Daybreak Friday, 9/12/25

Well, at least it’s good for getting the wood in. Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Fog to start, then sunny, highs in the mid 70s. It’ll be pretty much the same only a bit cloudier tomorrow, but hey!… there’s a chance of showers on Sunday, though they’ll likely be spotty if they happen at all. Lows tonight in the mid 40s.

Southern part of Grafton County now in “extreme drought.” Lucky us: It’s the only part of the country east of Texas to hit that status. After this, there’s only “Exceptional Drought” to go. The communities in Drought.gov’s red zone basically run from eastern Plainfield and Lebanon (though not W. Leb) up to Warren and Wentworth and over to Campton. Meanwhile, severe drought has spread in Vermont to take in all of Orange and Windsor counties (plus the rest of central VT and much of the NEK). Here are this week’s Drought.gov pages:

Moose. Though not around here—it’s a magnificent one in Alaska caught on video by Erin Donahue recently. Ted Levin writes, “Moose in Alaska are larger (1,600 pounds) and healthier than those in either Vermont or New Hampshire (rarely over 1,000 pounds). In Alaska, the amount of calcium available in willow shoots enables antlers to spread six feet across and weigh fifty pounds. Since the 1990s, the moose population in New Hampshire has declined from 7,000 to 3,000, and in Vermont, from 5,000 to 2,100. The culprit: climate change. Two parasites, brain worms (brought by abundant and resistant deer) and winter ticks, are both favored by warmer winters.”

Did you catch Dear Daybreak yesterday? If not, you missed Rebecca Meyers’ story about a bid to counter garden-chomping deer that went outlandishly—and endearingly—awry; a new Danny Dover poem on what awaits us; and Jon Kaplan on the simple, satisfying beauty of a solid set of stairs after years of coping with ones that weren’t. Got a good story or anecdote about life in these parts? Dear Daybreak can use them! Here's where to send them in.

In Woodstock, new Ranch Camp outpost brings food, drink, and bikes. The idea originally took root in Stowe, where Woodstock’s Nate Freund and his partners first opened a restaurant/tap room/full-service “bike sample room.” On Monday, they opened a sister version in a former bank, with a full bar, 75 seats for food and drink, and a full-service bike shop, writes Emma Stanton in the VT Standard. The bike shop, Freund says, is aimed at letting customers try out a range of mountain and gravel bikes before committing. “Our goal for this space is to allow people to stop in, try a bike, take it out on the trails, and then come back for a beer and a warm meal,” he says.

An Englishman smitten with VT’s covered bridges—with a YouTube channel to prove it. As Tim Calabro tells the story in The Herald, a year ago Phil Gatenby hadn’t even seen a covered bridge. Now, after stumbling on them in the towns around Brattleboro, he’s on a quest: to film all 100 of the state’s remaining traditional covered bridges. He’s been to half of them, just went up with his 37th video—recent ones include bridges in Tunbridge, Chelsea, and Randolph—and has become a fount of knowledge on their variety, character, history, and even film history (The Trouble with Harry, Beetlejuice, and more). But sorry, Quechee: too much concrete and steel.

SPONSORED: Cores & Pours: A Farm to Cider Event at Billings Farm, Sept. 19. Sip your way through Vermont’s vibrant hard cider scene at this special after-hours event with tastings from top producers including Wild Branch Cider, Flag Hill Farm, and Champlain Orchards. Meet the makers, explore the craft behind each pour, and enjoy a pommelier-led sensory tasting, cider pressing, and peek at the Pecks, Pies & Spies exhibition. Local fare from The Village Butcher available for purchase. $25/person, $20/member. Ages 21+. Sponsored by Billings Farm & Museum.

Phil Scott rebuffs Woodstock-area school district on legislative session. The Mountain Views Supervisory Union board had asked for an emergency session to pass legislation to change how construction debt is accounted for under state law. Right now, it’s part of a district’s education spending, which inflates its per-pupil spending, which in turn makes it easier for a district to trigger excess-spending penalties. "For every dollar that you go over that threshold, you pay $2," MVSU board chair Keri Bristow tells WPTZ. "So a $5 million bond becomes, in essence, a $10 million bond." But yesterday, VT’s governor said January is “soon enough” to deal with the problem.

