GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Reminder: No Daybreak next week. Or the first two days of the following week. There's been a lot since the turn of the year, hasn't there? Back in your inbox for a short stretch on June 26.Mostly cloudy, chance of showers. It's just a one-day thing as a cold front comes through from the northwest. There's a chance of showers all day, and a slight chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. Highs will be around 80. There's a slight chance of showers overnight, lows in the mid 50s. Then we're looking at sunny days comfortably in the 70s over the weekend.You should enjoy all this, because next week is looking dire. The models haven't totally come into agreement, but it looks like we're facing a heat wave at least next Tuesday and Wednesday, and possibly beyond, with temps reaching the mid 90s. This is going to affect much of the Midwest, South, and Northeast. Here's NOAA's map; that huge brownish blob is hazardous heat. Burgundy link goes to self-described VT weather geek Matt Sutkoski's writeup.And speaking of hot.. Here's a crow shedding heat on Erin Donahue's trail cam. Ted Levin writes, "Heat dissipates from hot to cold. Because birds have no sweat glands, to rid their bodies of excess heat (thermoregulate), crows huff and puff (ornithologists call this gular fluttering). Cool air passes over the wet throat, which sheds body heat by evaporation. After each exhalation, warm blood cools and circulates, lowering the crow's temperature. Crows are not out of breath or scared ... they're practicing for a future when everything will be pressed to shed heat."Stopping for the scenery.
On Preston Road in Lyme,Jay Davis caught this near-painterly, bucolic scene.
And in Hanover, Tony Luckino caught sight of a window washer working from the ground on a top-story window of the Ledyard Bank building. "That took skill and good aim," Tony writes.
Judge rules Woodstock Foundation lawsuit will go to trial this fall. There's been plenty of legal maneuvering in the suit brought by the former chair and vice-chair of the foundation against a group of board members. But now it's moving ahead. In a ruling this week, reports Mike Donoghue in the VT Standard, Superior Court Judge H. Dickson Corbett split proceedings into two trials, with the first focused on what occurred in two 2022 special board meetings and a 2023 annual meeting. The defendants had sought a delay to create an outside investigative committee; Corbett rejected that request.Hanover to close Allen Street to vehicles for the summer. It's an experiment, writes Patrick Adrian in the Valley News, so that the town can look at what happens to traffic, parking, foot traffic, restaurant-going, and more. Hanover has seen a positive response to the street's temporary closure for block parties, Town Manager Alex Torpey says. "We just want to see what happens when Allen Street is closed longer.” Business owners' feelings are mixed. "If you want streets to be like those in European towns, go to Europe,” says Jack Stinson of Stinson’s Village Store on Allen Street.
SPONSORED: Is the EV market hitting a speed bump? EV sales have slowed—but get under the numbers and that's driven almost entirely by Tesla's challenges. Despite this recent tap on the brakes, medium and long-term EV growth remains in high gear. Hit the burgundy link for a five-point quiz, and learn all you need to know about the current state of the EV market, EV production and pricing trends, and the buildout of EV charging networks. And learn about Solaflect's sun-tracking arrays for homes, and off-grid Solar EV Chargers at work. Sponsored by Solaflect Energy. VT State Police identify trooper, man he shot in Orange incident. In a press release yesterday evening, the VSP said that Trooper Adam Roaldi, who's worked from the Berlin barracks since last fall, was doing a welfare check on a juvenile in Orange when he noticed Jason Lowery, 41, who'd lived in "various locations" around central VT, unconscious behind the wheel of a car with a sawed-off shotgun nearby. It was during a struggle over the shotgun that Roaldi fired his service gun, killing Lowery—who was later found to have an arrest warrant for fentanyl trafficking. The struggle was caught on Roaldi's body cam.The Peace Field saga continues: Act 250 commission once again denies permit. It only feels like the effort by developer John Holland and restaurateur Matt Lombard to create a farm-to-fork restaurant on Pomfret Road in Woodstock has been going on since the Ice Age. Now, reports Tom Ayres in the Standard, the District 3 commission has axed a permit for the second time in two and a half years, ruling that the proposed restaurant's footprint exceeds Woodstock's zoning allowance. Holland argues the restaurant should be exempt; Woodstock is looking at revising its on-farm regs.An entire floorful of answers to the question, "What is there to do in the