GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Partly sunny, warmer (for a day). There'll be breaks in cloud cover today and winds will shift to come from the southwest, bringing us across the 70-degree line this afternoon. But it's all going to be short-lived: a set of low-pressure-fueled disturbances will start making themselves known tonight, ahead of another nor'easter heading our way for tomorrow. There's still uncertainty about its track, but expect rain moving in sometime overnight. Mid 50s tonight.It takes a lot of work to be a parent. And Erin Donahue's red fox compilation has the proof. As Ted Levin writes, "To meet its needs, the average red fox requires about 470 Kcal per day, equivalent to 7 or 8 mice or 5 duck eggs. A pregnant vixen requires one and a half times more food per day than she did before pregnancy. Twice the amount when nursing. Comparatively, a red fox has a 10 percent smaller stomach than either a coyote or a dog. The male, hunter and caterer. The vixen, protector. Once in a while, a female pup from last year's litter babysits the kits. On-the-job training ... the original nanny."Did you check out "Dear Daybreak" yesterday? If not, you missed Jane Meunier-Powell's discovery of an article in the long-gone Woodstock newspaper The Spirit of the Age about Quechee's brand new 1909 library building, which replaced "the famous Band Stand Library"; and Talya Peltzman's recounting of a hard-knock week—sick kid, flat tire, busted-down car, money worries—that ends both in tears and in gratitude. Got a good story or anecdote about life in these parts? Dear Daybreak needs them! Here's where to send it in.There was "a really loud boom and it literally felt like it lifted the house off the foundation." At first, Randolph Center's Christopher Lamson thought it was a tree felled by lightning. But then, his wife, Suzi, tells The Herald's Maryellen Apelquist, he opened a door to the garage and found an inferno; he “screamed for us to get out of the house.” So it was last Saturday that the couple, who were watching their two grandkids, lost the house they rent to a lightning strike. Apelquist recounts what happened—and what happened after, when the Lamsons' circle of firefighting friends came together to help.Hanover/Norwich schools superintendent to step down; successor already tapped. Jay Badams, who's served in the role for eight years, will retire Sept. 6, reports Emma Roth-Wells in the Valley News. On Tuesday, the SAU 70 school board decided to hire Asst. Supt. Robin Steiner, who's held that position since 2019 and was the district's Covid-19 coordinator, without a formal search for other candidates. Steiner "can start with the advantages inherent in [her] district knowledge and her talents and experiences,” board chair Lisa Christie tells Roth-Wells. Badams steps down after guiding the district through a new strategic plan, new initiatives, and a lawsuit over federal funding cuts.In the White River Valley, a tight-knit pickup soccer group rallies for one of its own. As VT Public's Sabine Poux reports, for years players have come from all over the region "to play on fields and gym floors in Tunbridge, Chelsea and South Royalton. They’re locals and recent transplants and law school students, high schoolers and retirees." What they have in common is a love for soccer—and the camaraderie they've forged. So after longtime player Rudi Ruddell and his wife Lisa lost their home to fire, the soccer crew put together a futsal tournament/fundraiser last month—with Ruddell keeping score.SPONSORED: As the final weekend of Pompy Mills' Memorial Day Sale winds down, we’re feeling grateful—for the chance to do what we love, and to share it with neighbors who value the same things we do. For over 50 years, we’ve built furniture from local hardwoods, one piece at a time, to last for generations. This sale is our way of opening the doors a little wider. Everything is 30–50 percent off through Monday, including pieces from every Pompy showroom. Stop by, say hello, and let us help you find something made to last. Sponsored by Pompanoosuc Mills.Hanover, Lebanon land on feds' "sanctuary jurisdictions" list. They're the only two NH towns on the list of over 500 communities (you'll find it here) published yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security—whose secretary, Kristi Noem, said in a press release, “These sanctuary city politicians are endangering Americans and our law enforcement in order to protect violent criminal illegal aliens." The AP's Rebecca Santana reports that federal agencies will review grants or contracts and "suspend or terminate" the money; if communities “remain in defiance" the feds will pursue legal action.
Hanover is already facing pressure after residents earlier this month passed a non-binding resolution asking the police department not to participate in an ICE program allowing local law enforcement to facilitate immigration enforcement. Two new state laws direct municipalities to cooperate with ICE requests to hold detained individuals and limit "sanctuary cities." Town Manager Rob Houseman tells The Dartmouth the town is reviewing the new laws to “understand [their] implications on the town’s authority, police department operations and community policies."
