Open Studio Weekend, statewide, is a celebration of the creative process and the workspaces of Vermont artists. Fall is prime time to explore Vermont roads, seeking out the many visual artists living in our area. The Vermont Crafts Council (VCC) prepares the comprehensive map/booklets that list the sites of and directions to 108 craftspeople, artists, and galleries.

 The Brandon Artists Guild (the BAG) is a main information center where a touring visitor, besides obtaining the VCC map, can enjoy the artwork of 53 artists: painters, sculptors, jewelers, ceramic and stained-glass artists, furniture makers and other woodworkers, as well as a featured-artist exhibition, in this instance Warren Kimble's exciting new wood assemblages.

 Using the Guild as a jump-off point, one can move on to other art venues in town and take in the fine shops and restaurants of Brandon.

 Nearby artist studios on the VCC map:

Susan Smith-Hunter's studio will feature new hand-built wall planters, eclectic ceramic sculpture, and some experimental warm glass plaques. Her mosaics are of the pique-assiette type -- using broken crockery to form patterns and designs. She reports that she'll be working on a one-of-a-kind wall planter, in order to explain her process. The reclaiming of dry clay will be in the works, and "there is probability of a greeting cat."

 In walking distance between Smith-Hunter and the Guild, Joan Curtis's art fills five rooms of her house including two studio spaces. Art-in-process for a future show can be seen, and Curtis is also glad to show visitors how she makes small papier-mache figures -- being prepared for the holiday season.

 Directly north of town on Rte 7, Medana Gabbard, well-known for her colorful folk art paintings, will show a selection of glass mosaics depicting shimmering Vermont autumn trees. She says, "I am looking forward to Open Studio Weekend to meet new people and share my newest inspirations from my Vermont surroundings." Gabbard's gallery space includes contemporary art and metal sculpture by artist Edward Galda.

 An extra bonus: Devotees of the statewide self-tour are fortunate to find in Brandon two superb art shows: Warren Kimble's House of Cards (mentioned above; brandonartistsguild.org); and, at Compass Music & Arts Center, ArtFULL Vermont -- a multi-media group exhibit, displaying the work of sixteen artists from other areas of Vermont (cmacvt.org/exhibits/ArtFULLVermont.htm).

 Again, Open Studio Weekend starts with a stop at the BAG, for the statewide Vermont Crafts Council map. Brandon Artists Guild, 7 Center Street, Brandon, VT. Hours: Daily: 10 to 5. (802 247 4956; brandonartistsguild.org).

Open Studio Weekend, Fall 2014, October 4^th and 5^th (Saturday and Sunday, 10 AM to 5 PM.)

Daniel Murphy Auctions- Daniel Murphy is a licensed Auctioneer, handling public auctions, estate sales & auctions, antiques, tag sales, glass, ceramics, collectables, art, sports cards & memorabilia, pop culture, records and more. 

The Compass Music and Arts Center is currently accepting work for their "Art of Giving - : -  The Giving of Art" holiday show, to be held from November 7, 2014 through January 11, 2015.

 The Holiday season is around the corner and everyone will be out looking for that perfect gift. We're looking for decorative, functional, festive, and/or simply attractive works of art, accessories, holiday ornaments and other fun gifts. Everything from tree ornaments, holiday decorations, small works of art, jewelry, scarves and more can be exhibited.

All work is accepted if it fits the following criteria: 

• All work must be for sale and is not to exceed the price tag of $100.

• 2D works must be framed and wired, ready to hang and come with labels stating the Artist, Title, Medium and Price. All display accessories (tables, pedestals, cabinets, racks, etc) for 3D works must be supplied by the artist. Each piece must be labeled with the artist's Name, Title (if appropriate), Medium and Price.  

For all 2D and 3D works in all media, there is an entry fee of $5 per piece submitted with a minimum requirement of 3 pieces in order to best show your work.

 For ornaments, there is a $10 fee for up to 30 ornaments. At least half the ornaments entered will be on  display at any one time. Display space in the form of a tree or other, will be provided for each contributing artist.Ornaments must be ready to hang with appropriate wire, hook, or ribbon with a price tag on each.  

 Please contact us if you wish to discuss an alternate arrangement which better suits your type of work.

 The commission rate on sold work is 35%.

