GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
It's going to be a lot like yesterday. Though with a chance of drizzle this morning and a slight chance the rest of the day. Decently pleasant temps again, highs in the mid-50s, winds from the south. Temps above normal tonight, too, somewhere in the high 40s.Pop-up shops, Babe's, Bethel U... Vermont's Downtown Development Board toured Bethel yesterday and got a look at how far the town's come thanks to its all-volunteer revitalization initiative. “People just go out and do stuff,” Rebecca Sanborn Stone, one of the initiative's instigators, told them. (VN)Biden to stump for funds in Norwich. His campaign had announced a stop somewhere in VT, and now VTDigger tells us where: at the home of Jane and Bill Stetson, who are hosting a fundraiser on his behalf on Nov. 9. Jane Stetson got to know him when she was finance chair for the Democratic National Committee while he was VP. She sent invitations out last Friday.VTrans to cut down remaining maple tree from Romaine Tenney's farm because it's dying, and wants ideas for how to honor the spot. “The tree has long stood as a symbol and a reminder of Romaine Tenney, his farm, and the broader impact that interstate construction had on the ways people travel, live, and work throughout Vermont,” historic preservation specialist Kyle Obenauer tells Nancy Nutile-McMenemy. “We want to honor Mr. Tenney in a thoughtful, respectful manner.” Meeting at the Ascutney Fire Station tonight at 6. This has gone national, by the way, via this AP story. “He was the most beloved member of our department.” That's one of Dave Bucci's former colleagues, in a tribute and in-depth profile in The Dartmouth. Bucci, the former chair of the college's Psychological and Brain Sciences Department, took his own life on Oct. 15. He “was kind, undeniably respectful, undoubtedly loyal and one of the most open and honest people I have known," says another prof. "It’s hard to imagine how we’ll recover from this loss.” We think of it as the Northern Rail Trail, but it was once the Northern Railroad. NHPR's Sean Hurley sits down with Grafton's Ken Cushing, who's writing a history of the railroad that ran between Lebanon and Concord, and West Leb's Jean Gove, who grew up across from the station in Grafton. The line ran from 1847 until about 1982. And the state still owns the right of way, Cushing points out. “So any day, Amtrak, for example, could say to the state, 'Hey, we want to re-introduce passenger rail to Montreal.'" Well, they made it. You may remember that a couple of months ago, blogger Bob Totz went out for a walk on the AT and met four thru-hikers: Mousetrap, North Star, Yee Ha, and Executioner. He decided to catch up on how the rest of their treks went. Here they are, with some stunning pics through the Whites, at the start of the 100-mile Wilderness, and atop... well, you can probably guess.Speaking of Upper Valley visitors, here's what Boston's WCVB did in last night's Chronicle segment on the region:
It wandered around Leb (with a toe-dip into WRJ): Lucky's, the Little Store, and Brian Barthelme's tattoo shop;
And checked out: Morano Gelato and My Brigadeiro in Hanover, and Brian Boland's Vermontasaurus out in Post Mills.
It's high school theater season, and there is a lot going on. Seriously. The VN's Sarah Earle dives into a preview, with details: The Trumbull Hall Troupe's Newsies, The Hobbit at Mascoma, The Addams Family at Hartford, Hanover's production of Two Gentlemen of Verona, plus productions by students at Stevens (Peter and the Starcatcher), Rivendell (Clue: Onstage), Oxbow (an original called Hometown Hospital), Thetford (Antigone), and in December, Leb (Tuck Everlasting), and Woodstock (A Christmas Carol).The Grafton Center Meetinghouse as birds get to see it. Just wantto pause to admire the new aerial view that Mascoma Preservation's using for its website banner. And what the heck, here's a bird's-eye view of the state capitol dome in Concord. Plus an intriguing NH sub-Reddit discussion about the legalities of flying drones over state capitols.Could offshore wind become "a whole new industry" for NH? Earlier this year, Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed a bill to create a study commission on clean energy procurement, saying it would "open the door" to higher energy costs. Now his business and economic commissioner, Taylor Caswell, is joining forces with MA and ME to explore wind in the Gulf of Maine. Bottom line: There are a lot of potential jobs, but also environmental and fisheries stumbling blocks.“The government has grown like a bloated tick off the blood of working Vermonters." That was Brookfield lawyer, farmer, and conservative commentator John Klar announcing his candidacy for the GOP gubernatorial nomination yesterday. Presumably he'll be taking on incumbent Republican Phil Scott, though Scott has said he won't announce his plans until spring. Oh, the rest of that quote? "It's time to pop it, and make sure we get the head out."Move aside, VT and ME! It's NH's turn in the craft-brew spotlight. Vinepair, a hip national site devoted to wine, beer, and spirits, is up with "Exploring the Emerging, Community-Oriented Craft Beer Scene in New Hampshire." It tours some little-known up-and-coming breweries and dives pretty deep, including into legislation that has made life easier for nanobrewers in the state. Plus, it notes that the first line-around-the-block beer release — take that, Heady Topper! — was for Portsmouth Brewery's limited-run Kate the Great in 2008.If you like Daybreak and want to help it keep going, here's how:
SO WHAT'S UP TONIGHT?
Yes, says Sue Morse, they've been seen in the east and appear to be trying to re-establish former habitats. Morse, a tracker, naturalist and wildlife educator, will give the first of a series of lectures in Fairlee devoted to the environment and people of the Upper Valley. Seriously good slides on cougar biology and ecology, discussion about the latest sightings. Q&A afterward. Fairlee Town Hall at 6:30.
As you know, VPR and Vermont PBS have joined up for a series exploring rural Vermont, called "This Land." Tonight, five central Vermonters talk on stage with VPR's Jane Lindholm about the "challenges and opportunities" of living in rural VT. Starts at 7 pm, and the doors will close then because the event's being taped/filmed for broadcast next week. Tix are free but you'll need to register.
Meanwhile, Woodstock's William Boardman will be at the Norman Williams Public Library discussing impeachment and his book, Exceptional.
The subtitle pretty much explains it: "American Exceptionalism Takes Its Toll." In this series of essays, Boardman, a critic of US policy from the left, looks at the erosion of voting rights, issues around free speech, racism, climate change, nuclear policy... Starts at 6.
Fifteen years ago, accomplished pianists Pinkas and Hirsch did a one-off four-hand piano performance. It stuck, and they've since taken their duo around the world. Tonight, it's dances: Darius Milhaud's
Scaramouche
; Samuel Barber's
Souvenirs
; William Bolcom's Latin dances in
Recuerdos
; Joseph Horovitz's
Concerto for Dancers
, (an accidental and ultimately romantic meeting of ballet and calypso dancers); and a suite of "three little dances," including Hirsch's
Sally's Waltz.
At 7:30 in Spaulding.
Silas McPrior's at Windsor Station, Jakob Breitbach's hosting his usual Tuesday acoustic jam at The Filling Station in WRJ, Jim Yeager's got an open mic at The Public House in Quechee... This week's bars/pubs at the link.
And what the heck, just to get your heartbeat up here's Pinkas performing Debussy's
a few years back. See you tomorrow.
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