GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Mostly cloudy, bits of snow, highs in the mid 30s. Don't blink: There's a disturbance moving through quickly from west to east this morning, and in its wake a decent part of the region should see patches of blue and a mostly dry afternoon as equally quick-moving high pressure waves hi. But then a cold front approaches and, ahead of it, a clipper system barrels through to the north late this afternoon and evening, bringing snow showers and possible squalls to northern parts of the region and the mountains. Temps will rise into the mid 30s by early afternoon, down to around 20 overnight.Ice Art. The weather brings swirls and filigrees to the unlikeliest places.
Like this flagstone in Newbury, NH, from Sally Harris. "Not as dramatic as some crystal pictures but subtle and pretty," she notes;
And, remarkably, the front of Cheryl Lubin's mailbox, in Norwich. "Looks like hummingbirds and butterflies in a floral print to me," she writes. "Nature's sense of humor?"
Leb's Dairy Twirl burns. The fire broke out late Thursday night in a second-story apartment, where three tenants lived; with the exterior stairwell in flames, they were helped from the rooftop by Lebanon police officers using a car as an improvised ladder, while firefighters from Lebanon and an array of nearby towns fought the blaze. The building's owners, Cinnamon and Brent Murray—who own Dairy Twirl, as well as Bob's Service Center in WRJ—are "working through the process” of assessing the extent of the loss, Leb Fire Chief James Wheatley told the Valley News's Emma Roth-Wells.
"The building post-fire looks pretty awful. Tenants have been displaced, in the dead of winter no less. No information yet about what happens next." So writes Susan Apel, with photos, in a Dairy Twirl appreciation in Artful. "During our twenty-four years of living in Lebanon, my husband and I tried often to avoid the Dairy Twirl because we loved it too much," she writes. "I am hoping for, and choosing to anticipate, the Dairy Twirl’s reopening next summer."
In 2017, DHMC suddenly shut down its infertility clinic. Now a lawsuit is illuminating why. Over the weekend, the VN launched the first of a two-part Jim Kenyon series on the rise and fall of the program, which over three decades made it possible for "hundreds of couples who previously couldn’t conceive" to have babies. Internal DHMC emails that are part of a federal court filing paint a picture of "dysfunction" in the program's last years, Kenyon reports, and as one physician wrote, "ultimately a failure of leadership." But for this first part, Kenyon dives into the IVF program and its beginnings.The roaring game. That nickname for curling comes from the sound the stones make as they glide over ice that's been "pebbled" by sprinkles of water, Upper Valley Curling Club co-founder Bob Holt explains to the Standard's Lauren Dorsey. The club, she writes, came out of a 2006 Olympics watch party, during which a Minnesota pizza shop owner won a bronze medal. "We could do that," Holt recalls thinking. Two decades later, the club has 50 members from all over the Upper Valley, plenty of competitions under its belt—and no Olympics, but "an incredible community," in the words of co-founder Lisa Holt.As GMP says it's going to "harden the electric grid" in Thetford, a look at what that means. The utility, writes Li Shen in Sidenote, "is trying to avoid a repeat" of the aftermath of the December, 2022 storm that knocked out power to some residents for days. In Thetford, that's going to mean burying power lines in the road right-of-way. But it's part of a much bigger, first-of-its-kind "Zero Outage Initiative", through which GMP hopes to "storm-harden" its lines, boost home battery storage throughout the state, and in some areas create "microgrids" that can power a neighborhood. Li explains what's on tap.NH divers recover body of woman who fell through pond ice. Late Saturday afternoon, rescuers were called out to Big Island Pond in the Rockingham County towns of Atkinson and Hampstead after reports of someone yelling for help. Unable to find the victim, first responders from area fire and police departments suspended their search overnight, and yesterday morning, a dive team from NH Fish & Game made its way by airboat to the spot the woman was last seen. They located the body of a 56-year-old Atkinson woman in about 16 feet of water. State police reports here.NH Supreme Court rules white supremacist group did not violate state Civil Rights Act with banner. The long-running legal case stems from a 2022 incident in which 10 members of the group NSC-13 hung a banner reading "KEEP NEW ENGLAND WHITE" from a highway overpass, writes NH Bulletin's Ethan DeWitt. They were charged with violating the civil rights act because they were motivated by race to trespass on a public roadway. But on Friday at the supreme court, the justices ruled 4-0 that the state's interpretation of the law was too broad and infringed on free speech rights.25 million pounds of ice spread over two acres. That would be the Ice Castles that opened on Friday in N. Woodstock, NH. The annual display—started by a guy in Utah in 2011 who's built his company to include ice castles in four states—is both "temporary art installation and tourist attraction," writes the AP's Holly Ramer. They "feature towers, tunnels, archways and caves, all created by growing, harvesting and arranging thousands of icicles and then blasting them with sprinklers"—and then lighting them artfully at night. Plenty of photos of the new NH version by the AP's Robert F. Bukaty.In Brattleboro, a big-time ski area—and its snowmaking guns—comes to the aid of a community hill. The Brattleboro Ski Hill (nickname: “The Little Ski Hill That Could") has been around since 1937, but as Kevin O'Connor writes in VTDigger, it's been beset by the same, snowless winter-time travails that have hit lots of small ski areas throughout VT and NH. Enter Stratton Mountain Resort, 30 miles to the west, which has lent both equipment and expertise, O'Connor reports—while nearby Mount Snow has sent over ski instructors for beginner lessons. “For a hill like us, it’s a dream machine," says a volunteer.The Monday jigsaw. Speaking of winter, thanks to the Norwich Historical Society's Cam Cross, here's a scene from Norwich—maybe the 1920s?—with Dan & Whit's and the Norwich Inn in the background.
Heads UpDepending on whether crews can resurface the ice rink on the Dartmouth Green today, the rink will open either later this afternoon or in the next few days. It's a collaboration between the college and the town of Hanover, and both Dartmouth community members and the general public can borrow skates from Campion Arena for free. Once it's in full swing, the rink will be open for skating from 9 am to sunset, and from 9 am to 9 pm after lights are installed.
And to get us going this week...It's not like being a star of the Swedish folk music scene playing an instrument with medieval roots is a quick ticket to fame and fortune, but Erik Rydvall, whose specialty is the nyckelharpa (think juiced-up fiddle) sure produces some fantastic music. Here he is with fellow Swedish folk and early-music musicians Kristine West (on flute) and Ale Möller (on mandola), playing a gigue by Bach and Möller's "Rävhalling."See you tomorrow.
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Associate writer: Jonea Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson About Rob About Michael
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