GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Pretty great... for April. Partly to mostly sunny skies today, and with a warm front here along with winds from the south, temps are going to hit anywhere from the low to the upper 40s, depending on where you are—downright tropical after the last few days. Lows around the freezing mark tonight."Fishers dampen the enthusiasm of squirrels," Ted Levin writes of Erin Donahue's latest trail cam video. "Life beneath the canopy is dynamic, dramatic, spellbinding . . . but seldom understood. Every species has a carrying capacity, the number of red or flying squirrels, for instance, that a wild neighborhood supports. The availability and vulnerability of squirrels determine the fisher's hunting success: When overcrowded and food insecure, when the love-struck drop their guard, or when young adults disperse, prey become vulnerable and available. Predation is simply a by-product of population."Orford planning commission down to a single member, town asks judges to fill vacancies. Members of the commission are elected and meet once a month to consider land use applications and other issues. But, reports Alex Nuti-de Biasi in the Journal Opinion newsletter, the meeting scheduled for this week had to be canceled after at least four members resigned; at Wednesday's selectboard meeting, selectmen said "the resignations did not appear to be for any single reason," Nuti-de Biasi writes. Board members are hoping a court can appoint a quorum to serve until town meeting in March.Haverhill school board member and chair of NH youth advisory board resigns in wake of child-abuse allegations. Michael Adamkowski, who was named to the school board in April and to the DCYF Advisory Board in 2009, stepped down Wednesday after NHPR inquiries into accusations of physical and sexual abuse by six plaintiffs among the nearly 1,100 alleging abuse at the state's youth services center and related facilities—in this case, a wilderness therapy camp in Colebrook. State officials say they were unaware of the allegations against Adamkowski, who did not respond to NHPR's inquiries.After community pressure on policing, Chelsea finds its options are limited. With concern about rising crime on townspeople's minds, selectboard members had looked for help to Royalton, the Orange County sheriff's department, and the state police. But all are hard-pressed on staffing, reports Darren Marcy in the Herald. The town had also considered reaching across the county line for help from Windsor County, but Sheriff Ryan Palmer says he has his hands full there—and OC Sheriff George Contois sent a brush-back email this fall warning him off. For now, Marcy reports, the crime rash seems to have abated, and the town's considering security cameras.Hartford Middle School parents, students want interim principal back. As you may remember from earlier this week, Justin Bouvier resigned the post on Dec. 1, citing health concerns. But on Wednesday, reports Nora Doyle-Burr in the Valley News, the school board got a petition signed by nearly 200 parents and students crediting Bouvier with improving the school climate. "In his absence, they said they are worried about student safety, including bullying," Doyle-Burr writes. At a school board meeting, several lauded Bouvier for creating a respectful and more welcoming environment that helped kids. Board members responded that they think it unlikely Bouvier will return.SPONSORED: Your gift counts! LISTEN Community Services is addressing record-high demand for assistance with food, utilities, and housing. The good news: Because of the generosity of people like you, we can help our neighbors experiencing hardship. This giving season, 100 percent of your donation will make an immediate difference for the most vulnerable in our community who are struggling to make ends meet. Thank you! Your support has never been more important. You can donate to LISTEN at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by LISTEN Community Services.Judge rules Woodstock Foundation lawsuit can head toward trial. Current members of the foundation board had sought to derail the suit by former board leaders Ellen Pomeroy and Sal Iannuzzi claiming both mismanagement of the Woodstock Inn and Billings Farm and defamation. In his rulings, writes Mike Donoghue in the VT Standard, Superior Court Judge H. Dickson Corbett, who was appointed this spring, declared that Pomeroy and Iannuzzi have standing to sue, and rejected defendants' effort to have the pair's defamation claims thrown out. Donoghue explores the state of play in the wake of the decisions.In S. Royalton, a deli that's "a launchpad for kindness." That's how the Herald's Tim Calabro describes RB's Delicatessen under its owners, Daisey Darling and Tony Salls. "Darling doesn’t have a particular organization or cause that she works with," Calabro writes; "instead she’s a one-person smile. 