Upper Valley?" On June 22 in Norwich's Tracy Hall, Upper Valley Young Professionals will hold its first Free Time Fair. The goal, organizer Rachael Thomeer tells Susan Apel in Artful, is to "connect people with things for them to do for fun in the community outside of work." So far, 36 groups have signed up, from Northern Stage and AVA to Dayhike & Dine and the Slow Runners Club. It's free and, as Susan writes, "No need to be a member of the Upper Valley Young Professionals. You don’t even have to be young." Group list here.SPONSORED: Get ready for the Shaker 7 on June 23! Sponsored by the Enfield Village Association as their signature annual fundraiser, the race starts and finishes at the Shaker Recreation Park on Route 4A in Enfield. It takes runners on a scenic, seven-mile certified route around the southern end of Mascoma Lake, down historic Main Street, over the Shaker Bridge, and back down Route 4A to the park. The Shaker 7 also includes a three-mile walk option, all with live entertainment and refreshments before and after the race. Join us! Sponsored by the Enfield Village Association.Randolph 12-year-old heads to national junior rodeo—with a horse rescued from a kill pen. Next week, Rianna Bagalio and her horse Luna will hit the road for Des Moines with other members of the Vermont High School Rodeo Association. Five years ago, Rianna's mom Alessa pulled Luna from a pen in North Carolina; she arrived in VT sickly and with anxiety issues. But as Darren Marcy writes in the Herald, "with Rianna in the saddle, Luna comes alive." “She enjoys going fast and she enjoys learning new things,” Rianna says. “We’ve grown together.” Marcy profiles the pair and what awaits in Iowa.Hiking Not So Close to Home: Mount Pisgah, Westmore, VT. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance recommends this 3.5-mile out-and-back hike to the summit of Mount Pisgah, in Willoughby State Forest. You'll climb over 1,400 feet, making this a moderate to challenging trek. But it's worth the effort, with views of Lake Willoughby and both the Green and White mountains. Bring lunch for a picnic at Pulpit Rock (about half way) or on the ledges at the peak. There are two other great options to the summit in Willoughby State Forest, but follow the parking directions for South Trail to take this one.Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because Daybreak's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions for you. Like, what did a Grafton County judge this week rule about the Hanover PD? And what did a British tabloid choose to highlight about Roger Federer's Dartmouth commencement speech? 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 why three school districts, including Woodstock and Springfield, are suing the State of VT?
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, why did NH Fish & Game just euthanize a mother bear in Bartlett?
Yikes! "In New England, a tree-killing worm may spell the end of autumn’s yellow hues". That's the headline atop a Globe Magazine story (paywall) about beech leaf disease, which researchers believe is caused by a microscopic nematode. "In highly infested areas," Sophie Hartley writes, "the disease can kill up to 90 percent of young [beech] trees in two to five years, and it spreads at an almost unprecedented rate." At risk are not just one of New England's prized trees and its yellowish autumn hue, but the beech nuts loved by bears and other animals. Hartley dives into what's known, and efforts to combat it."I don't buy bikes to wash them." It's Bike Week in Laconia and Gilford, and the Monitor's Sophie Levenson (via the VN) takes you there, spending time with a divorced couple that headed there together—"We’re a hard habit to break”—and ex-Marine John “Rhino” Ramos (the source of that headline quote), who's there for his 36th time and fills her in on how it's changed over the decades (more kids, for one thing), and a pair of sisters from Peru, Maine, there for the first time. "Bike Week overwhelms the senses," Levenson writes, "with its retro neon Weirs Beach sign and over-sloganed t-shirts, its miles-long rows of motorcycles, cluttered loudspeakers blasting Lynyrd Skynyrd..."Trying to understand NH's proposed changes to voting registration? In Bolts magazine, Cameron Joseph looks at the move backed by GOP legislators—one measure on Gov. Chris Sununu's desk, the other axed yesterday by the House. If signed, the bill that survived would make NH the only state in the country to require citizenship documentation at the time of registration. Nashua City Clerk Dan Healey, a registered Republican who heads the state town and city clerks association, isn't a fan. “As far as I can see, it’s unnecessary…they’re trying to cure something that’s really not a problem," he says.The NH House: Where big bills go to die. Chamber rejects cannabis legalization, tougher voter registration bill, expanded Education Freedom Accounts.
