What a great way to kick off the exciting Brandon Independence Day weekend! 

Yummy barbecue, friends and neighbors and great music. 

Head on over to the bucolic lawns behind the Brandon Inn and relax on a perfect Vermont summer evening!

Friday, July 5^th

The fun begins Friday at the family friendly Street Dance from 5 PM-10 PM with music for all ages by DJ Jam Man Entertainment. There will be food & fun for all in Seminary Park (Just around the corner & up the hill from Town Offices & Town Hall). Off street parking available. FREE shuttles every ½ hr from Rite Aid, Post Office & American Legion.

Saturday, July 6th

The fun moves North to Park Village Complex (Route 7 North of Brandon) with activities and events ALL DAY LONG:

NEW TIME:

The best Independence Day PARADE likely to be found

anywhere in the State starts at 10:00 AM -

Arrive by 9:30 AM- roads will close for the parade.

*Annual Silent Auction - (Gym bldg) Wide variety of items for all ages including day passes to VT attractions, gift baskets, a host of local options for lodging, locally made artwork, gift certificates for restaurants, services and local events & more. Come bid from 9 - 10 AM and 11 AM - 3 PM

*Expanded Free Family Activities following the parade: includes tug of war, 3 legged race splat the rat, flamingo ring toss, pool noodle throw game, giant foot race, traditional ring toss, giant pong, skeeball, plinko, giant kerplunk, dunk tank, bounce house, mini pond fishing game! 11:30 AM - 3 PM

*   Variety of vendors and food 9 AM - 3 PM, 4:30 - 9:30 PM

*   Live music with concert by Moose Crossing following the parade

*   4^th Annual L'il Debbie Swiss Roll eating contest - Open Youth and Adult Divisions! FREE 12:30 PM

*   Karaoke with Tenacious T after the live Music 1:30 PM - 3 PM

*   The Nifty Thrifty Community Supper - (Gym bldg) Buffet BBQ Tickets only $5 & limited to first 100! 5-7PM    

*   DJ Jam Man spinning family favorites 6PM - Fireworks!

* FIREWORKS display at Dusk. Join us for a spectacular display by NorthStar Fireworks!

Plenty of onsite parking (including handicap accessible) PLUS convenient FREE shuttles from downtown running ALL DAY LONG

-Want to be in the Parade? Walk or Ride, ALL groups are welcome Parade Applications available at the Brandon Free Public Library and Brandon Town Offices.

-Want to be a VENDOR? Contact Jean Lamarre 802-247-8179, or [email protected] 

-Businesses with an item to donate to Silent Auction? Contact Bobbie Torstenson 

at [email protected]

-General Questions? Contact Bill Moore [email protected] or 802-247-3635 OR Debbie Boyce [email protected] or 802-345-0056

-LOOKING for VOLUNTEERS! Come join the Team. We need people to help with 2-3 hour shifts from 9 AM-11PM Free T-Shirts for volunteers!

 

Go to the Facebook page for updates: Brandon Independence Day Parade or Brandon Chamber of Commerce website: brandon.org     

click here for a printable version of the weekend events!!

Wasn't last summer a blast? Let's do it all over again! Thanks to your support in 2018, we

enjoyed nine wonderful Wednesday summer evenings of locally-sourced music, popcorn, and,

most importantly, each other's company, on the lawn behind the Brandon Inn. (We did move

into the spacious ballroom for a few rainy-forecast nights, at the request of the musicians.)

2019 brings another great line-up, of some new and some familiar bands. Still every Wednesday

in July and August at 7 PM. The community musicians of the Brandon Town Band will offer a

pre-concert concert at 6 PM on July 10, July 24, and August 7. Such a lot of fun.

Thanks to the generosity of Sarah and Louis Pattis, we'll be out on the expansive and traffic-free

lawn behind the Brandon Inn. The Neshobe River will be lolling along behind us, and the

children will be playing within sight but not earshot. All aspects of the venue are being donated

to our community as they have been since our 2016 relaunch.

