Daybreak Thursday, 12/11/25

Mostly sunny, getting colder. Yesterday’s storm system has moved out, though the mountains are still getting snow this morning (which may last into tomorrow), and clouds are clearing over the course of the day south to north. There’s cold air moving in, however, so this morning’s benign temps will drop into the teens by the end of the day and down to around 10 by tomorrow morning. That colder air will also be arriving in strong gusts from the west throughout the day, up to around 30 mph.

Sundogs. On Tuesday, between snowfalls. As Leslie Barbour writes, “as the sun got higher, we could see that the air was filled with tiny sparkly ice crystals - so beautiful!”

Time for Dear Daybreak! In this week’s collection of Upper Valley vignettes from Daybreak readers, Janie Snowden starts things off with her oil painting of Musterfield Farm in N. Sutton, NH; Liz Ryan Cole tells the story of the hitchhiker she took pity on—with misgivings—in a snowstorm; Don McCabe shares his photo of what greets weary travelers arriving at the Norwich Inn these days; and Jamie Vander Clute writes in about a cat named Spaghetti, his arrival in the Upper Valley, and why the first week of December will always be Spaghetti time. And if you’ve got something to share, please send it in.

Cornish home of Edgewater Farm co-owners damaged in fire. The historic brick house of Ray and Jenny Sprague (Jenny will be familiar to you thanks to her engaging CSA blog) went up in flames Monday night, reports Lukas Dunford in the Valley News. It broke out around 7 pm, and Ray Sprague “suspects the source of the fire was an ember flying out of an external boiler’s exhaust,” Dunford writes. The fire spread into a woodpile, and then an attached barn and the house, though the bricks slowed it. Organized community help is in the works, but, Ray Sprague tells Dunford, “The best way to support us right now is to buy our produce. It’s gonna take a lot of carrots to get this thing put back together.”

Fairlee town administrator hired as Williamstown, VT manager. It’ll be a step up in responsibilities for Ryan Lockwood, who as administrator supports the selectboard, which in turn is responsible for running the town. As Williamstown’s manager, he’ll be in charge of day-to-day administration. Lockwood was the unanimous choice of Williamstown’s board, reports David Delcore in the Times Argus, capping “a whirlwind search” that began shortly after the previous manager, Jackie Higgins, was arrested at the town offices for allegedly embezzling from the Tunbridge Volunteer Fire Department. The Fairlee board met yesterday to talk about replacing Lockwood.

SPONSORED: Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital Express Care is now open. Our Express Care team treats adults and children over the age of one for non-life-threatening conditions. And with evening and weekend hours, you get the right level of care when you need it. Get immediate care for coughs, colds, rashes, and sprains right at APD Express Care, and all without an appointment. Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital Express Care. Part of the best health system in the region, Dartmouth Health. Sponsored by Dartmouth Health.

Ahem. About that Sol Invictus… Yesterday’s item on the new holiday ornament put up by the Satanic Temple by the NH State House mentioned that it was to honor the temple’s Sol Invictus holiday. Which, it turns out, is actually an ancient holiday honoring a sun god of the late Roman empire, repurposed for the temple’s purposes. Original Concord Monitor article here. (Thanks, PH!)

Upper Valley landmarks get slice of $3.5 million in NH preservation grants. The state’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, or LCHIP, announced this year’s awards on Tuesday. Among the recipients: the Croydon Village School, which is the oldest continuously operating one-room schoolhouse in the state; Dorchester’s 1905 Cheever Chapel gets funds to stabilize the building; the John Hay Estate at the Fells in Newbury will get help replacing its roof; Plainfield Town Hall gets rehab funds, including for “dedicated environmental controls” for the Maxfield Parrish backdrop; and the Forest Society gets funds to conserve land in Springfield’s Pillsbury Ridge Forest.

SPONSORED: Holiday cheer begins at Chapman’s General. There’s no better place to ease into the season than Chapman’s General—celebrating 150 years right here in the heart of Fairlee. Our shelves are full of cozy gifts, local goodies, warm winter comforts, and little surprises that make holiday shopping feel like a visit with neighbors. Wander in, take your time, and enjoy the charm of a true Vermont country store. Sponsored by Chapman’s General — Serving Fairlee since 1875.

“It went from, Maybe he should lay off the weed, to What is he doing with the money?” Wherever it went, the $70,000 that Sarah Deuell paid to Bradford businessman Matthew Strong did not get her the camper van she had been promised. News broke in November that Strong, a music promoter who also runs East Coast Van Builds, planned to plead guilty to wire fraud for misusing customers’ money and putting it toward, among other things, his music festivals. Now, Seven Days’ Derek Brouwer reports the stories of some of those customers and hears from Bradford arts supporter Jared Pendak, who says he was shocked to learn about the van debacle. “He’s done a lot for performance arts here,” Pendak says.

At Northern Stage, “It’s opera meets ballet meets dance party. And sword fights.” That would be the company’s current hit, Peter and Wendy, directed by Eric Love. This retelling and updating of the Peter Pan story has a pace that “often moves like a rocket,” writes Susan Apel in Artful, who suggests that “if you can just let yourself go to embrace the spectacle, you will be delighted with each new surprise.” Both Susan and the VN’s Marion Umpleby single out Jacob Tischler as Hook and Jason Simon as his sidekick, Smee, though Umpleby also highlights the dynamic between Peter, played by Hanover High’s Yuvraj Sathe, and Dartmouth student Julia Zichy’s Wendy. As Susan notes, the play’s run has been extended through Jan. 4.