The cannabis vote yesterday was 178-173 against. In a nutshell, reports Ethan DeWitt in NH Bulletin, "pro-legalization supporters in the House had opposed the retail approach endorsed by Gov. Chris Sununu and the Senate, and had been frustrated when the Senate continued to pass that version." He explains the background.
The voter registration bill was similar to one that is already on Sununu's desk, but would have added an Election Day hotline for local election officials to use to confirm someone’s voting eligibility in real time—though it wasn't clear how that would actually work, notes NHPR's Todd Bookman. The fate of the bill Sununu is considering is uncertain.
Although House and Senate negotiators last week had agreed to expand eligibility for Education Freedom Accounts by boosting the income threshold for a family of four, the House wound up voting 185-168 against the compromise. InDepthNH's Garry Rayno explains.
Meanwhile, across the river, Gov. Phil Scott vetoes Act 250 changes, data privacy legislation. The Act 250 bill was one of the legislature's signature efforts this session, as lawmakers debated how to balance housing growth with environmental conservation. In his veto message, Scott said he believes it didn't do enough to address housing affordability. The data privacy bill tried to place limits on the kinds of data companies can use and sell without unduly hampering businesses. Scott argues it went too far. The legislature will try to override next week. WCAX's Calvin Cutler reports."People call me crazy because I'm still haying at my age. But I just can't sit around." Brownsville's Wayne Lemire is 78 and has lived there his whole life. He hays 19 acres, and though he used to sell 12,000 bales a year—while driving a gasoline truck for his day job—he's down to just a few customers now. But he has no intention of stopping, and in that he's just like a series of seniors profiled by Seven Days who are "pushing boundaries by working, volunteering and exploring." From an 85-year-old trucker to an 80-year-old experimental musician, a 71-year-old AT thru-hiker, a 79-year-old standup comedian..."I needed to find a lifestyle that had stories I could tell later on, when I was old." Rob Mermin was still a teen when he had that thought, and it led him to becoming a clown in European circuses—before he returned to the US and founded Circus Smirkus, so other kids could have adventures, too. On the Vermont Conversation podcast, he and host David Goodman talk it all over: his early misadventures, Marcel Marceau and mime, the difference between American and European clown traditions, Smirkus, Parkinson's, and more.A poet who has "made an art of spelunking into the grottoes of the psyche and emerging, grimy but triumphant, with a weird, glittering object." Vermont poet laureate Bianca Stone, writes Chelsea Edgar in a new Seven Days profile, has a gift for "verse that hits with concussive force." Stone spent a lot of her childhood at her grandmother Ruth's house—Ruth Stone, also a poet laureate—and "by blood or osmosis," Edgar writes, inherited her grit and instinct for survival. Edgar dives into Bianca's life and her penchant for using poetry to explore "the most complicated parts of being alive."Straight out of Middle Earth, but actually on the Earth. Tolkien dreamt it up, New Zealand brought it to life. A towering northern rātā has just been declared that country’s Tree of the Year for its uncanny resemblance to an Ent from Lord of the Rings. If it’s been a few years since you last read Tolkien, an Ent is a fictional walking tree. The award winner, writes Holly Large in IFLScience, is a real tree that, thanks to its forked trunk, appears to be strolling across the countryside. Its genesis reads like fiction, though: rātā trees start life suspended from a host tree before growing roots that reach for the ground.
Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it stick around by hitting the maroon button:
We may be the middle of nowhere to everyone else in VT and NH, but
we
know what's good! Strong Rabbit's Morgan Brophy has come up with the perfect design for "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Plus you'll find the Daybreak jigsaw puzzle, as well as sweatshirts, tees, a fleece hoodie, and, as always, the fits-every-hand-perfectly Daybreak mug. Check it all out at the link!
Over the course of the weekend there'll be raptors, disc dogs, skydivers, lots of music—Bobby Sheehan, Fred Haas, Lisa Piccirillo and Jeremy Mendicino, Brooks Hubbard, The Tricksters, and more—plus
lots
of food and craft vendors. Oh, and balloons, with launches every day. Schedule at the link.
