Daybreak Wednesday, 4/8/26

Before we start, a huge thank you! A couple of weeks ago, I made one of just a few requests for contributions per year. I never know what to expect, but the response to this one blew me away: Over a hundred of you signed up for monthly contributions or sent along one-time support, often for the first time. It was heartening—and a reminder that Daybreak rests foursquare on a community of people who care about the Upper Valley, Vermont, and New Hampshire. I'm so grateful: You are the model of what's possible. And if you didn't contribute then but want to now, here's the link.

Back to sun! It’s still going to be cool out—we start the day either side of 20 and should make it well into the 40s—but there’s high pressure overhead, and with all that sun, light winds, and low dewpoints, we’re looking at a pleasant, dry day (in fact, so dry that there are some fire concerns for tomorrow, but we’ll get to that then). Back into the low or mid 20s overnight before temps start rising toward spring.

Glimpses of red. Different birds, different locations, but equally striking.

“Airplanes are marching bands… In hot air ballooning, it’s pure jazz.” Janel Sharman wasn’t exactly enamored of Brian Boland’s “Museum of Rusty Dusty Stuff” out at the Post Mills Airport: “The dust is so thick I can smell it, and every object looks like it would probably give you tetanus,” she comments dryly in this final podcast piece from Sophie Crane’s “Tell Me a Story” class at Dartmouth. But Boland’s story, and his 2021 death, drew her to Post Mills, and to Jordan Long, who’s been living half of each month (the rest of the time he’s in Boston being a commercial airline pilot) in Boland’s old apartment as the airport’s resident balloonist. Sharman and Long talk about ballooning, Boland, and the long shadow Boland still casts.

Mascoma Valley Preservation seeks store manager. The Grafton nonprofit is planning to open a general store on the first floor of the Grafton Center Meetinghouse in September, reports Liz Sauchelli in the Valley News, and is looking for someone to run it. “We’re looking for a friendly, creative and motivated-in-food person,” says the group’s director, Andrew Cushing. “We know the bulk of the business will be with the deli and to-go foods so we want to make sure the quality of the food is what’s driving attendance.” Ever since the Grafton Country Store closed eight years ago, residents have trekked to Danbury or Canaan for groceries. Here’s what MVP has to say.

Hartford Police identify man found dead under bridge. The body of 40-year-old Jason Bennett of St. Albans was first noticed by a scrap picker on Sunday afternoon under the Urban Bridge in WRJ. That’s the Hartford Ave. bridge that crosses the White River by the Bugbee Senior Center. In a press release yesterday, the HPD writes that a preliminary investigation “did not reveal any obvious signs of trauma…. The cause and manner of death remain undetermined pending the results of the autopsy.”

SPONSORED: Help people who need a hand! Based in the Upper Valley, Hearts You Hold supports immigrants, migrants, and refugees across the US by asking them what they need. These include immigrants in Vermont who need car seats, dressers, and other basics, and immigrants across the country who need baby supplies, kitchen goods, clothing, and school supplies. At the burgundy link or here, you'll find people from all over who need your help getting started. Sponsored by Hearts You Hold.

A new scholarship honors musician and Upper Valley music catalyst Dave Clark. The fund will give $1,000 each year to a Hartford High senior who’s going to college and has been involved in the arts: music, dance, theater, whatever. It’s been in the works since before Clark’s death in October, 2020, spearheaded by his longtime collaborator Rob Oxford, his wife Helen Clark, and his friend David Briggs. Over the years, they’ve raised money however they could—First Friday, Blueberry Jam, the Briggs Opera house event for Ed Eastridge—and have enough right now to fund seven years of the awards, which will be overseen by Hartford High’s guidance department. First recipient will be named in June.

A cultural grab bag. Well, three things you might want to know about, anyway, from Susan Apel. In her latest Artful post, she writes that Hop@Home—the Hop’s streaming service for past performances, interviews, and presentations—is offering a free viewing (if you register and watch by April 30) of last fall’s Yo-Yo Ma-led “We Are Water: A Northeast Celebration” that ushered in the rebuilt building. She offers pointers to some other Hop@Home videos, too. Meanwhile, Osher@Dartmouth is turning 35 and making it easier for non-members to check it out. And on Saturday, New England School of the Arts is throwing a benefit show at LOH with music, dance, and more.

SPONSORED: Celebrate The Book of Pizza tomorrow, April 9! Join bakers and authors Martin Philip and David Tamarkin at River Roost Brewery in WRJ on Thursday, April 9 at 5pm to celebrate the release of King Arthur Baking Company's new book, The Book of Pizza, with pizza, drinks, and wisdom from baking experts! Tickets are required. Each ticket includes a copy of The Book of Pizza, plus pizza samples from Brownsville Butcher & Pantry! Learn more and purchase tickets at the burgundy link or here! Sponsored by the Norwich Bookstore.

Demolition begins for work on West Leb’s “Dry Bridge.” The 12A bridge is going to be replaced in a $14.3 million project that will close that stretch of road just off Main Street for a year starting in September. VN photographer Alex Driehaus was there as workers began clearing the area, demolishing two city-owned houses and removing trees. Her video’s at the link.

