voices - The Commons

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Brattleboro, Vt.
Brattleboro, Vt.
Vol. III No. 12
Vol. III No. 6
December 2008
December 2008
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W i n d ha m C o u n t y ’ s I n d e p e n d e n t S o u rce for News a n d V iews
VOICES
VOICES
Program
to boost
farms
A teen’s
tk
firsthand
page tk
look at the
THE ARTS
State House
tk
page 7
Two nonprofits,
bank, investors
join to find credit
for agricultural
businesses
page tk
Putney
LIFE & WORK
Commons:
tk
creatingpage tk
community
page 8
THE ARTS
By Michael Wilmeth
The Commons
DAVID SHAW/THE COMMONS
One of Rescue Inc.’s ambulances stands by in front of the emergency medical service’s main
headquarters in Brattleboro.
Rescuing Rescue
New stories
of horror and Emergency service regroups, rebuilds
finances and relationships with towns
fantasy
page 18
LIFE & WORK
Holiday food
connects to
memories
The Commons
BRATTLEBORO—As Mark
Considine sits at his desk in a
cramped but neat office at Rescue Inc.’s headquarters on Canal
Street, the chief of operations describes how he became one of
the three most senior people at
the ambulance and emergency
medical services company.
“It’s the type of work you either really like and stay with it
or tr y it for a while and leave,”
he says, speaking deliberately
and precisely.
With 20-plus years at Rescue,
Considine, a paramedic certified
at the state’s highest level — described by one former employee
as “a very, very skilled clinician,
outstanding in medical care” —
must really like the work.
“Yes,” he says with a hint of a
smile, his professional veneer
cracking only slightly. “I like
helping people. No two days are
ever the same.”
One room away sits Linda
Goss, the director of administration, who has worked for Rescue since 1999. She watches the
bottom line, billing insurance
companies, the federal and state
governments, and uninsured patients to keep the cash flowing
n see RESCUE, page 4
Mark Considine, Rescue’s
chief of operations, has
been named one of two
senior employees to lead
the nonprofit’s day-to-day
activities.
Ancient path to the present moment
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page 19
By Jeff Potter
A sensei speaks on the Asian arts of self-defense
By Alexander Gutterman
The Commons
BRATTLEBORO—During adolescence, as his contemporaries
stepped onto well worn paths of
higher education, the work force,
or the military, Patrick Donahue,
head instructor of the Brattleboro School of Budo, opted for
a road less traveled: the circuitous and ever-evolving path of a
life in devotion to the Way of the
Martial Arts.
Donahue, a physically solid, reflective, and soft-spoken man of
38 years, reflected on the many
twists and turns of this journey recently in his office at the
n see SENSEI, page 20
BRATTLEBORO—Orly
Munzing is in the habit of
asking farmers how the organization she founded, the
Strolling of the Heifers, can
help them.
Something she’s heard repeatedly is that getting loans
can be difficult and that assistance for farmers in need
of credit can allow a new
farm business to get established. Or an existing farm to
meet a pressing need. Or let
a farm develop a new product or market.
The Strolling of the Heifers is best known for the
event from which it takes
its name, but the nonprofit
that organizes the annual
celebration of local agriculture has taken on a number
of projects, from connecting farmers to classrooms,
to finding agricultural jobs
for troubled kids.
Its latest is providing
much-needed credit for local farmers.
“It’s easier for a farmer
in India to borrow money
than a farmer in the United
States,” Munzing says, echoing other observers of American farm finance.
One reason it is easier
for Indian farmers to borrow is that “microlending,”
the practice of making very
small loans to people and
businesses not typically
ser ved by banks, has become well established in the
developing world.
There, such small loans
have shown good results,
but microlending remains
rare in the United States.
“Banks don’t loan to farmers, they just don’t,” said
Helen Robb, a West Brattleboro dair y farmer. “We’re
very high risk.”
Taking a chance
Martin Langeveld, marketing director of The Strolling
A class at the Brattleboro School of Budo.
n see MICROLOANS, page 3
2
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nEWS
n Microloans
of the Heifers, says banks usually don’t like to loan to farmers
because they don’t understand
farm businesses and because often farmers don’t have collateral
available to secure loans.
It might be easier for a farmer
to secure credit to buy a $100,000
tractor, which itself ser ves as
collateral, than to qualify for a
much smaller loan to put up a
hoop house or build a roadside
stand.
Fur thermore, new farmers
may lack a credit rating. Farm
income is often seasonal and erratic, and factors beyond farmers’
control can result in unpredictable losses.
A study by the Carrot Project
of Somerville, Mass. found that
access to credit is a stumbling
block for 25 percent of small
farmers.
The 3½-year-old nonprofit organization, founded by Dorothy
Suput, who now ser ves as the
group’s executive director, aims
to meet the financing needs of
small farms.
Eric Becker, a member of the
group’s board and a por tfolio
manager at Trillium Asset Management Corporation, a firm catering to investors who seek to
put their values to work alongside their money, says investors
have been asking for opportunities to invest in small, sustainable agriculture, but there has
been no vehicle to meet that
demand.
Munzing became aware of the
3
FROM PAGE 1
Carrot Project, and the two nonprofits joined forces.
The organizations are in the
final stages of launching a loan
program, called the Microloan
Fund for New England Farms,
which will assist small to midsize farms, defined as 250 acres
or smaller, with annual revenue
under $500,000.
A September concer t organized by the Stroller of the Heifers, featuring Pete Seeger, Tao
Rodrigues-Seeger, and Guy Davis, raised the money to get the
project going, and another fundraising concert is planned for
September 2009.
The Strolling of the Heifers will
publicize the loan program and
recruit applicants. The Carrot
Project is gathering additional
capital from investors and will
administer loan applications and
offer technical business support
to borrowers.
Chittenden Bank is partnering
with the the fund and will issue With microloans, farms that might not other wise qualify for conventional financing will
the loans, the first of which will have access to capital to let the businesses build farmstands and make other investments
in their future.
be made in the spring of 2009.
Matching money
Initially, the fund’s loans will
be made to farmers in Vermont
and the four counties of western
Massachusetts.
The loans are not meant to bail
out failing farms, but to increase
the viability of farms by helping
them meet operating needs or
make investments to develop
new products or markets. Loans
will range from $1,000 to $10,000,
will be issued to farms at standard market rates to be repaid
over one to five years; a total of
up to $150,000 will be lent the
first year.
While the sums involved are
modest, a loan of this size, Munzing says, could allow a couple
with a small dair y farm to buy
equipment get into the cheesemaking business, for example.
Helen Robb said that in 1990
the metal roof on her barn badly
needed replacement, but getting
a bank loan proved ver y difficult. A loan in the range the Microloan Fund will offer, on the
other hand, would have covered
the project.
“As far as we know, this is
unique in the United States,” Langeveld said of the fund.
Area farmers can learn about
the microloan fund and when
credit is appropriate at an
upcoming workshop at the
Vermont Business Agricultural
Center Jan. 15 from 10 a.m.–1
p.m. Lunch will be provided.
To register or for more information, contact info@thecarrotproject.org. For more information about the Strolling of the
Heifers, visit www.strollingoftheheifers.org.
Trust Company of Vermont
nEWS
4
n Rescue
into the organization’s coffers.
This is not the first time Considine and Goss have managed
the agency, whose medical services and expertise are widely
regarded as first-rate. They have
played similar roles before, in
temporar y ways, in between
the service of several executive
directors.
The difference: this time, Considine and Goss aren’t holding
down the fort for a new leader.
Collectively, they’ve become the
new leadership team.
“Instead of spending money on
an executive director, we’re putting it into assistance for Mark
and Linda,” says Frederick Hege
Jr., who represents Townshend
on the Rescue board of trustees
and has served as its president
for the past year.
“Rescue has had executive directors come and go,” Hege says.
“The two people who have always
kept the organization functioning
between executive directors are
Mark and Linda. Instead of bringing in someone off the street, it
was their turn.”
Considine and Goss join what
Hege describes as a newly engaged and focused board of
trustees who have also taken
over most of the duties that had
been an executive director’s
responsibility.
The three, speaking separately,
all agree on new themes of the
operation: communication, candor, stability — a stark contrast to
a time not so long ago when the
organization suffered through a
FROM PAGE 1
prolonged period of what Goss
describes as “unsettledness of
everything.”
In 2007, the nonprofit emergency medical service kept popping up in the news, with its
former executive director, David
V. Dunn, taking the brunt of the
criticism as the subject of news
accounts and the target of letters
to the editor from angry town officials and aggrieved volunteers
and employees.
While Dunn served as the public face of the organization before
his November 2007 resignation
and took heat personally and
professionally for any number
of issues [The Commons, July/
August 2007], “there was a host
of problems not directly attributable to the former executive
director,” Hege says.
A perfect storm
In 2005, Grace Cottage Hospital in Townshend was on the
verge of shutting its ambulance
ser vice. Rescue, at that time
serving only Brattleboro, Chesterfield, Dummerston, Guilford,
Hinsdale, Marlboro, Putney,
and Vernon, faced a dilemma:
if the ambulance service disappeared, as seemed likely, the organization would be obligated via
mutual aid rules to provide unsubsidized service to the wouldbe-unserved communities.
Instead, the organization created its Division II, with two
ambulances based in Townshend and ser ving Brookline,
Jamaica, Newfane, Stratton,
Linda Goss, Rescue Inc.’s director of administration, at work
in Brattleboro.
Townshend, and Wardsboro,
bringing the number of towns
served to 14 and with them annual payments, or subsidies,
from each municipality.
With Rescue’s bylaws still
calling for one board member from each town, the board
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mushroomed to a maximum of
20 members. “Technically, it was
a huge board,” Hege says. “We
had lots and lots of situations
where consensus was not being
reached at all. You had people on
opposite sides of issues not getting along.”
The board chaos set the stage
for problems.
“One of the biggest problems
was that several years ago Rescue embarked on a financial
path that utilized its endowment
as collateral for purchasing ambulances or other capital goods
and for a rather substantial line
of credit,” Hege says.
The endowment, which Goss
says was valued at approximately
$1.5 million at the peak of its
value several years ago, was originally intended as a nest egg that
would generate interest to add to
the annual operating budget.
But over the years, starting
in 2000, Rescue dipped into the
fund’s principal to of fset operating losses, pulling almost
$611,000 over eight years, according to a table of profits and
losses released to town of ficials last year. Even with these
infusions, Rescue still showed
losses in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
2006, and 2007 totaling almost
$600,000.
As the years went on, “The cost
of doing business went higher
and higher, reimbursement from
Medicare and Medicaid was less
and less [see related story, page
6], and bad debt went higher and
higher,” Hege says.
Dunn declined to comment
for this story, but in a statement
published Sept. 26, 2007 on iBrattleboro.com, the then-embattled
director offered an additional
origin for the problem: the inability or unwillingness of some
of the towns to absorb increases
in the subsidies they would provide Rescue in exchange for the
ambulance coverage.
“To blame me for our predicament is to ignore the fact that the
entire management team, year
after year, pleaded for higher
subsidies but was repeatedly
shot down by certain town representatives on the board at those
times (and to whom I reported),”
Dunn wrote.
“We ended up with budgets
that reflected what those representatives wanted to pay, rather
than what we needed to break
even,” he continued. “This occurred despite persistent warnings from our accountant, our
bank and the Rescue Inc. management team.”
Hege acknowledges that the
subsidies were unrealistically
low, which created a political
problem in seeking increases
from cash-strapped towns.
By dipping into the organization’s resources instead of seeking realistic increases from the
towns each year, the organization was faced with deep shock
from its longtime member towns
when in 2005 Dunn began communicating the need for massive,
often double-digit-percentage increases in the subsidies.
The organization’s financial records also masked the extent of
bad debt, Hege says.
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With its books kept on the accrual basis, Rescue’s official income reflected charges billed to
patients, insurance companies,
and governments, regardless of
whether those invoices were actually paid.
Furthermore, “it was that darn
stock market intermixing” that
confused or misled Rescue board
members as well as many within
the governments of the member
towns, Hege says. “No one ever
trusted our numbers.”
As time passed, “we kind of got
deeper and deeper and deeper
into debt,” Hege says, pointing
out that the trend was not immediately obvious to the board
because the organization’s finances were “outrageously complex to the average person, and
board members are all average
people.”
Then, in September 2007, “the
stock market tanked,” Hege
says.
Rescue’s bank, TD Banknorth,
froze a line of credit that was
secured by the organization’s
endowment, whose value had
dropped precipitously. And after Dunn’s departure, the bank
called in the organization’s
loans.
All this Hege described as
“something that shook the foundation of the agency itself.”
“The board woke up real fast,”
Hege says with a grim laugh.
And soon after, the board
voted, reluctantly but almost
unanimously, to liquidate the endowment and then pay off the organization’s debt, leaving Rescue
with a simpler financial situation
to manage and about $200,000 to
continue operations debt-free.
Mending fences
From there, Hege says, the
board went about rebuilding relationships between Rescue and
the towns.
Some towns still felt blindsided
by the higher subsidies.
Other towns bristled about
confidentiality. It had become
standard for members of the
board of the private nonprofit to
sign confidentiality agreements,
thus restricting — in theory, at
least — the flow of information
back to the selectboards and
town meetings of the municipalities that were paying double-rate
increases. Officials in some Rescue towns had demanded total
accessibility to board information
from a private nonprofit that, as
Dunn often explained, was under
no legal obligation to give that
degree of detail.
Hege says that last November,
members of the Rescue board,
along with Considine and Goss,
met with representatives from
the towns.
“We took it on the chin pretty
good,” Hege says, pointing out
that the member towns felt the
organization was not listening to
their needs or respecting them as
customers. And Rescue’s financial perils was creating a crisis of
confidence.
But Hege cites that meeting as
a turning point in the towns’ relationships with Rescue.
“The diplomacy started that
night,” he says. “We explained
our position. They explained
their positions. We star ted to
talk, and talk, and talk.”
That night marked the reestablishment of a measure of
trust between the towns and the
fragile operation, Hege says.
“While we were at odds, they
took our word that things were
going to change,” he observed.
“Now, it’s much more of a twoway street.”
For his par t, Considine
describes “the number one
thing” as “communication and
transparency.”
“We work for the public and we
work for the towns,” Considine
says. “We can’t forget that.”
Considine says that Rescue
now has a policy of submitting
quar terly repor ts to its constituent communities. “We’re
right up front with ever yone,”
he explained. “If things are difficult, we want them to see it
firsthand.”
Brattleboro Town Manager
Barbara Sondag described relations between the town and Rescue as “very good.”
“This year we had a meeting
early in the budget process with
Rescue representatives about
the FY ‘10 budget and were able
to have a really honest and open
conversation,” Sondag says.
“Over the past two years we have
worked together to identify possible savings for both the town
and Rescue. I think things are
working very well.”
But Hege says in some areas
the old mistrust still lingers.
“One of the common opinions,
at least a year ago, was that Rescue was ‘ripping off’ the towns,”
Hege says. “That is an insult to
what these people have done,
how much they have given in
time and, I must add, their own
money.”
Cutting costs
Back at Rescue headquarters,
the board and the management
team have implemented a new
level of thriftiness, Hege also
notes.
Dunn had implemented or advocated cost-cutting measures
over his tenure as executive director, but with the endowment
gone, the concept took on a new
urgency.
Hege says changes have been
as simple as converting almost all
board communication from hard
copies to e-mail — a $75-permonth savings — and changing
the origin of the soda in the vending machine. Other measures include maintaining smaller stocks
of medicine and supplies for the
ambulances, reducing the likelihood that perishable goods
might expire.
“Because of a lot of changes
we’ve made on Linda’s side, billing and accounts receivable,
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5
very active on all of these committees, so it takes the onus off
us,” Goss says.
Volunteers on the committees and the board have begun
to branch out into raising more
funds. A telethon on Brattleboro
Community Television raised
more than $7,000, and a car raffle
brought $11,000 into the organization’s coffers.
Moving forward
Rescue Inc. staff prepare one of the company’s ambulances
for the next call.
we’re more proactive in billing
out calls,” Considine says. “We
have a more constant cash flow
coming in.”
The board has split into working subcommittees, groups in
turn that can draw in some of the
many people in the community
with time and talent to offer the
organization, with special skills
ranging from fundraising to marketing to grant writing.
Star ting from the organization’s humble beginnings in 1966
— two guys with a station wagon
who would show up at accidents
and bring injured people to the
hospital, according to one person’s recollections posted on
iBrattleboro.com — volunteerism remains the backbone of the
operation.
Volunteers range from about
half of the Rescue EMT crews
to former board members who
still lend a hand when asked,
Hege says.
“It would cost hundreds of
thousands of [additional] dollars if we had to pay them,” Considine says.
“Board members have been
Rick Hege sits incongruously
on a child-sized chair in a classroom at Townshend Elementar y School, where he works
part-time as the computer guy.
When he isn’t working at the
school or on the Rescue board,
he works from home — not in
the EMS field, but as an Internet
entrepreneur.
Impressed with the organization and wanting to help his community, Hege joined the board as
Townshend representative after
the Division II towns came on
board, but later resigned due to
personal obligations.
But Hege rejoined the board
in 2007 “as things continued to
disintegrate,” he says. “I was
talked into coming back at a
weak moment. Some thought I
could help.”
“I had so much respect for the
other members of the board, including ones that I tended to not
agree with,” Hege says. “I had so
much respect for the people who
work there, all of them. I could
never do that job. It is a hard
job and, often times, their first
responsibility is to comfort the
n SEE RESCUE, PAGE 6
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‘We figure out the
financial part later’
Nationwide struggle with EMS
government reimbursements
By Jeff Potter
The Commons
BRATTLEBORO—The financial challenge facing emergency medical ser vices, says
John Vose, vice president of the
Vermont Ambulance Association
(VAA), lies in the moral, ethical, and legal aspects of treating
emergency medical services as
businesses.
