GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Sunny to start, cooler. There may be fog, of course. But with high pressure aloft, we'll get sun—though there's a little trough of low pressure dropping by from Quebec that will cloud things up as the afternoon wears on. Highs in the upper 60s, lows mid 50s tonight. The weekend, by the way, will bring whatever impact we get from Hurricane Lee, which will pass through the Gulf of Maine tomorrow headed for landfall in Nova Scotia. There'll be winds as far west as VT, possibly rain, and everything will be more intense as you near the coast, where there could be tropical storm conditions.Things you don't see every day.
Well, like, this moose that checked out Erin McCabe's drive in Canaan. "She ate some apples, wandered toward the road, then came back down the driveway and wondered what all the barking was about," Erin writes.
And this Chlorociboria aeruginascens, also known as green elfcup, a particularly striking fungus that's populated this log along the Greensboro Ridge trail in Etna, noticed by Catherine LaTouche. "These are the fruiting bodies," Ted Levin writes; "the fungus is most often seen as a turquoise stain on rotten wood."
Naked woman in apparent mental health crisis steals car, shuts down I-91/I-89 interchange. Yesterday morning's chaotic scene began as the woman lay atop a car at Bob's Service Center near Ballardvale Drive in WRJ, then danced across the parking lot to Jasmin Auto Body, where she walked into the garage, stole a car, nearly took out a technician, crashed into three cars in the lot, careened onto I-91 south, hit a cement mixer, rolled the car—then walked to the edge of the overpass over I-89 and jumped. Hartford police caught up to her there; she was taken to DHMC. In his Daybreak story, Eric Francis talks to witnesses and treks to the shut-down highway for photos.Dartmouth men's basketball team seeks to unionize. In a petition filed yesterday with the National Labor Relations Board, 15 players on the team say they want to join Local 560 of the Service Employees International Union. This is the most recent effort by college athletes to unionize, writes Lorenzo Reyes in USA Today, since a 2021 NLRB memo stating that student athletes "should be viewed as employees of the schools for which they play." The college says it is "carefully considering this petition." The petition, which is here, specifically excludes managers and supervisors.Ivy League football teams will wear helmet decals to honor Dartmouth coach this fall. They'll read simply BT, the initials of injured head coach Buddy Teevens, reports Rick Bender for Dartmouth Sports, and all eight schools are participating. Public address announcers will also read an explanation at all conference games. Teevens is known college-football-wide, in part for his decision a dozen years ago to eliminate live tackling in practices and for other efforts to make the sport safer for players.SPONSORED: Fight climate change and the cost of commuting! Invest in an off-grid Solar EV Charger. Thanks to new grants for rural and underserved communities that can cover well over half of installation costs, municipalities, schools, and workplaces have a chance to provide a million miles of solar-powered EV driving over the next 25 years. Hit the maroon link to learn more about these funding opportunities—and shrink your own household energy budget and workplace carbon footprint. Sponsored by Solaflect Energy.How to keep pedestrians in mind. Earlier this week, members of Walk-Bike Randolph took a stroll through the village to conduct an audit of its sidewalks, and Herald publisher Tim Calabro tagged along. It was a lesson in close observation. They found a stretch of road by the town's senior center with no pavement, sidewalks that were narrow, uneven, grassed-in, or had shifted and thrust up sharp edges, and areas that were treeless (trees tend to cause drivers to slow down). Though there were bright spots, too, Calabro notes, older residents in particular are frustrated by speeding and treacherous footing.School district asks federal judge to reject injunction request by fired Woodstock snowboarding coach, dismiss part of his lawsuit. The legal maneuvering involves the suit brought by David Bloch after he was dismissed this past winter for joining a conversation with two students about a transgender student who was competing for another school. In the filing, reports Mike Donoghue in the VT Standard, the district did not respond to Bloch's claims, saying only that it “disagree[s] with Plaintiffs’” recounting of the events leading up to his dismissal. The judge has set a Sept. 25 hearing date.Speaking of the VT Standard, its new calendar/specials app is live. Do802 premiered yesterday, part of a bid by the Woodstock weekly to boost revenues as traditional print advertising declines. In addition to its events calendar, the app's got what the Standard describes as "a rolling log of special offers and announcements posted by local businesses and organizations." It features last-minute offers, as well as reminders and announcements. Here's the app.Fairlee gets a new town administrator—from next door. Ryan Lockwood, chair of the Bradford Selectboard, started work on Monday, reports Patrick Adrian in the Valley News. He'll replace Tad Nunez, who retired last month. An IT professional, Lockwood has been on the Bradford board since 2019, and tells Adrian, "“ou can make a lot of things happen at the local level of government, much faster than at (the state or federal levels). It’s all about your community and what your community wants.” One key project, he says, will be adding crosswalks and sidewalks along Main Street.And an update on Fairlee Main Street. Or, at least, part of it. On his Brick + Mortar Substack, small-town developer Jonah Richard catches readers up on a remarkably busy summer, including 501 Main, the apartment project he spearheaded, which now has tenants; the gas station at the corner of the road over to Orford, which is being renovated on its way to becoming retail space; the purchase of four apartment buildings—"They’re not pretty, but that’s kind of the point," he writes; and a project on N. Pleasant to create six units of affordable housing. Oh, and he's started a construction company.Hiking Close to Home: Big Deer Mountain and Osmore Pond. This week, the UVTA recommends this four-mile family-friendly loop in Groton State Forest. Start the loop by hiking up through the Discovery Campground on the park road to the Big Deer Mountain Trail. From the trailhead, it is about 1.25 miles to a left-hand turn to the summit, with great views. To make a loop, turn left at the first intersection below the summit. Travel about a mile and take a right on Osmore Pond Trail back to the campground. For off-season access, you can use the Northern Parking Area on VT 232 in Groton, VT.Okay, so how much do you know about what's been going on in the Upper Valley? Because Daybreak's News Quiz has some questions for you. Like... oh, which Upper Valley community is the unofficial fish 'n' chips capital of New Hampshire? And where's Fairlee's Gladstone Creamery moving? 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 the Burton Corporation issued to a couple dozen residents this summer?
