HARTFORD VILLAGE — As gay teenagers in the ’90s and early aughts, married couple Tamar and JJ Chalker often struggled to find a place where they could be in community with other queer people that wasn’t a bar.
JJ Chalker, who grew up in the Killington area, can remember “one amazing coffee shop” that felt queer-friendly, but other than that “there was just really nowhere to go,” she said in a recent interview.
That remains largely true today. While Upper Valley bars such as the Filling Station in White River Junction and Babes Bar in Bethel host a slate of LGBTQ+ dance parties and events, spaces for queer families and young people are harder to come by.
Sylvia Drake’s Books, the couple’s forthcoming bookstore specializing in LGBTQ+ literature, is meant to help fill that gap.
The Chalkers are in the process of raising money to fund the project with plans to open for business in Hartford Village this fall.
The hope is that Sylvia Drake’s will serve as a queer hub for visitors to not only buy books and espresso drinks, but also spend time together.
“We want people to hang out,” JJ Chalker said.
The Hartland couple plan to host a book club as well as movie nights and craft events at the bookstore. They also hope to install a couple computers that people in need can use for free to work on job applications and the like.
That decision is part of a larger vision to make the bookstore a resource center as much as it will be a hub for queer people, Tamar Chalker said.
The store will be located at 1547 Maple St., in the building formerly occupied by the Simple Store, which re-opened as KIS Thrift in Wilder last year.
The Maple Street space belongs to the Chalkers’ close friend, Jack Kauders, a lawyer specializing in real estate litigation. Tamar Chalker works for Kauders in his office in Hartford Village, a position she’d keep after the bookstore opens.
Kauders was looking for a tenant for the space when he suggested the Chalkers open their own business.
“I think there’s a real need in this area for people to socialize,” especially in Hartford Village, which is primarily residential, Kauders said in an interview last week. The village currently only has a short block of stores, with the closest bookstore a five-minute drive away in White River Junction. Kauders hopes Sylvia Drake’s will help return the village to the bustling hub it was years ago.
To help the Chalkers get Sylvia Drake’s off the ground, Kauders plans to let them use the space rent-free for the first year.
The Chalkers also have a Kickstarter that has raised about $700 of its $6,000 goal, and several investors, whom the couple declined to name.
They estimate it will cost $20,000 to renovate the store, including putting in new windows and doors and installing an espresso bar.
“We got a great space that doesn’t need a lot of work,” Tamar Chalker said.
As for the books, the work of Vermont cartoonist Alison Bechdel will find a home on the store’s shelves as will the graphic novels of Tillie Walden, whose new book “Charity and Sylvia” charts the lives of 19th century Vermont lesbian couple Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, after whom the bookstore is named.
Between she and her wife, Tamar Chalker is the self-described “big reader.”
Growing up, her favorite authors were Kurt Vonnegut and Anthony Burgess. “Anything that keeps me thinking for weeks is always good,” she said.
Similar authors whose “books you were supposed to read in high school” will be part of Sylvia Drake’s collection, Tamar Chalker said.
Highlighting queer literature feels particularly vital in the wake of the Trump administration’s decision to ban books that deal with race and gender from schools on military bases.
Owning such books is a way of protecting them from erasure, Tamar Chalker said.
Among the trees
The first dress rehearsals for “Forest,” a contemporary dance piece set among the trees, is scheduled for 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 26, in Bradford. “Forest” is the brainchild of Hannah Dennison, founder of the Chelsea-based dance initiative, Cradle to Grave Arts, Inc. Staged in two Vermont woodlands, the piece follows a group of dancers and musicians as they perform beside a quiet dirt road. Tickets to the July 26 performances are $20 and can be purchased at hannahdennison.org.
Ancient tragedy
Parish Players are staging a reading of Sophocles’ “Elektra” at 7 p.m. next Friday, July 24, at the Eclipse Grange Theatre in Thetford. Admission is free with a suggested donation. For more information, go to parishplayers.org.
Shh! please
The Norwich Bookstore is hosting a “Silent Reading Party” on Sunday, July 19, from 2 to 3 p.m. on the lawn outside the store. Visitors are encouraged to bring a picnic blanket, snacks and their current book. Literary tote bags are also highly encouraged. Find more information at norwichbookstore.com.
