SO MUCH GOOD STUFF, UPPER VALLEY!
Friday
Keep an eye on the roads: The 45th Prouty kicks off Friday with the two-day Prouty Ultimate starting at 6 am on the Dartmouth Green and riders doing either 74 or 100 miles on Friday and riding as far afield as Bethel, Strafford, and W. Fairlee before winding up back in Hanover. Saturday’s the main event, with road/gravel/mountain bikers as well as walkers and rowers all propelling themselves long distances. Opening ceremony and starts run from 6 am to 10 am at Richmond Middle School in Hanover (7 am at Kendal Riverfront Park for rowers). Amazingly, participants have already raised $11.5 million toward the Cancer Center’s $12 million goal.
Opening reception at Kishka Gallery in WRJ for Mary Tapogna’s “It All Fits.” The Lyndonville, VT artist specializes in mosaic work that “covers a range of sometimes religious and secular portraits, crosses, rosaries, tables, lamps, etc.” using found and recycled materials. 5-8 pm.
The Junction Dance Festival revs up Friday for its two-weekend run, with a free community dinner at 5:30 pm, then a dance film showcase and ecstatic dance at the New Suns Community Center in North Thetford. Over the weekend there are dance classes and an outdoor performance at the Norwich Congregational Church on Saturday and more workshops and classes at New Suns on Sunday.
AVA Gallery hosts an artist’s talk by John Stomberg. The painter and outgoing Hood Museum director talks about his works around the theme of repairing the world, the inspiration he draws from the Japanese practice of kinstugi and from Pink Floyd, and more. 5:30 pm.
Pentangle Arts’ Music by the River series continues with Mal Maiz. The Burlington-based band led by Costa Rica’s Maiz Vargas Sandoval blends traditional cumbia, latin, reggae, and Caribbean sounds with what Sandoval calls “psychedelic Latin rock.” 6 pm in East End Park.
Hop Film screens The Animation Show of Shows. In all, 17 animated films, including Disney/Pixar's Piper, “the latest in 360º storytelling in Google's touching father-and daughter-journey, the Oscar-nominated PEARL and About a Mother, a new folktale with echoes of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree,” films from Belgium, Canada, France, Israel, Korea, and elsewhere—plus four shorts exclusively for mature audiences, with a break beforehand for kids to leave. 7 pm in the Loew.
The Thetford Arthouse Cinema screens Tar. Cate Blanchett stars in Todd Field’s 2022 film as “the supremely talented, majestically androgynous, obsessive — and abusive — orchestra leader Lydia Tar.” 7 pm in the Martha Jane Rich Theater at Thetford Academy.
At the Chandler in Randolph, Spamalot. The Chandler’s summer youth musical “lovingly spoofs both Broadway musical conventions and the original Monty Python material, blending medieval silliness with theatrical spectacle.” With a cast led by 11-year-olds River Pozzani as King Arthur and Eleanor Fenton as Patsy. The Herald’s look ahead, by Caitlin Justice, is here. 7 pm Friday and Saturday, 2 pm Sunday.
North Country Community Theatre’s The Addams Family debuts at Lebanon Opera House. In a few words: “Wednesday Addams, now grown, has fallen in love with a charming young man from a ‘normal’ family, one her parents have never met. When she confides in Gomez and asks him to keep a secret from Morticia, chaos ensues”—especially after the Addamses host a dinner for the boyfriend and his parents. 7:30 pm Friday, 2 pm and 7:30 pm Saturday, 3 pm Sunday, then next Friday-Sunday.
Saturday
Youth birding outing at the Windsor Grasslands. Led by veteran birders Chris Rimmer, Kyle Jones, Joe Ransdell-Green, and Erica Faughnan, for birders ages 7-14. An hour’s walk starting at 7:30 am with an optional second hour for anyone who wants to continue. Signup at the link above, directions here, parking by the little red pump house.
VINS’s Incredible Insect Festival. Bugs galore, with stations set up by the Caterpillar Lab, Vermont Invasives, the Black River Action Team and others, and programs on insects and raptors (some of which, as VINS puts it, “are big fans of bugs”). Plus games, crafts, and more. 10 am to 5 pm.
Party in the Park in Enfield. Part of the town’s 250th celebration, with live music, food, face painting, lawn games, a patriotic cake cutting (at 1:15 pm), cornhole, a dunk tanks, dancing, and more. Runs from 11 am to 7 pm in Huse Park.
The Second Annual Sharon Music Festival. Two stages, with performances by Otter Creek, Fez Silk, The Sleepy Weasels, Nate Mott, Sonido Mal Maíz, and Rick Redington and Tuff Luv. Presented by Malfunx Music Productions, the Sharon Congregational Church, Seven Stars Arts Center, and Sharon Connects, with food and drink available. On the Sharon town green, 11 am to 7:30 pm.
