GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Sunny, colder. We've got a quiet day ahead, with not much in the way of clouds and temps reaching the high 20s. Light winds from the west, and with mostly clear skies tonight, we'll probably see lows in the single digits.A muskrat family hangs out. In all, writes Carol Majewski, there were five of them "feasting on reeds/branches while swimming from open ice hole to ice hole in Plainfield." She spent a couple of hours crouched in the snow, taking photos. Here are a couple:
And two youngsters, doing whatever muskrat youngsters do.
Sharon voters go big for retail cannabis. As you know, Tuesday's vote was the second time around for the question; back in October, voters defeated the possibility by two votes. Tuesday's reconsideration drew a significantly larger turnout, and in the end, voters okayed retail cannabis 295-196, reports Nicole Antal in The Herald. The result, she writes, "opens the door for cannabis entrepreneur Sean Trombly’s proposed dispensary at the former Sandy’s Drive In Restaurant property on Route 14." Says Trombly, “We look forward to serving the community no later than spring of next year!"Woodstock Village hires investigator to look into police union complaints about chief. The tangle involving Woodstock Chief Joe Swanson continues, reports Mike Donoghue in the Standard. A few weeks back, the police officers' and dispatchers' unions voted no-confidence in Swanson; the private investigation, Donoghue writes, is aimed at seeing whether "the employee concerns are real or just normal complaints about a boss." Village board chair Seton McIlroy tells him that Swanson's paid leave—the subject of a complaint by his backers—will likely last until the investigation is complete.For booklovers, shoppers, families, and "creative minds": How to get to Upper Valley "gems" by bus. It's a new video series from Advance Transit, with JAM's help, aimed at highlighting which lines get you to, say, libraries and bookstores in Leb, West Leb, Norwich, and Hanover; shopping spots like the Miracle Mile, the plazas, and downtown Hanover and Norwich; Tip Top Pottery, UVAC, and the Nugget; and arts destinations in WRJ, downtown Lebanon, and Hanover. Burgundy link goes to the YouTube channel; here's the press release.SPONSORED: Chapman's General—making the holidays merry! For over 125 years, Chapman’s General has served Fairlee, the “Town Under The Cliff." Today, it's a modern take on a Vermont country store with a curated selection of local art, art supplies, New England food products, and ethically sourced jewelry—and a favorite destination for holiday gift-buying with its robust toy selection, wines, greeting cards, hand-picked gift baskets, and vibrant community gathering-spot vibe. Come visit us for all of your holiday gift-buying needs! Sponsored by Chapman's General.Casino opens in Lebanon next week. The Revo Casino and Social House will open Wednesday in the former Honda dealership on the Miracle Mile, reports John Lippman in the Valley News. It's a "charitable gaming enterprise," he writes: 35 percent of proceeds go to charity (and 10 percent to the New Hampshire State Lottery to support public education). The first nonprofits sharing in the proceeds will be the Grafton County Senior Citizens Council and the NH Academy of Sciences, which is based at Crossroads Academy in Lyme. The new casino will include a restaurant, bar, and performance space.There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors. Not The Doors in this case, but Chelsea's doors, the results of artist Carrie Caouette-De Lallo's four-year project to photograph, draw—and then understand—her town's doorways. Her exhibit opens next week in the VT Statehouse, and as The Herald's Isabel Dreher writes, the exhibit's not just of drawings, but of the lore gathered by Caouette-De Lallo during hours of interviews. “These aren’t just...drawings," she says. "They’re history, and they’re people’s lives going back for many generations.” Thanks, TC!SPONSORED: Back by popular demand: Kate Emlen’s Holiday Open House and Studio Sale! Tomorrow from 10 to 2 at 12 Elm Street in Norwich, Kate welcomes you for refreshments while visiting with friends and neighbors. She offers framed and unframed paintings and prints at generously reduced prices, greeting cards, and hand-printed coasters. Too busy on Saturday? Make an appointment any time before New Year’s. Five percent of all sales goes to the Haven. Sponsored by Kate Emlen.Hiking Not Quite Close to Home: Owls Head, Groton State Forest. This is a winter-time adventure from the UVTA in this underrated family-friendly VT state forest. There are endless hiking options there, but the trek up Owls Head is a manageable and rewarding snowshoe adventure. While only climbing several hundred feet as you travel the roughly 2 miles to the top, you are still rewarded with wonderful views at the Owls Head outlook. Be sure to bring the right winter equipment and be aware that the park gate is closed in winter: There's plowed winter parking at the North Lot off State Forest Road (adding half a mile).Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because Daybreak's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions. Like, what are Leb High School students building in a converted garage? And what did DH and VA researchers find that AI predicted from knee x-rays?Those and other burning questions at the link.But wait! How closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to know if you know: What will Vermont soon begin testing its milk supply for?