Local playwright Marisa Smith: "The things that usually inspire me to write a play are usually things I get irritated about." Tonight at 7, Shaker Bridge Theatre hosts a staged reading of Smith's one-person play, Samantha Inside Out (details below) and its star-powered airing of women's frustrations, which Samantha—played by Broadway and television star Jayne Atkinson—gives vent to at a college president's Christmas party after her husband insults her. In the VN (burgundy link), Marion Umpleby describes the production and its trio of creators; in Artful, Susan Apel fills in the trio's background.SPONSORED: Charcuterie Workshop at Billings Farm June 5. Grab your partner or a friend for an evening of seasonal flavors, Billings Farm cheddars, wine tasting, and hands-on fun at this after-hours workshop in the garden. Sip, savor, and learn while creating a show-stopping cheese and charcuterie board. For ages 21+. $150/couple, $140/members. Includes all materials, tastings, and instruction. Can’t make it? Join the height-of-summer edition paired with Vermont Spirits Distilling Co. Aug. 14, or an autumn-inspired workshop featuring local hard cider Oct 2. Sponsored by Billings Farm & Museum.Hiking Close to Home: Cross Town Trail, Strafford, VT. This 13-mile network in Strafford is divided into four distinct sections, says the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. Each offers its own character, from the tree farm and wildlife management area in the north, to the beautiful views at Whitcomb Hill, down to the historic mining area near the Sharon town line. Moderate difficulty, and you can choose to hike individual sections or connect them. Some of the trail network passes old farmsteads from the early 1800s, stone walls, and ancient grave sites. Check the "directions" tab for various parking options.Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because this week's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions. Like, what did the Red Clover Cafe and Creamery in E. Thetford just add to its offerings? And which up-by-the-bootstraps Upper Valley brewery now has a succession plan in place? That and more at the link.But wait! How closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to know if you know what Vermont lawmakers are seeking to cap prices on—hint: they have the highest markup in the country.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, what policy change did Sig Sauer seek from New Hampshire legislators?
Quechee's Honey Donegan thought she might have to get a second job to stay in her home. Then she found HomeShare—and Kayla Mazza. Mazza is 30, Donegan 76, and their pairing as housemates is one of several creative approaches to Vermont's housing crisis profiled by Rachel Hellman in Seven Days. People and groups around the state aren't waiting for policy-makers to sort things out, and Hellman looks at everything from a neighborhood for displaced residents in Plainfield to a Rutland effort to fix up abandoned homes. HomeShare matches hosts with guests, and has seen interest skyrocket."There are some undeniable truths about returning [home] as a young person. How do I put this? Everyone's old." Every year, young Vermonters face this dilemma: Stay in a state many of them love, or leave for greater opportunity and a community of people their own age? Lucia McCallum grew up in Cabot and just graduated from UVM, and she's grappling with that question—out in public, for UVM's Community News Service. So she went home, and in particular to Harry's Hardware—"part hardware store, part bar" to talk to older Cabotians about what they'd done at her age. The audio's worth it.And yet! "Rural kids from Bradford that hear, ‘If you want to become anything, you’ve got to move far away,’ it’s just, it’s not the reality." That's Amanda Wheeler, Gov. Phil Scott's press secretary, who grew up in Bradford VT and still lives there. In a different Community News Service piece, Elise Coyle writes that Wheeler left for college in North Carolina and figured she'd stay there—until she came back to Bradford for the summer to work at Four Corners Farm and see her newborn niece, and decided to stay. She found a job at the state, eventually getting hired as a press assistant in the guv's office—where she and Scott bonded over stock car racing.Could the passeggiata become a thing here? As Seven Days publisher Paula Routly describes it in a publisher's letter, the daily tradition in Italy, Spain, and elsewhere "involves rounding up the family and walking—slowly, with no particular goal—through an urban core while making frequent stops to shop, sit for a drink or catch up with friends." Burlington just launched a weekly version and Routly joined—ducking into the Queen City branch of Little Istanbul on the way—as did dozens of others, all stopping to chat with friends they met. WRJ? Fairlee? Downtown Canaan? Routly offers pointers.If this had happened in the Whites, you bet NH Fish & Game would be issuing a fine. Last weekend, rangers in the Adirondacks scrambled to respond to a call from hikers who'd called 911 to report that their hiking buddy had died. But the pair also were in touch with a steward atop the High Peaks' Cascade Mountain, who “determined the hikers were in an altered mental state," reports the AP. Sure enough: They'd taken hallucinogenic mushrooms. Their friend eventually called in to report all was well. (Thanks, JF!)The magnificent art of birds’ flight. Xavi Bou, a photographer based in Barcelona, has a science background and a love of nature born of childhood walks in the woods with his grandfather. Now, his camera is trained on the skies: Layering frame-by-frame video stills, he traces the flight paths of birds. In his series Ornithographies, their movements become zippers, sea serpents, double helixes, train tracks… constant motion frozen in time. Bou writes that the series allows us to be a “witness of the instants that, for a moment, were past, present, and future all at once.” Moss and Fog has a gallery.The Friday Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday's Daybreak. And if you find yourself missing Wordbreak over the weekend, you just have to hit this link and you'll find brand new words tomorrow and Sunday—though not necessarily from Daybreak.