“We’re the last line of defense,”
Vose says. “In a medical emergency, we’re always going to be
there whether the patient can
pay or not. We’re there when you
need us, and we figure out the financial part later.”
The local provider, Rescue
Inc., isn’t alone in some of its financial difficulties, as ambulance
services nationally struggle with
a stark fiscal reality: the federal
and state governments pay for
ambulance service for citizens
insured under the Medicare
and Medicaid programs at rates
that do not begin to approach
the costs of providing those
services.
Medicare, a federal program,
of fers health insurance to senior citizens or those with other
health challenges or disabilities.
Medicaid offers health benefits
to low-income parents, children,
seniors, and people with disabilities; that program is funded
by the federal and state governments and administered by the
states.
Because of the changes in
population and aging of Windham County, almost 50 percent
of Rescue’s 4,300 responses this
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past year were to patients covered under the two government
programs, says Mark Considine,
Rescue’s chief of operations.
“Medicare gives us 65 cents
on the dollar, Vermont Medicaid about 35 cents on the dollar.
New Hampshire Medicaid gives
us even less than that,” says
Linda Goss, Rescue’s director of
administration.
For example, Rescue charges
$500 for “basic life support” service rendered, while Medicare
pays only $249.32.
Fur thermore, many private
insurance companies have adopted the federal and state rate
schedules as the basis for their
payment of claims, leaving the
patient to cope with increasing
co-payment obligations that too
often translate into bad debt for
companies like Rescue.
And the government and many
insurance providers will not pay
for services rendered if a patient
isn’t transported, leaving Rescue eating its costs if its personnel respond to an accident and
the victim declines a trip to the
hospital.
Those shortfalls, coupled with
what Goss describes as “the
greater number of folks who just
don’t have insurance,” contributed deeply to Rescue’s growing
financial difficulties over the past
few years.
Because such social ser vice
Y
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programs have long been budget-busters, driving state and
federal budgets into the stratosphere, legislators often seek
fur ther cost savings from the
programs.
Vose, administrator of Upper
Valley Ambulance in Fairlee,
spends a great deal of time in
Montpelier as legislative liaison
to the VAA when the legislature
is in session. “A lot of times legislators will show up well intentioned, but they don’t know the
consequences for us [of a particular bill on EMS operations],”
he says.
Medicare reimbursements became a more acute problem after
restructuring of the rates into the
form of a fee schedule that took
effect in 2002. Nationwide, rates
at which Medicare pays providers like Rescue have been set as
one-size-fits-all categories, making allowances for designations
as “rural” or “super-rural.”
EMS groups like the VAA
have logged some minor victories recently.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders
“was a cosponsor of the Medicare Ambulance Payment Extension Act, which would have
increased Medicare payment
rates by 5 percent for ambulatory
services in 2008 and 2009 in order to extend relief to ambulance
services providers,” says Sanders’ Communications Director
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n Rescue
FROM PAGE 5
patient and, perhaps the family.
No one will ever know just how
special [Rescue workers] are until times are bad.”
“I have a bad habit of taking
jobs that absolutely no one else
wants and trying to do them to
the best of my ability,” he adds.
In the last year Rescue board
members have donated thousands of hours “doing ever ything imaginable from raising
money to working with Mark
and Linda (before they were officially appointed to their positions),” Hege says.
“The board [members], in conjunction with Mark and Linda,
have strengthened the organization, begun a planning process,
reviewed management and board
structure, developed and ran
with a public relations plan, applied for grants, you name it.”
In the process of coming together, the board became re-engaged in Rescue’s operations,
putting thousands of hours into
pulling the organization back
from the brink, Hege says.
But can that level of, and
intensity of, volunteerism be
sustained?
“No,” Hege says. “That is why
the towns were told, in August,
that we had one more piece to
add to this puzzle: a development
professional who will be charged
with handing fund raising, public
relations, and grants.”
The board will continue to participate, Hege underscored, “but
we need someone who can do the
planning and ground work necessary on a day-to-day and longterm basis.”
With Considine and Goss
handling day-to-day operations,
“everything will be watched, as
it should be,” Hege predicts. “I
hope to move more into what a
board needs to do as a board. It
is our job to work with and evaluate management.”
And after a difficult year, Hege
believes the organization has
found a model that works.
“I like management that communicates with the board and is
not afraid to present the difficulties as well as the success,” Hege
says. “I think we have that.”
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Michael Briggs.
“In the end, Congress approved a 3 percent reimbursement increase for ambulance
services in rural areas,” Briggs
says.
Mark Considine, Rescue’s
chief of operations, who maintains the service’s involvement
in the VAA, also notes increase
in Medicaid reimbursements of
15 percent.
But further increases are unlikely at the state level, given the
nature of state finances, Vose
says.
“If you go up there with any
proposal that costs anything, it’s
not even going to get looked at
this biennium,” says Vose, anticipating the prospects of relief for
ambulance companies within the
state legislature’s next two-year
session. He fears current state
finances might put the recent
increases in jeopardy.
“Our goal is to keep what we
have,” he says.
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Voices
V I E W p O I n T S , E S S Ay S , A n d p E R S O n A L p E R S p E C T I V E S
By , F O R , A n d A B O u T T H E C I T I Z E n S O F W I n d H A m C O u n T y
nE X T GEnER ATIOn
Paging the room
First impressions of the State House — and politics —
as seen through the eyes of an eighth grader
S
SARAH LEVInE, a future
The inner workings of the
State House are incredibly comThe pristine room beplex and riveting, especially
comes completely siwhen you get to see them pan
lent as I enter, and I pause for a
out over a long period of time.
second, afraid I’ve interrupted a the Sergeant-at-Arms office.
You can see almost all the adults
life-or-death debate — and then I Despite the extended absence
(aides included) aquiring an exrealize, no, this is what I’m here from school, we were expected
tra grey hair or two, and you
for. This is what I’m supposed
can experience firsthand the
to be done with our homework
to do.
changes there that take place
and have it turned in on time
I step fully into the Governat school, unless otherwise
between Before (Blank) Bill
ment Operations Commitspecified.
Was Enacted Into Law and After
tee room of the Vermont State
It had originally been my sev- (Blank) Bill Was Enacted Into
House and close the door with a enth-grade homeroom teachLaw.
quiet click behind me, trying to er’s idea for me to apply to be a
For the most part the legisdisrupt the now-resumed conpage. At a parent/teacher/stulators, lobbyists, visitors, and
versation as little as possible. I
dent conference, my mom asked legislative aides work together
pass, almost invisibly, behind an- her to keep her eye out for fun
in harmony, but occasionally a
other Senator’s chair and hand
things for me to do after school
fight begins to brew or two peothe envelope to Senator Jeanette — particularly anything political ple become equally passionate
White.
— because I was getting a little
about opposite sides of an issue.
Then, with a smile and anbored.
Said arguments never grew
other almost-inaudible click,
My teacher actually went onlouder than a dull yell, but even
I’m back outside the committee line right then and there and be- so, at times they were uncomroom and hightailing it down the gan researching. A few minutes fortable to witness. Still, such
red carpeted hallways, on my
later she came away with an ap- happenings were always very
way to deliver another message. plication to the Vermont Legisla- interesting to watch, especially
tive Page Program.
if you yourself don’t have an
I HAD THE amazing honor of
At first I wasn’t so sure about
opinion yet on the subject being
serving as a legislative page
it; to tell the truth, the job looked disputed. Though the healthy
from Jan. 8 to Feb. 15 as one of
a little boring. But I decided
debate didn’t change my mind
30 eighth graders from around
that it wouldn’t hurt to apply. As about any of the bills in questhe state selected to serve each
time went on I became more
tion, this was one of — if not
year in three sessions, each six
and more intent on actually bethe — main way that my fellow
weeks long, with 10 pages serv- coming a page, until it was one
pages and I learned about the
ing in each.
of the only things I wished for.
issues funneling through the
A page’s job is to shepherd
I wanted the opportunity more
legislature.
notes and information among
than almost anything.
We also learned how to be inlegislators in all areas of the
credible listeners and how to
State House and occasionally re- DURING MY TENURE as a
keep our eyes trained on every
search current bills or legislative page I was exposed to many
inch of the room we were pagevents.
things that the average person
ing. If we heard a pen tapped
The Page Program was denever gets to witness.
on a desk or saw a note waved
signed many years ago to give
I got to travel back into the
in the air, that was our signal
young Vermonters a chance to
twisting hallways of the State
to pop up and grab the piece of
learn about politics in the most
House where the public is not
paper, then whisk it away to its
hands-on way possible.
allowed to go to retrieve mesdestined recipent. I’ve become
Some pages, including me,
sages from the aides. I got to wit- much more observant.
lived too far away to commute to ness the nonprofessional side of
Montpelier every day, and there- legislators as they munched on
THE 24 DAYS that I served as
fore stayed with a “host fampizza crusts and gulped down
a legislative page — four days a
ily” who had signed up through root beer.
week for six weeks — were 24 of
East Dummerston
ENATOR WHITE?”
Democrat, attends Brattleboro
Union High School.
Legislative Page Sarah Levine with Governor Jim Douglas.
the best days of my life. Though
I had expected them to be filled
with rigid, hard-working people
with no time for fun, they were
very much filled with laughter.
I hope to remain friends with
the nine other pages, all incredible individuals. We all got to see
laws come into being two feet
from us. We met people we’d
never dreamed we could, including the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house.
But most of all, my days as a
page were filled with the promise of tomorrow. Since I was exposed to “average, everyday,
normal” people who were altering the very fibers of the way
our state works, it gave me courage to believe that I, too, will one
day be able to do the same.
I have my own hopes and
dreams for this incredible state,
just waiting to spring to life in
n
the State House.
COLumnISTS
VIEWpOInT
ESSAy
VIEWpOInT
EdITORIAL
Creating
community
Losing sense
of time
VY economic
study flawed
Plenty of blame Luskin, Clift,
to go around
Austin
page 8–9
page 12
page 13
page 16
pages 10–11
VOICES
8
blast some ledge that was blocking the path of a sewer pipe, we
saw the community respond
with its wide range of skills and
talents during the few days we
had to prepare neighbors.
Anne Fines went to work at
once on the phone, calling people to let them know what to expect. Elizabeth Christie asked
for a blessing for the earth being disrupted. Cheryl Wilfong
came down a few days later
with a small Thai spirit house.
Elizabeth and I put this beautiful, handcrafted item into a tree
not expected to come down; the
spirit house is designed to hold
the spirits disrupted in this land.
Since the very beginning of
breaking ground, the land has
been honored. In June 2007, during a special blessing ceremony,
we invited the Spirit of the Land
to offer its continued guidance.
Creating community
Cohousing group in Putney sees dream take shape
L
Putney
ELISABETH dEARBORn
would have thought of
it a year ago when we’d
lived more than 40 years in our
Washington, D.C. suburb?
I was sitting in a big rocking
chair at the Front Porch Café. It
was October 2007, and my husband, Richard Brady, and I were
listening to Anne Fines and Joan
Benneyan describe Putney Commons, the only cohousing community in Windham County.
We were familiar with this
new development in American
community making and were eager to hear how the Putney version of it developed and to get
to know who these people were.
Our daughter lived nearby, and
we were of an age to be thinking about life changes and new
directions.
A few weeks before, adding
flavor to our forthcoming visit
with our daughter, Richard put
“cohousing” and “Vermont” into
Google. Out came Putney Commons, a small adventure in intentional neighborhood and
ecological community right in
the heart of Putney.
Here it is a year later. Richard
and I now live in a small home
that we helped to design, and
we’ve entered into community
life. Recently we hosted a couple
from our old haunts, Washington, D.C., who wondered if Putney Commons was for them.
Work proceeds on five other
small, ecologically designed
houses. Houses are nearing
completion — some inhabited
by owners ready to live on the
land now, others rented or available for rent by owners thinking
ahead. When they do move in,
they’ll already know their neighbors and have years of shared
experiences together.
Rick Derrig and his able workers are here daily, completing
excavation for drainage, building a stream bed with pieces of
granite, and taking topsoil from
a mountainous pile to replace
the front yards of units already
completed.
We’re definitely living in a construction zone, but the signs
are there that one day we’ll be
a small, six-unit community on
the land. With a vision of community for all ages, Putney Commons is now embarking on a
journey toward sustainable living as a small community, a total of nine small (approximately
1,300-sq.-ft.) homes.
Having come from a very different climate, we are thrilled
by the intense colors of this fall,
by the joy of being on an adventure in life that brings us closer
to deeply held values about the
earth, and by sharing that adventure with new friends who
also want to be good stewards of
the earth.
IFE IN A VILLAGE . Who
says she is “discovering heaven
after 60: life in Putney with
space for writing, hiking, and
a Thich Nhat Hanh sitting
group.”
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THE FIRST MEETING of the
group that became Putney Commons took place in 2003 among
Anne Fines, Claire Wilson,
Libby Mills, and Gibb Taylor,
who identified the criteria for
the community and its location.
“We hoped,” said Fines, “to establish a community in the center of Putney, which would allow
older residents to continue living
in their homes, supported by village services and each other.
“We were looking for a site in
the center of Putney village,” she
said. “Since there was little available land anywhere in Putney,
our dream seemed rather a fragile affair.”
Two years later, a site, with
the requisite privacy and southern exposure and near village
services, was purchased from
HildaMarie Hendricks on Sept.
27, 2005. The site includes a
peaceful south facing meadow
surrounded by woods with trails
leading to Sacketts Brook. It’s
easy to access from Main Street
but away from the road itself.
In March 2006 there was an
informational meeting at the
Putney Public Library to present
the project formally to the public and to solicit suggestions and
participants.
In the first two years after the
land was found, more than 50
people expressed interest in the
project, attending meetings or
joining in other activities. On
Feb. 22, 2007, the four founding
members committed to begin
building.
Greenberg Associates designed the small homes, built by
Michael Wells with structurally
insulated panels and triple-pane
glass to be very energy efficient. The homes sit in clusters
of three on a single pad, thus
reducing cost and resulting in a
single roof line.
Despite proximity, homes feel
private yet linked. Efficiency
Vermont has awarded the project a five-star rating. Roof orientation makes possible the
addition in the future of solar
panels.
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Over time the Putney Commons project settled into six
regulars who met several times
a month and made decisions by
consensus.
“I bought land cooperatively
with six couples in 1979 in Dummerston Center,” Cheryl Wilfong says. “ That took two years
of meeting every week. We built
our homes, children were born,
and we began to go camping at a
state park with each other every
summer.”
There have been births,
deaths, divorces, she says. And,
“yes, there have been arguments and fallings out. But then
there is coming together again.
Call me a forerunner of the Age
of Aquarius, but I am deeply
rooted in my community. When
I heard about Putney Commons,
I knew I had to participate in it.
“Yes, we meet frequently, and,
yes, there is the sometimes long
and slow decision-making process, but sometimes we’re on
a wavelength and it’s easier to
make decisions with the group
than with my spouse!” Wilfong
says.
SUSTAINABILITY and community require both long-term
thinking and a dedication to
something larger than our narrowly defined selves. Both are at
the heart of Putney Commons,
though now its description and,
except for Fines, all of its original participants have changed.
Small felt right because small
scale allows for learning and
practicing the skills of cooperation, conflict transformation, and
ecological awareness.
When we began to attend
business meetings as interested potential participants in
the community, we found decisions being made by consensus,
a process consistent with our
backgrounds — mine in Quaker
Meeting, Richard’s in Quaker
education.
When the community made
the decision last summer to
VOICES
WHAT IS CO-HOUSING and
what makes it different from
other kinds of development?
This exciting housing movement came originally from
Denmark in the 1980s via two
American architects. It has
taken root here in the United
States.
Cohousing begins with people
choosing one another as future
neighbors. As numerous decisions are worked through about
where to live and what to build,
how to engage the land, and by
what process to make decisions,
the neighborhood begins to
grow in solidity and clarity.
Some who begin the process
find they’ve changed, and they
move away. A number of factors
can move people away as this
building of future neighborhood
happens. It can be the timing or
finances or even the need for a
wood stove. Putney Commons
owners decided to use other
forms of heat, wanting to keep
the air as clean as possible.
The truth is, meeting with
your future neighbors is not
what everyone wants to do, and
one participant opted out after beginning to build, realizing
that meetings were not her cup
of tea. Her stepping out helped
Richard and me step in and
move from interested onlookers
to active participants.
Our purpose as a community
is to live together in independent
units, yet with a common care
for the earth and one another,
and to learn, practice, and share
the art of living sustainably and
joyfully, in ways that replenish
ourselves, our village, the natural world, and beyond.
This way of living is just one
response to the ecological issues
of our times. I imagine continued conversations on how to reduce carbon footprints, choices
that Putney Commons inhabitants, or Commoners, as we’ve
come to be known, are making about use of energy, how to
strengthen community ties, or
reduce stuff in our homes, making space for more homegrown
fun.
These commonly held decisions are documented in a journal that the group calls “The
Book of Commons.”
Eventually, the group decided
not to build second stories, to
check with others about adding changes like birdfeeders or
placement of garden additions.
The community was wanting
communication as it evolved,
both in the context of individual needs and community
development.
Agreements about how to
resolve conflicts can be found
in The Book of Commons, as
are agreements about renters,
care of animals, and disposal of
waste.
While The Book of Commons
reflects the thinking of the current six members of Putney
Commons, we build upon the
work done by other cohousing communities around this
country.
