| VOLUME 26 | * * All Arts News On the Web * * | November 24, 2022 |
ArtBits always features a calendar of the goings on of Franklin County artists. Check out these events around Franklin County. Each issue includes the entire text of our weekly newspaper column. STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS
Franklin County's arts and music gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. There are also booked and acoustic Open Mic Nights that feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.
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ST. ALBANS--The week long Festival of Trees ushers in the holiday season with volunteer-run community events to raise funds for local charities and provide free family and cultural entertainment. The activities, holiday Paint & Sip, music, movies at the Welden, story hours, performances at City hall, and more begins with the Downtown Holiday Tree Walk tomorrow and continues through December 7. The Tree Lighting start the season by illuminating city's Christmas tree and Downtown decorations. FESTIVAL OF TREES
Each year, proceeds go to various nonprofit groups in Franklin County. This year, the FOT benefits the Josh Pallotta Fund, dedicated to supporting Veterans and Service Members. Click here or email for the schedule and more info about the events, or to donate a tree.
Vermont's Covid-19 levels remain "low," the state Department of Health reported November 16 but about seven Covid patients are admitted to Vermont hospitals each day. That's an increase from 38 the week before to 49 last week, as overall COVID-19 cases fell to 305 new cases statewide last week, down from 429 the week before. The state reported Franklin County's case load dropped to 53 cases in the 14 days ending Saturday. Four Vermonters have died from the disease in November so far for a pandemic total of 763. PANDEMIC NEWS
Because Vermont relies on self reporting, the number of actual cases is higher than the Department of Health finds. You can report self-test results by following instructions on your test kit to automatically provide your results to your local health department or with the Vermont COVID-19 Self-Test Result Reporting Form. If you test positive, stay home and isolate for five days or longer. You can leave your home on day six if your symptoms have improved and you have had no fever for at least 24 hours without the use of medicine that reduces fevers.
Take an at-home test if you begin having symptoms like fever, sore throat, runny nose, or loss of taste or smell, or at least five days after you come into close contact with someone with COVID-19, or if you plan a get together with people who are at risk of severe disease or may not be up to date on their vaccines. COVID.gov has links for at-home tests at retailers and pharmacies, insurance reimbursement for at-home tests, and the 20,000 no-cost antigen and PCR COVID-19 test sites nationwide. Most major chains including Walgreens and Price Chopper locally should have free N95 masks.
Whether you have contracted and recovered from this coronavirus or haven't yet received a booster or even if you have done it all, immunity has waned for many of us. That lowered resistance leads to infections and increased transmission of the virus. To date, 16% of eligible Vermonters over the age of 12 have gotten the bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine. That's compared to just 4% nationally. Here's my own advice. Get the COVID shot(s), get the booster(s), and take precautions, particularly if you are inside with other people--that still means wearing a mask indoors.
No vaccine is 100% foolproof. Wash your hands. Keep wearing an N95 mask where you can't control the airflow around you until we reach the same herd immunity we have for smallpox and once had but lost for measles because so many parents refused to vaccinate their kids. Bonus: it will also help protect you from pollen, summer colds, and the winter flu.
Call 855.722.7878 or visit healthvermont.gov for more info about the first or second dose and for booster shots of the vaccine. You can also walk-in at Costco, CVS, Hannaford, Price Chopper/Market 32, Rite Aid, Shaw's, Walgreens, or Walmart, or get an appointment with CVS, Kinney Drugs, Walgreens, or UVMMC Outpatient Pharmacies. Providers and pharmacies must give vaccines at no cost to the patient.
JEFFERSONVILLE--Liane Whittum added four new paintings to the Bryan Memorial Gallery 2022 Legacy Collection on Facebook and in the gallery. ART ON THE WALLS
The Bryan Gallery is open daily from 11 - 5 or by appointment. Click here for more info.
