GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Mostly cloudy, chance of showers. There's more weather moving in, bringing the possibility of rain later this afternoon—though temperatures should be in the mid 50s, a good 10 degrees warmer than yesterday, and we might actually see some sky out there. Could be showery overnight, as well, lows in the low or mid 40s. On the other hand...Things dry out tomorrow and Sunday's supposed to be clear, which is good news if you're into meteor showers. The Lyrids, which have actually been going on all week, will peak Sunday night. We're headed toward a full moon a couple days later, which complicates things a bit, but as EarthSky says at the link, "If you can block out the sight of the moon, yet still have some sky left for seeing meteors, you might see some of the brightest Lyrids blaze past in the bright moonlight. Remember, even one bright meteor can make your night!"Turkey time. "As spring ripens, male turkeys dance for love," Ted Levin writes about Erin Donahue's latest video. "Performing late April through May along the backroads, meadows, briar patches, and front yards. Males adorned with accoutrements—skull caps, spurs, beards, and snoods (blood-red growths that drape over the beaks)—strut their stuff. The bird with the most prominent snood wins the hen. Why? A long, bright snood reveals a healthy immune system capable of clearing coccidia infections, which are potentially lethal to chicks. Males with lesser snoods are the wingmen, 20 feet from stardom."And a heck of a daybreak yesterday! If you were out of the woods enough to get a view of the horizon, it was a truly multi-colored sky. Thank you to all of you who sent in photos.
Here's the view from Norwich, with Moosilauke, Cube, and Smarts off in the distance, from Jonathan Frishtick.
And from Thetford, by Robin Osborne.
Parker granted parole. James Parker, who was 16 in 2001 when he and his friend Robert Tulloch stabbed Dartmouth professors Half and Susanne Zantop to death in their Etna home, got the news from the NH parole board at a hearing yesterday morning. He's 39 now. "I know there's not an amount of time or things that I can do to change it or alleviate any pain that I've caused," he told the board yesterday. In granting parole, reports WMUR's Tim Callery, the board ordered Parker to have no contact with the victims' family and continue his mental health treatment. He could be released as soon as next month.
The Valley News's John Lippman talked afterward with Veronika Zantop, one of Susanne and Half Zantop’s two daughters. Both live on the West Coast but remain tied to the Upper Valley. It's a deeply felt, nuanced interview, worth reading in its entirety. Veronika Zantop, now a psychiatrist in Seattle with two young children, tells Lippman, “Since it happened, I’ve become a mother. I’ve become a psychiatrist. And I realized that the world is complex and teenagers are complex. And maybe some of the thoughts I had at the time have changed, in terms of compassion for his family and even him at age 16 doing something terrible.”
In Sharon, officials work to evict trailer from pullout on Route 14. Ever since it moved there from Hartford three weeks ago, reports Darren Marcy in the Herald, residents have been up in arms about its occupants, who've been visited by a steady stream of cars, been seen throwing trash and the contents of a bucket in the river—and, Marcy writes, "been seen snooping around on many pieces of private property and caught on security cameras at homes and businesses." Town officials say they were due to be served notice to move by this week, with a seven-day window to leave.SPONSORED: “The foundational knowledge I gained was tremendous. For someone like me who wants to effect change, it’s almost essential." That's Alisha Robinson, Alice Peck Day DEI Program Coordinator and HR Business Partner, talking about Leadership Upper Valley, a 10-session immersion in what makes the Upper Valley tick. Meet inspiring peers and learn from leaders in health and human services, education, arts, justice, government, economy, transportation, and the environment. You can make a difference in our region! Apply by May 10. Sponsored by Vital Communities. JAG's roving spring season: "It gives us an opportunity to be a little bit more messy; a little bit more courageous.” As you no doubt know, the small