9
says. “It takes patience, but I always feel I’ve learned something
about myself or others along
n
the way.”
Support
The Commons
Brown & Roberts
AT A RECENT MEETING, Joan
Benneyan, treasurer of the Putney Commons Home Owners
Association, circulated a list of
recycling centers that accommodate a wide variety of items. We
all learned, for instance, that manilla envelopes, because of their
dye, can’t be recycled.
“I really like the idea of living
in this small community where
folks, although from varied
backgrounds and having completely different life experiences,
share a common belief in being
both good neighbors and responsible stewards of the land,”
she says.
And for Benneyan, the collaboration and communication is
worth it.
“I enjoy the process of working out solutions together,” she
Bentley Commons
42
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VOICES
10
Avoidably lethal
I
where squirrels, ants, and
fireflies comprised most of
the wildlife I was familiar with.
Heidi, my college roommate,
grew up in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The first day we met, I
listened slack-jawed as she told
me about the tree in her backyard that was home to a python
and about the hippos that lived
in a nearby watering hole.
“Hippos are dangerous!” I
stammered. After all, I’d read
National Geographic. “Weren’t
you scared?”
“Not as scared as I am of
crossing a street here, with cars
coming at me at sixty,” she replied. “Cars are much more dangerous than hippos!”
This conversation changed
my point of view — and my
life — forever. Suddenly, cars
were not just places to make
out; their danger didn’t just lie
in the unplanned consequences
of back-seat activity; they were
dangerous when used for transportation as well. Instead of seeing traffic waiting at stoplights, I
saw a herd of hippos impatiently
ready to stampede.
Even though I’d been as eager as any teen to learn to drive,
I lost my enthusiasm, thanks
to Heidi. After college, I moved
to New York City because I
wouldn’t need a car. Not until
I wanted to get the hell out of
Dodge did I have to bite the bullet; my dependence on cars is
undeniably the downside of living in Vermont, and as each of
my children learns to drive, it
only gets worse.
Call it common sense, fear,
or neurosis, but I’m terrified of
cars, because we take them for
granted, and when we get behind the wheel, cars easily become lethal.
Cars can be dangerous under
Allison Dean
Frank Newton
Jamie Clark
Roni Byrne
Lee Brown
I
DEBORAH
LEE
LUSKIN
ordinary circumstances: We’re
distracted by the kids in the
back seat, the news on the radio, what happened at the place
we’re leaving, or what we’re anticipating at our destination.
We’ve got lots on our mind. Accidents happen even when the
roads are clear and we’re sober. We can’t do much about the
weather – except, maybe, stay
home. But there is no reason to
drink and drive, and there are
lots of reasons not to.
suspended license; and a huge
opportunity to learn from one’s
mistakes.
The statistics are staggering. Nationally, someone dies
CRASH participants reported
every half hour due to drunk
the cost of their DUIs ranging
driving; in Vermont, someone
from $1,400 for court fees to
dies from drunk driving every
$42,000 for lost income due to
seven to ten days. But more
job loss. One participant conthan a motor-vehicle death takes fessed that needing rides to
place: the dead person’s family is work, to check in with parole,
suddenly and spectacularly imand life, generally, was a serious
mersed in a lifetime of grief.
burden on his friends and famAs a volunteer on a Reparaily; another had to hire a driver
tive Justice Panel, where about
in order to stay in business.
two thirds of our cases are for
CRASH also offers hope by
driving under the influence, I
giving participants a chance to
recently attended two of the
examine their drinking behavior
classes that offenders are reand to evaluate their relationship
quired to take after a DUI
to alcohol. It gives offenders
conviction: Project CRASH
a chance to learn about alco(Countermeasures Related to Al- hol and to discuss the role alcocohol and Safety on Highways)
hol plays in their lives. CRASH
and the Victim Impact Panel.
teaches that there is a spectrum
CRASH is all about alcohol
of drinking behavior, from reand substance abuse, and some sponsible to abusive to addicof the consequences of being
tive. Responsible drinkers do not
under the influence. A DUI con- drink and drive.
viction is just one consequence.
One of the first things particiOthers include huge expenses
pants in CRASH do is tell the
for fines, court fees, and instory of their arrest. In almost
creased insurance premiums;
all instances, people explain how
the huge inconveniences of a
they were stopped for speeding,
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or for a faulty car light, how it
was really a matter of bad luck
that they were caught for DUI.
Everyone admitted that they’d
driven under the influence before — and gotten away with it.
Fortunately, many learn from
a single DUI and never drink
and drive again. Unfortunately,
some don’t.
In addition to retaking the
Project CRASH course, secondtime offenders also have to attend a Victim Impact Panel,
where people whose lives have
been scarred by drunk drivers
tell their painful stories of loss.
At the panel I recently attended, a single mother recounted in vivid detail the crash
that killed her 17-year-old son
and put her in the hospital for
months, leaving her with continuing health problems and
$235,000 in medical bills. The
drunk driver who crashed into
her car died on impact.
Another speaker had permanent traumatic brain injury as
a result of a drunk driver plowing into him as he walked along
the side of the road. The third
speaker thought she’d been
lucky to have crawled out of her
car physically unharmed after a
drunk driver forced her off the
road. It took several years before she acknowledged the psychological damage she suffered,
seriously diminishing her enjoyment of life by making something as ordinary and essential
as driving a source of persistent
anxiety and fear.
Beadnik’s
PUTNEY ELEGANCE Near the end of the town road, these 2 post & beam homes have great charm, warm natural
woodworking and impressive artistic frames creating sensational open space. The main house has 3 bedrooms with
mastersuite, 2-baths, cathedral ceilings, skylights, wonderful stone fireplace, wood and radiant heating and a 2-bay,
3-car garage. The other 2-bedroom home has lots of wood, skylights, a garage and an extensive shop. Now with state
approval, this amazing property is a real bargain.
Exclusive. $339,900.
138 ACRES This partially renovated, 11-room, 2,843-squarefoot Victorian with drilled well and septic sits between
town and Mt. Snow or Stratton Resort. Most of the beautiful woodworking remains.
11
The pleasure of theater, the power of words
Williamsville
grew up in the suburbs,
VOICES
The Commons • December 2008 2002 HOME This bright, open, 3-bedroom, 2-bath home has
a mudroom, large family home, a master suite, full-length
covered porch, baseboard heat & thermal windows. It has
a great yard, too.
These speakers, remember,
were not drunk when someone
who was impaired crashed in
to them. They didn’t invite tragedy into their lives. But as long
as there are impaired drivers on
the road, we’re all at risk for a
lifetime of unspeakable grief every time any of us gets behind
the wheel of a car.
To reinforce this point, we
wrote the names of loved ones
on index cards and left the cards
on the floor under our seats
before leaving the room for a
break. I wrote my husband’s
name on one card, and the
names of my three children on
the other. When we returned to
the room, we were instructed to
retrieve the cards. Some were
missing, victims of a drunk
driver, we were told.
The relief that washed over
me when I discovered both my
cards still under my seat is similar to the relief I feel whenever
my loved ones return home
safely. And while I felt like a fool
writing down the names of all
three of my kids on one card –
putting them all in one car like
so many eggs in the proverbial
basket — my kids are often in
the same car together. It could
happen.
Fear monger that I am, I’ve
been anxious about this kind of
calamity even before I attended
this class. I know that driving is
dangerous in and of itself; drunk
drivers only make it more so.
Serving on the Reparative Justice Panel has made me more
aware of how prevalent driving
under the influence is, which
has only added to my fears.
The day after the panel, my
oldest daughter embarked on a
road trip of a few hundred miles.
Daylight Savings Time had
ended, so darkness came early,
and rain fell.
I called her before she took
off, careful not to transmit too
much of my anxiety, but also
urging her to drive as much as
possible in daylight, to drive the
speed limit — or slower — and
to call me when she arrived.
There’s nothing I can do to
warn her about drunk drivers,
except tell her, “I love you,” in
case that’s the last thing she
n
ever hears me say. Deborah Lee Luskin regularly
contributes to these pages. Email her at deb@commonsnews.
org.
of Shakespeare, Chekov, and
Shaw as well as other greats surfrom a family of thespians
vive, and that their works conELAYNE
— we certainly were not the
tinue to be performed along
CLIFT
Barrymores or the Redgraves
with newer playwrights like
I was reminded how
— but some of us have had our
much I love good theater, and
O’Neill, Tennessee Williams,
15 minutes of fame on stage.
how deeply enriching a good
Arthur Miller, and August WilMy sister, for example, always
play can be, when I saw Krisson, to name a few. It’s because
had the lead in school plays,
tin Scott Thomas recently in
they have captured and conwannabes and as dedicated
and when I was 13, I did a comic spectators. (I should rememthe acclaimed Chekov play,
veyed to us the ageless and unimonologue as compensation for ber that when applications ask
The Seagull. Some time back
versal truths of humanity. They
failing to garner a major part in
I was mesmerized by Kevin
that annoying question about
hold up a mirror through which
my school’s annual production.
Spacey and Eve Best in Eugene we can contemplate our own
hobbies.) We love nothing betI also sang in the high school
O’Neill’s fine play Moon for the
ter than a live performance,
lives. They understand, prochoir, and never was anything
whether it’s music, dance, opera, Misbegotten. Both these plays
foundly, the experience of love,
more thrilling than participating or theater. Along with travel, the were imported to Broadway
loss, pain, pleasure, power. They
in a chorus belting out Handel’s performing arts are our extrava- from London, famed for its West find the pathos in our daily exMessiah.
End and Old Vic theaters.
istence, tease out its humorous
gance in life. We almost never
In his college days, my husChekov’s story is about agmoments, and extend a hand
miss a chance to see a good play,
band performed notably in
ing, vanity, and relationships.
that says, “You are not alone.”
and we’ve been known to blitz
Shakespearean tragedies. And
O’Neill’s tale is a simpler one,
Virginia Woolf once wrote, “The
New York, catching three perour daughter always secured a
really; a sad story of unrealbeauty of the world has two
formances in two days. We visit
major role in school musicals,
ized love and human limitaedges, one of laughter, one of
the Berkshires every summer,
beginning with her acclaimed
tion that knocks your socks off.
and the Shaw Festival in Cananguish, cutting the heart asunHow amazing the effect upon us der.” That quote reminds me
portrayal of Alice, in Alice in
ada is one of our favorite venwhen carefully crafted words are of the theatrical symbol we all
Wonderland, when she was a
ues. I still remember seeing
seventh grader. Recently, she
Rudolf Nureyev and Margo Fon- delivered by extraordinary acrecognize: the two intertwined
starred in the independent film
tors who understand the emotaine dance Romeo and Juliet
faces of tragedy and comedy.
Mutual Appreciation, a movie
tion behind a script and who are
Woolf’s statement speaks
in New York in the 1960s, and
deeply committed to uttering the to the mission of all the arts, I
that captured several impressive I won’t forget Barbra Streisand
playwright’s words as he or she think, for whether it is dance
awards internationally.
in Funny Girl or Zero Mostel
So I guess you could say
intended.
or drama, a symphony or a satin Fiddler on the Roof then eithat theater is in our blood, as
There’s a reason that the plays ire, the arts bring us closer to
ther. The soundtrack from Les
our own humanity. Our foibles
are revealed and our fantasies
tapped. We are touched because
the protagonist or the antihero
or the mistress or the martyr are
Saxtons River
can’t claim to come
Miserables still makes me weep,
just as a performance of La Traviata does.
the people we know and love.
Their lives, their challenges and
victories, their longings and
laughter belong to us too. Theater’s gift is to reveal all of that to
us in just two or three hours.
I would never forfeit the
chance to look that gift horse in
n
the eye. Elayne Clift writes about politics, social issues, and occasionally the arts.
ReNew
Salvage
Barack to the future
A
of California, show up at the
polls, vote for a black man, then
new president-elect is
vote yes on Proposition 8 and
madly signing up adstrip the right (rite?) of marriage
JIM
visors and cabinet members.
away from your state’s gay miAUSTIN
His choice for chief of staff is
nority? Doesn’t the irony of it all
Rahm Emanuel. Apparently,
just get right up in your face and
Emanuel is Jewish, and this has
scream, “What are you thinkthe Middle East flipping out.
ing?” Didn’t more than 200 years
tour of the CIA’s secret prisons
Still, he knows his way around
of brutal oppression teach you
around the world. Make them
Washington and is known to be use their own air miles to pay for people anything?
a real ball-buster. As Ricky Nel- the flights.
A while back I wrote about
son said in his 1972 hit record
pro-golfer megamillionaire Vi• Give Hillary a cabinet post
Garden Party, “Ya can’t please
— doesn’t matter which one. In- jay Singh. I was whomper-jawed
everyone so ya got to please
when he refused to play golf in
troduce her to foreign dignitaryourself.”
a tournament because they had
ies as “my bitch.”
I have a few suggestions for
invited LPGA champion Annika
• Tell everyone you want to
our new pres that might make
Sorenstam to participate. This
have Sarah Palin chair a comhim and us feel good about his
imbecile would have been carrymittee on offshore drilling. The
presidency.
ing the clubs for the other pros
word after the election was that
• Barack, you really will feel
if better people than he hadn’t
Sarah didn’t know whether Afbetter if you take a shot or two at rica was a country or a continent demanded he be afforded the
McCain and Palin. They looked and couldn’t name the three
same rights as every other pro.
high and (mostly) low for some countries in North America. I’ll
Do you see where I’m going
dirt to dish on you and could
here, African-America?
bet she knows where Kenya is
only find a brief association with now.
Finally, we showed that the
former domestic terrorist Wilmajority of us care more for the
• Refer to your press secreliam Ayers.
man than his race. California,
tary and advisory staff as “your
I think you should appoint Ay- posse.”
on the other hand, is a disgrace
ers secretary of the Department
to the nation, and the black people who, exit polls show, voted
of Homeland Security. You’d get Now that Barack has all the
rid of that Skeletor lookalike Mi- advice he needs for the next
overwhelmingly to ban gay mareight years, I’d like to address
chael Chertoff for a start, and
riage should be ashamed of
African-American voters in Cali- themselves.
who better to protect our counfornia: What the hell is wrong
try from “mad bombers” than a
Incidentally, a large porwith you?
guy who used to be one?
tion of the money that financed
You came to the polls in un• Arrest Bush, Cheney,
the homophobic Proposition 8
precedented numbers to vote for came from the Mormons. MorBolton, Gonzalez, and Ryan
Barack Obama. I’m sure some
Seacrest. Sail them all down to
mons, who have a history of pluof you voted for him because he ral marriages? Hint: That too is
Guantánamo and waterboard
is an African-American, but like
the bejeebers out of all of them
ironic.
until they admit that waterboard- most of us you voted for him beI hope I’m alive to see the
cause he is clearly the best man first gay president of the United
ing is torture.
Seacrest probably doesn’t de- for the job. You watched as the
States. Who will we disenfrann
majority of white voters in this
serve this, but anyone who dechise then? country cast their ballots for a
scribes himself as a “celebrity
wrangler” should be tortured in black man. We did that because
Jim Austin regularly contributes
some fashion. Maybe make him he was the better by miles that
the old white geezer. We ignored to these pages. E-mail him at
read a book by Thomas Hardy.
jim@commonsnews.org.
his race.
After this, close Guantánamo
How could you, black citizens
and take the lot of them on a
Cabinetree
Putney
t this writing our
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VOICES
12
VOICES
The Commons • December 2008 13
E S S AY
Report on VY’s economic impact flawed
Letting time evaporate
I
G
Brattleboro
couldn’t wait for class
to end.
Teaching a weekly, midwinter ceramics class for my local community college, I started,
as usual, with a demo or two,
perhaps including a pinch-pot
meditation. Every time I looked
at my watch thinking a half hour
had gone by, it turned out only
five minutes had passed. Suffering from intense body aches,
a cough that would scare off
a grizzly bear and a fever that
measured over 102, it felt like
the longest class I had ever
taught.
My usual experience is nothing like that. I start class off
with my usual rituals, and then
the next thing I know, I’m looking at my watch, it’s three hours
later, and I should have given
the clean-up signal 15 minutes
earlier.
I don’t know where the time
goes, but it’s gone. My students
routinely report the same sensation: that their evenings simply
evaporate.
Now as much as I would love
to take credit as a teacher for
this phenomenon, I have to begrudgingly recognize that time
evaporation is the rule in clay
classes everywhere.
In every city and most rural
areas, there is a place where
stressed-out people in all age
brackets can set aside their burdens and press their opposable
thumbs into this miraculous material that Mother Earth has offered to us.
Something inherent about
working with clay disrupts our
usual experience of time. For
three hours we do not think
about the bills that need to be
paid and where the money to
pay them will come from. We do
not think about the argument
we had last week with so-and-so,
and how we wish we had only
had the wits to say blah-blahblah. Most of the thoughts that
we are incessantly thinking,
thinking, thinking, the thoughts
we struggle to let go of in meditation and yoga classes, simply
evaporate as the clay kidnaps
our attention.
JEFF POTTER/THE COMMONS
The author works with clay in his Brattleboro pottery studio.
Alan Steinberg has
been a clay artist and teacher
for 40 years with work in many
fine galleries. His workshops
integrate nature, poetry, mythology, ritual, and writing with
clayworking. A practitioner of
yoga and Buddhist meditation,
Steinberg has long been associated with Rowe Camp and Conference Center in Rowe, Mass.
crane her neck from side to
side, determining my threat
level, while I turn my body to
the side in an attempt to look
thoroughly disinterested. I
creep cautiously out through
the mists onto the melting ice,
for one last winter’s sojourn
across the frozen backwater overgrown with delicately
etched meadowsweet.
