GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Sunny, cool. We're back to seasonal norms, with temps today climbing into the mid or upper 50s under mostly clear skies. Calm winds today from the northwest, with lows dropping into the mid or upper 30s.A bear family stroll. They happened to pass by Lisa Grose's trail cam in Hanover. She writes, "The cubs look a bit smaller than some others I’ve seen—but they may have been born later. Hopefully they're packing on some pounds for their long sleep. They will den with their mother." Cubs usually stick around their moms until they're 16-17 months old.So, did you check out "Dear Daybreak" yesterday? If not, you missed Karen Sheldon's story about a white horse, a pickup, and the difference made by a moment; Rose Loving's water-rocked poem; Heidi Maurer's reflection on this season's changing light; and a downright pastoral-looking White River Junction in an old photo discovered at a sale by Steven Thomas. You'll find it all at the link, and if you've got a good story or unusual photo to submit, do it here.Sharon will get a second vote on retail cannabis. That’s because enough people have signed a petition to force a re-vote on whether or not to allow it, reports Nicole Antal in the White River Valley Herald; last week, voters rejected retail cannabis by two votes. That was a setback for Chelsea cannabis entrepreneur Sean Trombly’s bid to open a dispensary in town; he got his application in to the state Cannabis Control Board before its deadline today, Antal writes, but the board will pause new licenses after Nov. 15. The selectboard hasn’t yet set a date for a re-vote.Quechee Gorge Bridge work delayed by steel plate corrosion. As Aaron Rubin writes in the Standard, the eastbound side of the bridge, which has been closed since work on the bridge began earlier this year, was due to reopen next month, with reconstruction then switching to the westbound side. However, VTrans found that crucial steel plates had corroded to the point that workers couldn't pour new concrete, and have to be replaced. The blueprints are still under review, so single-lane alternating traffic will continue on the westbound side through winter. Work is slated to shift to the westbound side next spring.
SPONSORED: Spooky season is here, and so are two can't-miss events at Honey Field Farm! First there's Honey Field Halloween (Oct 27 & 31), with pumpkin painting, cider, games, and family-friendly fun. Come in costume and trick-or-treat! Then the Honey Field Stockpile Sale is Nov. 9: everything you love at deep discounts, including organic produce, maple syrup, and local food items. Stock up for winter or snag early holiday gifts. Pre-orders due Oct 29. Sponsored by Honey Field Farm.Woodstock's affordable housing programs aren't working. That's the unvarnished headline atop Lauren Dorsey's story in the Standard about the Economic Development Commission's set of efforts to boost workforce housing in town. There are four programs in place, including incentives to build ADUs, a program to encourage the creation of duplexes and triplexes, and the "Lease to Locals" program, which provides incentives for owners to convert short-term rentals into long-term leases for local workers. At an EDC meeting last week, housing working group member Jill Davies said none are producing the hoped-for results; the EDC voted to double the Lease to Locals incentive.DH to pull labor, delivery services from Catholic Medical Center in Manchester. The move ends a two-decade partnership, and was announced Wednesday evening by CMC president Alex Walker, WMUR reports. DH later confirmed the move, and said it is shifting its OB-GYN services to Eliot Hospital. Walker's announcement came during a packed public hearing about a bid by Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare to acquire CMC; in the Boston Globe (paywall), CMC's medical staff president speculates to Amanda Gokee, “Maybe they (DH) feel threatened by HCA presence in southern New Hampshire."Hiking Sorta Close to Home: Alice Bemis Thompson Wildlife Sanctuary, Sandwich, NH. This wildlife sanctuary, says the Upper Valley Trails Alliance, boasts beautiful views of the Sandwich and Ossipee mountain ranges and of the wetlands in the 2.3-mile network. The primary trail, the Fred Steele Memorial Trail, is wheelchair accessible, with a crushed stone surface that turns into a beautiful boardwalk—a fun time for users of all abilities. There's also a trail to the Thompson Sanctuary and it's one-mile loop through wet woodlands and rolling forest.And for people with mobility issues, there's the (relatively) new All Persons Trail at the base of Mt. Cardigan. It's on the other side, between the mountain and Newfound Lake, on the Appalachian Mountain Club's Mt. Cardigan Reservation. In the Union Leader, Roberta Baker writes that the mile-long loop, finished by the AMC last fall, is "calming and invigorating" and ideal for anyone with issues that make traditional hiking tough: "No roots. No ruts. No rocks. No brush to sweep away," she writes. "It brings the outdoors to everyone,” says Skye Collins, manager of AMC’s Cardigan Lodge.Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because Daybreak's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions for you. Like, why did two VT state troopers make local headlines this week? And surely you remember where Language Warrior Hoodie recently made its appearance! Those and other questions at the link.But wait! How closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to know if you know what strategy scientists in VT and ME think might reduce tick numbers.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, why has the state been stymied in its bid to build a new mental hospital in Londonderry?
