GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Partly sunny, getting cloudier. And yes, a chance of showers. Clouds will build in later today as a new low makes its way into the region, bringing with it a chance of showers this afternoon and a likelihood this evening—along with a slight chance of a thunderstorm throughout the afternoon. At the same time, temps will be getting into the upper 70s, with winds from the southwest. Lows tonight only around 60.Young 'uns... If you could only bottle that energy.
Like, for instance, these tree-climbing bear cubs in Orford, from Jon Sands.
And these gray fox kits yesterday along the Ottauquechee in Woodstock, from Ursel Irwin. Who also sends along this link to an old Northern Woodlands story on how to tell red and gray foxes apart.
Dartmouth library workers vote to join AFSCME. In particular, reports The Dartmouth, they opted to join up with the affiliate of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees that represents workers in northern New England. The employees announced their intention to unionize in April, prompted by concern over staff reductions, wages and benefits, and stalled promotions. They become the third group on campus to unionize recently. “We look forward to working with the union to further the important role the library plays," college spokesperson Diana Lawrence emailed The Dartmouth.Proposed casino for Miracle Mile inches forward. Leb's planning board Monday held a public hearing on the plan by the owners of the Lebanon Poker Room downtown to move to the former Honda dealership on the Miracle Mile. Board members want to hear from the police on activity at the current site, reports Patrick Adrian in the Valley News; the room's owner initially told them he was aware of two police calls "in the area," but a resident said city police logs show 10 calls to the Lebanon Poker Room since 2020. “The board can’t prevent this use from going forward," planning director Tim Corwin told them. "But it can regulate how the site operates to a certain extent.”In Tunbridge, trail dispute no closer to a resolution—but town sure wants one. You may remember that the town and landowners John Echeverria and Carin Pratt are at loggerheads—and in court—over public access to a trail that crosses their land. While it's open to walkers, skiers, and snowshoers, the couple has drawn the line at mountain bikers. At a selectboard meeting Tuesday, reports the Herald's Darren Marcy, Echeverria told that board that if the town allows bikes or other wheeled vehicles on the trail, "Public access at Dodge Farm is over with." So far, the board has opted to keep bikes off while a court case proceeds and the town seeks more public input.SPONSORED: Early heat. Late frost. Lost harvest. And now smoke! What else does climate change have in store for us this summer? Hit the burgundy link for a visual recap of the drivers and consequences of this spring’s weather and climate extremes, and the outlook for the summer ahead. Hint: think heat. Brought to you by the folks who are trying to slow the trend. Working together, we have the power to make a difference in the fight against climate change. Sponsored by Solaflect Energy.VT education agency rewards Woodstock-area schools for buying local food. Like, 2,500 pounds of beef from Cloudland Farm in Woodstock, jam from Blake Hill Preserves, eggs from Stockbridge's Birdsong Farm, and more. The district is among five statewide to win grant money from the education department' Local Foods Incentive Grant, reports Seven Days' Alison Novak. "We’ve been [buying local] for years," says district nutrition program director Gretchen Czaja, "so to put a monetary value on it...actually shows we’re doing it instead of just saying the word 'local' or the word 'Vermont.'"Live in Sullivan County? Feel like photographing every bug you see? Next week—you've got this on your calendar, right?—is National Pollinator Week, and the Sullivan County Conservation District is asking residents to take photos and submit them to iNaturalist to help keep track of pollinators and floral life in the county as the climate changes. Prizes, Marty Gearhart writes on the Grantham Garden Club's blog, will be awarded for the most sightings.Don't like bugs? How about just a bear—snacking in the cab of your truck? On Wednesday, Claremont's American Plate Glass was on a job in Sunapee when a worker spotted a black bear sitting in their truck—its arm casually hanging out the window, chowing down on what turned out to be nuts. Owner Milinda Scott posted her employees' video to FB. Yesterday, she added some photos: "'Barry' the bear has unfortunately been terminated from American Plate Glass due to: stealing, work out of uniform and having 'bear' feet in the glass industry. OSHA frowns on these infractions! "SPONSORED: Artistree Community Theatre (ACT) presents God of Carnage: A comedy of manners... without the manners. Join us at the Grange Theatre for this community performance opening June 22 and running through July 1. Winner of the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play and the Lawrence Olivier Award for Best Comedy, God of Carnage is an explosive comedy that’s all fun and games until the grownups get hurt. Cast Includes Deborah Greene, Scott Pauw, Stephanie Morgan, and Mike Batusic. Directed by Matthew Robert. Sponsored by Artistree.Dartmouth undergrad from Quechee discovers two exoplanets. Jack Duranceau, who graduated from the college last weekend, has added TOI 3353b and TOI 3353c to the roster of known planets outside the solar system, reports Harini Barath in Dartmouth News. They're almost three times the size of the Earth and orbit a sun about 257 light years away from us. The discovery was part of his undergrad thesis, and had to take into account the relatively young age of the star, which makes measuring the slight dip in brightness caused by a passing planet more challenging.
Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because Daybreak's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions for you. Like, what was that big thing that got trucked through Hanover last Friday? And how many books did a former S. Strafford resident accumulate there? And what was one of the epic hikes Norwich's Alden Partridge undertook back in the early 1800s? 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 what Gov. Phil Scott just allowed to pass into law without his signature.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, what big event in Laconia is due to close this weekend—and draw lots of out-of-state traffic?
VT's oldest documented loon dies at 31. Eric Hanson was a young field biologist in 1998 when he banded the loon he calls Newark Pond Male. Last Tuesday, writes VTDigger's Hannah Cho, Newark Pond Male was found dead, after 25 years of being tracked, off and on, by Hanson—who now leads the state's Loon Conservation Project—and his team. “Our Newark Pond male flies directly to Cape Cod and has traveled an astounding 15,000 miles in his lifetime," Hanson wrote in a newsletter last year. Another discovery: Loons don't mate for life. Loons are “site-specific, rather than mate-specific,” he tells Cho.Region's newest contemporary art gallery opening in Bridgewater. Officially, it happens tomorrow, as artist Pete Landis opens "the pseudonymously named" Pietro Landi Gallery, as the Standard's Tom Ayres calls it, next to his studio in the Bridgewater Mill building. Landis, who grew up in Hartland—his parents are both well-known arts educators in the region—will be displaying his own collage works as well as works by artists who came up through the NYC street-art scene, including Banksy and Shepard Fairey, the artist behind Barack Obama's “Hope” poster from 2008. Opening's 5-10 pm.Spongy moths? No reports of them yet this year. In 2021, writes Alison Novak in Seven Days, "the hairy, spotted creatures defoliated 50,000 acres of forest.” Last year, it was 40,000 acres. This year, says Josh Halman, forest health program lead for VT's Dept. of Forests, there have been no reports of the destructive little beasts a full month after he normally gets alerts from locals. That’s a good sign that the forest might fare better this year (and we won’t have to hear chomp chomp chomp), though not a guarantee. Halman says the drought of the past few years probably helped.Hey, the region's on an antiques roll. Last year it was Antiques Roadshow coming to Shelburne. Now, reports Tory Rich in the Bennington Banner, the History Channel's American Pickers is coming to... well, they haven't decided yet. All antiquing brothers Mike and Robbie Wolfe know so far is that they'll be shooting an episode in VT, NH, or ME sometime in August, once they figure out a collection to focus on; they're looking for submissions. “We’re really encouraging anybody that thinks they’ve got something unique, rare or interesting,” says producer Meredith Bell. “Whether it be a warehouse full of things or maybe...a small, unique collection in a bedroom." Here's their FB post.It all depends on your perspective. You’ve got to love a contest called “Best Illusion of the Year,” which has been run for almost two decades by the Neural Correlate Society. This year's winner, Matt Pritchard’s Platform 9 ¾, shows a toy car magically driving through a brick wall. Fortunately for the curious among us, Pritchard explains the anamorphic illusion that makes the magic happen, allowing perspective to trick the eye. The runners up are here, and since it looks like we're in for a rainy weekend, check out the collection of large-scale illusions pulled together by Let’s Roam.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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The Quechee Balloon Festival gets going at 3 pm today in Quechee, with a full weekend of music, food, ballooning, evening balloon glows, freestyle disc dogs, skydiving team demos, and a whole bunch more. Gerry Grimo & East Bay Jazz kick off the music at 3; at 6, it's Carlos Ocasio and Frydaddy. Tomorrow's everybody from Rob Oxford & America's Most Wanted to Ali T, Ida Mae Specker, and "bagpipe rockers" Prydein. More of it all Sunday. Here's the schedule.
From 6-8:30 this evening, the Lebanon Opera House throws a free Pride picnic in Colburn Park, with music, lots of local and regional organizations, and more. Then, starting at 9, there's a silent disco in the Rail Trail tunnel led by guests DJ Sean and DJ Kell. Rain or shine.
