GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Chance of showers, partly sunny. The cold front that's arriving today brings with it not just a chance of showers this morning, but cooler temps as winds shift to come from the north; things could get gusty this morning. Highs today in the mid 70s; the front's moving quickly, so rain chances should be gone by about midday. Lows tonight in the low 50s.Harvest time! Not just on the area's farms, but in back yards, too.
Like, say, these fine peaches, from Sally Duston in Thetford;
And red currents, from Lisa Johnson in Norwich;
And Barbara Woodard's beanstalk reaching toward the Thetford sky;
And finally, it's not just harvest time for humans. Monarch caterpillars, as Katherine Babbott writes, are "amazing little eating and growing machines"—here, going to town on her backyard milkweed patch.
For several years, board members have been interested in the 34.7-acre parcel just across the road as an answer to the market's growing space and parking needs, and as a building spot for a winter market; the market leases its current May-October spot from the Co-op, and Tracy Hall during the colder months. Now, reports Liz Sauchelli in the
Valley News
, the market's approached the town's planning board to explore the option, which would require a zoning change. The board has also had its eye on the spot, for affordable housing.
Because you
are
a local. The idea came to Caroline Fout and Seth Berger a couple of years ago when they were eating out in their hometown of Manchester, VT—a tourist hot spot where the restaurants were charging tourist prices. In early spring. "We thought, 'Man, it would be great if we could get a teensy break on these prices,' because we come here all the time," Fout tells the
Brattleboro Reformer
's Alexandra Belogour. They launched
, which gets you a discount—including at Woodstock's Soulfully Good Café.
Sean Trombly, who runs Trombly House of Cannabis in Chelsea, has signed an agreement to buy the property long occupied by Sandy’s along Route 14, reports the
VN
's John Lippman; the popular restaurant took it in the chin from flooding during Irene, then closed for good after a fire in 2022. He hopes to build a spot for retail cannabis on one side and a family-friendly ice cream and food destination on the other—"$2.00 creemees isn’t going to pay the mortgage,” he tells Lippman. First, though, the town has to approve retail cannabis; there's an Oct. 7 public meeting on that.
SPONSORED: Fall golf is gorgeous, especially when it’s FREE! Purchase an Eastman Golf Links individual or family membership now for the 2025 season and enjoy free greens fees from September 1 through the close of the 2024 season. A 50 percent payment based on 2024 rates must be received before playing, and the remaining balance plus any increase in 2025 rates must be paid by March 31, 2025. Hit the burgundy link or here for rates, details, exclusions, and application links. Call 603-863-4500 with any questions. Sponsored by Eastman.A book for those days when you need a story to sweep you away. While Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan, "is not a fantasy story or fairytale," writes Still North Books & Bar's H Rooker in this week's Enthusiasms, "there is something in it that feels just a little bit magical." Sloan's novel, published in 2012, mines the still-current fault line where old technologies—like books—and new intersect, all in an out-and-out adventure story that is also, H writes, "a love letter to the magic of books."A Dartmouth student's summer on NH's Isle of Shoals shows mercury levels still "a persistent problem" in the Gulf of Maine. Lenny Laird's research, reports NHPR's Mara Hoplamazian, found that black guillemots—a type of sea bird—have "concentrations of mercury in their feathers that are above levels known to have effects on reproduction in other species." Though Laird's adviser, aquatic ecologist Celia Chen, cautions that the research offers just a single snapshot, it may offer an overview of what's happening off NH's waters, Hoplamazian notes, since guillemots eat high on the fish food chain.In Bradford, 16-year-old cited for defacing softball dugouts. As you probably remember, the dugouts at Memorial Field were spray-painted last week with a variety of slurs and symbols; the baseball dugouts across the field were similarly defaced last year. Now, reports Alex Nuti-de Biasi in the Journal Opinion's newsletter, a 16-year-old has admitted to both incidents, and has been cited to appear in Orange County court in Chelsea.Federal judge extends order allowing transgender student to play soccer for another two weeks. The extension comes as US District Court Judge Landya McCaffery considers a lengthier stay of the new state law barring middle and high school students from participating on a girls' sports team if they weren't born biologically female. In NH Bulletin, Ethan DeWitt takes a look at the arguments raised by both sides: plaintiffs—the families of two transgender athletes—arguing that the law violates Title IX and the 14th Amendment; and the state of NH that the law if focused on safety and fairness."Ten years after the Summer of Market Basket, the beloved grocer’s business is better than ever." That's the headline atop Jon Chesto's piece in the Globe (sorry, paywall) about the decade since the remarkable summer of 2014, when employees and customers reversed a takeover by an unloved branch of the Demoulas family in favor of Arthur T. Demoulas, who stood for safeguarding the company's commitment both to its employees and to low prices. He took on $1.6 billion in debt—and now, Chesto reports, it's almost paid off. And the chain