to ring. His first thought was to answer, his second to throw the phone out into the woods. The ringing continued, but he ignored it, flailing his hands ahead of him, yanking at branches and trying to run. Tears came, helplessness, shivers of full-blown panic. This was failure. This was losing. This was proof of fatherly incompetence. The harder he tried to move forward, the harder the woods fought back; he was wading in shin-high water, the cold of it shocking enough to take his breath. He envisioned helicopters, slavering search dogs, orange nylon straps on a black body bag. “Daddy!” Stip hollered again. “Out in a minute, Stip. Just hang on!” And then the thicket fell away.
Christ, he thought.
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FEATURE 35
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hhhhhhh!” Kate said, 10 feet to the left of him and crouched at the edge of a marshy pool, 30 or so feet in diameter, surrounded by a hedge of wispy grasses. The surface of the pool mirrored a rising crescent moon. At first, Kurt wondered why she’d asked for silence. But then he saw the doe, neck-deep in the pool and gamely swimming toward the opposite side, shoulders breaking the surface at each lunge. “Look!” Kate whispered, her voice carrying easily on the wet air, an excitement he hadn’t heard in what seemed like years. He nodded vigorously, to show that he saw. Tiptoeing through wet meadow, he went to her and stood. She put a hand on his arm. “Will she drown?” “No,” he said, but he had no idea if that were true. In silence, they watched for a long minute, the doe cutting a luxurious wake through the water, V-shaped ripples grabbing edges of moonlight and spreading toward shore. When she reached the bank, she paused, flailed for purchase with her front hooves. Kate’s grip on his arm tightened but relaxed as the doe gained the bank. Standing on narrow band in front of the grass hedge, the doe shook herself. Kate giggled. “I know,” Kurt said. “Just like Boffin.” Then the doe turned its head toward them. Her gaze held for a long moment, possessing theirs. And then, slowly, deliberately, she turned, paused and leapt, clearing the grass hedge, hanging in the air impossibly long and, in complete silence, disappeared. “Wow, Dad,” Kate said after a moment. “That was beautiful.” “It was,” Kurt said. He put his arms around her and pulled her close. For the first time since he had left home, she didn’t resist. After a minute, Kurt released the embrace. She put her hand in his as they headed toward the car. “Stipper!” Kurt sang out ahead of them. “Don’t worry. We’re coming back now, and we’re all OK.” m
DiD everything want its mother most of all?
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Of Royalties and Resistance
WINTER READING
Three small Vermont publishers explain their business (or antibusiness) models B Y M AR GOT HA RR ISON
S
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WE WANTED TO BE THE ARTISAN CHEESE INSTEAD OF THE CHEAP COMMODITIES CHEESE.
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L IN ST ONE, WIND RIDGE PUBL I S HIN G
But for every scam artist, a new small publisher is struggling to survive the oldfashioned way — by making money flow to writers, not away from them. Unlike vanity or subsidy outfits, these publishers are selective and generally have a defined market niche. They seldom give writers advances, but they do offer royalty percentages unheard of in the Big Five. The trick is selling enough copies to make those royalties count. While some literary genres sell like hotcakes online, shelf space in stores is still key to success in others. Any bookseller can order any book that has a distributor, but most will not stock a book unless the publisher permits the return of unsold copies. Here at Seven Days, we receive dozens of books every year from local
“And if you can’t do this in Vermont, where can you do it?” Stone adds. WHEN DID YOU FOUND YOUR COMPANY? 2009.
“The book division came out of our newspaper columnists in the beginning, and then we reached out further to the Vermont Public Radio commentators,” Stone says. “Then, of course, the manuscripts started coming in, and we began growing in new ways.”
WHY?
HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU PUBLISHED IN TOTAL? 20.
HOW MANY THIS YEAR? Six.
Left to right: Emily Copeland, Holly Johnson, Lin Stone and Daniel Lusk
micropublishers. We chose three with growing lists and asked their owners a set of questions about how they approach their business. We left out larger local houses with long-established reputations, such as Chelsea Green Publishing. And we couldn’t cover all of the interesting smaller presses, such as Ra Press or Verdant Books. We hope this partial survey will be helpful to authors wondering what sorts of questions they should ask prospective publishers — and to writers and readers seeking inspiration. Because, if these three startup publishers share one thing, it’s a steadfast idealism about the power of the written word.
Wind Ridge Books of Vermont
This fall, Wind Ridge Books took a road less traveled: It went nonprofit. What began as a division of Shelburne’s Wind Ridge Publishing (producer of the Shelburne News and other papers) is now an independent “curatorial imprint” of Voices of Vermonters Publishing Group, which has a pending 501(c)(3) application. “I think going to a literary and
curatorial and nonprofit model is how to save the book-publishing industry,” says Wind Ridge director and managing editor Lin Stone. “It’s like the performing-arts model, where you link arms with the patrons to help make the art happen.” Wind Ridge will maintain its HQ at the cozy red Writers’ Barn in Shelburne, where writers such as poet Daniel Lusk — president of the new nonprofit’s board — teach workshops to the community. On a recent Friday morning, Stone’s papillon, Hummy, greets a visitor to a room full of books. When you talk with publishers, conversation inevitably turns at some point to Amazon.com. Soft-spoken with an English accent, Stone describes the megaretailer as a “commodities market, akin to orange cheese and cheap margarine.” Her mission? “We wanted to be the artisan cheese instead of the cheap commodities cheese,” she says with a smile. “We wanted to curate good work.” To that end, Wind Ridge has launched a fundraising campaign from its website. “It feels a little bit like a small active resistance to go in this direction,” says Emily Copeland, a Saint Michael’s College prof who’s vice president of Wind Ridge’s board.
MATTHEW THORSEN
o you’ve written a book. You’ve polished it within an inch of its life. Maybe you’ve already submitted it to every possible New York agent or publisher. Maybe your work has a local relevance that out-of-staters don’t “get.” Or maybe you simply prefer the idea of working with a Vermont-based company. Whichever it is, once you start researching, you’re sure to discover the proliferation of small local publishers. In the past few decades, new technology has made putting words on paper (or screens) easier and faster, leading to a steady uptick in the number of manuscripts seeking a home and publishers offering one. But what exactly do they offer? For a writer shopping a manuscript, many caveats are in order. In April 2013, Peter Campbell-Copp of Manchester was sentenced to six months in jail for taking as much as $200,000 from authors whose books he’d promised to publish through his company Historical Pages. Most of those tomes never saw the light of day.
SOME RECENT TITLES: Two books by Lusk: Girls I Never Married (memoir) and Kin (poetry). Handing Out Apples in Eden (poetry) by Malisa Garlieb. Please Do Not Remove: A Collection Celebrating Vermont Literature and Libraries, edited by Angela Palm. DO
YOU
DO
OFFSET
PRINTING,
ON
“I try to avoid offset printing for ecological as well as economical reasons,” Stone says, though she still uses it for occasional art books. When publishers undertake print runs that don’t sell well, she jokes, the books end up as “attic insulation.”
DEMAND (POD) OR BOTH? WHY?
“We work with a vertically integrated printer and distributor [Lightning Source/Ingram]. So you can order a book in Australia; you can order a book in London. If you order it here, it’ll come from Pennsylvania. Our books are all returnable.”
WHAT IS YOUR DISTRIBUTION?
WHAT ARE SOME STORES WHERE READERS MIGHT
FIND YOUR BOOKS? Phoenix Books, the Flying Pig Bookstore, other local independent bookshops and gift stores.
HOW DO YOU FIND SUBMISSIONS? Some writers, such as poet Garlieb, connect with Wind Ridge through its workshops. Others submit from afar. But, as its name indicates, the publisher prefers to see work from Vermont writers. “Why go elsewhere when you’ve got so much talent locally?” asks Copeland, who heads the editorial review committee. HOW MANY DID YOU RECEIVE THIS YEAR? 60 or 70.
Come, celebrate the solstice
MATThEw ThoRsEn
with a program of woodwind quintets, quartets, and trios, including Renaissance-themed quintets by Milhaud and Roseman, and Scandinavian solstice songs.
A selection of Wind Ridge Books of Vermont titles
Who EDitS Your bookS? Copeland
does the developmental editing. Lusk notes that his book had a thorough going-over by two editors.
Green Writers Press
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Some literary folk shy away from discussing money. Not Dede Cummings, who founded Green Writers Press in West Brattleboro last year. “I paid out WhAt iS Your tArgEt mArkEt? “Serious readers. It’s a literary market,” Lusk says. my first royalties,” she says excitedly by Stone adds: “We’re not trying to be elitist, phone. “We’re going to start generating some income, probably next month.” (The but we are trying to be the best.” company is incorporated as an L3C, or hoW Do You rEAch it? WhAt promotioNAl “low-profit,” which can receive certain tActicS Do You uSE? “We support authors grants unavailable to a regular LLC.) by submitting their books to national As for the publisher and her only competitions,” Lusk says. “We support staffer, senior editor Robin MacArthur, their readings with “Neither of us is press releases. The making any money book is not only well yet,” Cummings says. made, but nurtured “She’s got, like, three into the marketplace.” different jobs. So do I.” One of those jobs is hoW Do You pAY writing. A Middlebury On its AuthorS? College grad with original business Boston publishing exmodel, WR gave 50 perience, Cummings percent of profits to the has published wellwriter and 10 percent ness and gardening to the writer’s charity books with Skyhorse of choice. The shift to Publishing and nonprofit status will Hatherleigh Press. change that. “Now She also “dabbles” in we’re the charity!” Dede Cummings of Green Writers Press literary agenting, and Lusk says. designs many of her own press’ books. Do AuthorS EVEr pAY As its name indicates, GWP focuses WR offers paid publishing services You? to authors through a separate imprint on both sustainable practices and green called Red Barn Books. While writers who topics. It can sell you an earnest antholdon’t make the cut for WR publication are ogy on climate crisis, a kids’ book about a invited to sign up, Lusk says, “The press young eco-crusader, or a “cli-fi rom com” isn’t making any money off them. It’s a (that’s “climate fiction”). Cummings says revenue stream that helps us to keep the her goal is “to get out the word and build a lucrative business, but also spread a mesdesigners at work.” sage of hope and renewal, and not a mesWhAt’S A bESt SEllEr for You? Brewing sage of doom and gloom.” Change: Behind the Bean at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters by Rick Peyser and Bill WhEN DiD You fouND Your compANY? 2013. Mares. It’s been translated into Korean. WhY? “I was looking around for something to do,” Cummings says. “Book design is futurE plANS? Stone says WR is working on crafting alliances with the Vermont slowing down. I woke up one morning College of Fine Arts, refugee organizations and had this refrain going through my and farmers. “We’re always looking for head, from Bill McKibben’s The End of ways to give voice to the underserved Nature: ‘There’s so little time.’ We all know communities,” she says. WR will continue climate crisis is at hand. The thing I know to organize art exhibits in conjunction with poetry releases, as it did recently with Burlington City Arts. oF RoyAlTiEs » p.38
SEVENDAYSVt.com 12.17.14-12.24.14 SEVEN DAYS FEATURE 37
3v-stmikesgrad112614.indd 1
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Of Royalties « p.37 how to do best is to make books. Let me use that knowledge to raise awareness, to entertain, to inform.” How mANY bookS HAVE You publiSHED iN totAl?
2015.
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How mANY tHiS YEAr? 10. SomE rEcENt titlES: Contemporary Vermont Fiction: An Anthology edited by MacArthur. Polly and the One and Only World, a youngadult novel by Vermont author Don Bredes. Winter Ready, poems by the Northeast Kingdom’s Leland Kinsey. Do You Do offSEt priNtiNg, poD or botH? wHY?
Cummings uses Vermont’s Springfield Printing for hardcover books, color books and presales over 1,000 copies, she says. Other books are printed on demand by Lightning Source. All paper is Forest Stewardship Council-certified.
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Phoenix Books, Northshire Bookstore, Everyone’s Books. migHt fiND Your bookS?
How Do You fiND SubmiSSioNS? GWP is listed as a market in Poets & Writers but “not that aggressively acquiring.”
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Fomite Press
Publishing is a labor of love for Burlington couple Marc Estrin and Donna Bister. When Cathy Resmer profiled them for Seven Days in 2011, she wrote that they “haven’t turned a profit … and they don’t intend to.” Since then, their ideals haven’t changed, but they’ve published a lot more books. Estrin, a prolific novelist whose own books are currently published by Brooklyn’s Spuyten Duyvil, does the editing. Bister handles the production duties on top of her full-time day job. Estrin first concocted the name “Fomite” for a fictitious publisher in one of his novels. “So the press started as a gag,” he writes in an email, “went on to being an experiment and is now sailing along.”
shelf space in stores is still key to success in others.
Midpoint Trade Books. Cummings focuses on getting books into brick-and-mortar stores, she says. That can mean making direct connections, as when she walked into D.C.’s Politics and Prose Bookstore and asked to speak to the buyer. “Now they’re carrying [our book].”
wHAt ArE SomE StorES wHErE rEADErS
12.17.14-12.24.14
futurE plANS? Cummings says she’d like to collaborate with other Vermont publishers — while also looking beyond. “We want to be global. We have books that are being bid on for translation rights.”
While some literary genres sell like hotcakes online,
wHAt iS Your DiStributioN?
FRESH EVERY DAY FROM OUR BAKERY:
6h-sammazza121714.indd 1
11; five more are slated for spring
wHAt’S A bESt SEllEr for You? The Bodies of Mothers: A Beautiful Body Project is approaching sales of 4,000 copies, Cummings says. Contemporary Vermont Fiction sold out its first printing of 250 in less than a week; Bredes’ novel is already in a third printing.
wHEN DiD You fouND Your compANY?
2011.
Early
“I [Marc] had been to enough open mics, and said to myself so many times, ‘Someone should really publish that!’ that one day I just said, ‘Why don’t Donna and I publish it?’” He also welcomed the chance to experiment with POD technology.
wHY?
How mANY bookS HAVE You publiSHED iN
How mANY DiD You rEcEiVE tHiS YEAr? 200.
totAl? 54.
wHo EDitS Your bookS?
“I’m more of a developmental editor. I’ll do the first read; Robin will run the whole project.”
How mANY tHiS YEAr? 18, with “another 12 in some stage of production.”
“Placebased writing, environmental themes, nature or climate-change activism is the overarching theme of our acquisitions.”
SomE rEcENt titlES: The Return of Jason Green, a novel by Vermont Rep. Suzi Wizowaty. Everyone Lives Here, poems by Burlington’s Sharon Webster. My Murder and Other Local News, long-form poems by Vermont actor David Schein.
wHAt iS Your tArgEt mArkEt?
Cummings says she focuses on word of mouth, social media presence and coaching authors on tactics. “I tell writers: The book is part of your whole brand.”
38 FEATURE
SEVEN DAYS
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How Do You pAY AutHorS? GWP pays 25 percent of net profits to its distributor and splits the remaining 75 percent 50-50 with the author. Do AutHorS EVEr pAY You? Not for publication, but authors split any extra marketing expenses 50-50 with the press.
Do You Do offSEt priNt ruNS, poD or botH?
“We chose POD for many reasons — financial (low up-front costs, allowing us to give a larger share of royalties to authors); logistical (no need to maintain stock); and ecological.”
wHAt iS Your DiStributioN? Fomite can’t afford to make its books returnable, which “makes it tough for most stores to routinely stock Fomite titles,” Estrin says. Stores and consumers can order the books through distributor Ingram.
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“I am someone who hates saying no to anything,” Estrin admits. He’d planned to stick to submissions from writers he knew and trusted. But then a listing for Fomite popped up on an online writer’s resource, bringing a flood of unsolicited manuscripts. Soon “we had discovered really interesting manuscripts from as far away as Bulgaria.”
HOW DO YOU FIND SUBMISSIONS?
HOW MANY DID YOU RECEIVE THIS YEAR?
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leader at a Bread Loaf conference, Castle Freeman Jr. and Chris Bohjalian. Another category might be the craft interview; certain writers I’ve interviewed are also teachers. They’re just very good about getting the point across. Sue William Silverman’s book Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir is full of good craft information. Natasha Sajé is a poet — I’m not a poet, so part of what I liked about that interview is learning so much about form in poetry. David Jauss is another one who’s just a wonderful teacher. Third category is the well-known writer whose time is in great demand, who
WINTER READING
SD: What are some of the most memorable interviews you’ve had? SCS: That’s hard to narrow down — my favorites fall into three categories. Local authors whom I’d long wanted to meet — Julia Alvarez, who had been a workshop
WRITING ON THE RADIO
» P.43
FEATURE 41
SEVEN DAYS: How did “Write the Book” get started? SHELAGH CONNOR SHAPIRO: I was volunteering at Vermont Public Radio, doing stuff for them in their marketing
department. Cheryl Willoughby, a friend of mine, had a music show on the radio. I realized they were taking submissions of ideas, so I submitted an idea of a show that would be for writers and readers who wanted to know more about the writing process. My first guest was David Huddle, who is such a lovely gentleman to talk to, and it went from there. People are very open to being asked to be on the show.
SEVEN DAYS
town is flooded with concert revelers. And then the dead body of a young woman is found. Shapiro is also the host of 105.9 FM the Radiator’s “Write the Book,” a show for writers and those interested in books and writing. Since 2008, she’s done about 250 shows; recent guests include novelist Meg Wolitzer and National Book Award winner (and fellow VCFA grad) Jacqueline Woodson. After years of interviewing novelists and poets, Shapiro spent some time on the other side, talking with Seven Days.
12.17.14-12.24.14
W
hen Phish announced their imminent breakup in 2004, Shelagh Connor Shapiro found a novel-worthy idea. The short-story author and MFA graduate from Vermont College of Fine Arts says she read an article about a Vermont farmer who decided not to plant all of his crops that year because he thought he could make more money per acre by opening his land to camping Phish fans. Shapiro, who lives in the Burlington area, spent a few years thinking and six writing, and that idea became the core of her first novel, Shape of the Sky, published this fall. In it, residents of the fictional town of Resolute, Vt., somewhat reluctantly host a jam-band festival. The complicated past and present conflicts of Resolute’s residents resurface as their tiny
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Writing on the Radio « P.41
makes himself or herself available for the full show. People like Ann Patchett, Roxana Robinson, Tracy Chevalier, Anita Diamant are really wonderful, generous people who gave me a full show to talk about writing. Those are very wonderful memories. SD: Shape of the Sky is your first published novel. How has becoming a published novelist changed how you approach and relate to those you interview? SCS: I think that I have a lot more understanding of what they’re going through as far as getting through their book tour and trying to get their work out there [and] recognized. Writers are much more responsible for getting their own work out — we have to more actively sell ourselves than we used to. I sometimes talk more about that with writers because that might not be a part of their natural makeup, not what you expected when you signed up for writing. I like talking about the creative process and working on the next project.
the truth of this character’s situation and life. SHE l AGH c o NNo R SH AP IR o
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SD: You’ve interviewed many authors from Vermont and New England, and 8v-marilyns121714.indd 1 12/11/14 12:35 PM The Original Shape of the Sky takes place in rural Vermont. What, or who, excites you in terms of literature coming out of this state? SCS: Jennifer McMahon had a great book called The Winter People, which was really Est. 1978 creepy. I like scary stories — there aren’t many for adults. Megan Mayhew Bergman: I think her work is fantastic, just amazing. Julia Alvarez — I will read anything she writes about. Howard Frank Mosher — his work is grounding, very Vermont oriented; it just makes me feel the state so fully. Castle 8016 Williston Road, Williston Freeman — he’s funny in a kind of dry way 802-662-4932 that’s always enjoyable. He’s got a great sense of humor. There’s a poet named Daniel www.lezot.com Lusk; I really love his work. John Irving, Sydney Lea, Jay Parini — he has a new • In house repairs for 36 years nonfiction, historical biography of Jesus. • Selling new & used equipment David Budbill’s poetry is very evocative. I’d add Thomas Christopher Greene’s • Photo Restoration The Headmaster’s Wife, Malisa Garlieb’s Handing Out Apples in Eden, and Jessica • Digitizing Photos & Slides Hendry Nelson’s If Only You People Would Follow Directions to my list of excellent “We pay top $ for used recent Vermont reads. There are so many digital equipment” of them — I’m having trouble coming up with who they all are. m
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FEATURE 43
SD: Vermont is home to a number of smaller presses, such as Green Writers Press, chelsea Green Publishing and Wind Ridge Books, which published Shape of the Sky. You’ve discussed on your show how you were not able to get your first two novels published. What’s your take on self-publishing, smaller presses and the struggle for writers to get published? SCS: It’s funny, because I feel like it’s changing so fast. I think it’s wonderful that writers have the opportunity to selfpublish without the stigma that there used to be. There are some beautiful self-published books. I was weighing my options when Wind Ridge offered to publish my book. I think small presses offer great services — editing — but small presses suffer; they are definitely having to figure out how they are going to survive in this big market, and so are big presses, for that matter. Locally, there are fantastic services for people who want to self-publish; people want to guide you. [Writers] think that they’ve done an adequate job of editing their book, but if you don’t have at least one unbiased person look at your book, you’re really not doing it justice. You need someone to let you know if it’s ready — it might not be ready yet.
SD: Every week, you give a writing prompt that listeners can incorporate into their writing practice. Which prompts have been the most fruitful for you, or for a writer you know? SCS: Writing prompts that work best for me tend to be the ones that personalize a specific image, like Write about the kitchen in the house where you grew up. You might not be thinking about that kitchen every day — but because you’ve been given that specific prompt, it makes for richer writing. A couple people wrote in about the prompt that Sue William Silverman gave — I believe it was a prompt where you take a photograph, and you write about the story that might be going on in that photo, and then write about the story that might be going on outside of that photo.
’s Holi Marilyn
12.17.14-12.24.14
SD: one of the most engaging story lines in your novel is that of christine Wheeler, who survives rape and incest by running away from home as a teenager. Decades later, she is still suffering from trauma and fear, which you show in her story. How did you approach writing about rape and its lingering effects? SCS: I think, no matter what I’m writing, what I really try to focus on is the truth of this character’s situation and life. It might be that I’m writing about an interaction between a mother and child, a robbery or something violent; in any setting, I try to be honest. I didn’t want to dodge anything with Christine Wheeler — obviously, I wanted to pay respect [to] what she’s
no matter what I’m wrItIng, what I really try to focus on Is
SD: What does your writing practice look like? SCS: I’m not always a daily writer, though I have been writing every day for National Novel Writing Month in November. That has felt really great, even though I’m not going to be finishing a novel in a month, nor would I want to. Right now I’m working on something that I’ve started four times with four settings and four people. My next project should be out promptly in six years, if I keep up my norm. Trying like mad to write faster, but it doesn’t seem to be my speed.
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SD: You use a close third-person narrator who focuses on a different character in each chapter. How do you think that narrative choice affects how readers empathize with the characters? SCS: One thing about the way that it’s done is that they all sort of lean on each other — they interrelate. Part of the reason I did that was because I wanted to create a picture of a whole town; the town becomes sort of a character itself. I used the key of fifths [to] divide the chapters by key signatures, which have a major chord and a corresponding minor chord. Each of the major third-person characters has another person who shows up in their chapters — the minor chord of the major chord. I was pleased that to some extent I was letting the structure go where it went. My hope is that the reader will see something unique in each character and will come to relate to them differently.
been through. At the same time, she’s come through it, [though] there’s sadness in her life, the way that she’s living her life now; she’s chosen a certain kind of independence. There’s definite fallout in her life, but she’s a stronger person than she realizes. I wrote about the rape from the perspective of her already coming through it. It’s a scene of memory instead of an active scene, so it’s not as graphic as it would have been if there were that immediacy. I didn’t want to allude to it subtly, though, because I didn’t think that would afford her the respect that she, or people who have been through her situation, [deserve].
Ust… O Y T ’ ions N O D sugge Y t if H g y W da
12/5/14 11:27 AM
Saving Graces
Book review: Nothing Saved Us: Poems of the Korean War by Tamra J. Higgins B Y JUL I A SHIPL EY
O
K, sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. And in the case of Nothing Saved Us: Poems of the Korean War by Tamra J. Higgins, you should. Its black-and-white cover photo shows U.S. soldiers, rifles slung over their shoulders, headed into the hills, and Korean refugees, their possessions balanced on their heads, headed out. That contrast is a perfect synopsis of the book’s simple, devastating structure and content. Higgins’ debut collection starts with a series of narrative poems about an American going to war that pace single file into the heart of the book. They portray an Iowa farm boy through his training and deployment in the Korean War, followed by his injuries and homecoming. In an apt counterpoint, the book ends with a refugee mother’s testimony delivered in a series of sijos, a Korean poetic form. Higgins is president of the Poetry Society of Vermont and founder of Sundog Poetry Center in Jeffersonville. Her meticulously executed book was born out of two years of interviews she conducted with her father, Wayne L. Case, who served in the Marines in Korea from 1952 to 1953. Through threequarters of the collection’s 21 poems, the voice of Higgins’ father, Private First Class Case, dominates the narrative, his unmistakable vernacular clicking like bullets into the stanza’s chambers. For instance, the young man’s voice relates: “Jackson ended up getting hit through the elbow up to the shoulder, but those bullets never bit his bone. Happy with his great big scar, he knew it was worth free beer back home.” The above is part of the volume’s “War Games,” numbered prose poems trimmed with sly rhymes — as in “One Marine was given the choice of Pendleton or prison. Maybe that was why he always grabbed his gun and sprayed the room for fun.” These anecdotes pop up in groups, interspersed with pages of orderly verse, perhaps simulating the way chaos and shenanigans interrupted the rank and file of a GI’s life. While these stories could be almost any war’s stories, the voice belongs
exclusively to a farm-bred kid, one used to rearing and slaughtering. Hence the matter-of-fact treatment of death and dismemberment in “Sandbag (July 4, 1952)”: “We slogged along all afternoon until / from in the earth I heard Frank’s flood of curses. / I wondered if he’d chopped through his own foot. / It wasn’t that. He’d only been surprised: / a hand that he’d dredged up laid at his feet. / One of ours, or one of theirs? It didn’t matter.” The disembodied hand in this poem (ours? theirs?) becomes an emblem of all those who “have a hand” in this book — or a voice. They go beyond Wayne Case and his daughter, who has done the grunt work of turning her father’s testimony into verse. The reader also encounters other “contributors” to the war narrative, such as a platoon of men out on patrol. At last, toward the book’s end, we hear and bear witness to the perspective of one whose country has been torn apart. In her final pages, Higgins channels the voice of a Korean widow who is moving through her broken memory and shattered country. Over the course of 26 stanzas, the unnamed female narrator describes leaving her home, surviving in a refugee camp and immigrating as a bride to the United States. Compared with the straightforward, laconic voice of Private Case, this voice is more delicate: “Where is Father? Where are you, Grandmother? / Fifty years without a word; / you do not know daughters; sons have grown / while armistice hangs on. / Land mines hide behind a line. Barbed wire / still punctures the view of you.” Higgins’ verse bravely faces the danger inherent in speaking for other people as she reaches for a way that isn’t a contrivance or an appropriation. Though the poems told from the widow’s point of view aren’t as familial as those portions containing Higgins’ father’s testimony, they offer readers a beautiful, necessary countervalence to the soldier’s story, and thus complete the circle of experience, impact and loss. Articulated throughout the book, this sense of war as a shared sorrow and scar is embodied in its title. Initially, Nothing
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NOTHING SAVED US We perched high on a hill like kings, sure, but more like cattle on the killing floor, watching North Koreans dig their trenches in the slaughterhouse of night until they tried to gore us with a grenade at o-three-hundred hours. We had settled round an invisible circumference, where a campfire might have been under different circumstances; but only emptiness was sitting there between us when the shell dropped in. After splitting, spitting shards to nail us on our guard, the word went down the line: Frank— you there? Becenti— how bout you? Thirteen of us, and thirteen voices laughing softly at our luck; not one of us was hit by that branding centerpiece. For fifty years, I’ve thought of it.
Saved Us may seem like a smart retort to all those book titles professing to introduce us to things that will save or improve us (e.g., The Town That Food Saved, How Proust Can Change Your Life). Life But Higgins’ “nothing” is a palpable absence and a repeating motif in the collection. We see it in the clever plan a soldier makes that “the other men grabbed / hold of, having nothing // else to wrap their arms / around” (“Conveyance”). We see that “nothing” again in the discharged veteran’s phantom limb, and in his expulsion from jobs and homes: “‘What! Lost your job again?’ she said; and cried /...while at the door, eviction hissed.” (“Purple Heart Recipient”). In the title poem (see sidebar), “nothing” has a deeper, ironic meaning: It’s actually a something, the hollow core of the circle that the soldiers have formed on a hilltop. In this naked place, a North Korean grenade lands, miraculously sparing all the men wreathed around it. Higgins’ collection embraces both the havoc and the humanity of her father’s experience of the armed services. What she offers her readers is an act of listening to another person not just adequately but eloquently. The full text of Nothing Saved Us, which Whittier College in California is using as a text for a Documentary Poetry course, includes a spectrum of supplemental material not usually found in a book of poetry. Bringing the war home to those who may be less familiar with it, Higgins has included black-and-white photographs (drawn from both her family’s collection and the Associated Press), a glossary of terms, an extensive reference section for further reading, a generously orienting preface and historical endnotes. Finally, she provides an introduction to the sijo, a traditional Korean form of poetry that could be seen as an elaborate cousin to the better-known haiku. Giving voice to the opposing perspectives of citizens from two countries, with this slender, ambitious volume Higgins begins another form of armistice.
INFO Nothing Saved Us: Poems of the Korean War by Tamra J. Higgins, SunRidge Poetry, 94 pages. $15.95.
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Restaurant With Rooms A worldly chef cooks up a new Woodstock dining experience
Mara Mehlman and Jevgenija Saromova
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he following story requires a disclaimer: The dishes described therein will probably never exist again. I ate them and they are gone. Chef Jevgenija Saromova has since moved on to new creations. And that’s one of the reasons to love the remade Lincoln Inn & Restaurant at the Covered Bridge in Woodstock. An artist in heart and temperament, Saromova says she would be bored if she didn’t overhaul her menu every single day. Alas for those diners who will never enjoy, as I did, the pile of pulled-duck confit and fork-tender smoked breast served with an artfully layered press of paper-thin apple and celeriac. Nor will they experience an earthy cake of lentils and barley that whisper of Saromova’s Latvian origin, contrasted with a sweet plate full of blackberries and a wreath of shaved plum. But future diners at the Lincoln Inn have a consolation: They’ll get to eat whatever strikes Saromova’s fancy next. Saromova arrived in Vermont from England this past September 11. Sixteen days later, she and innkeeper Mara Mehlman opened the restaurant at the Lincoln Inn, formerly home to Mangowood Restaurant. Their concept is new to Vermont: “In England, it’s called a ‘restaurant with rooms,’” explains Mehlman. “They’re award-winning boutique places with Michelin-starred restaurants. People go to stay there for the food.” Saromova is well versed in that English restaurant model: She has been sous-chef at the Michelin-starred Yorke Arms in Yorkshire, which bills itself as “one of the UK’s leading Restaurant with Rooms.” Her first executive chef position brought her to another restaurant on the same model — No. 5 Restaurant at North Yorkshire’s Grassington House Hotel — which she left to join Mehlman in Woodstock. Before landing in the UK, Saromova cooked in her native Latvia, as well as in Italy and southern France. Her dinners have a classic French bent both in technique and formality. At the Lincoln Inn,
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meals are five-course prix-fixes, a relative bargain at $55. There is only one seating, at 7 p.m. Though the restaurant can seat 63 people, Saromova insisted that she serve no more than 26 each night, to guarantee the perfection of every plate. “I want everybody getting their plates together. Maybe even talking with other people about the experience they’re getting,” the chef elucidates. While diners get cozy, Saromova chooses to work alone in the inn’s large kitchen. Guests can heighten their camaraderie with a predinner stop in the inn’s front tavern, styled to look like a spot where the Green Mountain Boys would have been comfortable throwing back a few. By contrast, the gilded dining room would probably just have made the Allen boys uncomfortable. Ethan and Ira might have been nonplussed by the amuse-bouche served at the dinner I attended, too. Instead of the single bite one might expect, each diner received a piece of pressed terrine striped with slices of tomato, red beet and fresh basil, accompanied by a barely sweet scoop of basil ice cream. It was a taste of summer that paired strangely with the snowy view outside, but was no less refreshing for that. The amuse-bouche was a deviation from Saromova’s usual pattern of using only the freshest seasonal ingredients. She does everything from scratch, including taking apart whole squashes instead of buying the precut pieces her supplier suggests. Two different petite dinner rolls emerge from her oven each night, served with melty, homemade compound butters. The night I dined at the inn, chive butter made the warm rolls — one wheat, one white — taste like steak frites. In England, Saromova recalls, “Somebody would knock on the door of the kitchen and bring me pheasant or rabbit that’s still warm.” It’s been a challenge to find game suppliers in the Upper RESTAURANT WITH ROOMS
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In 1912, the American Woolen Company’s fourth Winooski factory opened in the building now known as the Champlain Mill. France, Germany, Poland and Lebanon were just a few of the countries represented by the immigrants who labored at its machines. Now, the faces of those workers are back at the mill in the form of stark, wall-size photos, reminding guests at WAtErWorKS fooD + DriNK of the history behind the brick interior overlooking Winooski Falls. Waterworks Food + Drink
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Soft openings will begin late this week for the new restaurant owned by pizzEriA VErità co-owner DAViD ABDoo. Fellow Verità co-owner lESliE WEllS, who’s been consulting on the opening, is not the only big name to join Abdoo at his nearly 200-seat restaurant. Manager duties will be shared by former Verità floor manager SArAh JohNSoN and DAViD loGAN, the genial host at recently closed Logan’s of Vermont. Former Sky Burgers owner SKY KENNEY will help manage the kitchen with chef SErGJio ShANtoJA. The international menu is still being refined, but Abdoo plans something for every palate. Lamb meatballs offer a suggestion of the owner’s Lebanese heritage, while Verità fans will be happy to know that the wood-fired oven will turn out flatbreads. Other offerings include shared plates, among them a mussel dish that Abdoo calls one of his favorites. Bartender SAm NEliS, another Verità import, took inspiration from the venue to create two cocktail menus. The “tried and true” drinks are historical classics, including an 1830s-era Sherry Cobbler. Waterworks originals, including the Dye House and Bobbin of Roses, are named for elements of the mill. The Smoking Loom combines Del Maguey crema de mezcal, cumin-scented kümmel, cava rosé, quince, lime and rosemary. They’re joined by 13 beers on tap and four or five draught wines. Diners looking for a spot by the window are less likely than ever to be disappointed. Abdoo has added new seating near the water, and the second floor affords guests a view of the whole restaurant — plus the rapids. In summer, a garage door will open to create even more seating outdoors. Other plans for the future? Once dinner is under control, Waterworks will serve lunch and weekend brunch.
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After a week of closure for renovations, ArVAD’S Grill AND puB reopened in Waterbury with a fresh new look — and changes to the menu. The restaurant is in the midst of celebrating its 25th anniversary on Main Street. Though the restaurant has evolved over the years, JEffrEY lArKiN, who co-owns it with his wife, mArYANNE, says this is the most significant update in decades. The $40,000 renovation encompasses new paint, a redone bar area and small tweaks in the dining room. On the menu, chef JuStiN DorNEY has continued the Arvad’s tradition of sourcing locally, but he’s shifted the focus from pub fare to the grill. The restaurant now
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Burlington’s Old North End will welcome its longawaited neighborhood pub, Butch + BABE’S, on January 2. Owner KortNEE BuSh describes her plan for the 45-seat restaurant at 258 North Winooski Avenue: “Our approach is really just serving simple cuisine representing my roots, [chef ] NAriN [phANthAKhot]’s roots and various communities in the Old North End.” She’s all about “using really high-quality ingredients and sticking to a really affordable price point,” she adds. Bush’s approach to combining cuisines of very different origin is best seen in a dish called Jintana’s Chicken. The miStY KNoll fArmS fowl will be prepared in the style of Phanthakhot’s Thai mother, the Jintana in question. Rather than serving the chicken with Thai sides, Bush will pair it with the Eastern European friedpotato dumplings that her family has sold in Chicago for nearly half a century. The braised greens alongside will be in the Somali style of two of the restaurant’s cooks. “People are going to vote with their forks, but I really hope that becomes our signature dish,” Bush confides.
Other dishes are similarly eclectic. Entrées include a Chicago-style hot dog, kimchi pork patties with Asian slaw and a local-beef burger served on focaccia from neighbor BArrio BAKErY. Desserts will also span the globe, with options ranging from pudding pops to cookies to Somali beignets called kac kac. No matter where guests came from, the new restaurant is sure to supply a taste of home.
