GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Just a heads up... Daybreak won't be publishing on Monday (Labor Day) or Tuesday (religious holiday). Cool but dry and pleasant. There's low pressure off to our east, and it's helping keep a mass of cool air above us. We'll spend a decent part of the day with more clouds than sun, keeping temps from getting much above the mid-60s, but as the afternoon wears on the clouds should mostly disperse. Winds today from the northwest, down into the mid-50s tonight.There's just something about a red sky that draws a camera lens... It was pretty classic on Wednesday evening, wasn't it?
Here's the sunset view from Ludlow looking toward Jackson Gore and Sawyer's Rock, by Sandra Miklave.
A rainbow at dusk with its reflection in Goose Pond in Canaan, by Robert Hargraves.
And beautiful photos from John Pietkiewicz, Nancie Severs, and Margaret DeSimone, who's visiting from Florida—please pay them a call in "Daybreak Where You Are."
As Henry sits writing in Lost Woods at night, he, Wally, and Lydia muse about its mysteries. Every week in this spot, author and illustrator DB Johnson (
Henry Hikes to Fitchburg
and other classics) chronicles the doings in
Lost Woods
. Scroll right to move on to the next panel or left to catch up on previous weeks.
It's been four years since Rob Taylor, then director of the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, wrote Gov. Chris Sununu wondering why Leb residents had to look at its blighted facilities every day. Now, reports Tim Camerato in the
Valley News
, the state's Executive Council is preparing to vote on an $832,000 plan "to demolish the Westboro yard’s four dilapidated buildings—a bunkhouse, roundhouse, sandhouse and chimney—and pave the way for a future public park." The vote's expected sometime this month.
For over 40 years Richard McGovern has scoured New England for rare and unique Early American treasures for his historic Royalton home. We are excited to present his incredible collection to you at our Post-Labor Day Auction on Sept. 11. There is also a Ralph Cahoon oil painting featuring the Dartmouth Crew, gorgeous jewelry, wonderful antiques, early maps, Audubons, Nantucket baskets, oriental rugs, and a pink '59 Cadillac! In-person previews Sept 8-10 from noon to 5.
Sponsored by Wm. A. Smith, Inc.
Region's hospitals face staffing shortages. Mt. Ascutney Hospital in Windsor "has positions open in pretty much every department," reports WCAX's Adam Sullivan. At DHMC some procedures are being postponed, and in a video this week chief clinical officer Ed Merrens said, "We know and completely understand how frustrating this is for you, and honestly, for our staff. This is a challenge like we have never faced." The Brattleboro Retreat and UVM Medical Center are struggling, too. Hospitals "are stretched about as thin as they can be,” says Jeff Tieman, president of the VT Association of Hospitals.Dartmouth team finds evidence of beer-drinking... 9,000 years ago. The team studied the residue in pots found at Qiaotou, in southern China. The beer, says co-author Jiajing Wang, an assistant professor of anthropology at the college, was made from rice, a grain called Job's tears, and "unidentified tubers." “This ancient beer, though, would not have been like the IPA that we have today," she adds. "Instead, it was likely a slightly fermented and sweet beverage, which was probably cloudy in color.”Norwich's notorious cell-service vortex strikes again! It can be hard to get a signal in parts of the town, which filmmaker and Northeast Kingdom impresario Jay Craven discovered when he pulled into the King Arthur parking lot, desperate to charge his new Chevy Bolt so he could drive to Hyannis. But to get the electrons flowing, he needed to activate the Charge Point app. And, he writes in the Caledonian Record, "I couldn’t get a cell signal... I moved my cell phone in every direction and held it high in the air. No luck." Eventually, he talked to a real person, who actived the charging station for him.Hiking Close to Home: River Park Trails. This week, the Upper Valley Trails Alliance revisits West Leb's River Park, which it recommended last winter. The summer trail network features nearly 2 miles of loop trails along the Connecticut River. In addition to mowed paths along the fields, the UVTA High School Trail Corps installed several woods trails and cleared a spot at the north end, which is now furnished with a picnic table. The trails are part of the future River Park development and are accessed from the west side of Route 10, approximately .4 miles north of Bridge Street.Time to test your knowledge of the week's Upper Valley events. It's the weekly News Quiz, including questions about what sickened goats in Tunbridge, what those Dartmouth engineers landed $1.25 million to study, and which bird has had a successful nesting year in Vermont. You'll notice The News Quiz guys have made some changes, too—it's now region-specific, rather than town-by-town. Also, it now says "Compiled with news from the Valley News." Though if you read only the VN and not Daybreak—or vice-versa—you'll miss some