GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Sunny, a little cooler. Temps got down to around 50 in the river valley and into the 40s elsewhere, and they’ll climb to either side of 70 today under brilliant skies. With high pressure in place until later Saturday, we’re looking at clear nighttime skies, too, with overnight lows tonight dropping into the low or mid 40s.
Atmospherics. The skies just keep bringing gifts.
Here’s the view up the White River from the VA bridge yesterday morning, with the fog still hanging low, from Sharon Gouveia.
And a fleeting double rainbow in Lyme the other day, with Smarts just peeking above a ridge in the near-perfectly framed distance.
Getting around when the “dry bridge” closes. As Clare Shanahan writes in the Valley News, when the bridge between the 12A strip and old West Leb was closed for a month last year, everyone from commuters to emergency services hustled to adapt. Starting on Monday, it’ll be closed for a year. And though it may not be a scramble, it’s definitely going to take some adapting. She lays out the detours (including the congestion-prone Glen Road one), the changes to Advance Transit routes (stops by Romano Circle and Glen Road Plaza will close), and changes to school bus routes. One bright spot: repaving of West Leb Main Street was due to wrap up yesterday.
After 21 years, On the Edge farmstand closes in Pomfret. For two decades, Dana and Bill Pape sold their Angus beef, pork, Dana’s homemade pies and jams, and other farms’ goods at their “iconic wooden farmstand” on Route 12, writes Tom Ayres in the Standard. Bill Pape was also a regular at the Norwich and Woodstock farmers markets until a couple of years ago. Then, last weekend, Ayres reports, Dana “stepped out the door and into retirement at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, hanging up the ‘Closed’ sign for the final time — fittingly, on the eve of Labor Day.” The Papes will continue to raise beef cattle and pigs on their N. Bridgewater farm, but the stand and its land are for sale.
Class 3? Class 4? Strafford takes on review of 11 roads. The roads—or stretches of them—vary in length from .05 mile to .84 miles, reports Tim Calabro in The Herald. And the selectboard has set out to decide whether to reclassify them—most are currently Class 3, with one Class 4—or discontinue them. The distinction matters (towns have to keep Class 3 roads in good repair) and the process is painstaking, involving everything from title searches to site visits to formal hearings to board deliberations. Tim details the board’s discussions so far and the roads in question, and offers a little lesson in road classes on the Vermont side.
SPONSORED: Don’t Miss Cores & Pours on Sept. 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at Billings Farm. Sip your way through Vermont’s vibrant hard cider scene at this special after-hours event celebrating the artistry, tradition, and innovation of small-batch hard cider making. Guests can meet the makers and sample from Wild Branch Cider, Eden Ciders, Cold Hollow Hard Cider Co., and more. Apple tastings, cider pressing, and a first look at the Farm Fashion exhibition will round out the evening. Local fare from The Village Butcher will be available for purchase. Ages 21+. Tickets are $25/person, $20/member. Sponsored by Billings Farm & Museum.
The Haven dedicates new shelter and resource center. The nonprofit’s new 20-bed low-barrier facility, named for former US Sen. Patrick Leahy and his wife, Marcelle, got a preliminary start Wednesday with a ribbon-cutting at the two-story building at 608 N. Main Street in WRJ (the site of the former 25,000 Gifts). Its opening date hasn’t been set yet, the organization says in its press release. The upstairs is slated to serve as a shelter; the downstairs will offer resource rooms for health care programs, substance use counseling, and long-term housing assistance, Adam Sullivan reports for WCAX (burgundy link). The new shelter replaces the temporary shelter in Lebanon.
CHaD gets a $30 million gift—and a new name. The money—the largest single donation DH has ever received—comes from NY businessman and philanthropist Tom Golisano, reports WCAX. Golisano, who founded Paychex in the 1970s, also announced a $25 million gift to UVM’s children’s hospital last year, part of a $225 million initiative to help 21 children’s hospitals across the country. Dartmouth Health children’s will now be known officially as The Golisano Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Health. Which kinda makes you wonder: Does this mean next month’s run will be known as TGCHaDH Hero?
SPONSORED: Rock out with these ‘80s legends at Lebanon Opera House! Join LOH on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 PM for an explosive performance by The Smithereens, the iconic band revered for rock favorites including “A Girl Like You” and “Blood and Roses.” Relive the days when MTV and college radio ruled the world with The Smithereens’ melodic punch of a catalogue. At LOH, the band will be joined by guest vocalist Marshall Crenshaw, known for his hits “Someday, Someway” and “Whenever You’re on My Mind.” Sponsored by Lebanon Opera House.
You could go to the Metropolitan Museum or the Smithsonian to see Hunt Slonem’s work. Or you could just head to Main Street in Hanover. That’s because, as Dave Celone writes on his Upper Valley VT/NH Musings Substack, 28 of the painter and sculptor’s bunnies and butterflies—which can be found in some 250 museum collections worldwide—recently arrived in the newly opened Kyle Timothy Fine Art in Hanover. Celone was there as owner Kyle Blood unboxed and unwrapped the neo-Expressionist paintings for which Slonem is known. Celone includes photos of some of the work at KTFA for what he calls a “visual vacation.”
