GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Snow showers continue this morning, will linger into the afternoon. True to its name, the clipper that brought us this latest round of snow arrived last night and is moving off to the east today. Today's snow will be heavier up high, but we still might see another inch or so in the valleys—though with temps reaching the mid 30s, there's a chance of rain mixing in this afternoon. Colder air arrives tonight, with lows in the upper teens. Wind gusts later this afternoon and tonight will create areas of intensely blowing snow.
And NH. Summits will see higher amounts.
And if you'd like a sense of all of New England and New York, here's Weather Underground's 48-hour map. (Thanks, JW!)
Three ways of looking at light.
Snow glistening on trees in Orford,from Robin Weisburger;
Looking out at the woods in Norwich, from Cynthia Crawford;
And parked by The Green in Woodstock, from Kathy Beaird.
Time for Dear Daybreak! In this week's collection of readers' short posts about life in the Upper Valley: Corlan Johnson reflects on going up versus going down—in life as on hills; Doug Heavisides fondly remembers (in verse) his neighbor, Henry, from when he was growing up; and Megan Coleman checks in with a "Little-Known Gem of the Upper Valley" in Charlestown.And hey, while we're here: Dear Daybreak's quickly become one of the most popular regular features on Daybreak. Which is fantastic! But it's got one weak spot: It depends on you sending in your stories or photos-with-stories or reminiscences or reflections or poems or suggestions for "Little-Known Gems of the Upper Valley". So if you're inspired to give it a try, send something along! You'll find a simple submission form at the burgundy link or here. Thank you.Hanover police release more details on Dartmouth hazing incident. In a press release yesterday, the department said that a Dartmouth student with "visible injuries that reportedly occurred after being struck multiple times with a wooden paddle" reported in September that he'd been hazed while pledging for the Theta Beta Beta fraternity, a local chapter of Omega Psi Phi. The victim also reported other indignities that we won't go into at breakfast time. The press release goes on to detail the three arrest warrants issued by the HPD.SPONSORED: More power, less pain: Ski conditioning exercises. Carve up your favorite trails all day long with these custom ski exercises, developed by Neil MacKenzie, DPT. Training program with photo and video guide linked above courtesy of Cioffredi & Associates, wishing you a wonderful winter ski season! Sponsored by Cioffredi & Associates Physical Therapy.More on Simon Pearce. The Valley News's John Lippman looks into SBJ Capital, the California private equity firm that is taking an undisclosed stake in the Windsor-based glassmaker. Among its holdings are the Swensons restaurant chain and New England’s largest owner of Planet Fitness franchises. Simon Pearce CEO Jay Benson tells Lippman that one factor in the move is Simon and Pia Pearce's determination to avoid family strife. “They’ve seen too many family companies that over time passing it on to the next generation creates animosity in the family. And they didn’t want to do that,” Benson says.Standup comics from around the country (well, okay, mostly NYC) flock to this corner of Vermont. For the third year running, the Woolen Mill Comedy Club's Collen Doyle and Matt Vita are throwing the Vermont Comedy Festival, which starts up tonight and runs through Sunday. This year's headliner is actor and comedian Tim Meadows, who covered the '90s on Saturday Night Live before going on to co-star in Mean Girls. In all, writes Seven Days' Ken Picard, about 60 comics will take the stage at venues from Bridgewater to Woodstock to Killington. He offers a preview of what's ahead.SPONSORED: The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley is a charming holiday tale about the confines of class and the generosity of forgiveness. A yuletide sequel to Pride and Prejudice, it runs Dec. 5 thru 22 at Shaker Bridge Theatre. In the downstairs servants’ quarters Mrs. Reynolds, a no-nonsense housekeeper; Cassie, an eager new maid; and Brian, a lovesick footman, are bustling with preparations for holiday guests. But their work is interrupted by the midnight arrival of the definitely not invited Mr. Wickham, Lydia’s rogue of a husband and Mr. Darcy’s sworn enemy. Sponsored by Shaker Bridge Theatre.NH Exec Council puts off vote on DH takeover of Hampstead Hospital operations. The bid to hand over control of the in-patient psychiatric facility for children, adolescents, and young adults has strong backing from Gov. Chris Sununu, who says the hospital's long-term stability "is at significant risk" without the move. But yesterday, reports NHPR's Todd Bookman, members of the Exec Council raised concerns about handing DH so much authority and about how giving it control will affect employees working at Hampstead. Saying they want more information, they decided to take it up again in two weeks. Behind an upcoming NH bill to hold parents accountable for school bullying: Grantham's school superintendent. The measure, proposed by Democratic Rep. Peter Leishman, would let school districts take parents or guardians to court if their child bullies someone and they don't help address it. Leishman filed it at the request of Lisa Walker, the Grantham district's superintendent, reports NHPR's Annmarie Timmins, after repeated encounters with parents who reject schools' concerns about behavior. “It has become more and more difficult to get parents to...be part of the solution,” Walker says.NH House Republicans re-elect Sherman Packard as speaker. It's a humdrum headline, but yesterday's vote had the potential to be anything but. Until the last minute, members had been expecting a challenge to Packard from fellow-Republican Kimberly Rice, who would have needed Democratic votes to prevail. But when her moment came, Rice