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, what happened to the Satanic Temple's holiday display in Concord?
The impact of rain on snow for NH's winters: not good. A case in point: last December's heavy rains, which flooded the Mt. Washington Valley and erased most of the mountain's snowpack. As it happens, Mt. Washington Observatory staffer Charlie Peachey has been paying close attention to rain-on-snow events, reports Emily Cummings in NH Bulletin. Dividing October-May "winter years" from 1981 to 2020 into two groups, he's found that ROS days increased 17 percent—and in December, 46 percent. "Ultimately," Cummings writes, "these results mean that the winter season in New Hampshire is shortening."The Hillsborough County sheriff about to become Kelly Ayotte's chief of staff. How Chris Connelly sees his new role as the incoming governor's right hand after a career in law enforcement "is hard to know," reports NHPR's Josh Rogers, since he wouldn't give an interview. But Connelly and Ayotte are close, and Connelly has a reputation for being "even-keeled and cordial," Rogers says. “One of the best things Chris brings to the table is being able to handle a crisis — he is a sheriff and he’s seen tough situations — and not overreact, and be calm and collected in any situation,” outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu tells him.Three recent VT murder cases highlight mental health/criminal justice challenges. The homicides all involve young men who are charged with killing parents and, in one case, other family members, and all three of the accused were involved in the mental health system. As Liam Elder-Connors reports, though, prosecutors and mental health experts part company on how the treatment process is working. One prosecutor tells Elder-Connors that the system is both opaque and focused on treatment rather than public safety; advocates disagree, and worry about treatment being used as punishment.
The folks behind VISITING YOUR IN-LAWS? SLOW DOWN, BE LATE. You may remember a kerfuffle back in January when the feds tried to muzzle highway sign messages designed to elicit a chuckle. They backed off, but it turns out that the message team at VTrans never intended to go along. "We are not removing the more witty safety messaging," said the agency's Ian Kilburn, who along with Rachel Noyes is responsible for what Seven Days' Steve Goldstein calls the sign boards' "comic stylings." Goldstein profiles the pair, the effort's evolution, and, of course, the messages themselves."It's one of those ideas that sound great in your head..." Norwich kid Jake Laser is now an engineering YouTuber with millions of followers for his Marvel-related exploits. His latest? Make venom, the black, viscous, crazily sentient stuff that features in the original Venom and, now, Venom: The Last Dance. So Jake sets out to "make a blob of venom that moves around and attacks people." He starts with ferrofluid (he'll explain), then makes it thick and slinking—and then figures out how to cover himself in it. And then, Sony Pictures invites him to show it off to the cast, including Venom himself, Tom Hardy.
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Fleece vests, sweatshirts, head-warming beanies... Strong Rabbit has updated the Daybreak page to keep up with the changing weather. Plus, of course, the usual: t-shirts, long-sleeved tees, the Daybreak jigsaw, those perfect hand-fitting coffee/tea mugs, and as always, "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Check it all out at the link!
The town's biggest winter-time celebration is event-filled, with a vintage book sale at the library, an open-air artisan fair under Middle Bridge, a candle-lit bagpipe-led tour through town, Christmas classics the Frisson classical ensemble at the Town Hall Theatre, and more. And that's just today. Tomorrow, there's the 40th annual parade (2 pm) and all the events around it, food on the green, cocoa and donuts by the Inn, the North Country Chordsmen, Ham Gillett doing Dylan Thomas, and several evening concerts (below). Sunday,
. Full listing at the link.
The jukebox musical has a story to tell—adapted from a 16th century romance involving a royal family, a prophecy of doom, and a long and complicated journey—but you're there at least as much for the music, which comes from The Go-Go's songbook. Tonight and tomorrow at 7 pm, Sunday at 2 pm.
NOEL concert at the United Church of Strafford. Four gifted performers tonight: Vocalist Julie Ness, Boston-based fiddler Eric Boodman, pianist Annemieke McLane, and accordionist and traditional music great Jeremiah McLane with poetry set to music, advent music, and more. Not a collection of talent you get to see often. 7 pm, no link.
The Nova Scotia quartet Celtic "supergroup" takes the stage with an evening of Celtic (and folk/classical/swing-influenced) holiday music—classics and their own tunes. 7 pm.
The Enfield Shaker Museum hosts their holiday concert tonight at the Chosen Vale Performance Center. Among other things, they'll be handbell-ringing a jazzy arrangement of "We Three Kings", Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", an ethereal setting of a 13th century Plainsong, and many familiar holiday carols and songs. 7 pm.
