GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Partly sunny, chance of showers especially in the afternoon. The cold front that brought us last night's weather is moving east, but there's a low moving in from the west. So while there's a faint chance of showers this morning, it ries a bit over the course of the day before. Otherwise, we'll see sun as well as clouds, highs in the upper 70s, down to the low or mid 50s tonight.Blossoms all over. "Yes, the rain is moving in. But I'm not ready to let go of the beauty that has surrounded us these past few days!" writes Gary Engler. So in that spirit...
Lupines standing tall: the bug's-eye view—from Gary.
Wisteria blooms in Hartland, from Harriet Dumas.
And a startlingly orange rhododendron as you approach S. Strafford, from Carol Orgain.
"I was approaching Lake Fairlee on my way to work," writes Nicole Leibon, "when I saw a cloud of yellow above the trees. I closed my sunroof and windows, thinking it was dust or spray from a tractor, when I rounded the bend and realized it was coming from the
trees
. We've all been wondering about the pollen on our cars (and up our noses) - there it was!"
Woodstock board gives go-ahead to doughnut couple's café. The village's Development Review Board last week gave the 96-seat restaurant proposed for the east end of town by April and Ben Pauly, of Farmer and the Bell, a conditional use permit, reports the Standard's Tom Ayres. The move overrides objections from gas/convenience store chain R.L. Vallee Inc, which owns a Maplefields across the road. The board is also allowing the café to provide fewer parking spaces than required by zoning. It's unclear how Vallee will respond; Ayres cites the possibility of both an appeal and civil action."The only eatery in town that might be able to claim delivering late-night pizzas to the dorm rooms of current legacy Dartmouth students' grandparents." In the Valley News, John Lippman profiles C&A Pizza and longtime owner Elaine Georgakopoulos, who plans to close the spot later this month. She first began to think about retirement, she says, when taxes on the building she and her former husband owned skyrocketed after a reappraisal. Her daughter, Soula, has no desire to keep things going. "I know how much running a business takes away from your life and family,” Soula says.Campaign filings offer a look ahead to VT legislative races. The Herald's new reporter, Isabel Dreher, is out with an overview of the legislative political season in parts of the Upper Valley. There's the Windsor County Senate contest, with its nine candidates for three seats. In Orange County, incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark MacDonald will face Topsham Republican Larry Hart Sr., former owner of the NAPA store in Randolph, in November. Other upcoming House races include the Royalton/Tunbridge seat held by Democrat John O'Brien, and two GOP candidates from Sharon who will face off in November against Democratic incumbents Jim Masland and Rebecca Holcombe.SPONSORED: Save the date! Support Willing Hands during NH Gives, June 11-12. The hard reality is that more neighbors in our region are experiencing hunger and need our help now. Every day, Willing Hands’ 80 recipient organizations, including food shelves, shelters, and senior housing facilities, see new faces unable to afford fresh, nutritious food. By making a gift to Willing Hands during NH Gives next week, your gift will be doubled! Sponsored by Willing Hands.Point of clarification. Though Hartford's new banner policy sets a 30-day period for banners to fly, applicants can display banners twice a year—meaning they can apply for two consecutive 30-day periods. Or 60 days in all.Darn Tough confronts "rampant" social media scams; FB ad snares bassist for The Pilgrims. The ad, writes Graham Krewinghaus in VTDigger, offered the iconic VT company's socks at a steep discount; Windsor musician Brendan Dangelo, savvy about creating Facebook ads, figured he could trust it. He couldn't. And he's not alone, Krewinghaus writes: Darn Tough's been getting as many as six scam alerts a day from customers, part of a rising tide this spring that's engulfed both the company and its partner businesses. "You’ve just got to be careful what you’re clicking on," says a company official.SPONSORED: Get ready for the Shaker 7! 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.Biking Close to Home: Randolph Trails network, Randolph, VT. Actually, the 12-mile network managed by the Ridgeline Outdoor Collective is for hikers, too, but mountain bikers definitely like it. It offers easier loops, like the Village Loop and the Randolph pump track in town, as well as difficult singletrack in the hills. The trails connect to networks in the Ellis Lot and Sayward Town Forests, and parking is available at multiple spots around Randolph—hit the directions tab at the link, then click on a parking icon for directions. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance asks that you park only in designated locations.Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because Daybreak's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions for you. Like, where's the newest performance venue in the region? And what was it that a driver ran into at the VT Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Memorial Day? 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 how many states saw first-quarter home prices increase more than in Vermont?
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, what will Dartmouth seniors who were arrested May 1 be allowed to do this weekend?
