Posted By Kymelya Sari on Fri, May 11, 2018 at 1:54 PM

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Courtesy of Beny Kiesse

Rodrick (left) and Beny Kiesse

Beny Kiesse describes himself as a producer, singer, dancer, designer, illustrator and model. Recently,  he's earned another title:  community organizer.

On Saturday, May 12, Kiesse will perform alongside his brother Rodrick and other local artists at the Social Club & Lounge in Burlington for an event that he's dubbed "International Affairs Night."

"Many of the performers are talented but don't have any support," explained Beny, whose stage name is BenyGola. He said it took him about a month to organize the event, which will include performances by A2VT and Cadoux Fancy. "The sole purpose of this show," he continued, "is to show everyone that we, indeed, have undiscovered talents within the city."

Tags: Beny Kiesse , Rodrick Kiesse , Congolese Brothers Music , coupé-décalé , A2VT , Cadoux Fancy , Image , Web Only , Video

Posted By Kymelya Sari on Mon, Apr 23, 2018 at 1:10 PM

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Kymelya Sari

Sakela dance rehearsal at the Old North End Community Center

For the past three years since he resettled in Vermont in 2014, Harka Rai was unable to perform ceremonial rituals to celebrate Ubhauli Sakela. On that day, members of the Kirat Rai community ask Mother Nature for healthy crops and protection from natural calamities.

Last week, the octogenarian was at the Old North End Community Center in Burlington to watch a dozen people practice a dance that they'll perform on Saturday, April 28, to mark Ubhauli Sakela. "It's good. This is the way," Rai said of the dance rehearsal.

And Rai will lead the day's rituals, as the local chapter of the Bhutanese Kirat Rai Organization of America hosts the festival in Vermont for the first time.

Tags: Ubhauli Sakela , Bhutanese Kirat Rai Organization of America , Vermont Nepali Heritage Dance , Vermont Folklife Center , Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program , Battery Park , Old North End Community Center , Harka Rai , Bidur Rai , Mon Rai , Birman Rai , Image , Web Only , Video

Posted By Kymelya Sari on Mon, Apr 16, 2018 at 10:51 AM

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Kymelya Sari

From left: Deacon Stan Baker, Rev. Sherry Osborn, Bishop Thomas Ely, Chol Dhoor

This summer might bring a new experience for fourth graders Nyankoor Anyang and Rosa Kuku. Along with their teammates from Chittenden County's Nile Bright Stars Academy soccer team, the students hope to spend a week at Rock Point Camp in Burlington. The entire local Sudanese community is rallying behind them.

Last Saturday, the Sudanese Foundation of Vermont and the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Burlington  organized a fundraiser dinner so that kids from the Sudanese community can attend Rock Point Camp, which is run by the Episcopal Diocese.

Tags: Camp Rock Point , Nile Bright Stars Academy , Sudanese Foundation of Vermont , Cathedral Church of St. Paul , Bishop Thomas Ely , St. James Episcopal Church , Image , Web Only

Posted By Kymelya Sari on Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 9:56 AM

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Kymelya Sari

Workshop attendees, left to right: Rivan Calderin, Alex Haag, Emma Haag, Rick Haag, Liz Mariani

The Burlington-based Young Writers Project held a special Soundcheck event last Friday to address gun violence, youth activism and school safety.

Twice postponed due to inclement weather, the event at the BCA Center consisted of a writing workshop led by slam poets and educators Rajnii Eddins and Denise Casey, as well as an open mic session.

Tags: Young Writers Project , Rajnii Eddins , Denise Casey , Alex Haag , Emma Haag , Isabel Blakenbaker , Ella Staats , Vermont Public Radio , Image , Web Only

Posted By Rachel Elizabeth Jones on Sat, Feb 10, 2018 at 11:21 AM

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Seanlockephotography | Dreamstime.com

Woman with Doritos.

Remember when Kendall Jenner brought the revolution with a can of Pepsi? In an era when big brands seem especially desperate to prove they're woke, PepsiCo has again ignited ridicule, this time for CEO Indra Nooyi's comments in a January 31 interview with Freakonomics.  Speaking with interviewer Stephen J. Dubner, Nooyi described how  PepsiCo has been working to develop female-friendlier versions of their snack-food. Among the considerations, she said, were that women "don’t like to crunch too loudly in public. And they don’t lick their fingers generously and they don’t like to pour the little broken pieces and the flavor into their mouth."