questions."I feel so free." "It's been a burden." "I wish I had done this a long time ago." Those are some of the things women told photographer Nancy Grace Horton as she encouraged them to flaunt their gray hair for a new photography/video/interview installation at a gallery in Portsmouth, NH. "Society and popular culture push us to deny our age by dyeing away our grey, yet how can we be comfortable denying who we really are?" she asks in her artist's statement. NHPR's Rick Ganley talks to her about the project.What's NH's role in case of an actual star war? On his Granite Geek blog, David Brooks reports on subtle recent changes to the 2,800-acre New Boston military facility that has served many purposes since it opened in 1942. It now bears the name New Boston Space Force Station. Its defining features—six, large radar domes (like “gigantic golf balls”)—monitor satellites for cyberspace security. Station commander Lt. Col. David Zesinger enjoins us to make no mistake: “Space has been elevated to a war-fighting domain.”Here's one way to bypass the crowds this foliage season. Take the trails less traveled by, writes Ken Picard in Seven Days. Because if you thought out-of-state plate density was high this summer, wait’ll the leaves start turning. Amy Potter of the Green Mountain Club expects no ebb in the already record-breaking traffic along Vermont’s most popular paths. So Picard’s rounded up a few lesser-known—but no-less-lovely—day hikes that maybe most tourists aren’t wise to. Regardless of your route, aim to start early, wear shoes with good traction, and stick to the trail."It's kind of everyone on their own... It was much easier for us when there were firm directions from the Statehouse." Vermont officials are all over the map on indoor masks: Gov. Phil Scott insists no requirement is needed, all school districts but one in the state are requiring them, the state's prisons have reimposed a system-wide mandate. All of this, writes Anne Wallace Allen in Seven Days, leaves businesses fending for themselves. Some are requiring them, others are recommending them... and many are worried that whatever they choose, it will alienate customers."I probably had three plots before it got revised down to just a plot and a half." Lyme novelist (and columnist) KJ Dell'Antonia sat down with writer Joni Cole recently to talk about her highly successful debut novel, The Chicken Sisters—about estranged sisters, rival fried chicken restaurants, and small-town life in Kansas. In Cole's Author, Can I Ask You? podcast, Dell'Antonia talks about where the book came from and the day her editor called to say Reese Witherspoon had chosen it for her book club. "I'm sitting at home with my kids watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine, as you do during a pandemic..."Oh yeah. That seal's giggling. And those brown bears are dancing. And that starling? So teed off! Or, well, not really, but the finalists for the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have just been announced and they sure do look that way. You'll want to get that EU "cookie" warning out of the way so you can actually see the captions as you wander through the photos. There are 42 of them. Sorry about that appointment you had.
And the numbers...Just a reminder that for the time being, Daybreak is reporting the Covid numbers on Tuesdays and Fridays.
NH reported 218 cases on Tuesday, 372 Wednesday, and 348 yesterday, bringing it to a total of 108,319 and a seven-day average of 331 cases per day(a 16 percent increase over the previous 7-day period). There were 5 deaths over that time, bringing the total to 1,421. The active caseload stands at 3,041 (up 114 over the last three days) and hospitalizations at 118 (down 1). The state reports 176 active cases in Grafton County (up 12), 51 in Sullivan County (up 1), and 280 in Merrimack County (up 34). In town-by-town numbers reported by the state, Claremont has 19 cases (down 1 since Monday), Lebanon has 16 (up 5), Hanover has 14 (down 6), Enfield has 10 (up 4), Charlestown has 9 (up 2), Rumney has 8 (up 2), New London has 7 (up at least 3), Newport has 6 (down 4), Canaan has 6 (up at least 2), and Haverhill, Warren, Wentworth, Plainfield, Grantham, Sunapee, and Newbury have 1-4 each. Lyme is off the list.
VT reported 187 new cases on Tuesday, 127 Wednesday, and 145 yesterday, bringing it to a total of 28,542 for the pandemic. There were 4 new deaths during that time; they now number 279. One of those deaths this week was the state's first of someone in their 20s. As of yesterday, 29 people with confirmed cases were hospitalized (down 4). Windsor County has seen 33 new cases over the past three days, for a total of 1,782 for the pandemic, with 146 new cases over the past two weeks; Orange County gained 21 cases over the last three days, and has added 55 over the past two weeks for a total of 931 for the pandemic.
Dartmouth has teased out its numbers slightly, reporting yesterday that there were 3 cases among undergrads, 8 among grad and professional students, and 4 among faculty and staff. Nobody is in quarantine, 11 students and 7 faculty/staff are in isolation.