 Space is limited. Your intention to participate must be made by October 6 with the submission form and materials submitted, at the very latest by, October 20. Artwork is to be delivered by November 3. Submission forms are available online at www.cmacvt.org. Contact us at 802-247-4295 or info@cmacvt.org for more information or to state your intention to participate.

The Compass Music and Arts Center is open seven days a week from 10-5pm and is located in Park Village at 333 Jones Dr. Brandon VT, 05733 (Park Village used to be the Brandon Training School, located 1.5 miles north of downtown Brandon off of Arnold District Rd.) .

Beginning piano lessons are now being offered at Compass Music and Arts Center. Instructor, Kim Hewitt has taught piano for the past ten years in Bristol, Vermont and currently teaches at Otter Valley Union High School.

The lessons, which are open to children and adults, will be offered Monday and Thursday from 3:30-5:00pm, starting October 6th. $15 for a half hour lesson. Call Kim at 802-989-1694 to schedule lessons or for further details.

The Compass Music and Arts Center is open seven days a week from 10-5pm and is located at Park Village, 333 Jones Dr. Brandon VT, 05733 (Park Village used to be the Brandon Training School, located 1.5 miles north of downtown Brandon off of Arnold District Rd.). www.cmacvt.org

The music of the Twangtown Paramours has been called "Sophisticated Americana", and is a hybrid of the Nashville and Austin music scenes.  This acoustic duo is known for their well-crafted and award-winning songs, top-notch lead singing, and fine harmonies.  They have performed at nationally recognized venues such as Uncle Calvin's in Dallas, Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, and the Bluebird Café in Nashville.

 Lilli Kuzma, host of "Folk Festival" on WDCB Public Radio (Glen Ellyn/Chicago) has this to say about 'The Promise of Friday Night', the duo's sophomore album: "The Twangtown Paramours have delivered another collection of great songs artfully arranged and exceptionally well-produced ... in short, a red-hot winner. The duo of Mike T. Lewis, the primary songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist, and Mary Beth Zamer, the main singer, whose voice glides with the music like a bird soaring over crystal clear water, makes the Twangtown Paramours a union of complementary talents and sizzling chemistry."

 The Twangtown Paramours include Mary Beth Zamer and Mike T. Lewis.  Lead vocal singer, Mary Beth Zamer has sung professionally since the age of 18.  Before Nashville, Zamer was a fixture of the local music scene in Washington, D.C. area.  Zamer toured Europe, worked as a guest artist with several bands and sang background vocals for the band, Method Actor featuring Eva Cassidy.  Mike T. Lewis has played both guitar and bass for "a million and a half years" as he puts it.  Lewis sometimes tours with Jimmie Dale Gilmore, playing upright bass.  In 1997 Lewis had a #1 pop hit in South Korea called "A Heartbeat Away" and has since signed a publishing deal with Universal for all their Asian territories.

 In 2012, Zamer won the Michael Terry People's Choice Award in the Wildflower Arts & Music Festival Songwriter Contest. Later that year, the Twangtown Paramour's studio album was released to radio and reached #2 on the Folk DJ Chart.  Last year the duo was chosen for a second time to be finalists in the prestigious Kerrville New Folk contest. 

Concert tickets are $15.00. A pre-concert dinner is available for $20.00.  Reservations are required for dinner and recommended for the show. Venue is BYOB. Call (802)465-4071 or e-mail info@brandon-music.net for reservations or for information. Brandon Music is located at 62 Country Club Rd. Brandon, VT 05733 www.brandon-music.net | http://www.twangtownparamours.com/ 

The Compass Music and Arts Center is hosting a Collectors Show on Sunday, October 5th from 10-4pm. A wide range of small antiques, collectibles, ephemera, vinyl and vintage recordings and audio equipment will be for sale. Join us whether you are a serious collector or just browsing.

Interested in selling your items? Regardless if you are a dealer or private seller, we'd love to have you join us. The deadline to reserve a spot is Friday, October 3rdor until all spots are filled. $25 per space, $30 if borrowing a table for display purposes. Items for sale must meet reasonable standards, as opposed to yard sale quality.

Visit www.cmacvt.org or call 802-247-4295 for more details.

The Compass Music and Arts Center is open seven days a week from 10-5pm and is located in Park Village at 333 Jones Dr. Brandon VT, 05733 (Park Village used to be the Brandon Training School, located 1.5 miles north of downtown Brandon off of Arnold District Rd.) .