Looking down at the shallow
puddles on the surface of the ice
A long walk outdoors has
the same effect on me.
and out at the network of cracks
As I set out, I may be that
all around, I recognize the metcrazy man, mumbling to some
aphoric significance of having
unseen companion as I amble
crawled out onto this rapidly
along aimlessly — you know, the thinning ice.
one with whom you try not to
make eye contact as you pass on Working in clay and going
the street.
for a walk: each absorptive activBut soon this crazy man’s
ity individually sweeps away my
eye is caught by a regiment of
stress, leaving me feeling calm
red-tipped British Soldiers bivand whole. But together their
ouacked on the summit of a flat- individual healing powers are
topped, rotted, red-oak stump.
catalyzed by some immeasurBefore I know it, I find myself
able factor. Each complements
no longer engaged in rehearsals the other, like breathing in and
and rehashings, but instead in
breathing out.
conversation with a large brown
Whenever I spend time in naduck quacking away to his unture, I feel I receive a number
seen sweetie from a tuft of grass of gifts. I am surrounded with
safely out of my reach.
beauty, shown the complexity
For ten minutes or so Heron
of life, and reminded that all the
and I size each other up, she
problems I find so hard to bear
ceasing her Tai Chi session to
are all small stuff in the greater
scheme of things.
In fact, everywhere I turn it
feels the universe is offering me
some “teaching” in the varied
languages of the myriad species
I encounter. It is like taking a
deep in-breath, starting from the
belly and inhaling all the way up
underneath my clavicle.
Then I return to the studio. As
I begin to work with the clay, the
energy I have taken in outdoors,
energy that has infused every
Chakra of my body, travels down
the length of my arm and expresses itself through the clay.
The clay form that emerges
might be a feathered wing of
crane, a network of cracks in a
slab of ice, or legions of those
red-uniformed soldiers defending their Masada-like fortress.
Or, it may be the potters’ ultimate archetype — a simple
bowl. Whatever the form, whatever the metaphor I need to express, the creating of a work
of art, is the long out-breath,
longer than the in-breath that
forges my sense of connection
to the world.
Since taking a workshop a few
years go with nature writer Fred
Taylor, I’ve added a new dimension to this cycle of breathing
in and breathing out, by exploring what writing adds to the process. As I put words to these
VIEWPOINT
wordless experiences of absorption in nature and clay work,
they begin to glow with a new
energy and sense of meaning.
Writing takes me beyond the
physical, to the fundamental essence of the universe, deepening
my sense of the unseen connections that lie beneath the surface. That awareness transforms
my artwork into an act of gratitude for the Earth’s gifts. I have
discovered that happiness does
not bring gratitude, but rather it
is the other way around — that
my work, offered as an act of
gratitude, is the very agent that
n
brings on my healing. Brattleboro
DS Associates , a
nationwide consulting firm, has issued its
report on the impact the Vermont Yankee plant has on the
local economy. The study was
commissioned by the state, and
its purpose is to help evaluate
the pros and cons of closing the
plant in 2012, when its license
expires.
Unfortunately, the report is so
badly flawed, it is wrong on the
face of it. There are at least two
major, glaring problems.
First, it indicates a positive
contribution to the state’s economy because of $64 million the
employees spend here each
year.
This is a problem because
the money was in our economy
already.
Vermont Yankee got that
money from our electric bills.
We support their power plant by
selling cheese and ski passes,
and doing anything else we can
do to bring money into the state
and pay us our wages. They
leave behind $64 million of the
money they get in the local economy, as they ship a huge portion
out of our area. Their contribution is actually negative, and
very powerfully so.
The second problem is that
the report seems to assume we
have only two alternatives: either VY operating, or no plant
at all.
But current grid regulations
make it possible for small companies, or even individuals, to
bring power plants as small as
250kW online profitably.
We have an array of choices
for power generation. VY’s closing will certainly signal the
opening of alternative power
plants of all kinds. These can be
locally financed and operated,
and they can hire local people
both for construction and for operation. The result will be safer
and more reliable, it will mean
more local jobs, and it will keep
a greater share of the money in
our local economy.
the nature of water itself. And
the areas around Lake Champlain might benefit from this.
There are other power
sources, systems for conservation, and systems for power storage that might be considered
— those mentioned are just a
sample. The bottom line here
is that a thoughtful approach to
consideration of VY’s impact on
our economy requires consideration of all of them.
The report, however, seems to
have considered none of them.
George Harvey nurtures an array of interests,
from fiction writing to artificial
intelligence and other computer
science endeavors.
When asked to consider
other power sources, proponents of nuclear power focus
on the difficulties of relying on
wind and solar — the fact that
neither energy source can provide base-load power, meaning that neither is full-time. But
many other sources of power
available can be included in our
energy portfolio. Going into the
future, we will need to rely on diversification of resources.
First, there is conservation.
Keeping VY open would entail Entergy’s borrowing many
hundreds of millions of dollars,
which would have to be passed
on in the form of electric bills of
ratepayers.
If the state borrowed the same
amount and applied it to insulating all our heated buildings,
the energy saved would exceed
what the nuclear plant produces.
Most of our heating is done with
fossil fuels. Some of the fuel
we save could be used in new,
smaller power plants, and we
would still be reducing our carbon emissions.
The district heating system
proposed for Brattleboro will
provide sufficient electricity for
Windham County as a byproduct. If other, similar plants were
constructed for other urban areas in Vermont, we could replace much of VY’s power and
heat our homes, too. These district heating systems would be
carbon-neutral, and the fuel is
a local product. Such systems,
combined with small, fossil-fuelburning plants, can supply us
with base-load power, replacing
VY for that purpose.
The possibility of geothermal power has been raised for
Wells Builders
Replacing VY will not mean
that Vermont simply loses
many of the jobs at the plant
with no other effect on employment. The economic impact of
a shutdown can be very positive for Vermont because the
number of people needed to set
up and operate local generating plants could run into thousands. And this will also be very
positive in terms of our ability to
keep money flowing in our local economy without sending it
elsewhere.
The report from GDS Associates is woefully flawed. As we
consider our energy future, we
need better information than it
JEFF POTTER/THE COMMONS
provides. We could cover pages
dealing with the safety issues
at least one area on the Connecticut River because of a local surrounding nuclear power in
general and VY in particular.
geological hot spot. The fact is
But as for the local economic
that the entire river flows along
impact of a 2012 VY plant shutthe same subduction fault, and
down, we really should conif one area can get power from
that fault, others likely could too. sider whether it is not, in fact,
profoundly negative as long
Geothermal power might also
as the plant is allowed to rebe useful for areas along other
n
main open. bodies of water, just because of
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VOICES
14
LET TERS FROm RE AdERS
Editorial misleads,
omits info on shelter
W
e greatly appreciate your fine paper, and are particularly encouraged by the frequent social-justice-related
stories.
However, the editorial “The cold and the hungry this winter” contained some unfortunate errors and misleading
information.
First, it is wonderful that you highlighted all the organizations that provide food or meals to the area’s poor — we
greatly appreciate the excellent work these organizations do,
and it is great that you are bringing their important contributions to people’s attention.
However, the article recounts a touching story about a person in Brattleboro who is homeless and sleeping in the cold,
and then refers to the listed organizations as “shelters.”
In fact, none of the organizations you list are shelters. As
you will notice by the hours listed next to each organization,
none are even open at night, and most only operate for a few
hours once or twice a week. Some are soup kitchens, some
are food pantries.
The one overnight homeless shelter in this area, Morningside Shelter, is inexplicably missing from the list.
Morningside is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
365 days a year, and is the only organization that I am aware
of in Brattleboro that currently provides a warm place for
homeless people to sleep, as well as food, clothing, and intensive personalized case management daily to help people
successfully address the root causes that have led them to
be homeless in the first place.
Paul Capcara
Brattleboro
The writer works as executive director of Morningside Shelter.
The Commons regrets the errors. For more information, visit
www.morningsideshelter.org.
SHELTER
Location
Morningside Shelter
First Baptist Church
Overflow Shelter
Address
81 Morningside Drive,
Brattleboro
190 Main St.,
Brattleboro
Phone
802-257-0066
Day & Time
24 hours a day
802-257-5415
7 p.m.–7 a.m., when
Morningside is full
COmmunITy mEALS/FOOd SHELVES
Location
Brattleboro Drop-In
Center
Putney Community
Suppers
Brattleboro Senior
Meals
Immanuel Episcopal
Church Kitchen &
Drop-In Center
Address
60 South Main St.,
Brattleboro
Hill Road, Putney
Phone
802-257-5415
Gibson-Aiken Ctr., 207
Main St., Brattleboro
4 Island St.,
Bellows Falls
802-257-1236
Agape Christian
Fellowship
Centre
Congregational —
Loaves and Fishes
First Baptist Church
— Grace’s Kitchen
Brigid’s Kitchen
30 Canal St.,
Brattleboro
193 Main St.,
Brattleboro
802-257-4069
Saturday, 1:30–3 p.m.
802-254-4730
190 Main St.,
Brattleboro
38 Walnut St.,
Brattleboro
802-254-9566
Tuesday and Friday,
noon–1 p.m. (except
Friday after Thanksgiving)
Wednesday, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Second
Congregational
Church UCC
Genesis Church of
the Brethren
Jamaica/Wardsboro
Community Food
Pantr y
Deerfield Valley
Food Pantr y
2051 Main St.,
Londonderry
802-824-6453
Kimball Hill Rd.,
Putney
Methodist Church,
Wardsboro
802-387-5948
11 Church St.,
Wilmington
802-464-9675
802-387-4102
802-463-3100
802-254-6800
802-896-6544
Day & Time
Monday–Friday,
8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
Second Friday evening of
month
Monday–Friday,
noon
Monday–Friday,
9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Community
Supper Monday, 5 p.m.
Monday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Saturday,
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Third Friday, 1–4 p.m.
Wednesday, 6 p.m., Friday,
9 a.m.
Last Wednesday of the
month, 6:30-8 p.m.
Third Saturday,
10 a.m.–noon
What will the public remember
about lessons of this election?
J
ust weeks ago Obama swept
Vermont and the nation to became president-elect. That was
the big stor y. Meanwhile, the
Vermont press chose to largely
ignore an interesting and unusual aspect of this year’s gubernatorial contest — the fact that an
independent candidate, Anthony
Pollina, nudged past a high-profile Democratic to place second
behind front-runner Republican
Jim Douglas.
As such races go, this outcome
is remarkable. Consider:
1) An independent candidate
running against candidates from
the two major parties.
2) Pollina was outspent by
Symington and the Democratic
Party 2 to 1 (4 to 1 by the Douglas campaign).
3) Obama’s fine-tuned organization, massive fundraising,
and long coattails should have
provided a major advantage to
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Democrat Symington, but apparently they did not.
4) Symington ran for Governor
from her platform as speaker of
the house, a springboard that
should have helped her significantly. Moreover, Pollina
was disparaged by the press
and others as having little valid
experience.
5) Attempts were made by
both prominent Republicans and
Democrats to derail Pollina’s
candidacy: negative comments
by Douglas and his campaign
manager about Pollina’s idea
for a Vermont credit card and
his involvement with the Vermont Milk Co., and attacks on
VOICES
Diversity of tactics necessary for activism
“We need bold, persistent experimentation. Take one method
and try it. If it fails, admit failure
frankly, and try another method.
But, above all, try something...we
[the nation] must have action,
and action now!”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt,
1932
I
n response to Peter Alexander’s Nov. 9 letter in the
Brattleboro Reformer, “VY protesters went too far,” and to the
statement of the Vermont Public
Service Board (PSB), I’d like to
share my views about a “diversity of tactics,” movement building, and empowering people to
take action.
I’m outraged that Peter Alexander characterized young protesters as terrorizing the PSB
and as those who “might as well
be working for Entergy.”
I find it very dangerous to condemn young people for their creative and courageous actions. By
scapegoating “bad protesters,”
he is dividing the anti-nuke movement and setting us up for failure.
I feel it reeks of elitism, excludes
people, and is counter to building a critical mass and popular
movement. Most unfortunately,
it has a chilling effect upon people who may want to take action
in the future.
I encourage people to express
their opinions about tactics and
strategies in the world of activism. Yet I think the strategy of
condemning one tactic in favor
of another, instead of embracing
a diversity of tactics and uniting
under one banner, narrows the
playing field and ultimately suppresses energy for action and
change. The controversy may
be impossible to resolve, but
there is no need for an antagonistic spirit.
As a movement, we need to do
it all — lobby, speak out at public meetings, raise funds, write
letters, promote safe and green
energy, support the victims of
radiation, march in the streets,
occupy of fices, disr upt business as usual, and pressure key
decision-makers.
It is important to not view tactics as existing in a hierarchy
of value. As individuals, I think
we need to take action in whatever ways we feel we can make
change, ways that have a direct
impact on the people in power
and make our demands heard.
I disagree with the premise
that orderly protests are always
the most effective. In times of
great need, we need creativity.
Often I hear, “Where are the
young people? Where is the fun
and spontaneity?” Young, fun,
spontaneous energy can and
will emerge if we stop suppressing it.
We cannot af ford to do the
same old actions and tr y the
same old techniques all the time.
I believe that once a tactic becomes a constant, it can be more
easily neutralized, marginalized,
and discredited. Variable actions,
with levels of unpredictability,
can be more disruptive to business as usual and create a new
problem set that the authorities
are unfamiliar with.
I’m also outraged to hear the
statements from the PSB claiming that “this isn’t what public discourse is suppose to be.”
This is an attempt by the perpetrator to define to the victim
how we are supposed to respond
to the injustice thrust upon us.
Perhaps part of what protesters
are tr ying to communicate to
the power brokers is that the
possibility of a nuclear winter
scenario in New England is obscene, unacceptable, and frankly
unhinges people. Performance
theater aims to deliver its message through symbolism, metaphor, and imagery — a figurative
collage of emotionally charged
representations of the heart of
the message that can leave lasting effects.
The debate around a “diversity of tactics” erupted in Seattle
during the 1999 World Trade
Organization protests due to
the collapse of guidelines for action. The Seattle actions brought
together a number of diverse
groups where the nonviolent discipline could not be maintained.
The Seattle actions opened a
space for the premise of “respect
for a diversity of tactics.” Simply
stated, protesters with dif ferent styles can participate in the
movement to make manifest necessary change.
Accepting a diversity of tactics
provides for the broad diversity
of real human beings. Advocating
for a strictly nonviolent perspective can potentially marginalize
and criminalize a whole segment
of activists and deny the history
of people’s struggles in many
parts of the world.
The call to respect a diversity
of tactics allows for disagreements over tactics without falling into public condemnation
or criminalization. Such condemnation was seen by many as
divisive, contributing to the distinctions drawn in the corporate
media between “good” and “bad”
protesters.
The call for a diversity of tactics is a call for solidarity and
VIEWpOInT
When suicide hits home
Anthony Pollina
Gaye Symington
his fundraising led by Secretary
of State Deb Markowitz and Attorney General Bill Sorrell that
proved baseless.
6) And finally, much of Vermont’s mainstream press
ignored, disparaged, and marginalized Pollina from the beginning of his campaign to the very
end. However, when the votes
were counted on Nov. 4, Pollina
received over 18,000 more votes
than when he last ran for statewide office in 2002.
Why did Symington do so
poorly, despite all her advantages? Why did Pollina do as
well as he did, despite all the obstacles before him?
The Vermont Democratic and
Republican Parties will no doubt
ponder these questions. It is unfortunate that the press didn’t
take a more evenhanded, unbiased approach to the race for
governor, and in the end didn’t
even provide a comprehensive
report on the outcome.
I wonder what the public memory and lessons of this election
will be two years from now when
the contest begins anew.
Peter Cooper
Brattleboro
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An additional letter
appears on page 16.
15
T
Brattleboro
HE TOPIC OF suicide is
a sensitive one. Talking
about it can be frightening for some, even embarrassing, but since receiving a
federal Youth Suicide Prevention grant, the staff at the Center for Health and Learning
have discovered a willingness
on the part of those personally
affected by a completed suicide to talk about their loss and
to advocate for prevention and
early intervention in an effort to
spare others the pain they have
experienced.
JoEllen Tarallo-Falk, executive
director at the Center for Health
and Learning, recalls the sudden
death of a colleague.
“In 1982, while I was teaching
in a small school in central Vermont, the second-grade teacher
with whom I had become good
friends committed suicide. We
were co-producing the musical
Oliver. He was directing the play
and I was doing the piano accompaniment and assisting with
the musical direction.
“One day he came to my classroom and said, ‘If I didn’t show
up for the rehearsal on Monday,
what would you do?’
“‘I’d be madder than hell,’ I
laughed, ‘but I guess I’d hold the
mARTHA m. mORAVEC
works as administrative assistant at the Center for Health
and Learning, which promotes
“the health and well-being of
children, families, schools and
communities by providing training, technical assistance and
resources for strategic health
initiatives,” according to the
organization’s Web site, www.
healthandlearning.org.
rehearsal.’
“Two nights later, I was awakened by a call from the principal
of my school at 4 a.m. He said,
‘I wanted to tell you before you
heard it on the radio. John killed
himself last night.’
“In the week following,” says
Tarallo-Falk, “I learned that
John was suffering from mental
health problems and had made
several prior attempts at suicide, one just recently. Reflecting back on my conversation
with John, I have thought many
times, If only I had known.”
WHEN Linda Livendale, who
chairs the Vermont chapter for
the American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention, heard that
Vermont had been awarded the
federal grant, she commented,
“Vermont has not had any significant funding available for suicide prevention, as many other
states have, and this will surely
help.”
