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By Liz DiMarco Weinmann What most people notice when they meet Ted Brady, especially on Zoom, are his open-hearted smile and generous laugh, plus his unwavering focus on listening intently before he comments or asks any questions. Brady, 45, is coming up on two years as executive director of Vermont League of Cities and Towns…
By Liz DiMarco Weinmann Long before recently launched Vermont nonprofits began promising to help disengaged youths “feel valued and experience belonging,” there was Mentor Connector. Working with families, educators, caretakers, business leaders, and other nonprofits, Mentor Connector offers a broad variety of programs led by trusted experts who have been helping youths feel valued, nurtured…
Seniors are in a hovel when people don’t shovel. It’s an extraordinary public service that Arwen Turner and Come Alive Outside’s many spirited allies are providing in encouraging seniors to become more active outside in winter, per a recent Herald article. Anyone who has met Arwen Turner knows this exuberant leader could convince even the…
By Liz DiMarco Weinmann Tawdry treachery! Dastardly deeds! Sinful sex! Unrequited love between distraught divas and vain villains! More melodramatic mayhem than in whole seasons of Law & Order and Lifetime Movies! Yes, please! More to the point, “Bravo!” Growing up in an Italian household, I have been listening to opera since I was 5,…
The lyrics of the holiday ballad “Grown-Up Christmas List,†reference fervent hopes for peace and a better world, a poignant contrast to blaring jingles that play on endless repeat. The song, written three decades ago by renowned composer David Foster, speaks to universal humanitarian quests: “No more lives torn apart…That wars would never start…†and…
There is an expansive physical space in Rutland, over 14,000 square feet to be exact, known as “The MINT – Rutland’s Makerspace†— where almost anyone, of any age, interest or skill level, can fulfill the popular mantra to “find your happy place.†Dictionaries define finding your happy place as “…a mental visualization of a…
Giving Tuesday, which falls on Nov. 29, began in New York City in 2012, as a way to intensify awareness of nonprofits, as well as generate gifts and loyalty during the holidays. Today Giving Tuesday is a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of donors. While Giving Tuesday itself has a noble purpose, some…
The region’s civic leaders, community advocates, business owners, nonprofit professionals, and others representing the innumerable talents of the Killington-Rutland community gathered Monday evening, Nov. 14, to celebrate the much-anticipated grand opening of The Hub CoWorks in downtown Rutland. For this former Manhattanite to compare the buzz of anticipation in the 24,000-square-foot office space to that…
The professionals who run our romantic country inns, family-friendly motels, cozy coffee shops, creative restaurants, unique boutiques, state-of-the-art recreational facilities, and striking jewel-box arts venues are excited to welcome guests again, so this is a friendly nudge for all of us to show our appreciation. Although a recent Wall Street Journal article asserts that polite…
Last weekend, the Herald ran a deplorable op-ed, the likes of which I’ve never seen in the four decades I’ve been a Rutland homeowner. The epitome of enmity, the piece denounces Vermont homeowners that the “realish” author classifies as “second,” claiming such Vermonters are responsible for the state’s housing crisis. Rendering meaningless the notion “all…