GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Now the cold arrives. Actually, it arrived last night with the winds, and we're looking at ambient temps that start this morning barely in the double digits and drop throughout the day, reaching 0 at mid-day and drawing close to -20 overnight. The real issue will be the wind, which will be near constant, with gusts getting up near 30 mph all day and night. That will produce wind chills ranging from -15 this morning to -40 or lower tonight—along with possible power outages. If you go out, bundle up in a serious way.There's an awful lot of pink out there. On National Weather Service "apparent temperature" maps (ie, wind chill), things start turning pink when wind chills drop below -35F. And on the current maps looking ahead to tonight and tomorrow morning, they're predicting wind-chill temps in the -35 to -48 range for tonight in these parts.
Here's the map out of Burlington, which also covers the Upper Valley part of NH.
The Gray, ME office, which covers NH and ME, has wind chills running slightly milder. But hey, can you feel the difference between -35 and -40?
The upshot?
Limit outdoor time to just a few minutes,
, and “be a good neighbor. Check in on your family members. Check in on folks that might be elderly. Check in on folks that might have some additional needs.” Some outdoor operations are rolling back hours,
: Thetford's transfer station is closed today, and Leb's Solid Waste Facility will close at noon tomorrow. On the other hand, this weekend's New England Pond Hockey Classic in Meredith is still on,
The cold reality is that many of our Upper Valley neighbors are making hard choices, like whether to heat their homes or pay for food, medication, or other basic needs. LISTEN Community Services is here, but demand for heating assistance is greater than our Heating Helper Program’s resources for the winter months ahead. You can help today—and the Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation will double your gift up to a total of $25,000.
Sponsored by LISTEN.
What about English Leather? Erin Donohue's trail cam in E. Thetford caught a coyote the other night doing coyote things. Ted Levin explains: "Sebaceous glands at the base of hair follicles secrete oily, waxy lubricants. Coyotes spread joy with their cheeks, depositing and accumulating scents for many reasons, including boundary marking, communication with family members, or masking their odor. Among their preferred emanations: dead rodents, scat and urine, putrid venison, Chanel No. 5, and Avon After Shave."Woodstock Foundation plot thickens. You'll remember Mike Donoghue's piece in the Vermont Standard last week about the lawsuit filed by the former chair and vice chair of the board, alleging possible workplace wrongdoing at the Woodstock Inn and Billings. Now Donoghue reports that at a board meeting last week the two–Ellen Pomeroy, a board member since its inception, and Sal Iannuzzi—were kicked off the board entirely. Remaining trustees have hired an NYC law firm to investigate employees' allegations—and look into how Iannuzzi and Pomeroy handled their investigation.Chloe Powell named new director of Randolph's Chandler Center for the Arts. Powell, who grew up in Barnard, has been a steady and spirited presence on the region's music scene—as a fiddler, manager and music organizer for Feast & Field, and music programming director for BarnArts. On Wednesday, reports Tim Calabro in the Herald, she started up at the Chandler, which has "churned through directors," as Calabro notes. “With her there’s more young energy coming to Chandler, and that’s what we need,” says board president Ramsey Papp.::Face-palm:: The author of yesterday's Sidenote article about Thetford town manager Bryan Gazda was Nick Clark, not Li Shen. Sorry about that, Nick & Li!Employees of Leb's Lyme Computer Systems sue for retaliation after their complaints prompt federal investigation. In NH Business Review, Bob Sanders reports that five longtime employees of the technology services provider are alleging they were placed on administrative leave after raising concerns with the US Dept. of Labor that their Employee Stock Ownership Plan shares had been devalued by company executives paying themselves excessive compensation and pocketing Paycheck Protection Program funds. Company officials declined comment, Sanders writes.Here's some news: New Windsor County sheriff takes office without drama. Sheriff's departments around VT, including Orange County's, have been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons. On Wednesday, however, Ryan Palmer was sworn in as Windsor County's new sheriff in an "apparently smooth changeover in leadership" from longtime sheriff Mike Chamberlain, the man he defeated in November, reports Tom Ayres in the Standard. Among Palmer's first steps, he named his opponent in last year's primary as his administrator. Palmer sits down with Ayres to talk transition and plans.