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Valley, but Saromova has established relationships with local meat farmers so she can meet and inspect their animals GYROS • PANINI • SALADS before slaughter. FALAFEL • BAKLAVA Saromova is still debating whether she’ll raise her own chickens for the resBOSNIAN GRILLED SPECIALTIES taurant, but she has definite plans to build ESPRESSO DRINKS • BEER & WINE a greenhouse and start plants there when the snow melts. In addition to basic herbs New Baklava Flavors: and greens, the chef envisions stocking NUTELLA & MAPLE her garden with unusual veggies. “I don’t like the big [American] cucumbers,” she 17 Park St • Essex Jct. • 878-9333 complains. “They’re not tasteful. The cuDINE IN OR TAKE OUT cumbers from Russia, from Latvia, they’re Tu-Th 11-8 • F & S 11-9 • Closed Sun & Mon small and just full of taste.” Full menu www.cafemediterano.com And in Saromova’s oeuvre, taste is of 112 Lake Street • Burlington No need to travel to Montréal, Boston or the essence. When I sampled her fare, www.sansaivt.com even Europe... we’re just minutes away! one appetizer featured a pair each of chunks of tender lobster and seared scallops, both served over little yellow kerGive the gift with 12v-cafemeditarano111914.indd 1 of local food 11/13/14 12v-SanSai010913.indd 12:58 the PM 1 1/7/13 2:08 PM nels. At first glance, these appeared to be corn, but once in my mouth, they proved to be a brunoise of mango and pineapple that burst with juice. Atop the buttery seafood, candied lemon peel added another dimension of sweet-and-sour pop. This was Saromova’s paean to the sea. On the same plate, a fricassee of rabbit and wild mushrooms was served
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sarah priestap
Roasted rack of lamb
in a puff-pastry shell, all dark earth and cream in a buttery frame. The dishes could hardly have been more different, but what united them was Saromova’s love affair with big flavor. “When I think about a new dish, what I have is all the flavor in my mouth, when I’m creating something and when I’m drawing it on a piece of paper,” Saromova explains. “I feel all of that in my mouth — how it’s going to blend together and what flavors I’m going to get out of the plate.” Saromova recalls that when she combined duck and monkfish in foie gras vinaigrette one night, Mehlman was convinced it was a bad idea. Until she tasted it, that is. The chef says that steering clear of flavor risks would be stultifying to her. When she and Mehlman recently dined at one upscale Woodstock landmark, Saromova was horrified to see both her meat plate and Mehlman’s fish dinner served with the same sides of green beans and mashed potatoes. “I’m looking at this plate and I’m asking, ‘Why is it so boring?’” she says. Even when cooking highly traditional recipes, Saromova takes pains to keep
sarah priestap
food Rabbit and foie gras terrine with seared scallops
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things interesting. Her filet of cod à la Viennoise was seared and served over spinach and under an ultrafine mushroom duxelles and herbed bread, which looked more like an omelet than the traditional crumb topping. But this was more than a flashy fish dish. Presented in a complex, creamy lie de vin sauce with a wash of Burgundy, the cod came surrounded by an arrangement of textbook tournéed potatoes and zucchini slices. Each of the latter slabs held a pile of agrodolce red peppers and a single crisp length of asparagus. There was unquestionably a lot going on, but in this case, “a lot” was just the right amount. Had a single ingredient been selectively reduced, the dish would have lost some of its impact. This Woodstock revolution almost didn’t happen. Mehlman, a native of Los Angeles, had dreamed of opening an inn in New England ever since she took a spur-of-the-moment bike trip to the picturesque town in 2007. But despite their civil partnership in England, Saromova couldn’t come to the U.S. as her spouse until the Defense of Marriage Act was overturned in 2013. “We were waiting year after year for the end of DOMA to happen,” Mehlman says. After it did, Mehlman embarked on a fruitless real estate search through New Hampshire that ended in a quick side trip to the Lincoln Inn. She fell in love with the circa-1875 lodging. Though it was a little pricier than she’d hoped, she bought the inn and moved to Woodstock in April. Saromova joined her
in September, and the pair, now moms to two whippet puppies, were legally wed on October 17. Mehlman admits that negotiating immigration laws has been daunting. But living in Vermont is an unexpected development that still feels dreamlike to the West Coast girl. “Right now I’m looking out the window at the [Ottauquechee] river and hills, and everything is covered in beautiful white snow. I say, ‘Is this real, or am I gonna wake up?’” she says wistfully. The love story that crossed continents has a sweet ending, and dessert at the Lincoln Inn offers many more of them. A puckery round of passionfruit cream filled my dessert plate, haloed with daintily cut diamonds of gelée made from mandarin oranges that Saromova squeezed by hand. To one side, a rectangular flurry of powdered sugar created an impression of sun hitting snow. The brightness might have been blinding if not for a little contrast: a pair of cigarshaped sesame cannelloni filled with mild citrus cream. No, that dinner will never happen again — but food is, after all, ephemeral by nature. Happily for future diners at the Lincoln Inn, Saromova and Mehlman’s passion for creating a one-of-a-kind experience is anything but. m
Atop the buttery seAfood, cAndied lemon peel Added
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Druidic Dream Wassailing with the trees in a Vermont “grove”
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s a reporter approaches Dreamland, the forest thickens. The boughs of tall softwoods are heavy with snow and ice from the week’s winter storms; the trees seem to lean in as the road narrows. After about a mile on a dirt road some seven miles north of Montpelier, tracks indicate a plow truck has stopped, turned around and retreated, after clearing a small pull-off cut into the hillside. From this point on, the journey continues on foot, but it’s not far. The home base of the Green Mountain Druid Order, known as Dreamland, is also home to Order founders Ivan McBeth and Fearn Lickfield. From the pull-off, it’s a fiveminute walk, even when the path is covered in a foot of snow. The woods are silent but for the sound of ice cracking and falling off the branches; the quiet is a welcome respite from the holiday bustle in Montpelier and the chaos of the ongoing winter storm. The Druids, I’ll soon learn, embrace this insular calm at midwinter. Still, they find plenty to celebrate during the season of short days. The celebrations inevitably involve feasting — and drinking. But unlike many revelers this time of year, Druids tend to take the festivities outside. Sometimes they even toast the trees, as an honor to the harvest. McBeth and Lickfield founded the Green Mountain order in 2006; it’s now about 60 Druids strong. The 70 mostly wooded acres that the couple shares serve as T3294_R&D a spiritual and educational1 Ad_SevenDays_Final.pdf
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center that offers classes, workshops and ceremonies for Druid study. The Order’s website describes Druidry as an “ancient and evolving path.” Lickfield and McBeth maintain that the tradition is nondogmatic and highly individual, essentially a process of integration with the natural world and the beings who populate it. Though the original Druids and their traditions disappeared from England back in the Iron Age, today’s Druid communities — or “groves,” as they call themselves — are not only interested in forging connections among humans and between humans and nature. They’re also hoping to engender peace, both within and without. McBeth, 62, who hails from the UK, is an imposing figure, broad shouldered and standing well over six feet. For all his brawn, he’s lighthearted and laughs easily. Today he’s wearing leopard-print fleece pajamas and slippers, and his white hair falls in curls around his face. McBeth says he was always drawn to nature. When a previous love introduced him to the local Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, he was impressed. Wow, what an amazing bunch of people, he recalls thinking. Over the decades since, he has helped build dozens of megalithicstyle stone circles around the world, including one at Dreamland and another,
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which functions as an “Earth clock,” in “The whole idea is that you are basiBurlington’s Oakledge Park. cally feeding the spirits,” Lickfield says. Those circles are considered sacred “It’s also protecting the tree from evil spaces and can be used for ceremonies, spirits that might cause disease or infecbut McBeth is quick to note that Druidic tion or parasites. It’s honoring that from practice means different things to dif- which we get our food.” Lickfield says the apple tree, as a proferent people. “There’s no dogma in Druidry,” he says, “so you can believe vider of nourishment, is sacred in the what you like, as long as you don’t hurt Druid tradition. “So ‘wassail’ means good health,” anyone. Some people believe in gods, some goddesses, some gods and god- she says, pouring three glasses of homedesses, some nothing. Whatever it is, made elderberry mead from a recycled it doesn’t matter. [Druidry] has every- Jack Daniel’s bottle. “Actually, the word thing to do with behavior and how you ‘toasting’ comes from the wassail tradition,” Lickfield continues. connect: how you connect “You have your warm, alcowith nature and your fellow holic, spicy beverage, and human beings.” you float toast — actual toast Lickfield, 44, says agri— on top.” culture led her to Druidry. “I McBeth leans forward was an organic farmer, and as she hands him the drink I was very tuned into the and smiles. “There’s another seasons and the cycles of the story as well,” he says. “That year,” she says. “I wanted to ‘Wassail!’ is what Druids celebrate that: the planting shriek just before they fall season, the harvest season. down in inebriation, when Also, tuning into the spirit of they’re in the frenzy of celthe land and the plants.” She ebrating. They go ‘Wassail!’ was practicing Wicca when And they collapse.” He falls she met McBeth, but says the back in his chair with a laugh. Wiccan traditions didn’t feel “That’s the Ivan version,” FEArN quite right for her. As she LickFi ELD Lickfield says. With that, we learned more about Druidry, raise our glasses for a cheer. it did. “Wassail!” we say, laughing. Though the Druid tradition isn’t The drink is spicy, lightly bitter overtly food oriented, the connection and sweet, with notes of cherry — in a between the land and the food we eat is word, merry. The elderberries impart a undeniable. Lickfield and McBeth keep gardens, forage edible and medicinal fruity overtone, and it drinks like a glass plants and mushrooms, and brew their of warming, sweet wine infused with spices. own alcoholic beverages. “This would be good warm,” Lickfield On this day, we sit in their round, off-the-grid house, gazing out windows says, clasping the glass in her hands. The honey for the mead comes from south and east, over the stone circle and Druid neighbors at nearby Bee Haven a tall evergreen forest that gives way to a Honey Farm. The elderberries also grow rolling ridgeline. Just outside the circle stands an apple tree — the largest fruit locally; McBeth says they have a friend with a beautiful grove of elder. “When tree on the property. Later this season, Lickfield says, it’s ready, he phones us up, and we go she’ll offer the tree a ritual blessing. in with buckets and pull loads out,” he In ancient English tradition, “wassail- says. “It’s just full of berries hanging and ing” described a ceremony performed waiting to be picked.” Folklore surrounds the elder, in apple-growing regions such as Lickfield notes. “It’s considered a plant Herefordshire and Devonshire — where cider was a staple beverage — to ensure of the faeries. There are stories about a healthy fruit harvest the following fall. how if you fall asleep under an elder Lickfield says that several Druids in bush you’ll get transported to another her grove practice the wassail annually, world. And this strong female spirit and she plans to invoke the tradition at called Eldemore,” she adds. “She is the Dreamland this winter. She and McBeth spirit of that tree. If you cut down that will mull a beverage with warming tree without asking her permission, you spices, apples and sugar; gather a group get in trouble. There are some pretty together; and surround the sacred tree. interesting stories there.” The elder harbors potent medicinal They’ll pass the warm drink, sip it, qualities: It’s been known for centuries splash some on the tree’s roots, soak a to help with cold and flu symptoms. Its bit of toast in the liquid and place it on flowers are as medicinal as the fruit. the tree, and end the ritual with a gleeful
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Winter solstice ceremony at Oakledge Park
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hannah palmer egan
“It’s an extraordinary healing plant, elder,” McBeth says. The drink warms belly and spirit on a cold, dark day. Outside, the sky is a rippled gray expanse leaking frozen drizzle over everything. It’s early afternoon, but the sun, lost behind a nimbus veil, has already crested the horizon; dusk will soon fall. Such are the days leading into the winter solstice. “It’s the longest night [of the year], the pivotal point of darkness,” Lickfield says. “Our society is very scared of the dark, but we [Druids] really celebrate it. “Solstice actually means pausing of the sun,” she continues. “If you look at the horizon and how, over the course of the year, the sun moves along the hori12v-ottercreek121714.indd 1 12/11/14 4:52 PM zon — where it sets and rises — for about three days at solstice, it looks like it’s just hanging out. It’s not moving in one direction or the other.” For Druids, Lickfield says, it’s a time for turning inward and pausing — “going into our own darkness to find out what’s there,” she says. If that means facing one’s inner demons, it’s also about discovering a glimmer of light. * Offer expires 12/24/14 “The winter solstice is a real time of hope and optimism,” McBeth says. Free Lunchtime Delivery! “Even though things look a bit gloomy, (11:30am-2pm/within 3 miles) there’s that spark that’s only going to grow from now on.” McBeth and Lickfield see winter as a time to slow down, take stock of the year that was, and integrate those insights 161 Church Street, Burlington with hopes and visions for the year that 802.448.3215 will be.
Before he married, McBeth says, he would retreat to a cave for weeks at midwinter. “There’s something special about being in a place that is surrounded by earth or rock,” he says. “It’s very peaceful and cleansing. I really had a problem with the franticness and the manicness during a time that I believe should be silent and peaceful.” On Sunday, December 21, McBeth and Lickfield will host their annual winter solstice ceremony at the circle in Oakledge Park. Each year, dozens of people take part, and not just Druids. “Our ceremonies are very participatory,” McBeth says. “We get people joining in, dancing and taking part. Helping light the fire, singing together, whatever it is.” Afterward, the Druids will retire to a potluck feast at one of their Burlington
members’ houses. “We eat very well, actually,” McBeth says. Lickfield says the modern Druid food tradition aligns well with locavorism: “It’s about working with what’s fresh, what’s available, what’s local and seasonal.” “There’s a definite richness about it,” McBeth says, “and loads of desserts.” After the feast, the Druids will take their leave, going their ways in the cold, quiet darkness of winter’s longest night. m Contact: hannah@sevendaysvt.com
INFo The green mountain Druid Order will host its annual Winter solstice ceremony on sunday, December 21, 4 p.m., at the Burlington earth clock at Oakledge park. greenmountaindruidorder.org
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Help us celebrate our 5th year of employeeownership. Visit one of our Garden Centers on Sunday, December 21st and enjoy a free slice of local pie! It’s an annual solstice tradition!
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This Thursday, St. Albans’ 14th StAr BrEwiNg is taking the plunge — into cans. Using the
mobile iroN hEArt cANNiNg, owner StEVE gAgNEr and his brew crew will host a can-release party and food drive benefiting the VErmoNt FooDBANk at their new Main Street brewery. Visitors must bring at least one nonperishable food item to be admitted. Once inside, they’ll find the firstever cans of 14th Star’s Tribute Double IPA and Maple Breakfast Stout, and a limited number of Gallantry pale ale cans, in addition to the brewery’s usual growler fills. Beer fans who can’t make the release party, fear not: The brewery will ship
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offers a variety of steaks, including tenderloin, filets and ribeyes, in addition to its beloved BoYDEN FArm burger, which is now available with a bottomless side of hand-cut fries. At the bar, bartenders are now pouring 100 percent Vermont craft brews and mixing specialty cocktails with Vermontmade spirits. Larkin says the restaurant will host a grand opening celebration on January 15.
Need some tunes with your late-night maki? Starting this week, Burlington’s BENto will serve sushi until 2 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, accompanied by music and drinks. Co-owner chriS ruSSo has added a back room to house both more seating and space for bands and DJs. On Thursdays, Russo will spin classic vinyl under the moniker of DJ Bruce Ruce, and says he may break out the guitar for Johnny Cash covers. On Friday, he’ll welcome musicians to an open improvisation jam. On Saturday, hip-hop and reggae will be paired with sake and miso soup.
Season’s Greetings
calendar business
KELLEY MARKETING MEETING: Marketing, advertising, communications, social media and design professionals brainstorm ideas for local nonprofits over breakfast. Room 217, Ireland Building, Champlain College, Burlington, 7:45-9 a.m. Free. Info, 865-6495.
community
PEER SUPPORT CIRCLE: A confidential, welcoming space allows participants to converse freely without giving advice or solving problems. The Wellness Co-op, Burlington, 5-6 p.m. Free. Info, 777-8602.
crafts
KNITTERS & NEEDLEWORKERS: Crafters come together for creative fun. Burnham Memorial Library, Colchester, 6-8 p.m. Free. Info, 264-5660.
etc.
EMPOWERMENT GROUP SESSION: As part of their Sacred Arts of Tibet Tour, monks from Gaden Shartse Phukhang Monastery share their wisdom of Buddhist and Tibetan philosophies. The Vital Well, Middlebury, 6 p.m. $20. Info, 989-9992. ILLUMINATE THE LAKE: Visitors celebrate winter, animals and lights at this one-of-a-kind exhibit. See echovermont.org for details. ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center/Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Regular admission, $10.50-13.50; free for kids 2 and under. Info, 877-324-6386.
SEVEN DAYS
12.17.14-12.24.14
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TECH HELP WITH CLIF: Folks develop skill sets applicable to smartphones, tablets and more. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 1-3 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6955. TECHNOLOGY HELP: Library patrons tackle tech challenges with Middlebury College student Jen Wenzler. Ilsley Public Library, Middlebury, 1:15-4 p.m. Free. Info, 388-4095. VALLEY NIGHT FEATURING BRUCE ISAACSON: Locals gather for this weekly bash of craft ales, movies and live music. Big Picture Theater and Café, Waitsfield, 7 p.m. $5 suggested donation; $2 drafts. Info, 496-8994.
food & drink
COFFEE TASTING: Sips of Counter Culture Coffee varieties inspire side-by-side comparisons of different regional blends. Maglianero Café, Burlington, noon. Free. Info, 617-331-1276, corey@ maglianero.com.
2 0 1 4
WEDNESDAY WINE DOWN: Oenophiles get over the midweek hump with four different varietals and samples from Lake Champlain Chocolates, Cabot Creamery and other local food producers. Drink, Burlington, 4:30 p.m. $12. Info, 860-9463, melissashahady@vtdrink.com.
games
health & fitness
ACRO YOGA: Partner and group work taps into the therapeutic benefits of modified acrobatics. Yoga Mountain Center, Montpelier, 5:45-7 p.m. $15. Info, 324-1737. ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE WORKSHOP: Katie Back teaches ways to move correctly, so as to prevent injury and better perform daily activities. Community Room, Hunger Mountain Co-op, Montpelier, 5:30-7:30 p.m. $7-9; preregister. Info, 223-8000, ext. 202. CHAIR YOGA WITH JILL LANG: Yogis limber up with modified poses. Personal mat required. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 878-4918. INSIGHT MEDITATION: A supportive environment allows for a deeper understanding of Buddhist principles and practices. Wellspring Mental Health and Wellness Center, Hardwick, 5:30-7 p.m. Free. Info, 472-6694.
Friday, December 19, 7:30 p.m., at the 1906 House in Enosburg Falls. Free. Info, 7356511; Saturday, December 20, 7:30 p.m., at Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center in Stowe. $20-25. Info, 760-4634. sprucepeakarts.org
R.I.P.P.E.D.: Resistance, intervals, power, plyometrics, endurance and diet define this highintensity physical-fitness program. North End Studio A, Burlington, 6-7 p.m. $10. Info, 578-9243.
holidays
'A CHRISTMAS CAROL': An informal reading of Charles Dickens' 1868 holiday classic delights folks young and old. Bradford Public Library, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 222-4536. 'A CHRISTMAS CAROL': Miserly Mr. Scrooge gets unexpected Christmas Eve visitors in Northern Stage's adaptation of Charles Dickens' tale. Briggs Opera House, White River Junction, 7:30 p.m. $2055. Info, 296-7000. TEAVANA TEA PARTY: Tykes join Santa for games, crafts, treats and more. Burlington Town Center Mall, 6-8 p.m. Free. Info, 658-2545. VERMONT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA BRASS QUINTET FEATURING COUNTERPOINT: A blend of brass, voices and good cheer enlivens French Canadian carols in "Noël Canadien." United Church, Warren, 7:30 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 864-5741.
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HELIAND CONSORT
BRIDGE CLUB: Strategic thinkers have fun with the popular card game. Burlington Bridge Club, Williston, 9:15 a.m. $6 includes refreshments. Info, 651-0700.
COURTESY OF HEILAND CONSORT
WED.17
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If ever there’s a musical group poised to enliven short days and long nights, it’s Heliand Consort. The classical ensemble named after the Old Saxon word for healing power and helianthus, the scientific term for sunflower, presents “Music for a Winter Solstice.” Featuring French horn player Alan Parsley, a program for woodwind quintet pairs Renaissance-themed quintets with Scandinavian solstice songs and modern works by Paquito D’Rivera and Valerie Coleman. Closing out the evening, selections from Vermont composer Don Jamison portray the bright stars of winter skies — as a fitting send-off to audience members before they head out into the night.
CALENDAR EVENTS IN SEVEN DAYS:
LISTINGS AND SPOTLIGHTS ARE WRITTEN BY COURTNEY COPP. SEVEN DAYS EDITS FOR SPACE AND STYLE. DEPENDING ON COST AND OTHER FACTORS, CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS MAY BE LISTED IN EITHER THE CALENDAR OR THE CLASSES SECTION. WHEN APPROPRIATE, CLASS ORGANIZERS MAY BE ASKED TO PURCHASE A CLASS LISTING.
COURTESY OF SOLARIS VOCAL ENSEMBLE
D E C E M B E R
DEC.19 & 20 | MUSIC
DEC.20 & 21 | HOLIDAYS Feeling Festive Twenty-five members strong, the Solaris Vocal Ensemble is a testament to the power of the human voice. Dedicated to crafting a repertoire of choral music that spans time periods — think Renaissance a cappella selections alongside contemporary compositions — the Burlington-based group educates as it performs. In “Holiday Lights,” singers welcome the Inora Brass Quintet for a varied program that takes listeners on a journey around the world. Arranged for mixed voices and brass, a choral setting of the 14th-century macaronic In Dulci Jubilo complements international carols and Christmas spirituals for a memorable concert experience.
SOLARIS VOCAL ENSEMBLE Saturday, December 20, 7:30 p.m., at Waterbury Congregational Church; Sunday, December 21, 3 p.m., at McCarthy Arts Center, St. Michael’s College, in Colchester. $1520. Info, 863-5966. flynntix.org
COURTESY OF MOVING LIGHT DANCE COMPANY
Local Flavor
DEC.20 & 21 | DANCE
A Victorian parlor gets a Vermont makeover in the Green Mountain Nutcracker, Moving Light Dance Company’s twist on Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. More than 70 dancers from around the state bring local flair to this timeless tale featuring original choreography, eye-catching costumes and lavish sets. An ode to Vermont in all its winter glory, this eighth annual production travels to a fantastical world where the Maple Sugar Fairy rules the Land of the Sweets. Look out for unruly loggers and other colorful characters in this reimagined holiday classic.
‘GREEN MOUNTAIN NUTCRACKER’
DEC.18 | FILM
D
espite what its name suggests, Rich Hill, Mo., is marred by financial hardship. A former coal town 75 miles south of Kansas City, its population hovers around 1,000, amid closed storefronts and barren landscapes. Enter Andrew, Appachey and Harley, teenage boys who call this dot on the map home. The subjects of Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo’s documentary Rich Hill, their struggles paint a compelling portrait that Rolling Stone calls “a marvel of hardwon heartbreak.” Winner of the grand jury prize at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, this unflinching account examines the far-reaching effects of multigenerational poverty.
Saturday, December 20, 7 p.m., and Sunday, December 21, 2 p.m., at Barre Opera House. $14-28. Info, 476-8188. barreoperahouse.org
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‘RICH HILL’ Thursday, December 18, 7 p.m., at Main Street Landing Film House in Burlington. $5-8. Info, 660-2600. vtiff.org
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Ticketed Performances $5***
HigHgate Story Hour: Budding bookworms share read-aloud tales, wiggles and giggles with mrs. Liza. Highgate Public Library, 10 a.m. free. Info, 868-3970. meet rockin' ron tHe Friendly Pirate: Aargh, matey! youngsters channel the hooligans of the sea during music, games and activities. Buttered Noodles, williston, 10-10:45 a.m. free. Info, 764-1810.
(These shows require a ticket in addition to a button.)
Visit our mobile web site on your smart phone and build your personalized New Year’s Eve schedule at firstnightburlington.com! 3v-firstnight121714.indd 1
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daWn Paley: The journalist explores how finance and economics shape public policy in Drug War Capitalism. A discussion follows. fletcher free Library, Burlington, 5:30 p.m. free. Info, 863-2345. neW england ramBle dine & diScuSS: Readers join Ed Cashman for a shared meal and conversation about Kenneth Roberts' Marie Blythe. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 6-8 p.m. free; bring a dish inspired by the book. Info, 878-6955.
Social Hour at tHe generator: Like-minded locals network with Generator staff and learn about opportunities at the maker space. Local libations and holiday fare from ArtsRiot round out the evening. Generator, Burlington, 5:30-7:30 p.m. free; preregister; cash bar. Info, outreach@ generatorvt.com.
read to a dog: Lit lovers take advantage of quality time with a friendly, fuzzy therapy pooch. fairfax Community Library, 3:15-4:15 p.m. free; preregister for a time slot. Info, 849-2420. Story time & PlaygrouP: Engaging narratives pave the way for art, nature and cooking projects. Jaquith Public Library, marshfield, 10-11:30 a.m. free. Info, 426-3581. Story time For 3- to 5-year-oldS: Preschoolers stretch their reading skills through activities involving puppets and books. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 10-10:45 a.m. free. Info, 878-6956. World muSic cHoir: John Harrison leads vocalists in musical stylings from around the globe. see summit-school.org for details. union Elementary school, montpelier, 3:30-4:30 p.m. $10-15; preregister; limited space. Info, 917-1186.
engliSH aS a Second language claSS: Beginners better their vocabulary. Pickering Room, fletcher free Library, Burlington, 6:30-8:30 p.m. free. Info, 865-7211.
community
tlc nurSing aSSociateS Holiday oPen HouSe: folks learn about the organization's in-home services for people of all ages, physical conditions and cognitive abilities. tLC Nursing Associates, south Burlington, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. free; preregister. Info, 735-1123.
etc.
illuminate tHe lake: see wED.17. mount manSField Scale modelerS: Hobbyists break out the superglue and sweat the small stuff at a miniature construction skill swap. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 6:30-8:30 p.m. free. Info, 879-0765.
film
'PortraitS oF SuStainaBility': In a series of short films, Putney Central school students focus their lenses on locals whose work contributes to the sustainability of the community. Next stage Arts Project, Putney, 7 p.m. free. Info, 388-4964.
'ricH Hill': Andrew Droz Palermo and tracy Droz tragos' awardwinning documentary examines the effects of poverty on three f AN german-engliSH converSation teenagers living in a small missouri DR E wD grouP: Community members practice R o z PAL ER m o town. see calendar spotlight. film House, conversing auf Deutsch. Local History main street Landing Performing Arts Center, Room, fletcher free Library, Burlington, 6:30-8:30 Burlington, 7 p.m. $5-8; free for VtIff members. p.m. free. Info, 865-7211. Info, 660–2600. intermediate SPaniSH leSSonS: Adults refine their grammar while exploring different topics with food & drink classmates and native speakers. Private residence, Wine taSting: Anthony wagner of G. Housen Burlington, 5:30-7 p.m. $20. Info, 324-1757. introduces newly released varietals made with intermediate/advanced engliSH aS a monastrell grapes from spain. trapp family Lodge, Second language claSS: students sharpen stowe, 4-6 p.m. $20; preregister. Info, 253-5742. grammar and conversational skills. Administration office, fletcher free Library, Burlington, 6:30-8:30 games p.m. free. Info, 865-7211. oPen Bridge game: Players of varying experience levels put strategic skills to use. Vermont Room, music Ilsley Public Library, middlebury, 6-7:30 p.m. free. Song circle: singers and musicians convene Info, 388-4095. for an acoustic session of popular folk tunes. Godnick Adult Center, Rutland, 7:15-9:15 p.m. free; donations accepted. Info, 775-1182. o
* Vermont and local sales tax Included. ** Student buttons are only available in person at the First Night Burlington box office, 230 College Street, Burlington. Sales tax included. *** Includes $1 Flynn or Memorial preservation fee. Sales tax also included.
tHe met: live in Hd SerieS: James Levine leads an all-star cast in a broadcast production of wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Palace 9 Cinemas, south Burlington, 6:30 p.m. $18-24. Info, 660-9300.
Pajama Story time: tykes cuddle up in PJs for captivating tales, cookies and milk. Burnham memorial Library, Colchester, 6:30-7:30 p.m. free. Info, 264-5664.
y
ENJOY PERFORMANCES BY KAT WRIGHT & THE INDOMITABLE SOUL BAND • CRICKET BLUE • FRANCESCA BLANCHARD GRUP ANWAR • MYRA FLYNN • TENORES DE ATERÚE • THE DUPONT BROTHERS VPR’S ‘50S SOCK HOP WITH JOEL NAJMAN • A2VT • STEADY BETTY • 8 CUERDAS • GREGORY DOUGLASS • JERNIGAN PONTIAC • THE LEATHERBOUND BOOKS • MAPLE JAM ME2 ORCHESTRA • PAUL ASBELL • THE STARLINE RHYTHM BOYS & MANY MORE!
theater
tHu.18
Es
Vermont Youth Orchestra, Circus Smirkus, Burlington Taiko, The Bluegrass Gospel Project, Ray Vega
current eventS converSation: An informal open discussion delves into newsworthy subjects. Dorothy Alling memorial Library, williston, 11 a.m. free. Info, 878-4918.
muSic makerS: song-based activities help increase children's vocabulary and phonological awareness. Richmond free Library, 10-10:30 a.m. free. Info, 434-3036.
language
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Book luSt For teenS: Bibliophiles dish on reads they love — and ones they love to loathe. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 3:30-4:30 p.m. free. Info, 878-6956.
Rt
12.17.14-12.24.14
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Kids
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kids
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SEVEN DAYS
(Ages 13+)
talks
Winter Holiday Block Print Party: Handcarved blocks and creative color combinations make for unique cards. Dorothy Alling memorial Library, williston, 6 p.m. free; preregister; limited space. Info, 878-4918.
PreScHool muSic: Kids ages 3 through 5 sing and dance the afternoon away. Burnham memorial Library, Colchester, 1-1:30 p.m. free. Info, 264-5660.
ENJOY BURLINGTON’S 32ND ANNUAL NEW YEAR’S EVE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS
Adults
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'all in tHe Family' Film SerieS: Themed flicks provide age-appropriate entertainment for movie lovers. Call for details. Jaquith Public Library, marshfield, 7 p.m. free. Info, 426-3581.
Trivia Night in BTV
AGES FREE
calendar
liSt Your EVENt for frEE At SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT
health & fitness
Forza: The Samurai Sword workouT: Students sculpt lean muscles and gain mental focus when performing basic strikes with wooden replicas of the weapon. North End Studio A, Burlington, 6-7 p.m. $10. Info, 578-9243. Guided ParTner Thai Bodywork: Lori Flower of Karmic Connection teaches techniques that create relaxation and personal connection. Community Room, Hunger Mountain Co-op, Montpelier, 6:457:45 p.m. $8-10; preregister. Info, 223-8000, ext. 202. JazzerciSe LiTe: Adults ages 50 and up break a sweat in a supportive environment. Essex Junction Senior Center, 11 a.m.-noon. $3-3.50. Info, 876-5087. PoSTnaTaL core: New moms are encouraged to bring babies along to a class aimed at strengthening gluts, abdominals and the pelvic floor. Prenatal Method Studio, Burlington, 10:3011:30 a.m. $15. Info, 829-0211. reiki/Shamanic heaLinG cLinic: Brief treatments introduce attendees to different forms of bodywork and energy healing. JourneyWorks, Burlington, 6:30-8 p.m. Donations; preregister. Info, 860-6203.
holidays
arTiSan hoLiday markeT: Juried artists, craftspeople and specialty food producers from Vermont and New Hampshire showcase pottery, jewelry, knitwear and more. Chandler Music Hall, Randolph, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. Info, 431-0204. ccTV hoLiday ParTy: Community members celebrate the holiday season with good eats, camraderie and live TV. Channel 17 Studios, Burlington, 5-7 p.m. Free. Info, 862-3966. 'a chriSTmaS caroL': See WED.17, 2 & 7:30 p.m. 'The chriSTmaS reVeLS': Revels North transports audience members to a manor house in 1920 in "An English Celebration of the Winter Solstice." Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., 7 p.m. $8-38. Info, 603-646-2422. GLiTTer-STrinG ornamenT makinG: Handmade decorations add sparkle and spunk to the holiday season. The Wellness Co-op, Burlington, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 888-492-8218, ext. 302.
VermonT conSuLTanTS neTwork hoLiday ceLeBraTion: Local professionals mingle in a relaxed, festive setting. The Lighthouse Restaurant & Lounge, Colchester, 5:30-8:30 p.m. $15-18. Info, 862-6135. VermonT SymPhony orcheSTra BraSS QuinTeT FeaTurinG counTerPoinT: See WED.17, North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury, 7:30 p.m. $20-24; free for kids under 18. Info, 864-5741.
kids
The neST winTer warminG ParTy: Parents fill up on a chili lunch while little ones decorate gingerbread cookies in a family-friendly space. Good Beginnings of Central Vermont, Montpelier, noon-2 p.m. Free. Info, 595-7953.
The TraVeLinG SToryTeLLer: The local troupe brings The Gingerbread Boy from the page to the stage. A themed craft follows. Fairfax Community Library, 6-7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 849-2420.
lgbtq
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Pride cenTer oF VermonT Senior women'S diScuSSion GrouP: Female-identified members of the LGBTQ community consider topics of interest in a safe, comfortable setting. Pride Center of Vermont, Burlington, 3-5 p.m. Free. Info, 860-7812.
Free 1-Hour Massage
music
BeGinninG Piano LeSSon: Guided by Kim Hewitt, students of all ages try their hands at the black-and-white keys. Compass Music and Arts Center, Brandon, 3:30-5 p.m. $15; preregister for 30-minute time slot. Info, 989-1694. FLynn Show choirS: Seventy of Vermont's top singers, actors and dancers ages 9 through 18 perform Broadway favorites and pop hits with live accompaniment. FlynnSpace, Burlington, 6 & 8 p.m. $12-16. Info, 863-5966. The Fyre and LiGhTninG BaroQue enSemBLe: A program for recorders, bassoon and harpsichord features works by Bach and Jan Dismas Zelenka. First Baptist Church, Burlington, 12:15 p.m. Free; donations accepted. Info, 864-6515. Piano workShoP: Pianists sit down at the keyboard and let their fingers do the talking. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 4-6 p.m. Free. Info, 223-2518. VermonT youTh orcheSTra aLumni ShowcaSe: Alums reconnect in a concert of solo and chamber works. Elley-Long Music Center, St. Michael's College, Colchester, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 655-5030.
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seminars
Tree medicine For The earTh: Fearn Lickfield of the Green Mountain Druid Order leads an exploration of Earth energies and plant spirits in nature. Tulsi Tea Room, Montpelier, 6:30-8 p.m. $8-10. Info, 223-1431.
talks
Lunch & Learn: Josh Thomas of Kids4Peace discusses the organization's efforts to unite Jewish, Christian and Muslim kids from the U.S. and Israel. Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, Burlington, noon. Free. Info, 863-4214.
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'Peace on earTh & in your own LiFe': An informative lecture highlights the benefits of transcendental meditation. Vermont Transcendental Meditation Center, Williston, 7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 923-6248.
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theater
The meT: LiVe in hd SerieS: See WED.17, 1 p.m. naTionaL TheaTre LiVe: Drawn from real-life stories, a broadcast production of JOHN by DV8 Physical Theatre explores love and sex in the face of crime and drug use. Mature themes; for ages 18 and up. Catamount Arts Center, St. Johnsbury, 8 p.m. $16-24. Info, 748-2600.
words
Third ThurSday PoeTry SLam: Wordsmiths fill up on pizza, then step up to the mic to share stanzas. Pickering Room, Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 5-8 p.m. Free. Info, 324-9538.
FRI.19
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CALENDAR 57
PoLLywoG arT: Pint-size Picassos experiment with sculpture, finger paint and homemade play dough at a drop-in creative session. BCA Center, Burlington, 9:30-11:30 a.m. $5-6. Info, 865-7166.
youTh educaTion SerieS: 'amahL and The niGhT ViSiTorS': A disabled young shepherd's life changes forever when he spies an amazing star in this acclaimed opera. Lebanon Opera House, N.H., 10 a.m. Free. Info, 603-448-0400.
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SEVEN DAYS
muSic wiTh derek: Kiddos up to age 8 shake out their sillies to toe-tapping tunes. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 878-4918.
yoGa wiTh danieLLe: Toddlers and preschoolers strike a pose, then share stories and songs. Buttered Noodles, Williston, 10 a.m. Free. Info, 764-1810.
Footwear, Apparel and Gear for the Active Woman on your Holiday List!
12.17.14-12.24.14
a Very merry middLeBury: Festivities throughout the month of December transform the town into a winter wonderland for the whole family to enjoy. See experiencemiddlebury.com for details. Various Middlebury locations. Prices vary. Info, 377-3557.
ukuLeLe For BeGinnerS: Nationally recognized performer Tom Mackenzie introduces youngsters to the traditional Hawaiian instrument. See summit-school.org for details. Union Elementary School, Montpelier, 3:30-4:30 p.m. $10-15; preregister; limited space. Info, 917-1186.
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'The SanTaLand diarieS': Local actor Joseph Grabon interprets David Sedaris' essay about his stint as a cynical Macy's elf during the holidays in this Bad Quarto production. North End Studio A, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $10-12. Info, 473-1801.
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VERMONT MADE Comedy – Music – Stories
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FRI.19 art
Adult Wheel: Pottery newcomers learn basic wheel-working, then shape clay into cups, mugs and bowls. BCA Center, Burlington, 8-10 p.m. $5-6 includes one fired and glazed piece; $5 per additional piece. Info, 865-7166.
dance
BAllRoom & lAtIn dAncIng: VIennese WAltz: Samir Elabd leads choreographed steps for singles and couples. No partner or experience required. Jazzercize Studio, Williston, introductory lesson, 7-8 p.m.; dance, 8-10 p.m. $6-14. Info, 862-2269. Blues dAnce: Folks find rhythm at this grooving session open to all levels. No partner necessary, but clean-soled shoes are required. Champlain Club, Burlington, beginner lesson, 7:30 p.m.; dance, 8 pm. $5. Info, 448-2930.
