GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Cloudy, mild. Some spots could get some sun later today, but if you do, consider yourself lucky; much of the region will be socked in. Temps rising toward 50, warmer where there's sun. Cloudy again tonight, lows upper 30s.Staredown. Cows. Bradford, VT. Larry Kilian. He was on his way back from the Northeast Kingdom when these caught his eye. They'd have caught yours, too.As Dartmouth's W. Wheelock apartment plan goes up for review, Hanover preps for more. The proposal to build housing for 190 or so undergrads on the north side of the street will go before the planning board for the first time tomorrow, with the college hoping approvals can be in place by summer and construction can start in the fall. As Patrick Adrian writes in the Valley News, it joins an approved project by a private developer to build housing for up to 91 students on the south side. The town wants to improve infrastructure on W. Wheelock, including new drainage systems, sidewalks, and bike paths."It truly takes a village (or two) to staff and run a food shelf." In Sidenote, Li Shen details the hard work and sweeping array of connections that undergird the Thetford Food Shelf's seemingly simple job of getting food to people who need it. The shelf serves residents of Thetford, Vershire, Fairlee, W. Fairlee, and Strafford, and food donations come in from the VT Food Bank, Willing Hands, groups like the Lions, churches, and schools; local farms and groceries also supply the shelf, though they get paid. Then there's the network of volunteers who keep it running and make deliveries. Li gives the particulars.On NH side of the Upper Valley, towns look hard at regulating short-term rentals. The issue's contentious in Sunapee, writes Liz Sauchelli in the VN: That's where voters are looking at updating a current town ordinance to limit the number of days a non-owner-occupied residence can be rented out; but the whole idea of limiting short-term rentals has some owners—who've organized as the Lake Sunapee Short-Term Rental Association—up in arms over what they consider "government overreach," Sauchelli writes. She explores the issue in Sunapee, and notes others, like Enfield, are also considering ordinances.SPONSORED: A rare Lincoln Continental, a NH painting for that empty wall, or an engagement ring? You'll find all of these in one place this week at Wm. Smith's annual Live Winter Auction in Plainfield, and can see it all today and tomorrow at our preview, from 10am-4pm. Join a gallery walk with Bill at noon today or talk art, furnishings, and antique cars with Leon or Patsy. Tuesday, ask our certified gemologist's advice on engagement rings or special gifts from our incredible collection of estate jewelry. Auction Wednesday, March 6th in-person and online starting at 10am. Sponsored by Wm. Smith Auctions.At New London's Barn Playhouse, a summer season of popular musicals, a drama, a comedy mystery—and a tie-up with Symphony NH. Last week it was a look ahead at Northern Stage. This week, the Barn's chock-full schedule, which starts June 12 with Little Shop of Horrors and runs until Sept. 1 by way of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Driving Miss Daisy, Jersey Boys, Rent, and Clue. Plus, a full-on children's theater series that includes, interestingly, Macbeth, as well as Tuck Everlasting. And a collaboration with Symphony NH on South Pacific: In Concert. Tix for all go on sale this month.In Barre, Thetford takes home a state championship, Hartford falls short. The Thetford boys' basketball team won its third Division III state championship in six years on Saturday, coming from behind to beat Hazen, which had bounced it from the semifinals last year—though that come-from-behind victory paled in comparison to last week's 20-point catchup in the semis to land Thetford in the final game. Meanwhile, for the first time since 1933, the Hartford boys' team made it to the championship game in Barre, only to fall to Montpelier. “No one alive in Hartford has played here at this stage before,” Hartford athletic director Jeff Moreno told the VN's Tris Wykes afterward.In Stowe death, a reminder: Don't ski the backcountry alone. And, ideally, hike it first. Back on Feb. 20, a 27-year-old investment analyst from NY, Brooks Ralph, died on Mt. Mansfield after going off-trail at Stowe Mountain Resort to ski the area known as the Rock Garden. In the Stowe Reporter, Tommy Gardner recounts the rescue effort—rescuers thought Ralph might still be alive—which involved a team hiking in, breaking out their crampons and axes to climb a 25-foot rock wall, and eventually reaching Ralph's body. Stowe Mountain Rescue chief Jon Wehse tells Gardner why making their own way upward gives backcountry skiers a feel for the snow—and the dangers.Three different takes on class in VT. The episodes continue to pour out in radio producer Erica Heilman's series for Rumble Strip. In some of the latest, she...
Talks to Kytreana Patrick outside Olney's General Store in Orleans about what it means to be working class and, as Patrick says, to feel like "we're here to keep it running."
Goes for a drive with VT poet Garrett Keizer to talk about class and income inequality, "better distribution of wealth," and occasionally jazz.
And hangs out with W. Glover stonemason, farmer, construction and plow guy, and former state legislator John Rodgers about how the makeup of the legislature has changed as it's gotten harder for working-class Vermonters to hold the office—and the tension he sees as newcomers with more money arrive in the state and "attack our culture of independence," including hunting and trapping.
Reading and Knitting the Library Landscape. Over the course of last year, staff with the various Dartmouth libraries got this intriguing project going. They call it the Fibery Library: knitting (or crocheting) scarves that visualize the 2022 data on loaned physical items. They created patterns and color schemes by user groups—alums, grad students, DHMC staff, interlibrary loan, faculty...—then set to work putting them in fiber form. They've now got a page filled with photos (and explanations) of the scarves, staff and user-group members sporting them, and comments along the way. Plus at least one canine model.The Monday Vordle. With a word from Friday's Daybreak.
Heads Up
This evening at 7:30, the Lebanon Opera House presents renowned drag queen, visual artist, television host, and Center for Cartoon Studies grad Sasha Velour. Velour, who shot to superstardom by winning Season 9 of "RuPaul's Drag Race" in 2017, is returning to the area for the first time since graduating. The Big Reveal Live Show, writes LOH, is "grounded in classic theater [and] takes on many forms over the course of 90 minutes: high-concept lip sync performances, artful oration, childhood film footage, video art, and more. This is a superstar at her most playful and hilarious." There are still tix left, but not many. Here's Emily Hamilton's conversation in Seven Days with Velour, who says: "I absolutely credit my time in White River Junction with helping all of those threads come together to make Sasha Velour."
And to start us out right for the week...We're going to turn to dancer and actor Gene Kelly and boxer Sugar Ray Robinson—who could both dance and act, too—and their 1958 tap duet on Omnibus, the highbrow variety show hosted by Alistair Cooke that ran on all three networks for eight years (and happened to be produced by the father of Montpelier lawyer Richard Saudek). The whole episode was called "Dancing: A Man's Game", and it featured Mickey Mantle, Johnny Unitas, and other star athletes, as well as actor Lou Wills Jr., who starts things off. Kelly introduces Robinson at 1:05.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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