WRJ-based theater company lost its two venues last year—the Briggs and the hill behind King Arthur. In the VN, Alex Hanson writes that the twin losses forced founder Jarvis Green to pull back on his ambitions, but also allowed him "to get back to its core work of presenting theater to Upper Valley audiences" with three small-scale productions in three venues this spring. Hanson digs into what happened with the old places, and how Green's harnessing the new.Farmer and the Bell doughnut folks aim for Woodstock café. April and Ben Pauly, who built a devoted regional doughnut and cruller following with a pop-up and then their residency at the Parker House in Quechee, are hoping to create a café at the eastern entrance to Woodstock, reports Tom Ayres in the VT Standard. The breakfast and lunch spot would go at the foot of Hartland Hill Road, on the former site of a now-demolished service station. They go before the village development review board next month; if approved, they plan for 68 seats indoors and 28 outside. Parking, Ayres writes, may be an issue.SPONSORED: Bill McKibben to speak tomorrow at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College. The noted writer and environmental activist will present the keynote address for the UCC Earth Summit at 1:00 pm on Saturday, April 20 at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, UCC, in Hanover. Admission is free and all are welcome to hear the founder of 350.org and Third Act give a lecture entitled: “Energy from Heaven or Energy from Hell?” CCDC is located at 40 College Street. Sponsored by CCDC.More on Bookstock. In the Standard, Lauren Dorsey digs deeper into the sudden shutdown of the event. In part, founder Peter Rousmaniere tells her, some of the organizations Bookstock relied on to make the book festival happen had begun to feel “that it was not their cup of tea"—pressed, as they were, by the logistical demands and the costs of a large-scale event without the resources to buttress their efforts. Organizers had faced pressure to rein it in, and Rousmaniere says they'd planned to do so next year—but this was the year tensions came to a head.CRREL aims to educate, mentor middle and high school students with school partnerships. The first, writes Nicola Smith in the VN, will start up in June, when students in the New Hampshire Academy of Science’s summer programs (NHAS, in Lyme, runs after-school programs year-round) have a chance to learn from CRREL lab personnel, use spare scientific equipment, and in other ways connect with cold regions researchers. The federal lab is also working on similar agreements with middle and high schools around the region.Hiking Close to Home: North Branch Nature Center, Montpelier, VT. The center has almost 10 miles of trails along the North Branch of the Winooski River. There are many different accessible hiking options offering great outdoor experiences in the midst of the Vermont state capital. The Center also offers programs that are well worth checking out. Park at the Center, located off Route 12 just north of downtown Montpelier, or you can access different parts of the trail system from other nearby parking spots. So... Think you know what's been going on in the Upper Valley? Because Daybreak's News Quiz has some questions for you. Like, which Upper Valley mountain has seen four hikers need rescuing since last summer? And (assuming the right approvals happen), where is that new Starbucks in Lebanon going to be? Those questions and more at the link.And how closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to knowif you know what kind of controversial facility are state officials eyeing for Vergennes?
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about climate and environmental issues around the state—like, when was ice-in on Lake Winnipesaukee declared this winter?
Seems like it happens every year: the state House passes a bill, the Senate rejects it. So why should this year be any different? As Ethan DeWitt explains in
NH Bulletin
, last year Gov. Chris Sununu surprised everyone by laying out a legalization approach he could support. Now the House has passed a bill that parts company with Sununu's vision of creating a franchise model controlled by the state, out of concern that such a model might not hold up with the feds or in court. DeWitt lays out where negotiations are headed now.