Tags: University of Vermont , Doritos , Image , Web Only

Posted By Kymelya Sari on Sat, Feb 3, 2018 at 6:30 AM

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Kymelya Sari

Deb Reger, host of "Moccasin Tracks," at WRUV

When Deb Reger began her weekly radio show, "Moccasin Tracks," on WRUV 90.1 FM last Tuesday at noon, she reminded her listeners where she was. "We recognize this area where we broadcast from as N'Dakinna, the ancestral homeland of the Abenaki nation," she said from the radio station's studio in the University of Vermont's Davis Center in Burlington.

As the song "Grandmother" by Navajo artist Radmilla Cody played in the background, Reger told listeners that her guest for the week was Grandmother Nancy Andry, an elder who lives in Connecticut and is of Algonquin and Metis heritage.

It took a couple of tries before Reger got through on the phone to her guest. So the seasoned radio host adjusted her playlist to include longer songs. She wasn't too frazzled, though. "It happens," she explained.

Tags: Moccasin Tracks , Deb Reger , Grandmother Nancy Andry , Melody Walker Brook , Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs , WRUV 90.1 FM , Abenaki , N'Dakinna , Black Hawk Singers , Image , Web Only

Posted By Sally Pollak on Sun, Jan 21, 2018 at 11:53 AM

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SALLY POLLAK

Lena Jacobs (left) and Lucy Scott serve soup at Study Hall in Burlington

The other night at Study Hall Collective, a coworking space on College Street in Burlington, about 55 people gathered for an event called Soup. For $5, we each got a bowl of  minestrone soup thick with greens, veggies, pasta and turkey, served with slices of baguette.

For our money,  we also got treated to standup entertainment that was interesting, informative and original. This came in the form of pitches — four of them — presented by people who had conceived of projects and were hoping to fund them with a little cash. Soup money.

Tags: Middlebury College , Study Hall , Soup , Burlington , entrepreneurs , coworking space , start-ups , Image , Web Only

Posted By Elizabeth M. Seyler on Mon, Nov 13, 2017 at 1:36 PM

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Elizabeth M. Seyler

Hemp in a grow tent at Green State Gardener

In 25 years of growing organic veggies, I've never met a plant quite like cannabis. It responds to pruning the same way basil or broccoli does — by sending out multiple shoots that eventually flower. It thrives in nutrient-rich soil with the right amounts of light and water. And it's susceptible to the usual insects and diseases.

But terms like "mother plant," "screen of green," and "cloning" never quite enter the conversation when we're talking tomatoes and peppers.

Those cannabis terms rolled off Jahson Friedman's tongue on Saturday at Green State Gardener's "Free Cultivation Class: Vegging and Flowering" in Burlington. A GSG employee and registered medical cannabis cardholder, Jahson Friedman — who goes just by the name Jahson — is a consummate practitioner of the art and science of nurturing  the flowering plant.

Tags: Cannabeat , Burlington , cannabis , Green State Gardener , cannabis agriculture , CBD , hemp , Image , Web Only

Posted By Kymelya Sari on Tue, Oct 3, 2017 at 4:05 PM

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Courtesy of Old Spokes Home

Chuda Karki (second from left) with colleagues from Old Spokes Home

Every Thursday, Jeremy Kehoe rushes home from his job at Old Spokes Home in Burlington to attend an American Sign Language class organized by Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront. He's been taking ASL lessons since this summer, when the bike shop and nonprofit community center hired Chuda Karki, a deaf Bhutanese man who doesn't speak English, as a technician.

"Chuda had become pretty ingrained in the shop, so I thought it would be much better to be able to communicate with him," said Kehoe. "Once I taught myself the alphabet, it became more and more interesting."

On Tuesday, both Kehoe and Karki were on hand when Donna Curtin, chairperson of the Vermont Governor’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities, presented Laura Jacoby, executive director of Old Spokes Home, with a Spirit of the ADA award.

Tags: Old Spokes Home , Vermont Association of Business , Industry and Rehabilitation , Voc Rehab , Jeremy Kehoe , Chuda Karki , Laura Jacoby , Dan Hock , Donna Curtin , Bill Hudson , Image , Web Only , Video

Posted By Rachel Elizabeth Jones on Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 7:12 PM

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Courtesy of Mamava & Solidarity of Unbridled Labour

"Mamas of Invention" designs by Mamava & Solidarity of Unbridled Labour

Throughout history, few things have been able to turn heads and captivate attention as much as breasts. A current installation of banners hanging above Maglianero coffee shop at 47 Maple Street in Burlington harnesses the power of the secondary sexual feature in a graphic attempt to bring attention to breasts' evolutionary function: feeding babies.

The six banners, which will remain up through September 9, represent the collaboration of Burlington breastfeeding advocacy company Mamava and design firm Solidarity of Unbridled Labour.

Tags: Mamava , South End Art Hop , Michael Jager , Solidarity of Unbridled Labour , breastfeeding , Image , Web Only , Video