Queen cIty tAngo PRActIlongA: Dancers kick off the weekend with improvisation, camaraderie and laughter. No partner necessary, but clean, smooth-soled shoes required. North End Studio A, 12/9/14 2:10 PM Burlington, 7:30-10 p.m. $7. Info, 877-6648.
RUCKUS!
A Cirque Spectacular
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, 7PM A stunning display of circus arts featuring trapezists, jugglers, contortionists and more!
etc.
IllumInAte the lAke: See WED.17. lAughteR yogA hot cocoA socIAl: Folks learn about the lighthearted yoga practice over a simple game and sweet treats. The Wellness Co-op, Burlington, 2-3 p.m. Free. Info, 999-7373. snoW FARm WIne doWn: Live music and local beer and wine served up in a pastoral setting make for an ideal end to the work week. See snowfarm. com for details. Snow Farm Vineyard, South Hero, 6 p.m. Cost of drinks. Info, 372-9463.
film
'only the essentIAl: mexIco to cAnAdA on the PAcIFIc cRest tRAIl': Casey Gannon and Colin Arisman put one foot in front of the other on a five-month, 2,668-mile trek, captured in their 2013 documentary. Green Mountain Club Headquarters, Waterbury Center, 7-9 p.m. $5-8. Info, 244-7037.
58 CALENDAR
SEVEN DAYS
12.17.14-12.24.14
SEVENDAYSVt.com
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the gReAt BRIsket BAke-oFF: Diners pile their plates with slow-cooked meat at a Hanukkah dinner party complete with games and crafts. Bring brisket, a side dish or dessert. Temple Sinai, South Burlington, 5:30 p.m. Free. Info, info@ templesinaivt.org. meet the cRAFt sIde oF FARRell dIstRIButIng: Hops lovers sip samples from Farrell's local beer portfolio. Growler Garage, South Burlington, 8 p.m.-midnight. Cost of drinks. Info, 865-2337.
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BelloWs FAlls FARmeRs mARket: A fresh-food marketplace serves up produce, meats, crafts and more. Bellows Falls Amtrak Station, 4:30-6 p.m. Free. Info, 463-2018.
12/12/14 10:51 AM
WIng nIght: A smorgasbord of this favorite finger food features flavor variations that please every palate. VFW Post, Essex Junction, 5:30-7 p.m. $4-7. Info, 878-0700.
games
BRIdge cluB: See WED.17, 10 a.m.
health & fitness
AVoId FAlls WIth ImPRoVed stABIlIty: A personal trainer demonstrates daily exercises for seniors concerned about their balance. Pines Senior Living Community, South Burlington, 10-11 a.m. $5-6. Info, 658-7477. centRAl VeRmont councIl on AgIng chAts: Senior citizens with questions about health insurance and other services get answers from CVCOA's Sarah Willhoit. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 9 a.m.-noon. Free; preregister for a time slot. Info, 223-2518.
hAthA yogA: Students energize while purifying the body through postures, pranayama and meditation. The Wellness Collective, Burlington, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. $10. Info, 683-4918. lIVIng stRong gRouP: A blend of singing and exercising enlivens a workout. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 2-3 p.m. Free. Info, 223-2518. QI gong FoR stRong WInteR Immune system: Samuel Hendrick presents simple exercises that help align the body and mind. Community Room, Hunger Mountain Co-op, Montpelier, 6-7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 223-8000, ext. 202. yogA consult: Yogis looking to refine their practice get helpful tips. Fusion Studio Yoga & Body Therapy, Montpelier, 11 a.m. Free; preregister. Info, 272-8923.
holidays
ARtIsAn holIdAy mARket: See THU.18. BcA holIdAy ARtIst mARket: Local artists display handmade wares for a unique shopping experience. Burlington City Hall Auditorium, 4-8 p.m. Free. Info, 865-7166. 'A chRIstmAs cARol': See WED.17. 'the chRIstmAs ReVels': See THU.18. mAd RIVeR choRAle: Incoming conductor Mary Bonhag leads vocalists in a performance of Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols, spirituals and seasonal songs. Waitsfield United Church of Christ, 7:30 p.m. $12-15; donations of nonperishable food items accepted. Info, 496-4781. 'the sAntAlAnd dIARIes': See THU.18, Off Center for the Dramatic Arts, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $12-15. Info, 473-1801. VeRmont symPhony oRchestRA BRAss QuIntet FeAtuRIng counteRPoInt: See WED.17, Jay Peak Resort, 7:30 p.m. $15-35. Info, 864-5741. A VeRy meRRy mIddleBuRy: See THU.18. WInteR cARols: Joined by local artists, BarnArts Center for the Arts chorale and orchestra members present an evening of seasonal songs. First Universalist Church and Society, Barnard, 7 p.m. Free; donations accepted. Info, 234-1645.
kids
eARly BIRd mAth: One plus one equals fun! Youngsters and their caregivers gain exposure to mathematics through books, songs and games. Richmond Free Library, 11 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 434-3036. FAmIly Wheel: Parents and kids visit the clay studio, where they learn wheel and hand-building techniques. BCA Center, Burlington, 5:30-7:30 p.m. $5-6 includes one fired and glazed piece; $5 per additional piece. Info, 865-7166. musIc WIth deRek: Movers and groovers up to age 8 shake out their sillies to toe-tapping tunes. Buttered Noodles, Williston, 10 a.m. Free. Info, 764-1810. musIc WIth RoBeRt: Sing-alongs with Robert Resnik entertain music lovers. Daycare programs welcome with one caregiver for every two children. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 10:30-11 a.m. Free. Info, 865-7216. youth educAtIon seRIes: 'AmAhl And the nIght VIsItoRs': See THU.18.
lgbtq
BuRly BeAR: ho, ho, ho: DJs Chia and Craig Mitchell keep the beat at a sassy shindig for attendees ages 21 and up. Blue Room, Red Square, Burlington, 8 p.m. $5 suggested donation. Info, 860-7812.
music
Flynn shoW choIRs: See THU.18. helIAnd consoRt: Renaissance-themed quintets and traditional Scandinavian songs complement contemporary works in “Music for a Winter Solstice.” See calendar spotlight. The 1906 House, Enosburg Falls, 7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 735-6511.
FIND FUtURE DAtES + UPDAtES At SEVENDAYSVT.COM/EVENTS
talks
GrowinG older discussion Group: Andy Potok leads a dialogue that addresses thoughts and fears about aging. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 223-2518.
theater
'The FlyinG nuT and The MysTery oF The doll': New England Center for Circus Arts reimagines The Nutcracker with trapezists, tumblers, jugglers and more. Austine School for the Deaf, Brattleboro, 7 p.m. $8-15; preregister. Info, 254-9780. 'iT's a wonderFul liFe': Versatile actors transport audience members to a 1940s broadcast studio in this adaptation of Frank Capra's classic film, staged by QNEK Productions. First Universalist Parish, Derby Line, 7:30 p.m. $10. Info, 748-2600. 'niGhT Fires': Rooted in ancient traditions, Theatre Group Ltd. honors the winter solstice with a multicultural pageant of song, dance and storytelling. Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, 8 p.m. $20-24. Info, 382-9222.
words
word!craFT: experiMenTal arT rhyMes: Inspired by the theme "Winter Solstice," wordsmiths sound off to DJed beats at this mashup of hip-hop and original verse. Another Way, Montpelier, 6:30-10 p.m. An optional community meal proceeds the event at 5 p.m. Free. Info, 755-6336, mcmycelium74@gmail.com.
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS SALE
capiTal ciTy winTer FarMers MarkeT: Root veggies, honey, maple syrup and more change hands at an off-season celebration of locally grown food. Montpelier City Hall, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. Info, 223-2958. chaMplain islands winTer FarMers MarkeT: Baked items, preserves, meats and eggs sustain shoppers in search of local goods. South Hero Congregational Church, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. Info, 372-1093.
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chocolaTe TasTinG: Sweets lovers sample treats while learning about how cocoa is grown and produced. Nutty Steph's Granola & Chocolate Factory, Montpelier, 2-3 p.m. Free. Info, 229-2090. MiddleBury winTer FarMers MarkeT: Crafts, cheeses, breads, veggies and more vie for spots in shoppers' totes. Mary Hogan Elementary School, Middlebury, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, 989-7223.
GET TOGETHER
norwich FarMers MarkeT: Farmers and artisans offer produce, meats and maple syrup alongside homemade baked goods and handcrafted items. Tracy Hall, Norwich, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, 384-7447. ruTland winTer FarMers MarkeT: More than 50 vendors offer produce, cheese, homemade bread and other made-in-Vermont products at the bustling indoor venue. Vermont Farmers Food Center, Rutland, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. Info, 753-7269. wine TasTinG: Oenophiles sip samples of recently released Italian varietals pressed from Negroamaro grapes. Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, 4-6 p.m. $20; preregister. Info, 253-5742.
games
GET READY FOR GUESTS
Border Board GaMes: Players of varying experience levels sit down to nontraditional board games, including Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne. Derby Line Village Hall, 5 p.m. Free. Info, trashvacuum@hotmail.com.
saT.20 dance
'The Green MounTain nuTcracker': Moving Light Dance puts a local twist on this holiday classic, complete with a Maple Sugar Fairy and a group of rambunctious loggers. See calendar spotlight. Barre Opera House, 7 p.m. $14-28. Info, 478-8188.
health & fitness
aFro Jazz & yoGa workouT: See WED.17, 9-10:30 a.m. r.i.p.p.e.d.: Resistance, intervals, power, plyometrics, endurance and diet define this highintensity physical-fitness program. North End Studio A, Burlington, 9-10 a.m. $10. Info, 578-9243.
illuMinaTe The lake: See WED.17.
film
'The chrisTMas reVels': See THU.18, 2 & 7 p.m. holiday wiTh The aniMals: An evening of fun, food and festivities features special appearances by Santa, Mrs. Claus and shelter animals. See cvhumane.com for details. Central Vermont Humane Society, East Montpelier, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Donations of pet supplies accepted. Info, 476-3811. Joe's BiG Band chrisTMas Ball: Hitting the stage with an expansive repertoire, the 18-piece ensemble enlivens jazz and swing standards. Vergennes Opera House, 7 p.m. $7-15; $40 per family; cash bar. Info, 877-6737. onion riVer chorus: Seventy voices strong, the Montpelier-based group interprets works by Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Camille Saint-Saëns in "Noël: Christmas Music From France." Unitarian Church, Montpelier, 7:30 p.m. $10-12; $25 per family. Info, 426-3210.
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CALENDAR 59
BurlinGTon winTer FarMers MarkeT: Farmers, artisans and producers offer fresh and prepared foods, crafts, and more in a bustling indoor marketplace with live music, lunch seating and face painting. Memorial Auditorium, Burlington, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. Info, 310-5172.
'a chrisTMas carol': Shakespeare on Main Street reinterprets this timeless holiday classic about Ebenezer Scrooge and a trio of ghosts. Dorset Playhouse, 7:30-9 p.m. $5-10; free for kids under 12. Info, 315-0019.
SEVEN DAYS
woodsTock FilM series: Sting, Mick Jagger and other stars consider the often-overlooked careers of backup singers in Morgan Neville's acclaimed documentary 20 Feet From Stardom. Billings Farm & Museum, Woodstock, 3 & 5 p.m. $5-11; preregister; limited space. Info, 457-2355.
'a chrisTMas carol': See WED.17, White River Junction, 2 & 7:30 p.m.
12.17.14-12.24.14
BlueBird Fairy card readinGs: Sessions with artist Emily Anderson offer folks insight into their lives. Davis Studio Gallery, SEABA Center, Burlington, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Info, 238-4540.
GET YOUR GAME ON SEVENDAYSVt.com
Bike JaM: Gearheads help low-income Vermonters with repairs, while others craft jewelry out of old bicycle parts or help out around the shop. Bike Recycle Vermont, Burlington, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, dan@bikerecycle.localmotion.org.
O
CO
'VerMonT's own nuTcracker': Samuel Wilson of the Dance Theatre of Harlem joins the Vermont Ballet Theater to portray U the fantastical world within a young RT M ES ER yO AL girl's Christmas Eve dream. Flynn F AN zP holidays DR E W DR O MainStage, Burlington, 2-4 & 7-9 p.m. $22arTisan holiday MarkeT: See THU.18. 35. Info, 863-5966. Bca holiday arTisT MarkeT: See FRI.19, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. etc.
food & drink
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calendar SAT.20
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Plainfield Christmas Bird Count: Birders leave no feathered flier unseen during this 54th annual avian census. Call for details. Various Washington County locations, 9 a.m. Donations; preregister. Info, 229-6206. 'the santaland diaries': See FRI.19, 2 & 7:30 p.m. solaris VoCal ensemBle: Carols from around the world come to life in "Holiday Lights," featuring the Inora Brass Quintet. See calendar spotlight. Waterbury Congregational Church, 7:30 p.m. $1520. Info, 863-5966. story night: Little ones gather around the Christmas tree for cookies and holiday tales. Santa photo area. Burlington Town Center Mall, 6 p.m. Free. Info, 658-2545.
The Winner of Best Pedicure 2014
susan noP & matthew diCkerson: Harmonyrich holiday tunes from the duo's album The Brilliant Whiteness of Snow reflect Americana traditions. Brandon Music, 7:30 p.m. $15; $35 includes dinner package; preregister. Info, 465-4071.
166 Battery St., Burlington • 658.6006 • minispavt.com
a Very merry middleBury: See THU.18. 6h-tootsies121714.indd 1
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VERMONT TECH IS FOR DOERS. We offer 40 in-demand majors featuring hands-on learning, and instructors with real-world experience. You can do more at Vermont Tech. Visit vtc.edu/domore or contact admissions at admissions@vtc.edu or 1-800-442-8821. Classes begin January 12
winooski Community Chorus: Vocalists belt out seasonal songs in "The Light of Christmas." Our Lady of Providence, Winooski, 2:30-4 p.m. Donations of nonperishable food items accepted. Info, marialv2sing@comcast.net.
kids
saturday droP-in story time: A weekly selection of music and books entertains children of all ages. Burnham Memorial Library, Colchester, 10 a.m. Free. Info, 264-5664. solstiCe Craft: Little ones ages 5 and up transform a clear glass jar into a "stained glass" candleholder with provided materials. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 10 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 865-7216.
lgbtq
ru12? walking grouP: Locals make strides in a supportive environment. Meet outside the store on Cherry Street. Macy's, Burlington, 9-11 a.m. Free. Info, 860-7812, walking@ru12.org.
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heliand Consort: See FRI.19, Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, Stowe Mountain Resort, 7:30 p.m. $20-25. Info, 760-4634. soCial Band: Ancient and modern songs and carols honor the season in "Deep Midwinter." College Street Congregational Church, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $15 suggested donation. Info, 355-4216.
outdoors
sleigh rides: Giddy up! Weather permitting, horses trot folks over snow-covered open fields. Rides leave every half hour; seats are first come, first served. Shelburne Farms, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. $8-10; free for kids 2 and under. Info, 985-8442.
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music
seminars
3d Printing, designing & sCanning with Blu-Bin: Instruction in basic programs teaches attendees how to build digital models of their ideas. Blu-Bin, Burlington, noon-1:30 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 345-6030.
SEVEN DAYS
VCam orientation: Video-production hounds learn basic concepts and nomenclature at an overview of VCAM facilities, policies and procedures. VCAM Studio, Burlington, 11 a.m. Free. Info, 651-9692.
talks
60 CALENDAR
saCred arts of tiBet tour: The monks of Gaden Shartse Phukhang Monastery impart their knowledge in "World Peace and the Unity of all Religions." The Vital Well, Middlebury, 6 p.m. $10. Info, 989-9992.
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theater
'the flying nut and the mystery of the doll': See FRI.19, 1 & 5 p.m. green mountain CaBaret: Burlesque dancers shimmy the night away in "Happy Second Anniversi-Tease." Club Metronome, Burlington, 7:30-9:30 p.m. $10-15; for ages 18 and up. Info, 865-4563. 'it's a wonderful life': See FRI.19, 2 p.m. the met: liVe in hd series: James Levine leads an all-star cast in a broadcast production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Catamount Arts Center, St. Johnsbury, noon. $1624. Info, 748-2600. 'night fires': See FRI.19, 4 & 8 p.m.
sun.21
community
ok aBC PraCtiCe: A: Who am I? B: What do I want to be? C: How can I change the world? An open meeting explores these inquiries. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 4:45-6 p.m. Free. Info, 989-9684.
dance
'the green mountain nutCraCker': See SAT.20, 2 p.m. israeli folk danCing: All ages and skill levels convene for circle and line dances, which are taught, reviewed and prompted. No partner necessary, but clean, soft-soled shoes are required. Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, Burlington, 7:30-9:30 p.m. $2; free first session. Info, 730-2174. 'the nutCraCker': The Sugar Plum Fairy twirls across the stage in this Bolshoi Ballet production, broadcast to the big screen. Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, 7 p.m. $10-17. Info, 382-9222. Catamount Arts Center, St. Johnsbury, 12:55 p.m. $6-18. Info, 748-2600. 'Vermont's own nutCraCker': See SAT.20, 1-3 & 6:30-8:30 p.m.
etc.
illuminate the lake: See WED.17.
health & fitness
nia with suzy: Drawing from martial arts, dance arts and healing arts, sensory-based movements inspire participants to explore their potential. South End Studio, Burlington, 9-10 a.m. $14. Info, 522-3691. sunday sangha: Community ashtanga yoga: Students of all ages and skill levels hit the mat to breathe through a series of poses. Grateful Yoga, Montpelier, 5:40-7 p.m. $1-20 suggested donation. Info, 224-6183.
holidays
artisan holiday market: See THU.18, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Children's Christmas Party: Youngsters ages 1 through 12 get the in holiday spirit. VFW Post 309, Peru, N.Y., 2-4 p.m. Free. Info, 518-643-4580. 'a Christmas Carol': See WED.17, 2 p.m. 'the Christmas reVels': See THU.18, 1 & 5 p.m. mad riVer Chorale: See FRI.19, United Church, Warren, 4:30 p.m. $12-15; donations of nonperishable food items accepted. Info, 496-4781. onion riVer Chorus: See SAT.20, 4 p.m. 'the santaland diaries': See THU.18, 2 p.m. skating with frosty: Little ones and their parents hit the ice with the lovable character. Hot cocoa and cookie decorating round out the fun. Central Vermont Memorial Civic Center, Montpelier, 2-4 p.m. $6; $5 per skate rental. Info, 225-8699. solaris VoCal ensemBle: See SAT.20, Recital Hall, McCarthy Arts Center, St. Michael's College, Colchester, 3 & 5 p.m. $15-20. Info, 863-5966.
liSt Your EVENt for frEE At SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT Vermont Symphony orcheStra BraSS Quintet Featuring counterpoint: See WED.17, First Congregational Church, Manchester, 4 p.m. $20-24; free kids under 18. Info, 864-5741. a Very merry middleBury: See THU.18.
kids
KidS yoga: Yogis ages 3 through 7 gain strength and balance while learning how to focus and relax. Grateful Yoga, Montpelier, 4:15-5:15 p.m. $12. Info, 224-6183. ruSSian play time With nataSha: Youngsters up to age 8 learn new words via rhymes, games, music, dance and a puppet show. Buttered Noodles, Williston, 11-11:45 a.m. Free. Info, 764-1810.
language
dimancheS French conVerSation: Parlezvous français? Speakers practice the tongue at a casual drop-in chat. Local History Room, Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 4-5:30 p.m. Free. Info, 363-2431.
music
Social Band: See SAT.20, Charlotte Congregational Church, 3 & 5 p.m. $15 suggested donation. Info, 355-4216.
outdoors
laraWay looKout hiKe: Unobstructed views of the Mansfield and Sterling ranges are the end result of a moderate, 7.5-mile excursion. Contact trip leader for details. Codding Hollow Rd., Waterville, 9 a.m. Free; preregister; limited space. Info, 399-4285. Sleigh rideS: See SAT.20, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
theater
'the Flying nut and the myStery oF the doll': See FRI.19, 1 & 5 p.m. 'night FireS': See FRI.19, 2 p.m.
mon.22 crafts
Santa paWS: Little ones pose with their pets for memorable holiday images. Burlington Town Center Mall, 6-8 p.m. Cost of photographs. Info, 658-2545. Vermont Symphony orcheStra BraSS Quintet Featuring counterpoint: See WED.17, Brandon Congregational Church, 7 p.m. $20-24; free for kids under 18. Info, 864-5741.
kids
alice in noodleland: Youngsters get acquainted over crafts and play while new parents and expectant mothers chat with maternity nurse and lactation consultant Alice Gonyar. Buttered Noodles, Williston, 10-11 a.m. Free. Info, 764-1810. KidS yoga: A fun-filled class for students ages 8 through 12 encourages focus, creativity and teamwork. Grateful Yoga, Montpelier, 4:15-5:15 p.m. $12. Info, 224-6183. muSic With peter: Preschoolers up to age 5 bust out song-and-dance moves to traditional and original folk tunes. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 11 a.m. Free; limited to one session per week per family. Info, 878-4918.
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trad Band: Intermediate musicians practice under the tutelage of Colin McCaffrey. See summitschool.org for details. Union Elementary School, Montpelier, 3:30-4:30 p.m. $10-15; preregister; limited space. Info, 917-1186.
lgbtq
holiday Support: Meaningful conversation helps attendees navigate the challenges posed by the holiday season. Pride Center of Vermont, Burlington, 6-7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 860-7812.
music
Beginning piano leSSon: See THU.18.
outdoors
Sleigh rideS: See SAT.20, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
words
games
triVia night: Teams of quick thinkers gather for a meeting of the minds. Lobby, Hotel Vermont, Burlington, 7-9 p.m. Free. Info, 651-5012.
tue.23
illuminate the laKe: See WED.17.
For more information and to schedule a screening, leave your name, phone number and a good time to call back.
StorieS With megan: Captivating tales entertain good listeners ages 2 through 5. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 11-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 865-7216.
Shape & Share liFe StorieS: Prompts from Recille Hamrell trigger recollections of specific experiences, which are crafted into narratives and shared with the group. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-4918.
etc.
Compensation available for participants in a year-long vaccine study for the Prevention of Dengue Fever. Includes 2 dosing visits and brief follow-up visits. Adults between the ages of 18-50. Earn up to $2030.
SEVENDAYSVt.com
craFting peace, Feeding Syrian reFugeeS: Folks harness their creativity and produce handmade items at this benefit for the United Nations' World Food Programme. Charlie O's, Montpelier, 8-11 p.m. $15 suggested donation. Info, 223-6820.
HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
clint Bierman'S holiday hootenanny: Vermont's top musicians unite for a jam of epic proportions. Proceeds benefit H.O.P.E. and the Addison County Food Shelf. Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, 7:30 p.m. $15-25. Info, 382-9222.
Bridge cluB: See WED.17, 7 p.m.
aa-choo! treat the common cold With chineSe medicine: Acupuncturist Joshua Singer details traditional practices that can help relieve sneezes and sniffles. Community Room, Hunger Mountain Co-op, Montpelier, 6-7 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 223-8000, ext. 202.
gentle hatha yoga: Guided by the breathe, students rest, restore and rejuvenate in a sequence of slow movements. The Wellness Collective, Burlington, noon-1 p.m. $10. Info, 683-4918. liVing Strong group: See FRI.19, 2:30-3:30 p.m. r.i.p.p.e.d.: See WED.17.
tueSday Volunteer nightS: Folks pitch in around the shop by organizing parts, moving bikes and tackling other projects. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Bike Recycle Vermont, Burlington, 5-8 p.m. Free. Info, 264-9687.
dance
intro to triBal Belly dance: Ancient traditions define this moving meditation that celebrates creative energy. Comfortable clothing required. Sacred Mountain Studio, Burlington, 6:45 p.m. $13. Info, piper.c.emily@gmail.com.
SEVEN DAYS
aVoid FallS With improVed StaBility: See FRI.19.
community
12.17.14-12.24.14
health & fitness
SWing dance practice SeSSion: Twinkle-toed dancers get familiar with the lindy hop, Charleston and balboa. Indoor shoes required. Champlain Club, Burlington, 7:30-9:30 p.m. $5. Info, 448-2930. CALENDAR 61
holidays
artiSan holiday marKet: See THU.18.
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Holiday Meats
High school students - Spend a weekend exploring Astronomy or Advanced Mathematics! Proudly supported by Vermont EPSCoR! Astronomy at Goddard College
WINTER WEEKEND 2: Feb. 13th – 15th Advanced Math (girls only) at Marlboro College
Application deadline: January
13th
Ask your school counselor for more information or visit www.giv.org
12/13/14
Order your
Governor’s Institutes of Vermont Winter Weekend STEM programs
WINTER WEEKEND 1: Feb. 6th - 8th
1
with City Market’s Meat & Seafood Department
1:10 PM
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etc.
IllumInate the lake: See WED.17, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
film
knIghts of the mystIc movIe club: Cinema hounds screen campy flicks at this ode to offbeat productions. Main Street Museum, White River Junction, 8 p.m. Free. Info, 356-2776.
food & drink
WIne tastIng: Vino lovers join John Fagan of Calmont Beverage to raise a glass to new reds from southern France. Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, 4-6 p.m. $20; preregister. Info, 253-5742.
games
gamIng for teens & adults: Tabletop games entertain players of all skill levels. Kids 13 and under require a legal guardian or parental permission to attend. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 5-7:45 p.m. Free. Info, 865-7216.
health & fitness 12v-VTespscor(CWWD)121714.indd 1
afro Jazz & yoga Workout: See SAT.20, 5:156:45 p.m.
12/4/14 11:11 AM
Find holiday gifts for everyone on your list at locally owned Phoenix Books.
gentle yoga WIth JIll lang: Students get their stretch on in a supportive environment. Personal mat required. Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-4918. Intro to yoga: Newcomers discover the benefits of aligning breath and body. Fusion Studio Yoga & Body Therapy, Montpelier, 4-5 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 272-8923. nIa WIth suzy: See SUN.21, North End Studio B, Burlington, 7-8 a.m. $13. Info, 522-3691.
T HINK
holidays
F IR S T. T HINK COMMUNIT Y F IR S T. T HIN K
Ordering Information & Deadlines: • Visit us online at www.citymarket.coop, • In person at our Meat & Seafood counter, or • Call us at (802) 861-9705.
PHOENIX F IR S T.
62 CALENDAR
Open 7 days a week, 7 a.m. - 11 p.m. 191 Bank Street, Downtown Burlington • 802.448.3350 21 Essex Way, Essex • 802.872.7111
www.phoenixbooks.biz
(802) 861-9700 www.citymarket.coop
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french conversatIon grouP: Beginner-tointermediate speakers brush up on their language skills. El Gato Cantina, Burlington, 4:30-6 p.m. Free. Info, 540-0195. Pause-café french conversatIon: French students of varying levels engage in dialogue en français. Panera Bread, Burlington, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Free. Info, 363-2431.
outdoors
sleIgh rIdes: See SAT.20, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
words
WrIter's cIrcle: Lit lovers of all skill levels put pen to paper in an encouraging environment. The Wellness Co-op, Burlington, 5:30-7 p.m. Free. Info, 888-492-8218, ext. 300.
Wed.24 community
Peer suPPort cIrcle: See WED.17.
education
toastmasters of greater burlIngton: Those looking to strengthen their speaking and leadership skills learn more. Holiday Inn, South Burlington, 7-8:30 p.m. Free. Info, 989-3250.
etc.
blood drIve: Healthy humans part with lifesustaining pints. Temple Sinai, South Burlington, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Free; preregister for a time slot. Info, 862-5125.
food & drink
'a chrIstmas carol': See WED.17, White River Junction, 2 & 7:30 p.m.
coffee tastIng: See WED.17. Wednesday WIne doWn: See WED.17.
'It's a Wonderful lIfe': James Stewart stars in Frank Capra's 1946 Christmas classic about a man saved from despair by his guardian angel. Film House, Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Burlington, 7 p.m. Free; first come, first served. Info, 540-3018.
games
PJ nIght: Pajama-clad tots bring their favorite blankets and stuffed animals for a creative photo op with Santa. Burlington Town Center Mall, 6-8 p.m. Cost of photographs. Info, 658-2545. toddler holIday story tIme: Traditional tales and contemporary narratives set the tone for music, rhymes and a snack. Burnham Memorial Library, Colchester, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 264-5660.
kids
creatIve tuesdays: Artists exercise their imaginations with recycled crafts. Kids under 8 must be accompanied by an adult. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 3-5 p.m. Free. Info, 865-7216. musIc WIth mr. chrIs: Singer, storyteller and puppeteer Chris Dorman entertains tykes and their parents. Buttered Noodles, Williston, 10-10:30 a.m. Free. Info, 764-1810.
82 S. Winooski Ave. Burlington, VT 05401
language
artIsan holIday market: See THU.18.
hIghgate story hour: See WED.17.
SEVEN DAYS
12.17.14-12.24.14
SEVENDAYSVt.com
LO C A L
World musIc choIr: See WED.17.
story exPlorers: Jack frost: A reading of Kazuno Kohara's Here Comes Jack Frost sets the tone for experiments with ice and themed theatrics. ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center/Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, 10:30 a.m. Free with admission, $9.5012.50. Info, 877-324-6386. tech tuesdays: Youngsters tackle e-crafts, circuits and programming after school gets out. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier, 3:30-4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 223-4665.
brIdge club: See WED.17.
health & fitness r.I.P.P.e.d.: See WED.17.
refreshIng vInyasa yoga: A lively practice builds strength and flexibility while improving stamina, circulation and range of motion. Contemporary Dance & Fitness Studio, Montpelier, noon-1:15 p.m. $16. Info, 229-4676.
holidays
'a chrIstmas carol': See WED.17, 2 p.m. holIday cookIe decoratIng: Folks of all ages frost homemade sweets and top them with tasty treats. The Schoolhouse, Sugarbush Resort, Warren, 4 p.m. Free. Info, 583-6349.
kids
meet rockIn' ron the frIendly PIrate: See WED.17.
outdoors
sleIgh rIdes: See SAT.20, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
thu.25 film
'Into the Woods': Classic Grimm characters get entangled in the darker side of fairy tales in the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning musical. A performance by Lyric Theatre Company kicks off the evening. Briggs Opera House, White River Junction, 6:30 p.m. $15. Info, 863-5966.
liSt Your EVENt for frEE At SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT
holidays
Christmas Dinner: Locally sourced, seasonal fare makes for a holiday meal to remember. Timbers Restaurant, Sugarbush Resort, Warren, 5-9 p.m. Cost of food and drink; preregister. Info, 583-6800. holiDay Dinner for seniors: A hot meal and shared conversation spread holiday cheer. Elks Club, Burlington, noon-3 p.m. Free; preregister for delivery or transportation. Info, 865-0360 or 864-7528.
fri.26
community
open heart CirCle: A safe space for men and women encourages open sharing that fosters gratitude, reflection, affirmation and more. Sacred Mountain Studio, Burlington, 5:45-7:45 p.m. Donations. Info, 922-3724.
reminisCe Group: Participants ages 70 and up chat about their early memories. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 12:45-2:15 p.m. Free. Info, 223-2518.
games
dance
health & fitness
Ballroom & latin DanCinG: Viennese Waltz: See FRI.19.
etc.
illuminate the lake: See WED.17, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Regular admission, $10.50-13.50; free for kids 2 and under. Info, 877-324-6386.
film
Warren miller's 'no turninG BaCk': The biggest names in skiing tackle daunting peaks in this adrenaline-pumping tribute to 65 years of mountain culture and extreme filmmaking. Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum, Stowe, 7 p.m. $12; limited space. Info, 863-5966.
BriDGe CluB: See WED.17, 10 a.m.
aVoiD falls With improVeD staBility: See FRI.19.
'a Christmas Carol': See WED.17, White River Junction, 2 & 7:30 p.m.
kids
early BirD math: See FRI.19. musiC With Derek: See FRI.19.
lauGhter yoGa: Breathe, clap, chant and ... giggle! Participants reduce stress with this playful practice. Bring personal water. The Wellness Co-op, Burlington, noon-1 p.m. Free. Info, 999-7373.
outdoors
liVinG stronG Group: See FRI.19.
talks
yoGa Consult: See FRI.19.
holidays
sleiGh riDes: See SAT.20, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. $8-10; free for kids 2 and under. Info, 985-8442.
GroWinG olDer DisCussion Group: See FRI.19. m
'an almost ViCtorian Christmas': Musicians and puppeteers join forces onstage in The Nativity, Saint George and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Sandglass Theater, Putney, 3-4:30 & 7-8:30 p.m. $13-16. Info, 387-4051.
SEVENDAYSVt.com 12.17.14-12.24.14 SEVEN DAYS CALENDAR 63
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GIVE THE GIFT of the
INCREASE YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE IN THE JOB MARKET
participate in the
PERFORMING ARTS!
Governor’s Career Ready Program INFORMATION SESSIONS – CCV WINOOSKI Friday, December 19, 2:30 - 3:30 pm Friday, January 16, 2:30 - 3:30 pm
This holiday, give an experience that can last a lifetime.
COURSE DATES – FEBRUARY 6 - MAY 1 Fridays, 2:30 - 5:15 pm
14/15 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Whether you give tickets to a performance, a Flynn membership, or a FlynnArts class, create a memorable experience for a loved one while supporting the Flynn. Or give a gift certificate and your recipient can choose any of the above.
P E R F O R M I N G
“Nice Work If You Can Get It” “Peter and the Starcatcher” “Anything Goes” “Grease” Sing-A-Long-A “Schoolhouse Rock Live!” Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy The Acting Company in “Macbeth” Ira Glass, Monica Bill Barnes, Anna Bass Cirque Mechanics Gilberto Gil
A R T S
www.flynncenter.org or call 802-86-flynn 4T-flynn120314.indd 1
12/1/14 10:33 AM
CCV 4T-CCV1-121714.indd 1
To learn more visit ccv.edu/workforce Programs funded in full through a grant from the U.S. Dept. of Labor. CCV is an equal opportunity employer. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.
12/15/14 12:55 PM
SEVENDAYSvt.com
e b p a n s r a g u S t e L r e p l e H y a d i l o your H
12.17.14-12.24.14
Offering Flowers, Plants, Decorative Items, Champlain Chocolates, Crabtree & Evelyn products and more.
SEVEN DAYS 64
CLASS AVAILABLE AT NO COST TO PARTICIPANTS
Local delivery and wire services for sending flowers out of town. 4t-kathy&co121714.indd 1
• Appetizer Platters • Office Parties s •Food for Visiting Hoarde • Delivery or Full Service
KATHY & COMPANY FLOWERS
Farm to Table Fresh Since 2003. thesnapvt.com • 861.2951
221 Colchester Ave. Burlington | 863-7053 kathycoflowers.com 12/15/14 11:52 AM
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CLASS PHOTOS + MORE INFO ONLINE SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSES
classes more, so that students can create at least two completed pieces. Instructor: Rebecca Macomber. Weekly on Tue., Feb. 3-Mar. 17 (no class Mar. 3), 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cost: $210/person; $189 BCA members. Location: Generator, 250 Main St., Memorial Auditorium, Burlington.
THE FOLLOWING CLASS LISTINGS ARE PAID ADVERTISEMENTS. ANNOUNCE YOUR CLASS FOR AS LITTLE AS $13.75/WEEK (INCLUDES SIX PHOTOS AND UNLIMITED DESCRIPTION ONLINE). SUBMIT YOUR CLASS AD AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTCLASS.
art NEW YEAR OPEN STUDIO SERIES: Feel the joy and wonder of creative expression. Join us for one or all four inspirational Open Studios. Express, explore and create your own way to set your 2015 New Year’s intentions in color, clay or collage. Engage the positive power of your imagination and bring in the New Year. Sun., 1-4 p.m., Jan. 4, 11, 18 & 25. Cost: $180/4 classes or $50 per open studio session. Many materials provided. Location: Expressive Arts Burlington, 200 Main St., suite 9, Burlington. Info: Topaz Weis, 862-5302, topazweis@gmx. net, expressiveartsburlington. com.
burlington city arts
Call 865-7166 for info or register online at burlingtoncityarts.org. Teacher bios are also available online.
CONTEMPORARY FIGURE PAINTING: Intermediate and advanced painters, revitalize your painting practices with a contemporary approach to the figure. Work from live models, explore a variety of contemporary techniques with water-soluble oils and get supportive feedback. Figure drawing experience is helpful. BCA provides glass palettes, easels, painting trays and drying racks. Material list online. Instructor: Gail Salzman. Weekly on Wed., Jan. 28-Mar. 18, 1:30-4:30 p.m. Cost: $360/person; $324/BCA members. Location: BCA Center, Burlington.