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, whose migration are NH researchers helping monitor this year?
NH Preservation Trust seeks public input on reusing former religious buildings as housing. Its survey, which runs through Monday, is designed to help the organization find churches, parish halls, and other religious buildings that may be sitting unused or that congregations are struggling to maintain—as well as to build a database of them. It will "help us to assess the potential for new housing with churches and religious buildings,” the Trust's Althea Barton tells Manchester Ink Link. “There are literally hundreds in New Hampshire.” Atop a 12-story building in Manchester, NH, peregrines thrive. For the last 23 years, writes Hadley Barndollar in NH Bulletin, the Brady Sullivan Tower downtown has been a successful peregrine falcon nesting site, with 74 chicks born there since 2001. It's part of a "long, concerted conservation effort to bring the predatory raptor back to the Granite State" after DDT nearly wiped them out, she writes. This year it produced four chicks—as did Holts Ledge in Lyme and Polar Caves in Rumney. Live video feed here.PragerU wins approval to offer online classes in NH. The conservative media organization had sought state approval for a series of 15 five-minute videos aimed at high school students on basic financial literacy, and yesterday, reports NHPR's Sarah Gibson, the state board of ed approved the application. The application had sparked controversy, since much of the organization's content espouses a conservative worldview. The videos approved for NH, Gibson writes, "lack the explicit political bias often associated with PragerU."Landmark VT Supreme Court ruling on sexual abuse cases involved Barnet Buddhist monastery. The June ruling, writes Alan J. Keays in VTDigger, upheld a 2019 state law eliminating a statute of limitations for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to bring civil cases against their alleged abusers. At the time, the parties were identified only by initials. Now, unsealed documents show that the case involves a lawsuit brought by a man now living in Canada against Shambhala USA and one of its employees at Karme Choling Shambhala Meditation Center in Barnet. Keays delves into the case.Okay, so just how do you make a 700-pound whoopie pie? You remember yesterday's item about the rather large dessert being created for Rutland's festival this weekend, right? VT Public's Nina Keck took on the enviable task of finding out what's going into creating it. So she talked to Dream Maker Bakers' owner. For starters, there's about 100 pounds of flour, 72 pounds of butter, 180 eggs, and 72 pounds of marshmallow fluff. Oh, and let's not forget the 180 pounds of powdered sugar in the filling. Then there's the challenge of finding a pan and an oven big enough, not to mention baking it evenly. Keck explains.“I remember always thinking, Is that guy high, or am I just nervous because we’re driving along the edge of a cliff?" Amanda Seyfried's sweet memory is one of many shared by cast and crew about the filming of Mamma Mia, the Movie, some 15 years ago. If you’re a fan of the film, or the actors, or Greece, or drinking, or “spending an afternoon on that little dingy with Colin in my red bathing suit” (Christine Baranski), then put aside time to read Keaton Bell’s oral history in Vogue. Don’t skip the wasps. “The next time you’re watching 'Does Your Mother Know,' just know that crew members are being stung right out of frame.”You can have your oil spills. I'll take a wine spill any day. Though 581,000 gallons does seem like a lot. It burst from two tanks at a distillery in Portugal and coursed through the streets of São Lourenço do Bairro this week, which someone caught on video. No one was hurt, but one cellar was reported flooded. The distillery, which had been planning to turn the wine into plain alcohol, has apologized.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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At 4 pm today, the Hop kicks off its live-performance fall season with choreographer Richard Move's Herstory of the Universe@Dartmouth. The first version of Move's site-specific, ecosystem-attentive work took place on Governor's Island in NYC. This time, Move and the dancers of MoveOpolis are focused on the area near the Dartmouth Outing Club house, including the golf course and Occom Pond—where, Move says, the dance that takes place there was inspired by the return of ospreys to the region. Performances tomorrow and Sunday at 2 pm, as well, and each will end with a discussion by a Dartmouth prof on the themes in the work. The Hop includes this note: "This event requires moderate to strenuous traveling across uneven ground, up hills and without access to seating for over 90 minutes."