The picnic starts at 6 pm this evening with a variety of local and regional nonprofits on hand. The disco's at 9 and you'll need to reserve your headset. Colburn Park for both.
This evening at 6:30 it's trivia at Grounds. Tomorrow, a gathering and parade starting at 2 pm on the town green. And Sunday at 3 pm, a cabaret in the Barn.
The NYT's A.O. Scott described Maren Ade's 2016 film as "a thrilling act of defiance against the toxicity of doing what is expected, on film, at work and out in the world." And also as "by a wide margin the funniest almost-three-hour German comedy you will ever see." It's a complex father-daughter story that touches on big issues. At 7 pm in the Martha Rich Theater at Thetford Academy.
in Hanover.
As Sawtooth writes, they play "an eclectic mix of classics and deep cuts from the band's entire catalog. Each set list is uniquely crafted with an emphasis on improvisation and non-stop in-your-face rock n’ roll." Starts up at 9 pm.
D.O.R.X was Dartmouth band back in the late '80s—
Bill Engelbach (drums), Timothy Duggan, Jr. (guitar), Chris Kennedy (bass)—and they're back together after three and a half decades, reuning.
If you miss them at the MSM tonight, they'll be at Sawtooth tomorrow night starting at 10 pm.
Saturday
Tomorrow's weather looks great, and there are some diverting ways to get outside. For starters, the Orford Conservation Commission is leading a hike in the lupine meadows at the Thomson Tree Farm. No link, but they write, "We will be rendezvousing at 10 AM at the marked parking spot down Quinttown Road off of 25A. Our signage will direct you down Quinttown Road so we can park before hiking into the Thomson property. The drive from 25A to our parking spot will be 10+ minutes." Email
[email protected] with questions.
through Braintree to Bent Hill Brewery. Stops include maple creemees at Poulin & Daughters Family Farm and snacks at Chef’s Market. Start times are at 10:30 and 11, info at the link.
This is the first of four Saturday walking tours presented by the Morrill Homestead this summer, gathering at the homestead at 11 am and touring Justin Morrill’s birthplace, his father’s blacksmith shop, two libraries, the Strafford Town House, and the mausoleum where Morrill is buried. Register at the link.
It marks Vanier's retirement after decades of running CCB's youth drop-in program in downtown Lebanon. Organized by friends and former charges of Vanier's, it runs from 11 am to 2 pm tomorrow, with hamburgers, hot dogs, drinks, and a lot of "stories and tales that have grown tall over the years."
Presented by the Enfield Shaker Museum, the event commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Shakers’ arrival in America and explores the sect’s legacy, starting at 2 pm with a talk by Shaker scholar and musician Mary Ann Haagen and a performance of Shaker music by the Canterbury Singers. In the Chosen Vale Performance Center.
The Boston-based salsa group spearheaded by spearheaded by tPuerto Rican
cuatro
player Juan Nieves—returns to Artistree at 7 pm tomorrow (with a free salsa dance lesson from 5:45-6:30 pm). Starting at 6:30, SoRo's Moon and Stars will be on hand with Hernando Jaramillo's arepas and empanadas.
The West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts presents the indie/soul singer-songwriter starting at 6:30 tomorrow evening at the Claremont Creative Center (56 Opera House Square). Flynn, who splits her time between LA and VT, is also the host of the VT Public podcast
Homegoings
.
Sunday
Billings Farm observes Father's Day with, among other things,
a game of historic base ball at 2:00 pm. Following rules from 1860, they write, "the game will be played on a field... with wood shaving baselines, canvas bases filled with straw, along with a metal pitcher’s plate and home plate." Players will use ash bats and play barehanded.Also at 2 on Sunday, Woodstock's North Chapel hosts a French Horn recital. With Jacky Ho-Yin Li on horn and Kyra Xuerong Zhao on piano in a program that includes works by Saint-Saëns, Mozart, Ravel, and more.
A look ahead.
There's a
lot
happening while Daybreak's away. Here's a taste:
Monday, June 17:
Windsor's Old South Church celebrates its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Starts at 6 pm with talks at 7.