Downtown eateries will be open and several will be offering concert-night specials: a great

chance to patronize our local businesses during the construction season. The inn will have onsite

beer and wine for sale at each concert (no BYOB per state liquor regulations). Let the kids

run around while you relax on your lawn chair or picnic blanket. A web page with more

information, including the band line-up, is at brandon.org under "Events".

The Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce will again provide foundation funding, and our

headline sponsors have been approached to contribute as they have so generously in the past.

We are also excited to be raising funds to build a permanent band shell/pavilion to shelter the

bands on those evenings when the forecast is iffy but we concertgoers still want to be outside!

 

So what do you think? Can we count on you, too? Your

support will be recognized on print advertising and at each

concert. Suggested levels of support are:

$25+ Friend $50+ Patron $100+ Sponsor

If you've already donated, many, many thanks!

If not please think about a little something, it all adds up!

By sponsoring live music  for our community, you keep our community alive.

Sincerely,  Stacey Doucette, Seth Hopkins, Bill Moore, Alyssa Zollman, Wade Davis

Brandon Summer Concert Series Committee

Friday July 5 the Brandon Farmers Market will have different hours: 2 to 6pm.  You asked for it, you got it!  

Come support your local Market at Estabrook Park.  

We return to normal hours next week but every first Friday of the next 3 months will be 2 to 6pm.  Questions?  Contact Wendy Cijka at 273-2655 or [email protected]. 

4 pm Estabrook Park, 1 mile north of town on 

Rte 7; preview at 2 pm  Look for the tents.

 

IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND ONE AUCTION THIS SUMMER, MAKE IT THIS  ONE. 

Bring your family and friends to Brandon on Tuesday, July 17th for the 31st  Annual Great Brandon Auction sponsored by the Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce to support our great local businesses and the Community Projects of the Chamber.

 

The Auction offers antiques, collectibles, new merchandise, services, original art, and more; surprises and treasures from attics and barns. Also lots of gift certificates to dozens of state and local businesses incl. restaurants, museums, fuel oil, massages and much more!

 

New merchandise from many local businesses. Other donations include dressers, beds, tools, art, chairs, bookshelves, gardening items. Great items for dorms and apartments. Original art work from many of Brandon's famed artists. Household goods and furnishings including collectibles, books, kitchen gadgets, children's items and box lots. And of course our usual selection of interesting and eclectic items, including items from the Brandon Museum at the Stephen Douglas Birthplace.

AUCTIONEER - BARB WATTERS  

Food Available by Brandon Lions Club

 

Bring your chair, family & friends. Rain or Shine. Under the Tent at Estabrook Park!!

Vermont State Sales Tax of 7% will apply to all purchases excluding gift certificates.

Resellers - You will be required to sign an exemption form - Bring Your Number!

Terms: cash or good check

Donations needed- contact  us today!

 Please think of us as you clean out, perk up and sort out. We'll pick up good quality items. You'll feel great and we'll continue to promote our great little village and help all our friends and neighbors!! 

We appreciate all the support that our community has provided with their donations over the years. 

Call and let us know what you have for us to pick up. It is respectfully requested that donations NOT be: clothes, electronics/appliances, mattresses, metal desks, books/encyclopedias, entertainment centers, exercise equipment, or items that are not in good condition (these items haven't sold over the years and it increases costs of the fundraiser for trash removal)

* Pick ups can be arranged by contacting Brian Coolidge at 345-8961 Bernie at 247-3744 or email  [email protected]

 If you don't have any items to donate, think about purchasing a gift certificate from one of Brandon's great businesses! You'll help out a neighbor and the Chamber!

We already have some very interesting and exciting items for this year's big event.  Watch this newsletter for more info!

Their new address is: 19 Conant Square, Brandon VT. That is the

painted-brick, Federal style house, the rectory for the Episcopal Church, 

at the corner of Rt 7 and Prospect  Street. Great parking in the back.

