GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Chance of showers. We’ve got low pressure continuing to hang out for a few more days, and there’s a good chance of showers this morning, tapering off this afternoon as the skies clear and we end up with sun. Temps will be warmer—into the mid or even upper 70s—with winds from the southeast. Tonight’s lows around 60.
Into the blue. On the ground and in the air.
The first is this striking Indigo Milk Cap mushroom near Mink Brook in Hanover, spotted by Catherine Latouche.
And the second is drone artist William Daugherty’s aerial tour of the senior parking spots at Hartford High, decorated with their “owners’” murals.
Enfield Village School in the spotlight for advances in reading. Tuesday, reports Molly Hughes in the Valley News, US Sen. Jeanne Shaheen—a literacy proponent in Congress—visited the school, 77 percent of whose students scored proficient or better in reading in 2025, vs. a 55 percent statewide figure. “Children in this school do better than expected in terms of reading, and that’s because Enfield has really engaged with evidence-based literacy programs,” Shaheen said. Principal Jamie Winney attributes the progress in part to close attention to data on issues like which students are struggling: “We’ve worked really hard at making sure we know what it’s saying.”
Online counseling effort in five NH school systems—including Lebanon, Claremont, and Newport—is speeding access for middle- and high schoolers. The three-year program, run by Cartwheel Care and subsidized by the nonprofit Safe Schools New Hampshire, has not just enlisted students to promote it to other students, reports NHPR’s Annmarie Timmins, but has cut dramatically into the usual months-long wait for a student needing help to see someone—in some cases, down to a week. “It’s just so fast,” Beth Parthum, a counselor at Lebanon High School, tells Timmins. Timmins lays out how and why it seems to be working.
SPONSORED: Want to learn it? Do it! Hartford Area Career and Technology Center Adult Ed has exciting new opportunities designed to help you build skills, explore a new career, or learn something you’ve always wanted to do. Our new Dental Assisting Program starts Sept. 22—space is still available. Take a look at other fall classes too: Replace Your Own Windows, Intro to Bookkeeping, Intro to Welding, and more! Whether you’re looking to advance your career, change direction, or simply learn something new, there’s a class for you. Hit the burgundy link and click “Connect With Us,” or call Jennifer Opalinski at (802) 295-8630. Sponsored by HACTC Adult Ed.
And that’s a wrap! Filming on JAM’s first full-length feature film, Valley Transit, has ended, reports Marion Umpleby in the VN. Set in venues all over the Upper Valley—the Norwich Fair, Shyrl’s, the Hanover Co-op—the film tells the story of the friendship between a recent high school grad and an elderly man, with a side story about the “community uproar around a developer who plans to build high-end condos on top of a public park.” The effort relied on a paid cast and crew of about 60, plus unpaid interns, Umpleby writes, and now moves on to editing and other work. “There’s a world in which it could be finished by mid-winter,” says director and writer Samantha Davidson Green.
Swimming across Lake Sunapee, nearly blind. Jessie Waterman was born with a condition that limits her eyesight to mostly to shapes and shadows. “I joke with people I have enough vision to get into trouble but not enough to get out," she tells WMUR’s Sean McDonald for the latest episode of NH Chronicle. McDonald was there for a small tradition on the lake: Ever since 2015, Skip Hause—now 82—has asked one or more companions to join him on a swim across the lake. This year, it was New London’s Waterman—an ironman triathlete—and her husband, Stephen, who regularly serves as her swim guide. McDonald and his crew go along for the crossing.
SPONSORED: One in six children in Vermont and New Hampshire face hunger. The Upper Valley Haven's Community Food Market is open five days a week, no income verification required. Last year it served 3,429 households, more than 9,700 people, including 2,726 children. September is Hunger Action Month, and every gift given this month is matched up to $25,000. Learn more here or at the burgundy link. Sponsored by the Upper Valley Haven.
There aren’t many contested races on the NH primary ballot next Tuesday, but Sullivan County’s got an intriguing one. It’s the three-way GOP faceoff for the two-seat state House District 8, which takes in parts of Claremont, Croydon, Springfield, and Sunapee. It’s the seat once held by former Claremont City Council member Jon Stone, who lost the legislative seat in the 2024 elections after records from his time as a police officer revealed he’d threatened his chief and other officers with violence. As Clare Shanahan reports in the VN, Stone, now the county GOP chair, is running to get it back. He’s opposed by Croydon’s Catherine Peschke and Goshen Selectboard vice chair Sebastian Zyzdorf. Shanahan details each candidate’s priorities and stances.
Ayotte says she’ll oppose proposed data center. The day after NH Bulletin broke the news that there’s a move afoot to build a “hyperscale” data center in Bow, the state’s governor yesterday told the Exec Council that she’s against it, and will propose a moratorium on data centers in her upcoming budget, reports NHPR’s Kate Dario. “I want to reduce energy prices and the amount of energy a data center takes will raise energy costs in the state of New Hampshire, and I can't support that,” Ayotte said. Democrats in the legislature also announced yesterday that they’ll propose a measure imposing a 24-month moratorium on developing data centers in the state.
