GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
A bit warmer, chance of showers. There's low pressure coming through, and also a cold front out there, and pretty much everything today depends on where you are: chance of snow at higher elevations, rain down below, or nothing at all. More clouds than sky today but trending toward clearing, temps into the mid 40s, maybe some gusts in the middle part of the day. Down to either side of 30 by daybreak tomorrow.Three big skies:
The view from Cossingham in Norwich earlier this week, with shafts of light hitting the distant hills. "I felt like I was looking at a stage with spotlights on the actors," writes Taylor Haynes.
And the Connecticut upstream from Wilson's Landing in Hanover last weekend. "It could be captioned, 'The sun sets on another paddling season'," writes Maureen McNulty.
And finally, the Post Mills Veterans Memorial and Cemetery, bright clouds floating above, by John Pietkiewicz.
Getting through Tunbridge should be loads of fun next week. As Darren Marcy explains in the Herald, VTrans is closing Route 110 near the intersection of Whitney Hill Rd. from Thursday, Nov. 16 to Tuesday, Nov. 21, blocking the way from S. Royalton to Chelsea. The most logical alternative is Strafford Road—but that's closed, too, at least until Nov. 20. There are options, but "not many of them are convenient or easy, particularly if an early winter storm hits, making the hills and twists and turns on back roads less than ideal." He explores the choices—and the debate over how bad they are.Windsor Co. Sheriff's Department grows, nearly doubling deputies. In all, reports Tom Ayres in the VT Standard, the roster of sworn officers in the department has expanded from 12 to 22 since Ryan Palmer took office as sheriff on Feb. 1. The funding, Palmer says, comes from contract work for eight towns, as well as for various state offices. Deputies—and Kye, a Dutch shepherd who's the first addition to the department's new canine unit—are expanding beyond traffic enforcement. "We’re really branching out and doing more full-service law enforcement types of things," Palmer says.SPONSORED: You will never believe what treasures are right in your backyard! Wm. Smith’s Annual Fall ‘Pre-Thanksgiving’ Live Auction is one of them. It’s next Wednesday, Nov. 15, starting at 10 am, but please join us Monday and Tuesday next week from 10 to 4 to preview the lots in person, take advantage of our experts’ knowledge, and ask questions. The exquisite jewelry is not to be missed, and our certified gemologist will be on hand to describe it all on Monday from noon-4pm. Don’t forget the Holidays are coming! Full listing and detailed photos at the burgundy link. Sponsored by Wm. Smith Auctions.Strafford man sues Lebanon police after conviction is vacated. You may remember that back in January, a judge found that either the Grafton County Attorney’s Office or the Leb police had “knowingly withheld evidence” that would have aided Scott Traudt’s defense after he was tried on—and ultimately spent a year in prison for—charges that he'd assaulted two Lebanon police officers. This week, reports the Herald's Darren Marcy, Traudt sued in federal court, charging that officers, the department, and the city violated his civil rights by withholding that evidence. Marcy details the case and Traudt's arguments.In Woodstock, constraints on water, electricity highlight VT towns' challenges in adding more housing. The community needs as many as 500 units of workforce housing, it says—but, writes Ayres in the Standard, the effort to expand and reopen the restaurant Mangalitsa and to get power to three residences above it and to four new workforce townhouses behind illustrate "the vexing problems facing housing and economic development advocates." Developer John Holland tells Ayres he's had buy an independent transformer—GMP's wasn't up to the task—and to make up for inadequate water infrastructure by digging a 700-foot well. Ayres explains the issues involved.On the lookout. In the last couple of days, police have asked for the public's help with two recent incidents:
At about 6 Wednesday morning, a masked and hooded man tried—unsucessfully—to rob the Evans Expressmart on N. Main Street in WRJ. He was wearing jeans, a light grey hoodie with a dark grey puffy vest over it, had an Adidas hat, and the Hartford Police press release says he was last seen on Route 4 headed toward Woodstock on foot.
And on Wednesday afternoon, a car on I-91 northbound in Fairlee struck and injured a 66-year-old construction worker, then fled the scene. The vehicle was described as "a dark mid-size SUV" with a broken driver's-side sideview mirror—the mirror left behind, the VSP says in its press release, "suggests the vehicle is a Dodge." They're asking for help identifying either the car or the driver.
Jodi Picoult: "I am definitely a planner. There are times that I’ve written outlines that are 68 single-spaced pages before I write the book." Wednesday night, the Hanover resident sat down before a packed audience in Manchester to talk writing with Alexandria Peary, NH's poet laureate. She also sat down beforehand with the Globe's Amanda Gokee. They talked about a typical writing day (9-4: "[I]t’s still business hours"), research, what she's working on now (she's set out to prove "that Shakespeare probably didn’t write his plays, but a woman did"), and more. Via MSN, no paywall.