“Finally we will be able to implement the education component from the Vermont Suicide
Prevention Plan in our schools,”
said Livendale, who lost a son to
suicide. “We will also be able to
provide the ‘gatekeeper’ training
so more people will recognize
the signs and symptoms of depression and suicide, and know
how to respond when a person
is having suicidal feelings and
know where to seek help. Hopefully we will be able to reduce
unnecessary loss of life among
Vermonters.”
“My extended family has
experienced its own share of
challenges and grief related to
mental health and suicide issues,” said Brian Remer, recently hired by the Center for
Health and Learning to serve
as the Project Manager and
Trainer for the Youth Suicide
Prevention grant. “Suicide prevention and the need for youth
to develop positive personal assets are issues that demand the
wholehearted support of our entire community.”
opens up space to include a
broad range of ideas and not become a myopic, dogmatic movement that tries to represent the
whole in one homogenized way.
Critics often charge that the
tactic they oppose will alienate
participants. On the contrary, if a
movement displays a wide array
of tactics, a broad base of people
can more easily identify which
appeal to them. In reality, some
people are alienated and disillusioned by lobbying, canvassing,
and the nonviolent direct action
(NVDA) and civil disobedience
(CD) mantras.
For example, most people cannot tolerate nine months of planning meetings to pull off a civil
disobedience action that may
result in legal consequences for
many years. Consider the model
of the PSB action, where 30 people assembled, planned an action
over a 24-hour period, executed
the plan, and disrupted business
as usual, all without legal consequences or being subjected to
the violence of the police state.
Unfortunately, given the state
of the world and the psychology
of our culture, individuals need to
work hard to find inspiration and
they need to feel safe enough to
express themselves. We need a
variety of outlets for this inspiration. Failure to act is the ruin of
the soul. If you believe you have
a great idea, I say run with it!
Never mind the naysayers!
I’d prefer more people doing
more actions with the assumption that sometimes they will
make mistakes or be subjected to
criticism. We need more people
feeling empowered to take more
action. I’d rather have 10 people
doing 10 different actions then
trust one person to succeed with
one grand, orderly scheme.
It is not the time to begin paring down and judging who is and
who is not part of this movement.
It is not realistic for everyone to
conform to the rule book of any
dogma or tactic. Insisting that
everyone should adopt the same
approach is arrogant and shortsighted, and it presumes that you
are entitled to make judgment on
others’ behalf.
Unfortunately, nothing up to
this point has worked successfully to shut down Vermont Yankee. We need to do everything in
our power to do so, including taking risks, recruiting new people,
and perhaps causing a big stink.
We need action leading up to this
vote on relicensing. We need action now!
Otherwise, we face another 20
years of a potential nuclear winter, guaranteed radiation leaks,
and tons of nuclear waste. I do
believe pranksters, direct-action
folks, puppeteers, and other assor ted rif fraf f and rabble are
necessary elements of a winning
campaign.
Jonathan (Slug) Crowell
Dummerston
ON THE NIGHT of Oct. 25, a
young man of 24 committed
suicide in Dummerston. After
reading about the Youth Suicide
Prevention grant, his mother
called the Center for Health and
Learning to see how she could
be involved.
“He had two really close
friends, and it doesn’t seem that
he mentioned to either one of
them that he was depressed,”
she said. “ He was eating, sleeping, working, had good goals.”
He used a muzzle loader used
in hunting, his mother said.
“The gun doesn’t have to be registered. You can walk into WalMart and buy one. He was the
most gentle person in the world
and it doesn’t make sense to
have him be so violent at the
end. Something terrible had
taken over his mind.”
While this mother struggles
to make sense of her loss, she
also wants to make sure that it
does not happen to others. Her
son had dealt with substance
abuse problems from the age of
15. Substance abuse and mental
health issues, particularly depression, are often linked.
“There is no way I can go back
in time to prevent my son’s suicide,” she says. “But I want to
do whatever I can do to prevent
other youth suicides. I am willing to tell my story to prevent
them because they are preventable. We must all be aware and
reach out to our children in our
community to encourage them
to talk and get help.”
The staff at the Center for
Health and Learning hopes that
the Youth Suicide Prevention
Project will help to remove the
stigma attached to mental and
emotional problems. Removing
the stigma can make a significant contribution to improving early detection of mental
health issues, providing treatment for addictive behavior, and
creating environments that are
physically and emotionally safe
n
for recovery.
Editor’s note: According to news
reports, on Nov. 7, some of the
20 or so people protesting the
potential approval of continued
operation of the Vermont Yankee
nuclear power plant entered the
of fices of the Vermont Public
Service Board building in Montpelier and scattered styrofoam
soaked in a noxious substance,
possibly deer urine.
NECCA
VOICES
16
Commons
The
An independent, nonprofit newspaper providing news and views
for, by, and about Windham County, Vermont
Jeff Potter, Editor and Graphic Designer
Kristen Woetzel, Intern
Barbara S. Evans, Vincent Panella, Dan DeWalt, Editorial Committee
Ellen Kaye, Henr y Zacchini, Advertising Sales
Vermont Independent Media, Inc. Board of Directors, Publisher
This issue of The Commons is brought to you by the hard work and generosity of:
Director of photography: David Shaw
Comics editor: Jade Harmon
Editorial and proofreading support: Vincent Panella, Lee Stookey,
Bethany Knowles, Kim Noble, Nancy Crompton,
Shoshana Rihn, Jane Michaud, Bob Rottenberg.
Technical/logistical support: Simi Berman, Trevor Snorek-Yates,
Chris Wesolowski, Diana Bingham, Jim Maxwell, Bill Pearson,
Shana Frank, Roberta Martin, Janet Schwarz, Bill Lax, Doug Grob, Mary
Rothschild, Susan Odegard, Menda Waters, Richard Davis, Mamadou Sesi.
Puzzlemaster: Connie Evans
EdITORIALS
Published by
Vermont Independent Media, Inc.
139 Main St., P.O. Box 1212
Brattleboro, VT 05302
(802) 246-NEWS
www.commonsnews.org
Without the support of all our
volunteers, this paper would still
live only in our imaginations.
THE dR AWInG BOARd
Plenty of blame
L
et’s get this straight.
Vermont, by some
people’s yardsticks
the most liberal state
in the union, selected a Republican governor.
Some analyzing the election have called the results an
indication of the fierce independence of Vermont voters.
Perhaps, to a certain extent.
More likely, it’s an indication of the dumbheaded
stubbornness of Vermont’s
splintered politics on the left
of the spectrum.
There’s plenty of blame to
go around.
Progressive-turned-Independent Anthony Pollina
threw his hat in the ring early
in the process — early enough
that he might have built a coalition with the Democratic
Party.
Instead, the Democrats
waited until the eleventh hour
and fielded Gaye Symington,
B
etween President-elect Barack
Obama’s campaign
promise to end the
war in Iraq and that country’s desire to have our nation
leave its borders, we hold onto
hope that we will see progress soon.
Most months, we use this
space to remind readers of
the tragic and ver y real human cost of this war. Some
4,207 United States military
personnel have died in Iraq
and 30,634 were wounded
there — some maimed for life,
physically or psychologically
— as of Nov. 30. As many as
43,922 Iraqi civilians have lost
their lives in their own country, as have 8,760 in the country’s military.
Whatever your political
leanings, we hope you will join
us in honoring the service of
those who continue to fight in
Iraq and wishing for their safe
return at this time of the year
when so much of the world
thinks of peace.
Correction
WESTMINSTER—The story
in the November issue on the
Twelve Tribes, the new owners
of the Common Ground Restaurant in Brattleboro, erroneously described the religious
community as a tax-exempt
organization.
“We pay property taxes and
school taxes (and then home
school our children),” notes
Melavav, a member of the community who runs the group’s
Common Loaf Bakery.
The Commons regrets the
error.
Friday,
december 5
C R A F T S F E S T I V A L 10th Annual Cot-
ton Mill Open Studio and Holiday Sale.
This once-a-year celebration features the
work of many artists and artisans under
one roof. Explore entertainment and craft
work, from live music, demos, trapeze and
dance to blown glass, ceramics, woodworking, painting, film, bodyworks, toys, gifts for
the holiday season, a free raffle and more.
Lunch will be available at the Cotton Mill
Cafe. Free Admission and Parking. 10 a.m.
- 5 p.m. Through Dec. 7. The Cotton Mill, 76
Cotton Mill Hill, Brattleboro. Information:
(802) 257-7731; www.thecottonmill.org.
Pureka. Meg Hutchinson, an award winning contemporar y acoustic songwriter,
is a master of introspective ballads. Chris
Pureka, an indie-acoustic songstress, often
resembles shades of female greats like Patty
Griffin, Gillian Welch or Mary Gauthier. $12
advance; $14 at the door. 7:30 p.m. - 10:00
p.m. Boccelli’s On The Canal, 46 Canal St.,
Bellows Falls. Information and Tickets: Boccelli’s, Village Square Books, Bull’s Eye Music, Fat Franks, www.brattleborotix.com.
T H E A T E R It’s A Wonder ful Life. A
stage adaptation of the holiday film classic
adapted and directed by Stephen Stearns.
Unlike the original motion picture, which
is set in the town of Bedford Falls, the
NEYT version will take place in Brattleboro. $13.50; $10.50, students. Fri-Sun
Dec. 5-7, 12-14 and 19-21. Eve. shows are
Fri & Sat at 7:30 PM. Matinees are Saturday
and Sunday at 3:00 a.m. Additional performance on the final Sunday, Dec 21, at 7:30
p.m. New England Youth Theater, 100 Flat
St., Brattleboro. Information: (802) 2466398; www.neyt.org.
G A L L E R y W A L K Stores, galleries, muse-
ums open; special events and performances
take place. Downtown Brattleboro. Information: www.gallerywalk.org.
E X H I B I T O p E n I n G Escaping the
“Foxhole of the Mind”: Secret Places
of Childhood. Featuring the work of gallery members Amy Boemig, Stuart Copans,
Carolyn Nelson and Susan Wadsworth as
well as that of invited artists Joanne Finkel
and Margaret Shipman. An all members’
small works’ exhibition will be on display
in the back gallery. Opening reception 5-8
p.m. during Gallery Walk. Exhibit through
Dec. 28. The Windham Art Gallery, 69 Main
St., Brattleboro. Gallery hours are Thursday
through Sunday from 12-5 p.m. and other
times by appointment. Information: (802)
257-1881; www.windhamartgallery.com.
S p E C I A L E V E n T S Noted children’s
LEE SAndERSOn (www.leesanderson.com), a freelance cartoonist, regularly contributes to
Hope for change
Calendar
m u S I C Meg Hutchinson & Chris
who never seemed comfortable in her skin on the campaign trail.
Add to the fray the usual
campaign fiascos that plague
most candidates — Symington’s tax returns, Pollina’s
extended controversy with
campaign contributions —
and you get a race of mutually assured destruction on
the campaign trail.
The two left-of-center candidates spent precious time and
money fighting each other in
the general election — money
that either could have and
would have used to reach
out to the fierce independent
Vermont voters whom they
needed for the majority — the
same fierce independent Vermont voters who sent a Socialist to Washington.
And Governor Jim Douglas
had to do barely anything but
look on and smile as he cut
the ribbon for another term.
the Brattleboro Reformer and a number of other newspaper editorial pages throughout northern
New England.
book illustrator John Gurney will draw
caricatures of children and/or their parents during Gallery Walk in exchange for
a donation to the Windham Art Galler y.
5-8 p.m. 69 Main St., Brattleboro. Information: (802) 257-1881; www.windhamartgallery.com.
E X H I B I T O p E n I n G Potter y by Rob
LET TERS FROm RE AdERS
Reformer’s paid obituary policy
leaves one reader feeling cold
W
hen my father passed
away on Sept. 11, his obituary was sent to various newspapers, with the understanding that
some do charge for publication.
I had understood sometime ago
that the Reformer resumed offering it free as a local service,
so I was surprised to find that it
not only charged but that it was
the most costly, more than some
larger publications.
To inquire about doing some
basic editing so I could bring
down the expense, I assumed a
phone call to the paper would be
simple enough.
After talking to a number of
machines I was finally given a
number in Massachusetts — a
number that turned out to be
The Berkshire Eagle — at which,
again, a machine informed me
no one would be available to
talk to until later that day, when
I wouldn’t be available.
My question is: who profits
from our obituaries? Does the
The notion of selling obituaries, often while keeping
them typographically indistinguishable from regular
news, was first adopted by a
few small newspapers nearly
two decades ago. But it accelerated the last year, as adver tising revenue fell and
newsprint prices increased.
And more of the newspapers
involved have substantial
circulations.
—The New York Times,
Jan.14, 2002
Reformer, The Berkshire Eagle (a
publication from Massachusetts),
or a few at the top?
The Reformer is supposed to be
a small local paper, so when did
it decide to go corporate in profiting from obituaries? Certainly
one would hope they could come
up with a more innovative way to
do business.
Times are tough — a lot of
seniors like my father lived
through the Depression and
ser ved in World War II. But I
question if this would have been
their vision in the sacrifices they
made. Decent local families again
see their youths marching off to
war in this collective vision of
unity and sacrifice.
I ask the Reformer to reclaim
its individuality, and reconsider
its policy.
Terry Carter
Brattleboro
Editor’s note: Paid obituaries
began in the Reformer in late
2004, when the paper was still
part of Eagle Publishing Company’s group of newspapers owned
by the Miller family of Pittsfield.
Mass. MediaNews Group of Denver, Colo., which purchased the
Reformer and the other Eagle
newspapers in 2005, actually
reinstated some free obituary services at least for a few years.
17
Car telli, Maria Chambers, Jason
Greene, Steve Procter, and Walter
Slowinski. All pieces are handmade and
functional. A variety of techniques and surfaces are represented, including wood and
salt firing, hand shaping, and light brushwork. Cash and carry shopping for convenient gift giving. You can still see some of
the work featured during our November
show featuring Sydney Longfellow. Opening held during Galler y Walk. 5:30-9:30
p.m. Exhibit through the 26th. Through The
Music Gallery & Studio, 2 Elliot St., Brattleboro. Just go through the music, up the
stairs, and we’re on the right. Information:
(802) 779-3188.
T H E A T E R Trixie Little’s Burlesque
Show. After months of basic training at
Luminz Dance Studio, Trixie Little’s troupe
of Vermont vixens is ready to put Brattleboro on the burlesque map! Through Dec.
6. Time not available at press time. HookerDunham Theater & Galler y, 139 Main
St., Brattleboro. Information: (802) 2549276; www.hookerdunham.org; HDTandG@
sover.net.
O p E R A Suor Angelica - Puccini - The
Hugh Keelan Ensemble. The Hugh
Keelan Ensemble in collaboration with the
River Valley School and the Arts Council of
Windham County presents an opera, Puccini’s Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica), with
Laurie Green in the title role and James Anderson, stage director. The one-act story
takes place in some past time within the
walls of an Italian convent and depicts Suor
Angelica as an individual in a women’s community who experiences motherhood, suffering, and sacrifice. Featuring handmade
costumes, scenery, “supertitle” line-by-line
translation, an 11-piece orchestra giving the
world premiere of Keelan’s transcription,
an Angelic Chorus drawn from all parts of
the community. Latchis Theater, 50 Main
St., Brattleboro. Tickets: BrattleboroTix.
com, Backside Café, In The Moment, Maple
Leaf Music, and Latchis Hotel. Information:
(802) 258 4872
Saturday,
december 6
C R A F T S F E S T I V A L 10th Annual Cot-
ton Mill Open Studio and Holiday Sale.
See listing for Dec. 5. Free Admission and
Parking. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Through Dec. 7.
The Cotton Mill, 76 Cotton Mill Hill, Brattleboro. Information: (802) 257-7731; www.
thecottonmill.org.
O p E n H O u S E & C A F É Cherr y Street
Artisans. Crafts for sale, Food, and Live
Music. 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. Through Dec. 7, 11
a.m. - 5 p.m. 44 Cherry St., of f of Maple
Street near Brattleboro Memorial Hospital
and Esteyville, with on-street parking. Information: Judy Zemel, (802) 254-3530; Teta,
thilsdon@gmail.com.
W I n T E R ’ S F A R m E R ’ S m A R K E T Post
Oil Solutions event to take place at the
River Garden, 157 Main St., Brattleboro.
H O L I d A y S A m p L I n G Christmas Ales
and Winter Warmers. Lead by awardwinning beer writer Tom Bedell, a variety
of choices will be sampled from the U.S.,
Belgium, England, etc. ‘Tis the season
for popping open specialty beers made expressly for the holidays. 4-6 p.m.; $20 plus
tax. Windham Wine Gallery, 30 Main St.,
Brattleboro. For reservations and information: (802) 246-0877.
Sunday,
december 7
m u S I C Brattleboro Music Center:
Music School Faculty Recital - Bruce
Grif fin. 4-6 p.m. Program to take place
at Centre Congregational Church, Brattleboro. Information: (802) 257-4523; www.
bmcvt.org.
C O n C E R T Pianist Bruce Grif fin &
BMC Music School Fall Faculty Recital
performing Ginastera’s Cuyana, From TRES
PIAZES, Op. 6 (1940), Beethoven’s Andane
Favori in F Major, WoO 57, Mozart’s Sonata
in D Major, K.311, Schumann’s Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op.26. $12; free for BMC
students under 22. 4 p.m. Centre Congregational Church, Brattleboro. Information:
www.bmcvt.org; (802) 257-4523.
We n d y
Redlinger’s house concert with Bob Stabach, Sax; Miro Sprague, piano; Tyler Haydolf, bass; Molly Steinmark, drums. Potluck
at intermission. 5 p.m. Guilford. Information: (802) 254-6189.