'If people ask me for help, I just say yes,'” she tells him. She delivers to people who can't get out; feeds firefighters when they're on call—recalling when they saved both her house and her life in a barn fire; hires teens and sits down with them to talk through tough times; and lots more. "What’s it gonna do, take two seconds…of your life to make somebody’s life easier?” she asks.SPONSORED: Root for soil, grow with us! Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center strives to go “beyond organic” to build and protect soil health while nurturing connections between our food, ecosystems, and community. Your year-end support will help us pilot a teen agriculture program, increase our scholarship fund, continue our no-till research, and expand community programming. Invest in the future of local food with a tax-deductible gift of any amount at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by Cedar Circle Farm and Education Center.Valley News names new managing, news editors. Though they'll be familiar names. The paper has been without either position for some time, but now longtime photographer and current photo editor Geoff Hansen will become managing editor, charged with overseeing the newsroom's day-to-day operations while still running the photography staff. Health (and education) reporter Nora Doyle-Burr, who's been at the paper nearly a decade, will become news editor, assigning and finding stories and playing a "central role in new reader outreach initiatives planned for the coming year," the paper says.Okay, who took the Duck Pond Road sign? The VT State Police have put out a press release noting that yesterday, they began investigating the thefts of nine road signs from the town of Waterford, just south of St. J — Moore Dam Road, Moore View Lane, Shadow Lake Road, Kidder Road... All gone. "The total value to replace these road signs amounts to well over $2,000.00," the release says. Somebody in the VSP's graphics shop had fun with this.Backcountry skiing close to home: Brandon Gap Backcountry Recreation Area. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance checks in with this set of four backcountry ski zones in Chittenden, Goshen, and Rochester VT, which provide varied opportunities for skiing. The four areas are connected using gladed runs, skin tracks, and via the Long Trail, creating a massive and dynamic area to explore. The trail system can be accessed from two parking areas, one for the Long Trail and the other at Bear Brook a mile east on VT-73. Skin tracks are marked with yellow markers and runs are marked with wooden signs.And say, while we're here, here's a taste. Not at Brandon Gap, but on three lines on Mt. Mansfield, put together by skier and photographer Brooks Curran last month. "Maybe the best morning of skiing i've ever had," he writes.And if backcountry isn't your thing but you still want to explore... On her Happy Vermont blog, Erica Houskeeper takes a look at some of the state's lesser-known xc/snowshoeing trails and networks, including Hartland Winter Trails, the Silloway Maple Trails in Randolph Center, and trail systems farther afield: in Hardwick, Brattleboro, Rutland and Windham counties, and Newport.So... Think you know what's been going on in the Upper Valley? Because Daybreak's News Quiz has some questions for you. Like... How many miles of stone walls are there in New England? And which piece of Vermont just became part of the National Park system? Those and more at the link.But wait! How closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to knowif you know what Vermonters will be able to do for th first time come Jan. 11.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, what does that letter criticizing the Littleton selectboard that over 1,000 people have signed concern?
A profile of NH's many languages. Something like 92 percent of the state's residents speak only English at home, the NH Center for Justice & Equity writes in a new report—but that means 8 percent, or about 103,500 people, speak something else. Nearly 35 percent of those speak Spanish, 15 percent speak French, and the rest—over 51,000 people—speak Chinese, Russian or another Slavic language, German, Arabic, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean... Over half the state's non-English speakers live in Hillsborough County; about 7 percent are in Grafton County.Judge finds no evidence that NHPR journalists acted "with actual malice" in Spofford story. You may remember that Eric Spofford, founder of Granite Recovery Centers, sued reporter Lauren Chooljian and others after she reported multiple accusations of sexual misconduct and abusive behavior against him. The judge in the case ordered NHPR to turn over Chooljian's reporting notes—and after "exhaustively reviewing" the 2,800 pages of notes, concluded there was no sign she or others acted with malice, reports WBUR. Spofford has 30 days to produce evidence before the judge dismisses his case.The Japanese market, branded NYC streetwear, slimmer silhouettes for hunters... Johnson Woolen Mills tries to adapt. The iconic company has been struggling for decades, writes Colin Flanders in Seven Days, hurt by US manufacturing costs, questionable leadership decisions, outdated operations, and the pandemic. When ousted BTV exec Gene Richards bought the