GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Heads Up: No Daybreak Monday. Hey, it's Labor Day! Back in your inbox as usual Tuesday morning.Sunny, inspiring. Really: Clear skies (well, after the fog disappears), mid 70s, calm winds. You don't want to get too used to it—high pressure's moving out and low's moving in tonight, but for today it'll be about as perfect as it gets. The wind's shifting to come from the southeast, which means overnight lows will be a bit warmer tonight, mid or upper 50s.Catching up on sunrise. One of the things I did with my August work week was to re-stock the Daybreak Where You Are album, which now has a bunch of photos you haven't seen, mostly from around here, but also from Maine to the shores of Lake Erie to Belize, and from last winter to last week. They're all pretty darn inspiring, too.Upper Valley arts groups renew their alliance. It's a collaboration of 20+ organizations under the umbrella of the Upper Valley Business Alliance: everyone from the Hop and LOH to the Anonymous Coffeehouse and AVA. As Susan Apel wrote yesterday in Artful, they've put up a one-stop events calendar that anyone can check out.. They're also launching two months of free or reduced-price arts events—they're calling it "Fall Into the Arts 2024". You'll find the events calendar here, with plenty of listings of free, pay-what-you-wish, and discounted events. Still trying to get a handle on unprecedented tax increases in some Vermont towns? Here's a guide. The VT Standard's Tom Ayres focuses his article on eight towns, including W. Windsor, Barnard, Hartland, and Woodstock, but his explanation for what's going on could apply to any town seeing a high jump in the homestead tax rate for residents. Partly it's reappraisals—or their lack; partly it's the legislature's rejiggering the per-pupil funding formula; and for towns like Woodstock, it's also the high rate of second-home ownership. The eight towns are averaging a 25.8 percent jump in taxes.A snowmobile commute from WRJ to Randolph? Well, Ron Dwinell, the manager of the new Route 4 hotel that just opened on Tuesday in Randolph Center, lives along a VAST trail. And the hotel property, as it happens, abuts one. "I’ve got to do it at least once!” Dwinell tells the Herald's Tim Calabro. Calabro tours the spot and fills in the background on the new My Place—it's the S. Dakota chain's first foray into New England; the local ownership group had hoped to open in 2020, until the pandemic sent construction costs out of sight; and there are plans for more in the works.91-year-old Royalton dog-walker found safe after going missing. The VT State Police report that Christian Wolff took his dog out yesterday afternoon, and when he hadn't returned around 4:30, his family began searching for him. When the dog returned without Wolff at about 5:30 pm, they called in the police. New England K9, Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team, Royalton Fire, Bethel Fire, Tunbridge Fire, and Barnard Fire all responded and mounted a search, and at about 11 last night, searchers found Wolff in the woods.In "tense" Hartford school board meeting, lots of heat but no light over former superintendent's severance package. As you'll remember, the board announced in July that Tom DeBalsi was leaving his post with a year remaining on his contract—and a package worth nearly $250K in salary, benefits, and unused sick and vacation time. At this week's meeting, reports the Valley News's Christina Dolan, town residents took the board to task for remaining close-mouthed about how the agreement came about. "It's none of your business how I voted" in a closed session, responded one.Biking Kinda Close to Home: Adams Camp Trails, Stowe, VT. This week, the Upper Valley Trails Alliance checks in with a 9.3-mile bike-trail network in Stowe that includes double and singletrack, technical, and flow trails. You'll find the trailhead off Route 108 (the Mountain Road) on Ranch Brook Road.Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because Daybreak's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions for you. Like, what's the Norwich Farmers Market thinking about doing? And what does an entrepreneur want to put into the old Sandy's Drive-In in Sharon? 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 some Vermonters are being urged to limit time outdoors.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, what did a Dartmouth undergrad's research find about some seabirds in the Gulf of Maine?
Early-morning tragedy on I-95 bridge between NH, ME. Yesterday morning, reports WMUR, police shot and killed a man on the Piscataqua River Bridge—then found the body of his 8-year-old son inside the car. The incident began after police in York, ME got a 911 call from the man saying he'd killed his wife in their home in Troy, NH, south of Keene; they were able to track the phone to Kittery—and found the man's vehicle stopped in the southbound lane of the bridge, which they shut down in both directions. NH and ME state troopers fired at the man after he raised a firearm at them. Police say the boy's death was "not associated with the officers' use of deadly force."NH Fish & Game commissioner: "I don’t know how much longer [we] can go on" without a bigger slice of the state budget. The agency, which was originally tasked with responsibility for hunters and anglers, has always existed mostly thanks to license fees and federal funding; just 2 percent of its money comes from the state's general fund. But its responsibilities have grown, including around 180 search-and-rescue missions a year, Fish & Game commission chair Ray Green told a legislative study committee this week, and it's looking at a $2 million deficit this year. NH Bulletin's Claire Sullivan reports.400 days, 300 days, 100 days... Those time-frames are how long patients in NH hospitals on a single day in early June had been waiting to be discharged to a lower level of care—but remained in the hospital because that care wasn't available. That's according to new research by the state hospital association, reports Annmarie Timmins in NH Bulletin. The bottlenecks include discharges to nursing homes and, even more dire, discharges to an acute long-term care setting, for which NH hospitals have to look out of state. The report looks at workforce shortages, especially the loss of younger workers.Speaking of workforce shortages, finding school bus drivers in VT remains a challenge. Though it's not all bad: the Peacham School's principal, Samuel McLeod, tells VTDigger's Auditi Guha that since he took on bus driving last fall, "one of the most exciting things in my day" is seeing kids first thing. Still, Guha writes, a variety of districts around the state continue to lack drivers, leading to delays and disruptions. One bus company manager cites the state's high cost of living and housing shortage, and some districts have boosted pay significantly, including S. Burlington, where drivers make $33 to $42 an hour.VT lawmaker who repeatedly poured water on colleague's tote bag has “committed to making amends." Though as Seven Days' Kevin McCallum notes, the legislative ethics panel that's been investigating GOP Rep. Mary Morrissey's still-unexplained actions, caught on camera earlier this year, is mum on what that might look like. In a joint statement yesterday, Morrissey and fellow Bennington Rep. Jim Carroll, a Democrat, said they'd been through a "restorative justice process"; the statement also said the ethics panel will monitor Morrissey's "compliance with her commitments to repair the harm.”Extreme gardening. It’s not all twee cottage gardens in the UK. Great Big Story visits some noteworthy growers of unusual plants, including the man who cares for the planet’s last known Encephalartos woodie tree; the Welsh gardener whose giant veg include a 45-inch zucchini; and Trevor Jones of Alnwick, who oversees the poisonous-plant garden started by the Duchess of Northumberland. Most of the plants grown there can kill you, though one—giant hogweed—will merely burn your skin and give you blisters for seven years. And monkshood? All of it lethal. Still, such a pretty shade of blue...