Vermont Virtuosi, Vermont's dynamic chamber music series, continues its innovative programming with a concert for multiple flutes at Brandon Music on October 10^th at 7:30pm. The Times Argus says the ensemble, which is led by artistic director Laurel Ann Maurer, presents "intriguing programs expertly played".

Joining Maurer will be some of the finest flutists in New England, performing music by Bach, Handel, Mozart, Rimsky-Korsakov, Ravel, Caliendo, Seussdorf, and Vermont composer David Gunn. UVM and Middlebury College Affiliate Artist Anne Janson will solo in Mozart's "Andante in C." Other members of the ensemble include Hilary Goldblatt, Alison Hale, Melissa Mielens, Robin Cameron Phillips, and Norman Thibodeau. Together, the large flute ensemble plays the full array, playing piccolo, C flute, alto flute, bass flute and contrabass flute.

Among the ensembles in which these musicians perform are the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra, the New Hampshire Symphony, the Albany Symphony Orchestra, and the Burlington Chamber Orchestra.

Tickets are $15.00 with a pre-concert dinner available for $20.00.  Reservations are required for dinner and recommended for the show. Venue is BYOB. Call (802) 465-4071 or e-mail info@brandon-music.net for reservations or more information.  Brandon Music is located at 62 Country Club Rd. Brandon, VT 05733.  www.brandon-music.net 

Itinerant songsmith and author David Berkeley went out into the sagebrush and cactus of New Mexico and found his head was similarly ablaze.  It is in this location that he writes songs capable of both breaking and mending the heart.  Brandon Music will have a superlative evening of music when Berkeley performs on Saturday, October 11th at 7:30pm.

 Berkeley's doleful baritone and vulnerable falsetto, called "lustrous and melancholy" by the New York Times showcase his profoundly elegiac lyrics.  Berkeley cites Yeats and Melville among his greatest influences.  For his unique way with words, the San Francisco Chronicle dubbed Berkeley a "musical poet".  David is an American literary songwriter, a poster child, and not simply because he graduated from Harvard.

 A New Jersey native, Berkeley has lived in Brooklyn, Atlanta, Berkeley and Corsica.  Santa Fe is now home where he lives with his wife and two sons.  He has written a memoir, "140 Goats and a Guitar" and is working on a second book.

 The Houston Chronicle sums up Berkeley's style: "There's an understated quality about Berkeley's songwriting and music... he has a gift for metaphor and turning a phrase, but his songs tend to be fairly relatable.  Musically they start as what you'd call folk - though not earnest, wide-eyed hippie folk.  The songs Berkeley sings have a light lush and layered sound."

 Berkeley's hit song "Fire Sign" originally appeared in the CBS-TV show "Without a Trace".  Harlan Coben, New York Times bestselling author, asked Berkeley to write a song based on his new novel.  Berkeley is the recipient of the ASCAP's Johnny Mercer Songwriter Award.  He maintains a near-constant touring schedule both in the states and abroad.  He has opened for Adele, Mumford & Sons, Don Mclean, Billy Bragg and many more.  Berkeley has performed on Mountain Stage, the World Café and numerous other venues. 

"Berkeley's gift as a songwriter and storyteller is that he sees both the tragedy and the comedy in life, managing to both reveal the sorrow at the heart of the human condition and the blazing joy and beauty in the same", says the Albuquerque Journal.  Berkeley tells uproarious stories between heartbreaking songs.  His fans respond so deeply to his music and look to him to express what they are often unable to articulate.

Concert tickets are $15.  A pre-concert dinner is available for $20.  Reservations are recommended for the show and required for dinner.  Venue is BYOB. Call (802) 465-4071 or e-mail info@brandon-music.net for reservations or information.  Brandon Music is located at 62 Country Club Rd. Brandon, VT 05733.  www.brandon-music.net

Brandon Music is fortunate once again to welcome Emily Mure, singer-songwriter.  The Emily Mure Trio, with Audrey Q. Snyder on cello and Emily DiAngelo on oboe and English horn, combines Emily's folk style singing and songwriting with classical instrumentation. They perform Saturday, October 18 at 7:30pm.

 Mure writes all the arrangements for the trio, putting a classical spin on modern folk music.  The trio performs Emily's original songs as well as cover songs of artists such as Radiohead and Cake.

