Arts & Life
A Life: If Eris Eastman ‘said she would do something, you could breathe a sigh of relief’
By PATRICK O’GRADY
BRADFORD, Vt. — In the mid-1950s, the Congregational Church in Bradford held a wild game supper to raise money for a new sidewalk in front of the church.
A new wave of Vermont Catholic abuse claimants has its day in court
By KEVIN O’CONNOR
BURLINGTON — Two decades after news broke of a nationwide Catholic priest misconduct scandal, seven Vermont child sex abuse claimants spoke in court Wednesday about the lingering impact.
Feds rescind grants for Upper Valley arts groups
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
NEW LONDON — Contracts had been signed and work was already underway on the New London Barn Playhouse’s new musical based on a children’s book by a local author when the email from the National Endowment of the Arts arrived earlier this month.
West Lebanon diner changes hands
By MARION UMPLEBY
WEST LEBANON — The longtime proprietor of the Four Aces Diner has sold the restaurant, three years after putting it up for sale.
In Manchester, a funeral for an infant no one knew
By TODD BOOKMAN
Funerals are usually for family and friends, a place to pay respects and share memories. But what happens when no one knows the deceased?
Theater Review: ‘Maytag Virgin’ fails to rise above cliche
By MARION UMPLEBY
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Theater director and actor Jammie Patton confesses that she’s “always had an affinity for romance, especially the corny kind.” That preference is part of what drew her to “Maytag Virgin,” the romantic comedy that opened last Thursday under her direction at Shaker Bridge Theatre in White River Junction.
Upper Valley farmers markets 2025
Canaan: Sundays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., May 18 through Oct. 6, Williams Field, 1206 Route 4. canaanfarmersmarket.com or Facebook: “Canaan Farmers and Artisans’ Market.”
Theater Review: The music makes ‘The Vermont Farm Project’ worth seeing
By ALEX HANSON
Long a ripe subject for literature, farming is difficult to dramatize. How do you squeeze a farmer’s lifetime of daily toil into the length of a play or a feature film? The necessary decisions can’t help but leave an incomplete impression.
Art Notes: Northern Stage produces play about Vermont farm life
By MARION UMPLEBY
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — This week, two bedrocks of the Upper Valley, farming and theater, will meet in “The Vermont Farm Project,” a new musical generated by Northern Stage.
A Look Back: How the Connecticut River transformed from a polluted waterway to a scenic one
By STEVE TAYLOR
Sixty years ago, Hollywood great Katharine Hepburn called the Connecticut River “the world’s most beautifully landscaped cesspool.” She had an estate at the river’s mouth in Old Saybrook, Conn., and in 1965 narrated a documentary film that told of centuries of pollution of the stream and advocated for action to clean it up.
Upper Valley DJs follow own passions while bringing life to the party
By MARION UMPLEBY
On a Saturday night in early April, the worn wooden floors of Babes Bar in Bethel were packed with patrons who had turned up for the venue’s popular “Queer Dance Party.”
Green Up Day celebrates 55 years in Vermont
By IZZY WAGNER
Vermonters are planning to celebrate the 55th anniversary of Green Up Day on Saturday by participating in trash cleanup events throughout the state. But this year comes with a twist.
Upper Valley nonprofit organization plant sales 2025
Annual Arbor Day Tree Sale in White River Junction: Saturday, May 3, 10 a.m. to noon. Hartford Town Hall, 171 Bridge St. Includes trees (birch, black cherry, sycamore, tamarack, silver maple, red oaks, yellowwood, sugar maples, crabapple, burr and oak), shrubs (dogwood, elderberry and lilacs), and perennials. Hosted by the Hartford Tree board. 802-295-9353.
Art Notes: New space gives New London arts center first physical home
By ALEX HANSON
At the heart of the 20-year history of the New London-based Center for the Arts is a paradox: Until recently, it was less an arts center with a fixed address than a set of programs meant to build community around the arts.
Fairlee Drive-in won’t open for season this summer
By MARION UMPLEBY
FAIRLEE — The Fairlee Drive-in’s towering film screen will remain blank this summer as owner Peter Trapp recovers from an illness.
Amphibians’ migration routines are getting more difficult. These brigades are trying to help.
By MARA HOPLAMAZIAN
It’s a dark and stormy late-March night. There’s a thick layer of fog over Keene, New Hampshire. Dozens of people walk slowly down a road that curls around the Woodland Cemetery, back and forth, flashlights in hand, eyes trained on the pavement.
Out & About: Fairlee church to host walk for peace on World Labyrinth Day
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
FAIRLEE — An Upper Valley congregation is inviting the public to join a worldwide meditation for peace Saturday, May 3.
Vermont beekeepers work to produce future generations of disease-resistant bee colonies
By IZZY WAGNER
Honey bee colonies worldwide suffered massive losses last year, but University of Vermont researchers and international partners developed a new testing method that may lead to more disease-resistant colonies in the future, including in Vermont.
Art Notes: Two Upper Valley events to feature video game soundtracks
By MARION UMPLEBY
Video game soundtracks, by their nature, exist in the background. Their job is to give texture to the action and to lull players into the world of the game, without posing a distraction.
Sandra Oh to speak at Dartmouth graduation
HANOVER — Golden Globe Award-winning actor Sandra Oh will deliver the commencement address at Dartmouth College’s 2025 graduation ceremony on June 15. Oh will also receive an honorary doctorate of the arts at the ceremony.
Your Daily Puzzles
An approachable redesign to a classic. Explore our "hints."
A quick daily flip. Finally, someone cracked the code on digital jigsaw puzzles.
Chess but with chaos: Every day is a unique, wacky board.
Word search but as a strategy game. Clearing the board feels really good.
Align the letters in just the right way to spell a word. And then more words.