In the
Washington Post
, a trio of reporters pull together all the recent strands: the crowds at Artist's Bluff in the Whites a few weeks back, the road closures in Pomfret and Woodstock, packed roadways and even more packed trails in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park, the trash on trails and rude behavior,... "Residents in destinations deluged with seasonal visitors are struggling to preserve their quality of life and ensure their public safety," they write, noting his year's successes around Cloudland Road.
In NH (and VT), hospital acquisitions of medical practices are driving up patient costs. The two are the only New England states that don't require public notice requirements of so-called "facility fees" hospitals can tack on after they take over private offices and clinics, reports Amanda Gokee in the Globe (sorry, paywall again). The fees aren't minor: One guy got a $1,000 bill for a "room fee" after a visit to a clinic in Derry. Patients in the twin states generally don't know about them ahead of time, so don't shop around. Hospitals need the fees, says the head of the NH hospital association, to defray overhead costs.VT's health care system is struggling. Can policy makers actually do anything about it? The quick answer, VT Public's Peter Hirschfeld tells his colleague, Jenn Jarecki, is not much. They're hemmed in by everything from the feds to the Green Mountain Care Board. One possible lever is to boost Medicaid reimbursement rates. Another is to back the GMCB if it decides to move ahead with wholesale system restructuring, as recommended in a recent consultant's report that's already drawing hostility in rural areas. A third: require higher private insurance reimbursement to primary care practices."We're in a new age": Tech comes to farm fields. Of course, it's been there for a while, but as Anne Wallace Allen writes in Seven Days, change is accelerating. Goat farmers can set and reset invisible fence lines by cellphone; cows "sport Fitbit-like devices that transmit information about their behavior and health to farm managers"; planting equipment can make row-to-row decisions based on soil type. Efforts to help small farmers with "precision agriculture," both financially and in how to analyze data, are growing as well. Allen explores what's going on, from dairy barns to indoor cannabis facilities.Oh, by the way: Noah Dines got to 3 million. Gregg Frantz reports in Snow Brains that the Vermonter, who set out in Stowe Jan. 1 on his nearly year-long quest, "crested over 3 million vertical feet (914,400 meters) while skinning at Corralco Ski Resort on Volcano Lonquimay in Chile" yesterday. Dines tells him, "The highlight really, more and more as the year has gone on, is the friends I’ve made along the way. I’ve met such incredible people from around the world. Talented, kind individuals." Now, Frantz writes, he can ski without an agenda.The need for speed. You're going to want to skip around in this, but the idea is pretty cool: 3D animator Red Side, which has a whole series of comparison animations (animal speed, hurricane size, fastest sports balls), has put together a look at fastest vehicles by category, from the Mars Rover (0.18 km/hour) to human-powered submarines (the Omer 5 can do 14.88 km/hour) to uncrewed aerial vehicles (21,245 km/hour) to the Parker solar probe (635,000 km/hour), the fastest object ever built—and each passing its slower predecessor by. Even better, there's a POV version. Sit back, relax, and enjoy your... whatever.
Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it stick around by hitting the maroon button:
We may be the middle of nowhere to everyone else in VT and NH, but
we
know what's good! Strong Rabbit's Morgan Brophy has come up with the perfect design for "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Plus you'll find the Daybreak jigsaw puzzle, as well as sweatshirts, tees, a fleece hoodie, and, as always, the fits-every-hand-perfectly Daybreak mug. Check it all out at the link!
. The Strafford neighbors, singers, and guitar players give a free lunchtime folk and Americana concert in the Bach Room at Upper Valley Music Center in Leb today at noon.
The artists (and musicians) are giving a talk starting at 5 pm today on their assemblage and collage exhibition,
Resonant Visions.
Sunnyside Coffee Company has been bringing people together for screenings at the Orford Congregational Church, and tonight the go back to the original Beetlejuice, with a costume catwalk at 6 pm, and the film at 7.
The bi-coastal indie/soul songwriter, singer, and storyteller-through-music brings her magnetic, easygoing stage presence to the Claremont Creative Center on Opera House Square at 7 this evening.
, both sponsored by the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts.
And specifically, for the historic Maxfield Parrish stage set inside town hall—which you'll get to check out if you go. The Epic food truck's on site starting at 6 pm, and the indie rock/Americana artist's music starts up at 7.
From 7-8:30 pm at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Hanover, you learn
the Cuban social dance known as "casino", including paso básico, dile que no, enchufa, and vacila. Then at 8:30, put it into practice, along with people who already know what they're doing. No partner needed.
The full-on community production, directed by Linda Treash, uses the faster-paced version of the show from London's West End, not Broadway. Song, dance, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein,
Eye
-gor, Frau Blücher (
neeeiiiggghhhh
), villagers... 7:30 pm this evening and tomorrow, Sunday at 2, next Thursday (Halloween) at 7:30, and next weekend. At Barnard Town Hall.
Things get going at 7:30 pm with Kim Wallach, a longtime Boston-area singer-songwriter. At 8:15, Friction Farm—Aidan Quinn and Christine Stay—take the stage with a blend of folk, storytelling, social commentary, and humor. And at 9, Kyle Singh is back with his band, playing everything from classic bluegrass to his own compositions. At the First Congregational Church of Lebanon.