  Our hours are: 

Monday - 10:00am to 2:00pm

Tuesday - 10:00am to 6:00pm

Wednesday - 10:00am to 2:00pm

Thursday - 10:00am to 6:00pm

Friday - 10:00am to 2:00pm

Saturday - 10:00am to 2:00pm

In short, we stay open late two evenings a week.

Our Mission- Nifty Thrifty's Mission is to help our community as it cultivates its image as a cultural, spiritual, commercial, recreational and educational center. 

We do this by giving to local programs, projects, events,  activities, organizations and  ideas.

We have a Facebook page too.  NIFTY Thrifty Thrift SHOP   

Come visit us and check out our neat new location!

The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival is pleased to  present the riveting drama The Testament. As a prelude to its upcoming 5th Annual Festival,  August 22-25 in Middlebury, MNFF returns to Brandon with a film that was widely  praised at last summer's event.

The Testament , directed by first time Israeli filmmaker Amichai Greenberg, is a  powerful contemporary thriller that brings audiences into the world of Holocaust  deniers and those who seek the truth at any cost. 

The main character, Yoel, a  senior Holocaust researcher, is in the midst of a widely covered legal  battle with  powerful forces in Austria, concerning a brutal massacre of Jews that took place  toward the end of WWII in the village of Lensdorf. An influential family of  industrialists, on whose land the murder took place, is planning to build a real estate  project on the very same land. Yoel suspects that their aim is to bury what transpired  for good, but has trouble finding the conclusive evidence that would stop the project.  While investigating the incident, Yoel examines classified testimonies of Holocaust  survivors, and to his shock and surprise, he finds testimony given by his mother, a  testimony he didn't know existed. In it, she confesses to a substantial secret from  her past.

Conducting a double investigation, both personal and scientific, Yoel is trapped  between walls of silence. As an historian with an unshakeable commitment to the  truth, he decides to continue his investigations even at the cost of ruining his  personal and professional life.

" The Testament is a brilliant film with many emotional touchpoints," noted Lloyd  Komesar, MNFF Producer. "We are drawn into the vortex of history through a  current lens, experiencing the tension, conflict and upheaval that the Holocaust  continues to generate down through the decades."

 

Tickets for The Testament are $12 and available at the Brandon Town Hall door the  evening of the show. Cash or checks only. The event is produced with the  cooperation and help of the Friends of Town Hall.

A Showcase on Summer !!

"Nurture your imagination in alluring surroundings"

The Brandon museum offers advertising space for chamber members in the visitor center which is open every day of the year. Visitors to the area stop in regularly to get information about things to do. If you have a rack card which advertises your business, drop some off at the museum between 11:00 and 4:00 weekdays or at Carr's Gift Shop downtown.

Weekends: Noon - 3pm    $55 with cart

	Line Barral receives her $2019.07 check

The Downtown Brandon Alliance, Brandon Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Brandon are excited to announce our 2018 Grand Prize winner!

Congratulations to Line Barral of Brandon! Line won $2019.07, the 2018 grand prize for our newly launched Buzz Card shopping incentive program! We had over 75 completed cards turned in, which translated to about 500 tickets entered into the drawing. But don't stop making use of your Buzz Card, another $2019.07 will be won by some lucky person at the end of 2019! There will also be many gift certificates from the participating businesses to be won.

This "get out to shop" program helped to bring all our friends and neighbors into our local businesses. Join in the fun, after your purchase of $10.00 or more the clerk will punch your card! After you get 10 punches you get $20 in Brandon Green and entry tickets for the 2019 grand prize!   It's that EASY! 

We hope this incentive will help you make the extra effort to come into town and do your shopping all through the upcoming construction season.

So grab your card, run into your local businesses and get punched!!

We've poured back over $7500.00 into the community with Buzz card redemption and the 2018 grand prize. 

KEEP USING YOUR CARDS!!     List of businesses and their punch design

click here for full details    AND    click here for your game board

Horseback riding lessons, English & Western! Fun, supportive programs ages 4 and up.

