GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Mostly cloudy, cool. That low pressure system on high is ushering colder air into the region from the northwest, and though things will be drier than they were last night, we're looking at temps that struggle to get out of the 40s today. We'll see more clouds than sun during the day, but a little stretch of high pressure is on its way, and skies will start clearing overnight. Lows upper 30s.There are so many great fall photos coming in! Thank you everyone. Here's a sampling:
"At 7 am I could already tell we were in for an incredible mix of sun and fog on Silver Lake in Barnard," writes Luke Metcalf, "so I threw in my canoe and ventured into the cloud. The silence and thick flat light were almost like a deprivation chamber, until finally the sun appeared at the other side and filled the air with an incredible golden glow. I've never seen anything like it."
A rainbow the other day, framing the Cedar Circle farmstand in E. Thetford perfectly, from Katherine Babbott.
And a cool inside/outside view at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in WRJ by Nancie Severs. "I instantly relaxed," she writes, "when I looked up and saw the Reflections of Summer's End in the windows across the pool."
It's time for Dear Daybreak! Today, a Dartmouth student leading a first-year trip reflects at dawn by the Connecticut River; Ryan Haac offers up a fall haiku; Rebecca Meyers can't keep her mind on work; Cynthia Taylor recalls one of those newbie lessons you never forget; and the DeWitt Elm stump in Hanover takes a star turn.Rush-hour water main break in downtown Lebanon. There were actually two that struck the city at about the same time yesterday morning. Burgundy link takes you to Alasdair Groves' view overlooking the mess at the intersection of Hanover and Mascoma streets. Here's the city's alert.New Woodstock program to help local workers get housing finds plenty of takers. In fact, Woodstock Community Trust board member Jill Davies tells Seven Days' Anne Wallace Allen, since it started up in January the program that offers one-time down-payment assistance as long as at least one person is working locally has helped 21 local workers (and eight kids) move into 14 housing units. Among them: five teachers. "It's so expensive to live in our community," says school Supt. Sherry Sousa. "I'm the highest-paid educator in the district, and I couldn't buy a house in Woodstock now."Grantham doc will plead guilty to illegal drug distribution. You may recall that back in April, Adnan Khan—who owned New England Medicine and Counseling Associates—was charged by the feds in VT with fraud and with illegal distribution of a controlled substance. Now, reports John Lippman in the Valley News, he's agreed to plead guilty to a single charge for demanding cash before prescribing buprenorphine to people he was aware were selling the painkiller. Khan, Lippman writes, "was associated with" a former doctor at New London Hospital, Steven Powell, who pled guilty last year to Medicare fraud.SPONSORED: Raking Ready? An Autumn Leaves Cleanup Guide. Keep your back, arms and hands happy with this free guide, developed by the Cioffredi & Associates team of physical therapists. Including new ergonomic tools, techniques, and exercises that prevent and relieve pain to keep your yard and body in peak season condition. Sponsored by Cioffredi & Associates Physical Therapy. “Somewhere between farmer and daycare provider.” That’s Ethan Kilham on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom: Protecting the Wild, on rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned black bears. The NBC show starts with host Rae Wynn-Grant, NH Fish & Game officers, and Ethan and his uncle, Ben, out in the wild—then turns to the Kilham Bear Center and its cubs. The young black bears live there until they’re 18 months—the age, says Ben, when their mother kicks them out, “so...we kick them out, too.” Given the bears’ kind and charismatic personalities, that’s hard on the humans—but, says Ethan, “it’s a joyous day, because you’re sending them out to be back where they should be.”At Northern Stage, "an acting masterwork that unspools effortlessly and never stops surprising." Onstage, writes Alex Brown in her rave review in Seven Days, the only physically present character in the premiere of Matthew Libby's Sisters is Jihan Haddad as Matilda—who learned, at the age of 6, that her father had created an AI sister for her. Even so, Brown writes, that sister—Greta, voiced offstage by Madeleine Barker—remains a forceful presence. Their lifelong conversation operates on multiple levels, Brown writes, the production itself is a "visual and auditory wonder," and the whole package "reach[es] viewers through the heart as well as the mind."SPONSORED: Willing Hands turns 20 this year and you're invited to the party! Join us tonight at 198 Church Street in Norwich for our 20th Anniversary Open House from 4-6pm. We're celebrating 20 years of recovering fresh food to reduce waste and strengthen our community. Tour our facility, greenhouse, and gardens. Learn about our history, impact, and vision for the future. Plan for pizza, refreshments, and a short program beginning at 5pm. RSVPs suggested at [email protected]. Sponsored by Willing Hands.WISE lays down a second podcast season. Back in 2021, the nonprofit that works on domestic and gender violence issues launched a series on its history with Jess Chayes, who was then at Northern Stage. This spring and summer, Chayes hosted a new round, this time focused on collaboration and relationships, including with police and prosecutors and with college communities. The six new episodes also dive into details of the nonprofit's work—how to interview people who've experienced violence and trauma, how to focus on prevention, and more.New London Hospital gets a new president and CEO. Lauren Geddes Wirth, a pediatrician and Dartmouth grad, had been serving as interim CEO ever since Tom Manion stepped down