GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Looks like some sun! And temps getting into the low 70s. Things get a good deal cooler starting on Sunday, so this is a day to enjoy: With dry air overhead, we should see more sun than clouds, at least to start, though that may change later in the day. Warm winds from the southwest today, and down only into the upper 50s overnight.Things you don't see every day.
Like, say, this rutting-season moose, which showed up on 4A near the top of Mascoma Lake yesterday morning. "Two guys who work for the state saw it first and pointed it out to us," writes Matt Giffin. "Those guys got closer than I did (still easily 100 yards away) and that moose was really staring them down..."
And these eye-catching mushrooms colonizing a tree in Hanover's Pine Park, from Catherine LaTouche.
Let alone the justices having lunch with students in the cafeteria. But for the first time since the pandemic, the Court held what used to be an annual "On the Road" proceeding at a high school yesterday. This was not just a ceremonial visit, writes Frances Mize in the
Valley News
: Among the cases the justices heard was a challenge to a Public Utilities Commission decision allowing VT Gas Systems to pipe in natural gas from New York’s largest landfill. Mize recounts the legal back-and-forth.
Technically Tracy’s Midway Station, after the garage that used to exist on the site, the store closed in 2021. Now, the building's in the hands of Kristin and Joel Senger, who moved to Sharon last year, reports Nicole Antal in the
Herald
. She's got a long background in retail, he's a woodworker, and the two have plans: to use the parking area for food trucks, establish commercial areas on the main floor that'll be available for lease, with space available for local entrepreneurs to do pop-ups, and down the road, new office space in the basement.
It might not seem like it if you try to get through Hanover at rush hour, but traffic there is down since the pandemic. "In some cases," town planning director Rob Houseman tells the Valley News's Patrick Adrian, "the average daily trips are down by (as much as) 30 percent"—a trend that's outlived the pandemic. In addition, usage of the parking garage has dropped, ridership on Advance Transit is up, and all of this—plus much more—is why Hanover needs a new master plan, Houseman says. Among the goals: 800 new housing units downtown. Adrian recaps Tuesday's open house and public discussion.In Windsor, the American Precision Museum retools: “We can’t be just a collection of old objects anymore." In fact, writes Lauren Dorsey in the VT Standard, a set of multi-million-dollar renovations and a rethinking of its approach to attracting the public are pretty much summed up by a new mission statement: "We engage audiences in the stories of human ingenuity through the lens of manufacturing—learning from yesterday, exploring today, and imagining tomorrow.” Or as co-director Greg DeFrancis says, "We want to expand who even thinks they would be interested in visiting the museum."SPONSORED: Electric vehicle sales pass a tipping point! History suggests that reaching 5 percent of the market is a "tipping point" that then spurs rapid acceleration in the adoption of new products. With US EV sales now at 7 percent and revving up fast, where will the auto market go from here? Hit the burgundy link to see how a fascinating product-adoption curve is playing out at home and across the globe with electric versions of the most popular vehicle models. And the cleanest way to power all these EVs? Charging from solar energy, of course! Sponsored by Solaflect Energy. A chance encounter lifts two sets of spirits in an aisle at the Barnes & Noble. That's where Susan Apel was, feeling kind of grumbly on a rain-drenched Saturday, when a woman approached, told her she was on a date night with her husband, and had been "instructed to go to a bookstore together, select a cookbook, and then have someone else choose a recipe for us to cook together tonight.” Well. She definitely picked the right person. In Artful, Susan describes her thinking—lamb stew? soup? she rejects both—as well as the recipe she finally chose and, most important, the human connection itself.Hiking Close to Home: the Norwich Nature Area. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance checks in with this suggestion of an easily reachable network on the edge of downtown Norwich, not far from I-91. Many easy to moderate trails zigzag the small 35-acre nature area, including a newly built accessible trail that creates a loop through the property. Some trails contain historical markers, interpretive signs, and marked orienteering locations. Trails are foot traffic only, but dogs are permitted if leashed. Parking is available in a lot between the Marion Cross school and the Nature Area.So... Think you know what's been going on in the Upper Valley? Because Daybreak's News Quiz has some questions for you. Like... Where have two new Upper Valley murals been going up this week? And what's the name of that new beer/wine store opening next week in the old Norwich Wines & Spirits space? Those questions and more at the link.But wait! How closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to know if you know why Burlington High School's principal (who's also a former assistant principal at Hanover High) was placed on leave.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questionsabout doings around the Granite State—like, what does a student group at Dartmouth want the college to stop accepting?