DROP IN: LIFE DRAWING: This drop-in life drawing class is open to all levels and facilitated by local painter Glynnis Fawkes. Spend the evening with other artists, drawing one of our experienced models. Please bring your own drawing materials and paper. No registration necessary. Instructor: Glynnis Fawkes. Weekly on Mon., Jan. 26-May 18 (no class Feb. 17), 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cost: $10/participant; $9/BCA members. Purchase a drop-in card & get the 6th visit for free. Location: BCA Center, Burlington. DROP IN: POLLYWOG ART: This popular drop-in program introduces young children and parents to artistic explorations in a
DRAWING: Learn a variety of drawing techniques, including basic perspective, compositional layout, and use of dramatic light and shadow. Students will work mostly from observation and use a variety of media including pencil, pen and ink, ink wash, and charcoal. Comics and illustrations may be incorporated. No experience necessary. Material list online. Instructor: Marc Nadel. Weekly on Wed., Jan. 28-Mar. 18, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cost: $224/ person; $201.60 BCA members. Location: BCA Center, Burlington. DROP IN: FIRST NIGHT: Join us on First Night to explore BCA’s exhibition “Preoccupied,” to watch some international award-winning short films from the Vermont International Film Festival and to try some hands-on art activities in our education studios. No registration necessary. All ages. Free. Wed., Dec. 31, 1-5 p.m. Location: BCA Center and BCA Clay Studio, Burlington. JEWELRY: INTRO TO JEWELRY: Learn the basics of creating metal jewelry. Techniques covered will include sawing, piercing, filing, annealing, soldering, texturing, cold connections, basic hollow construction, ring sizing and
PRINT: PRINTMAKING: This introductory class will teach techniques such as block printing with linoleum, collograph (a low-relief intaglio technique) and drypoint etching. Students will also be encouraged to explore these techniques and have fun experimenting. Cost includes over 25 hours per week of open studio hours for practicing, and all basic supplies and equipment for each printmaking technique. Instructor: Katie Loesel. Weekly on Wed., Feb. 4-Mar. 11, 6-8:30 p.m. Cost: $210/person; $189 BCA members. Location: BCA Print Studio, 250 Main St., Burlington. SILKSCREENING: Torrey Valyou, local silkscreen legend and coowner of New Duds, will introduce you to silkscreening and show you how to design and print T-shirts, posters, fine art and more! Cost includes over 25 hours per week of open studio time for practicing, use of studio chemicals, class ink and equipment. Students must provide their own screens and design materials; please see student materials list online. No experience necessary. Thu., Jan. 29-Mar. 19, 6-8:30 p.m. Cost: $280/person; $252/BCA members. Location: BCA Print Studio, 250 Main St., Burlington.
dance DANCE STUDIO SALSALINA: Salsa classes, nightclub-style, on-one and on-two, group and private, four levels. Beginner walk-in classes, Wednesdays, 6 p.m. $13/ person for one-hour class. No dance experience, partner or preregistration required, just the desire to have fun! Drop in any time and prepare for an enjoyable workout. Location: 266 Pine St., Burlington. Info: Victoria, 5981077, info@salsalina.com. DSANTOS VT SALSA: Experience the fun and excitement of Burlington’s eclectic dance community by learning salsa. Trained by world famous dancer Manuel Dos Santos, we teach you how to dance to the music and how to have a great time on the dance floor! There is no better time to start than now! Mon. evenings: beginner class, 7-8 p.m.; intermediate, 8:15-9:15 p.m. Cost: $10/1-hour. class. Location: North End Studios, 294 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington. Info: Tyler Crandall, 598-9204, crandalltyler@hotmail. com, dsantosvt.com. LEARN TO DANCE W/ A PARTNER!: Come alone or come with friends, but come out and learn to dance! Beginning classes repeat each month, but intermediate classes vary from month to month. As with all of our programs, everyone is encouraged to attend, and no partner is necessary. Private lessons also available. Cost: $50/4-week class. Location: Champlain Club, 20 Crowley St., Burlington. Info: First Step Dance, 598-6757, kevin@ firststepdance.com, firststepdance.com.
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DROP IN: ADULT WHEEL: Learn the basics of wheel-working. Through demonstrations and individual instruction, students will learn preparing and centering the clay and making cups, mugs and bowls. Price includes one fired and glazed piece per participant.
DROP IN: FAMILY WHEEL: Learn wheel and hand building techniques at BCA’s clay studio in a relaxed, family-friendly environment. Make bowls, cups and amazing sculptures. Staff will give wheel and hand-building demonstrations throughout the evening. Price includes one fired and glazed piece per participant. Additional fired and glazed pieces are $5 each. No registration necessary. All ages. Instructors: Julia Berberan, Alex Costantino and Iris Stein. Weekly on Fri., Jan. 23-May 22, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Cost: $8/participant; $7/BCA members. Purchase a drop-in card & get the 6th visit for free. Location: BCA Clay Studio, Burlington.
multimedia environment that is both creative and social. Participants will create paintings, sculptures, prints and more, with a variety of changing projects to keep everyone engaged! Parents must accompany their children. All materials provided. No registration necessary. Ages 6 months-5 years. Instructor: Zoe Barracano. Weekly on Thu., Jan. 22-May 21, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Cost: $6/child; $5/BCA members. Purchase a drop-in card & get the 6th visit for free. Location: BCA Center, Burlington.
STILL LIFE, BEGINNER (NIGHT): Instructor: Evelyn McFarlane. Simple forms and colors of basic still life setups will be the inspiration for this beginner’s course. We will start with basic drawing techniques, discuss materials, practice with mixing accurate colors and learn how to apply paint in a step-by-step format. 8 Mon., 5:307:30 p.m., Jan. 26-Mar. 16. Cost: $235/person (members: $211.50, nonmembers: $235, material list & syllabus). Location: Shelburne Craft School, Shelburne.
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DESIGN: ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR: Learn the basics of Adobe Illustrator, a creative computer program used to create interesting graphics, clip art and more! Students will explore a variety of software techniques and create projects suited to their own interests. Class is aimed at furthering individual design software skills. Bring a Mac-compatible flash drive to the first class. Instructor: Jeremy Smith. No experience necessary. Weekly on Mon., Feb. 2-Mar. 16 (no class Feb. 16), 6:308:30 p.m. Cost: $205/person; $184.50/BCA members. Location: BCA Center, Burlington.
Additional fired and glazed pieces are $5 each. No registration necessary; space is limited; first come first served. Instructors: Julia Berberan and Iris Stein. Weekly on Fri., Jan. 23-May 22, 8-10 p.m. Cost: $14/participant; $13/BCA members. Purchase a drop-in card & get the 6th visit for free. Location: BCA Clay Studio, Burlington.
PRINT: WOODBLOCK PRINTING WITH COLOR: This class will explore a variety of techniques for woodblock printing with color. The class will start with basic two-color prints and progress to multiple woodblocks and colors. The class is designed to explore a range of printing possibilities. Akua, nontoxic, soy/water based inks will be used. All materials included. Instructor: Gregg Blasdel. Weekly on Mon., Feb. 2-Mar. 16, 6-8:30 p.m. Cost: $210/person; $189 BCA members. Location: BCA Print Studio, 250 Main St., Burlington.
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CLAY: MIXED LEVEL WHEEL THROWING: Mixed Level Wheel supports students across a range of skill and experience levels. This eight-week course is rooted in fundamentals and encourages individual projects. Demonstrations and instruction will cover centering, throwing, trimming and glazing, as well as forms and
COMMUNITY LANTERN-MAKING WORKSHOP: Play an important role in Burlington’s 150th birthday celebration! Join artist Gowri Savoor and make a magical willow and tissue-paper lantern. Participants are invited to return on February 21 at 4 p.m. to be part of a special festive event at City Hall. All materials provided. Not suitable for children under 4; children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult. Space limited, registration required. Option 1: Sat., Jan. 17; Option 2: Sat., Jan. 24; Option 3: Sat., Jan. 31, 10 a.m.3 p.m. Incl. 1-hour lunch break. Location: BCA Center, Burlington.
theshelburnecraftschool.org
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CLAY: WHEEL THROWING: This class is an introduction to clay, pottery and the ceramics studio. Students will work primarily on the potter’s wheel, learning basic throwing and forming techniques, while creating functional pieces such as mugs, vases and bowls. Students will learn various finishing techniques using the studio’s house slips and glazes. No previous experience necessary. Option 1: Thu., Jan. 29-Mar. 19, 12:30-3 p.m. Instructor: Chris Vaugh. Pair with Mixed Level Wheel. Option 2: Thu., Jan. 29-Mar. 19, 6-8:30 p.m. Instructor: Chris Vaugh. Pair with Mixed Level Wheel. Option 3: Wed., Apr. 1-May 20, 6-8:30 p.m. Instructor: Jeremy Ayers. Cost: $280/person; $252/BCA members. Incl. your 1st bag of clay & 30 hours/week in open studio hours to practice. Extra clay sold separately: $20/25-pound bag. All glazes & firings incl. Location: BCA Clay Studio, Burlington.
OIL PAINTING: Learn how to paint with nontoxic water-soluble oils. Discover a variety of painting techniques and learn how to apply composition, linear aspects, form and color theory to your work. This supportive class will balance studio time, gentle group discussion and critique. BCA provides glass palettes, easels, painting trays and drying racks. Material list online. Instructor: Linda Jones. Weekly on Tue., Jan. 27-Mar. 24 (no class Mar. 3), 6-8:30 p.m. Cost: $280/person; $252/BCA members. Location: BCA Center, Burlington.
techniques determined by students. Option 1: Thu., Jan. 29-Mar. 19, 9:30 a.m.-noon. Instructor: Jeremy Ayers. Option 2: Thu., Apr. 2-May 21, 9:30 a.m.-noon. Instructor: Jeremy Ayers. Option 3: Thu., Apr. 2-May 21, 6-8:30 p.m. Instructor: Chris Vaughn. Cost: $280/person; $252/BCA members. Incl. your 1st bag of clay & 30 hours/week in open studio hours to practice. Extra clay sold separately: $20/25-pound bag. All glazes & firings incl. Location: BCA Clay Studio, Burlington.
craft
Holidays in Montpelier
ARTS • DINING • SHOPPING
Last minute stocking stuffers... CHECK!
ARTISANS HAND
Fine TeAS, WineS, SmAll PlATeS
Contemporary Vermont Fashion Gift Choices abound! Sumptuous hand woven chenille scarves, infinity scarves in silk and jersey, fleece hats, knit, and woven, Reign bags, leather bags... Jewelry! and extended holiday hours longer striped chenille by Maggie Neale
Drink, Relax and Create Unique gadgets, colorful paring knives, Mrs. Meyer‘s soap, silicone spatulas in every color of the rainbow and more!
UNIQUE CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES FOR EVERY PERSONALITY
Enjoy our peaceful cafe before and after shopping… Revitalize your soul with our specialty teas, pastries and fine wines.
Thoughtful gifts
Gift Sets • Tea/Wine Accessories Local Pottery, Candles & Honey
18 State Street, Montpelier 229-2305 • CapitalKitchenVT.com
Hunger Mountain Coop offers more than 2,000 local products including organic 89 Main atmeats, City Center, Montpelier produce, handcrafted baked goods, distinctive www.artisanshand.com wines, and artisinal cheeses.Facebook ~for more images
41 State Street • Montpelier 802-552-8105 • Free Wifi Open M-W 10-7, Th-Sa 10-10, Closed Sun
67 MAIN STREET, MONTPELIER 802-224-1010
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Local Products Are Not Just Something We Carry On Our Shelves...
Shop Local
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As seen in
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They Are Part Of Our Mission. Make your holiday meals extra special with locally raised meats, local produce, and handcrafted baked goods from The Coop!
2006 Holiday Local Store Feature. Unique & Artful Women’s Clothing & local art & craft. Art & artwear for the home, body & soul!
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The Cheshire Cat Owner: Lucy Ferrada Photo: Jeb Wallace-Brodeur
28 Elm Street, Montpelier
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623 Stone Cutters Way • Montpelier, VT 802.223.8000 • www.hungermountain.coop 4T-HungerMtn121714.indd 11 FP-Montpelier121714.indd
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Beside Montpelier’s imposing former jailhouse, a cobblestone path leads under a cedar arbor to the door of a store filled with silky fabrics and vibrant colors. Inside the one-time carriage house, refurbished lamps with (hand painted) shades cast light on artwork by several local artists. With items such as satin slippers with rosettes to recycled metal crows, this is the place to satisfy both Boho and princess fantasies.
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— MARGOT HARRISON
The Cheshire Cat 28 Elm St. Montpelier 802-223-1981 12/16/14 12/13/10 3:40 3:04 PM PM
CLASS PHOTOS + MORE INFO ONLINE SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSES
classes THE FOLLOWING CLASS LISTINGS ARE PAID ADVERTISEMENTS. ANNOUNCE YOUR CLASS FOR AS LITTLE AS $13.75/WEEK (INCLUDES SIX PHOTOS AND UNLIMITED DESCRIPTION ONLINE). SUBMIT YOUR CLASS AD AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTCLASS.
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drumming DJEMBE IN BURLINGTON AND MONTPELIER!: Learn drumming technique and music on West African drums! Burlington Beginners Djembe class is on Wed., 7-8:20 p.m. Djembes are provided. Montpelier Beginners Djembe class is on Thu., 7-8:20 p.m. $22/drop-in. New session starts in Jan. Please register online or come directly to the first class! Location: Taiko Space & Capitol City Grange, 208 Flynn Ave., suite 3G, & 6612 Route 12, Burlington & Montpelier. Info: 999-4255, classes@burlington taiko.org, burlingtontaiko.org.
empowerment
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EXPLORING CONNECTIONS: GROUNDING: The Exploring Connections workshop series
MASTER GARDENER 2015 COURSE: Learn the keys to a healthy and sustainable home landscape as University of Vermont faculty and experts focus on gardening in Vermont. This course covers a wide variety of horticultural topics: fruit and vegetable production, flower gardening, botany basics, plant pests, soil fertility, disease management, healthy lawns, invasive plant control, introduction to home landscaping and more! Registrations will be accepted by credit card online or by phone through the UVM Extension Master Gardener Program office. A downloadable registration form also is available on the website if paying by check. Weekly on Tue., Feb. 3-Apr. 28, 6:15 p.m.-9 p.m. Cost: $395/person incl. online Sustainable Gardening book. Printed copy can be ordered for an additional $55. Noncredit course. Location: VIT Studios, Bennington, Brattleboro, Johnson, Lyndon, Montpelier, Middlebury, Newport, Randolph Ctr., Rutland, Springfield, St. Albans, White River Jct., Williston. Info: 6569562, master.gardener@uvm.edu, uvm.edu/mastergardener. STONE WALL WORKSHOP: Introductory stone wall workshop for homeowners and tradespeople promotes the beauty and integrity of stone. The one-day, handson workshop focuses on basic techniques for creating dry-laid walls with an emphasis on stone native to Vermont. Workshops are held inside warm greenhouses in Hinesburg. Sat., Jan. 10, Feb.
WISDOM OF THE HERBS SCHOOL: Now interviewing for our eight-month Wisdom of the Herbs 2015, a unique experiential program embracing the local herbaceous plants, trees and shrubs, holistic health, and sustainable living skills, valuable tools for living on the Earth in these changing times. Apr. 25-26, May 23-24, Jun. 27-28, Jul. 25-26, Aug. 22-23, Sep. 26-27, Oct. 24-25 and Nov. 7-8, 2015. Tuition $1,750. VSAC non-degree grants available, please apply soon. Location: Wisdom of the Herbs School, Woodbury. Info: 456-8122, annie@ wisdomoftheherbsschool.com, wisdomoftheherbsschool.com.
language ANNOUNCING SPANISH CLASSES: Join us for adult Spanish classes this winter. Our ninth year. Learn from a native speaker via small classes, individual instruction or student tutoring. You’ll always be participating and speaking. Lesson packages for travelers. Also lessons for young children; they love it! See our website or contact us for details. Beginning week of Jan. 12 for 10 weeks, w/ Feb. break. Cost: $225/10 classes of 90+ min. each. Location: Spanish in Waterbury Center, Waterbury Center. Info: 585-1025, spanishparavos@gmail.com, spanishwaterburycenter.com. ALLIANCE FRANCAISE WINTER WARM-UP!: Is learning French part of your 2015 resolutions? The Alliance Francaise can help: six-week French classes designed to meet you where you are in your learning of French. Let’s put French into action with a variety of classes such as French for Travelers, conversations about current events, virtual travels to francophone destinations and more. This mini-session will get you ready for your next full-term class. One Winter Warm-Up also available in Montpelier. 6 weeks starting Jan. 12. Cost: $135/course. Location: Alliance Francaise Center, 123 Ethan Allen Ave., Colchester. Info: Micheline Tremblay, 881-8826, michelineatremblay@gmail.com, aflcr.org. BONJOUR! FRENCH CLASSES FOR ALL AGES: Toddler/Pre-k FRART!, after-school youth and adult evening. Learn French in beautiful atelier with the supportive, fun, hands-on teaching of Madame Maggie. Experienced educator, fluent speaker, lived/ worked in France, West Africa. Next time someone asks,
pregnancy/ childbirth
“Parlez-vous francais?” you can say, Oui! Allons-y! Winter session starts Jan. 5. Location: wingspan Studio, 4A Howard St., Burlington. Info: 233-7676, maggiestandley@ gmail.com, wingspanpaintingstudio.com.
martial arts VERMONT BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU: Classes for men, women and children. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu enhances strength, flexibility, balance, coordination and car- dio-respiratory fitness. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training builds and helps to instill courage and self- confidence. We offer a legitimate Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu martial arts program in a friendly, safe and positive environment. Accept no imitations. Learn from one of the world’s best, Julio “Foca” Fernandez, CBJJ and IBJJF certified 6th Degree Black Belt, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor under Carlson Gracie Sr., teaching in Vermont, born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil! A 5-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu National Featherweight Champion and 3-time Rio de Janeiro State Champion, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Mon.-Fri., 6-9 p.m., & Sat., 10 a.m. 1st class is free. Location: Vermont Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 55 Leroy Rd., Williston. Info: 660-4072, julio@ bjjusa.com, vermontbjj.com.
meditation LEARN TO MEDITATE: Through the practice of sitting still and following your breath as it goes out and dissolves, you are connecting with your heart. By simply letting yourself be, as you are, you develop genuine sympathy toward yourself. The Burlington Shambhala Center offers meditation as a path to discovering gentleness and wisdom. Shambhala Café (meditation and discussions) meets the first Saturday of each month, 9 a.m.-noon. An open house (intro to the center, short dharma talk and socializing) is held on the third Friday of each month, 7-9 p.m. Instruction:
PRENATAL METHOD STUDIO: Prenatal and postnatal yoga and fitness classes blending yoga, barre and Pilates. Childbirth education class series and weekend intensives. Yoga Alliance Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training Program. Book groups, new mom playgroups, pregnancy circle teas. Supporting women and their partners in the management and journey of pregnancy and childbirth. Every day: lunchtimes, evenings & weekends. Cost: $15/1-hour prenatal or postnatal yoga class. Location: Prenatal Method Studio, 1 Mill St., suite 236, at the Chace Mill, Burlington. Info: 829-0211, beth@prenatalmethod.com, prenatalmethod.com.
tai chi SNAKE-STYLE TAI CHI CHUAN: The Yang Snake Style is a dynamic tai chi method that mobilizes the spine while stretching and strengthening the core body muscles. Practicing this ancient martial art increases strength, flexibility, vitality, peace of mind and martial skill. Beginner classes Sat. mornings & Wed. evenings. Call to view a class. Location: Bao Tak Fai Tai Chi Institute, 100 Church St., Burlington. Info: 8647902, ipfamilytaichi.org. YANG-STYLE TAI CHI: The slow movements of tai chi help reduce blood pressure and increase balance and concentration. Come breathe with us and experience the joy of movement while increasing your ability to be inwardly still. Wed., 5:30 p.m., Sat., 8:30 a.m. $16/class, $60/mo., $160/3 mo. Location: Mindful Breath Tai Chi (formerly Vermont Tai Chi Academy and Healing Center), 180 Flynn Ave., Burlington. Info: 7355465, janet@mindfulbreathtaichi. com, mindfulbreathtaichi.com.
writing SOCIAL MEDIA 101 FOR WRITERS: Author and editor Angela Palm will teach participants will learn how to create dynamic profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Tumblr. Develop engagement strategies and timelines to launch online platforms. See your audience and connections skyrocket! Participants should bring their own laptops to class. Weekly on Wed., 6-8 p.m., Jan. 14-Feb. 4. Cost: $120/4 2-hour sessions.
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CONTEMPORARY DANCE: LOOKING DEEPER: This intensive is designed to support and strengthen the skills and community of practicing contemporary dancers and dance-makers in our region. Each intensive will focus on different aspects of the skills at the core of strong and compelling performers and performances. Using improvisational structures, the aim will be to strengthen our capacity to be fully awake, aware and able to respond to our constantly changing “world,” be it the studio, the stage, a specific site, or our community. Instructor: Polly Motley. Sun., January 11, 1-4 p.m. Cost: $30 Location: Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, 153 Main St., Burlington. Info: 652-4548, flynnarts.org.
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COMING OF AGE: MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS: Mothers and daughters (ages 11 to 14) use this creative forum to explore their changing relationships as daughters transition from childhood into the circle of women. Bond, play, dance, story-tell, make art together in celebration of our womanhood. Weekly on Sat., 9:30-11:30 a.m., Jan. 10, 17 & 24, & Feb. 7, 14 & 21. Cost: $130/mother/ daugher pair for the 1st 3 sessions w/ the option to extend, or sign up for all 6 sessions for $210. All materials incl. Location: Expressive Arts Burlington, 200 Main St., suite 9, Burlington. Info: Topaz Weis, 862-5302, topazweis@ gmx.net.
PEACE, PACIFISM AND THE PROSPECTS FOR OUR FUTURE: Learn how we can work toward a peaceful world in this course that draws on the wisdom of Thoreau, Gandhi, King, Eisler, Galtung and others. Led by Sue Mehrtens. Jan. 6,13, 20 & 27 & Feb. 3, 10 & 17, 7-9 p.m. Cost: $75/person. Location: Jungian Center for the Spiritual Sciences, 55 Clover La., Waterbury. Info: Sue, 244-7909.
Sun. mornings, 9 a.m.-noon, or by appt. Sessions: Tue. & Thu., noon-1 p.m., & Mon.-Thu., 6-7 p.m. Location: Burlington Shambhala Center, 187 S. Winooski Ave., Burlington. Info: 658-6795, burlingtonshambhalactr.org.
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TAIKO DRUMMING IN MONTPELIER: Learn Taiko in Montpelier! Weekly on Thu.,: Montpelier Beginning Taiko class, 5:30-6:50 p.m., $72/4 weeks, and Montpelier Kids and Parents’ Taiko class, 4:30-5:20 p.m., $48/4 weeks; $90/parent + child. New sessions start in Jan. Please register online or come directly to the first class! Location: Capital City Grange, 6612 Route 12, Berlin. Info: 999-4255, classes@burlington taiko.org, burlingtontaiko.org.
JUNG AND OUR WESTERN TRADITION I: This course examines C.G. Jung in the context of the intellectual and cultural currents from the pre-Socratics to the 17th century. Led by Sue Mehrtens. Jan. 7, 14, 21 & 28, Feb. 4, 11, 18 & 25, & Mar. 4. Cost: $90/ person. Location: Jungian Center for the Spiritual Sciences, 55 Clover La., Waterbury. Info: Sue, 244-7909.
WINTER/SPRING CLASSES IN DANCE, THEATER, AND MUSIC: For all levels, enrolling now for classes starting the week of January 19. Our adult and teen classes cover a breadth of styles and techniques, offering points of departure for a rookie to explore something new, or fascinating in-depth experiences for a performing arts veteran who wants to expand his or her toolkit or knowledge base for a more expressive life. Location: Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, 153 Main St., Burlington. Info: 865-4548, flynnarts.org.
14, & Mar. 7 & 21, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Cost: $100/1-day workshop. Location: Red Wagon Plants, 2408 Shelburne Falls Rd., Hinesburg. Info: Queen City Soil & Stone, Charley MacMartin, 318-2411, macmartin@igc.org, queen citysoilandstone.com.
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
TAIKO DRUMMING IN BURLINGTON!: Come study Japanese drumming with Stuart Paton of Burlington Taiko! Beginner/Recreational Class on Tue., 5:30-6:20 p.m. Accelerated Taiko Program for Beginners on Mon., 7-8:20 p.m. Taiko Training Class for Beginners on Wed., 5:30-6:50 p.m. Kids and Parents Class on Tue., 4:30-5:20 p.m. New sessions start in Jan. Register online or come directly to the first class! Location: Taiko Space, 208 Flynn Ave., suite 3G, Burlington. Info: 999-4255, classes@ burlingtontaiko.org, burlingtontaiko.org.
INTRODUCTION TO ALCHEMY: Learn how you are living alchemy and discover what transformations lie ahead for you in this experiential workshop derived from Carl Jung’s insights and theories. This course is a prerequisite for the Edible Alchemy course that will be offered in spring term. Led by Sue Mehrtens, teacher and author. Jan. 8, 15, 22 & 29, 7-9 p.m. Cost: $60/person. Location: Jungian Center for the Spiritual Sciences, 55 Clover La., Waterbury. Info: Sue, 244-7909.
uses movement and metaphor to explore the expressive body, incorporating movement fundamentals as well as drawing and writing to explore the relationship between movement and personal expression. Our goal will be to facilitate a lively interplay between inner connectivity and outer expressivity to enrich your movement potential, change ineffective neuromuscular movement patterns, and encourage new ways of moving and embodying your inner self. Instructor: Sara McMahon. Fri., Jan. 2, 5:45-7:45 p.m. Cost: $22/person. Location: Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, 153 Main St., Burlington. Info: 652-4548, flynnarts.org.
Holidays in
Montpelier ARTS • DINING • SHOPPING
We have the perfect gifts for the cook in your life.
Cookware, gadgets, kitchen linens, cutlery and more.
18 State Street, Montpelier 229-2305 • CapitalKitchenVT.com 4t-creativehabitat121714.indd 1
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The U.S. Senate’s most outspoken independent is considering a run for president. How did he get this far? Retrace “Bernie’s Journey” — from fist-pumping mayor of Burlington to skilled senatorial soloist.
Find out what Sen. Sanders is up to this week at berniebeat.com »
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Bernie’s 1987 folk album Bern This trivia quiz Multimedia timeline Campaign map Digitized archives from Vanguard Press and Vermont Times
Gifts to Warm the Heart, All Under $50! 8H-CapitolGrounds121714.indd 1
Marmot Basic Work Glove for Men $38.00
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Rock Flower Paper Scarf $27.00 Pistil Cabby Hat $36.00 Ibex Stretch Marino Glove $29.00
Ibex Straightaway Scarf $45.00
8 Langdon Street • Montpelier, VT • theshoehorn.net • 802-223-5454
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CLASS PHOTOS + MORE INFO ONLINE SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSES
classes THE FOLLOWING CLASS LISTINGS ARE PAID ADVERTISEMENTS. ANNOUNCE YOUR CLASS FOR AS LITTLE AS $13.75/WEEK (INCLUDES SIX PHOTOS AND UNLIMITED DESCRIPTION ONLINE). SUBMIT YOUR CLASS AD AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTCLASS.
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Location: The Writer’s Barn, 233 Falls Rd., Shelburne. Info: Wind Ridge Books of Vermont, Lin Stone, 985-4202, lin@windridgebooksofvt.com, windridgebooksofvt.com/ writing-workshops. THE ART OF THE SHORT STORY: Pushcart Prize nominee and author of a new novel, Shape of the Sky, Shelagh Connor Shapiro is teaching a short-story workshop. Participants will explore the art of story writing through exercise, reading and discussion, focusing on such subjects as character, setting, plot, point of view and narration. Weekly on Mon., 6-8 p.m., Jan. 5-Jan. 26. Cost: $120/4 2-hour sessions. Location: The Writer’s Barn, 233 Falls Rd., Shelburne. Info: Wind Ridge Books of Vermont, Lin Stone, 985-4202,
lin@windridgebooksofvt.com, windridgebooksofvt.com/ writing-workshops. WRITER’S BOOT CAMP: Is your writing stuck in neutral? Beginning in January, Michelle Demers will hold a Writer’s Boot Camp to exercise the writing muscles and help participants lift their writing back into shape. Demers welcomes writers of all interests and experience to give their writing practice the kickstart it needs. Weekly on Thu., 6-8 p.m., Jan. 15-Feb. 19. Cost: $175/6 2-hour sessions. Location: The Writer’s Barn, 233 Falls Rd., Shelburne. Info: Wind Ridge Books of Vermont, Lin Stone, 9854202, lin@windridgebooksofvt. com, windridgebooksofvt.com/ writing-workshops.
yoga BURLINGTON HOT YOGA: TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT!: Offering creative, vinyasa-style yoga classes featuring practice in the Barkan and Prana Flow Method Hot Yoga in a 95-degree studio accompanied by eclectic music. Ahh, the heat on a cold day, a flowing practice, the cool stone meditation, a chilled orange scented towel to complete your spa yoga experience. Get hot: 2-for-1 offer. $15. Go to hotyogaburlingtonvt.com. Location: North End Studio B, 294 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington. Info: 999-9963. EVOLUTION YOGA: Evolution Yoga and Physical Therapy offers a variety of classes in a supportive atmosphere: Beginner, advanced, kids, babies, post- and pre-natal, community classes and workshops. Vinyasa, Kripalu, Core, Therapeutics and Alignment classes. Become part of our yoga community. You are welcome here. Cost: $15/class, $130/class card, $5-10/community classes. Location: Evolution Yoga, 20 Kilburn St., Burlington. Info: 8649642, evolutionvt.com. HONEST YOGA, THE ONLY DEDICATED HOT YOGA FLOW CENTER: Honest Yoga offers practice for all levels. Brand new
beginners’ courses include two specialty classes per week for four weeks plus unlimited access to all classes. We have daily classes in Essentials, Flow and Core Flow with alignment constancy. We hold teacher trainings at the 200and 500-hour levels. Daily classes & workshops. $25/new student 1st week unlimited, $15/class or $130/10-class card, $12/class for student or senior or $100/10-class punch card. Location: Honest Yoga Center, 150 Dorset St., Blue Mall, next to Sport Shoe Center, S. Burlington. Info: 497-0136, honestyogastudio@gmail.com, honestyogacenter.com. LAUGHING RIVER YOGA: Highly trained and dedicated teachers offer yoga classes, workshops and retreats in a beautiful setting overlooking the Winooski River. Class types include Kripalu, Vinyasa, Jivamukti, Kundalini, Yin, Restorative and more. 300hour teacher training begins in January. Join us in Costa Rica February 28-March 7. All bodies and abilities welcome. Classes 7 days a week. $5-14/single yoga class; $120/10-class card; $130/ monthly unlimited. Location: Laughing River Yoga, Chace Mill, suite 126, Burlington. Info: 3438119, laughingriveryoga.com.
YOGA ROOTS: Yoga Roots provides a daily schedule of yoga classes for all ages and abilities. We aim to clarify your mind, strengthen your body and ignite your joyful spirit through classes such as Prenatal Yoga, Gentle Yoga, Anusura-inspired all levels, Restorative and Heated Vinyasa Flow! On our new Winter schedule try Sacred Space w/ Pam, Sunday mornings, 7:45-9 a.m. or Therapeutic Vinyasa w/ Lakshmi, Tuesdays, noon. Special Series for de-stressing: Sunday VespersSound Healing w/ Dorothy Stone and Melinda Kinzie, 3-6 p.m., December 21 w/ special guest Zacciah Blackburn. Gift Certificates available at the studio and online! Location: Yoga Roots, 120 Graham Way, Shelburne Green Business Park behind Folino’s. Info: 985-0090, yogarootsvt.com.
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music
Did You Ever Know That You’re My Hero?
Paying homage to unsung stars of the local music scene B Y D A N BOL L ES
70 MUSIC
SEVEN DAYS
12.17.14-12.24.14
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
W
hen it comes to local rocking, musicians tend to get the most acclaim, both from fans and the media. And that makes sense. They’re the most visible members of the local scene. But, to mangle a phrase, no band is an island — well, except Islands. And maybe Future Islands. The point is, there is a scene behind the scene. And it’s populated by people who are rarely acknowledged for their efforts, but without whom much of what we take for granted as a vibrant and dynamic music community would not exist. So Seven Days recently asked local musicians and other assorted scenesters via email who they think are the unsung heroes in Vermont music. Here’s what they told us. Of the hundreds of responses we received, two names were offered up the most: Nectar’s soundman Sergei Ushakov and local superfan Tim Lewis. It’s worth noting that both men were subjects of 7D feature stories within the last year or so. But it never hurts to sing praises with an encore. “Ace sound engineers often get overlooked, and it’s a crime,” writes Grace Potter & the Nocturnals drummer Matt Burr of Ushakov. “A dedicated club engineer like Sergei is a key member in hundreds of bands every year, and he must exhibit a diverse sonic palate for all genres ranging from metal to douche groove. Sergei, I salute you, man.” Burr wasn’t alone in his admiration for the veteran, and sometimes cranky, engineer. “Literally can’t keep him away from work,” writes Nectar’s coworker Ryan Clausen. “If he’s not in the booth mixing a band, he’s giving lessons on compression to young guitarists, fixing a broken amp or finding the best deal on eBay for anything and everything that could help out in the production world. He may be cold
Tim Lewis
on the exterior, but he’s a sweetheart, and I’d be totally lost without him.” Says Japhy Ryder’s Pat Ormiston, “He’s our local Wolverine.” Local house music DJ Craig Mitchell opines that Ushakov is the “best at fixing er’thing electronic and music.” Lewis, who hosts a local-music radio show on online station WBKM, maintains a music blog called Tim’s Triangle Tribune and generally sees more shows than anyone else around — pro music scribes included — drew similarly effusive praise. “Tim does more than just about anybody else to support Burlington bands and raise awareness about what’s happening in the scene,” writes Black Rabbit front man Marc Scarano. “Your rock show ain’t a rock show unless Tim Lewis is there,” adds Swale’s Eric Olsen. “He’s the chronicler of our scene.” Some others receiving votes:
JOSEPH PENSAK, NEW CITY GALERIE
KNAYTE LANDER, STATE & MAIN RECORDS, BUCH SPIELER MUSIC
WAKING WINDOWS PRESENTS
“Knayte Lander, for his contributions to the local music scene as a musician, producer, idea man, dealer and fan,” says Lake Superior drummer Pete Rahn. “And he’s an all-around good person.” JUSTIN GONYEA, DOOM SERVICE, GET STOKED! RECORDS
“Justin gets a lot of credit as a musician,” writes Stickshift Recordings founder Kelly Riel. “But I think he deserves serious recognition as one of the most important people in making the punk scene possible. He helps run a practice space where loads of bands play, he is an extremely prolific promoter, he tries hard to make shows safe and inclusive for everyone, he runs a totally rad record label and, starting in January, he will be the official promoter at 242 Main. In short, Justin makes punk possible!”
“I think they’ve found their musical niche with their Sunday folk series,” writes Phil Yates of Phil Yates and the Affiliates. “They always have some pretty cool art being displayed. Most importantly, they were the only venue in town that brought Jad Fair and Danielson to town, one of my favorite concerts of the year.” JARED SLOMOFF, RECORDING ENGINEER
“If there ever was an unsung backbone to the music community, this is the guy,” writes Guster’s Ryan Miller. “He’s tireless, passionate, beyond talented and just about the best soul there is. Such a fan.” RAY VEGA, TRUMPET PLAYER, UVM JAZZ STUDIES SENIOR LECTURER
“I know he receives a lot of acclaim, but I am going with Ray Vega,” writes Reuben Jackson, the host of the Vermont Public Radio program “Friday Night Jazz.” “Great artist, educator and spirit. Long may he swing.” “Gotta hand it to the Waking Windows team,” writes Vedora bassist Caroline O’Connor. “Their annual WW fest in the spring is my favorite weekend of the year for music. And they bring some damn good shows to town year-round.” CALEB ELDER, FIDDLER / PAPPY BIONDO, BANJO PLAYER
“Caleb Elder for organizing this whole Sunday Bluegrass Brunch Scramble at the Skinny Pancake to bring bluegrass music back to Burlington,” writes Danny Coane of the Starline Rhythm Boys. He adds, “Pappy Biondo of Cabinet, a newly recognized banjo talent (plus he also plays great guitar and mandolin) in the area since he moved up here from Pennsylvania. Cabinet may be ‘alt-progressive,’ but Pappy is well DID YOU EVER KNOW THAT YOU’RE MY HERO?
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Got muSic NEwS? dan@sevendaysvt.com
undbites
www.highergroundmusic.com
B y Da N B Oll E S
COUrTESy Of DavE kEllEr
Dave Keller
He’s Making a List
THUNDERBOLT RESEARCH
DECEMBER Sa 20
Su 21
Sa 27
We 31
We 31
SLEEPLESS IN BURLINGTON DJ SPAGS, DJ CASEY LEE A CONTOIS CHRISTMAS &
TWIDDLE SOULE MONDE
Su 28
MOON HOOCH GNOMEDAD THE DEVIL MAKES THREE JOE FLETCHER & THE WRONG REASONS
JANUARY Fr 2
THE DEVIL MAKES THREE JOE FLETCHER & THE WRONG REASONS
Sa 3
POP-UP! A QUEER DANCE PARTY DJ ROB DOUGLAS, DJ LLU
Tu 6
FOUR YEAR STRONG EXPIRE, HANDGUNS, HEART TO HEART
UPCOMING...
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1/30 THE MACHINE PERFORMS PINK FLOYD 2/3 ANI DIFRANCO 2/14 WINTER IS A DRAG BALL 2/25 SAINTS OF VALORY
@HIGHERGROUND
@HIGHERGROUNDMUSIC
INFO 652.0777 | TIX 1.877.987.6487 1214 Williston Rd. | S. Burlington STAY IN TOUCH #HGVT
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MUSIC 71
for up-to-the-minute news abut the local music scene, follow @DanBolles on Twitter or read the live Culture blog: sevendaysvt.com/liveculture.