SPONSORED: Music classes for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and the grownups who love them. Come learn and play musically with Upper Valley Music Center in a Music Together class this fall! Classes are offered 7 days a week, with Mixed-Ages (birth-5 years), Babies (birth-8 months), and Rhythm Kids (4-7 years) options. In addition to 45 minutes of fun-filled family time in weekly classes, you’ll get digital access to the award-winning music used in class and an illustrated songbook. Space is filling fast so register now for classes starting next week! Visit uvmusic.org for schedule, details, and registration. Sponsored by Upper Valley Music Center.
Quick! What’s a Clemens’ false skeletonizer? If you guessed a moth that looks like “a miniature, black-robed, day-walking vampire…(it even has a little red collar),” let us know. Otherwise, you can see one in this week’s “This Week in the Woods,” for which Northern Woodlands’ Jack Saul includes a photo of one feeding on goldenrod. Also out there this second week of September: boxelder bugs, which may be seeking warmth in your home shortly; a monarch chrysalis, which sometime soon seems likely to produce a butterfly that will head off to Mexico; and coral tooth fungus.
Hiking Close to Home: Cardigan Mountain State Park. The park, says the Upper Valley Trails Alliance, provides access to the summit ridge from the west side of the mountain. Multiple loop options are available, allowing for many types of adventures, depending on your goals and fitness level. The trails on the west side are generally shorter and less steep than those on the east side. Around the summit, a number of trails connect and care should be taken to follow your intended trail. Mt. Cardigan's bald summit offers beautiful 360 degree views, though remember that it’s one of NH's go-to hikes and may be crowded, especially as leaves start changing.
Daybreak’s Upper Valley News Quiz. Were you paying attention this week? Because we’ve got questions! Like, which Hartford cemetery was it where that burned car with a body inside was found on Wednesday? And which popular Upper Valley summertime event won’t be held next year? You’ll find those and more at the link. Meanwhile, here’s NHPR’s New Hampshire quiz, while Seven Days’ Vermont quiz is here.
NH wants to build new service plazas and state liquor stores on I-95. And it’s a saga! The project, reports Boston.com’s Beth Treffeisen, aims to replace existing state liquor stores in Hampton (north- and southbound) with new service buildings and liquor stores. The non-liquor-store portions would be built and run by a private developer, and two groups bid: Common Man Roadside, which runs the Hooksett centers, and MA-based Global Partners. After a glitch in the state’s procurement process, Common Man fell out of the running, for reasons shrouded in mystery. Now it’s suing, a judge has said the process can go forward anyway, and locals are scratching their heads.
Federal judge sides with Brattleboro’s Planet Hank in suit challenging VT AG’s AI probe. Some months back, Hank Poitras, a video and political commentator, posted an obviously AI-generated video depicting, among other things, Republican Mark Coester using a backhoe to dump US Rep. Becca Balint in a dumpster. AG Charity Clark launched an investigation on grounds that it violated a March law aimed at deceptive election material using AI. However, as Tierney Flavin reports in VTDigger, there’s a carveout for satire, and Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III ruled that the video was so “ridiculous” as to qualify—and that Clark’s investigation would likely be found to violate Poitras’ First Amendment rights.
“It’s only a matter of time until a baby is born on the side of the road because someone couldn’t get there in time.” That’s Lesley Riffenberg, who lives in Morrisville, VT and—after Copley Hospital closed its nearby birthing center—decided to use Gifford’s in Randolph, an hour’s drive away. She went into labor in the middle of the night, and made it less than half an hour before her child was born—and minutes before the midwife arrived. In Seven Days, Hannah Bassett looks at the impact of birthing center closures, the long distances women are traveling for perinatal care and giving birth, and providers’ worries. Some are organizing: prepping emergency birth kits, training paramedics, and more.
One note: Last night, the board of Brattleboro Memorial Hospital announced that it has reversed course and will keep that hospital’s birthing center open. Back in July, the hospital had said it was planning to close its obstetric services at the end of the year. VT Public’s Lola Duffort reports.
Paintings so real you could step into them. “Let us take you on a journey to explore your own relationship with art…” That’s the UK’s National Gallery Imaginarium, which invites you into a gallery and walks you through the sights—and sounds—of the clickable painting of your choice. Enter Hans Holbein the Younger’s “The Ambassadors” (1533) and learn how a broken instrument string hints of the turmoil caused by Henry VIII’s departure from the Catholic Church. Or visit George Bellows’ “Men of the Docks” (1912) in New York harbor as they wait for work unloading ships, while modern buildings tower above them. It’s so easy to get lost in it all!
Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.
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HEADS UP
Well for starters, you could check out JAM’s highlights this week, including a recently discovered decades-old video about the launch of JAM’s predecessor, CATV6; a 2025 interview with Vital Communities’ former communications manager Rebecca Bailey on “the brass tacks of the Listservs, and how they act as a connective tissue for our towns”; and JAM’s Noah Mauchly recent talk with artist Tim Disney (grand nephew of Walt Disney) at the Norwich Bookstore on his satirical graphic novel THE A.R.C.
And, of course, if you’re interested in goings-on around the Upper Valley this weekend, you’ll want to check out the Weekend Heads Up.
And for today...
We’re going to go Celtic, because that’s what two area venues are doing. Tonight, the Irish-bluegrass fusion band JigJam plays Court Street Arts in Haverhill. Here’s their tribute to the Offaly hurling team and its victory in a key 2024 match.
And here’s Cantrip, playing Roots & Wings at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Upper Valley in Norwich tomorrow night.
See you Monday for CoffeeBreak.
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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editors: Jonea Gurwitt, Sam Gurwitt