Hiking Close to Home: Athens Dome, Athens and Grafton, VT. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance suggests this multi-town trail network. This is an out-and-back trek, and you can choose your distance, traveling as far as 6+ miles round trip. The first stretch is about a mile to Ledge Road through varied forest and terrain, including some interesting rock formations. Turn around at the road for a 2-mile hike or continue on for a longer adventure. There are two parking areas, but, if there's snow, please choose the Sleepy Valley option on Athens Rd (VT-35) in Putney.So... Think you know what's been going on in the Upper Valley? Because Daybreak's News Quiz has some questions for you. Like... What financial blow has Thetford Hill's Parish Players theater company been facing? And which local grange hall is due for a facelift after a community group bought it for $1? 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 all of VT's DMV offices closed this week.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questionsabout doings around the Granite State—like, how did a judge recently respond to a challenge to the state's new provisional ballot law?
“We wanted to achieve the American dream, but we weren't lucky." In September, Mariposa, who'd been living in rural Mexico, tried to get into the US with her partner after a smuggler dropped them off on the Canadian side of either VT or NH—court records are unclear—and they walked across. Where they were quickly picked up and ultimately deported. With NH officials saying illegal crossings are skyrocketing but no public data to back up the claim, NHPR's Todd Bookman and Gabriela Lozada tracked down Mariposa to get her story. Says one Canadian official: "Your specific area isn't right now a hotspot."Eversource deploying "rapid poles" and mobile transformers to deal with power outages. The poles, writes Hadley Barndollar in NH Bulletin, are equivalent to a 55-foot utility pole, only they can be set up in ten minutes to get power back to customers quickly. In all, Barndollar writes, the utility intends to distribute 7 of them to its work centers around NH. Meanwhile, it's also deploying the mobile transformer—in March, to bring power back temporarily after wet snow brought down power lines in Sullivan, and the following month in Tilton, reducing a planned outage from four hours to five minutes.The acid rain of our time? That's what the Lake George Association over in NY calls road salt, anyway, and waterways in Vermont—and all over the US—are feeling its effects, too, writes Kevin McCallum in Seven Days. The state has been using brine on the roads it plows for years, which lessens the impact, and NH launched a program to educate private plow contractors after road salt contaminated drinking water in Merrimack—but among towns and private owners with large parking lots not much has changed, McCallum writes. With the price of salt rising this year, though, more towns may give brine a look.“As soon as you step on the floor, you ascend into another dimension..." When they were kids, Marcus and Michael Griffin's mom would drop them off at a roller rink on Fridays and Saturdays. Now they're grown and they've picked up the habit again—along with a few million TikTok followers grooving to the short synchronized skating videos they drop every few weeks from the floor of the Christiana Skating Center in Newark (that's "new-ARK", to you), Delaware. Definite shout-out to their videographer: their friend Damon Hudson. (Sound on!) Link goes to their whole channel, 'cause it's a little like Lays potato chips...The Friday Vordle. And hey! Are you new to Vordle? Did you know that fresh ones appear on weekends, using words from the Friday Daybreak? You can get a reminder email each weekend morning: Just sign up here.
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From 4 to 5:30 today, Upper Valley Music Center holds an "instrument petting zoo", with instruments of all shapes and sizes for kids and adults to check out. They'll have child-sized stringed instruments, wind and brass instruments, percussion, and harps from the Vermont Harp Center.
At 7 this evening, National Book Award finalist Ken Cadow will give a reading from his young adult novel, Gather, at the Norwich Bookstore. It focuses on a teen in rural VT coping with poverty, an addicted mom, and the chance that he might lose his family's land. Says Cadow, a longtime teacher and school administrator, “I have encountered dozens upon dozens of stories like Ian’s: kids whose spirits are threatened to be crushed by societal disregard. The kids who are able to pull through by the ingenuity of their skill set and the strength of their character, as well as the care of their larger communities, are some of the strongest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.”
Also at 7 this evening, the Hartford High performing arts department launches its weekend run of Curtains, the Kander & Ebb & Rupert Holmes musical-within-a-musical whodunnit with, in this case, some 50 teens at the school involved: The leading lady in a brand-new musical dies on stage opening night—and the detective who shows up to investigate turns out to be a musical theater fan. Runs tomorrow evening at the same time, and Sunday at 2 pm.
At 7:30 pm, the Anonymous Coffeehouse is back for a fresh round of music at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon. Newly arrived from Colorado, folk singer-songwriter Piper Dumont will start things off—her first formal appearance with a set of original material she wrote and recorded during pandemic lockdown. At 8:30, blues and roots guitarist William Lee Ellis—music prof at St. Mike's, recording artist, and son of banjo great Tony Ellis—will take the stage, fresh off an appearance on WV Public Radio's Mountain Stage; and at 9, Dartmouth grad student and guitarist Kyle Singh and The Lone Pines (who include Austin Reed on mandolin, rhythm guitar and piano and singer Sydney Fortner) take the stage with their blend of bluegrass and traditional and original folk. At 10, all will head over to Salt Hill for an informal hour of after-hours music.