earlier this year to become DHMC's chief operating officer. Geddes Wirth, the hospital's press release says, "was recommended by a search committee after an extensive national search and rigorous candidate review process." New London is part of the DH network.NH Secy of State orders use of affidavit ballots for November elections. You remember the problem: The state's new voter ID law repeals the use of the ballots on Nov. 11, a day shy of the deadline for voters who use them to send in proof of ID in order for their votes to count. In a letter released Tuesday, reports NHPR's Todd Bookman, Secy of State David Scanlan said that nothing in the new law suggests it was meant to affect the Nov. 5 election "in any way." As Bookman notes, only seven voters have used the ballots since the start of 2023, but Nov. 5 will be the first time they're used for a presidential election.In flooded VT towns, public needs collide with homeowners seeking buyouts. The problem, writes Kevin McCollum in Seven Days, is that FEMA-funded buyouts come with a hitch: "The home and other structures must be removed and the property permanently set aside as green space." This removes property from the tax rolls—and from the possibility of development in the future. The result is that some local leaders are choosing "which of their flooded-out neighbors will be allowed to seek federal buyouts and who will not." He looks at the very tough conversations taking place in Barre and Middlesex.Surviving on a rock ledge at 21,000 feet—without food, water, or shelter. A week ago, on Oct. 3, Fay Manners and Michelle Dvorak—both mountaineering elite—were pushing toward the summit of Chaukhamba III, in India, when falling rock sliced through the rope hauling most of their gear, including food, tent, communications, one pair of crampons, ice axes, and down clothing. It began to snow. They managed to get off one SOS before a cellphone battery died. On day three with no food, they decided to rappel down—with a single pair of crampons between them. In Outside, Owen Clarke tells the story.Defining generations by experience, not age. Maybe the year you were born doesn't determine your generational identity as much as other factors, like the events you lived through. In USA Today, Stephen Beard and Veronica Bravo write that the defining moments of different age groups—the assassination of JFK, say, or 9/11—may tie us together more than our birth years. They cite other ways of looking at generations, like how we listen to music—vinyl, Walkman, or streaming—and look at how racial and ethnic identity has shifted, with whites making up less than half of Gen Alpha (those born 2013 or later).
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!
Barbara Hammond's one-act play explores the challenges and love involved in caring for a spouse with dementia. With local celebs Bill Hammond and Jean Brown in the title roles, it's being presented by the Aging Resource Center and other DH teams at 2 pm in Auditorium G. There's also a virtual option. No charge.
A panel of experts, all Dartmouth grads, will talk cutting-edge geothermal technology and policy: Sarah Jewett of Fervo Energy, California Energy Commission member Andrew McAllister, and Dartmouth Sustainability Director Rosie Kerr, moderated by college vp for facilities and energy Roger Wakeman. Live in the institute's atrium at 4:30 pm, as well as livestreamed.
An evening of gallery exploration, refreshments, giveaways, live music by the Grace Wallace Quartet, and remarks from director John Stomberg. Runs from 5:00-6:30 pm.
Live music, food, Whaleback Mountain Ale, and more, all in an annual fundraiser to help keep the local mountain accessible for skiing, boarding, and uphilling to the community at large. Things get going at 6 pm.
Sears played John Lennon to Crawford's Paul McCartney in Northern Stage's
Only Yesterday
a few years ago, and they're getting back together this evening at 7 for an intimate evening of original music, new tunes, and their own spin on some Beatles favorites. Both have big things in the works:
The Vermont Project
next spring at Northern Stage for Crawford, a Broadway production of
Cult of Love
for Sears opening for previews next month.
The NJ-based novelist will read from and talk about her new novel, Akmaral, which features the Sauromatae of Central Asia during the Iron Age, whose women fought as warriors alongside men and may have been the inspiration for Greek legends about the Amazons. 7 pm.
Sean Wang's coming-of-age film about a 13-year-old Taiwanese-American on the edge of high school in mostly white Fremont, CA in 2008 won the Sundance Festival's audience award. "A love letter to immigrant mothers and a layered exploration of learning to love oneself against the Darwinian backdrop of teenage cliques," the Hop writes. 7 pm.
: retired physician and researcher Bill Black talks to Hanover Rotary about ranked-choice voting and the problems created by the partisan primary system; The Moonlighters big band concert last month; and the Hartford Community Coalition's 9th Annual Overdose Awareness Vigil at the end of August in Lyman Point Park. Plus, the Hartford Selectboard's discussion on adding parking kiosks to downtown WRJ.
And to start us off for the day...
We'll go back to one of the Dallas stairwells where the remarkable
a cappella
quartet Kings Return first found fame. This time,
See you tomorrow.
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.
Want to catch up on Daybreak music?
Want to catch up on Daybreak itself (or find that item you trashed by mistake the other day)? You can find everything on the Daybreak Facebook page
, or if you're a committed non-FB user,
.
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt About Rob About Michael
And if you think one or more of your friends would like Daybreak, too, please forward this newsletter and tell them to hit the blue "Subscribe" button below. And thanks! And hey, if you're that friend? So nice to see you! Subscribe at no cost at:
Thank you!