The NH-based singer-songwriter and her compatriots will be performing classics from the Vince Guaraldi songbook: not just from the beloved 1965 jazz album, but other Guaraldi compositions and holiday favorites. 7:30 this evening.
Though the coffeehouse isn't going far: Its holiday special will be at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College. The VTones—a group of eight highly experienced Upper Valley singers—start things off at 7:30 pm with holiday songs from a variety of traditions. Then at 8:15, singer-songwriters Sam Robbins and Halley Neal, who usually perform solo, will do material from their joint album of duets,
You and Me on Christmas Eve
. Also making the trek from the usual Anonymous: baked goods at intermission.
Saturday
It'll run from 11:40 to 1 tomorrow, hosted by the Hanover Improvement Society. Skate rentals available.
City Center Ballet's annual take on
The Nutcracker
has new choreography—with, they write, "ever-changing backdrops and costumes that shimmer with winter’s crystalline beauty." Tomorrow at 1 pm and 7 pm, Sunday at 2:30 pm.
The choral group will present "A Winter's Welcome" concert of Christmas songs, along with readings and community carols. 3 pm tomorrow. They'll also be at the Sugar Hill Meetinghouse on Sunday at 3 pm.
It's part of Wassail Weekend, with music by the Speak Easy Prohibition Band (Bob Merrill on piano, drummer Tim Gilmore, bassist Peter Concilio, trumpeter Dave Ellis, Michael Zsoldos on sax, and vocalist Grace Wallace); cabaret performances by Jill Clough, Taylor Herbel, Greg Pomeroy, Tommy Bauch, and Evan Landon; and a meal prepped by Brownsville Butcher & Pantry. 6-10 pm tomorrow in Barnard Town Hall.
Willem Lange reads A Christmas Carol: a ghost story, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Hanover at 6 pm tomorrow
. As he's done annually for nearly 50 years now, Lange uses the script Dickens used—which Lange typed up for his own use when he was in college. He first performed the Dickens story for friends in 1975 in his living room, then moved on to do it at St. Thomas two years later. The reading will not be streamed so you'll need to be there in person, but if you can't make it,
in Montpelier's City Hall at 3 pm on Sunday—and that one will be streamed.
Rooted Entertainment and Strange Kloudz kick off a new global music series with the Boston-based brass band—featuring musicians from Ghana, Antigua, Japan, and the US—and Alidu, a singer and percussionist from Tamale, Ghana; they've teamed up on a debut EP that will be released next year. 6-11 pm in Fairlee Town Hall.
Emceed by stand-up comic Vicki Ferentinos, the evening features
dancers, vocalists, and jazz as well as Ferentinos' own riffs. Acts include
Parker & the Perennials, Jade Evangelista & Matthew Robert, Richard Noble, Dan Patterson, John Emery, and Emily Howe. Tomorrow at 7 pm, Sunday at 3 pm in the Grange Theater.
The usual Tracy Hall dance is shifting to Barrett Memorial Hall, with Crossover Duo (Alex Cumming on accordion and piano and Carol Bittenson on fiddle) providing the music and Luke Donforth calling. 7:30 pm tomorrow.
Pentangle Arts presents the Chicago-based blues quartet in Town Hall Theater tomorrow at 7:30 pm as part of Wassail Weekend. The band's been touring in this configuration since 2008 with a blend of Americana, folk, and rock ‘n’ roll spiked with roots soul."
The high-end choral group's winter concert features Vivaldi's Magnificat with a string quartet, along with English, German, Spanish, and Nigerian carol arrangements, contemporary works by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo and American Eric Whitacre, and several spirituals. At the First Congregational Church of Lebanon tomorrow at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 4 pm. By donation at the door.
'Tis the season of...
Vince Guaraldi. For decades, the
Peanuts
soundtracks have been pretty much everywhere this time of year (and you can hear the Heather Pearson Trio tonight at Court Street Arts). But in his newsletter the other day, music historian Ted Gioia notes that Guaraldi was much more. "Like Charlie Brown," he writes, "Guaraldi was also a bit of an outsider. He played (and composed) jazz music in his own strange and beautiful way, violating most of the norms of the day. I chafe when I hear Guaraldi dismissed as a jazz lightweight or some kind of crossover simpleton who didn’t play the real thing. The truth is the exact opposite. Guaraldi was as real as you could get." One interesting example: "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", which was an unlikely hit. "It only arrived at radio stations because it was the B-side of the single for the intended airplay tune 'Samba de Orfeu'," Gioia writes. "But listeners loved it." And if Guaraldi's piano-playing on it sounds familiar, there's a reason:
If you want more proof,
Have a fine 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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