And at 9 tonight, Sawtooth Kitchen brings in the reggae-inspired trio Drumstick.
Saturday
Tomorrow from 11 am to 2 pm, Honey Field Farm in Norwich is holding a popup market with farms and craft vendors from all over, including Hogwash Farm (there's still time to get in a turkey order), Lucky Fields Farm, Flying Dog Farm, Crossmolina Farm, and a variety of crafters. It's been a tough year for farmers, and November's a perfect time to give them an end-of-year boost. In the greenhouse.
At 4 pm tomorrow, the Dartmouth Dance Showcase—highlighting the work of student troupes—will bring the atrium at the Irving Institute to life.
At 4:30 tomorrow, Valley Improv will join forces with two Dartmouth improv ensembles, Casual Thursday and Dog Day Players, for a freewheeling improv hour at One Wheelock, in Collis.
From 6-9 pm tomorrow at the Wilder Club & Library, the Route 5 Ringers will host a night of Karaoke Bandstand, in conjunction with Andy Connolly's 50th birthday bash. Song choices are limitless, open to all ages, signups (and happy hour) begin at 5 pm.
At 7 tomorrow evening, the Hanover Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society presents “Building Bridges of Harmony" at Mascoma Valley Regional High School. It'll be an evening of barbershop, contemporary, and classical a cappella singing from the North Country Chordsmen and the VoxStars, plus guests: Upper Valley Voices (formerly the Thetford Chamber Singers), along with the Dachords and Faltones from Hanover High, and a visit from the Bridgertones, flashing back to the early 1800s! Tickets at the link or the door.
Also at 7 pm tomorrow, the Chandler in Randolph hosts a powerhouse of an evening's pairing: Ranky Tanky and singer Lisa Fischer. The Charleston, SC-based Ranky Tanky specializes in jazz-, blues-, and gospel-inflected music rooted in the Gullah culture of SC's Sea Islands; Fischer can sing pretty much anything, given her decades of backing Luther Vandross, The Rolling Stones, Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, and others, duets with Sting and Jagger, and—after her star turn in Twenty Feet from Stardom—her career as a solo artist. Stunningly, there are still tix available.
And also at 7 tomorrow, on the big screen in Dartmouth's Loew Auditorium, it's King Kong. Yep, the King Kong, in 35mm. It's a special presentation in memory of Dartmouth film icon Bill Pence, who in the late 1950s convinced the head of Janus Films to let him restore the US version of the film to its original form—after it had been cut by censors for too much "suggestive content."
At 7:30 tomorrow evening, the Roots & Wings Coffehouse at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Upper Valley in Norwich hosts Windsor guitarist and folk singer Dave Richardson—who's played Cambridge's legendary Club Passim but is a little under the radar in the Upper Valley. He'll be joined by Cambridge, MA-based cellist and singer-songwriter Valerie Thompson.
Also at 7:30 tomorrow and also in Norwich—at Tracy Hall—Norwich Community Dances throws its next contra dance, with veteran caller and contra organizer Chip Hedler and the musical duo Crossover: Alex Cumming (who's also artistic director for Revels North) on accordion and piano, and Carol Bittenson on fiddle. As usual, all dances taught, refresher session at 7:15.
Sunday
At 2 pm Sunday afternoon, the North Chapel in Woodstock closes out its chamber music series for 2023 with cellist Hyun-ji Kwon and pianist Xiaopei Xu performing duo works by Bach, Joowon Kim, Schubert, Astor Piazzolla, and Florence Price.
At 3 pm, the Upper Valley Chamber Orchestra will give a concert in Woodstock's Town Hall Theater of 19th and 20th century works. Led by Mark Nelson and with new Upper Valley Music Center piano instructor Chenyu Wang as soloist, their program includes Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 in F Major and Germaine Tailleferre’s Ballade for Piano and Orchestra.
And at 4 pm, classical guitarist William Ghezzi will be at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College in Hanover for a concert of works by Mudarra, Dowland, Telemann, Tarrega, Carlevaro, and Villa-Lobos. There's a preview video here.
And as we head into the weekend...
Let's pause a moment to marvel at the fact that on Wednesday night in Nashville, 35 years after Tracy Chapman released "Fast Car", she won song of the year at the Country Music Awards. As
Rolling Stone
noted, "In the 56 previous years, there has never been a Black songwriter — male or female — to win the Song of the Year award" before this. And why'd it happen now? Because country star Luke Combs' version—on Wednesday, accepting the award for single of the year, he called "Fast Car" "one of the best songs of all time"— became a blockbuster hit this year, winning both him and Chapman new fans. So
, and
Have a fine weekend, and 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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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt About Rob About Michael
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