SHELDON--The Abbey Early Christmas Show features Busy Hands Crafts by Debbie Paradee on Saturday at 5 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info. ART FOR SALE
ST. ALBANS--The Small Business Saturday Sip & Shop will fill 14th Star Brewing with holiday treasures and crafts at booths of local vendors on Saturday from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
ST. ALBANS--Awaken Yoga & Creative Arts Studio and Jon Young Artworks host the Festival of Trees Holiday Paint Party on Sunday at 3 - 5 p.m. There are only 25 seats available for each class. BYOB. Classes are open to all ages. The cost is $40; $5 of each seat goes to the Josh Pallotta Fund. Click here for tickets and more info. ART YOU CREATE
The Vermont Abenaki Artists Association seeks Abenaki and other Native American folks to take part in the Abenaki Storytelling Project. The VAAA uses arts and storytelling to uplift regional Abenaki voices and perspectives in museum exhibitions, programs, and cultural heritage events. The focus of this year's Storytelling Project is exploring how the pandemic, COVID-19 vaccine-related perceptions, disparities, and access affect the Indigenous population of the region. These insights will help VAAA develop a online and traveling exhibition in 2023. Email or click here to tell your story or for more info. CALL FOR ARTISTS
ST ALBANS--Festival of Trees hosts a free holiday movie screening at the Welden on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The film is officially a secret (to keep it free) but watch for clues. FOT promises it will be one the whole family can enjoy. Find them on Facebook for more info. FILM
ONLINE--Vermont Folklife offers an Introduction to Oral History on Vermont Humanities Zoom on Wednesday at 4 - 5:30 p.m. The free 90-minute Zoom workshop combines discussion of the theories and methods that inform oral history research with practical guidance in oral history interview techniques. Call Richelle Franzoni (802.262.1355) or click here to register and for more info. HUMANITIES
SWANTON--The Abenaki Nation hosts Journaling for Adults with Becky Rupp at the Swanton Free Public Library on Wednesday at 4 p.m. to discover the many creative approaches to journaling. WORKSHOPS & CLASSES
Learn about bullet journals, art journals, food journals, writer's journals, and more. What else can you do with a journal? Write your memoirs. Make lists. Invent your own graphic novel. Watch the clouds. Record your hopes, dreams, and worries. Invent something fantastic (and build it in the library MakerSpace). The class is free but pre-registration is required. Call Faith (802-868-2599) or email to register or email Becky Rupp for more info.
SWANTON--The Swanton Arts council hosts Christmas-Themed Barn Quilts with Marie Speer at the Swanton Free Public Library on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Ms. Speer teaches how to create and paint a barn quilt. The cost is $15 per person and registration is required. Click here for a form to register.
MILTON--Social Sundays continue at the Milton Artists' Guild Art Center with free weekly art classes for families at MAG on the first Sunday of each month at 1 p.m.
Each month offers a different project. Stay for 30 minutes or the whole two hours. Admission is free but registration is required. Click here for free tickets and more info.
Here's my own plan with over one million U.S. deaths and as our precautions wane. I got the COVID and Flu shots, and the booster, and I take precautions because no vaccine is 100% foolproof. I wash my hands. I double mask with a genuine N95 mask (not a bandana and not a "chin strap") and a surgical mask where ever I can't control the airflow. It isn't much of a burden and it mostly protects me from all the people without masks I see in stores and concerts. ON STAGE LIVE
Leftover Friday, November 25
SHELDON--The Abbey Friday Night Music Series continues in the Pub on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
Friday-Saturday, November 25-26
ESSEX JUNCTION--On Tap has two "Leftover" Friday night shows, the Rough Suspects at 5 p.m., followed by Eleven for fresh, new late night music and beads starting at 9 p.m., plus two more shows live on Saturday night with Bob Recupero at 5 p.m., and the Dirty Looks Band starting at 9 p.m. Call 802.878.3309 or email for more info. Click here to reserve a table.
ST. ALBANS--Twiggs often has shows on Friday and Saturday nights. Music starts about 6:30 p.m. Call 802.524.1405 or find them on Facebook for more info. Click here to book a reservation or to visit the art on the walls.
Saturday, November 26
ST. ALBANS--The annual Holiday Tree Lighting starts the holidays with caroling, cider, donuts, a laser light show, and a visit from Mr and Mrs. Claus, all in Taylor Park on Saturday beginning at 5 p.m. The event begins the Festival of Trees and is free and open to the public. Click here for more info.
ENOSBURG--The Logger Rusty Dewees returns to the Opera House at Enosburg Falls on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
"I love Enosburg and have bunches of new jokes since last I played there," Mr. DeWees said.
Admission is $22. Call 802.793.1901 for tickets or get them at the door. Refreshments will be sold and a cash bar will be onsite. Click here for more info.
SOUTH BURLINGTON--Higher Ground hosts their the 17th annual Thanksgiving Musical Extravaganza with two concert classics, Quadra and the Phil Abair Band with Keeghan Nolan and special guests, all in the Ballroom on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Doors at 7.
"Enjoy Thanksgiving with your family, hit the Black Friday sales craziness all day Friday, and then enjoy a frosty beverage and dance off a little bit of turkey with a couple of great bands on Saturday." Admission is $15 in advance or $18 day of show. Click here for tickets and more info.
Sunday, November 27
ST. ALBANS--14th Star continues the Sunday Sessions: Chris & Erica live in The Room on Sunday at 1 - 3 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
ArtBits features a quick weekly peek at library events in and around Franklin County. That popular feature has a page of its own at the Franklin County Bookshelf here on the AAC site at AllArtsCouncil.org/books. We also take an occasional peek at the bookshelf or night stand of the folks you know in and around Franklin County. Those reviews can be found on the ArtBits Bookshelf. ON THE BOOKSHELF
Good News!There are so many events around the region that we miss some of them.Be sure to check these calendars for what's happening near you ... |
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Music!Links to the Summer Music series in Franklin County |
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Dick Harper, Chair
P.O. Box 1
Highgate Springs, VT 05460
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