 Growing up in New York City, Emily got her start in music by playing the oboe.  After graduating from La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts, she attended Ithaca College majoring in both Oboe Performance and Psychology.  Following college, Emily moved to Ireland where she performed as a street busker, writing songs about her travels and the people she met in Ireland.  'Where I Began', Mure's first album reflects her Irish inspired singing and songwriting.  In 2013 Emily released her second album, 'Odyssey'. "Odyssey is an album of unpretentious, straight-and-true songwriting that draws from contemporary folk, acoustic country and intimate chamber pop", says Direct Current Music.

 Mure was an emerging artist at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, a third place finalist in the Telluride Bluegrass Troubadour songwriting competition, and has shared the stage with the likes of Kim Richey, The Douks, Garrison Starr and many more.  Her songs have made their way into shows and movies on NBC, PBS, and ABC.

Tickets are $15. A pre-concert dinner is available for $20. Reservations are required for dinner and recommended for the show. Venue is BYOB. For reservations or information call (802)465-4071 or e-mail info@brandon-music.net  Brandon music is located at 62 Country Club Rd. Brandon, VT 05733. www.brandon-music.net | www.emilymure.com 

The name 'Bette Moffett' is well-known in the Brandon area for good reason. During her forty-five years in the town, she became the true meaning of a "pillar of the community". A memorial exhibit in honor of Bette, put together with the help of her friends, is on display through the month of October at the Compass Music and Arts Center.

When you walk into the exhibit, you feel as though Bette has welcomed you into her living room and there is a chair waiting for you. From her many awards, books, hats, collectibles, and of course her own chair, the exhibit gives a glimpse into the person who touched so many lives in the community she cared for so deeply. 

Bette was modest when it came to her civic endeavors, but loved the spotlight when it came to performing - she loved to sing and entertain! In community terms, Bette had a passion for her home of Brandon, and despite no formal teaching degree, there was nothing more important to her than children and their education. 

The description for the recipient of the Vermont Board of Education's Martha H. O'Connor Award, which Bette received in 2008, exemplifies her dedication to children and their education: someone who "celebrates the achievements of others, does not claim credit for themselves, and who always makes children a priority."

The Compass Music and Arts Center is open seven days a week from 10-5pm and is located in Park Village at 333 Jones Dr. Brandon VT, 05733 (Park Village used to be the Brandon Training School, located 1.5 miles north of downtown Brandon off of Arnold District Rd.) . www.cmacvt.org

The Inside Scoop and Antiques By The Falls porch is FULL.  We are now holding a 25% Off Everything Outside Sale. Furniture, shelving, chairs, collectibles, home decor, kitchenware, miscellaneous, fun and funky! Even the Flamingoes! Stop on by and check out what we have. New items being added daily. Open 10 am - 9 pm daily (inside antique shop closes at 5 pm daily) but outside items can be purchased until 9 pm, as well as yummy ice cream and candy treats.

Like us on Facebook

Drive Details:
Site: Otter Valley High School
Address: 2997 Franklin Street, Brandon, VT, 05733
Room Name: Gym
Date: Sat Oct 4, 2014
Time: 10:00 AM - 3:00: PM
Coordinator Name: Shawn Flanigan
Click here to make an appointment 

Please encourage your friends, family, and co-workers to give blood. The Red Cross and Suburban Propane are teaming up during the month of October and asking you to help fuel your community by donating blood or platelets. All presenting donors in October will be entered to win a $5,000 Visa gift card, courtesy of Suburban Propane. NEW: You Hold the Power to Save Lives! Download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App Today. Text BLOODAPP to 90999 or search Red Cross Blood in your app store.

The need for blood is constant and only volunteer donors can fulfill that need for patients in our community. Nationwide, someone needs a unit of blood every 2 to 3 seconds and most of us will need blood in our lifetime.

Thank you for supporting the American Red Cross blood program!

Otter Valley's Walking Stick Theatre Group has been invited to attend the world renowned Fringe Arts Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland in August of 2015. They are one of 40 schools nationally to be selected to perform there. This selection is a tremendous honor for our school and the theatre department, however now they have to get there.  

Donations to support this wonderful educational opportunity can be made online at http://www.gofundme.com/OtterValleytoFringeFest. Any contribution will be appreciated. The total cost of the trip is over $60,000.

 Multiple fundraisers will also be taking place throughout the school year.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.