Get ready for a lot of motorcycles on NH roadways. Yup, it's Laconia Motorcycle Week starting on Saturday—the 101st. From the '60s to the '90s, Amanda Gokee writes in the Globe's NH newsletter, it attracted 30,000-40,000 people. These days? More like 300,000 or more. Gokee asked the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association's Jennifer Anderson, who works year-round on planning the event, how she'd describe it. "Whether or not you’re a motorcyclist, it is incredible people watching,” she says. “It really is representative of a cross section of the population. You get a little bit of everything.”Negotiations on NH Medicaid payments collapse. "Our health care system, I think, is at stake.” That's a chagrined Senate President Jeb Bradley. You may remember that Gov. Chris Sununu has wanted to re-jigger how the state reimburses hospitals for what they pay in taxes to help them cover uncompensated medical costs—and the result would help some hospitals while hurting others. Yesterday, reports Annmarie Timmins in NH Bulletin, talks among hospitals, legislators, and the Sununu administration fell apart. The result could hurt hospitals even more. Timmins explains.Well whaddaya know? NH Senate, House conferees agree on cannabis legalization. It's by no means a law yet—the revised measure they crafted still has to pass both houses and get Gov. Chris Sununu's okay—but a move to allow retail marijuana sales in the state has never before gotten this far. Negotiators from both chambers gave ground, writes NH Bulletin's Annmarie Timmins: the measure keeps the Senate's franchise model with control by the state liquor commission, while it decriminalizes possession of up to an ounce of marijuana once the bill is signed, more than senators had wanted.NH secretary of state says he's okay with GOP-backed changes to first-time voting registration. David Scanlan told legislators Wednesday that he doesn't think "it is voter suppression or too much to ask" that residents produce proof of US citizenship and other qualifications to vote when they register, reports NHPR's Todd Bookman. This is the first time Scanlan has made public his stance on the proposal—which under a version still in the legislature would require his office to staff a hotline on election day for calls from voting officials seeking to confirm someone’s qualifications to vote.Phil Scott vetoes education property tax bill. The annual measure, known as the "yield bill," sets VT's education property tax rate statewide—and even with a last-minute legislative scramble to add revenues to the state Education Fund in order to buy down property taxes, it would have raised average property tax rates 13.8 percent this year, writes VTDigger's Ethan Weinstein. This was too much for Scott—who said yesterday he plans to meet next week with legislative leaders, then sent out a campaign blast touting his veto. If no yield bill passes, the state will face a $93 million funding gap.Umm. On Wednesday, while several Burlington police officers were teaching a class to high school students at the city's police station, two screaming women ran into the room, followed by a man wearing a ski mask and wielding a gun. Loud gunshots rang out. Terrified kids dove for the floor. Turns out, report Seven Days' Courtney Lamdin and Colin Flanders, it was play-acting. Police thought the school had notified students and parents that it was planned; students say they'd heard nothing. “I’m baffled,” says one mom. “It is a very real threat to kids these days to have a school shooting." It's now a national story.In Bangladesh, a floating fruit market. You may remember an image or two from the finalists for Food Photographer of the Year a few months ago. Now the winners are up, so you can find a favorite. Wedding cake on the Isle of Skye? Grape harvesting as a joyous family event in Burgundy? Making dumplings in an old cave dwelling in Shanxi Province, China? Many of the photos convey joy, or comfort, or both. Many others—equally beautiful—show the effort that goes into bringing us the food that creates those joyful moments, like a rice farmer in Thailand, diamond drops of water cascading from the sprouts.And in Anchorage, a very young moose. The Alaska Zoo runs a rehab program for orphaned moose—a bit like the Kilhams' effort with black bears, only in this case the moose are raised not to return to the wild, but to become "moose ambassadors" at other zoos. Here's Orlando (for now), who arrived at the zoo in mid-May. (Thanks, HHC!)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!
Owners Peg Allen and Amanda Kievit are hosting an open house, offering tours and a chance to learn how yarn is made, from sheep to skein. "This is an excellent event for folks interested in fiber, value-added agriculture, and large machinery," they write.
Always a hopping set of events: Revolution's parking-lot party in back, with
soul and funk from DJ Skar, Jamaican jerk chicken from the Fulla Flava crew, and more. At JAM starting at 5:30, singer and songwriter
Lisa Piccirillo
with fellow songstressses Jes Raymond and Allison Fay Brown (first single drops June 21 and
). Plus
,
at the Main Street Museum, and lots more.
David Auburn's four-character Tony and Pulitzer-winning drama, directed by seniors Paul Ashton and Eli Hoffer, centers on the daughters of a brilliant mathematician after his death, exploring betrayal, trust, sexism, mental illness...and math. The Students on Stage production runs at 7 pm tonight, 2 pm tomorrow.