Do Good Fest in Montpelier. The annual benefit concert for youth mental health is on host National Life Group’s front lawn, with Neon Trees, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Smash Mouth, Augustana, Glam Cowboys, and DJ Cheetatah. Gates open at 1:30 pm, music starts up at 2, closing fireworks at 9:15 pm. Lots and lots of food and drinks on hand.
Pizza Night at Crossmolina Farm in W. Corinth. Music this week is by Milton Busker & The Grim Work. Pizza at 5, music at 6, you’ll need to make reservations.
At the Enfield Shaker Museum, a reception for “Primary Sources: Young Artists of the Upper Valley.” A joint effort with AVA, it’s a showcase for AVA’s Young Artist Meetup Group. Exhibition runs through July, reception at 6 pm in the Great Stone Dwelling.
Hop Film screens 2001: A Space Odyssey. How long’s it been since you’ve seen it on a big screen. Heck, how long’s it been since you’ve seen it, period? This is Christopher Nolan's "unrestored" version of the original camera negative, the Hop writes—a chance to see Stanley Kubrick’s “landmark film with its original color palette, as close to Kubrick's intention as possible.” 7 pm in Spaulding.
Contra dance at the East Thetford Pavilion (next to Cedar Circle Farm). Adina Gordon calling, River Road (Jesse Ball, Sarah Hadley-Yakir, Kristen Planeaux) with the music. 7:10 walk-through for beginners, dances start up at 7:30.
Sunday
Orienteering for all levels in Leb’s Boston Lot. Up North Orienteers is hosting the event for everyone from beginners to competitive racers. Orienteering, they write, “involves running or walking through the forest (on or off trails) while reading a very detailed map and trying to tag checkpoints with an electronic punch. It's a very fun and challenging way to get out and explore the woods.” Start anytime between 9:30 am and noon, parking is in the DHMC lot closest to the trailhead.
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Park kicks off its summer concert series. With pianist John Davis playing the music of Blind Tom, Blind Boone, and other early African American pioneers. The park notes that many of its concerts this summer “feature the Little Studio’s historic piano, once owned by Cornish Colony painter Maxfield Parrish.” Starts up at 2 pm.
The Calla Duo at the Norwich Congregational Church. The Boston-based duo of violinist Maya Lynn and cellist Abby Hanna are “dedicated to bringing accessible classical music concerts to the community.” With works by Glière, Bartók, Borodin, Piazzolla, and others, and a “talkback” afterward with the audience. 2 pm.
Ninja Wizard at River Roost in WRJ. Bluegrass Sundays with Jakob Breitbach, Kit Creeger, and Steve Hennig have moved to 2 pm.
At Corinth’s Meadow Meeting House, readings from Sasha Hom and Brett Ann Stanciu, music by Dylan Bolles. Hom recently won the Vermont Book Award for her debut novella, Sidework. Stanciu is just out with Call It Madness. Bolles is a songwriter, composer, and founding member of Thingamajigs Performance Group. 3 pm in the meeting house at 1211 Chelsea Road in Corinth.
Burger Night at Flying Dog Farm in Tunbridge. Burgers and more from the farm, music by singer, songwriter, composer, and actor Tommy Crawford. 4 pm to 7 pm.
At Norwich’s Root Schoolhouse, The Porch Brothers and Friends host the Wall-Stiles. Music from the Porch Brothers (Bob Miller, Dave Barthel, Jordan Mueller, and Dave Bibeau of Norwich, Dan Longnecker from Bradford, Bill Suite from Ryegate, and Deb Crosby from Wilder); Cam Cross and Nathan Margolis from Norwich; and the reconstituted UV travel band the Wall-Stiles (Bruce Brough from Corinth, Dave Barthel, and West Leb’s John Foster). It all starts up at 4 pm at 987 Union Village Road.
Opera North’s The Ballad of Baby Doe opens. Douglas Moore and librettist John Latouche’s sweeping saga about Vermont native Horace Tabor and the 1850s silver-mining era in Colorado, his affair with and later marriage to Baby Doe, and the “love, betrayal, and whims of fortune” that mark their tale. It’s an American classic, with a long pedigree since its first 1956 production (Beverly Sills’ performance with the New York City Opera in 1958 made her a star). At Blow-Me-Down Farm: Sunday’s 5:30 pm performance has a few seats left, with more options on Wednesday 7/15 and Friday 7/17.
Rose Hip Jam at Loch Lyme Lodge. The Sunday Summer Soirées continue with food by Fresco Catering and music by Kerry Rosenthal, Steve Glazer, and Eric Bronstein with everything from 1930s classics to modern tunes across folk, country, blues, rock, and jazz. 5:30 to 7 pm.
On Thetford Hill, the Schoolhouse Rocks Concert Series presents Zach Nugent. Hosted by Thetford Academy, with the popular Jerry Garcia Band guitarist and leader of Dead Set, channeling everyone from Garcia to Grisman. 6-8 pm, with food from The Box and Red Kite Ice Cream. Bring your own lawn chairs and blankets.
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