COnCERT pOTLuCK
Wednesday,
december 10
W O R K S H O p Create Your Own Dream
Catcher. Join us for an evening of fellowship, music, and the crafting of your own
personalized dream catcher. Basic materials will be included, but if there are special
items you would like to incorporate into
your dream catcher, bring it along. $20.
6-8 p.m. Kindred Spirits Emporium, 49 Elliot St., Brattleboro.
B O O K d I S C u S S I O n Ties That Bind.
not available at press time. Hooker-Dunham
Theater & Gallery, 139 Main St., Brattleboro.
Information: (802) 254-9276; www.hookerdunham.org; HDTandG@sover.net.
Deborah Lee Luskin, a writer, scholar, and
commentator, leads the discussion of Jane
Smiley’s A Thousand Acres. 7-9 p.m. Brooks
Memorial Library Meeting Rm, 224 Main
St., Brattleboro.
C R A F T S F A I R SIT Event--Holiday Ba-
O p E n m I C Hosted by Danger Dave.
T H E A T E R Suzanne Rappaport. Time
zaar. A chance to buy and sell handmade
items. Approximately 30 vendors. 11:301:30 p.m. Dining Hall, World Learning, Kipling Rd., Brattleboro.
B O O K S A L E 3rd Annual Friends of
Librar y “Like New” Book Sale. Largeprint format fiction; new review copies; some
brand-new science fiction and fantasy; mint
condition nonfiction — some signed by the
author. Most books are in “like-new” condition. 3-8 p.m. (during Gallery Walk) and
Dec. 6, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Friends of Brooks
Memorial Library, 224 Main St., Brattleboro.
Information: Carol Corwin, (802) 254-4157;
bc1233@verizon.net.
Ever y Wednesday. 9 p.m. The Weathervane Music Hall, 19 Elliot St., Brattleboro.
Information: (802) 258-6529.
Thursday,
december 11
L E C T u R E Anne Monahan: Notes on
Chuck Close’s Self-Portrait/Scribble/
Etching Portfolio. Since the late 1960s,
Chuck Close has focused exclusively on
translating the information in photographic
portraits to paintings, drawings, prints, and
other media. His Self-Portrait/Scribble/
Etching portfolios document the incremental steps required to achieve his goals. This
talk by Marlboro College visiting professor
of art histor y Anne Monahan focuses on
how Close’s attention to the laborious processes of making art—as evident in these
etchings, in particular—informs his oeuvre.
$4, adults; $3, seniors; $2, students; BMAC
members, children 6 and under, free. 7:30
p.m. Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, 10
Vernon St., Brattleboro. Information: (802)
257-0124; info@brattleboromuseum.org.
Friday,
december 12
L I T E R A R y/ A R T I S T I C G A T H E R I n G
Community Literary Exploration. BYOP
– Bring Your Own Poetr y/Prose/Paintings/Productions. Join a group of local and
regional writers, poets, thinkers, dreamers, essayists, revolutionaries, reformers,
rhetoricians, sophists, “philosophes,” and
philosophers. Open your mind to stories,
political texts, and ballads, or share some
of your own work with the community.
Opportunities for discussion; other media
welcome (video/painting/music). $5. 7:30
p.m. Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery,
139 Main St., Brattleboro. Information:
Alex Gutterman, (802) 275-4047; preferred:
fracdyn@gmail.com.
p O T L u C K Artists & Friends Potluck.
On the second Friday of each month, a forum for artists and friends get together in
an unstructured, informal setting to talk and
eat! Learn about what your colleagues are
up to and share your own ideas. You bring
a main dish; drinks, desserts, and settings
will be supplied. $2; free, BMAC members;
plus a potluck dish. 6-8:30 p.m. Brattleboro
Museum & Art Center, 10 Vernon St., Brattleboro. Information: (802) 257-0124; info@
brattleboromuseum.org.
B O O K d I S C u S S I O n & L E C T u R E His-
tory of the Snowman. Have you ever
wondered about who made the first snowman? Who first came up with the idea of
placing snowballs on top of each other, and
who decided they would use a carrot for a
nose? Author, illustrator, teacher, and humorist Bob Eckstein will talk about his book,
In the History of the Snowman ($14.95). Eckstein will travel backward through time to
discover the snowman’s eclectic and oftentimes dark past. Eckstein’s passion about
the snowman began playfully enough but
soon snowballed into a mission to uncover
the mystery surrounding the first snowman.
7-9 p.m. Brooks Memorial Library Main
Rm, 224 Main St., Brattleboro. Information:
Jerry Carbone, (802) 254-5290.
Saturday,
december 13
Wednesday,
december 17
of bowls, vases and platters. Wright’s work,
both glazed and unglazed, lends itself
to food, flowers and contemplation. For
this afternoon only, all clay work will be
discounted by one to two thirds. 1-4 p.m.
The studio is located on Turnpike Road, 1
½ miles of f Route 9, at the intersection of
MacArthur and Stark Roads in Marlboro.
Information: (802) 254-2168; www.theturnpikeroad.com.
C E L E B R A T I O n Annual Winter Sol-
and Write Action invite writers to read.
The theme is “The Secret Places of Childhood.” Sign-up of readers will be that evening. Readers are asked to limit themselves
to seven minutes. Refreshments. Free. 7-9
p.m. 69 Main St., Brattleboro. Information:
(802) 254-9595.
stice Dance Party. Local 8-piece band
SIMBA plays the annual Winter Solstice
dance party, with a Solstice Celebration
led by Rupa Cousins. Community tradition
of dancing and drumming to welcome the
return of the light. All ages welcome. $9;
$22, family. 8-11:45 p.m. Evening Star
Grange, Intersection of East-West, Bunker,
Middle Roads, Dummerston Center.
Thursday,
december 18
monday,
december 22
O p E n R E A d I n G Windham Art Gallery
T H E A T E R A Christmas Carol. The Wal-
pole Players present the Charles Dickens
classic. Refreshments and a special, 12-page
“keepsake booklet” for everyone. Through
Dec. 20th. Free; but tickets are required because of limited seating and a monetary donation to the Fall Mountain Food Shelf is
requested. 7 p.m. Walpole Town Hall, 135
School St., Walpole, N.H. Tickets & Information: Real to Reel, Burdick’s Café, and
Galloway Real Estate.
C L u B m u S I C DJ Rafael Hulme. Spin-
ning a mix of hip-hop, downtempo, latin,
dancehall every Thursday with occasional
guest DJs! 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. The Weathervane Music Hall, 19 Elliot St., Brattleboro.
Information: (802) 258-6529; http://akbar.
marlboro.edu/~raf/.
Saturday,
december 20
C E L E B R A T I O n The 4 th annual Sol-
stice Celebration at Fair Winds Farm.
Features horse-drawn hayrides and music.
Reservations are not required for the rides
offered from 4:30 - 7:30 each evening. Rides
will be offered by sleigh or wagon, depending on conditions. Through Dec. 21. $12,
adults; $6, kids under 12. Fair Winds Farm
is located at 511 Upper Dummerston Rd., off
Rt. 30 just 2 miles from downtown Brattleboro. Information: (802) 254-9067; www.
fairwindsfarm.org.
B O O K d I S C u S S I O n Great Books. 7-9
p.m. Brooks Memorial Library Meeting Rm.,
224 Main St., Brattleboro. Information: Michael Landis, (802) 257-1851.
Thursday,
december 25
W O R K S H O p Heartsong Community
Health Inc. Strategies to de-stress. 7:30-9
p.m. Brooks Memorial Library Meeting Rm.,
224 Main St., Brattleboro. Information: Ani
Hawkinson, (802) 387-5311.
Wednesday,
december 31
O p E n m I C Hosted by Danger Dave.
Ever y Wednesday. 9 p.m. The Weathervane Music Hall, 19 Elliot St., Brattleboro.
Information: (802) 258-6529.
n E W y E A R C E L E B R A T I O n Mark
Manley Band. Ages: 21 and up. New
Year’s Rockin’ Eve at the Mole’s Eye! Be
there for the music, the food, and the toast
to ring in the New Year! 9 p.m. Mole’s Eye
Café, 4 High St., Brattleboro. Information:
(802) 257-0771.
Fielding
Banjos
G A L L E R y S A L E The Turnpike Road
Potter y’s 37 th Annual Holiday Sale.
Malcolm Wright will be displaying work
from recent firing of Japanese-style woodburning kiln. There will be a good selection
Silver
Forest
F A R m E R ’ S m A R K E T Holiday Market.
Annual holiday market of agricultural, craft,
and food items featuring over 30 juried vendors from Vermont’s oldest and most successful farmers’ market. Indoors. 9 a.m.-3
p.m. River Garden, Main St., Brattleboro.
C O u C H S u R F E R S G A T H E R I n G Meet-
ing for CSers from the local area and
abroad. Meet for afternoon coffee or tea
and discuss ways to build the couchsurfing community in Brattleboro. Newcomers welcome. 4-6 p.m. Mocha Joe’s Café, 82
Main St., Brattleboro. Information: www.
couchsurfing.com.
WILL FIELDING • 802.464.3260
www.fieldingbanjos.com
m u S I C Nosh, Nip and Noel at Adagio.
Cyndi Cain and Daniel Kasnitz, both from
the local band SugarHouse, will perform
a diverse selection of familiar favorites,
original tunes, and holiday songs. 7:3011:00 p.m. Adagio’s Trattoria, 132 Main
St., Brattleboro.
m u S I C Katherine First Trio. Fiddler
Katherine First features ancient and modern
Celtic and Scottish tunes with a twist. Time
not available at press time. Hooker-Dunham
Theater & Gallery, 139 Main St., Brattleboro.
Information: (802) 254-9276; www.hookerdunham.org; HDTandG@sover.net.
Tuesday,
december 16
C O n C E R T BMC Music School Student
Orchestras & Celtic Session Concert.
Come hear the members of the BMC Music
School’s three student orchestras, Prima,
Junior, and Senior, perform in downtown
Brattleboro, along with the members of
the Celtic Session. The orchestras include
string players of all ages and progressive
abilities, while the Celtic Session includes
instrumentalists of all kinds, from hammer
dulcimer to recorder. Free. 7 p.m. River
Garden, Brattleboro. Information: www.
bmcvt.org; (802) 257-4523.
K A R A O K E Ever y other Tuesday. 9
p.m. The Weathervane Music Hall, 19 Elliot St., Brattleboro. Information: (802)
258-6529.
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18
The Arts
Life & Work
Stopping by Victoria’s Place
A connection of
food and memory
I
New short fiction collection mixes horror, fantasy genres
By Nell Curley
The Commons
JAMAICA—Alex R. Knight
III was more than happy to discuss his writing experience and
inspirations that led him to create the unsettling stories in Victoria’s Place and Other Tales of
Terror, recently published by
Bare Bones Publishing in New
York.
Knight cites his first introduction into the horror genre as an
experience at the age of 11, when
he was home sick from school
one day. His mother gave him a
copy of Stephen King’s The Dead
Zone, thinking he might like it.
“[Reading it] was the first time
I realized that horror didn’t have
to take place on another planet,”
says Knight. “It can actually take
place anywhere.”
As a child, Knight also enjoyed
that genre of comic books from
the 1950s, which he calls the
“golden era of horror comics.”
“Horror seems to be the one
[genre] I keep coming back to
more and more,” Knight says.
‘Write’
Knight began “seriously writing” in 1994 and ear ned his
writing degree through a correspondence course from the
Longride Writing School in
Portsmith, N.H.
After working as a journalist
and publishing interviews with
local and famous people, including singer/songwriter Richie Havens, Knight became a freelance
writer for the Portsmith Herald
from 1995 to 1997.
Since then, Knight has published nonfiction and shor t
stories.
“I’ve written [a lot of things,]
from erotica to mainstream literar y fiction,” he says. He has
often published them under
pseudonyms.
As a longtime fan of Stephen
King, Knight was delighted to
get a chance in 1996 to attend
a conference at the University
of Maine, where King would be
speaking. “I scraped together literally my last nickel to pay for a
ticket,” Knight recalls.
He also submitted an optional
essay for the conference — one
of only three people to do so.
His essay on his first reading
of a King novel was so well-received that he was allowed to sit
up front behind King during the
conference.
To top it all off, King himself
shared a memorable moment
with Knight as he was leaving
the stage.
“He just looked at me and said,
‘Write.’”
Needless to say, Knight took
this bit of advice to heart.
Alex R. Knight III of Jamaica, author of Victoria’s Place
and Other Tales of Terror.
Blending genres
Knight’s inspirations for the
four stories in Victoria’s Place
come from several dif ferent
sources.
“Each stor y has a dark edge
and strong ties to hor ror,”
Knight says, “but I blend genres
together.”
Turn It Up!
The title piece, a story of vampires and drug dealers, has been
published twice before. Knight
cites the main source of his inspiration for the story as Dean
Koontz’s Strange Highways. After writing ‘Victoria’s Place’, “I
felt like I’d really created something really unique and original,”
he says.
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119 Main Street, Brattleboro 802-258-2211 www.mysteryonmain.com
Weddings Barbecues
Green
Family Gatherings
RESERVE
YOUR TENT
Mountain
Tent
We set up dance floors,
Rentals
portable stages,
tables,
Tent sizes 10’x10’ to 40’x100’
chairs, lighting, portable
toilets and sinks.
The Given Day
Dennis Lehane
The Big O
Declan Burke
The second stor y, a futuristic stor y “Sharp in the Sand,”
was directly inspired by an old
science fiction novel, First on
Mars, a copy of which he found
in an abandoned house. Knight
intends the story to be simply “a
1950s-style romp — no moral or
extraneous message,” he says.
“[Readers should] just have fun
and be entertained.”
In writing a dark treasure-hunting story, “Dragonhunting,” the
only fantasy piece in the collection, Knight admits that he “felt
bad about neglecting fantasy”
and cites J.R.R. Tolkien as the author who inspired his first “baby
steps” outside the horror genre.
This particular story would have
been published in Black Gate, a
magazine of fantasy stories, had
Knight agreed to create a happy
ending.
The last installment, a thoughtprovoking story entitled “Alone,
Truly” describes the final moments of an astronaut in postApocalyptic space.
“It came out of a very dark period in early February,” Knight
says. “I star ted really getting
depressed…I knew I had to do
something to alleviate that depression. [Writing the story] was
a case of literary therapy.”
Knight has two significant writing projects in the making.
He is halfway through writing
a novel, The Morris Room, and
working on Weird Wars, another
collection of short horror stories
all set during wartime.
Knight, currently working toward an undergraduate degree
at Union Institute & University in
Brattleboro in writing and literature, also frequently contributes
political essays to www.strikethe-root.com, an online libertarian journal.
Contact John Evans at
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19
Brattleboro
T IS LATE November, the
sky is dark, the air is cold, it
smells like snow, and I am
in the kitchen thinking about
holidays and the complicated
comforts of simple food.
When I was a small girl, my
relatives from New Jersey would
pile into their cars and drive up
the newly constructed interstate
highways till they reached Vermont Route 14 and then finally
our house and its accompanying
little grocery store, Coutant’s
Country Center.
My great-aunt Anne always
brought stuffed dates. These
were tightly packed in a recycled shallow box with a clear
plastic lid that fit down over
the cardboard base. Nestled
there were row upon row of exotic, dark, thickly fleshed dates
stuffed with walnuts and rolled
in granulated sugar.
How I loved them! I ate too
many of them, I confess, fingers
sticky and covered with telltale
white grains. Each year those
dates soothed the anxiety of that
holiday gathering, filled with its
own particular unspoken difficulties, incomprehensible to me
but ever-present. I could sit in a
big wing chair in the living room
slowly eating dates, and gradually my family would recede. In
its place appeared camels and
a vision of my 10-year-old self
transformed into a mysterious
veiled woman surrounded by
date palms in a faraway oasis.
My mother was a classic
1950s cook whose repertoire
consisted of meatloaf, Duncan
Hines cakes, and Miracle Whip.
Foreign fruit did not play a part
except for some pineapple slices
with ham steak and bananas on
breakfast cereal. The menu of
our Christmas meal was quite
traditional and very American.
But those dates elevated me
from a girl who ate Jello salad to
one whose future might possibly
include consommé.
DATES ARE definitely not food
for a Vermont localvore. They
are grown only in places that are
hot and arid. A small number
are grown in America, but the
top date-producing countries are
Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Five million tons are grown
each year.
Dates are perhaps the world’s
oldest food-producing plant.
Biblical tradition designates
dates as the food God created to
feed Adam and Eve. They were
said to be the favorite fruit of
Mohammed.
In the culture of the Middle
East, the date palm represents
fertility, in part because it grows
so abundantly under harsh conditions. In the Christian world,
date palm fronds are used to
commemorate the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem; thus Palm
The World on
My Plate
CHRISTOpHER
EmILy COuTAnT
Sunday. The leaves of the date
palm are also used as a lulav in
the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
Clearly an ecumenical fruit.
The date is a drupe or stone
fruit, like cherries, almonds,
plums, coffee, and olives. It is
also dioecious, which means
there are separate male and female plants. Only the female
plants produce fruit, and if left
to pollinate naturally, only about
50 percent of the plants will be
female.
So pollination is done by hand,
using one male plant to pollinate up to 100 females. The fruit
is borne on fronds, which hang
down from the trunk of the tree.
The dates themselves hang in
great clusters from these fronds.
Each cluster weighs 20 to 25
pounds and contains about 200
dates. As many as 30 clusters
are produced each year by a single tree. There are 1,500 varieties of dates grown around the
world, but Medjool dates are
very popular, giving high yields
of large, sweet fruit.