company last year, he began making upgrades, adopting more efficient systems, and expanding markets. Business has picked up, but some see Richards as “an egotistical businessman, attempting to rehab his reputation on the back of an iconic company,” writes Flanders."Circus life is unique, and it's a character builder." For the first time ever, Greensboro-based Circus Smirkus has a permanent executive director who came up through the ranks. Rachel Schiffer started as a camper when she was seven, joined the touring troupe at nine, served as a counselor and—with fellow alum Josh Shack—as interim director last year. In Seven Days, she talks with Rachel Mullis about rooting the circus's evolution in the "original nugget" created by founder Rob Mermin and how it's coming back from the pandemic. (For a look at Schiffer when she was 15—before she became an in-demand performer in Europe—here's a profile I wrote of Smirkus during its 1999 tour.)“This is the hardest workout I’ve ever done. I was wrecked.” You’ve got to admire someone—yes, that someone—who can do a three-and-a-half-hour concert, in constant motion and wearing high heels, without collapsing. In Outside, Zoë Rom, an ultrarunner who tackles 50- and 100-mile races, writes about her attempt to replicate Taylor Swift’s full-on treadmill prep, complete with varying speeds and singing the entire Eras tour at a run. How did a competitive athlete measure up aerobically? “My bangs are plastered to my forehead, but I’m glad I don’t have to wiggle into a sequined leotard,” writes Rom.Wait! You say there's a steer on the tracks in Newark??!! Yup. Yesterday, on the New Jersey Transit train tracks in Newark Penn Station. It was eventually tracked down near Newark Airport, corralled and tranquilized, and taken to Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue in Wantage, NH. Where they've named him Ricardo. "It is still unclear where the steer came from in the first place," reports WABC.The Friday Vordle. 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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There's a new Daybreak jigsaw puzzle, 252 or 520 pieces, just in time for these long nights by the fire. Plus, of course, fleece vests, hoodies, sweatshirts, even a throw blanket. And hats, mugs, and—once you work up a puzzle-piece sweat—tees. Check it all out at the link!
With its usual venue (the Lebanon Opera House) still closed for renovations, Revels North's Midwinter Revels has taken to the road this season. Tonight at 7 they'll be at the Claremont Opera House, while tomorrow at 2 pm they'll close out their run at the Mascoma High School auditorium. They're prepping for their 50th anniversary next year, and this year will look back over the past 49 years, bringing back songs, dances, community singing, and more. Tonight's performance will be joined by multi-instrumentalist folk musician BrendanTaaffe, tomorrow's by accordionist and pianist Jeremiah McLane and bagpiper Tim Cummings.
Also at 7, Seven Stars Arts in Sharon hosts northern VT bluegrass quintet Beg, Steal, or Borrow, with special guest Jim Rooney. The band, which got its start in Burlington a decade ago and focuses on both traditional and improvisational tunes, has developed a following for its tight harmonies and sense of musical teamwork, and is a regular at bluegrass festivals throughout the east. Rooney, of course, is a legendary folk music producer, musician, and raconteur.
Also at 7, BarnArts presents Winter Carols, directed by saxophonist and teacher Michael Zsoldos. The BarnArts Chorale and Youth Chorale, Zsoldos, Trifolium, and others—including the audience—will join for an evening of "music and wonder" dedicated to the winter solstice. By donation at the First Universalist Church and Society of Barnard, with an outdoor sing at 2 pm Saturday on the Woodstock Green.
Also at 7 tonight (as well as same time tomorrow and at 2 pm on Sunday), Woodstock Union High and Middle School's Yoh Theatre presents Robin Hood the Musical. Robin Hood, Little John, Maid Marian, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and a clutch of "Merry Men" all trade witty dialogue and plenty of action to a ska-inspired score over 70 minutes, with some 45 cast and crew members taking part.
Also at 7 this evening (and at 2 pm and 7 pm tomorrow), Artistree in S. Pomfret presents Christmas at the Grange. Christmas songs, holiday-themed Broadway hits, directed and with dialogue by musician and music director Josh D. Smith, with Kelly Berman, Allie Seibold, and Michael Seltzer singing and performing to music performed by Parker Eastman, David Westphalen, and Norm McMullen.
And also at 7, the Enfield Shaker Museum presents a holiday concert by Upper Valley Ringers, in the former LaSalette Chapel. We'll just let them take it from here: "Bell choirs are like a team sport—each musician has to play at the right time to create the full sound, and practice makes perfect. It’s as interesting to watch as to listen. And handbells, with their amazing overtones, need to be heard live to be appreciated." Hit the link to check out what a "handbell tree" looks like.