Black bears are bulking up for winter. So writes Northern Woodlands’ Jack Saul in “This Week in the Woods”—but one good source of protein and fat, beechnuts, are in shorter supply as beeches struggle against disease. That might mean fewer cubs come spring, given the link between beechnuts and the reproductive success of bears. Meanwhile, snapping turtle hatchlings are gunning for the nearest water source, alone and by instinct, threatened by predators and car tires along the way. And in contrast to autumn’s colors creeping into the woods, Kaln’s lobelia flowers are now blooming a pretty purple or pale blue.

SPONSORED: REDCAN Restaurant can make any event special! We offer private events, large and small holiday parties, retirement parties, cocktail hour, and much, much more! Inquiries are coming in fast for the coming months so please make your plans today. We look forward to making your event a special one! Email us at: [email protected]. Sponsored by REDCAN in White River Junction.

In NH, research aimed at cutting down on vehicle-animal collisions. Each year, writes David Brooks on his Granite Geek blog, about 1,000 people in the state hit a deer and 60 hit a moose. Bridges over highways can help, “but they cost millions, so that’s not going to happen here,” he writes. Instead Plymouth State Prof. Amy Villamagna has identified where the most animal-vehicle collisions occur (the I-89/I-93 interchange is one of them), and now, UNH Prof. Rem Moll has found that those spots are at wildlife corridor bottlenecks caused by a fragmented landscape. Culverts turn out not to work, but high fencing might, to shift animals to less dangerous locations.

In VT, more homes on the market, more home sales… and still prices rise. In 2024, reports Carly Berlin for VT Public and VTDigger, the statewide median sale price for a primary home was about $353K; it had risen to $370K by June this year—though that masks medians of $200K in Essex County vs. $500K in Chittenden County. Those price hikes come despite the fact that market has loosened, with buyers having more options—though it’s “still a seller’s market, and inventory remains well below pre-pandemic levels,” Berlin writes. The problem: The state’s inventory of homes is still far from the point where it can meet demand.

A remarkable autumn of performances. Seven Days’ culture writers went all out pulling together shows you’ll want to know about this fall: comedy (Margaret Cho, Hari Kondabolu and others in Burlington); opera (A Bayou Legend at the Chandler, Hadestown in Burlington); tributes (the Red Hot Chilli Pipers in Rutland); dance (Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane at the Hop, Michael Bodel’s The Institute for Folding in Middlebury and WRJ); trad (Puuluup at the Chandler, Sierra Hull and John Craigie at the Lebanon Opera House); rock (Jeff Tweedy at Higher Ground, the Wood Brothers at LOH); Kishi Bashi at the Hop, Patti Griffin & Ricki Lee Jones at LOH… whew, and so much more.

Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Here’s why. Just as the cart is finally getting to you … whomp! Captain Stuart Walker, who’s been flying for 30 years, explains in a WSJ YouTube video (it’s a little old, but new to 1440) the four types of turbulence: clear air, thermal, mechanical, and wake. Pilots gather information from the ground and reports from other flights to try to fly around or above, but wind shears, rising warm air, disruptions at ground level—trees, buildings, hills, or the Rockies—and swirls from the plane landing in front of yours can all turn a smooth flight into a roller coaster.

Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.

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HEADS UP

Pentangle Arts throws an Opening Night Soirée and screening of Downtown Abbey: The Grand Finale. “Step back in time and join us for an elegant evening as we bid farewell to the beloved world of Downton Abbey,” they write. “Celebrate the premiere of the final story in true period style…” Cocktails begin at 6:30 pm in Woodstock Town Hall Theatre lobby.

The Anonymous Coffeehouse is back with a new season. Things kick off at 7:30 pm with Northeast Kingdom songwriter, storyteller, guitarist, and fiddler Dana Robinson; he’s followed at 8 by the bluegrass-inspired, Boston-based Halley Neal Trio; and at 9 by our own locally based Americana/folk singer and guitarist Rob Oxford, leading a set of folk classics. As always, a table groaning with baked goods in back. First Congregational Church of Lebanon.