The full Dartmouth jazz orchestra will be at Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover both tonight and tomorrow night, under the direction of Taylor Ho Bynum and performing works by previous Coast guests "rarely performed by any other college jazz orchestra in the country," with music by Carla Bley, Kris Davis, Joseph Daley, Tomas Fujiwara, Mary Halvorson, Angela Morris, Sun Ra, Tomeka Reid, and more. 9 pm both nights.
There's trick-or-treating on Allen St. in Hanover today, as well as trunk-or-treat at the VA in WRJ, the annual pumpkin walk in Sharon, the Tunbridge Haunted Trail, the "Life & Death Tour" at Billings... And then tomorrow the Gory Daze parade and after-party in WRJ, VINS' Hoots & Howls, Halloween Night at Huse Park in Enfield, Grantham's Trunk-or-Treat and DJ dance party, and a bunch more. The hard-working events folks at the
Valley News
have rounded everything up town by town, with events going on into November.
Saturday
It's in conjunction with the Smithsonian's traveling Crossroads: Change in Rural America exhibit—live music by Second Wind, cider and doughnuts, a pumpkin-painting workshop, and a chance to tour the exhibition. 10-2 tomorrow.
The first HopStop family event in line with the Mexican tradition of honoring deceased relatives is at 11 am tomorrow at the Kilton Library in West Leb: Dartmouth students Mirna P. Lopez Acosta and Javier E. Lopez Jr. teaching participants to create tissue paper flowers as
ofrenda
; meanwhile, fellow-student Cesar Almeida Jr. will give a mariachi performance and teach participants to dance and sing along. It all gets repeated at 3 pm at the Claremont Savings Bank. No charge.
Clare Walker Leslie, a nationally known artist, naturalist, and author, will be at the mag's Lyme offices from 2-4 pm tomorrow leading this chance to learn how to keep a journal of what's growing and living right beside you. She'll cover drawing, observation, etc. Bring your own pad, pencils and pens...
Prine will be reading from her latest collection, Loss and Its Antonym, and Cramer from his new collection of lyric poems,
City Full of Fireworks and Blues.
2 pm tomorrow.
The highly accomplished choir and ensemble performs two concerts on period instruments this weekend, with Charpentier’s
Te Deum,
Vivaldi’s
Gloria
, and Handel’s
Coronation Anthems.
At the Chandler in Randolph tomorrow at 3 pm, and then at the Claremont Opera House on Sunday, also at 3 pm, under the baton of Filippo Ciabatti.
The Main Street Museum's annual extravaganza gets going at 5:30 pm at JAM, with a Halloween-a-thon of short horror films by local filmmakers; then at 6:30 it's a pre-parade party with Western Terrestrials and a bonfire. Parade lineup starts at 7:45 and kicks off at 8 led by the Amazing Brass Balagan klezmer band, then at 9 pm, the Afforda-Ball gets going in the Briggs Opera House with the B-52.0s and DJ GenderEnder.
The story walk in the fields behind the library will be redone, with spooky poems read aloud, glowing lights, decorations, and costumed characters. You get flashlights and glowsticks to make your way. Begins at 6:30 pm tomorrow.
The Montpelier-based vocal ensemble presents "This Sceptered Isle", showcasing "the rich repertory of the English Choral Tradition, with sacred and secular works from the Tudor period and the early 20th century." 7:30 pm at St. Thomas Episcopal Church.
Sunday
Old time string band maestros Ida Mae Specker and DD Nuttle will be playing a ticketed concert at the Root Schoolhouse on Union Village Road at 2 pm. As the publicity warns, there's no heat in the building, so dress warmly.
The early music quartet (Leslie Stroud, traverso; Beth Hilgartner, recorders and voice; Laurie Rabut, viola da gamba; and Ernie Drown, harpsichord) will be at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon at 2 pm Sunday with a concert of Bach trio sonatas and arias from cantatas, all on period instruments.
Written by volunteers from the Newbury (VT) Historical Society, Sunday's guided quest covers flora, fauna, and even a Chinese woven bridge built by local log-structure expert John Nininger, all in a newly acquired tract in West Newbury. Meet at 1 pm Sunday in the parking area at the East Entrance to Tucker Mountain Town Forest (directions at the link).
And for the weekend...
Back when he was a teen, musical phenom Jacob Collier was transfixed by the groundbreaking work of the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir, which eventually became better known as Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, or The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices. So when he traveled to Sophia earlier this year, they were definitely on the docket, and the result was not only collaborations in concert, but in the recording studio.
, which is on the newly released expanded version of his latest album.
And have a fantastic weekend out there! See you Monday for CoffeeBreak.
The Hiking Close to Home Archives. A list of hikes around the Upper Valley, some easy, some more difficult, compiled by the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. It grows every week.
The Enthusiasms Archives. A list of book recommendations by Daybreak's rotating crew of local booksellers, writers, and librarians who think you should read. this. book. now!
Daybreak Where You Are: The Album. Photos of daybreak around the Upper Valley, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the US, sent in by readers.
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