Lessons and time with horses can be tailored to your needs.  Experienced and kind youth horses.  Lessons typically are 1.5 hours including riding and grooming time.  

Lessons are given on Saturdays and several weekday evenings.  

We look forward to sharing our horses and farm with you!  

900 Pearl St, Brandon, VT 05733- 802-247-8300 fivemeadowsfarmsllc.com 

1) lighting, 2) heating, cooling and ventilation, 3) insulation, windows and doors, 4) refrigeration and commercial kitchens, 5) renewable energy, 6) appliances, 7) electronics, 8) transportation, 9) agricultural equipment, and 10) industrial and special equipment costs.

(Background on Efficiency Vermont: Founded in 2000 as the nation's first energy efficiency utility, they are Vermont's objective adviser on saving energy through efficiency, which is the most affordable, local fuel source. In every county, they provide Vermonters with technical services and financial support to improve their homes, businesses, and communities. They also train and partner with local providers of efficient goods and services so all Vermonters can easily find the efficiency resources they need.)

The music of The Twangtown Paramours has been called "Sophisticated Americana", and is a hybrid of the Nashville and Austin music scenes. This husband and wife acoustic duo, made up of MaryBeth Zamer and Mike T. Lewis, is known for their well-crafted and award-winning songs, top-notch lead singing, and fine harmonies.  Twangtown Paramours are firm favorites with Brandon Music audiences and return to perform on July 13 ^th at 7:30 pm.

 

During their summer Northeast tour, the duo performed at Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center in Stowe and was featured on WCAX-TV in Burlington.  Nationally, they have performed at recognized venues such as Uncle Calvin's in Dallas, Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, and the Bluebird Café in Nashville. They have opened for Joe Ely, Claire Lynch, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Carrie Newcomer, and Kim & Reggie Harris, among others.

 

MaryBeth has sung professionally since the age of 18. Before moving to Nashville, she  was a fixture of the local music scene in the Washington, D.C. area, where she fronted a  popular bar band for several years. MaryBeth sang background vocals for the band Method Actor featuring Eva Cassidy and after relocating to Nashville, continued her musical career working as a demo singer for local songwriters, as a background vocalist for several new country artists, and worked on her own projects, including serving as lead vocalist for the band Blue Martini.

 

Mike T. Lewis has played guitar for a million and a half years, and bass for about half that time. He sometimes tours with Jimmie Dale Gilmore, playing upright bass. In 1997, Mike had a #1 pop hit in South Korea on the big pop icon, Yangpa's first album called "A Heartbeat Away". It sold over 800,000 units. In April, 2014, Mike signed an administrative publishing deal with Universal for all their Asian territories. Yangpa will release a few more of Mike's songs on her upcoming autumn release. He has also had songs recorded by independent artists in the U.K., Japan, and the U.S. Mike runs a studio in Nashville, producing albums and demos for up-and-coming artists. And if you look very, very, very closely, sometimes you can see him playing a background acting role of songwriter, studio engineer, or roadie on ABC's "Nashville".

 

Concert begins at 7:30pm. Concert tickets are $20. A pre-concert dinner is available for $25. Reservations are required for dinner and recommended for the show.Venue is BYOB.

Call (802) 247-4295 or e-mail [email protected] for reservations or for more information. Brandon Music is located at 62 Country Club Rd. Brandon, VT 05733 www.brandon-music.net

This event is a part of Vermont Arts 2019 celebrating arts in Vermont.

Brandon Music is delighted to welcome Nathan Evans Fox and Jane Kramer to Brandon Music.  Fox and Kramer are both highly regarded singer songwriters from North Carolina who frequently perform individually and with other artists but for this American tour have come together to co-headline a special night of  Americana Folk with a North Carolina overlay.  They will be playing together and separately.