At 6:30, pianist and UVM music prof David Feurzeig continues to fill in his map of the Upper Valley (and Vermont) with an appearance at the Universalist Society Church in Barnard. He's been performing his free "Play Every Town" series of concerts for the past two years, traveling to towns across the state—his goal is to hit all 252—to perform and to talk about climate change. Though he usually collaborates in each town with a musician, his partner this evening is ceramicist and writer Pamela Fraser. Here's RJ Crowley's article about the project in yesterday's VT Standard.
Also at 6:30, up the highway a bit, The British Invasion kicks off its weekend in Stowe with a block party—and then two full days with hundreds of vintage (and otherwise) British motorcars lined up for visitors to ogle. Judging in dozens of classes, a British attire competition, a ladies' hat competition, a tailgate picnic competition, a drive through Smugglers Notch... This year's featured makers are Jaguar, Land Rover, and Morgan, but heck, maybe they'll let an occasional Rolls play, too. At the Stowe Special Events Field. (Thanks, DR!)
This evening at 7, the Thetford Arthouse Cinema is back in the Martha Rich Theater at Thetford Academy, screening Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1955 film, Les Diaboliques. Featuring Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, and Paul Meurisse, it's "a cool, clammy, twisty thriller [that] is an almost perfect movie about a very nearly perfect murder," one reviewer wrote.
Also launching its fall season, the Anonymous Coffeehouse is back at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon this evening, starting at 7:30. Ridiculous amounts of good baked goods in the back, and, as always, three bands: bluegrass harmonizers Dan & the Dinosaurs at 7:30; Cosy Sheridan, folk singer-songwriter, guitarist, and director of Moab Folk Camp in Moab, UT, at 8:15; and at 9, the VTones, an Upper Valley a capella octet of four women and four men who sing everything from jazz, to folk to classical to spirituals.
At 7:30 this evening, Court Street Arts in Haverhill brings in 2 Late Smart & Friends. 2 Late Smart pairs guitarists and singers Byron Berwick and Don Sinclair, "a little south of folk, a little north of the blues." They'll be joined by Bruce Brough, former members of the Wall Stiles, and Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler a.k.a. The Rough and Tumble. At Alumni Hall, with desserts and drinks available. It's a benefit for Court Street Arts itself.
And if you're looking for some ABBA in your life and don't mind a drive, at 7:30 this evening the Flying Monkey in Plymouth brings in Direct From Sweden: The Music of ABBA. "With meticulous attention to costumes, make-up, musical arrangements, movements and the singing, nothing is left to chance," runs their promo. "Adding a few of Abba’s live traits such as great solos, musical numbers and a complete live band with back-up singers, ensures an extra dimension unheard of in most similar productions."
Saturday
Starting at 10 am tomorrow, the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park in Woodstock throws a Forest Festival, with horse-drawn wagon rides, guided nature walks, and demonstrations of horse-logging, woodcraft, and Abenaki traditions and art. Live music from The Slow Cookers.
Tomorrow from 11 am to 3 pm, the Upper Valley Business Alliance and Lebanon Rec are throwing a LebFest community celebration with 70 booths planned of activities, games, crafts, raffles, local vendors, music, food vendors and a mac & cheese competition featuring local restaurants (including Pine and Salt Hill) and at least one organization (Visions for Creative Housing Solutions). Schedule, food vendors, and the pile of organizations and businesses from all over the Upper Valley who'll be there at the link. In Colburn Park.
Sunday
On Sunday at 2 pm, Woodstock's North Chapel debuts a once-a-month fall classical music series in its sanctuary with a concert by pianist Victor Rosenbaum, who for a decade chaired the piano department at the New England Conservatory in Boston, commemorating the 195th anniversary of Franz Schubert's death. On the program: Schubert's Six Moments Musicaux and his Sonata in A Major.
At 3 pm on Sunday on the North Common in Haverhill, Court Street Arts hosts a concert by Turnip Truck, the Central VT (think Corinth) band that plays bluegrass, swing, gypsy jazz and old folk and country music: David Richard on guitar, "Rudi" Ruddell on guitar and harmonica, fiddler Andy Mueller, mandolinist Peter O'Connor, and Brian Carroll on bass. In Alumni Hall if it rains.
And from 3 to 8 pm on Sunday, outside in back of the Main Street Museum in WRJ, the Western Terrestrials throw a Rumble at the River to celebrate the release of their new album, Working on the Case. The party features not only their own work, but five other bands with which they've collaborated: Só Sol, Bow Thayer, Saints & Liars, The Y Lie & Megan Jean's Secret Family. As Alex Hanson wrote yesterday in the VN, the album is a homecoming after two records done in Nashville—this one was recorded in Bow Thayer's home studio in Stockbridge and uses a variety of VT musicians (including Thayer and Colin McCaffrey). Hanson gives the background to it all here.
And to push us toward the weekend...
When the Québecois trio Genticorum takes the stage, you cannot sit still. In fact, it's pretty tough to remain seated.
all rolled into one exuberant four-minute medley. You can see why one reviewer writes, "After more than two decades together, the three members of Genticorum form one of the tightest units on the planet." Even though, somehow,
they
remain seated.
Batten down the hatches! 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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