The Macy s building didn t even exist when Burlington high schoolers last studied downtown. But the recent move evoked a flood of memories for Edmunds alumni, who remembered fondly the days when the city center was an integral part of their high school years the place for lunchtime hangouts, afterschool jobs and streets to cruise on Saturday nights. Half a dozen alums, the youngest now in their seventies, spoke to
Seven Days about their long-ago experiences. click to enlarge BHS Twirlers, 1949 Edmunds Main Street location allowed more students to walk to school, so socializing began as soon as teens left their homes in the morning. Joyce Albarelli, class of 1949, remembered the walk to the Edmunds building as a social time. She d leave her home on Luck Street in the Old North End and pick up classmates along the way.
Soon Cutillo was getting requests from national outlets eager to license her photos images that convey both the excitement of this innovative and hastily improvised space and the pandemic weirdness of socially distanced desks inside windowless classrooms. Her visuals complement Novak s text, which recorded the hopeful reactions of students, teachers and administrators who ve been doing their best to cope during this challenging year. It s really cool to see, senior Ariel Felcan said of the makeshift campus. I m excited to spend the rest of the school year here. Novak, the managing editor of
Kids VT, has chronicled the BHS saga for
Robert Resnik Here s a little media note for ya:
Robert Resnik, longtime host of Vermont Public Radio s folk and traditional music show All the Traditions, is finally back at the mic after a nine-month absence. Resnik had been away from his post and quarantining hard due to some personal health factors that made him high risk for COVID-19. He recently scheduled his first round of vaccination and has returned to the radio booth. Resnik s first show of 2021 aired on Sunday. The episode is currently in the station s Replay Stream, which cycles through a number of current episodes of various programs, for a limited time. Check vpr.org to find out how and when to hear the broadcast.
Bag of Tears The other creation, Bag of Tears, appears to the casual glance like a lady s purse with strands of clear plastic spilling out of it. The object loses its innocence with a closer look. Using a transfer technique, Gabriel imprinted the tea-dyed muslin purse with photographs that are dark in every sense of the word: images from the Holocaust and other 20th-century genocides. Gallery text explains that Gabriel was descended from European Jews and grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in the Bronx, N.Y. She claimed to have a complex relationship with her faith and cultural identity.
New Haven Train Depot The New Haven Train Depot has long been a monument to the golden age of Vermont railroading. Just yards from Route 7, the 19th-century Italianate brick station is a visual landmark for thousands of passersby every day and serves as a reminder of the bygone era when trains used to shuttle passengers up and down the western side of the state. Amtrak has deemed the depot a safety risk because it s less than a dozen feet from the tracks and says it must be removed before passenger trains can start heading up to the Queen City. Railroad buffs and local officials have floated numerous alternatives in hopes of keeping the depot in its original place. But the state is adamant: The building must go and soon.