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1/10 PARTICLE 1/12 KARMA TO BURN 1/13 THAT 1 GUY 1/20 DR. DOG
SEVEN DAYS
In non-holiday news, local wagon o’ funk FuNkwAGoN embark on an ambitious nine-week Friday-night residency at Red Square this Friday, December 19. Each week, the band and an assortment of special guests will play for seven straight hours, beginning at four in the afternoon. Yes, you read that correctly. Seven hours. 4 p.m. SOUNDBITES
DWIGHT & NICOLE THE DUPONT BROTHERS,
12.17.14-12.24.14
BiteTorrent
Sa 27
SEVENDAYSVt.com
Mele Kalikimaka, music fans! Judging from ye olde “Kiss Saves Santa” advent calendar here in the Seven Days fortress of rockitude — OK, fine, my living room — I see that we’re just about a week away from Christmas. Much like last week, that means many of the big shindigs on the schedule over the next few days are holiday-themed. It also means there is precious little time left to get right with Santa and make the “nice” list. So let’s get to it. We begin at Zen Lounge in Burlington this Saturday, December 20, for what will either be the best or worst local holiday show in history, with no in between. But it’s not a music show. It’s the Comedy Roast of Santa Claus. Yes, really. Hosted by local standup REGi BRittAiN, the Friars’ Club-style roast of St. Nick will feature some talented — and hopefully mean — area comics, including ADAm cook, ANNiE RuSSEll, timothY BRiDGE, kENBAll FARABAuGh, PiERRE VAchoN, ZAch NElSoN, will BEttS, NicolE SiSk and mikE thomAS. And, yes, Santa will be there, too. Though I have a sneaking suspicion Santa will really just be local comic, podcast host and self-appointed “hipster Jew” chickY wiNklEmAN in a fat suit and Santa costume. That’s just speculation, though. Whoever is donning Santa’s gay apparel — Santa himself is rather busy this time of year — is probably in for a long night. The jolly old elf is certainly ripe for comedic skewering. Again, I’m just spitballing here, but I’d imagine some likely topics to be his obvious weight problem, why his mall helpers always seem
to smell vaguely of cheap whiskey and cigarettes, his sweatshop in the North Pole, and the inherent creepiness of small children sitting on a strange old man’s lap. Suffice it to say, I expect everyone onstage at Zen Lounge Saturday, and likely many members of the crowd, will be firmly on the “naughty” list by the night’s end. Fortunately, you’ll have a chance to redeem yourself and work your way back on to the “nice” list later that very same evening at Radio Bean with the Grantstein Holiday Spectacular. That’s a live Christmas-album recording curated by SARAh GRANt and JoSh wEiNStEiN — Grantstein, get it? The show features a smorgasbord of local talent, including members of kAt wRiGht & thE iNDomitABlE Soul BAND, mADAilA, VillANEllES, JoE ADlER & thE RANGERS oF DANGER and many, many more. The exact details are a little murky as of press time, but, from what I gather, the idea behind the show sounds similar to the holiday record that keyboardist and songwriter JoShuA GlASS recorded in 2011, Merry Christmas From Burlington. For that album, Glass invited various local musical buddies — SAmARA lARk, Scott mANGAN, SARAh SticklE and others — to his tiny BTV apartment over a span of eight days in December to record a handful of Christmas classics. The difference here is that you can swing by the Bean to listen in and likely be part of the show. I’m told Grant and Weinstein plan to turn the recording around by Christmas and offer it as a free download. In a related story, they’re definitely making the “nice” list. Moving back toward the “naughty” list, we have the Metal Monday Xmas Bash at Nectar’s on Monday, December 22. This annual melee of merry mayhem features mASS oF thARSiS, ABADDoN, VAPoRiZER and self-described “doom groove sarcasticore” outfit SAVAGE hEN. But most importantly, the show also features the Upside-Down Christmas Tree and Yankee Swap, which is exactly what it sounds like. Also, you do know that Santa and Satan are anagrams, right? Just sayin’… Finally, and perhaps veering ever so slightly back to the “nice” list, we have what longtime readers know is one of my personal favorite holiday traditions, Blues Xmas, also at Nectar’s on Christmas night. Helmed by local soul man DAVE kEllER and featuring an assortment of blues-inclined friends, Blues Xmas is the perfect nightcap following a day spent in the warm embrace of kith and kin, and a sure way to have, in the words of clARk w. GRiSwolD, “the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since BiNG cRoSBY tap-danced with DANNY fucking kAYE.” Hallelujah. Holy shit.
12/14/14 7:35 PM
music
CLUB DATES na: not availABLE. AA: All ages.
courtesy of a$ap tyy
JUNIPER: The High Breaks (surf rock), 8:30 p.m., free. THE LAUGH BAR AT DRINK: Comedy Showcase (standup comedy), 7 p.m., $7. MANHATTAN PIZZA & PUB: The Reverend Ben Donovan & the Congregation (country), 9 p.m., free. NECTAR'S: Seth Yacovone (solo acoustic blues), 7 p.m., free. Rustic Overtones, Groovestick (rock, funk), 9 p.m., $5. RADIO BEAN COFFEEHOUSE: Kids Music with Linda "Tickle Belly" Bassick & Friends, 11 a.m., free. Joe Holt (folk), 7 p.m., free. Jason Lee: Songs of the Season, 8 p.m., free. Isaac Samuel (singer-songwriter), 9 p.m., free. Clay Man (jazz rock), 10 p.m., free. The Make Mentions (indie rock), midnight, free. RED SQUARE: Funkwagon (funk), 4 p.m., free. DJ Craig Mitchell (house), 11 p.m., $5. RED SQUARE BLUE ROOM: DJ Con Yay (EDM), 9 p.m., $5. RÍ RÁ IRISH PUB & WHISKEY ROOM: Supersounds DJ (top 40), 10 p.m., free.
thu.18 // A$AP TyY [rap]
RUBEN JAMES: DJ Cre8 (hip-hop), 10 p.m., free.
Killer Crossover
A$AP TyY is a member of the acclaimed — and rather sprawling — 15-member rap collective A$AP Mob. He is also
quite the bike enthusiast. Among TyY’s side projects is a movement he calls “Bike Life,” which seeks to meld motorcycle and hip-hop culture. Also, wheelies. A$AP TyY rolls into the Zen Lounge in Burlington this Thursday, December 18. Here’s hoping he’s got snow tires.
WED.17 burlington
HALFLOUNGE SPEAKEASY: Wildlife Wednesday (trap, house), 9:30 p.m.
SEVEN DAYS
12.17.14-12.24.14
SEVENDAYSvt.com
JP'S PUB: Karaoke with Melody, 10 p.m., free. JUNIPER: Jake Whitesell/ Andrew Moroz Sextet (jazz), 8:30 p.m., free. LEUNIG'S BISTRO & CAFÉ: Paul Asbell Trio (jazz), 7 p.m., free. MANHATTAN PIZZA & PUB: Open Mic with Andy Lugo, 9 p.m., free. NECTAR'S: VT Comedy Club Presents: What a Joke! Comedy Open Mic (standup comedy), 7 p.m., free. After Funk, Tar Iguana (funk), 9:30 p.m., free/$5. 18+. RADIO BEAN COFFEEHOUSE: Ensemble V (jazz), 7 p.m., free. Irish Sessions, 9 p.m., free. RED SQUARE: Ellen Powell Trio (jazz), 7 p.m., free. DJ Jack Bandit (hip-hop), 11 p.m., free. THE SKINNY PANCAKE (BURLINGTON): Josh Panda's Acoustic Soul Night, 8 p.m., $5-10 donation. ZEN LOUNGE: Heavy Weight's Electronic DJs (EDM), 10 p.m., free.
72 music
chittenden county
ON TAP BAR & GRILL: Leno, Young & Cheney (acoustic rock), 7 p.m., free.
barre/montpelier
BAGITOS BAGEL & BURRITO CAFÉ: Papa GreyBeard (blues), 6 p.m., free. SWEET MELISSA'S: Wine Down with D. Davis (acoustic), 5 p.m., free. Open Blues Jam hosted by Jason Jack, 8 p.m., free.
stowe/smuggs area
THU.18
burlington
BENTO: Classics Vinyl Clash (eclectic), 10 p.m., free. SCAN
chittenden county BACKSTAGE PUB: Thursday Night Trivia, 8 p.m., free.
HIGHER GROUND BALLROOM:
Fits, Savage Hen (rock), 9 p.m., free/$5. 18+.
FINNIGAN'S PUB: Craig Mitchell (funk), 10 p.m., free. FRANNY O'S: Karaoke, 9 p.m., free.
ON TAP BAR & GRILL: Mona Malo (rock), 7 p.m., free.
PIECASSO PIZZERIA & LOUNGE: Trivia Night, 7 p.m., free.
HALFLOUNGE SPEAKEASY: Half & Half Comedy (standup), 8 p.m., free.
PENALTY BOX: Karaoke, 8 p.m., free.
middlebury area
JUNIPER: Xenia Dunford (acoustic), 8 p.m., free.
MOOG'S PLACE: Lesley Grant & Friends (country), 8 p.m., free.
51 MAIN AT THE BRIDGE: Blues Jam, 8 p.m., free. CITY LIMITS: Karaoke, 9 p.m., free. TWO BROTHERS TAVERN LOUNGE & STAGE: Trivia Night, 7 p.m., free.
northeast kingdom
THE PARKER PIE CO.: Trivia Night, 7 p.m., free.
THE STAGE: James Gingue (singer-songwriter), 6:30 p.m., free.
outside vermont
MONOPOLE: Open Mic, 10 p.m., free. OLIVE RIDLEY'S: So You Want to Be a DJ?, 10 p.m., free.
ZEN LOUNGE: Salsa Night with Jah Red, 8 p.m., $5. D Jay Baron (hip-hop), 10 p.m., $5.
chittenden county
MOOG'S PLACE: Open Mic, 8 p.m., free.
BACKSTAGE PUB: Karaoke with Jenny Red, 9 p.m., free.
middlebury area
JERICHO CAFÉ & TAVERN: Dale and Darcy (folk), 7:30 p.m., free.
free.
(acoustic rock), 5 p.m., free. Sticks & Stones (rock), 9 p.m., free.
MONKEY HOUSE: Broken 51 MAIN AT THE BRIDGE: Andric SCANTHE THIS PAGE THIS PAGE (pop), 8 p.m., $0.99. YOUR Bleachers Frames (rock), 8:30 p.m., $3/8. Severance Quartet (jazz), 8 AA. Sold out. TEXT WITH18+. LAYAR CLUB METRONOME: RockWITH LAYAR p.m., free. JERICHO CAFÉ & TAVERN: Irish Candy V: Dino Bravo, theSEE Miss PAGE ON TAP5BAR & GRILL: King Me CITY LIMITS: Trivia Night, 7 p.m., HERE SEE PAGE 9 Session, 7:30 p.m., free. THE MONKEY HOUSE: The Parts, Eastern Mountain Time, Vedora (rock), 8:30 p.m., free.
THE BEE'S KNEES: Cygne (acoustic), 7:30 p.m., donation.
SOUTH END KITCHEN AT LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES: Francesca Blanchard (singersongwriter), 7 p.m., free.
MANHATTAN PIZZA & PUB: Binger (jam), 9 p.m., free. NECTAR'S: Trivia Mania, 7 p.m., free. Bluegrass Thursday: DOJO, 9 p.m., $2/5. 18+. PIZZA BARRIO: Zach DuPont (indie folk), 6 p.m., free. RADIO BEAN COFFEEHOUSE: Jazz Sessions with Julian Chobot, 6:30 p.m., free. Shane Hardiman Trio (jazz), 8:30 p.m., free. Kat Wright & the Indomitable Soul Band (soul), 11:30 p.m., $5. RED SQUARE: Grundlefunk (funk), 6 p.m., free. D Jay Baron (hip-hop), 10 p.m., free. RÍ RÁ IRISH PUB & WHISKEY ROOM: Mashtodon (hip-hop), 10 p.m., free. ZEN LOUNGE: A$AP TYY (rap), 9 p.m., $25.
barre/montpelier
BAGITOS BAGEL & BURRITO CAFÉ: Piano Recital, 6 p.m., free. CHARLIE-O'S WORLD FAMOUS: Metal Thorsday: Fall From the Gallows, DJ Crucible, 10 p.m., free. NORTH BRANCH CAFÉ: James Secor (kora and guitar), 7:30 p.m., free.
TWO BROTHERS TAVERN LOUNGE & STAGE: DJ Dizzle (house), 10 p.m., free.
rutland area
PICKLE BARREL NIGHTCLUB: Duane Carleton CD Release Party (rock), 9 p.m., NA.
northeast kingdom THE STAGE: Val Davis, Linda Warnaar & Micah Carbonneau (folk), 7 p.m., free.
outside vermont OLIVE RIDLEY'S: Karaoke, 9 p.m., free.
NUTTY STEPH'S: Bra & Panties Bacon Thursday with Jim Thompson (rock, jazz), 7 p.m., free.
FRI.19
SWEET MELISSA'S: Seth Yacovone (acoustic blues), 7:30 p.m., free.
BENTO: Open Improvisation Jam, 10 p.m., free.
WHAMMY BAR: Laura Meyer (folk), 7 p.m., free.
stowe/smuggs area THE BEE'S KNEES: Clare Byrne & Aislynn Taber (folk), 7:30 p.m., donation.
burlington
BLEU NORTHEAST SEAFOOD: Gina & Jeff (jazz), 8:30 p.m., free. CLUB METRONOME: Back to the Future Friday (’90s/2000s dance party), 9 p.m., $5. FINNIGAN'S PUB: DJ Jon Demus (reggae), 10 p.m., free.
barre/montpelier
BAGITOS BAGEL & BURRITO CAFÉ: Isaiah Mayhew (roots, reggae, hip-hop), 6 p.m., donation. CAPITOL GROUNDS CAFÉ: Bramblewood (bluegrass), 6 p.m., free. CHARLIE-O'S WORLD FAMOUS: Live Music, 10 p.m., free. NUTTY STEPH'S: Latin Friday with Rauli Fernandez & Friends, 7 p.m., free. SWEET MELISSA'S: Honky Tonk Happy Hour with Mark LeGrand, 5 p.m., free. Tim Brick's Big Texas Sendoff (country), 9 p.m., free. WHAMMY BAR: Chad Hollister (folk rock), 7 p.m., free.
stowe/smuggs area THE BEE'S KNEES: Karen Krajacic (folk), 7:30 p.m., donation. Karen Krajacic (folk), 7:30 p.m., donation.
MOOG'S PLACE: Abby Sherman (folk), 6:30 p.m., free. Mud City
fri.19
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GOT MUSIC NEWS? DAN@SEVENDAYSVT.COM
S
UNDbites
MONTPELIER
CO NT I NU E D F RO M PAG E 7 1 COURTESY OF TSUNAMIBOTS
“You can shop during the holidays, grab dinner and catch a nightclub act in full swing at 4 p.m.,” he writes. This week, funk organist ZACH RHOADS and jam upstarts BINGER will join Burroughs and co. Guests in upcoming weeks include CRAIG MITCHELL — who, by the way, is as dynamic a singer as he is a DJ — the LYNGUISTIC CIVILIANS and GANG OF THIEVES, among others. If you haven’t checked out the monthly Rock Candy series at Club Metronome yet, your last chance to do so this year will be this Thursday, December 18. To refresh your memory, the series is curated by local rockers DINO BRAVO and features some of the hardest rocking bands in town. This falls in line with DB’s stated mission to “save rock and roll in the Queen City and beyond.” That’s a noble endeavor, to be sure. The fifth Rock Candy showcase features all-girl MISFITS tribute band the MISS FITS, the aforementioned Savage Hen and Dino Bravo, the last of whom, by the way, opened for DEAN WEEN at the Rusty Nail earlier this month.
In a recent email, Funkwagon front man AARON BURROUGHS writes that the idea behind the residency is to give folks who might not want to be out late — also known as squares … kidding — the chance to see live music and get their groove on earlier in the evening.
GLAM-VT Ugly sweater xmas party
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White out w/ DJ Ben Arsenal
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Gang of Thieves
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Kina Zoré
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Soule Monde
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Green Mountain Playboys Cajun Dance Party
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Lynguistic Civilians
Last but not least, local robotic surf-punk trio the TSUNAMIBOTS are set to release a pair of EPs this week, Rise of the Robots TEXT “unity” to 30321 to get our weekly music updates! and Surfing Craze in the Robotic Age. I haven’t heard them W W W . P O S I T I V E P I E . C O M yet, but based on the clips available at the band’s website, I’m 8 0 2 . 2 2 9 . 0 4 5 3 going to go out on a limb and bet they’re pretty friggin’ good. Imagine a cross between MAN OR ASTRO-MAN?, LOS STRAITJACKETS and MAX HEADROOM, and you’re in the ballpark. 8v-positivepie121714.indd 1 12/12/14 4:47 PM But don’t just take my word for it. From the band’s delightfully silly (and made up) press release: “‘When I first heard the Tsunamibots, I thought, Oh no! This will definitely lead to the enslavement of the human race! Seriously, we are screwed,’ says Bill Humansen from HumansAgainstRobot.org. The Hard Drive, from the robot specialty magazine Robots Only, commented after seeing a Tsunamibots show, ‘I used to listen to human rock, but as a robot, I was tired of all the imperfections and the lack of crushing humans. Now that I’ve found the Tsunamibots, I finally have a scene of my own.’” So, yeah. The Tsunamibots play a release party at Hostel Tevere in Warren this Saturday, December 20, with Maine’s THEE ICEPICKS and local “hardcore XXX rock” band RAMCORE.
THE QUICK & EASY BOYS, Make It Easy THE SMOKING FLOWERS, 2 Guns VAMPIRE WEEKEND, Modern Vampires
of the City
Reserve your Jamaican Blue and 100% Kona!
412 PINE ST, BURLINGTON 658-6016 8v-speeders121714.indd 1
MUSIC 73
SAM AMIDON, Bright Sunny South BEACHES, She Beats
is here.
SEVEN DAYS
A peek at what was on my iPod, turntable, eight-track player, etc., this week.
12.17.14-12.24.14
COURTESY OF SAVAGE HEN
KONA BLEND
Listening In
Savage Hen
20
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
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12
12/16/14 10:55 AM
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NA: NOT AVAILABLE. AA: ALL AGES.
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COURTESY OF ANACHRONIST
FRI.19
CLUB DATES
Ramblers (bluegrass), 9 p.m., free. RIMROCK'S MOUNTAIN TAVERN: DJ Rekkon #FridayNightFrequencies (hip-hop), 10 p.m., free. RUSTY NAIL: Waylon Speed, Seth Yacovone Band (outlaw dirt rock, blues), 9 p.m., $10.
middlebury area
51 MAIN AT THE BRIDGE: Soule Monde (funk), 8 p.m., free. TWO BROTHERS TAVERN LOUNGE & STAGE: Starline Rhythm Boys (rockabilly), 6:30 p.m., $3. Lynguistic Civilians (hip-hop), 10 p.m., $3.
rutland area
PICKLE BARREL NIGHTCLUB: The Wild Ones (rock), 9 p.m., NA.
northeast kingdom
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SAT.20 // ANACHRONIST [INDIE]
PHAT KATS TAVERN: Senayit (rock), 9:30 p.m., free. THE STAGE: Karaoke, 8 p.m., free.
outside vermont
MONOPOLE: Live Music, 10 p.m., free. MONOPOLE DOWNSTAIRS: Happy Hour Tunes & Trivia with Gary Peacock, 5 p.m., free.
SAT.20
burlington
BENTO: Selah Sounds (reggae, hip-hop), 10 p.m., free.
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
CLUB METRONOME: Green Mountain Cabaret: Second Anniversi-Tease (burlesque), 6:30 p.m., $10/15. 18+. Retronome with DJ Fattie B (’80s dance party), 9 p.m., free/$5. FRANNY O'S: Karaoke, 9 p.m., free. JP'S PUB: Karaoke with Megan, 10 p.m., free. JUNIPER: Disco Phantom (eclectic), 9 p.m., free.
Static Cling
ANACHRONIST
YOUR TEXT HERE
SCAN TH WITH LAY SEE PAGE
is the brainchild of Montpelier songwriter Brian Clark, previously best known as an in-demand sideman in
numerous other area bands. But on Static and Light, Anachronist’s stirring 2014 full-length record, Clark proves himself a visionary bandleader in his own right. Evocative of indie greats from Broken Social Scene to Cat Power, the record heralds the arrival of a distinctive and powerful artistic force in the capital city. Anachronist play Charlie-O’s World Famous this Saturday, December 20, with fellow Montpeculiar rockers PISTOL FIST.
MANHATTAN PIZZA & PUB: Whale Oil (rock), 9 p.m., free.
Raul (salsa), 6 p.m., free. DJ Reign One (EDM), 11 p.m., $5.
Past Sunset (jam), 8:30 p.m., $3/8. 18+.
NUTTY STEPH'S: Creaturetown Puppetfest, 7 p.m., free.
Some Girls (Rolling Stones tribute), 9 p.m., $8.
NECTAR'S: Mike Pedersen (rock), 7 p.m., free. The Whiskey Dicks, Rumblecat (rock, Americana), 9 p.m., $5.
RÍ RÁ IRISH PUB & WHISKEY ROOM: Hot Neon Magic (’80s new wave), 10 p.m., free.
ON TAP BAR & GRILL: John Daly Trio (folk rock), 5 p.m., free. High Rollers (rock), 9 p.m., free.
STOWE INN AND TAVERN: Honeybees (acoustic), 6:30 p.m., free.
RUBEN JAMES: Craig Mitchell (house), 10 p.m., free.
VENUE NIGHTCLUB: Saturday Night Mixdown with DJ Dakota & Jon Demus, 10 p.m., $5. 18+.
POSITIVE PIE (MONTPELIER): Sweater Prinde: GLAM VT Ugly Xmas Sweater Party (dance party), 10 p.m., $5. 18+.
PIZZA BARRIO: Eric George (blues), 6 p.m., free. RADIO BEAN COFFEEHOUSE: Acoustic Brunch with Joe Adler, noon, free. Gina MacKinnon (singer-songwriter), 5:30 p.m., free. Bad Accent (folk rock), 7 p.m., free. Brian Gatch (Americana), 9 p.m., free. Grantstein Holiday Spectacular, 10:30 p.m., free. RED SQUARE: Whale Oil (rock), 7 p.m., $5. Mashtodon (hip-hop), 11 p.m., $5. RED SQUARE BLUE ROOM: DJ
ZEN LOUNGE: Comedy Roast of Santa Claus (standup), 8 p.m., $5.
chittenden county BACKSTAGE PUB: Last Words (rock), 9 p.m., free.
HIGHER GROUND SHOWCASE LOUNGE: Sleepless in Burlington: Fade to Grey with DJs SPAGS and Casey Lee (house, EDM), 9 p.m., $5/10. AA. THE MONKEY HOUSE: Dollar
barre/montpelier BAGITOS BAGEL & BURRITO CAFÉ: Irish Session, 2 p.m., donation. The Verbing Nouns, Small Axe (acoustic), 6 p.m., donation.
CHARLIE-O'S WORLD FAMOUS: Anachronist, Pistol Fist (indie), 10 p.m., free. NORTH BRANCH CAFÉ: Michelle Rodriguez (singer-songwriter), 7:30 p.m., Free.
SWEET MELISSA'S: Live Music, 5 p.m., free. The Pizza Tapes (rock), 9 p.m., free. WHAMMY BAR: June Morse Christmas Sing Along, 7 p.m., free.
stowe/smuggs area THE BEE'S KNEES: Spider Roulette (gypsy jazz), 7:30 p.m., donation. MOOG'S PLACE: Penny Arcade (folk), 9 p.m., free. RUSTY NAIL: Josh Panda and
mad river valley/ waterbury
HOSTEL TEVERE: The Tsunamibots, Thee Ice Picks, Ramcore (surf, hardcore), 9 p.m., NA. THE RESERVOIR RESTAURANT & TAP ROOM: The Bad Sky (rock), 10 p.m., free.
middlebury area
51 MAIN AT THE BRIDGE: Anthony Santor Jazz Group, 8 p.m., free.
12.17.14-12.24.14
SAT.20
craft
fo for od
SEVEN DAYS
craft beer
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74 MUSIC
» P.77
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GOT MUSIC NEWS? DAN@SEVENDAYSVT.COM
REVIEW this
Boomslang, Boomslang
(STATE & MAIN RECORDS, CD, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD)
Hip-hop is one of the most relentlessly prolific genres in existence today. Success is often defined by an endless stream of mixtapes, EPs, singles, collaborations and even, on occasion, that dinosaur species known as the Album. Montpelier hip-hop act Boomslang are remarkable, then, for taking a path seldom traveled on their self-titled debut. This is the result of years of carefully calibrated live product testing around New England and months in the studio scrutinizing every second. The final product is a densely detailed peak experience that proudly represents for Vermont.
Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free. The team of producer J Ellis and rapper Sed One has been winning over crowds with shamelessly feelgood, dance-friendly and bass-heavy party music. That work ethic is etched into every moment here, fusing the contagious spark of their live shows with the meticulously produced sheen of a proper studio. From party starters such as “Moving On” to more experimental bangers such as the standout track “Slingshots,” everything here breathes with genuine life. As Boomslang continue to grow more popular, it will be entertaining to watch the national music press attempt to forge a subgenre name for what, precisely, they do onstage. It’s hard to describe without resorting to Zen contortions like “oldschool futurism.” But that’s probably inevitable, given the omni-genre web of influence that mixmaster J Ellis works into any given track. Beneath the powerful drum programming is a complex tapestry of samples that evokes, without emulating, everything from Earth, Wind & Fire to Nine Inch Nails. The album sounds like it could have come from a backwoods hippie commune … if those existed on Mars. Sed One has humble charm and a fully automatic flow, both of which command attention in any context. The rhymes here are expertly constructed, delivered
ONLINE@ZENLOUNGEVT
with evangelical authority and steeped in W.12.17: HEAVY WEIGHTS ELECTRONIC DJS 10PM, 21+ decades of hip-hop references. Only after a few listens could I fully appreciate what Th.12.18: A$AP MOB & UCC PRESENT a perfect complement the two artists are A$AP TYY HIP HOP SHOW 9PM, 21+ here. These guys really know their music history, but, most importantly, they’re not F.12.19: with JAH RED 8PM winking academics about it. This is the work of human encyclopedias who know with D JAY BARON 11PM, 21+ how to party. It is also the work of proud, rooted Sa.12.20: Vermonters. Every track is unabashedly 8PM, 21+ personal and regional, matched with a 10PM universal message of peace, love and funk. Boomslang really do “run Charlie-O’s to Tuesdays: KILLED IT! KARAOKE the whole cosmos,” but even the most with EMCEE CALLA NOVA 9PM, 18+ cartoonish brags here sound fun rather 165 CHURCH ST, BTV • 802-399-2645 than boastful. This release is also a tribute to the hard work of State & Main Records, the diverse12v-zenlounge121714.indd 1 12/9/14 11:34 AM Montpelier collective that’s growing more interesting every year. Boomslang have put tremendous time into this debut, synthesizing their FRIDAY DECEMBER 19 inspirations into something unique. J Ellis WAYLON SPEED AND deserves special acclaim for his calculated SETH YACOVONE BAND work. An earnestly traditional hip-hop ROCK DOUBLE BILL album that sounds like it was influenced SATURDAY DECEMBER 20 by approximately everything, this 12-track JOSH PANDA & SOME GIRLS set exceeds expectations by a span of ROLLING STONES TRIBUTE light-years. FRIDAY DECEMBER 26 Boomslang by Boomslang is available BROTHER JOSCEPHUS at iTunes and Buch Spieler Music in & THE LOVE REVOLUTION 9PM STOP BREATHE BUMP PRESENTS D JAY BARON 10:30PM Montpelier.
SALSA FEEL GOOD FRIDAY COMEDY ROAST OF SANTA CLAUS DJ ATAK
JUSTIN BOLAND
plus 3-5pm Apres Ski - John Wilson Birdshot LaFunk SATURDAY DECEMBER 27
DEAD SETGRATEFUL DEAD TRIBUTE 9PM plus 3-5pm Apres Ski - Zach Nugent & Devon Noel of Dead Set
SCAN THIS PAGE WITH LAYAR TO LISTEN TO TRACKS
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 31 • NEW YEARS EVE
SUNDAY
4PM - CLOSE (ROUGHLY 10PM)
1190 Mountain Road 802-253-6245
rustynailvt.com
IF YOU’RE AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST OR BAND MAKING MUSIC IN VT, SEND YOUR CD TO US! DAN BOLLES C/O SEVEN DAYS, 255 SO. CHAMPLAIN ST. STE 5, BURLINGTON, VT 05401
GET TICKETS AT
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MUSIC 75
GET YOUR MUSIC REVIEWED:
ROBERT RESNIK
SEVEN DAYS
Rutland County rocker Duane Carleton has been cranking out all manner of original electric and acoustic music since the early 1990s. With A Girl Like That — which, if I’ve counted right, is his 18th recording — he shows no sign of slowing down. Dedicated to the memory of Chris Franco, a beloved Killington chef who died suddenly last year at age 49, the album features 11 original songs loaded with familiar guitar riffs, great vocals and some potential rock anthems.
12.17.14-12.24.14
(HIGHER ROAD RECORDS, CD, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD)
one of the album’s rare ballads. Both are ROCK TRIBUTE personal favorites. Carleton’s years of THURSDAY JANUARY 1 3-5pm Apres Ski - Seth Yacovone Solo experience absorbing and performing great rock music in central and southern FRIDAY JANUARY 2 Vermont have clearly enriched his HOT NEON MAGIC songwriting. LIVE 80s BAND • DANCE PARTY plus 3-5pm Apres Ski - DuPont Brothers Carleton is undeniably a solid vocalist SATURDAY JANUARY 3 and master of many guitar styles. Whether he’s doing a short fill riff, chopping away PINK TALKING FISH PINK FLOYD • TALKING HEADS • PHISH at a catchy funk rhythm, strutting jazzy YOUR SCANWITH THIS PAGE SPECIAL GUESTS BOBBY PALTAUF BAND lines — as in the instrumental “Killing TEXT Band WITH LAYAR plus 3-5pm Apres Ski - Bobby Paltauf Time” — or taking his Les Paul on a HERE SEE PAGE 9 JUST ANNOUNCED furious tear, the playing is meticulous, JANUARY 9: SPIRITUAL REZ & GANG OF THIEVES JANUARY 10: BADFISH: A TRIBUTE TO SUBLIME muscular and entertaining. Carleton’s JANUARY 31: RUSTED ROOT varied approaches and musical textures FEBRUA FEBRUARY 14: LAST KID PICKED include nods to guitar icons from Keith FEBRUARY 15: CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD FEBRUARY 21: DARK SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN Richards to Duane Allman to Randy FEBRUARY 27: SOULE MONDE & TAUK Bachman, and he does them proud. HOURS: Duane Carleton celebrates A Girl MONDAY 5PM - 11PM (BAR ONLY) DART LEAGUE • 7PM - 10PM Like That with a CD release party at the TUESD TUESDAY CLOSED Pickle Barrel Nightclub in Killington this WED - THU 4PM - CLOSE (ROUGHLY 10PM) POOL LEAGUE • 7PM - 10:30PM WEDNESDAYS Thursday, December 18. A rockin’ time is FRI - SAT 2PM - 2AM guaranteed.
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
Duane Carleton, A Girl Like That
Let’s start with the album art. Cover girl Brittany Schuessler sets the scene. The front cover is set in a genre that could be called “cartoon idyllic,” with Schuessler done up to look like one of Sarah Palin’s soccer moms. The back cover is considerably more suggestive. The music follows suit: There’s everything here from sensitive ballads to kick-ass rockers. Carleton is signaling that everything is not necessarily as it appears. The whole shebang needs to be listened to with a sense of humor, tongue firmly set in cheek. Schuessler is featured in some additional entertaining poses on the CD itself, sadly not visible when the disc is playing. The title track leads off the album with a vibe that recalls John Mellencamp circa 1985. And that’s a compliment. Carleton knows how to craft classic rock-and-roll songs. Take, for example, “18 Years (and a Moment),” a catchy little anthem that has shades of Tom Petty and Burton Cummings; and “Love and Nothing,”
LAST KID PICKED
12/14/14 3:14 PM
music
file: matthew thorsen
Sergei Ushakov
4t-flynn121714.indd 1
12/15/14 2:15 PM
Did You Ever Know That You’re My Hero? « p.70 versed in real-deal, old-school bluegrass music.” DAN muNziNg, ErrANDS, rYAN PowEr
SEVEN DAYS
12.17.14-12.24.14
SEVENDAYSVt.com
“Dan has flown off to the big city,” writes Invisible Homes front man Sean Witters. “He deserves props on his way out. Having worked on very sonically detailed projects with Dan and as a fellow weird noise geek, I love his technical wizardry and musical intuition. He’s played a vital role on the scene, from his work with Ryan Power to the majestic Dark Side of the Mountain shows. What will we do without Mr. Munzing?”
76 music
“Nick Mavodones is still the hardestworking person in the Burlington/ Winooski music scene,” writes Brian Nagle, aka Disco Phantom. “I don’t think people realize and appreciate how much he does for this town. He has never stopped and always puts others first.” JoE moorE, SAxoPHoNE PLAYEr
“He is the personification of raw, soulful sax,” writes soul singer Dave Keller. “And he is a humble, beautiful human being.” BoB wAgNEr, guitAriSt, kAt wrigHt & tHE iNDomitABLE SouL BAND
“Jim Lockridge, for everything he does with Big Heavy World and always opening up his home, basement and backyard for me to host punk basement shows and BBQs,” writes Get Stoked! Records’ Justin Gonyea. He adds, “Also, Tyler Daniel Bean for being a real-life dude. He’s done a bunch of really positive things at 242 Main and behind the scenes that’s really helped strengthen and grow the DIY all-ages scene in Burlington.”
“Bob Wagner is the quiet, gentle force behind so many projects in town, but he’s never in the center spotlight, which only enhances his hero status,” writes Higher Ground’s Alex Crothers. “He’s an organizer, he’s a professional, and he’s immensely talented. I never worry when Bob’s involved.”
“He’s the best,” writes Waylon Speed drummer Justin Crowther 12/15/13 4:41 PM
Nick mAVoDoNES, wAkiNg wiNDowS PrESENtS
Jim LockriDgE, Big HEAVY worLD / tYLEr DANiEL BEAN, muSiciAN
cHriS FriDAY, HigHEr grouND
4T-Advance121813.indd 1
of HG’s production/tour manager. “Professional as all hell with a great sense of humor. Bands we meet that travel the country and beyond always ask us if we know him from HG.”
EArLY BirDS
“People who go to shows early enough to catch the openers,” writes Pours front man Bryan Parmelee. “Y’all are the real MVPs.” m
cLUB DAtES NA: not availaBlE. AA: all agEs.
Sat.20
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TWO BROTHERS TAVERN LOUNGE & STAGE: DJ Blinie (dance party), 10 p.m., free.
rutland area
PICKLE BARREL NIGHTCLUB: The Savage Brothers (rock), 9 p.m., Na.
northeast kingdom
THE PARKER PIE CO.: The Kingdom tribute Revue: the Allman Brothers Band, 8 p.m., $5. THE STAGE: michael Hahn (singer-songwriter), 6 p.m., free. Hornbeam (rock), 8 p.m., free.
outside vermont
MONOPOLE: Groovestick (funk), 10 p.m., free.
THE SKINNY PANCAKE (BURLINGTON): Kidz music with Raphael, 11:30 a.m., $3 donation.
chittenden county
ON TAP BAR & GRILL: open mic with Wylie, 7 p.m., free.
barre/montpelier
BAGITOS BAGEL & BURRITO CAFÉ: Art Herttua & Stephen morabito (jazz), 6 p.m., donation.
stowe/smuggs area
MOOG'S PLACE: Seth Yacovone (solo acoustic blues), 7 p.m., free.
northeast kingdom
PHAT KATS TAVERN: Jay Natola (solo guitar), 9 p.m., free.
SUN.21
THE STAGE: Writer's Round: Kami Imari, Jake matchell, Zack Ummer (singer-songwriters), 7 p.m., free.
FRANNY O'S: Kyle Stevens' Happiest Hour of music (singer-songwriter), 7 p.m., free. Vermont's Next Star, 8 p.m., free.
TUE.23
burlington
THE LAUGH BAR AT DRINK: comedy open mic (standup comedy), 8 p.m., free. NECTAR'S: mI YARD Reggae Night with DJs Big Dog and Demus, 9 p.m., free. OLDE NORTHENDER PUB: open mic, 7 p.m., free. RADIO BEAN COFFEEHOUSE: celtic Brunch with Hannah Beth crary & tristan Henderson, 11 a.m., free. Downfall country with Andrew Stearns & Shay Gestal, 1 p.m., free. FlynnArts Jazz/Blues Solo Vocal class Recital, 7 p.m., free. moving and Storage (indie folk), 9 p.m., free. Strange Purple Jelly (jam), 10:30 p.m., free. THE SKINNY PANCAKE (BURLINGTON): Bluegrass Brunch Scramble, noon, $5-10 donation. Spark open Improv Jam & Standup comedy, 7 p.m., $5-10 donation.
chittenden county
BACKSTAGE PUB: Karaoke/open mic, 8 p.m., free. HIGHER GROUND BALLROOM: A contois christmas (holiday music), 6 p.m., $10/12. aa. THE MONKEY HOUSE: Thatcher (rock), 8:30 p.m., $3/8. 18+. PENALTY BOX: trivia With a twist, 4 p.m., free.
