The Wellness Issue 2021
How Four Vermont Health Clubs Are Adapting and Faring in the Pandemic; A COVID-19 Vaccine Volunteer Explains Why He Got a Shot in the Arm; Local Experts Discuss the Value of Hope
Obituary: Jean Oliver Koch, 1937‑2021
Active community member loved skiing, tennis, singing and gardening
Obituary: Stephen T. McKenney, 1971‑2020
Army veteran and hospital employee dedicated his life to serving others
The Magnificent 7: Must See, Must Do, January 21 to 27
Even when dealing with a global health crisis and social unrest, Vermonters continue to connect, learn and have a good time. We’ve compiled seven of this week’s must-do events, including a livestream concert by Vermont songsters such as Chad Hollister and Francesca Blanchard to benefit the New England Musicians Relief Fund.
Obituary: Paul Morris Sprayregen, 1949‑2020
Founder of Investors Corporation of Vermont helped change the landscape of the Northeast and Palm Beach
A Winter Diving Expedition Goes Wrong in Shivery Scandinavian Thriller ‘Breaking Surface’
Our streaming entertainment options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. This week, I watched the 2020 Swedish/Norwegian survival thriller Breaking Surface,…
Vermont House Vote on the U.S. Capitol Riot Was Anonymous
The day after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol seeking to overturn the results of the presidential election, outraged Vermont lawmakers weighed in on the…
A Stop Along a Poultney Rail Trail Now Features Free Hot Drinks
After months of watching the coronavirus pandemic squeeze the life out of downtown Poultney, Carl Diethelm and Danny Lang decided to enliven their community. The…
Former Burlington Principal Blames School Board for His Abrupt Departure
Shortly after Burlington High School interim principal Noel Green suddenly resigned on January 8, both the superintendent and the school board expressed shock about his…
Pressured to Return to Class, Teachers Begin Checking State’s COVID-19 Math
More than most, teachers tend to respect the rules, and Amy Cudney is no exception. The J.J. Flynn Elementary School librarian dutifully canceled her Thanksgiving…
From the Publisher: Variations on a Theme
Seven Days has published many “theme issues” over the years. Devoting the entire paper to a single, usually seasonal subject has turned up some great…
What’s the Best Way to Break Things Off With My Sugar Daddy?
Dear Reverend, At the beginning of the pandemic, I was suddenly unemployed and wondering how I was going to make rent. I signed up for…
How Does a Choir Keep Going — Safely — in a Pandemic?
In December, Jeffrey Buettner, associate professor of music and director of choral activities at Middlebury College, won a Virtue Family Exceptional Service Award. His achievement?…
Free Will Astrology (1/20/21)
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “My business is circumference,” wrote poet Emily Dickinson in a letter to her mentor. What did she mean by that? “Circumference”…
Quick Lit: ‘Street of Storytellers’ by Doug Wilhelm
Teen angst is universal. Street of Storytellers, a 2019 young adult novel by Doug Wilhelm, is populated with young people facing problems — some interpersonal…
Letters to the Editor (1/20/21)
Gram Fan Thank you for reinstating the Fair Game column and giving Dave Gram a public voice. I’ve been in withdrawal since his sudden departure…
A COVID-19 Vaccine Volunteer Explains Why He Got a Shot in the Arm
Joshua Schupp-Star can give you many reasons why he volunteered to join the clinical trial of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine at the University of Vermont’s…
Vermont Author Aaron Hoopes Has a Prescription for Stressful Times: Going Back to Nature
If there’s a silver lining to be found in the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s that Vermonters are spending more time outdoors — and…
Why Are Medical Cannabis Patients Charged a Fee on Every Purchase?
Back in the days of prohibition — cannabis, not booze — a half-gram nickel bag would cost you five bucks on the black market, usually…
Bottom Line: In Winooski, Candace Jennifer Taylor Creates a ‘Wholeness Center’ for BIPOC Healing
Candace Jennifer Taylor’s email autoreply might come as a surprise to those used to the breakneck speed of online communication. “Both my life and the…
The Seven Days Wellness Issue, 2021
Last year, the cover of Seven Days’ annual Wellness Issue, published on January 15, 2020, depicted a young woman in an 802 tank top sitting…
How Four Vermont Health Clubs Are Adapting and Faring in the Pandemic
For many of us, the dawn of a new year is a time to clean up our acts. Temporary teetotalers drive their friends to drink,…
Soundbites: Help Is On the Way for Vermont Venues
Much in the same way a political reporter might not be the most qualified person to write an album review or preview a festival, I’m…
Vermont Experts Discuss the Value of Hope
In her 1891 poem “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers,” Emily Dickinson compared hope to a bird. The bird “perches in the soul,” she wrote,…
The Young Love Scene, ‘Bloodstained Man’
(Self-released, digital) On the cover of Bloodstained Man, the debut EP of Burlington rock singer-songwriter Gordon Goldsmith’s project the Young Love Scene, the artist stands…
In a New Graphic Novella, dug Nap Examines Friendship
Anyone who has frequented Burlington City Art’s Summer Artist Market would recognize dug Nap. Tall and rangy, with short, salt-and-pepper hair and serious large-framed glasses,…
The Wet Ones!, ‘The Monster of Jungle Island’
(Self-released, digital) Every couple of years or so, the National Assessment of Educational Progress — aka “America’s Report Card” — surveys America’s students. And every…
Wild West Pawlet: Shooting Range’s Neighbors Plead for Government Help — and Get None
We Vermonters have been telling ourselves an unhappy story that nevertheless delivers a twinge of satisfaction: If the rest of the nation had Vermont’s per…
Tacos, Enchiladas and Tequila Cocktails To-Go at the Big Spruce in Richmond
Richmond wasn’t exactly a hot spot of activity on a winter night even before the pandemic. On the recent 12-degree Friday evening when I arrived…
Food and Wellness Go Together for UVM Medical Center Executive Chef R. Leah Pryor
R. Leah Pryor had just graduated from high school when she got her first cooking job: making pasta at a farm-to-table restaurant 45 minutes north of New York City. It was the early 1990s, and Pryor had recently returned to the U.S. after living in Europe. “I just was this kind of crazy 18-year-old. I…
Red Panda Restaurant Founders Expand to Milton, Essex and Colchester
Buoyed by the reception to their downtown Burlington restaurant Red Panda, business partners Dan Raut and Lakpa Sherpa have been working with fellow Nepali Americans…
New Shop Wilder Wines to Bring Natural Wines to Downtown Burlington
Burlington’s bubbling wine scene is about to get a little wilder. Wilder Wines, a small bottle shop that will exclusively sell natural wines, will open…
