By Bruce Bouchard Editor’s note: Bruce Bouchard is former executive director of The Paramount Theatre.  The Middlebury New Filmmaker Festival (MNFF)celebrated its 10th birthday last week. The festival has grown into a formidable venture and is now recognized as a first-rate small festival. The festival welcomed Oliver Stone this past week, a great “get” for…

Saturday-Sunday, Aug.31-Sept. 1—WEST HAVEN— Since 2018, the best sportsman and modified drivers from all over the Northeast have gathered in West Haven in September for the biggest crate sportsman modified race in the country, the Vermont 200.  This young but historic event will run for the seventh time this year. It's a two-day event of…

Friday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m.—PITTSFORD— This Friday at Pittsford Village Farm, 42 Elm St. in Pittsford, the Vermont Symphony String Quartet perform a Sunset Serenade. From Elgar to Gershwin and Bach to the Beatles, this end-of-the-season program celebrates the beauty of a Vermont summer in music! This is a free event produced in collaboration…

Thursday, Aug. 29 at 6:30 p.m.—BARNARD—Feast and Field summer music series continues its summer concert lineup every Thursday evening through Sept. 26 at Fable Farm, 1525 Royalton Turnpike, in Barnard. This week, it welcomes Pointe Noire, a Cajun band which finds its rhythm deeply seated in Southwest Louisiana, where many of its members have studied…

WED 8/28 BOMOSEEN6 p.m. Lakehouse Pub & Grille – Shakey PinesBRANDON6 p.m. Brandon Inn (Behind) – Music on the Riverbend with Red Hot JubaLUDLOW6 p.m. Off the Rails – Learn to Line DancePOULTNEY7 p.m. Poultney Pub - Open Mic with Danny LangQUECHEE6 p.m. Public House Pub – Chris PalluttoRUTLAND7 p.m. Main Street Park – Seven…

Sunday Sept. 1 at Noon— Chandler Center for the Arts, Chandler Center for the Arts, 71 N.Main St., Randolph will host the 32nd annual New World Festival, Vermont’s premier Celtic and Quebecois music and dance festival.  Main St. is shut down each Labor Day Sunday performances are held on four stages, featuring over a dozen…

Saturday, Sept. 7 at 11 a.m.—BARNARD— The second annual Imagine Zero Music Festival will take place Saturday at Fable Farm Farm, 22 Orchard Hill Road in Barnard from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. at Fable Farm in Barnard with a unique vision for a future free of carbon emissions and single use waste. The festival organizers have…

Saturday, Aug. 31 and Sunday, Sept.1, from 2-5 p.m. —PLYMOUTH—During Labor Day Weekend the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth Notch, comes alive with authentic Folk and Blues music with the Plymouth Folk and Blues Festival 2024 The Festival will take place at the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site, 3780 VT-100A, Plymouth.  Last…

Rutland High School solidifies formal policy, Woodstock High School considers bell-to-bell ban Staff report There’s a growing movement across the county for schools, particularly high schools, to go phone free. The issue of cellphone distraction is universal and problematic in a classroom setting. While the problem is not a new, formulating a campus-wide policy restricting…

LUDLOW—With the start of the 2024-2025 school year on Wednesday, Aug. 28, the Expeditionary School at Black River (ESBR) has announced several new updates.  There’ll be a new head of school, Michael Kell, at the helm this year to guide the vision of ESBR. Kell has an extensive educational background and he is always eager…

By Victoria Gaither PITTSFORD—When Lothrop Elementary School students return to the classrooms on Wednesday, Aug. 28, administrators and teachers have been busy as bees in the summer preparing for the big day. “As soon as students leave, we have a schedule for the summer of what needs to get done,” explained Principal Stacey Farrington. This…

Staff report Otter Valley Union Middle and High School in Leicester is one of a few Vermont schools that has had to scramble ahead of the first day of school — rearranging classes, or in some cases have delaying the start of the school year begins due to mold. Otter Valley Union Middle and High…

Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 24-25—LUDLOW—The Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce will host the fourth annual Best of Vermont Summer Festival on Saturday, Aug. 24, from noon-7 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 25, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The event will take place at Okemo Field (Bixby Field) at the intersection of Route 103 & Bixby Road in…

Saturday, Aug. 24—BARNARD— Block off your calendar for 7 hours of fun on Saturday as the Barnard Street Dance owns the day! This beloved, family-friendly event is in its third year of revival by BarnArts, and takes place primarily around Barnard Town Hall from 2-9 p.m. Local food vendors and a lineup of local bands…

Saturday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m.—LUDLOW—Friends of Ludlow Auditorium (FOLA) will celebrate the return of its annual Classic Silent Festival on Saturday, at 7 p.m. in the Heald Auditorium at Ludlow Town Hall. To make this a very special event, the main feature will be the classic comedy, “The Last Laugh”, which was first screened…