A very interesting glimpse of an unfamiliar (to me) part of Brattleboro

Monday morning, I met Scott Couper at 9a.m. out front of The Works cafe in downtown Brattleboro, and we went upstairs to the fourth floor of The Brooks House where Scott lives. Scott is pastor of Centre Congregational Church, and he is someone i have wanted to get to know better, so I suggested we get together. It proved to be very interesting, both because Scott is an interesting person, and because his residence is unusual. Scott and I both did our seminary training at the University of Chicago - at different times - he is 35-40 years younger than I am - but he actually graduated from CTS just a few months befoee I arrived in Fall, 1999 as Pastor-in-Residence. So we knew a lot of the same people. Scott has spent a good part of his life in South Africa, both as a student and as a missionary/pastor. While he was in South Africa, he got a Ph.D., and his dissertation was on Albert Luthuli, founder of the African National Congress and Nobel Peace Prize recipient. That is another connection between us, because I met Albert Luthuli at a church camp when I was in high school in Iowa in the 1940s: he was a guest staff person at the camp, part of a tour he was making of the U.S. I feel so priviledged to have met this great man! I remember he taught us Khosi Sigeleli, the anthem of the African National Congress, which Mandela later incorporated into the South African National Anthem. Scott rents a kind of town house in the Brooks Hotel. It is on two levels, and at present he is sub-letting the lower level to an Afghan man, which helps with the rent (which is considerable). The upper level is a spacious living-room, dining-room, kitchen, bedroom and bath. Being on the fourth floor, it has a commanding view of the town, the Connecticut River and Mt. Wantastiquet, which is across the river in New Hampshire. Included in the unit is a private deck - in good weather you can sit out there and take in the view. What a spot!

View from the deck looking west

View looking south - river on left

Scott in his kitchen

Chief Albert Luthuli (1898-1967)