“There are virtually no rules.” Except: think small. The Enfield Public Library handed out 3” x 3” canvases to the public with a charge to go forth and make art. The canvases had to be incorporated into the finished piece, writes Susan Apel on her Artful blog, but did not have to end up as paintings or drawings. The creative community also submitted sculptures, knitting, and mixed-media creations. The opening exhibition of the Tiny Art Show is scheduled for February 7 at the library. You might want to bring your reading glasses.Hiking Sorta Close to Home: Smugglers Notch. Winter, says the Upper Valley Trails Alliance, is a quiet season to visit this stunningly beautiful area. There are trail options at the link, but you could also park off Rte. 108 near Smugglers Notch Resort and hike the closed road south toward Stowe. It's about a mile to the (closed) visitors' center with great views of the mountains and icy cliffs much of the way. Farther along you'll find a boulder garden where fragments of the mountain have created cool terrain and icy caves. Turn around any time, or continue to the ski area parking lot about 3 miles from your start."We can not ignore the increase in spectator misconduct at school sporting events throughout Vermont, including in our gymnasiums." School officials in the district that contains Alburgh, where a man died Tuesday night following a basketball-game brawl, announced yesterday that they're barring spectators from home basketball games for the rest of the season. Full letter at the link—where Seven Days' Matthew Roy also reports that a determination of the cause and manner of 60-year-old Russell Giroux's death are still "pending further investigation" by the state police.Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because the Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions for you. Like, who's taken over ownership of the North Thetford Church? And what was Hanover's Izzy Calsbeek talking about when she said, "They kind of feel like Jell-O"? And what was Sophie the Shih Tzu just in the news for? You'll find those and other questions at the burgundy link.But wait! How closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to know if you know what's been going on around the state this week—like, what did organizer's of the 28th annual Penguin Plunge announce on Monday?
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings in the Granite State—like, where did participants in the state's school voucher program spend over $800K last year?
“All the energy, all the intellectual work and research I’d put into my studio art, went into incense.” Mike Paré, founder of Zouz Incense, is a font of knowledge about the history of incense and serious about what goes into his handcrafted product. In a market rife with cheap knockoffs, he sources ingredients that are both pure and ethically harvested: sandalwood, white copal, star anise and cloves... He notes that sandalwood from India, for example, might be poached, so he buys from Australia. In Craftsmanship, Jeff Greenwald writes about Paré, incense, and how goats help harvest ingredients.It’s softer than marble but just as beautiful. The 2023 International Snow Sculpture Championships just wrapped up in Breckenridge, CO, and the winning pieces could hold pride of place in the finest museums (if only they didn’t melt). Twelve teams “were tasked with transforming 25-ton, 12-foot-tall blocks of snow into masterful artwork,” writes Rebekah Brandes in Nice News. The sculptors worked for four days (with breaks) to create their masterpieces. Gold went to Team Germany-Bavaria; Team USA Breckenridge won silver. There was some astounding work out there.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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Sweatshirts, hats, and, of course, coffee/tea/cocoa mugs. It's all available thanks to Strong Rabbit Designs in Sharon. Check out what's available and wear it or drink from it proudly! Email me ([email protected]) if you've got questions.
Today at 4 pm, AVA Gallery holds a reception for Unconditional, its exhibition of works featuring dogs, cats, a cow, and other beloved pets. That's followed at 6 pm by a free screening of The Quarry Project, the film by Lukas Huffman about the site-specific dance/theater piece of the same name created by Hannah Dennison for the Wells Lamson, one of the oldest, deepest granite quarries in the country, in Websterville, VT.
And, of course, it's First Friday in WRJ, cold or not. At JAM, you'll find a "Radical Love All-Ages Dance Party" from 5-7, followed by Valley Improv from 7:30-8:30 (and if you're staying in tonight, they'll be livestreaming here), followed by a "Radical Love Definitely Not All-Ages Dance Party" featuring DJ gEnDEReNDER from 9 to midnight. Meanwhile, up the street in the Tip Top Building—which is always worth wandering around to see what's open—Here in the Valley hosts a music and art show from 5-9 in Speakeasy Studios (Suite 221) featuring cartoonist and print maker Natalie Norris, with Americana and jazz by Dan Freihofer from 5:30 to 7, all followed by an acoustic pickin' session and afterparty.
At 7 pm, if you've got to see Wakanda Forever—Ryan Coogler's sequel to Black Panther—on a big screen, Hop Film's got it at the Loew.
This evening at 7:30, the Lebanon Opera House presents Saved by the '90s, the tribute band once based in NYC, now based in multiple cities around the country—and coming to the Upper Valley for the first time. If your taste runs to Nirvana, the Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, Rage Against the Machine, Green Day, the Fugees... Then you know where you have to be. LOH will have dance space set aside at the foot of the stage.