It's been nearly two decades since raccoon-variant rabies was found in the Northeast Kingdom. But there have been five cases over the past two months, reports Paul Hayes in the
Caledonian Record
: a bobcat in Newark, a woodchuck in Lyndon, and raccoons in Groton, Wheelock and Lyndon. "These little things do pop up in spots from time to time,” a federal wildlife official says, “but it is concerning. I can’t say that it’s not concerning.” In response, Québec will distribute vaccine bait near the border, aimed at raccoons, skunks, and foxes,
VT legislators' effort to "fight Big Tech" on data privacy may be stalling. “Policy this big takes everyone in the building, chamber-to-chamber and administration, being united,” Bradford state Rep. Monique Priestley tells VTDigger's Sarah Mearhoff. “It has not felt like we as a building are as united as we need to be." The result is that two big pieces of legislation that a few months ago seemed ready for passage are caught in disagreements between House and Senate committees—and face opposition not just from the big tech players, but from Vermont retailers with national sales.Watching Shōgun on Hulu? Impressed by all those boats? Thank this VT boatbuilder. Actually, Douglas Brooks, who lives in Vergennes, isn't just any boatbuilder, writes Ken Picard in Seven Days. He's also a scholar, writer and teacher of traditional Japanese boatbuilding who apprenticed under nine different Japanese master boatbuilders and is credited with reviving what had been an orally transmitted—and dying—craft through his writing and advocacy. In his profile of Brooks, Picard details how a guy who grew up alongside the Connecticut (in CT) came to such traditional-wooden-boat prominence.Dive of the penguins. It's long been known that fledging emperor penguin chicks, when they're about six months old, head for the water and their first swim—and sometimes jump off cliffs to get there. But no one had filmed it before, until a National Geographic team on the Ekstrom Ice Shelf in Antarctica this January spotted hundreds of chicks gathering at the edge of a cliff. As it happens, photographer and filmmaker Bertie Gregory had a camera drone with a telephoto lens. And caught heartstopping, unforgettable footage.
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Today at noon, as part of its ongoing lecture series on alternatives in recovery and addiction, Hartford Dismas House brings in Will Eberle, director of Recovery Vermont, for a talk on the issues facing people recovering from addiction. At the Hartford Public Library.
Starting at 6 this evening, Hanover kicks off its "Springtime Spectacular" on Allen Street with a free concert collaboration with the Hop's New Music Festival: R&B to neo-soul to hip-hop to DC's homegrown go-go with DC's BOOMscat and Kokayi, and Columbus OH's DJ Sonicc Blush. Tomorrow, Allen Street stays busy with puppets and music starting at 11, musician Joseph Stallsmith at noon, and more.
Also at 6, the Main Street Museum riffs on Piano Night with Byron Breese reading Lord Byron between piano rolls on the bicentennial of the Romantic poet's death.
At 7 this evening, Seven Stars Arts in Sharon hosts singer, songwriter, and bluegrass and country mainstay Shawn Camp—a longtime friend and musical companion of Grammy-winning producer Jim Rooney, who of course will be sharing the stage with him.
The Anonymous Coffeehouse returns to the First Congregational Church of Lebanon at 7:30 this evening with jazz vocalist Susan Brison backed by guitarists Tom Davis and Chris Billiau and tenor saxophonist Tom Nyul; then comes Joel Cage, former member of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, these days working as a solo performer; then local bluegrass favorites Reckless Breakfast. Open mic at 5:45 pm, informal jamming afterward at Salt Hill Pub.
If you're over that way, the Adam Ezra Group will be playing The Flying Monkey in Plymouth NHthis evening at 7:30. There are still tix left, but not many.
And at 9 tonight, Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover brings in The Dobros from central NH: Farm-Funk, Dirt-Grass, whatever you want to call it. "Bring your dancing shoes to this one," they write.
Saturday
For over half a century, the Ledyard Canoe Club has been running a canoe and kayak slalom race on the Mascoma River—the oldest consecutively run slalom race in the country. It starts around 10 tomorrow morning near Baker's Crossing in Lebanon (map at the link) if you just want to spectate. If you want to race, here's registration; there's a mandatory racer meeting at 9, after which you can run practice laps.
Tomorrow at 1 pm, the Upper Valley Land Trust is leading a vernal pools hike at the Brookmead Conservation Area in Norwich. Vernal pools, amphibians, and lots to learn on a one-mile walk.