The Norwich Bookstore this evening at 7 hosts two noted poets, Matthew Olzmann and Michael Collier. Olzmann, who teaches at Dartmouth, will be reading from his collection, Constellation Route, about which Still North Books' Allie Levy wrote in Enthusiasms, "Olzmann delivers hard truths wrapped up in humor and imagination." Collier, who taught for years at the U of Maryland and now lives in VT, is author most recently of The Missing Mountain: New and Selected Poems and of a collection of essays, as well as serving as co-editor with Charles Baxter and Edward Hirsch of A William Maxwell Portrait.
Also at 7, Artistree in S. Pomfret brings in Juan Nieves & Legado's Orquestra. An evening of salsa, both classics and new, arranged by Puerto Rican cuatro player Juan Nieves and its composer, singer & storyteller Rafa Moreno. The pre-concert salsa lessons are sold out, but Moon and Stars' Hernando Jaramillo will be on hand from 6:30 on, making arepas and empanadas to order. Rain or shine.
And also at 7, BarnArts kicks off its two-weekend run of Arcadia. Tom Stoppard's witty, complex play weaves together two stories, two centuries apart—as Paula Benson writes in the Standard, "in the same room of a large country estate in Sidley Park, Derbyshire, England. In 1809, precocious 13-year-old Lady Thomasina Coverly presses her tutor Septimus Hodgein to explain 'carnal embrace.' In the present day, writer Hannah Jarvis and literature professor Bernard Nightingale investigate the history of the estate and a possible scandal involving Lord Byron." The cast of BarnArts veterans will perform outdoors, at the original Feast & Field site (across from Fable Farm, where it is now); shows will be canceled if it rains, though tix are good for another show. Runs Friday-Saturday this week and next at 7 pm, Sundays at 4 pm.
Saturday
Tomorrow from 2-4 pm, Hartford and Lebanon hold a joint Juneteenth celebration at Lyman Point Park, next to Hartord town hall. The event will focus on family, history, and education, and in addition to food, art, dance, and music spun by DJ Sean from Livemix Kings, will include remarks by State Rep. Kevin "Coach" Christy, VT's director of racial equity, Xusana Davis, Winooski city manager Elaine Wang, and others. On Monday, Juneteenth itself, the two towns' racial equity committees are throwing a free movie night at the old Seminary Hill School (now the SAU #88 building) in West Leb, with cake at 5:30 and starting at 6, short films and a screening of Pixar's Soul.
At 5 pm tomorrow in Springfield VT, Avant Vermont Dance presents the first of four outdoor dance events this year around Springfield's downtown. SEASONS: Summer will showcase new works by choreographer Ashley Hensel-Browning, set to music by Max Richter (his reworking of Vivaldi's Four Seasons), Joy Oladokun, Sylvan Esso, and JVKE. The program features additional dancers from the AVD Youth Ensemble. Afterward, nature artist Emily Burkland of Chester, VT’s Community Art Garden will lead attendees in creating a sapling sculpture. At COMTU Cascade Park.
Tomorrow at 7 pm at the Norwich Congregational Church (and again on Sunday at 3 pm at the Lyme Congregational Church), the Harmony Night community chorus, under the direction of Mark Nelson, will be giving a concert of a cappella arrangements of jazz standards, songs by the Beatles and Crosby, Stills and Nash, and traditional music from Hungary, Cuba, and Namibia. No link.
Also tomorrow, Salt Hill Pub in Lebanon is throwing itself a 20th anniversary celebration, with a 2003-themed menu and, at 9 pm, The Conniption Fits bringing their high energy to the stage.
Sunday
At 2 pm on Sunday, the North Chapel Chamber Music Concert Series gets underway for the year with Trio Flamecrest—violinist Jean Huang, violist Amy Galluzzo, and cellist Carol Ou, along with guest pianist Xiaopei Xu—playing works by Beethoven, Schumann, Kodaly and Leshnoff. No charge, but they wouldn't turn down a donation.
For years pre-pandemic, Loch Lyme Lodge in Lyme hosted a regular Sunday buffet dinner with live music. Well, they're starting up again: Starting at 5:30, Frydaddy leader Carlos Ocasio will be down by the waterfront with his guitar, serving up what he calls his "spicy gumbo" of styles. Also serving up: Thetford’s Glenn Ferriot and his Fresco Catering. There's cover in case it rains, and reservations are required (they cap the number of people who can come): 603-795.2141.
Well hey, it's the weekend...
Time to get on our feet, don't you think? The Barcelona Gipsy balKan Orchestra got its start in Barcelona in 2012 as the Barcelona Gipsy Klezmer Orchestra before changing its name a few years later (but keeping BGKO as its acronym) to reflect its pan-Balkan reality.
Have a lovely weekend whatever it does outside, and 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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