At 7:30 pm, the Anonymous Coffeehouse sets up for the last time this year at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon. First up is southern VT singer-songwriter Dylan Patrick Ward, with "a sharp sense of humor and an instinctive sympathy for the underdog," AnonCoffee writes; his first album, The Porch Collapses, is due out next year. At 8:15, it's the first-ever brothers act at the Anonymous: Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand, who have a devoted following thanks to their years playing contra dances with their mom as the Great Bear Trio; they've moved on to their own career playing songs that draw from bluegrass, Appalachian, Celtic, and Québecois traditions. And at 9 pm, Never Too Late—which includes Anonymous Coffeehouse organizer Adam Sorscher as a member, will do its mix of the best of the singer-songwriter era and Hilde Ojibway's original songs, always in three-part harmony.
And at 9 pm, the stage at Sawtooth Kitchen welcomes in Modern Fools. It's a return show for the Keene-based indie-folk, cosmic-country band, which released its second album this summer. While Gram Parsons may be the heart, as they told NH Mag back then, "We all grew up listening to The Beatles more than anything collectively."
Saturday
At 3 pm tomorrow—and the same time Sunday—Billings Farm's film series will screen Close to Vermeer, Suzanne Raes’ behind-the-scenes look at how this year's blockbuster show in Amsterdam came together: "everything from the quiet diplomacy required to get the Vermeers to the Netherlands and the new technical knowledge gained by scanning the paintings layer by layer, to the shocking news that one work may not be by Vermeer after all."
Tomorrow at 4 pm, singer, songwriter, actor, and all-around performer Tommy Crawford turns Sawtooth Kitchen's "listening room" into his living room—if, that is, his living room includes tables with chairs and waitstaff taking food and drink orders. This will be the last show of this winter's residency at Sawtooth, with a mix of original songs and covers on piano and guitar. No tix, no cover, feel free just to wander in.
At 7 pm tomorrow, the Chandler in Randolph hosts a homecoming for musician and artist Myra Flynn—the Chandler stage was the first she ever performed on. She and her band will be celebrating the vinyl release of Shadow Work, her first album in four years. As Seven Days' Margaret Grayson writes, it's a collection of songs "deeply concerned with relationships of all kinds. Flynn, who splits her time between Vermont and Los Angeles, sings of mothers and daughters, romantic relationships gone wrong, and the people who get us through the hardest times. She considers big questions about how a person ought to be in the world, but she conducts her case studies on the most intimate of stages."
Also at 7 pm tomorrow, the Main Street Museum in WRJ throws a holiday variety spectacular, "Merrie Olde Christmas." It'll be hosted by Alex Roberts and his famous ukulele, and includes his The Y Lie bandmate Pete White, jazz guitarist Chris Billiau leading the house band, David Fairbanks Ford on the MSM's 1930 Æolian Stroud Player Piano, Duncan Nichols and The Nichols Family Band, the music of Emily Eastridge, and lots more.
And at 9 pm tomorrow, Sawtooth Kitchen brings in LOH's Nexus Festival headliners Purple—the popular 7-piece Prince party/tribute band fronted by Craig Mitchell.
Sunday
If you kept telling yourself all summer long that sometime you were going to go see Vermont farmer and filmmaker George Woodard's black-and-white feature-length WWII drama, The Farm Boy, well, that time is now. Or, actually, at 2 pm on Sunday, when it has its final screening at the Savoy Theater in Montpelier after months of touring the state. Woodard and producer Joan O'Neal will be on hand for a Q&A afterward.
At 3 pm Sunday, Upper Valley Music Center holds its annual Messiah sing at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon. Solos will be performed by UVMC voice students, the orchestra will feature both UVMC faculty and community musicians, and anyone is invited to sing along with the choral parts—they'll supply a score if you want one.
Speaking of circuses...
Remember? Back up in that item about Circus Smirkus? Well, over the years, that small Vermont troupe has had some remarkably talented composers come up with music for its shows. One of them was Peter Bufano, who is still plying his trade. Circus music is an art form all its own—not just a backdrop to what the performers are doing, but a presence in the ring, and Bufano is a master. His most recent score was for Sunset Circus, by the NYC-based Parallel Exit (led by Mark Lonergan, who creates Opera North's circus/opera mashups), and the album dropped this summer.
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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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