BAGITOS BAGEL & BURRITO CAFÉ: Eric Friedman (folk), 11 a.m., free.
stowe/smuggs area
THE BEE'S KNEES: Howard Ring Guitar Brunch, 11 a.m., donation. Andriana chobot (folk, jazz), 7:30 p.m., donation. MOOG'S PLACE: John & Friends (folk), noon, free.
THE STAGE: open mic, 5 p.m., free.
HALFLOUNGE SPEAKEASY: DJ tricky Pat & Guests (D&B), 10 p.m., free. JP'S PUB: open mic with Kyle, 9 p.m., free. LEUNIG'S BISTRO & CAFÉ: cody Sargent trio (jazz), 7 p.m., free. NECTAR'S: Gubbulidis (jam), 8 p.m., free/$5. 18+. The mallett Brothers (country rock), 9 p.m., free/$5. 18+. RADIO BEAN COFFEEHOUSE: Stephen callahan trio (jazz), 6:30 p.m., free. Ryan ober & the Loose Ends (folk rock denim dudes), 9 p.m., free. Honky tonk tuesday with Brett Hughes & Friends, 10 p.m., $3.
ON TAP BAR & GRILL: trivia Night, 7 p.m., free.
barre/montpelier
BAGITOS BAGEL & BURRITO CAFÉ: Nancy & Lilly Smith (folk), 6 p.m., donation. CHARLIE-O'S WORLD FAMOUS: Karaoke, 8 p.m., free. POSITIVE PIE (MONTPELIER): White out (jazz, hip-hop), 10 p.m., $5. SOUTH SIDE TAVERN: open mic with John Lackard, 9 p.m., free. SWEET MELISSA'S: Live music, 5 p.m., free.
stowe/smuggs area
THE BEE'S KNEES: The Endorsements (folk), 7:30 p.m., donation.
TWO BROTHERS TAVERN LOUNGE & STAGE: Karaoke with Roots Entertainment, 9 p.m., free.
NECTAR'S: metal monday Xmas Bash: mass of Tharsis, Savage Hen, Vaporizer, Abaddon, 9 p.m., $3/5. 18+.
middlebury area
SEVEN DAYS
JP'S PUB: Dance Video Request Night with melody, 10 p.m., free.
12/10/14 12:16 PM
chittenden county
CLUB METRONOME: What a Joke comedy open mic (standup comedy), 7 p.m., free/$5. 18+.
HALFLOUNGE SPEAKEASY: Family Night (rock), 10:30 p.m., free.
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ZEN LOUNGE: Six Pack Variety Act: Home for the Holidays!!! (standup comedy), 8 p.m., free. Killed It! Karaoke, 9 p.m., free.
MOOG'S PLACE: The Jason Wedlock Show (rock), 7:30 p.m., free.
FRANNY O'S: Standup comedy cage match, 8 p.m., free.
12/14/14 10:50 AM
RED SQUARE: craig mitchell (house), 10 p.m., free.
MON.22 burlington
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12.17.14-12.24.14
northeast kingdom
CLUB METRONOME: Dead Set with cats Under the Stars (Grateful Dead tribute), 9 p.m., free/$5.
SEVENDAYSVt.com
barre/montpelier
burlington
WED.24
barre/montpelier
SWEET MELISSA'S: Wine Down with D. Davis (acoustic), 5 p.m., free. Live music, 8 p.m., free.
thU.25
MUSIC 77
RADIO BEAN COFFEEHOUSE: Lisa Ann moroz (americana), 7 p.m., free. Goodbye Show: Ryan Fauber (folk), 8:30 p.m., free.
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NA: not availaBlE. AA: all agEs.
« p.77
courtesy of rustic overtones
wed.24
cLUB DAtES
THU.25 burlington
NECTAR'S: Blues Xmas with Dave Keller & Friends, 9 p.m., free/$5. 18+.
chittenden county BACKSTAGE PUB: Thursday Night trivia, 8 p.m., free.
outside vermont
MONOPOLE: Lowell & Sabo's christmas Show, 10 p.m., free.
FRI.26
SCAN TH WITH LA SEE PAG
burlington
BENTO: open Improvisation Jam, 10 p.m., free. BLEU NORTHEAST SEAFOOD: tiffany Pfeiffer (neo soul), 8:30 p.m., free. CLUB METRONOME: Back to the Future Friday (’90s/2000s dance party), 9 p.m., $5. FINNIGAN'S PUB: DJ Jon Demus (reggae), 10 p.m., free. JUNIPER: matty Parillo trio (jazz), 8:30 p.m., free. THE LAUGH BAR AT DRINK: comedy Showcase (standup comedy), 7 p.m., $7. NECTAR'S: Seth Yacovone (solo acoustic blues), 7 p.m., free. Blues for Breakfast (Grateful dead tribute), 9 p.m., $5.
RED SQUARE: Funkwagon (funk), 4 p.m., free. Soulstice (reggae), 7 p.m., $5. DJ craig mitchell (house), 11 p.m., $5. RED SQUARE BLUE ROOM: DJ con Yay (edm), 9 p.m., $5. RÍ RÁ IRISH PUB & WHISKEY
Cult Leaders Led by vocalist Dave Gutter and his uniquely soulful, rock-tumbler-in-the-throat howl, Portland, Maine’s
RUStIc oVERtoNES
have been doing their thing for about 20 years now — give or take a hiatus here and there. From the catchy funk-pop bombast of their seminal 1995 album Long Division to their 2001 major-label effort ¡Viva Nueva! to their most recent albums, Let’s Start a Cult and Let’s Start a Cult Part 2 (2012 and 2013, respectively), they remain an uncommonly vital group. Catch Rustic Overtones at Nectar’s in Burlington on Friday, December 19, with Albany, N.Y., funky bunch GRooVEStIcK. ROOM: Supersounds DJ (top 40), 10 p.m., free.
Phantom & Friends (eclectic), 9:30 p.m., free/$5. 18+.
RUBEN JAMES: DJ cre8 (hip-hop), 10 p.m., free.
ON TAP BAR & GRILL: Leno, Young & cheney (acoustic rock), 5 p.m., free. House on Fire (rock), 9 p.m., free.
ZEN LOUNGE: Salsa Night with Jah Red, 8 p.m., $5. D Jay Baron (hip-hop), 10 p.m., $5.
chittenden county
BACKSTAGE PUB: Karaoke with Jenny Red, 9 p.m., free. THE MONKEY HOUSE: Disco
barre/montpelier
CHARLIE-O'S WORLD FAMOUS: made in Iron (iron maiden tribute), 10 p.m., free. NUTTY STEPH'S: cooie DeFrancesco & Friends (blues), 7 p.m., free.
SWEET MELISSA'S: Honky tonk Happy Hour with mark LeGrand, 5 p.m., free. Live music, 9 p.m., free.
TAVERN: DJ Rekkon #FridayNightFrequencies (hip-hop), 10 p.m., free.
WHAMMY BAR: Penny Arcade (blues, jazz), 7 p.m., free.
RUSTY NAIL: Brother Jocephus and the Love Revolution (funk, soul), 9 p.m., $8.
stowe/smuggs area
middlebury area
THE BEE'S KNEES: Lefty Yunger (blues), 7:30 p.m., donation. MOOG'S PLACE: curtis Evans Kile (rock), 9 p.m., free.
TWO BROTHERS TAVERN LOUNGE & STAGE: UNDUN (rock), 9 p.m., $3.
RIMROCK'S MOUNTAIN
northeast kingdom PHAT KATS TAVERN: Live music, 9 p.m., free. THE STAGE: Karaoke, 8 p.m., free.
outside vermont
MONOPOLE: Live music, 10 p.m., free. MONOPOLE DOWNSTAIRS: Happy Hour tunes & trivia with Gary Peacock, 5 p.m., free. m
How does FREE birth control sound? Access Plan at Planned Parenthood is your source for free, confidential and convenient family planning services. Eligible Vermonters can receive free birth control, annual exams, STI testing and treatment, and more. To see if you qualify for Access Plan, visit bit.ly/accessplan or call 1-866-476-1321.
78 music
SEVEN DAYS
12.17.14-12.24.14
SEVENDAYSVt.com
RADIO BEAN COFFEEHOUSE: Kids music with Linda "tickle Belly" Bassick & Friends, 11 a.m., free. max Grazier (acoustic indie), 7 p.m., free. Sam Robbins (acoustic pop), 8 p.m., free. Keiti Botula (indie folk), 9 p.m., free. The Wonderbeards (folk rock), 10:30 p.m., free. Julian chobot (jazz), midnight, free.
FRI.19// RUStIc oVERtoNES [RocK, FUNK]
4h-plannedparenthood121714.indd 1
12/11/14 11:43 AM
venueS.411 burlington
StoWE/SMuggS ArEA
51 mAiN At thE briDgE, 51 Main St., Middlebury, 388-8209 bAr ANtiDotE, 35C Green St., Vergennes, 877-2555 citY limitS, 14 Greene St., Vergennes, 877-6919 tourtErEllE, 3629 Ethan Allen Hwy., New Haven, 453-6309 two brothErS tAVErN louNgE & StAgE, 86 Main St., Middlebury, 388-0002
rutlAnD ArEA
picklE bArrEl Nightclub, Killington Rd., Killington, 422-3035
CHAMPlAin iSlAnDS/ nortHWESt
chow! bEllA, 28 N. Main St., St. Albans, 524-1405 SNow ShoE loDgE & pub, 13 Main St., Montgomery Center, 326-4456
uPPEr VAllEY
brEAkiNg grouNDS, 245 Main St., Bethel, 392-4222
nortHEASt kingDoM
browN’S mArkEt biStro, 1618 Scott Highway, Groton, 584-4124 muSic box, 147 Creek Rd., Craftsbury, 586-7533 pArkEr piE co., 161 County Rd., West Glover, 525-3366 phAt kAtS tAVErN, 101 Depot St., Lyndonville, 626-3064 thE pub outbAck, 482 Vt. 114, East Burke, 626-1188 thE StAgE, 45 Broad St., Lyndonville, 427-3344
outSiDE VErMont
moNopolE, 7 Protection Ave., Plattsburgh, N.Y., 518-563-2222 NAkED turtlE, 1 Dock St., Plattsburgh, N.Y., 518-566-6200. oliVE riDlEY’S, 37 Court St., Plattsburgh, N.Y., 518-324-2200 pAlmEr St. coffEE houSE, 4 Palmer St., Plattsburgh, N.Y. 518-561-6920
PUBLIC MEETING
Join the Public Service Department to learn about the Total Energy Study and partake in discussion.
Thursday November 14th For more
information and to schedule a screening, 6:30-8:00 pm leave your name, phone number and a good time to call back.
At the State House Room 11 115 State Street, Montpelier
656-0013 • UVMVTC@UVM.EDU • UVMVTC.ORG
Or via Webinar, preregister at
www4.gotomeeting.com/register/276236743 For special accommodations at the meeting,
6h-uvm-deptofmed102214.indd 1 call 802-828-2811 prior to the event.
PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD
10/16/14 9:20 AM
2015 EnErgy EfficiEncy chargE
www.publicservice.vermont.gov
Since 2000, Vermont electric bills have included an Energy Efficiency Charge (EEC). Funds collected by the charge pay for energy efficiency services designed to save money by reducing Vermont’s electricity needs. This notice contains the new EEC rates that take effect starting with bills sent out February 1, 2015. The EEC pays for an organization called Efficiency Vermont to provide energy efficiency services to most of the state. For more information, including technical advice, education, rebates and other financial incentives for homes, farms and businesses, contact Efficiency Vermont toll free at 888-921-5990 or at www.efficiencyvermont.com. EnErgy EfficiEncy bEnEfits VErmont in two ways 1) using less electricity lowers the bills of individuals who take steps to reduce their power use; 2) and more importantly, when statewide use goes down, it reduces electric utilities' total system costs, which would otherwise be paid by all electric customers through rates. Customers of most Vermont eleCtriC utilities. effeCtiVe on february 2015 bills, the eeC rates for all Customers exCept those of the City of burlington eleCtriC Department (beD) will be: Residential: Commercial: Non-demand customers Demand customers Industrial: Non-demand customers Demand customers Street and Area Lights:
Current EEC rates $0.01091/kilowatt hour (kWh
2015 EEC rates $0.01173/kWh
$0.00928/kWh $0.00605/kWh plus $0.9290/kilowatt (kW)/month
$0.01008/kWh $0.00648/kWh plus $1.0543/kW/month
$0.00657/kWh $0.00444/kWh plus $1.0514/kW/month $0.0093/kWh, determined by multiplying the light wattage by 360 hours/month
$0.00719/kWh $0.00484/kWh plus $1.1344/kW/month $0.0101/kWh, determined by multiplying the light wattage by 360 hours/month
beD Customers. effeCtiVe on february 2014 bills, the eeC rates for beD Customers will be: Residential: Commercial: Non-demand customers Demand customers Industrial: Non-demand customers Demand customers
Current EEC rates $0.00798/kWh
2015 EEC rates $0.00899/kWh
$0.00709/kWh $0.00429/kWh plus $1.1286/kW/month
$0.00809/kWh $0.00497/kWh plus $1.2370/kW/month
$0.00571/kWh $0.00379/kWh plus $1.4752/kW/month $0.0071 per kWh, determined by multiplying the light wattage by 354 hours/month
$0.00650/kWh $0.00429/kWh plus $1.6896/kW/month $0.0081 per kWh, determined by multiplying the light wattage by 354 hours/month
Street and Area Lights:
BED rates differ from the rest of the state because BED provides energy efficiency services to its own customers. BED customers with questions about their EEC rates or about energy efficiency services can contact BED at 802-658-0300. EEC rates are calculated separately for each customer group using each group’s electric use and payments. Changes in usage within each group result in different percentage changes in EEC rates for different groups.
for more information about the charge, please contact your local utility or the Vermont Department of Public service consumer Hotline at 1-800-622-4496. 3v-VtPublicServiceBoard121714.indd 1
12/16/14 1:13 PM
MUSIC 79
bEE’S kNEES, 82 Lower Main St., Morrisville, 888-7889 clAirE’S rEStAurANt & bAr, 41 Main St., Hardwick, 472-7053 mAttErhorN, 4969 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-8198 moog’S plAcE, Portland St., Morrisville, 851-8225 piEcASSo, 899 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-4411 rimrockS mouNtAiN tAVErN, 394 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-9593 thE ruStY NAil, 1190 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-6245 SuShi YoShi, 1128 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-4135 SwEEt cruNch bAkEShop, 246 Main St., Hyde Park, 888-4887 VErmoNt AlE houSE, 294 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-6253
MiDDlEburY ArEA
Compensation available for participants in a year-long vaccine study for the Prevention of Dengue Fever. Includes 2 dosing visits and brief follow-up visits. Adults between the ages of 18-50. Earn up to $2030. STATE OF VERMONT Total Energy Study
SEVEN DAYS
bAckStAgE pub, 60 Pearl St., Essex Jct., 878-5494 gooD timES cAfé, Rt. 116, Hinesburg, 482-4444 highEr grouND, 1214 Williston Rd., S. Burlington, 652-0777
bAgitoS bAgEl & burrito cAfé, 28 Main St., Montpelier, 229-9212 cApitAl grouNDS cAfé, 27 State St., Montpelier, 223-7800 chArliE-o’S worlD fAmouS, 70 Main St., Montpelier, 223-6820 ESprESSo buENo, 248 N. Main St., Barre, 479-0896 grEEN mouNtAiN tAVErN, 10 Keith Ave., Barre, 522-2935 guSto’S, 28 Prospect St., Barre, 476-7919 kiSmEt, 52 State St., Montpelier, 223-8646 mulligAN’S iriSh pub, 9 Maple Ave., Barre, 479-5545 North brANch cAfé, 41 State St., Montpelier, 552-8105 NuttY StEph’S, 961C Rt. 2, Middlesex, 229-2090 poSitiVE piE, 20 State St., Montpelier, 229-0453 rED hEN bAkErY + cAfé, 961 US Route 2, Middlesex, 223-5200 thE SkiNNY pANcAkE, 89 Main St., Montpelier, 262-2253 South SiDE tAVErN, 107 S. Main St., Barre, 476-3637 SwEEt mEliSSA’S, 4 Langdon St., Montpelier, 225-6012 VErmoNt thruSh rEStAurANt, 107 State St., Montpelier, 225-6166 whAmmY bAr, 31 W. County Rd., Calais, 229-4329
big picturE thEAtEr & cAfé, 48 Carroll Rd., Waitsfield, 496-8994 thE cENtEr bAkErY & cAfé, 2007 Guptil Rd., Waterbury Center, 244-7500 ciDEr houSE bbq AND pub, 1675 Rte.2, Waterbury, 244-8400 cork wiNE bAr, 1 Stowe St., Waterbury, 882-8227 hoStEl tEVErE, 203 Powderhound Rd., Warren, 496-9222 purplE mooN pub, Rt. 100, Waitsfield, 496-3422 thE rESErVoir rEStAurANt & tAp room, 1 S. Main St., Waterbury, 244-7827 SliDE brook loDgE & tAVErN, 3180 German Flats Rd., Warren, 583-2202
12.17.14-12.24.14
CHittEnDEn CountY
bArrE/MontPEliEr
HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
MAD riVEr VAllEY/ WAtErburY
SEVENDAYSVt.com
242 mAiN St., Burlington, 862-2244 AmEricAN flAtbrEAD, 115 St. Paul St., Burlington, 861-2999 ArtSriot, 400 Pine St., Burlington AuguSt firSt, 149 S. Champlain St., Burlington, 540-0060 bENto, 197 College St., Burlington, 497-2494 blEu NorthEASt SEAfooD, 25 Cherry St., Burlington, 854-4700 brEAkwAtEr cAfé, 1 King St., Burlington, 658-6276 brENNAN’S pub & biStro, UVM Davis Center, 590 Main St., Burlington, 656-1204 church & mAiN rEStAurANt, 156 Church St. Burlington, 540-3040 club mEtroNomE, 188 Main St., Burlington, 865-4563 thE DAilY plANEt, 15 Center St., Burlington, 862-9647 DobrÁ tEA, 80 Church St., Burlington, 951-2424 DriNk, 133 St. Paul St., Burlington, 951-9463 EASt ShorE ViNEYArD tAStiNg room, 28 Church St., Burlington, 859-9463 fiNNigAN’S pub, 205 College St., Burlington, 864-8209 frANNY o’S, 733 Queen City Park Rd., Burlington, 863-2909 hAlflouNgE SpEAkEASY, 136 1/2 Church St., Burlington, 865-0012 Jp’S pub, 139 Main St., Burlington, 658-6389 JuNipEr At hotEl VErmoNt, 41 Cherry St., Burlington, 658-0251 lEuNig’S biStro & cAfé, 115 Church St., Burlington, 863-3759 mAgliANEro cAfé, 47 Maple St., Burlington, 861-3155 mANhAttAN pizzA & pub, 167 Main St., Burlington, 864-6776 muDDY wAtErS, 184 Main St., Burlington, 658-0466 NEctAr’S, 188 Main St., Burlington, 658-4771 pizzA bArrio, 203 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington, 863-8278 rADio bEAN coffEEhouSE, 8 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington, 660-9346 rASputiN’S, 163 Church St., Burlington, 864-9324 rED SquArE, 136 Church St., Burlington, 859-8909 rÍ rÁ iriSh pub, 123 Church St., Burlington, 860-9401 rubEN JAmES, 159 Main St., Burlington, 864-0744 SigNAl kitchEN, 71 Main St., Burlington, 399-2337 thE SkiNNY pANcAkE, 60 Lake St., Burlington, 540-0188 VENuE Nightclub, 5 Market St., S. Burlington, 338-1057 thE VErmoNt pub & brEwErY, 144 College St., Burlington, 865-0500 zEN louNgE, 165 Church St., Burlington, 399-2645
hiNESburgh public houSE, 10516 Vt., 116 #6A, Hinesburg, 482-5500 JEricho cAfé & tAVErN,30 Rte., 15 Jericho, 899-2223 moNkEY houSE, 30 Main St., Winooski, 399-2020 moNtY’S olD brick tAVErN, 7921 Williston Rd., Williston, 316-4262 oAk45, 45 Main St., Winooski, 448-3740 o’briEN’S iriSh pub, 348 Main St., Winooski, 338-4678 oN tAp bAr & grill, 4 Park St., Essex Jct., 878-3309 pArk plAcE tAVErN, 38 Park St., Essex Jct. 878-3015 pENAltY box, 127 Porter’s Point Rd., Colchester, 863-2065 rozzi’S lAkEShorE tAVErN, 1022 W. Lakeshore Dr., Colchester, 863-2342 ShElburNE ViNEYArD, 6308 Shelburne Rd., Shelburne, 985-8222
EYEwitness
TAKING NOTE OF VISUAL VERMONT
art
Homes and Haunts B Y PA MEL A PO LSTON
80 ART
SEVEN DAYS
12.17.14-12.24.14
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
R
obert Waldo Brunelle Jr. is known in Vermont as a painter whose vernacular works often feature old houses. It’s natural for artists to paint what they see, and this one was born and raised in Rutland, a town that boasts many a fine Victorian structure. In fact, Brunelle has a keen eye for architecture and knows a lot about it; he worked the subject into the art classes he taught for more than 30 years, he says. What some fans of his paintings may not know is that Brunelle, 56, is also a longtime cartoonist. His talking-head strip “Mr. Brunelle Explains It All” reveals a dry wit and a penchant for skewering political follies, not to mention the general silliness and self-absorption of humans. His 2014 collection is a selfpublished volume titled Thank You, Ironic Snowman! All of these skills and interests have conspired to yield Brunelle’s latest book, which is about what he can’t see: ghosts. The Lesser-Known Haunted Houses consists of “amusing stories and drawings,” as he puts it, about buildings with unfortunate spectral inhabitants. Not all of the 50 vignettes involve houses in the strict sense; Brunelle has also envisioned a supernatural ice shack and auto-repair shop, a vampire-owned TV “sales & service shoppe,” an artist studio belonging to one “Claude Pretense,” a ghost-rental agency and an ancient tomb “stuffed to the rafters with artifacts stolen from other tombs,” among other possessed premises. Brunelle’s darkly humorous stories are rife with puns and sly references; some are laugh-out-loud hilarious. In a spidery font that recalls the ghoulish writer and illustrator Edward Gorey, he relates how each building came to acquire its apparition. Saint Vitus Elementary School, for instance, “is haunted by the wee ghost of a 3rd grade lad who died at his cast iron desk of a ruptured bladder, because he was too frightened to ask Sister for permission to go to the Out House.” A looming, four-story Victorian dominates the page, while, in a circular frame at the top, Brunelle gives us a headshot of the grim-faced Sister St. Agony. Brunelle has an enormous fondness for artifacts of history, evident in his personal collections of early photographs, books and Victorian-era ephemera. But he is apparently an astute observer of contemporary fiction and film, as well. While his entire book is a send-up of the horror and
1408 Elm Street
supernatural genres, he bundles multiple clichés into a single, over-the-top paragraph of 1408 Elm Street: This modest ranch style home, built in 1973, has the highest concentration of pure evil in the state. It was built atop an ancient Native American burial ground by a coven of witches, using materials salvaged from a sunken pirate ship, and was later rented out to a serial killer. The walls bleed, the hall closet is a portal to Hell, and the entire house levitates off its foundation whenever the moon is full. The house, which Brunelle’s drawing shows in its hovering phase, “is a great ‘starter’ home for some young people who are handy with a hammer and a vial of holy water,” chirps real estate agent Susie Perk, also depicted on the page. Brunelle declares that the stories, and the houses, are all figments of his imagination. (Don’t go looking for the Megamart of Horrors, where the ghosts of a dozen senior citizens still get first dibs on early-bird specials.) Folklorist Joe Citro, who wrote an intro to LesserKnown, suggests that one story may have been inspired by an H.P. Lovecraft tale. Another is clearly a take on the true story of the Eddy brothers, Vermont mediums during the Spiritualist craze of the 1870s. Citro, Vermont’s regional expert on all things weird, has enlisted Brunelle to
Art ShowS
Recently, Brunelle has been using a residency at Burlington’s Generator to laser-cut gears for these creations. He likes to joke that he’s employing the new technology without cutting his fingers off or burning down Memorial Auditorium. So far. Though Brunelle hails from Rutland — “My family has lived there since 1905,” he notes — he’s resided for the past couple of decades in Jericho. A graduate of Saint Michael’s College in history and fine art, Brunelle went on to get a master’s in education and then inculcated youngsters with “art history, animation, cartooning and Self-portrait the four basics [of art]” at Browns River Middle School in Jericho from 1981 to 2012. For 16 years, Brunelle was president of the Northern Vermont Artist Association, on whose board he still serves. During that time, he wrote and illustrated a history of the organization that was published by Kasini House in 2009. When he’s not making art, he says, “I spend my time annoying my neighbors by playing my violin.” Brunelle continues to offer classes in cartooning, drawing and painting at several sites around the state. To the best of his knowledge, none has been haunted. m
art events
INFo
haley BishoP: “nightly Doodles,” illustrations and watercolor paintings by the Vermont artist. Through December 31. Info, 488-5766. Vintage Inspired Lifestyle Marketplace in Burlington.
Brunelle declares that the stories, and the houses, are all figments of his imagination.
The Lesser-Known Haunted Houses and other books by Robert waldo Brunelle Jr. can be ordered at lulu.com. More info at mrbrunelle.com.
Glass blown by Super Phunk
Meet the artist: louise vojtiseK: Known for her whimsical knit creations, the Middlebury artist demonstrates her techniques and answers questions in the gallery. Frog Hollow Vermont state Craft Center, Burlington, saturday, December 20, 2-5 p.m. Info, 863-6458.
onGoinG shows burlington
‘aniMal Power’: paintings of horse-powered transportation and agriculture in Vermont by multiple artists. Through February 28. Info, 652-4500. Amy E. Tarrant gallery, Flynn Center, in Burlington. ann clayton Barlow: “Alternative Landscapes,” photographs by the Vermont artist. Through February 14. Info, 923-3088. Hinge in Burlington. ‘art froM the heart’: Artwork by volunteer artists and pediatric patients from the university of Vermont Medical Center. A program of Burlington City Arts. Through December 31. Info, 865-7166. City Hall gallery in Burlington. Bca local sale 2014: Affordable artwork in a variety of mediums by Vermont artists. Peter heller: Fantastical abstract paintings by the noteworthy Morrisville painter, who passed away in 2002. Through January 24. Info, 865-5355. BCA Center in Burlington. rasthree: “Being in order,” mixed-media art that reinvents and repurposes familiar objects into odd compositions, bending relationships and meanings. Through December 31. Info, 338-6459. The gallery at Main street Landing in Burlington. ‘civil war oBjects froM the uvM collections’: Heirloom items donated to the museum from America’s Civil war period include correspondence and ephemera, quilts, medical items, fine and decorative art and more. Through May 17. Info, 656-0750. wilbur Room, Fleming Museum, uVM, in Burlington.
‘Birds of a fiBer’: Do you create with fibers? Do you have a thing for birds, science or conservation? Birds of Vermont Museum in Huntington invites submissions of up to three pieces of artwork in all mediums for a summer 2015 show. Limited space for 3D works. Info, 434-2167. Deadline: March 1. Birds of Vermont Museum, Huntington. Info, 434-2167.
inty Muenala: “Mishky way, Vía Dulce, sweet path,” an exhibit of new contemporary paintings that reflect traditional values of the Kichwa (Quechua) people of the Ecuadorian Andes, which the artist also finds in Vermont culture. Through January 31. Info, 363-4746. Flynndog gallery in Burlington. jaMes voGler & carolyn crotty: Abstract paintings by Vogler and mixed-media by Crotty. Curated by sEABA. Through February 28. Info, 859-9222. VCAM studio in Burlington. jane ann Kantor: Abstract, mixed-media panels by the Charlotte painter. Through December 31. Info, 660-9005. Dostie Bros. Frame shop in Burlington. leah van rees: paintings inspired by the natural world. Curated by Burlington City Arts. Through February 28. Info, 865-7166. Courtyard Marriott Burlington Harbor. linda sMith: storybook-style paintings by the former elementary-school teacher. Curated by sEABA. Through February 28. Info, 859-9222. speeder & Earl’s: pine street in Burlington. lynne reed: “Edgewalker paintings,” an exhibit of Japanese Enso-inspired paintings by the Burlington artist. Through March 6. Info, 233-6811. Revolution Kitchen in Burlington. Maltex GrouP show: Art by steve Diffenderfer, nissa Kauppila, Carol Boucher, John snell, Tracy Vartenigian Burhans, Krista Cheney, Amy Hannum and Kimberly Bombard. Curated by Burlington City Arts. Through April 30. Info, 865-7166. The Maltex Building in Burlington. Martin BocK: “Healing Art,” sculptures and paintings of shamanic objects by the Burlington author and artist. Through January 31. Info, 865-7211. Fletcher Free Library in Burlington. Matthew thorsen: new work by the Vermont photographer. Through December 30. Info, 318-2438. Red square in Burlington.
BuRLIngTon sHows
» p.82
Offering Traditional, Non-Traditional, and Eco-Friendly Burials and Cremations
SEVEN DAYS
NEW PRODUCTS COMING IN FREQUENTLY
Meet the artist: annelein BeuKenKaMP: The master watercolor painter demonstrates her techniques in the gallery. Frog Hollow Vermont state Craft Center, Burlington, saturday, December 20, noon-3 p.m. Info, 863-6458.
call to artists
12.17.14-12.24.14
HAVE A SUPER PHUNK-E SEASON!!! ILLADELPH, JM FLOW, EVO, DELTA 9, LOCAL AND 802 ARTISTS
eric Bruch & Katlin Parenteau: Enjoy an evening of food, spirits and artwork by two northeast Kingdom artists. Big Jay Tavern, Montgomery, Thursday, December 18, 5:30-10 p.m. Info, 752-8253.
SEVENDAYSVt.com
illustrate his own forthcoming book, The Vermont Ghost Experience. The artist’s ability to conjure up buildings was key. “In the intro, I talk about the relationship of ‘haunt and habitat,’” Citro says. “I come up with the haunt, and Robert builds the habitat. In some cases he will be recreating vanished buildings; in others, he’ll be illustrating buildings that were planned but never constructed.” The Lesser-Known Haunted Houses is rendered in dramatic black, white and shades of gray. By contrast with these ink drawings — some created digitally — Brunelle’s paintings seem inspired by the fauves: His color palette is unflinchingly vivid. Style-wise, he is most frequently compared to American realist painter Edward Hopper — whom Brunelle does regard as an influence. But the somewhat folksier look and content of his paintings are all his own. “He is in Vermont, and he exudes that quality that Vermonters have: kind of DIY, and [with] a rich understanding of his history and where he comes from,” suggests Christy Mitchell, owner of Burlington’s S.P.A.C.E. Gallery. She adds that Brunelle’s paintings “have a kind of sadness to them, in my opinion, that is intriguing.” Brunelle has exhibited paintings at Mitchell’s gallery frequently in the past, but his solo show there next summer will focus exclusively on his “kinetic sculptures.” Also brightly painted, the wood assemblages with moving pieces look part toy, part machine and all gleeful thingamabob.
CARRYING VAPORIZERS INCLUDING: PAX, G PEN & MAGIC FLIGHT
Northern Lights 75 Main St., Burlington, VT 864.6555 Mon-Thur 10-9; F-Sat 10-10; Sun 10-8 Must be 18 to purchase tobacco products, ID required
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ART 81
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SEVEN DAYS
12.17.14-12.24.14
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BURLINGTON SHOWS
« P.81
‘The PoliTical carToons of Jane clark Brown’: More than 150 political cartoons about Vermont, national and worldwide issues by the late artist and author. The cartoons were published in the Suburban List, a former Essex Junction newspaper, between 1968 and 1975. Through December 30. Info, 865-7211. Pickering Room, Fletcher Free Library, in Burlington. ‘PreoccuPied’: Ornate, detailed artwork in various mediums by Adrienne Ginter, Wylie Garcia, Xavier Donnelly and Dianne Shullenberger. Through January 24. Info, 865-7166. Vermont Metro Gallery, BCA Center, in Burlington. ‘seaBa folio 2003 ProJecT’: Original prints by 22 of Vermont’s finest artists. Through February 28. Info, 859-9222. The Pine Street Deli in Burlington.
We are a not-for-profit clinic and we are here when you need us. Monday thru Friday 10am-8pm
art
All Insurance Accepted
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Get in. Get out. Get Well. 802.371.4239 / 1311 Barre Montpelier Road (next to Burger King)
uVM Medical cenTer GrouP show: Art by Michael Sipe, Cameron Schmitz, David Griggs, Michael Farnsworth, Phil Laughlin and Jane Ann Kantor. Curated by Burlington City Arts. Through April 30. Info, 865-7166. UVM Medical Center in Burlington. VerMonT GrouP PhoToGraPhy show: Vermont portraits, landscapes and abstract images by eight fine-art photographers. Through December 27. Info, 658-3074. Uncommon Grounds in Burlington.
chittenden county
daVid forTuna: “Lost & Found,” a pop-up gallery of works by the Vermont artist. Through January 1. Info, 238-9696. Round Church Corners in Richmond. 6H-CVMC121714.indd 1
12/15/14 12:52 PM
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‘dreaMs and hallucinaTions’: A juried exhibit of surrealist photographs from national and international artists. Through December 28. Info, 777-3686. Darkroom Gallery in Essex Junction. Gary hall, Maurie harrinGTon & elizaBeTh nelson: Photographs by Hall and paintings by Harrington, Skyway; works by Nelson over the escalator. Curated by Burlington City Arts. Through December 31. Info, 865-7166. Burlington International Airport in South Burlington. GilBerT Myers: Watercolors by the Williston artist. Through December 31. Info, 899-3211. Emile A. Gruppe Gallery in Jericho.
‘hoMefronT & BaTTlefield: QuilTs and conTexT in The ciVil war’: More than 70 rare Civil War-era textiles including quilts, Confederate and Union flags, and the noose reportedly used to hang John Brown are on view. Through January 4. ‘naTural BeauTies: Jewelry froM arT nouVeau To now’: Nearly 300 works from the likes of Tiffany & Co., Harry Winston, Cartier and others illustrate the fascination with nature, and our evolving relationship to it, in jewelry design. Through March 8. Info, 985-3346. Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education, Shelburne Museum. ‘less is More’: A dynamic group show of small works by Vermont artists. Through December 17. Info, southgalleryinfo@gmail.com. Info, 225-6148037. South Gallery in Burlington. Michelle ennis Jackson: Watercolor paintings of nature and the changing seasons by the Essex Junction artist. Through February 28. Info, 985-8222. Shelburne Vineyard.
f ‘nine arTisTs: Mary reed & sTudenTs’: A collection of oil paintings by Milton Artists Guild instructor Mary Reed and her students. Reception: Friday, January 9, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Through January 31. Info, 862-5724. LCATV in Colchester. ‘reVerence and risk: surVeyinG The PasT and MaPPinG a fuTure’: Paintings of the gritty side of Vermont by the late Northeast Kingdom artist Robert Klein, plus works by 18 other artists. Through January 31. Info, 985-3848. Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery in Shelburne. scoTTie rayMond: “150 Minutes,” a show of mixed-media works informed by the artists of the Beat generation by this year’s Wall to Canvas winner. Through December 31. Info, 658-2739. The ArtSpace at the Magic Hat Artifactory in South Burlington. shanley TriGGs: “I Love Vermont,” watercolors by the local artist. Through December 31. Info, 777-3710. Milton Municipal Complex. TreVor sulliVan: Vermont landscapes and other scenes painted on upcycled windowpanes by the Burlington artist. Through December 31. Info, 985-8922. Village Wine and Coffee in Shelburne. ‘Visions of The seasons’: New paintings by Carolyn Walton; pastels by Athenia Schinto; jewelry by Tineke Russell; landscapes by Betty Ball, Helen Nagel and Gail Bessette. Through January 31. Info, 985-8223. Luxton-Jones Gallery in Shelburne.
Art ShowS
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is a moment, even if it’s just for a split second, when looking upon the intricate beauty of nature, we feel infinitely connected to the whole,” writes artist Trevor Sullivan. A native of western Massachusetts, he first discovered the “boundless splendor,” as he puts it, of the Green Mountains while hiking the Long Trail. Now based in Burlington, Sullivan paints Vermont landscapes, portraits and city scenes on upcycled windowpanes. About the unusual surface, he writes in his artist statement, “Whereas canvas, to me, feels like a two-dimensional wall, glass lends itself to a never-ending depth.” An exhibit of Sullivan’s painted windows is on view at Village Wine and Coffee in Shelburne through December 31. The painting pictured is untitled.
‘1864: Some Suffer So much’: with objects, photographs and ephemera, the exhibit examines surgeons who treated Civil war soldiers on battlefields and in three Vermont hospitals, and the history of post-traumatic stress disorder. Through December 31. Arthur SchAller: “Billboard Buildings,” an exhibit of original collages by the Norwich university architecture professor. Through December 19. Info, 485-2183. sullivan museum & history Center, Norwich university, in Northfield.