Dates are 80 percent sugar
but contain enough potassium,
calcium, and fiber to make them
a healthy as well as delicious
food. They were first brought to
the American continent by Spanish missionaries in the 18th and
early 19th centuries.
Despite their foreign origin,
dates have become completely
assimilated into the American
kitchen. Besides my great-aunt
Anne’s masterpiece, there is the
classic date bar that seems to appear at every elementary school
bake sale.
The rest of the world’s kitchens have been more adventurous. Classic poetry at the height
of the Persian Empire extolled
360 uses for dates. In India,
dates are fried, then soaked in
cream and served with a garnish of chopped pistachios.
North African cuisine embraces
a baked fish stuffed with dates
and ginger.
One of my favorite Spanish tapas is dates stuffed with
chunks of spicy chorizo or salty
Marcona almonds, wrapped
in bacon and broiled. Another
version has them stuffed with
salted peanuts, wrapped in proscuitto, and sautéed in sweet butter. I can attest that these are
crisp and hot, with just the right
amount of salty crunch to encourage a glass of two of something bubbly.
BUT BACK to the holidays and
to me in the wing chair. Not only
did those dates transport me out
of my ordinary childhood, they
also grounded me in it. I could
count on great-aunt Anne bringing those dates every year. And
every year they were exactly the
same, packed in the same little
box and rolled in the same sparkly sugar.
I remember great-aunt
Anne had a big smile and very
crooked teeth. She wasn’t a
good cook. One year when we
traveled to her house for the
holidays, she forgot to take the
little plastic bag of giblets out of
the turkey, and it made an awful
smell that went away only after
my father took the whole roasting pan out to the garage. We sat
down to a dinner of all the “fixings” instead.
But she was proud of her
stuffed dates, famous for them,
and I know my love of them
made her happy. I like to think
of her in that big, dark kitchen
in New Jersey, sitting at the table with a plate of dates, a plate
of walnuts, a plate of sugar. I’m
sure it took her quite a while to
take the stones out and stuff the
walnuts in, then roll them in the
sugar and line them up in those
boxes that once must have held
handkerchiefs or stationery.
UPON SUCH homely treasures
are our memories built. The
connection of food and memory
is ancient and contemporary
and complex. There is the personal memory that connects me
to my childhood and that wing
chair. There is also the larger
collective memory that connects
me to all women for whom the
preparation of sweets and holiday delicacies is an act of love.
What am I making for the holidays? On the counter I have a
Harlow Farm
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P.O. B/82/54%7%34-).34%264s
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My Medjool
date pie
Dough for two-crust pie
1 pound pitted and coarsely chopped Medjool dates
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup fruity red wine
1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier
3/4 cup chopped pecans toasted in a 350-degree oven for 7-10
minutes until fragrant
1 tsp grated orange zest
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Make your favorite recipe for a two-crust pie and line a 9” pie
pan with one round, rolling out and reserving the other for the
top. Refrigerate both while you prepare the filling.
Warm the milk in a small pan, then turn off the heat and soak
the chopped dates in the milk for half an hour.
Mix the cocoa, red wine, Grand Marnier, pecans, orange
zest, and brown sugar in another pan, then simmer slowly
over low heat about 30 minutes until the sauce is reduced and
slightly thick.
Stir every few minutes while sauce simmers so as not to burn
the mixture. Cool slightly, then add to dates, and stir in eggs.
Remove pie dough from refrigerator and pour the filling into
the bottom crust. Cover with top pastry and press edges together in some lovely decorative way. Cut slits in the top crust
for ventilation.
Bake till golden, around 45–50 minutes. Cool on a rack at least
1 hour. Serve with loosely whipped cream and think of Egypt.
bag of Medjool dates from the
Brattleboro Food Co-op. I will
stuff them like great-aunt Anne
would have, as well as make my
own contribution of a pie with
dates and cocoa and pecans that
somehow reminds me of mincemeat. It is a good combination
of homey pie crust and exotic
filling.
I think it would please the
little girl in the wing chair. I
hope you like it. I wish you
a holiday season filled with
good memories.
n
Christopher Emily Coutant
(christopher@commonsnews.
org) writes about food every
other issue.
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Windham Coach and
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LIFE & WORK
20
n Sensei
Reflections
FROM PAGE 1
Putney Road school, where he
serves as the sensei, or teacher
and master of the art form.
Sitting in an office near a glass
case displaying firearms and
combat knives, below a framed
certificate of induction into the
mar tial ar ts hall of fame, Donahue spoke of war and peace,
breath and movement, technique
and etiquette, life and death.
“It began with the television
series Kung Fu,” Donahue recalls. “In the seventies, I was a
big fan of Bruce Lee and Chuck
Norris, but the Kung Fu TV series was different. There was
more emphasis in Kung Fu on
philosophies like Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.
“Somehow, a lot of those lessons seemed to make sense to
me at an early age, and it was
something I was drawn to.”
Although Donahue has always
been inspired by the philosophical and spiritual facets of the pursuit, his initial physical focus was
on the ”sport,” or competitive
martial arts, popularized by such
American pioneers as Ed Parker
and Fred Villari.
As Donahue deepened his
youthful commitment to the
arts, he fell into this work with
energy, training six to seven days
a week, often for hours at a time,
frequently bruising his body in
the tournament arena in a driven
quest for excellence.
By the time he had reached
his late teens, however, Donahue found himself hungering for
something more than what the
competitive ring could offer. He
had awakened a desire to probe
deeper into matters of the spirit
and to encounter a more austere
and traditional form of martial
practice.
While he continued a regimen of training for competition,
as well as periodic tournament
bouts, Donahue sought out, and
began working with, traditionalists. The skills of these new role
models emerged from lineages
devoted to contests where the
outcome was decidedly more
final than a simple trophy or
champion’s belt: the outcome
was usually death.
“There’s a place for competition in the world, life, and martial
arts, but it can get distorted when
the ego gets involved and there’s
a grandeur about the whole competitive thing,” Donahue said.
“Ultimately, all competitive martial arts really is, is a complex
game of tag, or wrestling, if you
will. An arena has rules, an arena
has structure.”
In the traditional disciplines he
learned from his new teachers,
disciplines that emerged from
the bloody battlefields of feudal
Japan and strife-torn Okinawa,
Donahue found a new way of
being in the world. He discovered tools for walking the razor’s
edge of a mindful life, in which
consciousness of the impermanence of individual human life
is never far from the forefront
of thought.
“Traditional martial arts reminds us continually that death
is never far away, and this encourages us to seize the moment,”
Donahue said. “The goal of competitive martial arts is winning,
and the goal of traditional martial arts is to live a more fruitful,
mindful, present life while being
capable of self-protection.”
The dojo today
The Brattleboro School of
Budo, Donahue’s dojo, or school
for students of the martial arts,
today reflects externally the internal amalgamations of Donahue’s lifelong study.
Founded in 1995, and housed
on Putney Road near the Marina,
the dojo’s main study area is a
broad training room, carpeted by
linked sections of blue training
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Students practice their forms at the Brattleboro School of
Budo under the direction of their sensei, Patrick Donahue,
(right).
mats, its perimeter dotted with
equipment, weapons display
cases, as well as artwork, photographs, and calligraphy reflecting people, places, and phrases
important to Donahue.
The far corner of the training hall houses a video station
where students can watch training tapes of evolved instructors
form the world’s various martial
traditions.
Core practices at the school
are aiki budo, an elegant, circular, flowing jiu jitsu form originating among the Samurai classes
in Japan, and Okinawan karate,
a more matter-of-fact linear style
developed in the tough streets
and ports of Okinawa, a prize
piece of naval and shipping real
estate that Donahue refers to as
“Japan’s Hawaii.”
“At first” he remarked, “the
Samurai of Japan were unwilling
to consider Okinawan karate as a
form of true budo. They considered it barbaric. To their way of
thinking, it was perfectly OK to
slice an opponent’s head off with
a sword, but to just punch him in
the face was unacceptable.”
“The etiquette and techniques
of each core tradition are distinctly different,” Donahue expanded. “Here at the school, we
combine the flavor of these two
branches: the formal Japanese
practices and the China-inspired
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techniques of Okinawa.”
Donahue believes that it is crucial for a student to find a core
style that works for his or her
individual body type and proclivities. The school therefore offers
a variety of combat and physical
disciplines, beyond the two core
arts, to help his fledgling martial
artists discover their own unique
paths. Western fencing classes,
tai chi, and cardio kickboxing are
all available.
“There are many dif ferent
mar tial ar ts. There’s no best
style. It’s important that ever y
BRATTLEBORO SCHOOL OF BUDO
student find the art that works,
and the teacher that fits. After
that the essential thing to do is
to simply stick with it.”
entity, Tri State Firearms.
He expounded on the role of
Firearms and the
firearms in the overall pursuit of
martial arts
Martial study.
In the 1500s in Japan, the leg“There are a lot of people out
endar y Samurai warrior Miya- there who have this idea that
moto Musashi penned the classic anything modern in martial arts
Book of Five Rings. It’s a text fa- isn’t good, including guns. I don’t
miliar to every serious student agree. I believe that martial arts
of martial arts. One of Musashi’s needs to grow and be progresclaims relates weapons knowl- sive. Some ‘purists’ think that
edge: “For a warrior to be unfa- firearms have no place in marmiliar with a particular type of tial arts study, but I think this
weapon would seem to be a fail- couldn’t be fur ther from the
ing in his pursuit of the Way.”
tr uth. Weapons have always
Donahue echos Musashi’s sen- changed over time.”
timents when it comes to guns.
“Personally, I’m not ‘pro-gun’,”
Donahue provides firearms he adds. “But I do believe that evsales and instruction to the pub- ery sane, law-abiding citizen has
lic, through a separate business a right to own a firearm.”
Ultimately, Donahue’s interest in firearms, firearm safety,
and the martial application of
guns comes from an underlying
motivation not to lose sight of
the pragmatic aspects of martial
arts. Self-defense, in his view,
is the root physical and psychological basis of the study, in
spite of its potentially far-reaching philosophical and spiritual
implications.
“If you tell any old master that
there are three men with guns
outside his home tr ying to get
in, and you give him the option
of a gun, a wooden staff, or empty
hands, I guarantee you, he’ll
choose the gun.”
“It’s not a win-all, end-all, but
a gun is a tool that can be a
Private rooms also available
first step to self-defense that
doesn’t take an incredibly long
time to learn. A gun has real
practicality.”
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Donahue stresses the importance of understanding that the
study of martial arts is a process
that evolves over time.
“It goes in phases,” he says.
“Someone who does martial arts
for their entire life may start with
a certain set of goals, but through
time, if you stick with it, you find
that those goals change. You
can’t say it’s just one thing.
“If you look at Morihei
Ueshiba, the founder of aikido,
his first dojo was called the ‘hell
dojo,’ and there was lot of pain
distributed there. As he got older,
aikido ended up so entrenched in
principle that if you just started
training with him at that point
you’d be lost in the depths of the
spiritual lessons.”
Donahue speaks meditatively
about his own experience of evolution over time.
“Personally, I’m at a point in
my training where I have to adjust to the first signs of aging in
my body. The body can’t be my
main focus anymore. It has to be
things like mind, and strategy
and so forth. So this is an interesting phase for me.”
There are, however, some
underlying realities that will
always persist in spite of the
fluctuations.
According to Donahue, neither of the two essential components of the overall practice
of martial arts — pragmatic aspects of violence and the high
spiritual aspirations — should
be overvalued.
“When ideals and ethics in
martial arts become more the focus than practical aspects of self
defense, things get distorted,”
Donahue says. “I believe there
has to be a balance. You can
have strong ethics and values
and traditions, but you’ll become
stagnant if you don’t continually
focus on practicality in an openminded way.”
Donahue recalls poignant
words from a teacher in his
past.
“You have to find a way even to
harmonize with the more gruesome aspects of life. My own
sensei used to refer to martial
arts as ‘beautiful violence,’ and
though it may be odd to think
about it, there’s some important
truth to that, even in the case of
some of the more ‘peaceful’ martial arts.”
In spite of, or perhaps because
of, this visceral aspect and its
connection to the darker realities of human life, martial arts
provided the young student Patrick Donahue with a way to find
meaning in his personal experience, which over time became an
entryway into the larger experience of collective humanity.
“My biggest goal in teaching
martial arts is to make my students better than I am, physically,
mentally, emotionally, and spiritually,“ Donahue says. “All good
teachers want their students to
be better than themselves.
“When you teach martial arts,
you pass on what was given to
you, some of which hasn’t been
changed for hundreds or even
thousands of years, and you add
a small contribution of your own
in the process,” he says.
The sensei pauses for a moment, and then concludes.
“It’s definitely a path of
immortality.”
LIFE & WORK
21
Standing firm with — and not
being stood up in — relationships
d
Dummerston
ear Mary Ellen: In
your column I have
read that it is important to establish mutual relationships and not
be involved in one-sided relationships. How and what
are some signs that determine whether the other
party is reciprocating your
affection and efforts?
Reconnecting with old
friends is something we all
know we must do. What are
some methods or ways to
bypass procrastination and
actually go out and get in
touch with these friends?
How do you circumvent
being stood up? Are there
“plan Bs” that we can prepare ourselves for? As this
is usually last minute, how
do we react, or what do we
do when we are stood up?
—Wondering
Dear Wondering: You are
right. I feel that mutual relationships — relationships where
there is give and take, where
both people contribute sort of
equally to the relationship —
are the most fruitful. That said,
I have to admit that I have a
couple of relationships that are
definitely mostly one-way, and
I have decided not to give them
up.
The circumstance in both of
these relationships is that the
other person is a “talker.” They
go on and on and on about
things. I hear all kinds of stories.
Whenever I try to say anything I
am soon interrupted.
So I have given up and accept
that in these relationships I am a
listener. I try to sit back and listen and enjoy it. But I must admit that sometimes I get bored
with all the detail. I know the intimate details of these people’s
lives, and they know little about
me. They really don’t seem to
care about the details of my life.
So why do I stay in these relationships? I stay in one of them
because the other party is a family member. In the other case,
I stay in connection with the
person because it is someone I
knew a long time ago, someone
with whom I have recently reconnected. I do know that they
both care deeply about me; otherwise, I wouldn’t bother.
I have another friend who, in
the past, whenever we got together, used to talk and talk
and talk about the intimate details of her life. One day, I got
up my courage and asked her if
we could divide the time in half
when we get together so each of
us have time to share.
She apologized, thanked me
for bringing this to her attention, and said that sometimes
when she is talking she notices
that people’s “eyes glaze over,”
but she just couldn’t help herself. We tried the half-and-half
method, and it has worked like a
charm. And it has become habit
for her to ask, “What is going on
with you?” and then she listens
to my response.
I feel so much better about
this relationship. Sometime I
mARy
ELLEn
COpELAnd
Commonsense
hope I get up the courage to try
this with the other two people I
have mentioned. But for now I
will let these relationships be as
they are.
If you are in a one-sided relationship, you usually know it. It
just doesn’t feel right. You may
be doing all the listening. You
may always have to pay for anything that comes up when you
are together, like meals or coffee. You may always be the one
making the phone calls, arranging time together, and even doing special favors at the request
of the other person. The person may be insensitive to your
needs.
If there is no long-term association or family connection, these
relationships usually just die out
if you don’t do anything to keep
them going.
You say that reconnecting
with old friends is something
we all must do. I don’t agree
with that. Reconnecting with
old friends is something we can
do if we want to. For instance,
I recently took advantage of an
opportunity to reconnect with
old friends from high school
by going to a reunion. (Notice I
am not telling you which one!)
Many classmates attended, but
many others chose not to go.
Those of us who did go had a
common goal: we wanted to reconnect, and some of us have
made a commitment to stay in
touch over time.
If you decide that reconnecting with old friends is important
to you in your life but you find
yourself procrastinating about
making the contact, you are
not alone. Most people think a
lot about reconnecting with old
friends but a lot fewer people really do it.
If you are committed, I suggest you first make a list of
those people you want to reconnect with. Beside the name of
each person, make a note about
how you feel most comfortable making the initial contact:
i.e., phone, letter, e-mail. If you
don’t have the contact information, make a note about how you
are going to get it (ask a mutual
friend, check online, ask the reunion committee).
Then set a goal. You might
say, “In the next two weeks I
am going to contact at least one
person on the list.” If you are a
computer person, you can set
your computer to remind you in
a week that you have to do this,
or in two weeks. If you are not
into computers, put reminders
on a calendar that you refer to
often. You can promise yourself
a treat when you actually do it,
like having a favorite dessert or
buying yourself a gift.
Once you have made the contact, and you feel like you want
to keep this relationship going,
set up a time to get together. After you have gotten together, before you leave, make a plan for
your next time together so you
always have something on the
calendar. If you need to change
it, that’s OK, but if you treasure
this relationship, don’t cancel it
without another plan.
Use this same system for being in touch with others over
time. Once you have begun this
process and begin realizing the
benefits of reconnection, it will
become easier and easier for
you.
To answer your last question
about being stood up: I would
hope that you were stood up because the other person forgot
or had some emergency at the
last minute. If that was the case,
I would forget about it and make
a plan for the next time together.
If it was intentional, I would not
consider this person my friend
any longer.
It feels really awful when you
are stood up — left waiting at
your house, on the corner, or
in an eating place — and the
time has long past when you
were supposed to meet. There
is not much you can do to avoid
these feelings of being inconvenienced, disappointed, and
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maybe even abandoned.