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As you read above, local playwright Smith's one-person drama stars Broadway and television's Jayne Atkinson as "a woman of a certain age [who] has had it—with her life, her marriage, modern life, everything" and brings the audience into her circle as she unloads. 7 pm tonight only at the Briggs Opera House in WRJ.
Director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan team up again (remember
Black Panther
or
Creed
?) for this supernatural suspense movie about twin brothers who return to their town in the deep South of the 1930s. 7 pm in the Loew Auditorium.
Saturday
A "madcap" production featuring bribery, deception and disguise—and Figaro—as two young lovers do their best to be together. Starring Russian mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina, American tenor Jack Swanson, and Moldovan baritone Andrey Zhilikhovsky. 1 pm tomorrow in the Loew.
Gordon, whose work is part of the current
Understory
exhibition at AVA, will demonstrate the technique, which is a method of painting using pigmented waxes, and dates back at least to the 1st century BCE in Egypt. 2 pm.
The women's chorus explores themes of nature, identity, resilience, and beauty with a program of works by contemporary Canadian composers, including Donald Patriquin, Eleanor Daley, and Stephanie Martin, along with a performance of “Warrior”, composed by Kim Baryluk. 4 pm tomorrow at the Norwich Congregational Church and same time Sunday at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon.
The headliners—"jammy roots rock with jazz and bluegrass sensibilities—feature Justin Park on mandolin and bass, Mark Burds on guitar and bass, Ian Koeller on drums, and Barnard's Kogan (also a member of The Drop Offs and the Chad Hollister Band) on upright bass, guitar, and piano. Local trio the Freeze Brothers blends rock, blues, and funk, and features Dan Paczkowski on drums, guitarist Sefton Stallard, and bassist RJ Weyant. 6 pm tomorrow.
Andrew Ahn's new reimagining of Ang Lee's classic stars Bowen Yang, Kelly Marie Tran, and Lily Gladstone in a "joyful comedy of errors about a gay man and his lesbian friend, whose plans to trade a green-card marriage for IVF go hilariously awry." 7 pm in the Loew.
It's a collaborative effort among
Nashville’s Miss Tess and Thomas Bryan Eaton (Miss Tess, Bertha), and Lafayette, LA-based K.C. Jones (Feufollet, The Daiquiri Queens), and Trey Boudreaux (The Revelers), all of them multi-instrumentalists blending into "one big cajun-country-cozy supergroup." 7 pm tomorrow.
Sunday
The two—Lin's a cellist, Hecht a double bassist—are both composers and improvisers whose work "spans a range of contexts, from Black Creative music to classical to rock and more." From 1-2 pm Sunday.
A Viking named Hiccup, a dragon named Toothless—"Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the very foundations of Viking society." 2 pm in the Loew.
In a weekend frame of mind?
Then the pairing of high-rolling New Orleans funk band Galactic and New Orleans soul diva Irma Thomas just
has
to be the right thing. Galactic's been around for three decades now, still turning out gripping original songs with impeccable musicianship. Thomas is 83 and has been a force in the city since her first hit in 1959. Her vocal power is undiminished, and you can totally get why Galactic's new joint album with her is called
Audience With the Queen
.
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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