BhAkti Ziek: “Études,” a collection of intricately woven wall hangings. Through December 31. Info, 828-3291. spotlight gallery in montpelier. ‘celeBrAte!’: The gallery celebrates local artists with a group show of arts and crafts by more than 75 of its members. Through December 27. Info, 479-7069. studio place Arts in Barre.
peter SchumAnn: “penny oracles: The meaning of everything pictures,” an exhibit of paintings by the Bread and puppet Theater founder. Through December 25. Info, 371-7239. plainfield Co-op.
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w. DAviD powell: “everything must go 3.0,” large paintings, prints, mixed-media and woven pieces by the Vermont artist. Through December 31. Info, 828-0749. Vermont supreme Court Lobby in montpelier.
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‘gemS’: more than 100 paintings, photographs, sculptures and mixed-media pieces that do not exceed 8-by-10 inches in size. ‘lAnD & light & wAter & Air’: The annual exhibit of landscape works features more than 100 New england painters and a corresponding photography exhibit. Through December 28. Info, 644-5100. Bryan memorial gallery in Jeffersonville. ‘lAnDScApe trADitionS’: The new wing of the gallery presents contemporary landscape works by nine regional artists. Through January 1. Info, 253-8943. west Branch gallery & sculpture park in stowe.
f lAuren StAgnitti: “In a moment,” infrared photographs printed on aluminum and other mediums by the local artist. f SArAh leveille: “whimsy,” acrylic paintings by the morrisville painter that bring farm scenes to life. Reception: Thursday, December 18, 5-7 p.m. Through January 4. Info, 888-1261. River Arts in morrisville. mAriAn eZZAt: “misirlou,” an exhibit of the artist’s mFA thesis work. Through December 21. Info, 635-1476. Julian scott memorial gallery, Johnson state College. memBerS’ Art Show AnD SAle: A selection of artworks in a variety of mediums on the inside; a festival of lights on the outside. Through December 28. Info, 253-8358. helen Day Art Center in stowe. peter fiore: “Intuitive Light,” new landscape paintings by the renowned artist. Through January 10. Info, 253-1818. green mountain Fine Art gallery in stowe.
sTowe/smuggs AReA shows
» p.84
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ART 83
ShAmuS mccAffrey lAngloiS: “Liminality: Totems and Lovers, Clowns and Villains,” recent sculptures, paintings and drawings by the gallery cofounder that interpret and explore the transitional spaces or boundaries between experience, desire and transformation. Through January 23. Info, 552-8620. gallery sIX in montpelier.
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DAniel BArlow & Scott BAer: “green mountain graveyards,” a photography exhibit that explores the evolution of historic gravestones and funerary art in Vermont. Through April 1. Info, 479-8519. Vermont history museum in montpelier.
tiBetAn BuDDhiSt thAngkAS: hand-painted scrolls. Through January 30. Info, 223-1431. Tulsi Tea Room in montpelier.
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SuSAn Bull riley: Nature-inspired works in watercolor and oil. Through December 19. Info, 828-0749. Card Room, Vermont statehouse, in montpelier.
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‘Slope Style’: Thirty-five fully accessorized vintage ski outfits, with a special section of the exhibit dedicated to Vermont ski brands. Through October 31. Info, 253-9911. Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in Stowe.
mad river valley/waterbury
Axel’S GAllery & FrAmeShop holidAy Group Show: Sculpture, collage, ceramics, fused glass, pastel and oil paintings by local artists. Through January 3. Info, 244-7801. Axel’s Gallery & Frameshop in Waterbury. Ben FrAnk moSS & VArujAn BoGhoSiAn: “Collage, Drawing, Painting,” works by the abstract and collage artists. Through February 14. Info, 767-9670. BigTown Gallery in Rochester. ChriS SteArnS: Images by the Waterbury photographer. Through December 31. Info, 4965470. Three Mountain Café in Waitsfield.
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SuSAn Bull riley: Oil and watercolor paintings of Vermont’s botany, birds and landscapes by the East Montpelier artist. Through December 31. Info, 496-6682. Vermont Festival of the Arts Gallery in Waitsfield.
middlebury area
‘ChArity & SylViA: A weyBridGe Couple’: Artifacts, letters, poems, artwork and more chronicling the lives of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, who lived together as a “married” couple in the early 19th century, and are the subject of a new book. Through December 31. ‘holidAy trAinS’: The annual Midd-Vermont Train Club exhibit features an electric train layout for all ages. Through January 5. Info, 388-2117. Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History in Middlebury. hAnnAh SeSSionS: “Fleeting Light,” paintings of farm animals in the late afternoon. jill mAdden: “Treescapes,” paintings that explore seasonal transformations in the mountains and on the coast. Through December 31. Info, 458-0098. Edgewater Gallery in Middlebury.
jACkSon GAllery 2014 holidAy Show: Original, handmade fine arts and crafts by 18 local artists. Through December 31. Info, 388-1436. Jackson Gallery, Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. ‘SmAll workS Show’: A group show of affordable petite works by local artists. Through December 31. Info, 453-3188. WalkOver Gallery & Concert Room in Bristol. ‘winter niGhtS’: Eight area artists exhibit seasonally compatible work in a variety of mediums: Karla Van Vliet, MP Landis, Bert Yarborough, Paul Bowen, Yinglei Zhang, Lily Hinrichsen, Klara Calitri and Rachel Baird. Through December 30. Info, 800-249-3562. ZoneThree Gallery in Middlebury.
rutland area
‘the Art oF GiVinG’: One-of-a-kind gifts by local artists Mary Cliver, Barb DeHart, Barbara Gutheil, Sarah Hewitt, Jill Kleinman, Sara Longworth, Cristina Pellechio, Kristen Varian and Andrea Varney. Through January 11. Info, 247-4295. Compass Music and Arts Center in Brandon. Bert yArBorouGh, pAul Bowen & m p lAndiS: “Triage II,” individual and collaborative works by the three Vermont artists. Through December 19. Info, 468-6052. Christine Price Gallery, Castleton State College. ChAFFee Art Center AnnuAl holidAy Boutique: This juried annual holiday show features 100 items under $100 by Chaffee’s member artists. Through December 19. Info, 775-0062. Chaffee Downtown Art Center in Rutland. SeAn dye: “Visions of Addison,” paintings of Addison County by the founder of Creative Space Gallery in Vergennes. Through January 10. Info, 468-6052. Castleton Downtown Gallery in Rutland.
champlain islands/northwest pAt Burton, nAtAlie lAroCque BouChArd & mAGGie younG: Paintings, photography and jewelry by the Vermont artists. Through December 31. Info, 933-6403. Artist in Residence Cooperative Gallery in Enosburg Falls.
Art ShowS
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Sean Dye: Addison County native Sean Dye studied painting at the Pratt
Institute in New York, then returned to the Green Mountains to paint and teach. Now an award-winning painter represented in galleries and private collections around the
HOLIDAYS
country, Dye is a member of the art faculty at the University of Vermont and Castleton State College. He’s also the founder of Creative Space Gallery in Vergennes. An exhibit displayed at Castleton Downtown Gallery in Rutland through January 10. “I have spent most of my time as a painter exploring the physical,” Dye says in a press statement. “This exhibit is about my visual observations in our stunningly scenic state.” The painting pictured is untitled.
upper valley
‘fibrATions!’: Fiber creations by more than a dozen renowned New England artists. Through March 30. Info, 885-3061. The Great Hall in Springfield. ‘KunsTKAmerA: The TricenTenniAl AnniversAry of The PeTer The GreAT museum’: Artworks and artifacts in a variety of media that celebrate the great Russian institution. Through January 31. Info, 356-2776. Main Street Museum in White River Junction.
2nd TuesdAy exhibiT: Eight Vermont artists who meet monthly to make and talk about their work are exhibiting some of it together: Janet Van Fleet, Cheryl Betz, Alex Bottinelli, Mark Lorah, Maggie Neale, Elizabeth Nelson, Kathy Stark and Ann Young. Through January 2. Info, 748-2600. Catamount Arts Center in St. Johnsbury. hArrieT Wood: Gestural, abstract paintings by the Vermont artist. Through December 30. Info, 472-5334. Hardwick Inn.
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ART 85
mArc beermAn: Photographs of landscape, birds and nature. Through January 5. Info, 359-5001. VINS Nature Center in Hartford.
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SEVEN DAYS
dAvid lAro: “Superman 3,” assemblage that explores Americana and pop culture. Through December 31. Info, 295-0808. Scavenger Gallery in White River Junction.
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‘The ArT of Wilderness’: An exhibit of Vermont and New Hampshire wilderness photographs, organized by the Upper Valley Sierra Club. Through January 3. Info, 763-7094. Royalton Memorial Library in South Royalton.
‘TunbridGe: Then And noW’: A collection of more than two dozen photographs of Tunbridge, Vt., displayed as diptychs, comparing views of the town from 100 years ago to today. A collaboration between Tunbridge Historical Society president Euclid Farnham and Valley News photographer Geoff Hansen, who took the recent photographs. Through January 4. Info, 889-9404. Tunbridge Public Library.
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art noRTheAsT kingdom shows
art « p.85
‘TooThbrush’: From “twig to bristle,” an exhibit of artifacts and images detailing the history of this expedient item. Through december 31. The museum of everyday Life in glover.
manchester/bennington
MargareT LaMpe KannensTine: “nocturnes: Variations on a Theme,” acrylic paintings of night skies by the Vermont artist. Through december 30. info, 447-1571. Bennington museum.
outside vermont
‘evoLving perspecTives: highLighTs FroM The aFrican arT coLLecTion’: An exhibition of objects that marks the trajectory of the collection’s development and pays tribute to some of the people who shaped it. Through december 20. ‘The arT oF Weapons’: selections from the permanent African collection represent a variety of overlapping contexts, from combat to ceremony, regions and materials. Through december 21. aLLan houser: Five sculptures by one of the best-known native American artists are installed outside the museum in the maffei Arts plaza, representing his 3d work from 1986-1992. Through may 11. info, 603-635-7423. hood museum, dartmouth College, in hanover, n.h.
‘FroM van gogh To KandinsKy: iMpressionisM To expressionisM, 1900-1914’: more than 100 paintings and an equal number of drawings and prints, augmented with photograph and media of the time, reveal the crosscurrents of modern art at the turn of the 20th century in France and germany. Through January 25. ‘WarhoL Mania’: Fifty posters and a selection of magazine illustrations by Andy warhol offer a brand-new look at his commercial-art background. Through march 15. info, 514-285-1600. montréal museum of Fine Arts.
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« p.85
‘FroM van gogh To KandinsKy: iMpressionisM To expressionisM, 1900-1914’: more than 100 paintings and an equal number of ‘TooThbrush’: From “twig to bristle,” an exhibit drawings and prints, augmented with photograph of artifacts and images detailing the history of Still to win: december 31. The and media of the time, reveal the crosscurrents this expedient item. Through Gear, Art,Life Jewelry, of modern art at the turn of the 20th century museum of everyday in glover. Gift Baskets, Gift Certificates, in France and germany. Through January 25. ‘WarhoL Mania’: Fifty posters and a selection and a Stowe Ski & Stay! manchester/bennington of magazine illustrations by Andy warhol offer a #shopstowe #reindeerquest“nocturnes: MargareT LaMpe KannensTine: brand-new look at his commercial-art background. Variations on a Theme,” acrylic paintings of night Through march 15. info, 514-285-1600. montréal skies by the Vermont artist. Through december 30. Now through December 24 museum of Fine Arts. info, 447-1571. Bennington museum. Le sTudio georgeviLLe chrisTMas saLe & shoW: A wide array of arts and crafts by more outside vermont than two dozen area artists. Through February ‘evoLving perspecTives: highLighTs FroM 1. info, 819-868-1967. Le studio de georgeville in The aFrican arT coLLecTion’: An exhibition of georgeville, Québec. objects that marks the trajectory of the collection’s ‘pan: a graphic arTs TiMe capsuLe, europe development and pays tribute to some of the 1895-1900’: prints from the german publication people who shaped it. Through december 20. ‘The PAN, the first art magazine of the 20th century, arT oF Weapons’: selections from the permanent Book Yourthe Holiday Partyavant-garde With Us! that illustrate tension between African collection represent a variety of overlapand conservative artists in fin-de-siècle europe. ping contexts, from combat to ceremony, regions 2160 Mountain Road • Stowe Through January 11. info, 518-564-2474. Burke and materials. Through december 21. aLLan For reservations: 802-253-7770 gallery, plattsburgh state Art museum, n.Y. houser: Five sculptures by one of the best-known Ski • Serving from 4:30 nightly native American artists are installed outside the Apres sTrand cenTer hoLiday MeMbers shoW: more museum in the maffei Arts plaza, representing than 20 artists show diverse works in photography, his 3d work from 1986-1992. Through may 11. info, sculpture, painting, pastels, ceramics, stained 603-635-7423. hood museum, dartmouth College, glass, printmaking and drawing. Through January 12h-cactuscafe112614.indd 1 11/24/14 in hanover, n.h. 2. info, 518-563-1604. strand Center for the1:07 PM noRTheAsT kingdom shows
Le sTudio georgeviLLe chrisTMas saLe & shoW: A wide array of arts and crafts by more than two dozen area artists. Through February 1. info, 819-868-1967. Le studio de georgeville in georgeville, Québec.
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‘pan: a graphic arTs TiMe capsuLe, europe 1895-1900’: prints from the german publication PAN, the first art magazine of the 20th century, that illustrate the tension between avant-garde and conservative artists in fin-de-siècle europe. Through January 11. info, 518-564-2474. Burke gallery, plattsburgh state Art museum, n.Y. sTrand cenTer hoLiday MeMbers shoW: more than 20 artists show diverse works in photography, sculpture, painting, pastels, ceramics, stained glass, printmaking and drawing. Through January 2. info, 518-563-1604. strand Center for the performing Arts in plattsburgh, n.Y. m
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12/20 Skate with Santa atSmith’s theuseStowe Roasters on Pine Street. of ornamentalarena designs and rich hues adds texture
and depth to her simple figures and sweetly innocent subject matter. The paintings, as
and depth to her simple figures and sweetly innocent subject matter. The paintings, as
the curators write, juxtapose “the quiet and the intensely alive.” Through February 28.
the curators write, juxtapose “the quiet and the intensely alive.” Through February 28.
paintings inspired by her days as an elementary school art teacher. A collection of her
paintings inspired by her days as an elementary school art teacher. A collection of her
whimsical works, curated by SEABA, is currently exhibited at Speeder & Earl’s Coffee
whimsical works, curated by SEABA, is currently exhibited at Speeder & Earl’s Coffee
For the full holiday calendar visit: goStowe.com/eventS
Pictured: “Breath of Life.” 2v-stowe121714.indd 1
12/16/14 12:04 PM
ART 87
ART 87
Pictured: “Breath of Life.”
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Vermont artist Linda Smith creates storybook-style
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movies Wild ★★
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swear I tried to take this movie seriously. Reese Witherspoon — who stars and produced — is attempting a professional makeover. I’m all for her. Jean-Marc Vallée, the guy who gave us Dallas Buyers Club, directed, so how can one not expect great things? The script, based on Cheryl Strayed’s best-selling memoir, was written by none other than Nick Hornby (High Fidelity). What could go wrong? As I watched the actress pretend to hike the Pacific Crest Trail for two hours, I reminded myself I was viewing an official For Your Consideration award screener. That this means Wild is theoretically an awardscaliber, even Oscar-caliber, work. And yet, no matter how earnestly, how open-mindedly I considered Witherspoon’s screen journey, I kept finding myself humming the theme from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. That’s not mature. I know. But, in my defense, I think it only fair to point out that Wild is really kind of silly. Not that unfortunate things don’t happen to several of its characters. It’s just that Strayed, Hornby and Vallée don’t find much of significance to say about them. Certainly nothing one couldn’t find on a Hallmark card. In a lot less than two hours.
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The problem is the source material. In the summer of 1995, when Strayed decided to walk 1,100 miles of the trail alone, she wasn’t a writer, a philosopher or even a hiker. She was a 26-year-old who had screwed up her life royally. Following the death of her mother (played in flashbacks by Laura Dern), Strayed married the most understanding guy in movie history. His name is Paul, and he’s played in flashbacks by Thomas Sadoski. You know he’s the best husband ever from his reaction when Strayed inexplicably starts having sex with strangers and disappearing for days to shoot heroin in a drug den. He not only forgives her but later sends her letters at ranger stations along the trail that tell her how much he admires her. You can’t make up stuff like this. I’m pretty sure. In her book, Strayed never managed to connect the motivational dots between her self-destructive behavior and the decision to take a long, difficult, potentially dangerous walk. So it’s no surprise the movie’s creators aren’t any more successful at making sense of her story. Yves Bélanger’s cinematography is spectacular, and the old Paul Simon songs are great. But what exactly are we watching here
STAR TREK Witherspoon plays Cheryl Strayed, who wrote a memoir about ruining her life and then going for a really long walk.
YOUR SCAN THIS SCAN THIS PAGE — an act of atonement? Liberation? Self- physical challenge while intimating that it’s WITH WITH LAYAR about something more spiritual, more mean-LAYAR discovery? Redemption? In one of the film’s TEXT ingful. way too many fl ashbacks, Strayed admits she HERE SEE PAGE 5 SEE PAGE 9 hasn’t a clue why she’s doing this. Contrast her mind-set with those of the central figures in, say, Into the Wild or 127 Hours, and you can see how the movie might leave some viewers feeling like they’ve just endured a long slog to nowhere. Witherspoon carries the film, along with a giant backpack, which — get it? — symbolizes her baggage. She turns in a performance that’s solid but not a lot more — again, owing to the limited richness of Strayed’s material. Wild chronicles the completion of a daunting
SEVENDAYSVT.COM 12.17.14-12.24.14 SEVEN DAYS 88 MOVIES
E
LET MY PEOPLE GO BIG Edgerton and Bale get lost in a biblical epic with more bombast and décor than direction.
with the party responsible for depicting Moses’ inner journey. Bale brings thoughtfulness to the role: Moses starts out skeptical about gods of any stripe, with the arrogance befitting a warrior prince of Egypt. Informed of his true origins by Hebrew leader Ben Kingsley, he takes a while to embrace his prophetic mission — and does so under considerable duress. There’s at least an amuse-bouche for viewers who like to debate theology in the scenes where Moses argues with God’s rep, envisioned as a smart-mouthed kid (Isaac
RI C K KI S O N AK
REVIEWS
Exodus: Gods and Kings ★★★
xodus: Gods and Kings has four credited screenwriters, too many visual effects technicians for me to count, and actors who speak in at least 20 different flavors of accent, from mid-Atlantic (Christian Bale) to what-thehell-am-I-doing-here (Aaron Paul). It has a mission to appeal to both the Judeo-Christian faithful and people who only vaguely remember Moses from Sunday school. And it has a director (Ridley Scott) who knows that the love of big honkin’ spectacles is the only thing likely to unite people of all creeds and demographic quadrants. The film that emerges from this melting pot is a spectacle, all right. In the last third, when God starts with the plagues already, it’s actually a pretty good one. But when Scott leaves the crowd scenes and aerial shots of people milling around like ants for an intimate view of Moses (Bale), his coming-tofaith and his clash with pharoah Ramses II (Joel Edgerton), things frequently get silly. Not that that’s necessarily bad. Watching the ridiculously buff Edgerton strut around in glam-rock makeup and order his lackeys to build those monuments faster (“Do I have to kill somebody?”) is campy fun, reminiscent of the golden age of swords-and-sandals flicks. There are moments when the tone of goings-on at Ramses’ court verges on Monty Python. But whoever scripted those scenes doesn’t seem to have communicated too well
I couldn’t find a lot of meaning in her journey, much less in her climactic epiphany. Maybe I’m missing something. You tell me. The film closes in voiceover with these words: “My life ... mysterious, irrevocable, sacred. So very close, so very present. So very belonging to me. How wild it was to let it be.” If you can make sense of that, then Wild’s the movie for you. I’ll be honest: Even as I type this, I’m still humming the theme from Walk Hard.
Andrews) who materializes beside the burning bush. The divine point of view that he voices is an uncompromising one, and the film doesn’t whitewash the plagues: The death of the first-born is particularly horrifying. When Ramses asks who would worship a god that behaves this way, the question is left hanging. There’s power and terror in these later scenes, but scant character development to underpin them. The script tells us that Moses and Ramses are best buds, but doesn’t bother to flesh out their friendship. Pharoah’s moti-
vations are all over the place, and the various Hebrews are barely separate characters. It’s hard to care about this rag-tag band of underdogs when even their leaders, like Paul’s Joshua, have one job in the film: to be Moses’ audience. God knows, it’s not easy to script a biblical epic in a secular age. Artists must decide whether to affirm the inherent mystery of a text in which things happen because God wills it, or try to inject the story with a modern understanding of nature, culture and psychology. The makers of Exodus haven’t bothered with historical accuracy in their casting, or with creating particularly plausible characters, yet neither have they embraced the timelessness of myth. Instead, their main reference point seems to be other movies — often cheesy ones. Moses’ romance with his wife (María Valverde), for instance, is so groan-inducingly generic that it comes off as a transparent attempt to make him more relatable. Likewise, the opening battle scene panders to viewers who mainly want to see their hero be a badass. Unlike last spring’s Noah, which had a definite — if flawed — vision, Exodus is all over the place. Except on one point: Scott delivers the all-important spectacle. The wellstaged, emotionally resonant Red Sea climax may send viewers out on a high — even as they wonder what exactly they got high on. MARGO T HARRI S O N
new in theaters
OPeninG JanUarY 2
OPENING DECEMBER 16-19
tHe WomAN iN BlAck 2: ANgel oF DeAtH: This sequel to the 2012 chiller about a Victorian town in England haunted by a dark specter brings the action into world war II. with helen Mccrory, Jeremy Irvine and Phoebe fox. tom harper directed. (98 min, Pg-13)
ANNie: Quvenzhané wallis plays the irrepressible foster child who holds out for “tomorrow” in this new take on the family musical, set in the present, from director will gluck (Easy A). cameron diaz, Jamie foxx and Rose byrne also star. (118 min, Pg. bijou, capitol, Essex, Majestic, Palace) tHe HoBBit: tHe BAttle oF tHe Five ARmies: bilbo and his companions go to war to stop the dragon Smaug from destroying Middle-earth in (we think) the last installment in this tolkien-based series. with Martin freeman, Ian McKellen and benedict cumberbatch. Peter Jackson directed. (144 min, Pg-13. bijou, Essex, Majestic, Marquis, Palace, Paramount, Stowe, welden) NigHt At tHe mUseUm: secRet oF tHe tomB: ben Stiller explores the nighttime shenanigans of the british Museum in the third installment of the family fantasy-comedy franchise, featuring Robin williams’ final screen performance. with Owen wilson, Rebel wilson, dan Stevens and ben Kingsley. Shawn levy (This Is Where I Leave You) directed. (97 min, Pg. bijou, Essex, Majestic, Marquis, Palace, Paramount, Stowe, welden) WilD: Reese witherspoon plays a young woman who embarks on a 1,100-mile solo trek to exorcise the demons of her past in this adaptation of cheryl Strayed’s memoir. with laura dern and gaby hoffmann. Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club) directed. (115 min, R; reviewed by R.K. 12/17. Essex, Roxy)
OPeninG DeCeMBer 24 (NOtE: thEsE aRE wIDE RElEasEs. wE CaN’t vERIfy MOvIEs OPENING sPECIfICally IN OuR aREa at thIs tIME. sEE sEvENDaysvt.COM fOR uPDatEs.) tHe gAmBleR: In this remake of the 1974 drama, Mark wahlberg plays an English professor who racks up dangerous debts by indulging a second passion in his off-hours. with brie larson and Jessica lange. Rupert wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) directed. (111 min, R)
iNto tHe WooDs: Rob Marshall (Chicago) directed this film version of Stephen Sondheim’s dark musical take on the fairy tales of the brothers grimm. with anna Kendrick as cinderella, Meryl Streep as the witch, chris Pine, Johnny depp, Emily blunt and many more. (124 min, Pg)
H = refund, please HH = could’ve been worse, but not a lot HHH = has its moments; so-so HHHH = smarter than the average bear HHHHH = as good as it gets
12/11/14 2:04 PM
Call for Proposals
Two Funding Opportunities for VT Small Businesses
Questions? Email epscor@uvm.edu, phone 656-7931, or visit us on the web at uvm.edu/EPSCoR
NEW THIS YEAR! Vermont EPSCoR Pilot Projects
Funding opportunity for Vermont small businesses, in partnership with university faculty, to develop projects that are aligned with the current VT EPSCoR RII Track-1 grant, Research on Adaptation to Climate Change in the Lake Champlain Basin (RACC).
BiRDmAN oR (tHe UNeXpecteD viRtUe oF igNoRANce)HHHHH Michael Keaton plays an actor who once headlined blockbusters and is now struggling to make a theatrical comeback, in this art-mirrors-life drama from director alejandro gonzález Iñárritu (Babel). with Zach galifianakis, Edward norton and Emma Stone. (119 min, R; reviewed by R.K. 11/12)
• Maximum amount of each grant in $10,000 • Deadline for submission: January 28, 2015 • Full submission details may be found at uvm.edu/epscor/redir/pilot
citiZeNFoURHHHHH activist journalist and director laura Poitras interviewed Edward Snowden in hong Kong for this documentary about the web of covert government surveillance he exposed. (114 min, R; reviewed by R.K. 12/3) DUmB AND DUmBeR toHH are not-so-sharp buddies lloyd and harry (Jim carrey and Jeff daniels) still funny 20 years after their first comedy? bobby and Peter farrelly return to direct this sequel in which one of the dumbo duo discovers he has a daughter. with Rob Riggle, laurie holden and bill Murray. (110 min, Pg-13) eXoDUs: goDs AND kiNgsHH1/2 christian bale plays the rebellious Moses and Joel Edgerton is Egyptian pharoah Ramses in this biblical epic from director Ridley Scott. Expect a 3d plague of locusts coming straight at your face. ben Kingsley, Sigourney weaver and aaron Paul also star. (150 min, Pg-13; reviewed by M.h. 12/17)
Vermont EPSCoR Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Phase (0)
• Maximum amount of each grant in $15,000 • Deadline for submission: January 14, 2015 • Full submission details may be found at uvm.edu/epscor/redir/sbir
Funding provided by NSF EPS 1101317
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HoRRiBle Bosses 2HH1/2 how do the victims of horrible bosses fare when they become their own bosses? Our put-upon heroes (Jason bateman, Jason Sudeikis and charlie day) find out in this sequel to the hit comedy from director Sean anders (That’s My Boy). with Jennifer aniston and Kevin Spacey. (108 min, R; reviewed by M.h. 12/3)
9/30/14 6:30 PM
... AND LOVIN’ IT!
tHe HomesmANHHHH a spinster in frontier nebraska (hilary Swank) takes on the dangerous task of chaperoning three deranged women back east in this offbeat western costarring and directed by tommy lee Jones. with grace gummer, Miranda Otto and James Spader. (122 min, R) tHe HUNgeR gAmes: mockiNgJAY, pARt 1HHH1/2 Rebellion against the regime breaks out into the open, with Katniss (Jennifer lawrence) as its symbol, in the first half of the last installment of the film adaptation of Suzanne collins’ ya saga. with Josh hutcherson, liam hemsworth, Julianne Moore and woody harrelson. francis lawrence returns as director. (123 min, Pg-13)
Funding opportunity for Vermont small businesses to compete for grants to foster research and development projects which will lead to applications to federal SBIR / STTR programs.
GSR Solutions releases findings from a feasibility study on a sustainable distillate fuel production facility in Chittenden County (l to r) Mark Blanchard, Ray Albrecht, Matt Cota, Clark Hinsdale III, Anju Dahiya, co-founder of Burlington-based GSR Solutions, and Phase (0) awardee, Todd Campbell and Rich Altman
daysvt.com Watch at seven
S E V I H C R A E H T M O FR
iNteRstellARHHH1/2 Earth’s last hope is a newly discovered interdimensional wormhole and the astronauts who agree to risk their lives there, in this sci-fi adventure from director christopher nolan. with Matthew Mcconaughey, anne hathaway, wes bentley and Jessica chastain. (169 min, Pg-13; reviewed by M.h. 11/12) peNgUiNs oF mADAgAscARHH1/2 The beloved birds from the Madagascar franchise get a comic spinoff in which they become secret agents. The family animation features the voices of tom Mcgrath, benedict cumberbatch and John Malkovich. Eric darnell and Simon J. Smith directed. (92 min, Pg)
mily The Cleary fa nter e C of Jericho ooden w e burns larg celebrate to sculptures lstice. Eva the winter so ptured Sollberger ca rn in this the 2013 bu ode of classic epis ont; this rm e Stuck in V place on year’s takes 0. December 2
sponsored by: nOw PlayIng
MOVIES 89
RatIngS aSSIgnEd tO MOVIES nOt REVIEwEd by Rick kisoNAk OR mARgot HARRisoN aRE cOuRtESy Of MEtacRItIc.cOM, whIch aVERagES ScORES gIVEn by thE cOuntRy’S MOSt wIdEly REad MOVIE REVIEwERS.
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Every town in Vermont has an FPF now.
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seveN DAYs
ratings
Big HeRo 6HHHH a young genius and his inflatable robot friend assemble a team of tech-equipped heroes to save their city in this adventure comedy from disney’s animation Studios. with the voices of Ryan Potter, Scott adsit and Jamie chung. don hall and chris williams directed. (108 min, Pg)
Good idea... I’ll‘ email my family in Rutland.
12.17.14-12.24.14
UNBRokeN: angelina Jolie directed this adaptation of laura hillenbrand’s bestseller about Olympian louis Zamperini (Jack O’connell) and his hellish travails in a Japanese prison camp during world war II. with domhnall gleeson and Jai courtney. (137 min, Pg-13)
nOw PlaYinG
I just told my friend in Putney to sign up for Front Porch Forum.
seveNDAYsvt.com
tHe iNteRvieW: Seth Rogen and James franco play tabloid tV personalities who find themselves recruited for an assassination attempt on north Korea’s Kim Jong-un in this comedy directed by Rogen and Evan goldberg. (112 min, R)
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movie clips
12/16/14 5:37 PM
the folk hour tuesday > 10:00 pm
Burlington film Society PreSentS holiday claSSicS
movies
localtheaters (*) = new this week in vermont. for up-to-date times visit sevendaysvt.com/movies.
retn.org/bfs-presents
BIG PIctuRE tHEAtER
Watch live @5:25
48 Carroll Rd. (off Rte. 100), Waitsfield, 496-8994, bigpicturetheater.info
Weeknights on tV and online get more info or Watch online at vermont cam.org • retn.org ch17.tv
SECRET SANTA
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tuesday 16 — wednesday 17 *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Penguins of madagascar
BIJou cINEPLEX 4
12/12/14 12:25 PM Rte. 100, Morrisville, 888-3293, bijou4.com
SALE 10% TO 20% OFF Draw a discount at checkout for up to 20% off all full priced items.
FRIDAY 19 – SUNDAY 21
tuesday 16 — wednesday 17 Exodus: Gods and Kings *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 Penguins of madagascar thursday 18 — thursday 25 *Annie *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies *Night at the museum: Secret of the tomb Exodus: Gods & Kings
cAPItoL SHoWPLAcE 93 State St., Montpelier, 2290343, fgbtheaters.com
CHARACTER FOR LIFE AND HOME GIFTS • DECOR • ACCESSORIES
5224 shelburne rd., shelburne • commondeervt.com
enjoy
SEVEN DAYS
12.17.14-12.24.14
SEVENDAYSVt.com
12v-commondeer121714.indd 1
tuesday 16 — wednesday 17 Dumb and Dumber to Exodus: Gods and Kings Horrible Bosses 2 The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 Interstellar thursday 18 — thursday 25 *Annie The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 Exodus: Gods & Kings Exodus: Gods & Kings 3D Big Hero 6 Interstellar Penguins of madagascar
12/15/14 4:33 PM
VITALITY & WELLNESS
with
Rolfing®
ALLEVIATES PAIN & RESTRICTIONS IMPROVES FLEXIBILITY AND EASE OF MOVEMENT
ESSEX cINEmAS & t-REX tHEAtER
CHANGES BALANCE, POSTURE AND ALIGNMENT
21 Essex Way, #300, Essex, 8796543, essexcinemas.com
ENHANCES ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE, ENERGY & BREATHING
tuesday 16 — wednesday 17 Big Hero 6 Dumb and Dumber to Exodus: Gods and Kings Exodus: Gods and Kings 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in HFR 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Horrible Bosses 2 The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 Interstellar Penguins of madagascar Penguins of madagascar 3D St. Vincent
Kat Fiske CERTIFIED ROLFER™
NEW Burlington, VT Office!
603-315-7363
Say you saw it in...
90 MOVIES
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12/16/14 2:56 PMthursday 18 — thursday 25
sevendaysvt.com
*Annie *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 3D, HFR *The Hobbit: The Battle
11/24/09 1:33:19 PM
of the Five Armies *Night at the museum: Secret of the tomb *Wild Exodus: Gods & Kings 3D Exodus: Gods & Kings Penguins of madagascar The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 Big Hero 6
mAJEStIc 10 190 Boxwood St. (Maple Tree Place, Taft Corners), Williston, 878-2010, majestic10.com
tuesday 16 — wednesday 17 Big Hero 6 Dumb and Dumber to Exodus: Gods and Kings Exodus: Gods and Kings 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in HFR 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Horrible Bosses 2 The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 Interstellar Penguins of madagascar thursday 18 — thursday 25 *Annie Big Hero 6 Exodus: Gods and Kings Exodus: Gods and Kings 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in HFR 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Horrible Bosses 2 The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 Interstellar *Night at the museum: Secret of the tomb Penguins of madagascar
mARQuIS tHEAtRE Main St., Middlebury, 388-4841
tuesday 16 — wednesday 17 *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 Penguins of madagascar thursday 18 — thursday 25 *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 *Night at the museum: Secret of the tomb
mERRILL'S RoXY cINEmA 222 College St., Burlington, 8643456, merrilltheatres.net
tuesday 16 — wednesday 17 *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 3D HFR *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Birdman citizenfour The Homesman
The Theory of Everything The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 thursday 18 — thursday 25 Birdman citizenfour *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in HFR 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies The Homesman The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 The Theory of Everything Wild
PALAcE 9 cINEmAS 10 Fayette Dr., South Burlington, 864-5610, palace9.com
tuesday 16 — wednesday 17 Big Hero 6 Exodus: Gods and Kings Exodus: Gods and Kings 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in HFR 3D Horrible Bosses 2 The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 Interstellar Penguins of madagascar Rosewater *Royal Ballet: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland St. Vincent Whiplash thursday 18 — thursday 25 *Annie Big Hero 6 *Bolshoi Ballet: The Nutcracker Exodus: Gods and Kings Exodus: Gods and Kings 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in HFR 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 Interstellar The metropolitan opera: Die meistersinger von Nurnberg *Night at the museum: Secret of the tomb Penguins of madagascar Whiplash
PARAmouNt tWIN cINEmA
thursday 18 — thursday 25 *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies *Night at the museum: Secret of the tomb
tHE SAVoY tHEAtER 26 Main St., Montpelier, 2290509, savoytheater.com
tuesday 16 — wednesday 17 The Homesman The Theory of Everything thursday 18 — thursday 25 The Homesman The Theory of Everything
StoWE cINEmA 3 PLEX Mountain Rd., Stowe, 2534678. stowecinema.com
tuesday 16 — wednesday 17 Exodus: Gods and Kings 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in 3D Horrible Bosses 2 The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 thursday 18 — thursday 25 Birdman *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies *Night at the museum: Secret of the tomb
WELDEN tHEAtRE 104 N. Main St., St. Albans, 5277888, weldentheatre.com
tuesday 16 — wednesday 17 Dumb and Dumber to Exodus: Gods and Kings *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 Penguins of madagascar thursday 18 — thursday 25 Exodus: Gods and Kings *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies The Hunger Games: mockingjay, Part 1 *Night at the museum: Secret of the tomb Penguins of madagascar
241 N. Main St., Barre, 4799621, fgbtheaters.com
tuesday 16 — wednesday 17 *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in 3D *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Penguins of madagascar
LooK uP SHoWtImES oN YouR PHoNE!
Go to SEVENDAYSVt.com on any smartphone for free, up-to-the-minute movie showtimes, plus other nearby restaurants, club dates, events and more.
moViE clipS NOW PLAYING
GIVE THE UNFORGETTABLE
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tHE tHEoRY oF EVERYtHiNGHHHH1/2 Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones play physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife, Jane, in this adaptation of the latter’s memoir of their marriage. James Marsh (Man on Wire) directed. (123 min, PG-13) WHiplASHHH1/2 Miles Teller plays a jazz-drumming student who clashes with his perfectionist instructor (J.K. Simmons) in this buzzed-about festival hit from writer-director Damien Chazelle. With Melissa Benoist and Paul Reiser. (107 min, R; reviewed by R.K. 11/19)
new on video mAGic iN tHE mooNliGHt 1/2H In Woody Allen’s latest, set in the 1920s in the south of France, Colin Firth plays a skeptic trying to unmask a spiritualist (Emma Stone) as a fraud. With Hamish Linklater and Eileen Atkins. (97 min, PG-13; reviewed by R.K. 8/20)
tHE mAZE RUNNERHHH A young man (Dylan O’Brien) wakes to find himself in a grim landscape dominated by a maze in this adaptation of James Dashner’s YA novel. Will Poulter and Kaya Scodelario costar. (113 min, PG-13) tHE SKElEtoN tWiNS: Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader play estranged twins who try to mend their relationship after they both nearly die on the same day, in this drama from director Craig Johnson (True Adolescents). (93 min, R) tEENAGE mUtANt NiNJA tURtlESH1/2 Director Jonathan Liebesman and producer Michael Bay reboot the ’90s comic-based film series about four mutant brothers from the sewers. (101 min, PG-13) tHiS iS WHERE i lEAVE YoUHH1/2 Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver and Corey Stoll play siblings who find themselves sitting shiva with their mom (Jane Fonda) after their dad dies. (103 min, R; reviewed by M.H. 9/24)
WOMEN WANTED Step Up to Information Technology
more movies!