Coos County power plant may close after legislature fails to override Sununu veto of continued subsidies. The bill involved the Burgess BioPower wood-burning plant in Berlin, which Eversource ratepayers have been subsidizing for years. In his August veto message, Sununu wrote, "Enough is enough," though bill proponents from the region said the plant helps the timber industry and offers energy diversity. In InDepthNH, Garry Rayno and Paula Tracy describe the debate on the veto override—as well as the eight other vetoes that legislators yesterday also upheld.He was once NH's medical examiner. Now he's on his way to becoming a Methodist deacon. Tom Andrew calls it his "third act", and at 67, he's already working as a Scout chaplain after finishing divinity school. But for two decades, reports WBUR's Anthony Brooks (via NHPR) in this profile, he spent his time with people who'd died in accidents, of gunshots, and—toward the end—increasingly of drug overdoses, a rising toll that led him to quit in 2017. Scouting in particular draws him, he says: It's a chance to work with young people, helping them see "there's a better way than that pill or that powder."Autopsies confirm that bodies found in Eden woods are missing Mass. men. Jahim Solomon of Pittsfield, 21, and Eric White of Chicopee, also 21, both died of gunshot wounds to the head, the VT State Police said in a press release late yesterday. The two had disappeared under “suspicious circumstances” while traveling through Burlington, Lowell, Morrisville, and Stowe, the VSP said earlier this week. Their bodies were found separately Wednesday near the Wild Branch Wildlife Management Area. The VSP adds that it "continues to pursue leads and develop information regarding this case."For one VT town and its grocery/gas stop, flood buyout presents a dilemma. The problem for Weston, writes Kevin O'Connor, is that the Weston Marketplace, with its gas pumps and extremely popular Indian food, is "a fundamental part of the soul of our town,” as a selectboard member put it recently. But it was also flooded out in July, and though owner Mehul Dholakia is working to reopen, he's also considering the state's flood buyout program—which would mean razing the store. The selectboard would have to sign off. But Dholakia worries about the next time. "What’s the recourse? Build the Great Wall of China? Seriously, what do you do?" he asks.On New England gravestones, those whorls, fallen leaves, and skulls sprouting wings all meant something to the Puritans. In Seven Days, Ken Picard talks to Jen Bartlau of the Cambridge (MA) Historical Society, whose family burial plot is in Woodstock, about the engravings you find on old tombstones throughout the region. "Although the Puritans considered it sinful to practice magic," Picard writes, "they hedged their bets, if you will, by using counter-magic to protect themselves and their loved ones." He and Bartlau talk over what they all meant.“This will not be some paltry list that starts at lettuce and tomato and never gets more wild than grilled onions.” To be fair, lettuce and tomato are on the list of burger toppings ranked by Matt Spina on The Takeout. But so are remoulade (#20), potato chips (#50), and peanut butter (#68, but really, even Spina says “pass”). A few of them just sound like someone’s too lazy to reach over to the other side of the plate, like hash browns and fries. Don’t miss the comments: “An Aussie burger with a couple or three slices of pickled beets and a fried egg. You know you wanna try it, at least once.”The Friday Vordle. If you're new to Vordle, you should know that fresh ones appear on weekends using words from the Friday Daybreak, and you can get a reminder email each weekend morning. If you'd like that, sign up here.
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Well, for starters, there are a pile of Halloween events going on around the Upper Valley this weekend. Today and tonight they include everything from a UV Young Professionals party at Whaleback to trick-or-treating on Hanover's Allen Street this evening and pumpkin-carving and an adult costume contest/dance party there tomorrow, to "Trunk-or-Treat" this afternoon and evening at the VA to a "Life & Death" tour of Billings Farm's 1890 Farm Manager’s House and the mansion at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller to a night of spooky piano rolls at the Main Street Museum... Plus a lot more. The Valley News has thoughtfully put together a guide to what's going on (some of the events in there are already past, so pay attention to dates): Check it out here.
Meanwhile, in the non-costumed world, the Lebanon Opera House is back in action tonight at 7:30 on location in the chapel at La Salette in Enfield, with Joe Newberry and April Verch. Newberry grew up in the Missouri Ozarks, taking up guitar and banjo as a boy and learning tunes from the region's fiddlers; Verch grew up listening to her dad’s country band in Canada's Ottawa Valley, and began step-dancing at three and fiddling at six. "Whether it’s the power of two voices lifted in harmony, or the sound of traditional tunes calling people to get up and move, these masters of tradition put on an unforgettable show," says LOH.