has 20 more stores and 40 percent more employees.NH's Covid-era population growth is slowing—and may eventually reverse. Between 2020 and 2023, a net of about 30,000 people moved to the Granite State, mostly from elsewhere in the US. In-migrants accounted for the state's growth, since deaths outstrip births, notes Ethan DeWitt. But a report earlier this month from the NH Fiscal Policy Institute finds that the state’s total population grew by just 0.23 percent in 2023, after rising 0.83 percent in 2022—possibly because of the tight housing market. DeWitt digs into the numbers and what they mean for schools, the economy, and NH's future.Hey, maybe slowing growth will help NH keep just 603? In all, there are 11 states with a single area code, but NH's faces the closest deadline for running out of space, reports the WSJ's Jon Kamp (gift link)—maybe as soon as 2027. The state's hellbent on keeping it: Last month, Gov. Chris Sununu signed Senate Bill 603 (not a coincidence), which aims to use remaining telephone numbers as efficiently as possible. As Kamp writes, this goes way beyond telephony, as he explores how area codes "morphed from tools to help call long distance without switchboard operators to cultural identifiers." (Thanks, LM!)With NH resident's death, eastern equine encephalitis bookends the twin states. In a press release yesterday, state health officials said that the patient, who was from Hampstead, is the first case of EEE in the state in a decade. Hampstead is in the southeast corner of the state, not far from Massachusetts, which has seen the virus in 69 mosquitoes, one horse, and one human. “Once someone gets it, all we can do is provide supportive care, and it can kill people," an immunologist there tells the AP. Vermont reported its first human case since 2012 earlier this month, in a Chittenden County man."Made in a home kitchen not inspected by the Vermont Department of Health." Those dozen words—okay, 13, but who's counting?—now have to go on product labels for food made by small-time producers. The kind who sell at farmers markets or their local general stores in hopes, maybe, of building a bigger business. The state health department says it's so that customers "can make a risk-based choice for their personal circumstances.” But as VTDigger's Shaun Robinson reports, some of those home bakers and chefs—and store owners who carry their food—are worried they'll lose business.In Rutland, a new mood: "excitement, optimism and pride in a city that's once again on the rise." So writes Seven Days' Ken Picard in his 3-to-6-hour guide to Vermont's third-largest city—just an hour from WRJ (depending on the Quechee Gorge Bridge light). He covers the basics—food, with plenty of recommendations—and the not-so-basic: the third-generation men's store McNeil & Reedy, Star Barbershop, the Paramount Theater (in the midst of a $6 million renovation), the Wonderfeet Kids' Museum, and art. Lots of art: from the city's sculpture trail to the Steampunk Locomotive to the Chaffee Art Center.Paw prints, in color and black and white. The International Dog Photography Awards, launched in 2021 by Audrey Bellot, have gathered a trove of winning images over the last few years. So BoredPanda has collected 40 of them—sweet faces, astonishing athleticism, the utter concentration of working dogs, and touching relationships. For an outright guffaw, have a look at #22, an utter goofball captured by CatsDog Photography. If you’re trying to resist a nap, do not look at the five blissful tiny faces in Nadine Schiefner’s image (#25), or for that matter, the two in Tuss – Hundfotograf’s photo (#16).
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We may be the middle of nowhere to everyone else in VT and NH, but
we
know what's good! Strong Rabbit's Morgan Brophy has come up with the perfect design for "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Plus you'll find the Daybreak jigsaw puzzle, as well as sweatshirts, tees, a fleece hoodie, and, as always, the fits-every-hand-perfectly Daybreak mug. Check it all out at the link!
Mamadou Diabaté at the Claremont Creative Center. The balafon master (originally from Burkina Faso, now living in Austria) and his rockin' African-Austrian ensemble, Percussion Mania, take the stage at 6:30 pm. As they write, "The sticks move with such great speed your eyes can barely follow." See below.
And at Artistree in S. Pomfret, the "Music on a Hill" series continues with Martin Decato and the Prickly Heat Tantalizers. Their motto is "We're not here for a long time, we're just here for a good time..." Decato is a singer-songwriter from Canaan, NH. The Tantalizers are Edgewater Farm's Pooh Sprague and Craftsbury VT vocalist and strings-player Anne Rowell. Starts at 6:30 pm.
The North Country Chordsmen and the VoxStars at the Center at Eastman. The two a cappella groups will be in the Draper Room starting at 7 pm, with a program featuring the Chordsmen's barbershop harmonies and the VoxStars' mixed-voice contemporary a cappella.
The Bucket Show at Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover. The idea's pretty simple: Comedian Aaron Richter emcees, the bucket hosts a bunch of topics on pieces of paper, and the comics in the lineup each pull one out and then riff on it. Starts at 8 pm.
Dueling balafons...
Actually, it was just one balafon, the gourd-resonated xylophone found throughout West Africa. But at a 2016 concert in India, Mamadou Diabaté (in Claremont tonight) invited his band's fellow balafonist to compare their chops. "...your eyes can barely follow" indeed.
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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