Starting at 5:15 pm tomorrow, the Main Street Museum in WRJ has a twin bill: a showing of Custodian, the new film by Loren David Howard—guitarist for the band Chodus, Florentine Films apprentice editor—followed by a Q&A; then at 8 pm an album release show for McASH, with musical guests The Y Lie and Rat Milk.
Tomorrow at 7 pm, the British Arrows Award Show hits the screen in the Hop's Loew Auditorium, a best-of look at the storytelling that British advertising is capable of, with everyone from Daniel Craig sashaying through a swanky Parisian hotel to Sandra Oh and Miley Cyrus, to Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) and John Boyega (Star Wars) doing awkward improv.
Also at 7, JAG Productions kicks off its spring run of JAG Underground (see above) with The Lesson, Tyrone Davis's one-person/multiple-character show about sex education and the teachers, parents, and kids who grapple with it. At AVA Gallery. Saturday's show is sold out online but tix may be available at the door; Sunday's 5 pm show still has online tickets available.
At 7:30 pm, the Upper Valley Choral Festival takes over the stage at the Lebanon Opera House. Presented by the New England School of the Arts, it's an evening of song and theater, with local high school students, local professionals, and NESA’s Show Choir and Triple Threat Troupe.
Sunday
Sunday at 10 am, Rudi Ruddell and Emily Boles lead an ephemeral wildflower walk through the forest on the White River Land Collaborative's land in Tunbridge, looking at wildflowers that grace the forest floor before trees leaf out. The walk is timing and weather dependent, and they'll reschedule if flowers blooming yet, so check the page.
From noon to 3 on Sunday, Leb's Energy Advisory Committee is hosting an EV Expo in the Shaw's parking lot (10 Benning St., West Leb). There'll be Rivians, Teslas, a Ford Mustang Mach-E, and plenty of other electric vehicles (plus at least one Zero motorbike) to check out.
From 1 to 4 pm Sunday, there's an afternoon of English country dancing at West Windsor Town Hall (22 Hartland-Brownsville Rd). Experienced dancers at 1, instruction for beginners at 1:45, and a general dance starts at 2, with all dances taught. No link.
At 2 pm Sunday, the Rose Quartet—a group of rising string musicians in residence at Montclair State University in NJ—will perform Beethoven’s Quartet No 11 in F minor, Ravel’s Quartet in F Major, and Jessie Montgomery's Strum at the North Chapel, 7 Church Street in Woodstock. Free and open to the public.
At 3 pm Sunday, the Upper Valley Circus Collective brings back the multi-talented troupe CirqueUs, as its aerialists, jugglers, acrobats, hand balancers, contortionists, and clowns present their show DreamCycle. At Cornish Elementary School.
Also at 3 on Sunday, Court Street Arts in Haverhill hosts classical musicians Leslie Stroud, Peter Zay, and Matthew Odell for a concert that includes works by Carl Maria von Weber, Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, and Philippe Gaubert.
At 4 pm on Sunday, a collection of local groups and Hop Film are hosting a free screening of the 2023 documentary Common Ground, which focuses on regenerative agriculture and farming practices that restore soil health. In the Loew.
Also at 4 on Sunday, a collective of Dartmouth and non-Dartmouth programs are hosting Japanese novelist Kaori Fujino and her translator, Kendall Heitzman, for a bilingual reading and discussion of Fujino's award-winning Nails and Eyes. In Rockefeller 106.
A moment's tribute...
Dickey Betts, the guitar god who, every bit as much as the Allman brothers, was responsible for the Allman Brothers sound, died yesterday morning in Florida. He was 80. His solos, the
NYT
's Alex Williams wrote yesterday, "seemed at times to scorch the fret board"; Betts and Duane Allman pretty much defined a generation of southern rock guitarists before Allman's death in 1971.
with Betts front and center.
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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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt About Rob About Michael
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