Also at 7:30 this evening, the Anonymous Coffeehouse is back at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon with a seriously folk lineup: Low Lily's Liz Simmons will start things off at 7:30, followed at 8:15 by South Carolina-based Aidan Quinn and Christine Stay, who form the modern-folk duo Friction Farm, and closing out at 9 with AnonCoffee regulars and local quartet 2x2: Valerie Kosednar, Mark Grieco, and Betsy and Lee Rybeck Lynd. If candy's not your thing but baked goods are, it's a good place to be.
Also at 7:30, though a drive away, Scrag Mountain Music will be at St. Augustine Church in Montpelier with "Sacred Songs of the Marys": a program of works by Hildegard of Bingen, Kathy Wonson Eddy, and others that relate to the New Testament Marys. Soprano Mary Bonhag, Evan Premo (bass and viola da gamba), and singer/harpist/flautist Ruth Cunningham.
At 8 pm tonight, the New Nile Orchestra takes the stage at Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover.Kiflu Kidane danced and sang in the Ethiopian National Theater for many years before moving to VT and forming the New Nile Orchestra. The group plays traditional songs and melodies from various Ethiopian cultures and the groove, percussionist Steve Ferraris writes, "is always danceable and festive."
Saturday
Tomorrow morning from 9-11 am, both Lebanon and New London are holding styrofoam-recycling collections. The Leb version will be at 227 Mechanic Street (behind Jake’s Coffee) and New London's at the town's Dept. of Public Works. For information on what's acceptable and what's not, here's the Sustainable Lebanon page about its event; the New London guidelines are the same (because it all goes to the recycling facility in Gilford).
At 11 am tomorrow at the Claremont Savings Bank (and again on Sunday, same time, at the RW Black Center in Hanover) the Hop presents a HopStop family event with the Grammy-winning Upper Valley favorites the Villalobos Brothers for an hour of music and mask-making to celebrate the Mexican Day of the Dead. Best for kids 7 and older; you'll definitely want clothes that can get dirty. No cost.
Tomorrow at 4:15 pm, writer and renowned energy analyst Amory Lovins will give a public talk sponsored by Dartmouth's Irving Institute, "Radical Energy Efficiency, Integrative Design, and Applied Hope." Lovins, co-founder and former chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, will talk about how "integrative design", which looks at a project as a whole, rather than the sum of its parts, "requires multidisciplinary teams to collaborate from the start to identify connections between the parts in order to achieve massive...gains in efficiency." Reception to follow.
At 5 pm tomorrow, Upper Valley Music Center presents a concert of early music by Ensemble Halcyon at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon to cap off an all-day workshop: with Chris Rua and Sarah Cantor on recorder, Jane Hershey on viola da gamba, and Ernie Drown on harpsichord.
From 5:30 to 8 pm tomorrow, VINS is holding its annual evening of "Hoots & Howls": family-friendly guided tours that include puppets, epic tales, a variety show, and a forest of lights on the Canopy Walk. There's a broad range of tour times, and you'll need to register in advance; no walk-ins.
It's the Saturday before Halloween, which means that WRJ is going to be filled with costumed revelers and paraders for the Main Street Museum's 20th Gory Daze Parade. Events start at 6 with a family-friendly pre-parade party at the MSM itself, featuring the Western Terrestrials. Parade line-up is at 7:45 in Veterans Park, and the parade steps out for its tour around town at 8 (costumes and hand-pushed floats encouraged), led by marching band Brass Balagan—big band, klezmer, Balkan... Everything finishes up with a Really Big Ball at the Coolidge, led by two DJs.
At 7 tomorrow evening, the Chandler in Randolph hosts Durham, NC-based duo Viv & Riley: Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno, touring their new album, Imaginary People. Their roots are in traditional folk, but they give it an edge, exploring what the world looks like as you come into adulthood.
At 7:30 in Dartmouth's Collis Common Ground, the Hop presents the Coast Jazz Orchestra, led by Taylor Ho Bynum. They'll be playing the music of two of Bynum's big band mentors, James Jabbo Ware (leader of NYC's Me We and Them Orchestra, who died last year at the age of 80), and Mark Harvey (leader of Boston's Aardvark Jazz Orchestra), and will be joined by Hear In Now, the internationally acclaimed improvising string trio of violinist Mazz Swift, bassist Silvia Bolognesi, and cellist Tomeka Reid. There's a limited number of tix left.
And also at 7:30, the Villalobos Brothers will be at Union Church in Claremont for a West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts concert celebrating All Hallows Eve, Día de Muertos, Samhain (the Gaelic end-of-harvest festival), and the harvest. There'll be food "in honor of the celebration." Costumes welcome.
And for the weekend...
Well, yeah. Any excuse.
Don't let the changing weather make your head spin this weekend. 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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