GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Mostly sunny but a lot cooler—with a frost warning tonight. Yesterday's cold front brought in a trailing mass of cold air, and we're going to see temps at best in the low 50s today and dropping into the upper 20s tonight on winds from the northwest. More worrisome for fire officials are today's wind gusts, which could get above 25 mph. With vegetation already dry, we're looking at high fire danger throughout Vermont and New Hampshire today.In case you want to see that fire visual for yourself:
The waters of May. Hey, it's not all dry out there...
Here's spring runoff at an unnamed falls in Norwich, from Rich Cohen
And a vernal pool closeup in Hanover Center, by Sharon Wight
With resignation of its town manager, Hartland joins the throng of towns in the hunt. Okay, not quite a "throng," but Hartford, Thetford, and Norwich are all looking for new permanent managers, and Canaan's administrator just announced he's leaving, too. In Hartland's case, the selectboard last week accepted the resignation of Dave Ormiston, reports Liz Sauchelli in the Valley News. Ormiston had been on paid leave since March, after town clerk Brian Stroffolino—without naming names—told the selectboard he had witnessed "abusive, aggressive, disrespectful...and vulgar behavior” in town hall.On second try, Randolph voters approve police budget. You may remember that early this year, the Orange County sheriff cancelled its policing contract with the town, leaving Randolph to cobble together its own department. Then, on town meeting day, voters overwhelmingly rejected a bid by the selectboard to fund the new police district, panning it as too expensive. So yesterday the board was back, this time with a pared-down proposal of $524,102 (vs. $744K the first time) that would fund a chief, staff, and some part-time officers. It passed 344-184, WCAX reports.“There are a lot of small towns in this area, and they all have stories to tell." Day after tomorrow, the Norwich Historical Society opens an exhibit of cartoonist Emily Zea's drawings illustrating the town's history, from the time of the Abenaki to the town's early industries to the ins and outs of town government—along with the artifacts from which Zea drew inspiration. "Art makes history more accessible to everyone,” she tells the VN's Liz Sauchelli. “(History) can sometimes feel like it’s so far away from all of us, but comics sort of pull it to the now instead."SPONSORED: Free music festival in downtown Lebanon this weekend! Join Upper Valley Music Center Saturday and Sunday, May 20-21, for Sing & Play Festival, a free participatory event celebrating our local music community. Enjoy performances, jams, sing-alongs, a family dance, and buskers performing on the street (musicians: sign up for a slot!) plus food, arts & crafts, and an instrument petting zoo. Whether you’re a musician or a music lover, we welcome the whole community! Sponsored by Upper Valley Music Center.With help from states, feds, telehealth continues even as most pandemic regs expire. In particular, writes Nora Doyle-Burr in the VN, the Drug Enforcement Agency last week announced a six-month extension of rules allowing physicians to prescribe via telehealth, as it preps more permanent regulations. In NH, Gov. Sununu signed a bill sponsored by two Hanover Democrats allowing health providers to keep prescribing controlled drugs via telehealth, and VT has taken similar steps. And DHMC is still fully on board. “A lot of times no telehealth means no care,” DH's Dr. Kevin Curtis says."Especially if I were young and furnishing a first apartment, COVER would be destination shopping." Artful's Susan Apel has passed by the WRJ-based nonprofit and its store plenty of times, but until last week, she writes, she'd never been inside. She and her husband are decluttering, and wanted to know what they could donate. They were stopped in their tracks by the store itself: "Complete sets of beautiful china, coffee makers, pots and pans both well-loved and some like new," she writes. Chairs and other furniture. Books. A roomful of lighting fixtures. No, she did not leave empty-handed.“Most people won't taste them and say, 'Obviously, somebody spent 36 hours working on these fries.'" Matt Walker opened Broken Hearts Burger in Fairlee a year ago to serve classic diner food. But, writes Jordan Barry in Seven Days, not so classic are the time, research, and thought that go into each dish, from those 36-hour fries to the burgers made from local beef, the homemade mayo, and the dressing using Jasper Hill Farm's Bayley Hazen Blue cheese. Meals can be eaten in, out, or at home. Walker, chef by default—he couldn’t find a local to hire—offers staff an ownership share after a year. SPONSORED: Pancakes galore this Saturday! Mark your calendars and don't miss out on what's arguably the Upper Valley's best pancake breakfast, brought to you by Hanover Rotary. It's Saturday, May 20th, from 7:30 - 9:30AM by the Storrs Pond Recreation Area snack bar. Family friendly! $5.00 Adults. $3.00 youngsters 5 to 16. Children under 5 are FREE. Sponsored by Hanover Rotary Club.Not just what happened, but why? What do you expect? What do you fear? Those are just some of the questions journalist and Dartmouth writing prof Jeff Sharlet would ask people he talked to for his new book, The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, which is a deep dive into antidemocratic extremism in the US. In this week's Enthusiasms, Liza Bernard writes that Sharlet "put himself on the line to help readers like me—concerned, confused, and discouraged—grasp how we have gotten to where we are in this country and understand how we might, with effort, find a better way forward.""We're striking matches, and they're not quite catching. So we think it's OK to keep striking them. We've got to cool it down." And that's Sharlet himself, talking with Vermont Public's Mitch Wertlieb about his book and what most alarmed him about his researches. There was being ushered at gunpoint from a church