Film series, events and festivals at venues other than cinemas can be found in the calendar section.
UNIQUE INSPIRED TIMELESS
Did you miss: Happy CHristmas How happy can a mumblecore Christmas be? Let’s find out!
jbeaudin@vtworksforwomen.org 102 Harbor Rd, Shelburne 985-3190 | matthewtaylordesigns.net
Oneof a kind
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12/15/14 11:49 AM
Lippa’s
In the Movies You Missed & More feature every Friday, I review movies that were too weird, too cool, too niche or too terrible for vermont's multiplexes. Should you catch up with them on DvD or voD, or keep missing them?
what I’M watching
A 9-week training program for women. Become more employable by learning to code.
SEVENDAYSVt.com
Jeff (Joe Swanberg) and Kelly (Melanie Lynskey of Heavenly Creatures) are an arty couple living in Chicago with their 2-year-old son. Into their lives comes Jeff’s younger sister, Jenny (Anna Kendrick), who’s looking for new direction after a breakup. She crashes in their basement, parties with her friend Carson (Lena Dunham) and starts a tentative relationship with the couple’s pot-dealing babysitter (Mark Webber)…
Mon/Wed eves & Saturdays
For more info: vtworksforwomen.org/suit Contact Jenny Beaudin 802.622.0400 x150
movies YOu missed B Y MARGOT HARRI SON
Recruiting now for Jan. 21st start!
E S TAT E A N D F I N E J E W E L RY Est. 1933
112 CHURCH ST. BURLINGTON, VT • WWW.LIPPAS.COM • 862-1042 8h-lippas112614.indd 1
This week i'm watching: Die HarD 2
Wusthof Classic 8” Cook’s Knife $
In this feature, published every Saturday on Live Culture, I write about the films I'm currently watching, and connect them to film history and art.
89.99 (reg.
160)
$
SEVEN DAYS
It's always a little disappointing when a beloved movie fails to live up to one's fond memories of it. Die Hard 2, which I recently watched for the first time in maybe 15 years, had exactly that effect on me. What's the opposite of "Yippee-ki-yay"? one career ago, I was a professor of film studies. I gave that up to move to vermont and write for Seven Days, but movies will always be my first love.
11/24/14 6:39 PM
Find this and other great gift ideas here today! 72 Church St • Burlington, VT • 802-863-4226 • www.kissthecook.net 8H-kissthecook121714.indd 1
12/5/14 1:02 PM
MOVIES 91
ReAD tHeSe eACH WeeK on tHe LIve CuLtuRe bLog At sevendaysvt.com/liveculture
12.17.14-12.24.14
B Y ETHAN D E SEI FE
fun stuff
Dave Lapp
more fun! straight dope (p.27),
crossword (p.c-5), & calcoku & sudoku (p.c-7)
Edie Everette
92 fun stuff
SEVEN DAYS 12.17.14-12.24.14 SEVENDAYSvt.com
Michael Deforge
lulu eightball
NEWS QUIRKs by roland sweet We Feel Your Pain
Law school students at Harvard, Columbia and Georgetown universities demanded that their schools postpone final exams because they were traumatized by grand jury decisions in Ferguson, Mo., and New York not to indict white police officers who killed black men. Students said the decisions and subsequent outrage kept them awake, distracted them and made them question the integrity of the legal system they are preparing to enter. What’s more, taking part in local protests limited their study time. All three schools announced that students who felt that recent events would impair their exam performance could petition to have their exams rescheduled. Reacting to the schools’ responses, George Mason University School of Law professor David Bernstein said that Columbia had “chosen to infantilize” the students, and Harvard Law School graduate Elie Mystal blogged that “a lawyer has to be able to function in the face of injustice.” (Bloomberg Businessweek) Fathers-to-be have the opportunity to experience the pain of childbirth at Aima maternity hospital in China’s Shandong province. After several new moms complained that they got little sympathy from their partners, the hospital began offering free sessions where participants have pads attached
jen sorensen
above the abdomens that give paininducing electric shocks for up to five minutes as a nurse gradually raises the intensity from one to 10, causing the men to writhe in agony. “It felt like my heart and lungs were being ripped apart,” said Song Siling, who lasted only until level seven. Insisting that the simulations could never match the torment of actual childbirth, nurse Lou Dezhu did note, “If men can experience this pain, then they’ll be more loving and caring to their wives.” About 100 men volunteered for the sessions. Most are expectant fathers, but some are thrill seekers who sign up for “taster sessions.” (Reuters)
Name Games
Narcissistic parents are putting pressure on their children by giving them unusual names, according to Dutch researchers. The team from Amsterdam University found a clear link between parents’ own sense of superiority and the extent to which they “overvalue” their children. One of the most obvious ways to make children “stand out from the crowd,” the researchers reported, was by giving them a “unique, uncommon first name.” (Britain’s Express)
Shiftless Generation
Two boys, 15 and 17, tried to steal a car at gunpoint but failed, according to Houston authorities, because they “had
issues operating the vehicle.” It had a manual transmission. The suspects demanded that the driver tell them how to operate the vehicle, but after he provided a few instructions, they ordered him to get out and tried but failed to make their getaway. (Associated Press)
Nathan Rolf Channing was arrested for
pointing a banana at two sheriff’s deputies, who believed it was a gun. Reasonable Explanation
Police who charged Zachary Torrance, 18, with robbing four Alabama Subway sandwich shops said he told them he was mad that the “Jared diet” hadn’t worked for him, so he wanted his money back. The weight-loss plan he referred to is named for Jared Fogle, who went from 425 pounds to 180 pounds in two years by eating two low-fat Subway sandwiches a day. (Birmingham’s WVTM-TV)
When Guns Are Outlawed
Nathan Rolf Channing, 27, was arrested for pointing a banana at two sheriff’s deputies in Mesa County, Colo., who believed it was a gun. One of the deputies started to pull his own gun when Channing yelled, “It’s a banana!” He explained he thought it would be a “funny joke” to post on YouTube, but the deputies didn’t see any cameras in the vicinity. At that point, Channing admitted this was a “trial run of the joke.” Channing, a resident of Fruitvale, was charged with felony menacing. (Denver’s KDVR-TV) Marvin Tramaine Hill II, 27, admitted attacking his pregnant wife with a McChicken sandwich after police arrested him at their home in Des Moines, Iowa. Police said Hill’s wife had mayonnaise on her shirt and face when they arrived, prompting Hill’s arrest for simple domestic assault. (Huffington Post)
Felonious Irony
State police arrested Gregory Bolongnese, 22, at the bus station in Plattsburgh, N.Y., after they found marijuana, cocaine and LSD hidden inside a stuffed lion doll wearing a D.A.R.E. T-shirt. D.A.R.E. is short for the antidrug program Drug Abuse Resistance Education. (Associated Press)
Harry BLISS SEVENDAYSvt.com 12.17.14-12.24.14 SEVEN DAYS fun stuff 93
“You’re getting warmer.”
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Fran Krause
Have a deep, dark fear of your own? Submit it to cartoonist Fran Krause at deep-dark-fears.tumblr.com, and you may see your neurosis illustrated in these pages.
KAz
REAL fRee will astRology by rob brezsny DecembeR 18-24
spill over into rash, delirious excess. Here’s your watchword: well-grounded delight.
taURUs (April 20-May 20): In the 19th cen-
Sagittarius (nov. 22-Dec. 21)
“A savage desire for strong emotions and sensations burns inside me: a rage against this soft-tinted, shallow, standardized and sterilized life.” So says Harry Haller, the protagonist of Herman Hesse’s novel Steppenwolf. His declaration could serve as an interesting point of reference for you in the coming months, Sagittarius — not as a mood for everyday use, but as a poetic inspiration that you periodically call on to invigorate your lust for life. My invitation has a caveat, however. I advise you not to adopt the rest of Harry Haller’s rant, in which he says that he also has “a mad craving to smash something up, a department store, or a cathedral, or myself.”
aRies (March 21-April 19): “too much hap-
gemiNi (May 21-June 20): your first task is to ascertain the half-truth, the whole halftruth and nothing but the half-truth. only then will you be able to find the other half of the truth. I realize it may be frustrating to use this approach. you’d probably prefer to avoid wrangling with the deceptions and misdirections. but I think it’s the only way to jostle loose the hidden or missing information. for best results, be a cunning and unsentimental detective who’s eager to solve the mystery. Don’t focus on finding fault or assigning blame. caNceR
(June 21-July 22): one of the ingredients that makes yoga mats so soft and springy is the chemical azodicarbonamide. The same stuff is added to the soles of shoes. There’s a third place where it’s used, too: in the burger buns sold by McDonald’s, burger King, Wendy’s and other fast-food joints. I’m not suggesting that you order a big supply of azodicarbonamide and ingest it. but I do hope you will consider the metaphorical equivalent: doing whatever’s necessary to make yourself bouncy and fluffy and pliable and supple and resilient.
leo (July 23-Aug. 22): “There are two kinds of light,” said author James Thurber, “the glow that illuminates, and the glare that
ViRgo (Aug. 23-sept. 22): studies suggest
that 57 percent of all people with access to the internet have engaged in the practice known as ego-surfing. This modern art form consists of searching Google for mentions of one’s own name. This is a suspiciously low figure unless we factor in the data uncovered by my own research — which is that a disproportionately small amount of Virgos go ego-surfing: only 21 percent. If you are one of the 79 percent of your tribe who does not indulge, I invite you to remedy the situation. It’s an excellent time to risk exploring the potential benefits of increased self-interest and self-regard.
libRa (sept. 23-oct. 22): When I started writing horoscopes many years ago, I was a good astrologer but an unexceptional writer. eventually, the practice of composing 12 packets of pithy prose every week allowed me to improve my authorial skills. The stuff I composed in the early years wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t want to present it as my work anymore. so should I feel guilty that I got paid and appreciated for those old efforts even though I was less than perfect? Did I get away with something I shouldn’t have gotten away with? I don’t think so. I was doing the best I could at the time. And even my unpolished astrological musings were helpful to many people. now, Libra, I invite you to apply these meditations to you, own unfolding destiny. scoRPio
(oct. 23-nov. 21): you may already know what I’m about to tell you. It’s a core principle at the root of your scorpio heritage. but I want to focus your attention on it. In the coming months, you’ll be wise to keep it at the forefront of your conscious
awareness. Here it is, courtesy of philosopher friedrich nietzsche: “you have it in your power to invest everything you have lived through — your experiments, false starts, errors, delusions, passions, your love and your hope — into your goal, with nothing left over.”
caPRicoRN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I have lived near an open space preserve for five years. up until the last two months, it has been a peaceful, quite place. but then the coyotes moved in. Just after dusk every evening, a pack of them start yipping and yowling in the distance. At first I found the racket to be eerie and unsettling. It activated some primal unease in me. And yet the coyotes have never actually been a problem. They don’t roam into my neighborhood and try to bite people or prey on pets. so now I’ve come to relish the situation: The wild things are close and exciting, but not dangerous. I’m guessing this has a metaphorical resemblance to what your life will be like in the next six months, Capricorn. aQUaRiUs (Jan. 20-feb. 18): stanstead,
Québec, and Derby Line, Vt., are really a single town that straddles the border between the u.s. and Canada. Many of the people who live there have dual citizenship, but they’re still supposed to carry their passports with them at all times. I suspect you may experience a metaphorical version of this split in the coming months, Aquarius. you will be in a situation that has a split down the middle or a seemingly unnatural division. Whether it turns out to be a problem or an opportunity will depend on your adaptability and flexibility.
Pisces (feb. 19-March 20): When a dead
tree topples over in the woods, its withered branches may get entangled with the branches of a living tree that’s standing nearby. As years go by, the living tree must grow the best it can with the decaying wood trapped in its midst. Has something like that ever happened to you? Are you still carrying the rot that other people have burdened you with? If so, the coming months will be an excellent time to get disentangled. A tree isn’t capable of freeing itself from the dead weight of the past, but you are — especially in the first half of 2015.
SEVENDAYSVt.com
piness can make you unhappy,” reported journalist Marta zaraska in the Washington Post. Citing research by psychologists, she concluded that being super-extra cheerful can make you selfish, gullible and more prone to stereotyped thinking. on the other hand, she said, maintaining merely moderate levels of happiness is pretty damn good for your mental and physical health. so here’s the takeaway, Aries: The astrological omens suggest you’re due for a surge of joy and pleasure. Just be careful it doesn’t
tury, the Grimm brothers gathered more than 200 old fairy tales from a variety of sources and published them in an unprecedented collection. Many of their stories are still popular, including “Cinderella,” “snow White,” “Hansel and Gretel,” and “rapunzel.” Around the same time they did their work, a storyteller named franz Xaver von schönwerth assembled his own compendium of fantastic myths, fables and folklore. unlike the Grimm brothers’ book, his work faded into obscurity. but it was rediscovered in 2011, and 500 lost fairy tales are now finding their way into newly published books. I foresee a comparable phenomenon happening for you in 2015, taurus. forgotten stories will return. raw material from the depths will resurface. Interesting news from the past will come flowing into the present.
obscures.” Lately you have been an abundant source of that first kind of light, Leo. The fire in your heart and the gleam in your eyes have not only brightened the mood wherever you’ve gone, they have also clarified confusing situations, warmed chilly attitudes and healed dispirited allies. Thank you! In the coming weeks, I’d love to see you continue on your hot streak. to help ensure that you do, keep your ego under control. Don’t let it pretend that it owns the light you’re emitting. With a little introspection, you will continue to generate illumination, not glare.
CheCk Out ROb bRezsny’s expanded Weekly audiO hOROsCOpes & daily text Message hOROsCOpes: RealastRology.com OR 1-877-873-4888
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20% OFF REGULAR ITEMS
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Women seeking Women Loving artist Into gender-bending, queer issues, polyamory, safety, BDSM and tattoo piercings. Assertive, foodie, yogi and involved with art collectives and organic farms. Highly sensitive person coping with schizophrenia, BPD and depression; recovery through meditation, therapy and support groups. I have a service animal and bike and canoe. Hooray, 22, l
Fun-loving, Genuine, Positive, Intelligent... ...woman who believes in the good in people and loves life, enjoys music, networking, open-mindedness, paying it forward, and all life has to offer. Seeking someone genuine, honest, respectful and funny who knows how to have a balance of professional and personal matters and have fun. Laughter is the best medicine. Let’s laugh together! 802VTGal, 32, l
For Queeb To the tiny woodsman at the West Bolton fireworks show on July 12: I’m so happy I stayed. glitterbacon, 30
Irreverent lass seeking “to blave” SWF looking to find that singular, extra special kind, caring, supportive person sans chaos with whom to share my time and life’s adventures. snalbansvt, 45, l
Movie-loving Kinky Cuddler I can be sarcastic and quick-witted, but I don’t ever intend to be malicious or lash out. I love watching movies and shows and reading books, and I desperately would like to just find someone who is willing to cuddle as much as have some fun. I want a relationship of some form; it doesn’t have to be serious. Myrawr, 22, l
warm and fuzzy I love to have fun and enjoy trying new things, but I can do predictable. Great sense of humor. Colleagues describe me as flexible, nurturing, confident and loyal. (Sounds a bit like your pet). Looking to travel through life with someone. Casual dating, and if it leads to something beyond, then so be it. Bucketlist, 54, l
Fun, fun, fun Just looking for a guy or a girl to come have some fun! Boop789, 26
Learning, laughing, loving life I’m a native Vermonter who’s pretty independent, very hardworking and fun-loving. I have strong family values and am very loyal to friends. I love to travel and would love to find someone to go on adventures with, and who is motivated and knows what they want out of life, but also knows how to laugh. teachvt22, 26, l
Super Nerd Super-nerdy femme girl who is new. Looking to meet some interesting people and maybe make a connection. Damselflyme, 37
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Women seeking Men
looking for a friend All new to this. Trying to move on. Looking for a friend to maybe go out to dinner and a movie; for a walk; to the beach; maybe dancing. lookingforfriend2014, 58, l smart, funny, generous and adventurous I’m short, cute and curvy with an open heart. I’m honest and loyal, no drama or regrets, and kind of quirky. I house sit for animals, love to walk dogs, and am a positive and generous person. Geeks and outdoorsmen are cool; control freaks are not. Let’s meet for coffee or drinks, crack jokes and see what happens. misscheviousangel, 37, l Long-Legged Sweet Afro Lady I am a lioness, looking for the king of the jungle. I have long legs, puffy soft Afro, midnight-brown eyes. Mom of one separated for two years, moved on for good. My heart is one of gold with a marshmallow center. precious44, 44, l young at heart, dancing, drumming, earthy Looking always on the bright side. Humanitarian. Love learning and laughter! spiritwithin, 60, l
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Sexy, silly, fun and adventurous I am a youngish 43-year-old lover. I derive a great deal of enjoyment from helping others. I am attractive, although no beauty queen. I believe my sparkling personality and witty intelligence make me more beautiful than any picture can ever capture. I care deeply for all living creatures, which also makes me sensitive and perhaps a bit naive. karenann, 43, l Adventurous, friendly, intelligent Friendly, open, blunt, dedicated. I love laughter. I am rather stubborn and adventurous. Want to go away for a weekend? Give me five minutes to pack and make arrangements. I would love to talk about the latest movie/TV show/ NPR segment. We can go for a hike or sit and watch movies. What would you like to do today? lookingforopus, 43, l Different drummer, hopeless romantic My values might be described as traditional with a hippie flair. :) I think “young” and still enjoy most of the things I did when I was younger. I enjoy learning, history, museums, books, theater, spirituality. I love animals too much to eat them, thus I’m a vegetarian. Some of my favorite activities are hiking, skiing, kayaking, swimming, taking drives, music. naturgirl, 58, l Brooklyn Expat in Wonderland Hi! I just moved to the most rural place ever from Brooklyn to learn cheese making. I love Vermont, but I have yet to meet that special someone with whom to revel in its beauty and cuddle up when the cold comes. I am music-obsessed, laugh-obsessed, wine-obsessed, word-obsessed and pizza-obsessed. Let’s hang out and do fun stuff together. SweetLo, 34, l Great sense of humor I’m an optimistic, shy (before I get to know you), love-to-laugh person. I have two great girls who I enjoy spending time with. I’m looking for an honest, caring person to spend my time with. MsIndependent, 43 active, outdoors, creative I enjoy gardening, brewing beer, baking, making dog treats, refinishing furniture. Also love getting outside to walk, run, bike, hike, ski, waterski, sail. Looking for a genuine, caring, responsible guy who loves the outdoors. Not interested in drama types or smokers. You must be fit, active, comfortable with your own life and financially stable. Watching sports, except NASCAR, is a requirement. vtsaab, 55, l
romantic, fun, passionate I am a fun-loving woman who is looking to spend time with someone who enjoys life. I am kind, compassionate and a romantic at heart. I enjoy dinners out, the theater, movies and walks along the lake. I love spending time at the ocean. I would love to meet you for a cup of coffee and conversation, to start. jackiel, 59, l
I like the adventure You and I and a bottle of red wine. Thoughts? Antonio1984, 30, l
one of a kind I love life to the fullest; laughter, spontaneity, exercise, travel and adventure fill my days. Fitness and laughter are keys to my physical and mental health. I appear much younger than my age. I’m an avid skier; Stowe and Alta are favorites. I love sunshine and being outside, on the water, in the water, on the mountains, around the mountains! gottarun2day, 60, l
Gentleman Public, Naughty Boy behind doors Strong, independent, well-traveled, well-educated, open-minded, creative entrepreneur with a very successful career in IT and designing new business solutions. Seeking to complete my MBA, and I am seeking an intelligent, well-educated woman with ambitions who knows how to carry herself as a classy woman but who also has not forgotten how to be an attractive woman! AdventureSeeker41, 46, l
Men seeking Women
Sincere qualities hard to find I’m just looking for an honest and sincere woman with traditional qualities. It doesn’t seem like much to ask, but these basic traits are hard to find. I’m an easy-going, loyal, downto-earth guy who wants to dedicate my life to the right girl — someone who likes to laugh, explore, cuddle, and just make the best of life and be happy. Singlevtguy74, 40, l Looking for new adventures I’m not exactly sure what to write here. I’m looking to meet new people and have some new experiences. A relationship isn’t the goal, but if it went that way, that would be fine, too. I’m open to women of all kinds. Looking forward to chatting with you all soon. JustANewBoy2295, 29, l Folk music lover I’ve retired from several professions in order to work hard at writing, making documentary films and reading history. I enjoy fabulous friends and family, and am physically fit and financially secure. I closely follow the Ohio State Buckeyes. My best pal is Golden Retriever Kleio. Carlitos, 82, l movies, lakes and snow Looking for a honest person who likes to hang out and watch TV/movies but also enjoys skiing and a night out on the town. boredboarder, 22, l friendly, kind, fun-loving, honest I built my post-and-beam house 25 years ago, have two small ponds, a lazy cat, some chickens and a noisy goose. I am a landscaper for two very nice places in South Woodstock. I love nature photography, kayaking, bike riding and visiting the coast of Maine. Looking for a partner to enjoy life and all of nature’s great gifts. 2ponds, 57, l Listening interested learner A lover of working hands with the land and all the aspects of the sometimes not-so-simple life. A lover of a hard days’ work behind and the low-key social encounters in free time. A dedicated learner of creative endeavors and a free-spirited navigator through life’s high mountain paths. Peace and harmony. Naturefarmer64, 25, l Love Critters I stand within an invisible tiger that spits white fire. I kill ideas that flaunt excessive possessives. I dream of tender touches from ocean sirens from islands of magnificent suns. KinkyURCHIN, 25, l
reggae roots chillin’ Off-beat, divorced art teacher; father of two college-age young adults looking for a woman to hang out with. Let’s dye some tablecloths or go for a hike. vtal, 45, l
Looking for a real woman Let’s face it: We’ve nothing to lose, but possibly a fantastic friendship to gain. It’s virtually impossible to get to know someone purely by a photograph or a few words of description. It takes a lot more than that. peter094, 39, l Looking For A Best Friend I want her / I need her / and someday, someway I’ll meet her. / She’ll be kind of shy / But real good looking, too / and I’ll be certain she’s my girl / by the things she’ll like to do. / Like walking in the rain / And wishing on the stars up above / And being so in love. ShyGuy05401, 59 open, adventurous, passionate seeker I’m an athletic, fit, open and kinda crazy adventurer who sees the best in everyone’s intentions and seeks connections of the heart and soul, as well as the physical. adventure_us, 29, l Stellar feller searches for bella Filler: Single, divorced dad. Two kids (10 and 5) live with me. Fully employed. Literate. All important physical bits accounted for. Special skills: I can cook, clean, dress myself and others, teach, learn, navigate, wander, exude or recline, create many things of many media with varying results. Important part: Want to like a lady and want her to like me. Superfly76, 38, l Looking to meet great people I am looking for new friends and to hang out with people on the weekend. I haven’t been to Vermont in four years, since graduating college, and I love the Vermont landscape and culture. We all have one life to live, and I want to meet great people and have a lot of cool adventures. NewMosaic1987, 27, l Salty Sailor Seeks Siren Still searching for the lovely sea goddess to share adventures and romance. Does she exist? Travel, dog walks, hikes and the gym fill the calendar, plus fun encouters with friends. CapnZee, 54, l
Men seeking Men
I’m a very kind-hearted person Hi. I’m 51 years old and disabled, but not like you think. I still get around some with a cane. I would like a nice guy to take care of me and I take care of him. I can’t wait for the right person. tittytommy, 51
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Wanting it Hi. I’m looking for a friends-withbenefits kind of relationship. I’m want to stimulate my sexual side and follow those desires. LoverLover, 25 Have a little fun Looking for men or a couple (male/ female, female/female) for fun, sweaty, sexy play. Need people I actually like for it to be really fun, so hit me up for coffee or a beer, and let’s see if we get along. FWB, casual encounters, start slow and see what happens. Open to LTR if it grows that way; not a requirement. 123Go, 48 Fun, flirty female Professional woman looking to have some fun and try new things. Bi-curious, so would be interested in having her first time with a couple. New to this whole thing, but always read this page in Seven Days and thought about wanting to give it a try. develizabeth, 27 Girl Next Door — More Behind Closed Doors Single woman wanting openminded, confident, dominant male who knows what he wants and can communicate it. Looking for casual but passionate get togethers. Open to more serious endeavours when/ if warranted. vtgirl1975, 39, l Lady4aLady Hi there. I’m just one lady looking for another lady to fool around, spend some time with, get to know a little, but mostly for some fun and some play. I’m open to all ideas and all ladyventures! Lady4aLady, 24
Naughty LocaL girLs waNt to coNNect with you
Looking for new adventures Looking for people who would be interested in some casual, reoccurring fun. No strings, no drama; just fun. :) JustIncredible2295, 29, l Guy seeking dominant woman Hey, y’all. Just moved to Burlington, and looking for a headstrong female friend. I’m pretty open-minded in terms of what kind of relationship it would be. I am a chill guy who is into feminism, social justice and music, among other things. Looking to learn more about the kink scene in Burlington. HMU, let’s see where it goes. greenmtnboy19, 19, l Adventurous, Down-to-earth, Fit, Curious, Open-minded Just looking to hook up with someone not on my normal radar. Something new and exciting, that’s what really gets my stomach churning, in a good way. I’m just naturally curious, living in Burlington, looking for a new adventure! hstewart123, 25, l Just wanna hook up Just looking for discreet interactions. Blank_mind, 21 happily married seeks weekly dalliance Handsome, athletic, devoted man looking for icing on the cake. Friendship and sex without stress. Not even a secret from his understanding wife. Fixer, 52 I Just Want to Watch I am in a happy, monogamous relationship, and have no interest in being touched by or touching you. But I have a strong fantasy of watching you and touching myself. Looking for straight and lesbian couples with an exhibitionist streak. Justwanttowatch, 27, l
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Hot couple looking for fun Fun, hot couple, DD free, looking for a sexy woman to join us for some fun. Bisexual woman and straight guy. We’re looking for a woman who wants safe, consensual sex. If you’ve been searching for some adventurous fun, we’re your couple! AvtGirl88, 26, l Sensual adventure with sexy couple We are an awesome couple with a desire for adventure. We are easygoing, healthy, professional and looking for a like-minded woman to play with us. We love music, dancing, socializing and good people. Life is good, and we want to enjoy it! RosaLinda, 28 cum sprayer, exhibitionist, dirty secrets My husband and I are looking to fulfill our fantasies. We are an easygoing, great couple that likes to let loose and have some good, dirty fun. I like to be watched (like for a peep show), and he likes me being watched. I like mystery and masks, and he likes dirty and aggressive. Looking for couples, groups and voyeurs. crow, 41 D/s looking for Third We are a dominant/submissive couple looking for another submissive female to join us. I am very submissive and bisexual in nature. My master is a wonderful dom who knows how to take care of his slave(s). We are looking for a raunchy girl who is open-minded and definitely into both of us! DDF; 18 to 35. Master D and slave H. slave2Him, 32 fill my need I’m a very imaginative lover. I’m looking for: 1. a cisgender man I can restrain while fucking him; 2. a cisgender woman good at fisting; or 3. a fellow trans (TS/TG/CD/MTF/FTM/intersex) for all kinds of fun, even vanilla sex. I’m in an open relationship and need more people who can please my front hole. Please me and I guarantee I will please you! wet_deep_man, 29 fun times Want to have a good time and experience others. Want to be fucked while my girlfriend watches and joins in. First time trying bi experience; not sure, but want to try. Disease-free and only want the same. tpiskura, 47
I think I might be masturbating too much. My girlfriend is starting to stress about it. We were talking recently, and she asked me how often I masturbate. I told her, and she thought it was too much and that it would start to mess up our sex life and could hurt my penis. Do you think it will? Should I not do it as much? Is it going to screw me up?
Thanks,
Masturbating on the Mind
Dear M on the M,
This is a really common concern. Many men — and even women — go through a phase where they believe their masturbation routine may be too much. But getting extra-handsy down there rarely leads to health concerns. It really only becomes a problem when it starts to overshadow other aspects of your life. Are you happy? Do you get your work done on time? Are you choosing a five-knuckle shuffle over hanging out with friends? Do you prefer your hand to your girlfriend? If you’re able to maintain a normal, productive lifestyle and enjoy the company of others without the distraction of masturbation, then you’re fine. Really. If, however, you’re obsessively masturbating and the rest of your life is slipping by the wayside, you may need to talk to a sex therapist. As with any compulsive behavior, if you notice work, relationships or sleep being affected, it’s time to seek help. As for health issues, you’d have to be masturbating roughly and multiple times a day to cause any chafing. That’s really the only physical harm you can do. Your girlfriend may not know that masturbating isn’t always about lust; it can be a major stress reliever and even a sleep aid. Maybe your lady doesn’t masturbate herself and doesn’t realize how nice it can be. Maybe she thinks you’d rather fool around with yourself than with her. She needs to know that masturbation is a normal, healthy part of your relationship with your body. It can even enhance your sex life together — it helps you learn what kind of pressure and pleasure you prefer. Have a chat with your gal. Give her the attention she craves and reassure her that you’d rather have a hot date with her than with your penis. Then you can resume your relationship with both important members of your life.
Yours,
Athena
Need advice?
You can send your own question to her at askathena@sevendaysvt.com
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Poly Couple on the prowl We are a pretty chill duo who are adjusting to life in rural Vermont. Our past lives included more poly possibilities, so we are trying to extend our network to meet fun people and play a little. DD-free, both are athletes and going for a hike would be just as fun as tying up the wife. Both would be best. ;) Poly_Peeps, 32, l
Dear Athena,
SEVEN DAYS
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Stormy Weather KindneSS You: Good people of Vermont. Me: One of thousands of commuters. I was headed home from a job that cumulatively over time decreases faith in humanity. I got stuck in the storm and was helped by random people whose faces I never saw. After all of the chaos, one of them still shouted, “Get home safely!” Faith restored. Thank you. When: Wednesday, december 10, 2014. Where: Winooski roundabout. you: man. me: Woman. #912620
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the Love of my Life I’m in love with you / Shooting stars brought us together / I knew from the start / Nothing would break us apart / I wanna stay with you forever / Our bond, unbreakable / Loving anything more, I’m incapable / All I want for Christmas is you / Hugs, 11/17/14 10:40 AM kisses, holding you, too / When the time’s just right / I’ll hold you tight / You’re my queen of the night. When: Saturday, august 31, 2013. Where: my dreams. you: Woman. me: man. #912619
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honKy tonK Woman You are tall; have long brown hair; wore green plaid, jeans, boots; and sat up in the corner with friends for a few songs before donning a red beanie and ducking out into the snow. I was the lone wolf in blue catching your glance across the room. You have such a beautiful smile! Take two? When: tuesday, december 9, 2014. Where: radio Bean. you: Woman. me: man. #912618
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fine Wine From time to time I pass by your retail window on the way through the park. Quietly I peer in with the hope of catching a glimpse of your infectious smile; instantly it makes my day better. Let’s grab a bottle of that fine wine off the wall and get lost for a while. When: Sunday, november 30, 2014. Where: Burlington. you: Woman. me: man. #912617
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richmond marKet I hadn’t been so coy since my high school prom, but there I was at the market last Friday when I felt joyous. Our connection was heartfelt, but I was too nervous to help you to your car with all that liquor you had purchased. Let’s go on a winter adventure with a Thermos of tea! When: friday, december 5, 2014. Where: richmond market. you: Woman. me: man. #912614
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Brendon outSide of red Square Your kindness in paying for the cashless women, wanting to show our bachelorette a good time, is much appreciated. Thank you for being awesome and reassuring us that selfless men still exist. When: Saturday, december 6, 2014. Where: red Square, Burlington. you: man. me: Woman. #912613
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Straying LittLe dog Me: little black dog briefly separated from my human on wrong side of busy road. You: an angel in an SUV, with quick reflexes, attentively driving on said road. Thank you for watching out for my carelessness. I owe you my life. When: friday, december 5, 2014. Where: Swift Street near east Woods. you: Woman. me: man. #912611
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don’t, don’t you Want me... You were the attractive brunette in the gray dress who danced the night away rocking to the ‘80s. You liked that I was smiling. Maybe we should have a drink someplace where your right ear isn’t being blasted out by the speaker. When: Saturday, december 6, 2014. Where: Positve Pie, montpelier. you: Woman. me: man. #912610 it’S gettin’ hot in here... ‘90s night. Dem curls. Glad we could both pick on my excessive layers. I could tell we were similarly insane in the membrane. Let’s meet up off the stage sometime? When: friday, december 5, 2014. Where: metronome. you: man. me: Woman. #912608 SmiLing Hey, Piper: Glad we found each other. Love, Alex. When: Thursday, october 16, 2014. Where: in my best dreams. you: Woman. me: Woman. #912607 hottie at KeyBanK Your deep brown eyes captured me. I wished I could make a deposit every day. I will love you always, even if now is not our time. Be well, have fun and smile. When: tuesday, december 2, 2014. Where: KeyBank downtown. you: Woman. me: man. #912606 gorgeouS man Jogging You stopped to warn me about something. You had a beautiful smile. You left but returned soon after, stopped, smiled at me. You are still on my mind. Wanted to talk with you more but couldn’t; had bus to catch. If you remember me, please email. Tell me what I was doing on path and what you warned me about. When: Wednesday, october 22, 2014. Where: Burlington Bike Path near beach. you: man. me: Woman. #912605 my morning coffee You came and sat next to me while we waited for our orders. Tall, brunette and lovely (but wearing gloves, so I could not see if you had a ring). Unfortunately for me, my order arrived sooner than I wanted but not early enough for the caffeine to kickstart my brain, and I left without asking your name. When: friday, december 5, 2014. Where: Starbucks Williston road at 8:30. you: Woman. me: man. #912604 Sexy Brunette gray SuBaru I let you merge in front of me. You flashed that stunning smile and I wanted traffic to stop so that I could come say hi. Unfortunately it didn’t, so I want you to know that if you had gone off the road, I totally would have stopped to share some body heat until the tow truck arrived. Haha, JK ... but seriously. When: Thursday, december 4, 2014. Where: near exit 10. you: Woman. me: man. #912603 you cut my cord... Never before did I realize that watching someone cut cord with a heat knife at the climbing counter could be so attractive. The acrid, burning smell embarrassed and excited me, reminding me of the burning inside me. When: tuesday, december 2, 2014. Where: outdoor gear exchange. you: man. me: Woman. #912602 Let’S coordinate. Your beard. My beanie. When: monday, december 8, 2014. Where: Burrrrlington. you: man. me: Woman. #912612
hanKering for the Perfect fit Your desk overlooks the shoe department. I am the one looking at shoes every day, working up the courage to find out if you are as gay as you look or just outdoorsy. My anxious dog pooped on your Astroturf and you cleaned it up really sexy. Later you told me a poop joke and I thought we had a real spark. When: monday, december 1, 2014. Where: oge. you: Woman. me: Woman. #912600 handSome feLLa in Burton mini Cat-and-mouse on I-89. I think you followed me off the Barre exit just to say hi. I was too flattered to know what to do before the light turned green. I was running late, but instantly regretted not grabbing a coffee and exchanging numbers. If I’m not dreaming, get in touch and we can try again. When: tuesday, december 2, 2014. Where: i-89. you: man. me: Woman. #912599 Le Bete et La BeLLe Je vous ai vu à nouveau la nuit dernière. La même agitation je reçois toujours quand je suis près de vous. Tous mes sens en éveil. Goût et parfum côté, souhaitez-vous faire de notre amour ensemble; voulez-vous me épouser? #10/12 When: tuesday, december 2, 2014. Where: Williston. you: Woman. me: man. #912598 Smc firSt-year cLaSS Prez I have thought long and hard about how to make things right. Maybe this isn’t the best way for an apology, but it is most certainly a clever way to at least get your attention. Maybe you will be so generous to allow me to take you to dinner, and maybe a movie afterwards if I’m lucky enough? When: Wednesday, november 12, 2014. Where: St. michael’s college. you: Woman. me: man. #912597 divorced, from WeStPort, conn. Me: corporate counsel for IBM in the ‘80s on Halloween at your house, noticing the absence of a home PC. You: an Intel commercial showing guys in Tyvek suits in a lab assembling semi-conductors to P-Funk. We’re: not likely to find a bearded Chinese man, another tax dollar for R&D or employment with IBM innovations in Vermont. When: tuesday, december 2, 2014. Where: Briefcase on microfiche. you: Woman. me: man. #912596 xxxmaS queen miLf Hey, hottie sporting flannel-lined leggings outside with your three kids hanging Christmas lights the day after Halloween, decorating trees in every room and baking enough cookies for the entire neighborhood. Let’s Christmas carol in the nude while enjoying a cup of holiday cheer! You: red hot mama with Xmas fever. Me: Speedo Santa ready to rock around the Christmas tree! When: Saturday, november 1, 2014. Where: hangin’ in the hood. you: Woman. me: man. #912595
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