instead rose to second Packard's nomination—"after a rather lively conversation and assurances that I live with and that I believe those that supported me can live with," she told the chamber. Meanwhile, the state Senate chose GOP Sen. Sharon Carson as president.In the VT House, Republicans say they'll vote to uphold Phil Scott's vetoes. Though they're still a minority in the chamber, the GOP picked up 18 seats last month, enough to deny Democrats their previous ability to override Scott. So at their first press conference yesterday, Minority Leader Pattie McCoy said they plan to put their augmented numbers to use, saying they'll back Scott and hope that their strength will "result in a stronger voice for us in the process and policies more closely aligned with what Vermonters really care about." VT Public's Peter Hirschfeld reports.In Barre, "a city brutalized by Vermont's opioid crisis," a new church takes hold for the addicted. In a feature-writing tour de force, Joe Sexton lays out the results of months of reporting on the city's struggles by focusing on Chuck Clark, a "church planter," and his bid to create a church "wholly made up of people battling addiction and those newly sober. It would be both unpretentious and deadly serious. It would be a church, God willing, that would rescue lives and save souls." Sexton, formerly of the NYT and ProPublica, runs twice the length of a usual Seven Days story, and it's worth every sentence.In NY's North Country, a fungus that locals believe comes from Whistlepig whiskey. The Vermont distiller stores barrels of its product in Mineville, NY, and a few years ago, reports WCAX's Sophia Thomas, residents began noticing a dark growth spreading across surfaces in the town. Testing revealed it to be whiskey fungus, which feeds on airborne alcohol vapor. The fungus is relatively unstudied—though a UVM scientist says "there doesn’t seem to be any good indication" that it's hazardous to people. Whistlepig has agreed to free power washing—but only if locals agree not to sue, several of them tell Thomas.
Brazil wildlife through Jim Block’s lens. You’ve seen—and admired—Jim's photos of Upper Valley animals and landscapes via Daybreak. This summer, he went far afield, to the Pantanal of Brazil, where he traveled with guides to photograph a whole new ark of wild friends: Azaras’s Capuchin monkeys, tapirs, ocelots, jaguars, and (kind of creepy) giant otters. There's quick taste of his favorites at the link, but hit the link near the top of that page to see photos of each of the many species he encountered. As you scroll, don’t miss the luminous Cattle Tyrant, sun-glow yellow against the bright-green landscape.The song of Nordic skiing. It's kind of atonal, and it's actually five years old, but hey, nothing ever truly fades away on the internet. At the Fossavatnsganga ski marathon some years back, Icelandic photographer Haukur Sigurdsson got an aerial view of the racers that looks just like notes on a musical staff. A couple of days ago, VT blogger Jason Kottke put it up, along with musician Matthew Cahn's piano rendition. And if you want to go deeper, YouTuber Andrew Huang did a techno version. Bear with him, it gets cool.
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Fleece vests, sweatshirts, head-warming beanies... Strong Rabbit has updated the Daybreak page to keep up with the changing weather. Plus, of course, the usual: t-shirts, long-sleeved tees, the Daybreak jigsaw, those perfect hand-fitting coffee/tea mugs, and as always, "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Check it all out at the link!
. There's a kickoff party at Ramunto's in Bridgewater at 5 pm, but what you'll really want to check out starts up at 8 pm:
the 1 Minute Stand Up Battle at the Woolen Mill Comedy Club. There'll be 50 comedians in rapid succession, each doing a one-minute standup act; the audience decides who gets to move on to the next of four rounds.
The festival (see news section above) runs through Sunday night.
Sally Naser, stewardship director for The Trustees of Reservations, the Massachusetts statewide land trust, has a network of trail cams set up around the state. She'll be offering lessons from the field, showing favorite images, talking about how trail cams help scientists and land managers, and offering practical advice on how to get started. 7 pm in the Mayer Room and online.
As you saw above,
Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon's play is
a sequel of sorts to
Pride and Prejudice
: a period piece highlighting the machinations of the below-stairs staff of Mr. Darcy's manor during a holiday gathering as Darcy's banned brother-in-law, the unreformed reprobate George Wickham, suddenly shows up. 7 pm, "Pay What You Will" tonight. 'Til 12/22.
Singer-songwriter Hilde Ojibway, vocalist Bethany Nafziger, bassist Eric Bronstein, and multi-instrumentalist Adam Sorscher use guitar, mandolin, banjo, and upright bass as they perform standouts from the modern singer-songwriter movement and original songs by Ojibway. 7 pm.
Hest came by his musical chops honestly, growing up in Riverdale (the Bronx) as the son of a sax player/jingle writer and a cantor. He began touring early as a performer, both solo and with Judy Collins (with whom he also partnered on songwriting), Martin Sexton, Suzanne Vega, and others. 7:30 pm, reservations required.
Okay, let's get up and moving!
Here's a mashup you probably wouldn't expect. Back in 2011, the Japanese band leader Junichiro "John" Imaeda pulled together a band of 10 Japanese musicians to play afro-groove dance music—then blended it with a form of traditional Japanese festival music called "Ohayashi". The result is... well, nothing you've ever heard before. The band, Ajate, put out a new album earlier this year.
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.
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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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