Wednesday, June 19:
Bethel holds its Juneteenth celebration at the Bethel Bandshell starting at 5 pm. Speakers, music by a trio from the Haitian ensemble Lakou Mizik.
Artistree kicks off its summer of "Music on the Hill" with the Jim Yeager Trio. 6:30 pm.
Thursday, June 20:
Woodstock's Norman Williams Public Library observes World Refugee Day with a panel discussion on "Strategies for Refugees to Overcome Trauma". 4 pm.
The Hop presents its first of three summer concerts on the Dartmouth Green with three-time Grammy-nominee saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin. 5:30 pm.
Feast and Field in Barnard presents Annie & the Fur Trappers, a Boston-based traditional jazz and Delta blues band. Music at 6 pm.
Friday, June 21:
It's the Chandler Music Hall's "Make Music Day" all around Randolph from 10 am to 10 pm. AliT, Second Wind, Krishna Guthrie, Ivoirian singer Dobet Gnahoré kicking off her North American tour, and many more.
The Woodstock Poetry Festival launches two days of readings, workshops, and music, starting at 1 pm at Woodstock's North Chapel. Concert by Los Lorcas Friday night at 7:30. Poets at the link.
BarnArts' outdoor production of Macbeth opens in the orchard of Fable Farm in Barnard. Runs two weekends, Fridays/Saturdays at 6:30 pm, Sundays at 4 pm, Wednesday June 26 at 6:30 pm.
North Country Community Theatre's summertime production of The Music Man opens at the Lebanon Opera House at 7:30 pm. Runs two consecutive weekends.
Saturday, June 22:
Upper Valley Young Professionals' first-ever Free Time Fairruns 11 am-2 pm in Tracy Hall in Norwich. See news item above for more.
Harpoon Brewery in Windsor holds a Family Day noon-4, with Jo Knowles reading her kids' book Ear Worm, mini-golf, cookies, and RePlay Arts.
The Hartford-Lebanon Juneteenth celebration runs from 2-4 pm in Lyman Point Park. Hosted by Joe Major, talks by VT state Sen. (and former history teacher) Dick McCormack and others, plus family-friendly events.
Star Mountain Events in Sharon kicks off its summer with high-octane northern VT bluegrass band Beg, Steal, or Borrow. 6:30 pm.
The Boston Civic Symphony at Colby-Sawyer. With pianist Frederick Moyer and Francisco Noya conducting. 7 pm.
The world-renowned Chosen Vale trumpet workshop holds the first of several free trumpet concerts at 8 pm. Pre-concert talk by director Edward Carroll at 7:30. In the Enfield Shaker Museum's Mary Keane Chapel.
Tuesday, June 25:
Ivoirian singer-songwriter Dobet Gnahoré at Broad Street Park in Claremont (or Claremont Creative Center if it rains). 6:30 pm.
Whew. That was a lot!
So let's do something fun. One of Nat King Cole's gigantic hits was "Nature Boy", which he released as a single in 1948. If you don't recognize the name, you'll definitely recognize the tune. Cole had come across it the year before, when an unkempt man wearing a toga-like outfit came to the stage door where he was performing in LA and gave Cole's valet a tattered sheet of paper. It had the lyrics and notes to "Nature Boy"; Cole hummed it to himself, liked it, tried it out in front of an audience, which loved it, and decided to record it. But he needed the rights. Eventually, his label tracked down the composer—who was living under the first L in the HOLLYWOOD sign. His name was Eden Ahbez, and he's got a heck of a story. Music historian and critic Ted Gioia tells it in a new Substack piece,
and it's worth a read, especially if you like the odd little byways of American culture.
Stay cool! Always, but especially next week. See you Wednesday, June 26.
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.
Want to catch up on Daybreak music?
Want to catch up on Daybreak itself (or find that item you trashed by mistake the other day)? You can find everything on the Daybreak Facebook page
, or if you're a committed non-FB user,
.
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt About Rob About Michael
And if you think one or more of your friends would like Daybreak, too, please forward this newsletter and tell them to hit the blue "Subscribe" button below. And thanks! And hey, if you're that friend? So nice to see you! Subscribe at no cost at:
Thank you!