GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Cloudy, cooler, slight chance of showers this afternoon. This is all thanks to low pressure and a cold front moving along the coast, plus air moving in from the northeast. The result: More clouds than sun today, highs in the mid 70s, and maybe some showers later this afternoon. Lows tonight in the mid 50s.How much wood could a woodchuck chuck? "Very little. They dig," Ted Levin writes about Erin Donahue's latest video. "Burrows run six feet deep and up to fourteen feet long, have a separate toilet and den, and, when abandoned, become home to fox, coyote, skunk, weasel, otter, and cottontail. The woodchuck is a ground squirrel, one of fourteen species of marmot. Not everyone likes woodchucks. The 1883 NH Legislative Woodchuck Committee claimed: The woodchuck, despite its deformities both of mind and body ... is not only a nuisance, but also a bore. Only if February 2 is cloudy."Did you like "Dear Daybreak" yesterday? It's a collection of short items from readers around the Upper Valley, and it would be fantastic to make it a regular thing. But that's going to depend on you. If you've got an anecdote or a haiku or an offbeat little reflection about living in these parts, hit the burgundy link and send it in! And if you didn't see the second edition of it yesterday, here it is!Randolph's One Main Tap & Grill due to close next month if no buyer found. Shane Niles and Josh Niebling have spent a decade overseeing the popular spot at the heart of town—except for a 15-month interlude when Kuya's inhabited it—but now, reports Darren Marcy in the Herald, they're ready to move on. They've got families and other businesses to worry about and, says Niles, "It’s time for someone else to carry the torch and keep the business going." It's listed for $175K, but so far there's been no serious interest. Which means it could be shutters down and lights out in about three weeks.Woodstock selectboard nixes most of request for foliage-season food funding. The village board and the town's economic development commission had asked for $7,000 to help boost Woodstock's amenities for visitors by adding picnic tables, bringing in port-a-johns, underwriting any contingencies from adding vendors to the green, and paying for trash pickup. But on Tuesday, reports Tom Ayers in the Standard, the selectboard okayed just $2,000 of the request—for the picnic tables. Members also backed an EDC grant for a brochure to help visitors find food and bathrooms.Hartford zoning, planning boards approve turning former Brookside nursing home into housing. The proposed project by developer Mike Davidson's Ledgeworks would create 22 studios and 16 one-bedroom units at the long-closed facility on Christian Street, 40 percent of which are slated to be affordable to tenants with 80 percent or less of the county median income. As Patrick Adrian reports in the Valley News, neighbors, "though pleased to see Brookside’s restoration," have raised concerns about the project's density and traffic. The nearest Advance Transit stop is a mile away.SPONSORED: It’s more than a donation. It’s the foundation for a healthy life. This fall, the LISTEN Food Pantry and Dining Hall must purchase historic levels of food to restock our shelves. The good news is there’s still time to ensure that no one in the Upper Valley goes hungry. Your gift will make a direct difference in the lives of our neighbors facing food insecurity. Please don’t wait! Our community is counting on us TODAY. Sponsored by LISTEN.In Fairlee, mural in I-91 underpass gets its finishing touches. It's the first of two, writes Alex Nuti-de Biasi in the Journal Opinion's newsletter, designed to "brighten the otherwise gloomy grotto that connects Fairlee village with Lake Morey and beyond." Alex includes a photo of the first one, designed by Middlebury's Matt Heywood, as it stood yesterday morning.A look ahead as LOH, the Hop, and WRJ theaters launch their seasons. In the VN, Alex Hanson checks in on the months ahead for the region's big performing arts venues. LOH, he writes, "is asserting its place in the performing arts community with a big slate of big artists," including Neko Case and Blues Traveler (already sold out) next week. The Hop, meanwhile, has one more year of being spread out around Hanover, but still will be offering "a few of the expected glittering evenings." Shaker Bridge returns to the Briggs with a season of plays by women, while Northern Stage opens in two weeks.SPONSORED: Celebrate Lebanon Opera House’s 100th birthday on Saturday, October 5. This FREE, family-friendly party in Colburn Park features live performances from Mr. Aaron (“The Pied Piper of preschoolers” – NH Chronicle) and bluegrass mandolin phenom Jacob Jolliff, who has toured with Béla Fleck, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Joy Kills Sorrow. The fun begins at 11 am and includes lawn games, activities for kids, and birthday cake! Sponsored by Lebanon Opera House. New England gets its first pollen-counting station—on top of DHMC's power plant. If you've got seasonal allergies, you already know this is a bad week. And right on time, the hospital and the National Allergy Bureau have teamed up to put New England's only pollen-measuring apparatus on the power plant roof, reports NBC5's Molly Ormsbee. The samples it collects will be reported to the bureau "and contribute to the national tracking of environmental allergen levels." And help local docs keep track as pollen seasons change with the climate. You can subscribe for reports here (once the station's added).USPS will keep some local mail processing in Burlington; WRJ facility still in the dark. As you know, the Postal Service had planned to move local mail sorting from both Burlington and WRJ to Hartford, CT. But on Wednesday, reports VTDigger's Catherine Hurley, the organization announced it will keep single-piece local mail handling in Burlington. The announcement comes after the USPS paused consolidation plans in the face of opposition from rural-state senators, including all four from VT and NH. A spokesman tells Hurley he has no "additional information about the status" of the WRJ facility.Hiking Close to Home: Deer Leap, Killington, VT. The trails of Deer Leap Mountain provide excellent views of fall foliage within an hour of most of the Upper Valley, the UVTA says. The Appalachian Trail runs east to west over the mountain, with junctions to other trails. Meanwhile, the Deer Leap Trail leads to a ledge overlooking the north side of Sherburne Pass, offering views of nearby Killington and Pico peaks, with long-range views all the way to the Adirondacks. The trailhead can be accessed from Sherburne Pass, with a large parking area close to amenities.A rescue of a different sort from Franconia Ridge. On Monday, NH Paw Rescue reports on their FB page, a seven-year-old golden retriever named Crosby was with a group hiking the nine-mile ridge loop when he began to slow down. The group made it to the Greenleaf Hut, rested, then started down the Old Bridle Path, but after a mile Crosby wasn't able to go on. His owner "lacked lighting, enough gear to stay comfortable, and did not have canine evacuation supplies." As a rescue team started up, passing hikers helped carry Crosby lower, and they met up around 6:30 pm. Here's Crosby in the rescue litter.Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because Daybreak's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions for you. Like, who showed up at last weekend's memorial service for former Richmond School principal Susan Finer? And why are two big housing projects in New London on hold? Those and other vital questions at the link.But wait! How closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to knowif you know how much money more than 150 older Vermonters lost to cyber scams last year.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, what's Dartmouth plan to spend $500 million on building?
NH was supposed to put together a database tracking problem police officers; a state board has hamstrung it. The idea, report NH Bulletin and the Chicago-based Invisible Institute, was to make it possible to track officers who commit misconduct who move or try to move between police agencies in the state—most such instances are uncovered by the media or lawsuits. But as the state police standards board put together a new database, it decided not to import police officers' employment records from before 2021. Sam Stecklow reports on the long history of NH officers facing misconduct charges—including Claremont's Jon Stone—and how they've been able to move from job to job.New report finds VT's health care system is "in jeopardy." The 142-page report by the consulting firm Oliver Wyman comes after thousands of interviews with patients, health care workers, administrators, and others over the past year, reports VT Public's Lexi Krupp. It ticks off a litany of challenges, including the state's rising housing costs and aging population, and among other things suggests restructuring Gifford Medical Center and Springfield Hospital, which are among the institutions with "the most untenable finances based on the population they serve." Lots more at the links.At the Tunbridge Fair, VT lieutenant governor candidates go toe-to-toe. In the gazebo outside Floral Hall, writes Tim Calabro in the Herald, incumbent Democrat David Zuckerman and GOP challenger (and former Democratic state Sen.) John Rodgers answered questions from WDEV's Kevin Ellis. They talked education spending and the entire school-finance structure, property taxes and taxes on unearned income, second homes, and their own backgrounds—both are farmers. Meanwhile, Gov. Phil Scott was a no-show, but Ellis did interview challenger Esther Charlestin. You can find the audio for it all here.Got room for 600 stuffed birds and animals? The folks at the Southern VT Natural History Museum have to be out of their space by the end of the month, and with them will go the huge taxidermy collection amassed in the early 1900s by a citizen naturalist from Winchester, NH that includes at least three birds that have since become extinct. “Those specimens are a time machine to the past," says UVM biologist Sara Helms Cahan. "We don’t actually have real time machines, but they are a representation of the life on this earth that we can’t go back and re-collect." VT Public's Howard Weiss-Tisman tells the story.“Pirates did this sort of thing, sure, but the point back then was for strangers not to find it.” Yesterday marked the start of Project Skydrop, a treasure hunt that leads to gold and—why not?—bitcoin somewhere in the New England woods. In Wired, Joseph Bien-Kahn speaks with Jason Rohrer, a renowned video-game developer in Dover, NH, who thinks that treasure hunts have traditionally been too easy or, like the one Forrest Fenn designed in 2010, way too hard. Rohrer’s hunt releases a map each day that will contract over three weeks from a 500-mile circle to an outline of the treasure, while daily drone shots zoom out. With that intel and $20, the treasure can be yours.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!
The papal intrigue thriller starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini is at 4 pm and 7 pm. Both screenings at the Loew are sold out, but it's always worth showing up or calling
603.646.2422 for last-minute tix.
The Ottawa-based songwriter is "too tough for folk and too blues-influenced for country," runs her publicity. Her "brand of porch music with a little red dirt can turn on a dime from a sunshine, blue sky ballad to a full-on thunderstorm of gritty Americana swamp." 7 pm tonight.
It's a bit of a drive, but if you've ever wondered what Wait Wait Don't Tell me regular Hari Kondabolu's standup act is like, tonight's your chance.
He'll be at the Barre Opera House at 8 pm.
The lower-case version isn't on the menu, but the upper-case version from New Paltz takes the stage tonight at 9. The "
genre-blending indietronica jam trio" of Jack Salzman, Brendan Bartow, and Sam Kirschner "combines its love of danceable electronic rhythms, soaring melodies, and energetic hooks into an improvisational channel that allows for deep exploration of the musical cosmos."