Kevin Burke house concert. The legendary Irish fiddler (he was in The Bothy Band for three years until it broke up in 1979, recorded with the renowned guitar player Mícheál Ó Domhnaill and formed Patrick Street with Jackie Daly and Andy Irvine, putting out nine albums with them) will be at 1060 Bent Hill Rd. in Braintree, starting at 7 pm. It’ll be $25 at the door, and if you’re interested email [email protected] for information. No link.

House of Hamill in Haverhill. Court Street Arts hosts the tightly knit and entertaining Celtic trio of Rose Baldino (Burning Bridget Cleary), Brian Buchanan (frontman for Enter the Haggis), and Caroline Browning. 7:30 pm at Alumni Hall. And if you happen to miss them tonight, they’ll be at the Lake Morey Resort tomorrow night at 8 pm.

Saturday
Two days of What Doth Rumble at the Main Street Museum in WRJ. It’s a Saturday and Sunday of 34 musical acts on three stages, ranging from the mainstays of Windsor’s What Doth Life collective like Chodus and Time Life Magazines to Ali T to the Western Terrestrials to Derek and the Demons. Plus vendors. Things get going at 1 pm both days. Here’s Alex Hanson’s writeup in the VN.

Tenth annual Old Time Fair at the Woodstock History Center. A magic show, food, games, crafts, face painting, and “an incredible token-exchange prize table.” As always, admission, games, and food are just a quarter each. Starts at 1 pm tomorrow.

The Hood Museum throws a 40th anniversary block party. Multi-talented chalk artist Katie Runde will be there creating a community chalk garden outside, plus a Make Space, a collaborative mosaic project indoors, music from the Dartmouth Rockapellas, kettle corn, and free merch. Runs 1-4 pm tomorrow.

CUBO on the VT State House lawn. Sure, it’s a drive. But a) it’s free (thanks to Burlington’s Flynn Theater); and b) Italy’s eVenti Verticali creates “a breathtaking aerial stage on the grounds of Vermont’s State House Lawn, where dancers, acrobatics, theater, and illusion collide in a midair spectacle you’ll never forget.” How could you not? Here’s a taste. 1 pm and 6 pm both tomorrow and Sunday.

Liniers and Angelica del Campo at the Norwich Bookstore. The award-winning Argentinian cartoonist (Ricardo Liniers Siri when not on the cover) has a new book out with del Campo, The Ghost of Wreckers Cove, in which they “recreate the world of 19th century lighthouse keepers in a delightful supernatural tale about ghosts and shipwrecks, inspired by the real-life story of a heroic young woman who tended an isolated Maine lighthouse many years ago.” They’ll be talking about it, and signing books, starting at 2 pm tomorrow.

Waltzing and contra dance at Tracy Hall in Norwich. Norwich Community Dances is back with a chance to warm up with 45 minutes of waltzing from 6:30 to 7:15 on Saturday, then a beginner/refresher contra session at 7:15, and the contra dance itself at 7:30. MA-based caller Annie Kidwell will be at the mic, with accordionist Alex Cumming and fiddler Audrey Jaber keeping keeping things up-tempo. And on Sunday, local traditional dance legend David Millstone will lead an English Country Dance from 1 to 4 pm, also in Tracy Hall (scroll down at the link for more info).

Oleanna at Parish Players. David Mamet’s tough-minded two-person play stars David Roth as a college professor and Sarah Mercer as his tables-turning student, “locked in a tragic struggle to communicate about the very fundamentals of education and life,” as Parish Players puts it. At the Grange Theater on Thetford Hill, two performances only: tomorrow at 7 pm, Sunday at 2 pm.

Sunday
Ninja Wizard plays Sunday Bluegrass Brunch at River Roost Brewery in WRJ. Jakob Breitbach, Steven Hennig, and Kit Creeger with the music, Bōca Sōca (formerly Boloco) with the breakfast burritos. 11 am.

Peabody Coal Train at the John Hay Estate at The Fells. The Contoocook River Valley six-piece Americana band will be at the Newbury, NH estate from 5-7 pm.

And for today...

House of Hamill (this evening at Court Street Arts, tomorrow at the Lake Morey Resort), with “Ausable”.

See you Monday for CoffeeBreak.

Written and published by Rob Gurwitt      Poetry editor: Michael Lipson    Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt   About Rob                                                 About Michael

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