At 7 pm, the Sharon performing arts venue brings in Melanie Fan and Michael Fan on violin, Jenny Massey on viola, and cellist Margaret Gilmore, for a program of Gershwin, Ellington, Kern, Harold Arlen and other composers of the big band era, along with some Latin American composers, giving it all a string quartet twist.
The Vermont-based Grateful Dead expert and LOH regular returns with two sets of the band's hits and deep cuts. Two ticket options: general admission in the orchestra gets you the chance to stand and groove, or there's reserved balcony seating (with some seats left). It all gets rolling at 7:30 pm.
In the mag's back yard at
16 On The Common in Lyme, lepidopterist JoAnne Russo and the Northern Woodlands staff will be putting up lights and sheets to attract moths—and then identifying and counting them. They're hoping to beat last year's record of 52 different species of moths. No charge (though you can donate), but you'll need to register because space is limited.At 9 tonight, the Zajac Brothers return to Sawtooth Kitchen. They do r
ock, funk, blues, original songs and covers: Matthew Zajac on drums, Tyler Zajac on vocals, Kyle Curran and Dan Bishop on guitar and bass.
Saturday
From 10-5, with all sorts of cheese and dairy vendors offering samples, food trucks with dairy-forward goods (including cannoli), craft drinks, programs on making butter, ricotta, ice cream, and the like, and, of course, cows everywhere you turn. Music Saturday by Jim Yeager, Sunday by Ali T.
It's just tomorrow, 10-5, with scavenger hunts and raffles, tacos from Trail Break, tours of the Forest Canopy Walk, VINS's trails, and the songbird aviary, and, of course, owls and other raptors.
They'll be hosting free activities from 10 am to 2 pm at their studios on Maple Street, including printing a commemorative tote or poster, make-your-own stamped brass keychains, button-making, and more. Plus an exhibition showcasing pottery, jewelry, textiles, and more made by students, teaching artists, and volunteers.
The 2nd annual Pride Whistlestop Tour makes stops tomorrow in Randolph, WRJ, Windsor, and Claremont.
And other train stations along the Amtrak Vermonter route. Flags, bunting, bubbles, impromptu dance parties—whatever, they're aimed at demonstrating "unity and community to those traveling through Vermont," organizers say. 10:59 am in Randolph, 11:35 am in WRJ, 11:56 in Windsor, 12:06 in Claremont—but do check Amtrak for delays.
. It moved off the porch last year into the Thetford Hill Church, where it'll be again. This is the fifth year that jazz musicians organized by reeds and didgeridoo player Bill Cole will gather. He'll be joined in improv by Ras Moshe, Taylor Ho Bynum, Joe Daley, Lisette Santiago, Bill Lowe, and Daniel Lin.
It features a giant submarine that lets visitors experience a ride from inland to ocean using high-resolution imaging through streams, rivers, and lakes to the sea. The footage was captured by cinematographer David O. Brown. At 2 pm tomorrow, he and museum director Lara Litchfield-Kimber will talk about how it all came together; at 3, Brown talks about his career as an underwater cinematographer.
With Nils Fredland calling, Pascal Gemme on fiddle and Rachel Aucoin on piano. All dances taught, beginners and singles welcome.
He's worked with the likes of Les Paul, Bucky Pizzarelli, Lionel Hampton, Tommy Emmanuel, Ringo Starr, Madonna, and others, and plays everything from
swing to fusion to gypsy jazz to classical and pop. At Alumni Hall starting at 7:30 pm.
Sponsored by Bliss Tavern Music in honor of Ed Eastridge.
Sunday
Just in case you had Summer Revels in Fairlee on your calendar for Sunday,
It runs from 2 pm to 4 pm Sunday, with a Strafford Organic ice cream social, guided tours of Justin Morrill's home, a chance to wander the Victorian gardens, and the No Strings Marionette Co. presenting
Wasabi... A Dragon's Tale
at 2:30.
And to carry us into the weekend...
It's a little hard to know how to define the Orchestral Qawwali Project. At its heart are two people, singer Abi Sampa and composer and musician Rushil Ranjan, who meld centuries-old Sufi devotional music with modern orchestral arrangements. As esoteric as it might sound, the pair exploded onto the scene in 2020, when their version of a 700-year old
qawwali
went viral during the pandemic. Early in her career, Sampa had trouble finding
qawwali
choral singers who would sing with a female
qawwal
. Now she and Ranjan sell out any venue they appear in—including the Royal Albert Hall last week—and perform with the likes of the Royal Philharmonic.
"
, written by the 18th-century Sufi mystic Bulleh Shah, made a global hit by the legendary Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and now rearranged by Ranjan. At 12 minutes—actually, the music's 10 of them, the standing O the rest—it's longer than most pieces that appear here, but Sampa and the chorus and the music (and the tabla) soar. You will, too.
Have a lovely 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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