Also at 7:30, right across Colburn Park, the Anonymous Coffeehouse takes over the First Congregational Church of Lebanon with its evening of music, baked goods and hot drinks, and camaraderie. Things start off with John and Joe Saroyan—John's a guitarist/clawhammer banjo picker formerly with the Manhattan Valley Ramblers, Joe's his 8th-grade fiddler son. At 8:15, coming up from Nashville, Sarah Harralson takes the stage with songs from her new album, Whiskey History and her forthcoming album, Blue Ribbon. Finally, at 9, the Seacoast's Green Heron (Betsy and Scott Heron) returns with their mix of tightly harmonized folk, Americana, Celtic, and other music.
Tomorrow at 3 (and again on Sunday at the same time), Billings Farm's film series continues with The Automat, Lisa Hurwitz's 2021 documentary about Horn & Hardart, the iconic NYC and Philly restaurant that, even though it only existed in two cities, was once the US's largest restaurant chain—and a pathbreaker in offering simple service and decent food to Americans of all backgrounds and incomes. A discussion with Hurwitz follows tomorrow's screening.
Tomorrow night at 7, the New England School of the Arts (coming to the Lebanon Mall this autumn) takes over the Lebanon Opera House for a benefit concert with: video testimonials by the Indigo Girls' Emily Saliers, Noah Kahan, and composer and lecturer Bruce Adolphe (aka the Piano Puzzler from American Public Media); talks by comic storyteller and writer Cindy Pierce and Dartmouth music prof Mike Casey; and performances by three of the region's dance schools, pianist Annemieke McLane, guitarist Tristan Bellerive, singers Julie Ness and Jennifer Langhus, actor and musician Tommy Crawford, and lots more. There's also a silent online auction to support the school going on now.
Also at 7 tomorrow, the Esotériks take the stage at Seven Stars Arts in Sharon. An esoteric name, but familiar faces: Ed Eastridge on guitar, Tim Gilmore on drums, Jakob Breitbach on bass and fiddle, and vocalist Grace Wallace, doing early jazz, Latin, blues, ballads and alternative music. No cost for kids under 12.
And also at 7 tomorrow, Hop Film presents Bad Axe, David Siev's 2022 documentary about his family's restaurant in Bad Axe, Michigan, during the pandemic. It is, RogerEbert.com's Brian Tallerico writes, "the most essential film yet made" about the early 2020s (though let's be honest: we're still in the early 2020s), capturing the political, racial, and other tensions that marked the last few years through the eyes of his Cambodian-immigrant father and others in the household as they try to keep the restaurant afloat. "[Siev] crafts what happened to his family into art, moving organically from major events to minor ones, assembling his story into one that feels relatable to everyone, on both sides of the political divide," Tallerico writes.
At 8 pm tomorrow, the stage at Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover brings on a double bill of roots rock, honky tonk, blues, and Americana with southern VT's Saints and Liars and northern VT's Maple Run Band.
On Sunday, Whaleback kicks off its Free Fridays for Upper Valley residents (rescheduled from today because of the cold), with free lift tickets for you and household members if your driver's license or proof of residency shows you live in one of the towns on the long list of eligible places.
And Sunday at 7 pm, Seven Stars Arts returns to its building's roots when it hosts a country dance. English and American dances, contras and squares—all called and taught by veteran dance caller David Millstone, with music by Aaron Marcus on keyboard and concertina, Emerson Gale on fiddle, and Chris Rua on winds. In the Valley News, Liz Sauchelli gives the backstory on how it all came about.
And to take us into the weekend...
Let's just bask in some warmth. The 76th Ojai (California) Music Festival this past summer featured a lot of performers in shirtsleeves and sundresses, and it looks pretty darn alluring right about now. One of the pieces on the bill was by the pathbreaking, charismatic—and ultimately controversial and homeless—gay black composer Julius Eastman, who died in 1990 at the age of 49 and whose work has been getting new attention in recent years.
with the
American Modern Opera Company—most notably the renowned baritone
Davòne Tines, who's been a key force in the Eastman revival. It's longer than the usual Daybreak music, but hey, at least you get to be inside. Expect AMOC to live up to its acronym.
Stay warm the next few days! See you Monday for CoffeeBreak. When the temp will be something like 53 degrees warmer than tonight's low.
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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