 

Nathan Evans Fox is an Americana songwriter and musician from Glen Alpine, NC. Growing up immersed in country, rock, bluegrass, and hymns, Fox synthesizes his musical roots to produce a sound all his own. He has been writing music, playing fiddle and guitar, and collaborating with other musicians for over ten years. Fox's lyrics confront the difficulties of his cultural and religious heritage with quiet grief, incisive anger, and an unexpected wit. Above all, he is a storyteller whose narrative landscapes are at once familiar and strange. He has written, produced, and performed two full-length albums: Home (2017) and most recently Texas Dust, which was released in April 2018. Fox is based in Atlanta, where he lives with his best friend/wife Elizabeth and their dog Maisie.

 

Asheville-based Jane Kramer was described by a UK music reviewer in Three Chords and the Truth as sounding like she was "...born to gypsy poets and raised by Emmylou Harris." With deep roots in Appalachian musical traditions, culture, and lore, Kramer's songs are introspective and gracefully gritty. Her performances are poignant and engaging, accessible, warm, and often hilarious. Her third album, Valley of The Bones, was released this March 2019.

 

Concert begins at 7:30pm. Concert tickets are $20. A pre-concert dinner is available for $25. Reservations are required for dinner and recommended for the show.Venue is BYOB.

Call (802) 247-4295 or e-mail [email protected] for reservations or for more information. Brandon Music is located at 62 Country Club Rd. Brandon, VT 05733 www.brandon-music.net

This event is a part of Vermont Arts 2019 celebrating arts in Vermont.

The Quintet includes Kirby's arrangements and compositions with Kirby on guitar, Carl Clements on flute and sax, John Funkhouser on piano, Mike Connors on drums and a special guest on bass. 

Guitarist, composer and educator Steven Kirby is known for performing exciting, melodic, lyrical and expressive mainstream and contemporary jazz.   Described as "richly textured, multi-layered, ebullient and lyrical jazz", he writes original compositions and arrangements, as well as creative arrangements of standard tunes.  The Boston Globe says "Kirby plays and writes from inside the music, putting melody and feeling first."

Jazz Times says Kirby's "creative music - frequently beautiful and always well played - results from personal expression that transcends mere imitation". His most recent album," Illuminations" was an Editor's Pick earlier last year in the prestigious jazz publication Downbeat: "Steven Kirby, a guitarist of rippling technique and a poetic mind, has developed a modern jazz guitar style that bridges the angular lyricism of Pat Metheny and the painterly asceticism of Jim Hall."

His music has been played on over 100 radio stations in the US and internationally including features on NPR's 'Here and Now', 'Jazz with Bob Parlocha' and 'Eric in the Evening'. An Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music, Kirby's jazz compositions have won awards in the International Songwriting Competition, the Billboard Song Contest and Downbeat.

For lovers of jazz music this is a performance that should not be missed.

Tickets are $20 with a pre-concert dinner available for $25. Reservations are required for dinner and recommended for the show. Venue is BYOB. Call (802) 247-4295 or e-mail us for reservations or more information. 

 

The Friends of the Brandon Free Public Library used book sale opens for the season on Wednesday, May 15 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., every Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. until mid-October. This is probably the best organized and longest running used book sale in Vermont. In the basement of the Library you will find an amazing selection of fiction and non-fiction books for all ages at very low prices. 

 

Books are arranged by type and subject. There is both hard-cover and paperback fiction, non-fiction of every description, and books for children, toddlers, and young adults. There are special sections devoted to gardening, cooking, how-to and do-it-yourself projects. 

All of the income from this sale is given to the library by the Friends for the purchase of books and other materials and to help underwrite special projects for the Library, like the Summer Children's Program in July. The Book Sale and the Holiday Auction are the primary sources for funding for these programs. The construction has impacted our sales and we depend on our neighbors and friends for their support for all the wonderful things that happen at our Library.

