GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Heads up: Monday's Memorial Day, and Daybreak will be off. Back Tuesday.Mostly sunny, warmer. There'll be patchy frost and fog to start, but things should start warming up quickly, hitting the upper 60s or low 70s, depending on where you are. There's a slight chance of showers in the mountains on the NH side, but mostly, we're looking at blue skies and breezes from the north. Down into the 40s tonight, and then some heat for the long weekend.A turkey mom and her many, many chicks. On Erin Donahue's trail cam. Ted Levin writes: "Historically, wild turkey ranged across the deciduous woods of eastern North America, west to Arizona, and south to central Mexico. By the 19th century, they were gone from New England. In 1969 and 1970, Vermont released 31 wild turkeys from western New York. Originally native only to the state's four southern counties, today, Vermont's population approaches 50,000, residents of every county, every woodlot and forest, every ensemble of farmland and pasture and meadow. In fact, I'm watching them now strut their stuff under the birdfeeder."Piecemeal Pies shuts its doors in both WRJ and Stowe. Notices went up on the doors last week, and as Melissa Pasanen notes in Seven Days, the website indicates that both locations are "closed"; Piecemeal's FB page says "permanently closed." Owner Justin Barrett did not respond to Pasanen's query; in an email to Daybreak a week ago, he wrote, "I plan on drafting some sort of statement soon." Barrett and his co-owner, Josh Brown, opened their Stowe location last summer.Graffiti in White River Valley towns draws "public ire." Or, in the case of the Gifford Covered Bridge in E. Randolph, outrage: It was tagged with "a variety of juvenile profanity and sexual comments, along with at least one racist word," reports the Herald's Darren Marcy. But it's not alone: Tunbridge’s baseball field, Chelsea’s town sign, and a bridge in Bethel all got tagged "in what appear to be similar writing styles," Marcy writes. "That mountain is my way of life, it’s my heart and soul, it’s my home and church," says Lynn Braley, whose family has lived on the Gifford bridge road since the 1800s. "This is very personal to me.”In Woodstock, effort to make riverside trail more accessible runs afoul of conservation concerns. It's only a third of a mile stretch of the Ottauquechee River Trail, Tom Ayres reports in the Standard, but it's tangled in "a maze of potential regulatory, permitting, conservation, and funding issues." Last month, trail volunteers began removing vegetation from the tract, next to East End Park. But that work now threatens a state conservation grant, as it has "greatly diminished the ecological functions and benefits" of the land, which serves as a riparian buffer and floodplain. Town officials are assessing next steps.
Haverhill woman dies in single-vehicle Fairlee crash. Wednesday night around 10:30, VT State Police got a report of a car that had "failed to negotiate a left hand turn" and driven off Route 5, coming to "a final position of uncontrolled rest approximately 500 feet from where it left the roadway." Police deemed it a total loss. The driver, 79-year-old Miriam Metz—who was wearing a seat belt—suffered serious injuries and was taken to DHMC, where she died. The accident is still under investigation, the VSP writes.SPONSORED: Experience Technigala, the showcase for the latest tech and design innovations created by Dartmouth students! Join Dartmouth's DALI Lab (Digital Applied Learning and Innovation) and Computer Science department on Wednesday, May 31 from 6:00-8:30 pm at the Engineering and Computer Science Center to celebrate and learn about cool things made by cool people! Demo and interact with cutting-edge projects from DALI Lab members and computer science and engineering students. Sponsored by DALI Lab. Once again, Claremont City Council will look into removing one of its own. You may remember that earlier this year, the council ousted and then reinstated member James Contois. Well, this week, Patrick O'Grady reports for the Valley News, council members voted to hold a hearing next month to look into whether Councilor Andrew O’Hearne broke council rules by interfering with a public works crew as they were attempting to restripe Main Street in front of his home. O'Hearne says he was merely "offering suggestions on how to best provide traffic safety for the workers," O'Grady writes.In Woodstock, research on dosing with LSD to treat anxiety. Specifically, Tom Ayres reports in the Standard, the Woodstock Research Center—which conducts clinical trials on drugs affecting mental health—is investigating whether LSD is effective in treating Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Research into psychedelics, Ayres writes, was widespread in the 1950s, then got shut down after the feds banned them for all research use in the '60s. Ayres talks with principal investigator Susan Smiga, M.D., and clinical manager Brenda Balenger about the study, who can participate, and psychedelics in general.SPONSORED: Please join Wm. Smith Auctioneers & Appraisers for our 56th Annual ‘Post’ Memorial Day Auction! It takes place Wednesday, May 31 at 10am, with Preview Tues. May 30 from 10 to 4. Our staff will be happy to answer any questions about the over 500 lots of exceptional antiques, jewelry (including a gorgeous 3ct diamond ring), Oriental rugs, paintings (there's a Guy Wiggins NY scene), a collection of Stephen Huneck custom furniture, and much more. Features a restored classic 1989 Jeep Grand Wagoneer and a 1971 VW Super Beetle! Sponsored by William Smith Auctioneers.Hiking close to home: Paradise Park Trails, Windsor, VT. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance says this network in Windsor has a variety of trailheads and routes open to hiking, skiing and horseback riding. The parking area just off County Road, near Mt. Ascutney Hospital, offers easy access to a short (.5 mile) loop through beautiful evergreens overlooking Kimball Brook. And if you’re feeling more ambitious, there are miles of trails, with many features including a dike separating Evarts Pond and Route 5, a gazebo with views of Mt. Ascutney, and a covered picnic area with fire pits and water source.Sunning on the rocks close to home. At 6,288'. It may just have snowed up on Mt. Washington, but earlier this week, before it did, Nimbus, the observatory cat, got outside for the first time this year to catch some rays.A train between Montreal and Boston? It's been a longtime dream, but there are so many obstacles in the way. Even so, Barbara Tetreault reports in the Berlin Sun, a Montreal-based nonprofit is dusting off plans to create an overnight service that would run through the Eastern Townships of Quebec, cut through a corner of the Northeast Kingdom, cross the NH North Country, and loop down through Maine and NH again before getting to its destination. They'd like to include a stop in N. Stratford NH to serve the Balsams resort. Just one of the hurdles: Four different freight companies would have to agree to the idea.First: If you receive an eviction notice in NH, you do not immediately have to leave. Evictions are rising in the Granite State, reports NH Bulletin's Ethan DeWitt, especially since Covid-era rental relief expired last fall. So DeWitt has pulled together a list of things people facing eviction should know: an eviction notice "is simply a heads up"; it can be contested; the state judicial system offers a mediation program that's free to use; and if you get served a "landlord tenant writ" by the county sheriff, file your defense quickly.With VT's motel housing program for the homeless expiring soon, state issues RFP for emergency shelter staffing; advocates wonder what took so long. Recently, writes VTDigger's Lola Duffort, "one top official in Gov. Phil Scott’s administration was expressing confidence that many in the program would 'self-resolve' their housing problems." But with 3,000 people due to leave the program soon, she reports, the state is now moving to build its congregate shelter capacity—even as local service providers say they're tapped out. "Boy, I wish we had had this three months ago," says one advocate.The "unsung heroes of journalism." Those would be editors, whose work you mostly think about when a story seems off. But as Seven Days publisher Paula Routly writes about two notable examples in that particular newsroom, they are crucial to "the daunting task of assembling [a reporter's] research, interviews and eyewitness reporting into a narrative"—and a narrative that keeps readers engaged. She introduces Ken Ellingwood, an LA Times veteran, and former Free Press editor Candace Page, whose bylines you never see but whose work you can appreciate every time you read a story in the weekly.The Vermont Creemee Database: public service journalism at its best. Recently, VT Ag Secy Anson Tebbetts revealed that his agency maintains a licensing system that tracks establishments licensed to sell creemees and soft serve (in VT, they're different). So, as Erin Petenko writes, "VTDigger did what VTDigger does: We filed a public records request." Turns out, there are about 400 locations that sell one or the other in the state, from Cumberland Farms to hospital cafeterias to the places we all know and love. Includes a map with every one of them, plus a chance to vote for your favorite. And hey, people, the Upper Valley's got just one on the list of favorites so far.Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because Daybreak's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions for you. Like, where will people go for art in Windsor now that Main Street Gallery is closed? And what's happening to the old Evans Express Mart in Fairlee? And why is there an uproar in New Ipswich, NH? Those and other questions at the link.But wait! How closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to know if you know which popular insulation material is causing headaches for homeowners and contractors in VT?
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, which NH state official was recently added to the Russian Foreign Ministry's sanctions list?
What's your earthquake risk? Not necessarily as low as you might think, according to this risk map put together by CNN. Sure, right around here, the hazard level is "low." But you don't have to get much farther east in New Hampshire to hit "moderate." Same deal up in northwest VT.“We have decided to ask many experts a very simple question: What is the greatest children's book of all time?” Hoo, boy! The BBC asked 177 experts—critics, authors, and publishing figures from around the world—to list the 10 greatest children’s books, then ranked the top 100. You will absolutely say, “Awww, I loved that book!” more than once. You might even have believed you were the only person to own some of them (Finn Family Moomintroll, anyone? Yet there it is, at number 60). Here’s an idea: Toss that summer reading list you drafted and pick a few gems from this list instead.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. Same deal this Monday. If you'd like that, sign up here.Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it keep going by hitting the maroon button:
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At 5 pm today, Maurice Jean, who co-founded and runs the Tysea Orphanage in Jacmel, Haiti, will be at the Norwich Public Library to talk about its work, the several dozen kids who live there, and conditions in Haiti.