Mt. Washington Avalanche Center begins winter forecasts. They started up yesterday and will be issued each day at 7 am until spring. The link takes you to yesterday’s, which warns, “You could trigger an avalanche once wind-drifted snow accumulates in steep north and east-facing terrain at middle and upper elevations”—and that yesterday’s expected 3”-7” would raise avalanche danger overnight to “considerable.” “New wind slabs will likely form in north, northeast, and east aspects that are small and reactive. Later in the day as slabs thicken, you could encounter a large wind slab that could bury you.” Check in again this morning at 7…

There’s a national referee shortage, and VT’s been hit especially hard. Refs who can officiate at high school games “are spread thin covering games across 23 sports at over 70 high schools,” writes Busy Anderson for UVM’s Community News Service. “Trainees aren’t offsetting the number of retiring veteran officials, and the resulting gap in personnel is forcing games to be postponed or canceled.” Part of the issue is an aging workforce, with refs who have decades of experience stepping down. But it’s also pay—a great hourly rate if you count just the game, but not so much if you count the commute, arriving early, etc.—and rising harassment from spectators.

This could be a good winter for visitors from the north—at least, the winged variety. That’s because there’s a poor crop in Canada’s boreal forest this year, while VT Fish & Wildlife reports that early redpoll movement “is also pointing to a possible poor seed crop in Northern Quebec and Labrador.” Meanwhile, there’s an above-average cone crop from the Adirondacks east, giving this winter “the potential of being the biggest irruption in the last five years!” If it happens, you’ll see unusually large flocks of Grosbeaks, Redpolls, Crossbills and other northern species. Just in time for the annual Christmas Bird Count (more on that below).

And while we’re talking birds, an up-close murmuration of starlings. Usually they’re off in the distance, and the patterns are spectacular. This time, Rochester, NY-area photographer Carrie Ann Grippo-Pike caught one right in her front yard.

And speaking of unusual views, Hurricane Melissa, seen from inside the eye. The US Air Force 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron has flown through plenty of bad weather, so to the "Hurricane Hunters” who routinely fly their planes straight into chaos, this fall’s Hurricane Melissa may not have seemed terrifying. But to the rest of us watching the video? Yikes! Based in Biloxi, the squadron flies WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft equipped to gather weather data every 30 seconds. It all seems so calm in this video, though definitely eerie, but Melissa was a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 160 miles per hour that left scores dead and damages in the billions. 

The Thursday crossword. Puzzle ace Laura Braunstein is back with another Upper Valley-themed crossword, this one a “midi”—a bit longer than Tuesday’s mini, but it won’t eat up all your breakfast time.

Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.

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HEADS UP
Fable Farm’s Rumney Sessions host the Ben Kogan Band in Barnard. Every Thursday once the weather chills, the barn at the farm hosts live music, food, and relaxed company, and tonight’s session features Barnard guitarist, bassist, and music organizer Ben Kogan, along with Justin Park on mandolin and bass, Marc Edwards on guitar, and Ian Koeller on drums. Doors and food at 5:30, music starts up 6-ish.

WRJ’s Downtown Documentary Club screens LISTERS: A Glimpse into Extreme Birdwatching. The monthly gathering upstairs at the Upper Valley Food Co-op is showing Owen and Quentin Reiser’s film (it’s “become the most talked-about birding movie in ages, and is putting a whole new side of the hobby on screen”—Slate) and following it up with a discussion about the Christmas Bird Count, “a giant annual community science project (that can be a solid introduction to the hobby of birding),” the doc club writes. Several local birders will also be on hand to share stories and hotspot tips. 7 pm.

Unsung Heroes at the Flying Goose in New London. Original music inspired by country and American roots. 7:30 pm.

And anytime, JAM’s highlights for the week, which this week focus on a tribute to producer, artist, and community mainstay Barbara Krinitz. There are links to her remarkable store of videos about the Upper Valley’s people; her series “The Magic’s in the Music”, with interviews and live music around the region; her “Three Minute Tales” series focused on everyone from the Junction Fiber Mill’s Peggy Allen to Adam Sorscher on The Anonymous Coffeehouse; and her archive of Anonymous Coffeehouse acts over the years.

And for today...

RIP Raul Malo, lead singer and guitarist for The Mavericks and, as NPR put it on Tuesday, “one of the most recognizable voices in roots music.” He died at age 60 Monday after a long bout with cancer. “Anyone with the pleasure of being in Raul’s orbit knew that he was a force of human nature, with an infectious energy. Over a career of more than three decades entertaining millions around the globe, his towering creative contributions and unrivaled, generational talent created the kind of multicultural American music reaching far beyond America itself,” The Mavericks wrote on Instagram. There’s too much good stuff to choose from, so we’ll do two today: “Every Little Thing About You” and “Come Unto Me”.

See you tomorrow.

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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt      Poetry editor: Michael Lipson    Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt   About Rob                                                 About Michael

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