 

We can use more volunteers to fully staff this important fundraising project. If you have time Wednesday evenings or on Friday or Saturday, sign up to work. No experience is necessary and you may volunteer for as many or as few days as you'd like or you may sign up as a substitute. Training will be provided. Volunteer and find out what the 'oldest, continuing, permanent, used book sale in Vermont' is all about. Call the Library at 247-8230 for more information or to volunteer. Bring a friend if you'd like to work with a 'buddy'.

Shattuck's work is synonymous with experimentation, technique, mastery of the medium and messaging.  Her artistry reveals an acute awareness and sensitivity to the complexities and fragility of life and her passion as an avid environmentalist. Over several years Shattuck has blended living and experiencing life and loss and her concern for the environment with her art and allowed her cumulative experiences to shape her work. 

 

Shattuck exhibits her work nationally in numerous juried exhibitions including Delta National Small Prints, Parkside National Small Prints and Printwork '98, 2K at Barrett Art Gallery in Poughkeepsie. She has received numerous awards including the University of Texas, Purchase award, National Works on Paper and her books can be seen in numerous university Special Book Collections. She teaches Book Art workshops in New England and Florida.

The Compass Music and Arts Center is located in Park Village at 333 Jones Drive, Brandon VT, 05733 (Park Village used to be the Brandon Training School, located 1.5 miles north of downtown Brandon off Arnold District Rd.). www.cmacvt.org

  A variety of exhibit spaces are available, giving flexibility to artists for the scope of their vision and needs.

  Further information, including a sample exhibit contract and submission guidelines, can be found at www.cmacvt.org.

  Compass is a multi-faceted arts center with many components drawing visitors through its doors, including artist studios, gift shops, a consignment shop, music, a café, and a variety of events. Located in Brandon, Vermont it is also in the heart of a pulsing arts community.

  The Compass Music and Arts Center is located in Park Village at 333 Jones Drive, Brandon VT, 05733 (Park Village used to be the Brandon Training School, located 1.5 miles north of downtown Brandon off Arnold District Rd.).

The Divine Art Recordings Group at Compass

Many people still don't realize that Brandon is home to one of the busiest and critically praised classical music record companies. 

 We moved our headquarters from England in 2009 and  now have our offices and a dedicated CD store at the Compass Music & Arts Center, in Park Village.  We specialize in contemporary music and rediscovered  masterpieces - not the same old pieces that everyone else records..... we have just completed a massive ten -CD  series for  Russia's greatest living composer  Artyomov, a similar series for Cambridge MA organ composer Carson Cooman and are signing superb artists from around the world Including (this year already) USA, UK, France, Australia, Malta and Iran.  Our recordings are available at all CD and digital /streaming sites but you can come to our store, discuss and sample over 500 titles of music from the 15 ^th to 21 ^st century.  

We are open Monday-Saturday 10-5 at 333 Jones Drive, Brandon. 247-4295. 

Please note we do NOT have a local recording studio.

 Approximately 600 sq.ft. within the Downtown Commercial District of Brandon at 22 park Street (formerly NFP Insurance), next to the Brandon Inn. 

Be part of Brandon's new streetscape right across from the newly configured Central Park and Monument Park.

WORK * ART * PASSION

  

Calling all artists in all disciplines! Have you ever dreamed of creating and working in a supportive environment with other artists? A place where there is space for artists to create, display and sell their work, provide classes, meet with colleagues and have access to a café and other amenities.  Compass Music and Arts Center is such a place. For more information and to schedule a visit, call Edna Sutton at 802-247-4295.  Very reasonable rates starting from $170 per month inclusive of all utilities.  Short leases available.

Compass Music and Arts Center 333 Jones Drive, Park Village, Brandon, VT.

Get on board the successful Gateways

to Adventure promotion!

You can sponsor a page at any time,

for one full year, for only $25.00

Sponsor ALL eleven pages

for only $200.00  

 

Gateways to Adventure        Click here for a printable PDF   Sponsorship form

Other products still offered through VACE include, Dental and Vision packages.

M ore information on all of these products can be found at www.vaceinsurance.com

Or contact the Richards Group (802) 775-2503