If you're up for a drive, the New England Center for Circus Arts in Brattleboro is throwing a "Flying Trapeze Spring Showcase & Flight Night" starting at 7 pm tonight. First up, a student showcase, followed at 7:45 by a staff show, and then at 8 pm, a "taster trapeze class" for ages 5 and up where you (or your kids) will learn how to climb the ladder, take off from the platform—in a safety harness—and experience both the pull of gravity and, up at the apex, the freedom of near-weightlessness. $10 for one swing, $20 for three.
At 7:30 this evening in Windsor's Old South Church, Classicopia kicks off a three-concert post-Mother's Day celebration of women composers, "Musical Mothers." Siblings Emmanuel (violin) and Frances (cello) Borowsky will join pianist/Artistic Director Dan Weiser for a program that includes a piano trio by the early 20th century Croatian composer Dora Pejačević, a "very fun work" by Dutch contemporary composer Heleen Verleur that includes the blues, tango, and other popular idioms, works by composer Amy Beach—the first American woman to have a symphony performed—and African-American composer Undine Smith Moore. Tomorrow's concert is at the Norwich/WRJ home of Andrew Bauman at 2 pm, and Sunday's, also at 2 pm, is at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon.
And tonight at 9, Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover brings in the southern VT acoustic duo Lord Magnolia, with influences from Norah Jones to the Talking Heads to Amy Winehouse—and original tunes builts from their travels across the US in their 1975 VW Bus, Dharma.
Tomorrow from 11 to 4 on the Thetford Hill Green, the Open Fields School brings back its Medieval Festival after a three-year pandemic hiatus. Period music, food (including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options), desserts, games, crafts—including indigo dyeing, weaving, metalwork, and calligraphy—a catapult demonstration, dancing, anda presentation of "The Sport of Kings" by VINS with live raptors.
At 1 pm tomorrow (and again at 4 pm), the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble presents a concert of original work by choreographers associated with the ensemble, as well as by students. It'll be outdoors at the Bema. "Sometimes whimsical and rhythm-driven, sometimes solemn with an eye on twilight," the Hop writes.
And at 4 pm (and again at 8) tomorrow, Dartmouth's Coast Jazz Orchestra takes over the Hanover Inn ballroom with a concert of new music by the ensemble's seniors.
At 5:30 tomorrow at Barnard Town Hall, BarnArts presents an outdoor concert by the Villalobos Brothers, the much-loved, high-energy band of brothers born on a farm in Mexico, now living in the US, astounding musicians and singers all. Opening act by local youth musicians at 5:30, the brothers at 7 pm.
Down in Brattleboro tomorrow at 6, Putney's Next Stage Arts moves outdoors to the Retreat Farm for the second in its "Bandwagon Summer Series" of concerts, with Worcester Mass.-based Crocodile River—a group with members from Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Tanzania, and the US who bring African music, dance, and art to New England.
And at 7 tomorrow, the Chandler in Randolph presents pianist Diana Fanning, a regular concerto soloist with the VSO and a chamber musician.
In case you missed the Hop's screening of Vermeer: The Greatest Exhibition a couple of weeks ago, it'll be back at the Loew on Sunday at 4 pm. It's your chance to tour the Rijksmuseum's blockbuster exhibition, which features the largest number of the artist's works ever assembled.
Finally, this is, of course, Memorial Day weekend, and there are lots of events taking place around the Upper Valley. It all starts with the Norwich observance beginning at 11:45 am on Sunday (followed by a picnic on the green), then moves on to a day full of parades on Monday in towns on both sides of the river (plus, in Piermont, an exhibition of works by local artist Adelaide Palmer (1851-1928) at the Piermont village school), and then ceremonies in Cornish, Hartford, Thetford, Fairlee, and Randolph Center on Tuesday and in Hartland on Wednesday. The Valley News has pulled it all together on one page.
And to get us in the mood for the weekend...
Thoraya Maronesy is a YouTuber in California who's made a career of getting strangers to interact with each other—or with the camera, or just with themselves. Recently, she took to placing a circle on the ground with a sign reading "Dance here" and a portable speaker playing
Bronze Radio Return's "Shake! Shake! Shake!", The Wildcardz & Dazeychain's "Candy", or Wonderland's "Free". Then sat back to see what happened. And what did happen? Total strangers busted their moves. In a big way. (Thanks, ML!)
Have a
fantastic
long weekend! See you Tuesday.
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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