Try to make the best of the
situation. Depending on the circumstances, use the time right
after you realize you have been
stood up to do something you
really love to do, something that
affirms your worth and supports
your sense of well-being. If you
have a feeling in advance that
you may get stood up, think in
advance of several fun, affirming
activities you can choose to do if
your fears are realized.
I would definitely call the person to check in and see what
happened. Again, from this
call, you will probably know
whether there is a future in
n
this relationship.
Mary Ellen Copeland, a
national mental health educator and author of mental
health recovery resources,
will answer questions through
this column. Responses are
not a substitute for treatment,
professional consultation,
exceptional self-care, and support from family and friends.
Address questions to CommonSense, c/o The Commons,
P.O. Box 1212, Brattleboro,
VT 05302. E-mail questions to
info@commonsnews.org.
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7 pairs Accuride 22” full extension, 100 Lb.
load capacity- $10 a pr. Still in their original
boxes. Call 802-464-3260.
Local organic, pasture-raised chicken
and pork. Call Elizabeth at 254-2531
FOR RENT
other person (neat, health-oriented).
One or two rooms of your own ($300$450). Includes heat and electricity. Lovely
surroundings with large yard and fields,
woods, trails. Call 254-2406. Available
12/22/08.
COME FARM OUR LAND: Want to farm
$3000.HAYING EQUIPMENT HESTON
1010 HYDROSWING MOWER, works,
used this season. $500. HESTON 3700
TEDDER/RAKE $200. (802) 869-3062
or homestead but don’t have land? We
have a small homestead on a lot of land 12
miles from Brattleboro and would like to
collaborate with you. Rolling landscape with
potential for vegetables, pasture, sugaring,
and/or other enterprises. Contact Small
Hands Farm, P.O. Box 6183, Brattleboro,
VT 05302, or tdr3k@yahoo.com.
STAY HEALTHY: with local,organic herbal
Room in farmhouse at working farm in
Ford 3000 gas tr actor: Runs well.
medicine. Buy directly from local herbalist
and save.$6 per ounce. Custom formulas
also available Amy 802-579-9511.
Sign up now and get fresh, local veggies,
May - Nov. New Leaf CSA. Five minutes
from exit 3 in Brattleboro. (802) 254-2531
www.geocities.com/newleafcsa.
Nigerian Dwarf Goat kids for sale. Does
$275, Wethers $90. From a registered,
CAE-free herd. Call Elizabeth 254-2531.
4 rims/tires R185/80 R14 Off 1991 Volvo
good tread $80 802-258-4841
TOO MANY TOMATOES? Never! Charming
shor t story includes fabulous recipe for
homemade spaghetti sauce. Send $2 plus
stamped, self-addressed envelope to:
Colleen’s Collectible Recipes, 23 South
Main St., #111, Brattleboro, VT 05301.
Music Together — music and movement
classes. Ages bir th – 4 years. Rhythmic
games, chants, tonal exploration, vocal play,
instrument play, large and small movement
activities, with special jam session each
week. Help your child grow musically in
these opportune years! Demo a free class
anytime. Info: (802) 275-7478.
Age. Moore Free Library, 23 West Street,
Newfane. Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. Information:
(802) 365-7369.
5-string banjo lessons. Adults and children;
beginning and intermediate. Taught in the
West Dummerston Community Center.
Please call to arrange for one free trial
lesson. 802-258-2454.
DRUM LESSONS available: focusing on
correct posture, rudiments, rhy thmic
structure, tuning, and most importantly —
having fun! All levels and styles. For more
info Benjamin Carr, 802.258.2671.
out of stuck patterns; discover a new way
to deal with the challenges of relationship
through Experiential Focusing. Special offer:
Series of three guided sessions at $40/
session. Facilitated by a Focusing trainer
certified in 1998 by The Focusing Institute
in New York. Call 802-257-3099 or e-mail
genovefa@sover.net.
over 25 years of experience now accepting
new students. Learn rock, latin and jazz in
a fun, relaxed environment. Will teach at
my home or yours. First lesson is free! Call
Henry @ 257-4185.
Deepen in the Season with the gift of
resources
.ONPROlTTHRIFTSTORESRUNBY3%6#!s$ONATIONS4AX$EDUCTABLE
%LLIOT3T"RATTLEBOROs-ON3ATs
2OCKINGHAM3T"ELLOWS&ALLSs-ON&RI3AT
-AIN3T3PRINGlELD-ON3ATTO
WE PICK UP FURNITURE DONATIONS CALL FOR DETAILS
10% OFF WITH THIS AD
Northern Ne w Engl and Poison
Center is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a
AVAILABLE TO CARE for pets, children,
elderly. Days, overnight, weekends. All
requests considered. Mature, experienced.
References. 802-463-2132. Please leave
message for Mirror.
MATH TUTOR: Algebra, geometry, middle
school, college lessons for homeschoolers
and students who need suppor t.
Experienced, compassionate teacher.
Reasonable rates, flexible times. Info: Shana
Frank, 802-722-4359.
Environmentally friendly house and
business cleaning. Bellows Falls, Westminster
West, Saxtons River, Putney, Brattleboro.
Contact Emily Boslun (802) 463- 3111
SUDOKU solution
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Call (802) 254-2168 for more information or more explicit directions, or visit www.theturnpikeroad.com.
workshop, seminar, camp or retreat a
delicious one! On-site catering for groups
large and small. I cook a wide array of
diverse and delectable whole foods, using
fresh local produce whenever possible.
Experienced in meeting a wide range of
dietar y needs and making the most of
your budget, I will work with you to meet
the unique needs of your group. Glowing
references available on request. Contact me
via email, at daliashevin@hotmail.com.
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The studio is located on Turnpike
Road, 1½ miles off Route 9, at the
intersection of MacArthur and
Stark Roads in Marlboro.
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SERVICES
volunteers needed
PAINTING: interior/exterior, restorations
Volunteers needed for store help and
Labrador - OFA - Woodys Haven Kennels.
254-2455.
weekly recycling runs (must have pick-up and
be physically strong) at Experienced Goods
Thrift Shop for Brattleboro Area Hospice.
Hours: Monday - Thursday & Saturday 10-5,
Fridays 10-7. Donations Monday-Saturday;
no donations on Wednesdays. Contact
Dana at 254-5200 x105.
FULL SERVICE TREE CARE: Call All Seasons
Winter farmers’ market, downtown
and revitalizing, best price, reliable, Miles
Levesque, 802-869-4222, Rockingham/
Walpole area.
Stud For Hire: AKC Registered - Yellow
Tree Ser vice at 802-722-3008 for free
estimates for tree removals, pruning and
a full range of tree care service. 30 years
of experience.
MAGICAL ENTERTAINMENT: The Great Scot,
RENAISSANCE ARTIST: Veda Crewe Joseph,
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For this afternoon only, all clay
work will be discounted by one to
two thirds.
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Malcolm Wright will be displaying work from the recent firing of
the Japanese-style woodburning
kiln. There will be a good selection of bowls, vases and platters.
Wright’s work, both glazed and
unglazed, lends itself to food,
flowers and contemplation.
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week at 1-800-222-1222 to answer poison
prevention questions or poison emergency
questions.
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Annual Holiday Sale on Saturday,
December 20, from 1 – 4 P.M.
By Morgan Pielli
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Bardic Magician, will make your party, festival,
organization or special occasion unique and
fun. Will travel, testimonials available. Info:
802-463-1954, greatscot@greatscotmagic.
com, www.greatscotmagic.com.
Are You Hungry?: Let me make your
The Turnpike
Road Pottery
will have
its 37th y
Turpike
Road
Potter
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BREAK THROUGH ACTION BLOCKS: Get
HOUSE FOR RENT — PUTNE Y: New 2
The Good Buy Store
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Kripalu YogaDance! The Thursday night
class (6:30-7:30 pm) runs from December
through March at the Marlboro Elementary
School on Route 9 for men, women and
youth (10 and up.) Drop-ins welcome at
$10; generous session, family & carpool
discounts apply! For additional classes/info,
go to www.kellysalasin.blogspot.com or
contact certified Kripalu Instructor, Kelly
Salasin, (802)245-7724, kel@sover.net.
Good Buy Store
mOnAd
not guess what numbers go where. You will find the answer by
using logic. Solution inverted at the bottom of the page.
PIANO LESSONS: Also acoustic guitar and
Drum Lessons for All Ages: Teacher with
10% OFF WITH THIS AD
By Colin Tedford
23
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INSTRUCTION
Guilford. Rent includes all utilities and wi-fi,
two shared kitchens, two baths, garden
space, too much to list. Porches, hammock,
cows and forest. Miles of hiking trails,
heavenly setting and laid-back atmosphere.
No pets. vttimber@sover.net for details.
$475/mo.
bedroom, 1½ baths single home with large
living room, many windows throughout,
garage with storage space, and a five-star
energy-efficiency rating. Minimum one-year
lease. Part of Putney Commons, a six-home
community, located off Main Street, Putney.
$1,300/month plus heat and electricity. Joan
Benneyan, 254-1246.
COMICS
STORYTIME For Toddlers & Pre-School
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Help wanted
The Commons • December 2008 calligraphy, illumination, illustration, graphic
artist, historical costumes, custom sewing
and design. Samples, pictures, testimonials
available. Info: 802- 463-2054, veda@
renaissance-artist.com, www.renaissanceartist.com.
Brattleboro at the River Garden every
Sat in Dec. Volunteers are needed to help
vendors quickly carry in their goods, tables,
etc. from about 8am-10am. Volunteers will
be accepted weekly. (So, no, you don’t have
to commit to the whole season). megan.
luce@mail.sit.edu.
www.colintedford.com
mImI’S dOnuTS
By Marek Bennett
VERmOnT CHEddAR
By Silvio Graci
www.marekbennett.com
nORTHmInSTER nORTH
By Jade Harmon
WANTED
WANTED: African drummers interested
in collaborating with me to hold a Sanskrit
chanting class. The yoga of devotion. Please
call Amy at 579-9511 to discuss possibilities.
Namaste.
35MM Cameras: If you have come to rely
on your digital camera and don’t know
what to do with your perfectly good 35mm,
The In-Sight Photography Project would
Tarot Card and Astrology Readings love to have it. Insight teaches kids new
for women. The readings promote increased perspectives through the lens of a camera,
clarity, self-awareness, and empowerment teaching communication skills and building
and offer positive, practical advice. $30 for self-esteem. Visit www.insight-photography.
a 20-minute reading. Phone consultations org, then contact Program Director Eric
available MC/VISA. www.ameliashea.com Maxen, In-Sight Photography Project,
603-924-0056.
Inc., 45 Flat Street Suite 1, Brattleboro
VT 05301.
Wellness Consultations — healing
through the use of foods, herbal remedies, Antique / Vintage Bicycles. Single
nutritional supplements and lifes tyle speed. Schwinn, Elgin, Dayton, Colson,
approaches to improve energy, restful sleep etc. 1890’s thru 1950’s Balloon Tire Bikes.
and overall health while reducing pain and Any condition. Make room in your barn or
chronic dis-ease. For more information or basement. Top dollar paid!!! Please Call J.C.
to schedule an appointment, please visit or Jackie 802-365-4297.
www.wisdomofhealing.com or call Cindy
Old guitars, amps, mandolins, basses, hi-fi
at (603) 997-2222.
stuff wanted. Also looking for tube powered
CALLIGRAPHY — Yes, there are thousands hifi equipment. Call 802-257-5835.
of computer-generated fonts and logos,
but nothing compares with the unique minimally heated storage space to
and timeless beauty, the artistic symmetry rent or buy, within walking distance of
achieved through hand-rendered, custom downtown Brattleboro. Please contact
calligraphy. Any thing from invitations, Donna at 802-380-6576,or PO Box 1652,
announcements, and stationery to ads, Brattleboro 05302.
flyers, and posters: give them that personal
touch at reasonable rates. (802) 275-7572
for info or to make an appointment, and
ask for Colleen.
jadecrystal.livejournal.com
BuTTERCup FESTIVAL
By David Troupes
��
CHAIR CANING ( WE AVING) SERVICE .
Restore your woven furniture to its original
beauty and durability! All projects and
patterns considered. Seat, Canoe and Chairback reweaving available with traditional
hand cane, prefabricated cane, woven rush,
and splint. Pick-up and delivery possible in
the greater Brattleboro area. Email Juniper.
vt@gmail.com with the type and size of your
project and I will get back to you promptly
with pricing and a time-frame.
Classified ads are free, as
space allows. Submit to
classifieds@commonsnews.org
or to P.O. Box 1212,
Brattleboro, VT 05302.
www.buttercupfestival.com
vtcheddar@gmail.com
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24
The Brattleboro Food Co-op’s
Brattleboro Food Co-op
OF
THE
Crescent Dragonwagon
Putney, Vermont
Crescent Dragonwagon is not your usual Local Producer of the Month. What she brings to the
table, literally and figuratively, is word, song, and hot delicious cornbread. Crescent is performer and
wordsmith, thoughtful food lover, raconteur, and I’m sure many other equally creative things I have
yet to learn about. From the first moment that we stepped into the intimate space of her kitchen and
home, Crescent welcomed us as treasured guests, making sure that we felt as welcome as if we had
come on a purely social call.
Within seconds of shedding our coats she had begun the magic of cornbread preparation in a
skillet, the Southern way (instructions to be found in her new cookbook The Cornbread Gospels), all
the time regaling us with tales of her life; in Eureka Springs, Arkansas with her late husband Ned where
they were innkeepers; her current life now, occupying the space where once she spent her summers
with her aunt as a child and now with her partner, filmmaker David Koff; her life as a performer; her life
as a vibrant writer of children’s books, novels, poetry and, of course cookbooks. It seems impossible
to describe the economy and yet generosity of movement that allowed her to whip batter and yet
describe the different styles in cornbread preparation from south to north, her hands gesturing like
hummingbirds, moving from narrative to song with equal dexterity.
As we sat down to tea all around us is evidence of a life richly lived: paintings by her immigrant
grandfather, books by her mother and father, drawings by Ned, books by Crescent – including a
slender children’s book she
shows me, Jemima Remembers,
illustrated by Troy Howell, a
fictional remembrance of her
childhood summers in Vermont. She
served us our choice of fragrant
Assam or Russian Caravan tea out
of a delicate bone china tea pot with
intricate coiling dragon spout and
handle that she bought when she
first moved to Eureka Springs when
she was eighteen. Tea preparation,
as with everything else Crescent puts her heart into, is as considered as a dance. She warmed the pot
and the milk, added the tea leaves, one and ¼ teaspoonful for each person and one for the pot ‘as I was
taught by my tea mentor,Virginia Carey, a very feisty elderly lady, now long dead, from my Arkansas
days. She was the first person to invite me to tea. She had porcelain cups so delicate I hesitated before
picking them up: she noticed and leaned forward and said to me, “Now, Crescent, we’ll just be ladies
if it kills us.” We passed around the little sandwiches cut into small squares as we sipped our tea, in
cups that, Crescent tells us, she inherited from Virginia. But the piece de resistance was, naturally, the
cornbread. Hot from the skillet, sliced through the middle like shortcake Crescent served it lavished
with homemade green tomato mincemeat (recipe in her cookbook The Passionate Vegetarian) made
from the fruits of her garden and great white dollops of fresh whipped cream. Heaven.
Taste Crescent Dragonwagon’s
shortcakes and other nibbles from
her cookbooks at the Co-op,
Wednesday, December 10, 2–6.
All books will be on–hand for sale.
coopcalendar
calend
calendar
ar
December 2008
YOGA
Every Wednesday, 12-1 p.m. $3
Prakriti Yoga Studio, 139 Main St., #701
Yoga with Dante
Free to Co-op members
Every Wednesday 5:30–7p.m.
Prakriti Yoga Studio, 139 Main St., #701
Board Meeting
Monday, December 8, 5:15 p.m.
Meet & Greet
Wednesday, November 10, 3-7 p.m.
Meet Crescent Dragonwagon author of the Cornbread Gospels from Putney, Vermont whose books
are for sale at the Co-op
Fair Trade Sampling
Thursday, December 11, 4-7
Story-n-Snack at the Co-op
For kids birth to five and their caregivers
Fridays in December, 10:30-11
The Kids’ Room at the Co-op
Digestive Wellness Through the
Holidays, by Cindy Hebbard
Tuesday, December 9, 6-8 pm
Co-op Community Room, No charge
The stress of the holiday season can initiate digestive distress and complicate digestive conditions
that already exist. Medications may bring temporary relief, but can have side effects. They may
also prevent our body from digesting the food we
consume, preventing absorption and utilization of
vital nutrients. Nutritionally rich foods and safe,
gentle herbs can help the body deal with stress
and effectively restore digestive health. Join us for
an evening of lively discussion. Please pre-register
for this class.
Kids Can Cook–Potato Latkes
Saturday, December 20th 11-12:30
For children ages 7 and up, no cost
Join us for an annual Hanukah tradition. We’ll
make enough latkes to stuff ourselves silly and
have a good cry while doing it (all those onions!).
Class enrollment is limited, sign up at the customer service counter.
Gift Making for Kids
Monday, December 15, 4-5
Tuesday, December 16, 4-5
Wednesday, December 17, 4-5
Thursday, December 18, 4-5
A series of gift-making workshops for children
in grades First through Sixth. Children will be
provided with the materials and instructions to
create a gift to take home and give away for the
holiday season. A small snack will be served during the class. Sign your child up for as many days
as they would like, there is no cost for the class
but pre-registration is required. Please register at
the Co-op, class enrollment is limited! Call Kate at
254-3267 for specific class details.
Monday–Saturday 8-9 • Sunday 9-9 • 2 Main St., Brattleboro,Vermont • 802 257-0236 • www.brattleborofoodcoop.com
The Commons •
A

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