April 5, 2012
Poetry’s Fierce Urgency: PoemCity Comes to Montpelier
Vermont Poet Laureate Sydney Lea (see poem below) gave a public reading and discussion at the Vermont State House on Sunday, April 1. Lea’s appearance was the first of more than 30 separate public offerings—at least one on each day of the month—as part of PoemCity 2012, this year’s Montpelier-wide local celebration of National Poetry […]
Heard on the Street, 4.5.12
Capital Home-Buying Seminar Have you considered buying a house? Montpelier resident Edmar Mendizabel will lead a home-buying workshop on Saturday, April 7, from 11 a.m. to noon downstairs at the Savoy Theater, 26 Main Street. He says, “We have experienced a noticeable decline in first-home buying in the capital, and I believe that home-buying seminars […]
Len Irving: A Poet For the People
by Marsha Barber As we shared a plate of french fries at the Wayside Restaurant, 87-year-old Scottish poet Leonard Irving said, “Poetry to me is not about scholastics. Poetry should go out to the people.” Irving, with his sparkling blue eyes full of mischief and and an innate intelligence, his unruly mane of white hair, […]
Running a Business: What Does It Take?
by Bob Nuner What’s it like to run a business? Montpelier Alive’s executive director, Phayvanh Luekhamhan, has initiated a series to introduce aspects of running a business. With participation from volunteers from the Montpelier business community, Back Office is a get-acquainted series that meets on the third Wednesday of each month from 5:30 to 7 […]
Inspired by Integrity; Thriving Under Pressure: How John Hollar’s Oklahoma Roots Led Him to the Montpelier Mayorship
by Nat Frothingham Montpelier’s newly elected mayor, John Hollar, has deep roots in Oklahoma. He grew up in Ponca City, named after the Ponca Indian tribe, a community of some 30,000 people in the north-central part of the state. Hollar’s grandparents were in the land run of 1893, when thousands of white settlers took off […]
American Legion Commander Visits Montpelier
by Nat Frothingham National Commander of the American Legion Fang A. Wong visited Montpelier on March 29 and made an appearance at the Vermont State House before the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs. Wong is on a nationwide tour of American Legion posts, and Vermont is the 31st state he has visited […]
Poster Girl: Two Reviews
A Compelling Voice by Terri Kneen Poster Girl is a 2011 Oscar-nominated short documentary that chronicles two years of Robynn Murray’s life. As a veteran of the war in Iraq, Robynn fights the red tape keeping her from her disability benefits while she struggles with the horrifying effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Robynn went […]
Stories: Paintings of Places and Faces by Ed Epstein at CVMC
by Kate Mueller After a 40-year hiatus, Ed Epstein, known better, perhaps, for his adroit drawings and illustrations and his Dynamite woodstoves, has returned to painting. Stories, the show currently hanging in the lobby at Central Vermont Medical Center, is a portion of his output—impressive in both quantity and quality—since he picked up the brush […]
Pacem Becomes Full-Time Independent High School
by Lexi Shear The former Pacem Learning Community in Montpelier has received formal recognition from the Vermont Department of Education as an independent high school. Now called Pacem School and Homeschool Center, the organization is accepting applications for its fall 2012 program. Pacem’s goal is to create a joyful, mindful, imaginative learning community. Its educational […]
Notes From the Hill: Number Crunching
by Thomas C. Greene When I worked at Norwich University in the 1980s, there was a story that was told about General Harmon, one of Norwich’s legendary residents. The story—undoubtedly apocryphal—went like this: the town leaders expressed to General Harmon their view that Norwich was not doing enough for the town of Northfield. Harmon, in […]