HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH, UPPER VALLEY!
So maybe it's fitting that the sunshine would come to an end today. As yesterday's high pressure scoots off to the east, overcast skies will move in. There's a chance of some drizzle in the afternoon and early evening — maybe even uncomfortably toward the freezing end — then rain becomes likely. Temps rising all day and night, reaching the low 30s by late day, high 30s by daybreak tomorrow, and on into the 40s. They're keeping an eye on waterways.Did you miss Daybreak yesterday? It may have gotten snagged in your spam filter — looks like this was an issue particularly with Gmail accounts. If it happened to you, once you find it mark it as "Not Spam" and then hover over the Daybreak email address until a box pops up, then click "Add to Contacts." That should keep it from happening again.How Wally the Wordworm made it back into print. You may have missed Ann Fadiman at the Norwich Bookstore Wednesday evening, but thanks to the VN's Alex Hanson you don't have to miss the story of how she came to be there reading and talking about the children's book her father, Clifton Fadiman, wrote in 1964. It's back in print thanks to Bookstore co-owner Liza Bernard and Jaffrey, NH publisher David Godine. And therein lies a story...Woodstock's Lincoln Covered Bridge reopened Wednesday. It had been shut for repairs since spring. Nice pic of what it looks like now.New pool could cost Hartford $3.2 million. The VN's Tim Camerato has a full wrap-up of last night's public meeting on replacing the Sherman Manning Pools. The new structure proposed by a Boston-based architect would have dedicated lap pools and areas for a slide and spray features. If the selectboard opts to move ahead and voters approve a bond, it could be ready in 2021.Want to see Dartmouth's charter? The one that starts, "George the Third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and so forth, To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting..."? The college ends its 250th with a Charter Day celebration at the Rauner Library, which will be displaying the charter from 8 until 4:30 today. Speaking of Dartmouth: Writing prof to chair NH parole board. Well, okay, Jennifer Sargent also happens to be a former district court judge, prosecutor, and public defender. But since 2006 she's been teaching at the college, in both the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric and the women’s, gender and sexuality studies department. And she's "legal content advisor" for Hanover author Jodi Picoult. And, as of Jan. 15, Gov. Chris Sununu has decided, she'll replace former House Speaker Donna Sytek as chair of the state parole board.“You always kind of wonder if somebody’s going to come along in their car and hit you by mistake.” With a picturesque Main Street, the Connecticut River running alongside it, and Lake Morey just around the corner, Fairlee's got assets a lot of towns would give their eyeteeth for. But pedestrian-friendly? Not so much. On Wednesday, thanks to a state grant, it kicked off a "Main Street to Morey" revitalization and planning effort. Top on attendees' lists: bike- and walkways and easier access to the river. (VN)How many glove makers can say they're in both Woodstock's Elevation Clothing and West Leb's LockNLube? Vermont Glove can. The Randolph heavy-duty goatskin glove supplier to electric utilities around the country — which two years ago became part of the growing Hooper family all-things-goat dynasty — is going retail. It's inked deals with Gardener's Supply, Lenny’s Shoe and Apparel, and a couple of national retailers. Most and least expensive downhill ski getaways in New England. Hometogo, the vacation-rental search engine, just took a look at the cost of renting ski equipment, a lift ticket, lunch on the slopes, and one night's stay in a cabin for four people in NH, VT and ME. The total ranges from $232.02 at NH's Cranmore Mountain (with Loon, Smuggler's, and Bolton Valley all grouped right behind it) to $414.91 at Stratton (with Okemo and Killington not a whole lot less).“It throws longtime surfers for a loop when they see what we’re up to over here." I'll say. That's a Portsmouth surf shop owner talking to Condé Nast Traveler about winter surfing off the NH coast. From "the fall through March (and whenever a blizzard pummels the coast), the surfing here can be as good as or even better than anywhere else in the U.S.," writes Todd Plummer. "It’s also a trippy sight to be in the water, looking back at a frozen shore where beach houses have snow drifts up to their roofs."It'll be even trippier when there are wind turbines as a backdrop. Yesterday was the first meeting of the ME-NH-MA task force on offshore wind, which drew nearly 200 people to UNH. They're talking big wind, enough to transform the grid. "A wind farm offshore is on a scale that's similar to an onshore nuclear power plant,” says the feds' renewable energy head at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. “When you're talking about multiple offshore wind farms, that adds up."
Maybe it's lack of public wastewater systems, not of high-speed internet, that's holding back rural development. VTDigger's Elizabeth Gribkoff points out that nearly 2/3 of the state's villages and downtowns have no public wastewater systems. Which are "essential to the preservation of village centers in an age of sprawl,” says Paul Costello, executive director of the Vermont Council on Rural Development. Which is why towns are starting to focus on communal septic.
Vermont folds on exit signs. Okay, maybe that's a little extreme. But next year, VTrans has just announced, it will "add milepoint information below select interchange guide signs" on I‐89, I‐91, I‐93, US‐4, US‐7, and VT 289. The state's one of the last holdouts against a federal push to align exit numbers with mileage markers. Replacing all the signs would have cost millions; adding to existing signs mere hundreds of thousands, which the feds will pay for.Imagine Vermont with a network of trails and huts that would let you travel the mountains, staying off the grid and in the backcountry. That's what Colorado and Maine have, and it's where the Vermont Huts Association wants to get. In a podcast from last week, longtime VT outdoor writer David Goodman talks the prospects over with RJ Thompson, the huts association's executive director. Why is Vermont late to the game? Maybe because "a lot of our trail networks have been a best-kept secret," says Thompson.
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OKAY! IT'S FRIDAY NIGHT AND THERE'S STUFF TO DO!
It's happened every year since the Sandy Hook shooting (which was seven years ago tomorrow) to commemorate the victims and survivors of shootings. There'll be a candlelight vigil at 5, then a program at the Norwich Congregational Church starting at 5:45.
If you know the hard-rocking trio, you know why you're going. If you don't, ask someone who does. 9 to midnight.
That's the play version of David Sedaris' highly incorrect and wickedly funny essay on his time working in Macy’s Department store as Crumpet the Elf during the holiday season. For a sense of what's in store, the Chandler warns, "Due to adult language and bawdy, situational humor, this show is suitable for mature holiday audiences only!" 7:30 pm, upstairs.
Country music revivalists The Country Jamboree will be doing Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard and others. Special appearances by Elvis and Roy Orbison. Starts at 7:30.
Way back before a cappella was a thing, they'd already been around forever. Since 1909, in fact. They've been gallivanting around places like Peru, Morocco, China, Greece, and New Zealand recently, and now are ready to land in exotic Woodstock for an evening. At the Town Hall Theater at 7:30.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!!...
It's a chock-full weekend!
Tomorrow alone there's Clara's Dream at LOH, the Bel Canto Chamber Singers across the park at the Congregational Church, Cape Breton supergroup Còig at the Chandler, ArtisTree's holiday cabaret, David Millstone calling Contra at Tracy Hall in Norwich... In the spirit of a busy season, here are some places to help you plan:
You don't need a subscription to see the Valley News calendar, which is easily filterable by date.
Then there's David Corriveau's fantastic weekly Thursday roundup (scroll down) of what's going on through the weekend and into next week. You might hit the VN's paywall if you're not a subscriber.
And it's easy to check out Junction Mag, which maintains an extensive and quirky calendar of its own.
Have a fine weekend, and what the heck, let's go out with the 2019 Whiffenpoofs doing
These are
sooo
not your granddad's Old Blues.
See you Monday.
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