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The Quechee Balloon Festival is back starting today at 3 pm and continuing tomorrow and Sunday (gates open at 5:30 am both days). Balloon ascensions, skydiving demos, more food and crafts vendors than you can shake a stick at, music by everyone from Atlantic Crossing, Patrick Ross, and Dave Keller to Rob Oxford, Still Hill, and The Tricksters.
And, of course, it's First Friday in WRJ. It gets started at 3 when the cast of JAG's "Life in Sepia" (see below) hangs out at Nancy the Girl to talk shop. At 4 the Center for Cartoon Studies is hosting a free vaccine clinic. And at 5, Revolution starts up its annual Parking Lot Party with a tent sale, slushy station, local nonprofits, and music, while Kishka Gallery holds an opening reception for its latest exhibition, "He Loves Me Not," with works by Lakea Shepard, and Tourist opens a group show titled "Under Pressure." (More on both the galleries and the shows in Alex Hanson's VN article this morning.) There's also "Birches at the Border" at Long River Gallery, and sales at both The Collection and Gear Again.
At 6 pm this evening, Dan and Faith Senie bring their "dream-inspired folk" to the Weathersfield Summer Music Series at Hoisington Field in Perkinsville, VT. The series was launched back in July by Springfield's June and Bill Brink, who wanted to create a new performance venue for local musicians sidelined by the pandemic.
At 8 pm, JAG Productions launches its weekend Theater on a Hill run of "Life in Sepia: Vermont’s Black Burlesque Revue" on the hill behind King Arthur Baking in Norwich. With a diverse array of performances, JAG writes, "Life in Sepia is a revival of burlesque through the decades, showing the imprint of Black excellence throughout the history of this under-appreciated art form."
Tomorrow starting at 4 pm, there's an opening reception for a new poetry exhibition at S. Strafford's Edible Pocket Park (VN link) across from the Newton School, with works by local poets including, in part, Gus Speth, Jim Schley, Martha Manheim, Corey Cook, Ina Anderson, Suzanne Lupien, and Taylor Katz.
And if you feel like going a bit farther afield tomorrow to catch some serious musical talent, Rebop Farm in Brattleboro is hosting Jeremiah McLane and his compatriots in Triton (more below) starting at 7 pm. Music rooted in the traditional dance repertoire of northwestern Europe, including France, Brittany, Scotland, and Sweden, played by masters of the art.
Starting at 1 pm on Sunday and running until 11 pm, the Chandler's New World Festival is back—both in person around Randolph and online. This is the world music event of the season, with Le Vent du Nord, Emerald Rae, Triton, Cantrip, Dominique Dodge, Anthony Santoro & Scott Lemire, and a bunch more. You can go soak it in all afternoon and evening (mask required) or opt to see it virtually—buy a festival pass for both.
Meanwhile, at 1 pm on Sunday, Ascutney Outdoors cuts the ribbon on its new 1-mile-long Discovery Trail. It features interpretive stations with interactive activities—including a 3D map, artist-created benches, a tree stump playground, and a chairlift swing—designed to introduce visitors to the natural and cultural history of the mountain.
On Sunday at 2 pm, the Lebanon Elks and Hanover Lions are sponsoring the Upper Valley Community Band at the Lebanon Elks Field in Leb (150 Heater Road). The band, made up of players from all around the Upper Valley, has been entertaining locals since 1970 with a wide array of music. The Elks will provide BBQ.
Finally, at 4 pm Sunday the Morrill Homestead kicks off its three-part series of lectures on "The Abenaki Experience, Prehistory to Present" with Vermont State Archeologist Jess Robinson offering an overview of the archaeological history of the Connecticut River Valley from the arrival of its first inhabitants some 13,000 years ago to their first contact with Europeans. The in-person part is full up, but you can see it online—just register and select "online via Zoom."
If there's a musical thread that ties the three instruments that Triton's musicians like to play—the piano accordion, Scottish-style pipes, and the Swedish nyckelharpa—it's that they all make use of background drones. But Strafford's Jeremiah McLane, Middlebury's Timothy Cummings, and Sherbrooke, Quebec's Alex Kehler are also multi-instrumentalists steeped in all kinds of traditional music. Asked what ties the dance music of northwest Europe together, McLane writes, "A coherent sentence that sums it all up...?!? I could mention the ‘Aulde Alliance’ made in 1295 between Scotland & France against England (but that leaves out Sweden). Or musically, the dominant meter in traditional dance is in 3 for both France (la bourrée) and Sweden (the polska) but that leaves out Scotland. I think I’ll just say that during medieval times and afterwards there was musical migration between all three places….." Whatever, it's a treat to listen to. Here they are with three bourrées from last year.Have a terrific long weekend! See you next Wednesday.
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 Writer/Editor: Tom Haushalter Poetry editor: Michael Lipson About Rob About Tom About Michael
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