At CCV, “adaptability and pluck” win a reputation for success. Enrollment at Community College of Vermont, reports Alison Novak in Seven Days, “is on track to tick up by 9 percent, a minor triumph amid declining ranks of college-age students in the state.” In particular, she writes, the system’s “bent for practical training and offerings that appeal to a wide range of students help it stand out in a landscape where private colleges and public institutions” are struggling. Especially, says Kevin Chu of the VT Futures Project, by its ability to “keep an eye on what’s happening in the labor market … and to shift curriculum much more rapidly than other institutions.”
VT’s Unclaimed Property Division is holding $175 million in funds that belong to ordinary Vermonters. Maybe some of it is yours? That money, state Treasurer Mike Pieciak tells VTDigger’s Erin Petenko, could come from a variety of sources, including a last paycheck, or an unclaimed security deposit, or a refunded bill. The payer, Petenko writes, “can’t just take back the money. Instead, it must go to the state of Vermont in the hope its intended recipient will come collect it.” She digs into the program and how it works. Pieciak recommends checking every year. So if you want to look for yourself…
A film without speech is far from silent: the wizardry of foley artists. Director Daniel Jewel’s short film, The Secret World of Foley, takes us behind the scenes as sounds are layered onto a film about fishermen at work in Devon, England. A splashing waterfall, the clanking rigging, the crunch of stone underfoot, none come from the action on screen. Instead, foley artists Pete Burgis and Sue Harding (Slumdog Millionaire, Casino Royale, and many others) pull from a cluttered encyclopedia of a stock room, and, tracking every movement, create sound that mirrors the action on screen, with buckets of water, bananas, boots, and …
The Thursday Crossword. It’s Laura Braunstein’s “midi” for the week—still topical, just like the Tuesday “mini”.
Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.
Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it stick around by hitting the maroon button:
THERE'S SOME GREAT DAYBREAK SWAG! Like Daybreak tote bags, sweatshirts, head-warming beanies, 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!
HEADS UP
At the Norwich Historical Society, an opening reception for “We the Unseen People: An artist and historian explore the archives.” As the NHS writes, the established history of Norwich, written in 1905, tells “an origin story featuring an Anglo-American, masculine-centric world. But what of the people who greeted the new settlers? And all the women who cooked, spun, wove, raised children, and kept the farms running while the men were away? Who else lived in Norwich in the early years of Revolutionary aspiration and what can we learn from their stories?” The society’s director, Sarah Rooker, and artist Luciana Frigerio together explore those questions in the exhibit—which includes an 1818 silk facsimile of the Declaration of Independence. Reception 5-7 pm.
Fabiola Mendez at Feast & Field in Barnard. The Puerto Rican cuatrista, singer, and Emmy-nominated composer has worked with a host of Puerto Rican musical mainstays, from the Puerto Rico Symphony to Bad Bunny. Her work blends folk, jazz, and Afro-Caribbean influences. Gates and food at 5:30 pm, music at 6.
Michael Tougias with “400 Miles Down the Connecticut River” at the Norwich Public Library. Tougias, author of over a dozen books about New England, “offers a narrated slide presentation that takes the viewer down the entire 410 miles of the river, discussing history from the days of loggers, Indian Wars, steamships, and canals.” He’ll also be talking about a new book (with movie in the works), Deep Water A True Story of Sharks, Survival and Courage. 6:30 pm.
In Woodstock, Elizabeth Wellington Rollins launches The Three Graces of Pearl Street. The local author’s debut novel is about an Italian American grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter (all named after the Roman myth of the Three Graces) who find lives and secrets colliding when they have to live under the same roof. It’s been getting plenty of book-world buzz, and Rollins will be on hand to talk about it and the experiences that led to it, and have a conversation with Woodstock’s Laura Powell. At the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre, reception at 6:30, talk begins at 7.
Wakeman opens a four-day run at the New London Barn Playhouse. The new folk-rock musical by Jenn Grinels is still in development: It tells the stories of women who fought in the Civil War by focusing on the true story of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, “a young woman who presented herself as a man and joined the Union Army.” Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 2 and 7:30 pm, Sunday at 5 pm. There’ll be “talk-backs” with the cast and creative team after the Thurs-Sat performances.
And two opportunities you should know about:
Auditions for the Parish Players’ Ten-Minute Play Festival start up this evening at 6 pm, and will be held again on Saturday at 10 am. You don’t need to sign up in advance, but it helps the directors to know how many people are interested. Also, they write, “you will only be expected (allowed) to audition on one of these two days.” Performances in the second half of October. 31 Hanover Street in Lebanon, Units 4 & 5 (NCCT’s new space). More info at the link (scroll down).
The Vermont Community Foundation has just announced funding for organizations “working to preserve and enhance the physical, cultural, spiritual, and wellness environment” of the communities of Barnard, Bridgewater, Hartland, Killington, Plymouth, Pomfret, Reading, or Woodstock. More info at the link. Applications due by Oct. 13.
And for today...
Fabiola Mendez (this evening at Feast & Field), with “Canción de amor” off her album Flora Campesina.
See you tomorrow.
Looking for all of the hikes, Enthusiasms, daybreak photos, or music that Daybreak has published over the years? Go here!
And always, if you’re not a subscriber yet:
Want to catch up on Daybreak itself (or find that item you trashed by mistake the other day)? You can find everything on Daybreak’s homepage.
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editors: Jonea Gurwitt, Sam Gurwitt
And if you think one or more of your friends would like Daybreak, too, please forward this newsletter and tell them to visit daybreak.news to sign up.
Thank you!