It looks like a silly time travel novel. But it’s also “a meditation on the profound discomfort of living.” George Falls Through Time, writes Still North Books’ H Rooker in this week’s Enthusiasms, is “easily my favorite book of the last year.” Ryan Collett’s novel tells the story of a neurotic and self-obsessed young man in London who’s trapped in a life he abhors—until, one day, he somehow manages to dump himself in the middle of 14th century England. “No matter how I try to describe this book, I can’t quite capture the beautiful writing and unexpected twists,” H writes. “This strange and stunning book is a perfect portrait of the human heart.”

Canadian tourists are not coming back. So concludes Alex Nuti-de Biasi, who writes in yesterday’s Journal Opinion newsletter about the year-over-year dropoffs in border crossings into NY, VT, and NH. In all, Canadian tourism to NY was down 21 percent between 2024 and 2025. VT border crossings were nearly 11 percent lower this January than they were in January, 2025. And though border numbers are harder to come by in NH, officials estimate they’ve dropped by 30 percent. Meanwhile, according to VT’s commerce agency, credit card spending by Canadian tourists is down sharply from 2024, with that trend continuing in Jan. and Feb. this year.

NH sees two years in a row of a tough flu season. It may be an outlier in northern New England—the CDC currently rates it as having “moderately severe” influenza levels, compared to “minimal” levels in VT and “low” levels in ME—but it’s on par with the rest of the country, which is having its worst flu season since last year, which in turn was the worst since 2011. There have been a few particularly concerning trends, DHMC epidemiologist Michael Calderwood tells NH Bulletin’s William Skipworth, including GI illness in schools and rise in flu-related brain swelling in adults; 1 out of 4 cases die. “And this is something that is vaccine preventable,” Calderwood says.

Battery from EV in Bedford toll crash reignites. In all, reports David Brooks on his Granite Geek blog, it took 60,000 gallons of water from firefighters to put it out on Monday, some five days after actor Gene Mirman was pulled from his flaming car by a member of Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s security detail. Jim Bailey Sr., who towed Mirman’s Lucid Gravity to his scrap yard, tells Brooks that he moved the car on Monday after it had been quiet for days, and “the batteries shorted out and it went into thermal runaway,” overheating in an unstoppable chain reaction. Bailey says scrap yard owners are slowly learning how to deal with EVs: “Don’t park them next to anything of any value.”

As Sterling College prepares to close, memories of culinary creativity. The tiny college in Craftsbury Common is in its final semester, and staff and former students carry a wealth of knowledge about sustainable food, writes Seven Days’ Suzanne Podhaizer. She spent a morning at the dining hall, which serves meat, cheese, and produce from the campus farm—nothing like the institutional fare on most campuses. As staff scurry to use up huge quantities of farm-raised food from the freezers and pantries, Podhaizer shares their tips: on freezing produce, making pickles “taste like Christmas,” and embracing the idea “that you can make anything you want.”

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

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HEADS UP
At the Norman Williams Public Library in Woodstock, Ron Miller on “‘A New Nation, Conceived in Liberty…’: Enlightenment Idealism and the Reality of the Modern World”. Miller, a teacher, author, and former NWPL board president, kicks off a four-part series with different lecturers at the library, “250 Years: Looking Back & Looking Ahead.” Miller’s talk looks at the idealistic ideals of the founding era and the “old prejudices, old power structures, and old flaws of human nature [that] remained unvanquished.” 2 pm.

At the Tuck School, Ariel Kalil and “The High Cost of Low Skills: The Role of Parenting in Building a Strong and Prosperous Nation”. Kalil, who teaches public policy at the University of Chicago, focuses on the role of families and parenting in skills development, and will talk about “the social and economic implications of parenting, focusing on its intergenerational effects on human capital and opportunities [and why] traditional education-focused reforms often fall short.” 5:30 pm in McLaughlin Atrium, Raether Hall.

The Peabody Library in Post Mills hosts Jakeza. Samantha Moffatt and Clément Demers play Celtic, French, and other tunes from western and central European traditions, on accordion and hammered dulcimer. 7 pm.

At the Center at Eastman, “A Few of My Favorite Things” with soprano Allison Pollard and accompanist Will Ögmundson. Pollard, who’s performed with Opera North and elsewhere, teaches at Upper Valley Music Center, as does Ögmundson. They’ll be collaborating on songs from musical theater, Celtic, folk, and classical. 7 pm in the Draper Room.

Ellen Rockmore and Sarah McCraw Crow at Still North Books. The two novelists shold have plenty to talk about: Women navigating life in two different small college towns in pretty much the same era a half-century ago, though Rockmore’s The Given-Up Girl and Crow’s The Wrong Kind of Woman have different personal stories at their center. They’ll read and hash it all out at 7 pm.

Poet James K. Zimmerman at the Norwich Bookstore. Zimmerman, author of four previous books, has a new collection out, Uncertainty. He starts with the Big Bang, moves to the present, “in the voices of robots, AI, and interstellar satellites,” asks how human creations “represent us to the cosmos.” 7 pm.

Valley Improv at Sawtooth Kitchen. An evening of… you guessed it! Improv. 8 pm.

And for today...

The “transatlantic” string band Wayward Jane, based in Edinburgh and dedicated to merging American and Scottish folk sensibilities, with “Everything Changes”.

See you tomorrow.

Written and published by Rob Gurwitt      Poetry editor: Michael Lipson    Associate Editors: Jonea Gurwitt, Sam Gurwitt