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GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
A very fine day... to be indoors. We're due rain showers starting at some point, probably this afternoon and lasting all night—and, for that matter, much of tomorrow as well—as low pressure makes its way into the region. There'll be enough water coming down that the weather folks expect streams and rivers to run higher and faster than they've been doing of late, though no flood warnings so far. Winds from the south will keep things on the warmer side: mid-40s. Just a few degrees cooler overnight.
Sunset. With steel. Amanda DeRoy was headed from Lyme to Thetford at dusk the other evening when the light and the clouds and the water and the bridge itself all seemed to blend into the perfect picture.
Talk about vertical integration: Woodstock farm/restaurant project aims to include workforce housing, too. "The days of expecting the labor shortage and the housing crunch to solve themselves are over," farmer and restaurateur Matt Lombard tells the Vermont Standard's Tom Ayres. Lombard and his business partner, developer John Holland, aim to combine the efforts—and the workers—of Peace Field Farm and their proposed (but not yet approved) "farm-to-fork" restaurant there, with Lombard's Santé and its Central Street neighbors Mangalitsa and Decant, and to provide housing above and behind for workers.
Meanwhile, just down the street, Who Is Sylvia closes. The vintage clothing store has been on Central Street for four decades, but now, reports Justin Campfield in the Valley News, owner Jess Abston has shut down its physical presence after failing to come to terms on a new lease with Farmhouse Pottery founder James Zilian, who bought the building in May of 2021. Abston is taking her business online and searching for a new location. Zilian "did not respond to multiple electronic and in-person requests for comment," Campfield writes. "It’s unclear whether a Farmhouse Pottery store is planned for the location."
"What we're doing is helping them, because it's helping them move to the next step." For the last 49 years, Ernie Stevens has run the twice-weekly auction at Ely Commission Sales in Bradford, VT. But, as radio producer Erica Heilman says in her latest piece for Vermont Public, "Ernie’s 74 now, and he's getting done." So she visited to talk to him about the business, what happens when a weekly social event suddenly stops, and the reasons people put stuff up for sale. "They're doing it so that they can survive," he says. "So they can pay their taxes, so they can buy their oil, so they can buy the medication."
SPONSORED: Huge Holiday Sale! Hearts You Hold, the local nonprofit that helps immigrants and refugees find the goods they need, is selling its HYH t-shirts and onesies for just $5 AND offering an additional 50-percent-off coupon at check-out throughout December! These are great gifts and there is a limited supply of HYH shirts, so order soon! Hit the burgundy link to go to the store, and don't forget to write in "50%" for the coupon when you check out! Sponsored by Hearts You Hold.
"Nothing can prepare you when it’s someone you know.” Maisi Cowdrey was on the EMT squad that responded last Wednesday to the accident in Sunapee that killed 22-year-old Mary Moynihan when her car hit a tree blown over by high winds; Cowdrey had known Moynihan since middle school. “We always called her since she was very little ‘Mother Mary’ because she mothered everybody," her mom, Amy, tells the VN's John Lippman. "Her little brother, her little brother’s friends... her mom, her dad. She took care of people.”
On the docket for Sarah Copeland Hanzas as she preps for Secy of State: engaging people "in how democracy works." The former Bradford state rep is replacing longtime secretary of state Jim Condos, and North Country Public Radio's Pat Bradley talks to her about her plans. First up, Copeland Hanzas says: hiring someone who can help develop a civics curriculum and help her talk up the mechanisms of democracy in communities around the state. Also on her agenda: "radical transparency" about elections and enacting ranked choice voting for presidential primaries in time for 2024.
"This community has embraced [the arts] as part of living, as part of humanity." That's Annie Arrington, a recent transplant from Washington State, who's just become the new choral director at Upper Valley Music Center, talking to the VN's Liz Sauchelli about her delight at finding a vibrant arts—and choral—scene in the Upper Valley. Arrington replaces Patricia Norton, the longtime Juneberry Community Chorus director who moved to Burlington earlier this year, and will take on rebuilding a community chorus that, for the most part, has been unable to come together in person for three years.
SPONSORED: The Hop is hiring! The Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College is hiring creative, collaborative individuals in Marketing and Community Outreach, Events Management, Student Initiatives, the Box Office, and the Director’s Office, plus more temporary positions. Hit the burgundy link to learn more and apply today. Sponsored by the Hop.
Barring a long cold snap, New England's energy grid expected to be reliable this winter. That's according to the region’s grid operator, ISO-New England, and its forecast is notable mostly because the war in Ukraine has made predicting the energy outlook chancy. “This is unquestionably the most uncertain global geopolitical situation we've seen affecting energy in at least 20 or 30 years,” the head of the New England Power Generators Association tells NHPR's Mara Hoplamazian. Power generators have been stockpiling oil, but there's some concern about the reliability of liquified natural gas supplies.
NH Republicans set up confrontation with national Democrats over primary. Of course, NH Democrats are plenty ticked off about the DNC's decision to move the NH presidential primary to second on the 2024 calendar. But it's the GOP that controls the governorship and state legislature, and yesterday, reports NH Bulletin's Amanda Gokee, party leaders—starting with Gov. Chris Sununu—said they have no intention of expanding early voting or repealing the state law requiring NH to go first, as demanded by a DNC panel.
VT skiing may have the reputation; NH skiing goes "edgier." At the kickoff last Friday for Ski NH, state tourism director Lori Harnois told NH's assembled ski area operators that her department expects 2.9 million visitors this winter—and that they'll spend about $1.3 billion. And, reports InDepthNH's Paula Tracy, her staff plans to market NH as a destination for adventure seekers. “Some of the edgier winter experiences will be highlighted,” Harnois said, like skin-up/ski-down, fat bikes, and backcountry glades. Oh, and tax-free shopping.
"Taking Back the Mountains." Vermont-based backcountry writer David Goodman has a piece in the NYT (gift link, no paywall) on how downhill skiers and resort operators tired of overcrowded parking lots, looking for greater diversity on the slopes, hoping to make the industry more sustainable, and seeking more of a sense of community are addressing those challenges. Among other things, he profiles Unlikely Riders, aimed at getting Vermonters who are black or people of color onto the slopes, and which is expanding its biweekly event to Whaleback this winter.
There’s a warehouse in Israel full of claw machines you can play remotely. And they'll send you the prize. Each year at this time, consultant and former journalist Tom Whitwell publishes his deeply entertaining list, "52 Things I Learned." The 2022 version just came out and—fair warning—you could get lost in there. Like, in the 1920s the auto industry promoted the term "jaywalking" to blame accidents on pedestrians. And there's a band named Eximperituserqethhzebibšiptugakkathšulweliarzaxułum. And LA's best-paid lifeguard earned over half a mil in 2021. Dive in, sorry about your day.
The Tuesday Vordle. With a fine word straight outta yesterday's Daybreak.
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