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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!
It's not the usual First Friday opening because next week the Kishka folks will be down in NYC. Jackson lives in Brooklyn, and her exhibit is "Ask a Question, Squeeze Out the Answer". Runs 5-8 pm.
The four men and four women who make up the group have been performing for years in a wide range of choruses and theater groups around the Upper Valley, and sing everything from jazz to pop to classical to spirituals. 6:30 pm by the concession stand.
The company's run of Sam Shepard's Pulitzer-winning play was supposed to run for three weekends last month, but the final week had to be cancelled for Covid. Now the cast is back, in the pink of health, and ready to go: Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 3 pm.
Yep, the name's a giveaway: It's led by Jim Weider, former member of The Band (he replaced Robbie Robertson as lead guitarist), and includes members of Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble Band, Jason Mraz's band, and others. 7:30 pm and astonishingly, there are still tix. These guys can rock.
Saturday
It'll bring together 47 Vermont artists and artisans on Chelsea's North Common, a range of bands—the Celtic sounds of Jacob and Tory Brillhart, singer/ songwriter Tommy Crawford, Jim Rooney. Plus plenty of food trucks and a variety of do-your-own art chances, from lessons by the Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild to the Arts Bus. Tomorrow, 10 am to 3 pm.
It also gets going at 10 am, with fairy houses to look at and make, wand-making, scavenger hunts, a mushroom walk, storytelling and skits, and lots more. 'Til 5 pm.
Gates open at noon and it runs until 4 pm with food, music, and, oh yes, beer: lots of beer. And cider. Three dozen or so vendors, from locals like River Roost and Upper Pass to brewers from Mass., Maine, and everywhere in between. Must be at least 21 to be let in.
Things start at 2 pm at the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site with Cape Cod "Saltwater Country" singer-songwriter Grace Morrison, continue with Jay Psaros and Sister Speak tomorrow, then Rick Redington & Tuff Luv, Todd Thibaud, and Burlington Malagasy singer-songwriter Mikahely.
It's the final show of the city-run hill's summer series tomorrow starting at 6 pm, with the Vermont-based rock/jam band. Concert's free, food and drinks from the lodge benefit Storrs Hill.
Sunday
Things get going at noon on Sunday and run until at least 10:30 pm, with too many bands to name them all, from Le Vent du Nord and Kalos to Cantrip and Le Winston Band. If you've been before, you'll probably be there. If you haven't, you'll understand why a lot of people religiously carve out the Sunday of Labor Day weekend each year.
. It's a chance to learn traditional dance music "at a gentle pace" led by fiddler Emerson Gale to help folks learn new music by ear at a relaxed pace. "This is a safe space to try things out/noodle with the melody and not worry about so-called wrong notes!" Family-friendly, whatever instruments you want to bring they'll fit in. Noon-2 pm.
Lakes Region Conservation Corps members will lead a hike along a variety of trails to talk through the history of the Squam Lakes, from the origins of its bedrock hundreds of millions of years ago to the relatively recent glaciations that formed the lakes. Starts at 1 but they ask you to get to the Squam Lakes Assn by 12:45.
The Hanover theater's running occasional special features this late-summer/fall, and
Sam Wood's 1941 comedy with Jean Arthur, Robert Cummings, and Charles Coburn is its next installment: A department store tycoon takes exception to his employees' unionizing, goes undercover, discovers their grievances are real, and finds love. All in 92 minutes. 1:45 pm Sunday and Monday.
The inn's closing out its hugely popular summer music series with the fiery, Grammy-winning Nashville-based blues-rock band led by sisters
Rebecca and Megan Lovell. They're touring a new EP and after this they start heading south again. You get to not just hear them, but hear them without charge Sunday starting at 7 pm. Food trucks start dishing out at 6 pm.
And to take us into the weekend...
Why, Larkin Poe!
, their answer to Screamin' Jay Hawkins'
I Put a Spell on You
. "I’d had the title
Bad Spell
in my journal for years," Rebecca Lovell said when the electric version of the song debuted a couple of years ago, "and it was so fun to create a song where the riffs and guitar tones have that singular purpose of nastiness and swagger.”
Have a fine long weekend out there! 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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