in Omaha, and his discovery of a widespread celebration and even pleasure in violence or its threat, and the realization that it's everywhere—Vermont, too. As for a way forward? "Instead of arguing you back to shore, let me build something that you want to swim to," he tells Wertlieb.The label may read "books" but really, Bookstock this year is all about storytelling. At least, that's what the Woodstock literary festival's Morgan Brophy tells Aaron Rubin for his look ahead at the event—June 23-25—in the Standard. It's about "finding people who have interesting stories to tell, whether that’s through music or traditions of oral storytelling, or poetry and different ways of using the written word," Brophy says. Rubin offers a glimpse, from Native stories to poets to Afro-Jazz singer-songwriter KeruBo to baker Martin Phillip and fly fishing guide and artist Samantha Aaronson."Most people carry around a kind of stone backpack of perfectionism and doubt about their writing ability." That's NH Poet Laureate Alexandria Peary talking to the Globe's Amanda Gokee (paywall) about writer's block. Her advice? "Training yourself to enter the present moment at the desk cures almost all problems." In their wide-ranging conversation, Peary talks about "getting people feeling happier in their poetry writing lives," describes the poetry magazine she started that's edited by NH teens, and offers tips on resources, including the state's poetry society. "There's so much going on," she says.As NH Senate deals with budget, some things to watch. On a variety of fronts, writes Annmarie Timmins in NH Bulletin, the Senate is setting a course that differs from the House. Social service providers—including the state's community mental health centers—asked for a major boost in Medicaid funding to help hire more workers; the Senate is coming in more than $50 million lower than the House proposed. On the other hand, the Senate wants an indefinite extension for NH's expanded Medicaid program; the House gives it two years. Timmins walks through a variety of state programs and where things stand.Former VT lieutenant governor Molly Gray lands a new job: running the Vermont Afghan Alliance. Though as she makes clear to VTDigger's Patrick Crowley, it's only an interim position as the organization gets itself established. "The co-founders and I agree that the Vermont Afghan Alliance, in the long term, should be Afghan-led,” she says. Gray has advised the group since its founding last year to support Afghans who are resettling in the state. Among other things, the group runs a driver's ed program focused especially on women—who couldn't drive in their home country."The diversity of the American experience." This year’s list of America’s 11 most endangered historic places is out, put together by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It stretches from the ground up to the sky and is notable for the communities involved—a burial ground for Africans enslaved at plantations in Georgia, Chinatowns in Seattle and Philly, Chicago skyscrapers …. “The layered stories behind these places illustrate the complexities and challenges that have always been part of what it means to be American, but that have not always received the attention they deserve,” the Trust writes.The Wednesday Vordle. If you're new to Daybreak, this is the Upper Valley version of Wordle, with a five-letter word chosen from an item in the previous day's Daybreak.
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Today starting at 10 and running until 2:30, the VA in WRJ is hosting the local version of the 13th annual VA2K Walk & Roll—which is also taking place at other VA hospitals around the country. You show up and register at the gazebo on the front lawn, put in your 1.24 miles on either foot or wheels, and bring along a new item—clothing, sleeping bag, tent, gift cards to large box stores—to be donated to homeless veterans.
And at 4:30 pm, Dartmouth's Dickey Center hosts Michael Kofman for a talk on "Towards a Breakthrough? The State of the War in Ukraine." Kofman runs the Russia Studies research program at the Center for Naval Analyses, funded by the Department of the Navy as a research and development center. Kofman specializes in the Russian armed forces, military thought, capabilities, and strategy. In person in Haldeman 41.
At 7 pm, the Center at Eastman presents storyteller and writer Michael Caduto with "Guardians of the Waters: Experiencing Riparian Buffers Through Science & the Arts." Caduto uses ecological examples, storytelling, music, and (briefly) PowerPoint to explore different paths toward understanding the nature and stewardship of riparian buffers—those habitats along the edges of waterways that guard aquatic ecosystems.
And at 8 this evening, the Handel Society and Dartmouth's Glee Club hold an open (though not free) rehearsal of their spring concert—which is tomorrow night and looks to be sold out. Choirs, soloists, orchestra, and the Rollins Chapel organ join together for requiem masses by French composers Gabriel Fauré and Maurice Duruflé.
And to launch us into the day...
You read the words "techno marching band" and you
have
to check it out, right? As Thomas Burhorn, the Hamburg, Germany trumpeter who founded Meute, describes it,
“I was playing in jazz bands, and one night [in 2015] while I was dancing and raving at a techno club in Berlin, I wondered why there wasn’t a merger of the two — like a live bass drum, marimba and trumpet playing electronic music. So I decided to be the person who tries it.” He got some bandmates together, they started messing around with techno and house tracks... and Meute (which means "pack," as in "...of wolves") took shape
, carving out a repertoire of electronic music played on sousaphone, marimba, saxophone, trumpet.... They're out on the US West Coast right now, but back in March they were in Adelaide, Australia.
The crowd's as much of a draw as the band.
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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