Saturday
Things get going at 9 am tomorrow with a cornhole tournament, lawn games, live auction, and plant sale. Music from 1-3 by Gr8ful Folk, plus cider doughnuts, wood-fired pizza, hot dogs and burgers, and the Tugg Hill Maple Sugar Shack with maple cotton candy, maple frappes, ice cream, and maple creemees.
. Falconry, live trebuchet demos, music from As the Crow Flies, tall tales from stiltwalkers Mhera Telsinger and Mistdam Kalisto (as The Longshanks), the history of taxidermy, and more. 10 am to 5 pm.
It runs from 11 am to 4 pm with horse-drawn wagon rides, cider making, butter churning, ice cream cranking, candle dipping, broom making, honey harvesting, culinary-herb preserving... Plus live music, food, and more.
The annual celebration with over 70 booths of activities, games, crafts, raffles, local vendors, music, food vendors, and a Mac & Cheese competition featuring local restaurants runs from 11-3 tomorrow.
Jazz improv from Joseph Daley, Ras Moshe, Taylor Ho Bynum, Daniel Lin, and Bill Cole, starting at 1 pm at the First Congregational Church on Thetford Hill.
Kiminius, an opera and symphony orchestra conductor, is embarking on a US tour with the Borowsky family highlighting his mastery of the birbyné, the Lithuanian folk clarinet. He and Borowsky will give an intimate concert of folk, classical, and contemporary music at the WRJ home of Andrew Bauman. Reservations required:
. 2 pm tomorrow.
Her father and mother were separated by the war, and her father eventually made it to Hanover, where for years he ran the Camera Shop of Hanover. Romero will also be showing her father's photos of scenes in Hanover during the war years. At Webster Cottage starting at 2:30 pm tomorrow.
It's a gathering of enthusiasts highlighting what microbes can do for food. Market tables, fermentation demos and discussions, guided farm tours, and a community starter swap—be sure to bring your own sourdough starters, kombucha scobys, vinegar mothers, water kefir grains, or whatever you've got that gets things going. They'll also be offering bulk sauerkraut in your own containers. 3-7 pm.
A crawfish boil and screening of
Join or Die
in Vershire. Sponsored by Vershare, the Vershire Historical Society, and the Vershire Rec Committee, it's a potluck dinner beginning at 5:30, along with a Louisiana-style crawfish boil prepped by Rivendell senior David Bradley. At 7 pm, a screening of
Join or Die
, the we're-all-in-this-together documentary based on Robert Putnam's
Bowling Alone.
At the Vershire Town Center ( 27 Vershire Center Road). No link.
The Main Street Museum is once again celebrating the
Three's Company
landlady (
). Snacks at the Museum starting at 6 pm tomorrow, followed by a parade (in costume) around town, winding up at Putnam's.
If you weren't able to make it to tomorrow afternoon's concert, the three musicians will be highlighting the folk and classical traditions of Eastern Europe with music for cello and piano, birbyné and piano, and the ensemble work "Jerusalem of Lithuania" by Fautstas Latenas for birbyné, violin (with Alicia Casey), cello, and piano. At the First Congregational Church of Lebanon at 7 pm tomorrow, first come, first served.
Sunday
Make your own cider, try out heirloom apples and artisan cheeses—and, most importantly, apple pie—plus music, period games, wagon rides, and more. Sunday from 1 to 4 pm.
Newmont, writes the West Claremont Center for the Arts, "is a local gem, a band group that performs on period instruments keeping the tradition and history of the 19th Century town band tradition alive." Outside at Union Episcopal Church, inside the church if it rains. Bring your own chair or blanket.
. The trio was founded by
violinist Letitia Quante, cellist Emily Taubl, and pianist Hiromi Fukuda, Vermonters all, during the pandemic. They'll be playing a program of music by
Debussy, Bonis, Kreisler, and Liebmann starting at 3 pm. No charge.
It's been a century since the composer's death in November, 1924, and Opera Vermont is bringing in a group of VT artists to perform arias and scenes from both his popular and his lesser-known operas. 3:30 pm Sunday.
The Chicago-based singer and songwriter—and co-founder of the harmony trio Brother Sun—mines his Irish and working-class roots for a wide-ranging array of songs that tell stories about everything from the Irish diaspora to the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. At the UU Congregation of the Upper Valley on Route 5 in Norwich, 4 pm on Sunday.
And for the weekend...
The Weeknd. The multiple Grammy winner who grew up outside Toronto, the son of Ethiopian immigrants, has gone back and forth on whether to use his stage name or his birth name—
Abel Tesfaye—but whatever name he uses, he's a worldwide force. Just shy of two weeks ago, in São Paulo, he unveiled a new song, "Dancing in the Flames". The acoustic version went up a few days ago and as one commenter writes, "
The rawness in his voice is simply beautiful. I think it fits the theme of this song more." You can judge for yourself: Here's São Paulo.
Have a very fine weekend, however you want to spell it. 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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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt About Rob About Michael
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