Features
Art Notes: After losing primary venues, JAG Productions persists
By ALEX HANSON
For much of its history, JAG Productions, the small, White River Junction theater company that specializes in telling stories from deep inside the black, queer, American experience, has had to be nimble. Company founder Jarvis Antonio Green has...
Over Easy: Marvels in the heavens, and in the yard
By DAN MACKIE
It was Traffic vs. the Eclipse on Monday, a showdown of celestial proportions. Would I risk everything like Marco Polo who bravely set out to see the world, or follow the example of his brother Rocco, who said their hometown of Venice was “plenty good...
Amid financial difficulties, Lebanon-based Revels North cancels midwinter show
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
LEBANON — A Lebanon-based arts organization has canceled an annual production that has been an Upper Valley holiday season staple for decades.Revels North Creative Director Alex Cumming made the announcement about December’s Midwinter Show in a letter...
Art Notes: The Pilgrims to perform ‘last’ show Saturday in Hanover
By ALEX HANSON
The journalism and the arts can meet at a fraught crossroads. One relies on facts and on creating an account as close to the truth as possible in the time available. The other is interested in truths that are more personal, less grounded, and time...
Upper Valley residents witness total eclipse
By CHRISTINA DOLAN
ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. — Scores of Upper Valley residents were among the crowd of about 7,500 people gathered in front of the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium on Monday to cheer as Vermont Public’s Jane Lindholm announced the arrival of the eclipse’s...
Sunshine, snacks and laughs features of Bugbee’s solar eclipse party
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Thousands of travelers might’ve been headed north to see the total solar eclipse, but people gathered at the Bugbee Senior Center Monday in downtown White River Junction thought they had the best seat on Earth.“No kidding we got...
Vermont promotes travel and safety tips for an easier glimpse of the eclipse
By KEVIN O’CONNOR
Ask Vermont public safety officials how to most carefully navigate the April 8 solar eclipse and they advise not to stare at the “generational spectacle” with the naked eye.Instead, they suggest focusing on the expected galaxy of gawkers circling...
Upper Valley farms’ manure piles stack up amid wet weather
By FRANCES MIZE
ROYALTON — While many Upper Valley residents have been contending with piles of snow lately, the region’s dairy farmers have been dealing with teetering piles of another kind — livestock poop.At Westland Farm, where Peggy Ainsworth grows sweet...
East Bethel Community Church is reborn
By ALEX HANSON
EAST BETHEL — From their cars, parked in a neat row on the grass outside, worshipers walked through the front door of the village’s stately, 200-year-old brick church for a symbolic rebirth.Not only was it Easter Sunday, but some of the 30 or so...
Upper Valley space enthusiasts eager for Monday’s solar eclipse
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
During 2017’s partial solar eclipse — when the moon obscured part of the sun — educator Rob Hanson set up a telescope at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock.He was impressed by the crowd.“There’s probably over 100 plus...
Out & About: Lion’s Club action auction offers community-building opportunities
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
HANOVER — Three hours of babysitting. Freshly picked flowers. A custard pie.These homemade goods and services might not seem to have much in common, but they’re three among 42 things that are part of the Hanover Lions Club’s annual “action auction,”...
East Coast earthquake felt in Upper Valley
By JENNIFER PELTZ and MIKE CATALINI
An earthquake shook the densely populated New York City metropolitan area Friday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said, with residents across the Northeast reporting rumbling in a region where people are unaccustomed to feeling the ground...
Out & About: Volunteers needed to revitalize Lebanon blueberry patch
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
LEBANON — Volunteers working to revitalize blueberry patches on conserved land near downtown Lebanon are looking for more help.The Lebanon Conservation Commission is planning to host a blueberry pruning work day this Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. at Jackson...
Art Notes: We the People opens big musical Friday night
By ALEX HANSON
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — In its relatively short history, We the People Theatre has specialized in sweeping musical theater projects, starting with productions of “1776” and “Working.” The coronavirus pandemic put an end to the company’s momentum,...
Suspended saturation in the greenhouse
Before going to lunch, Chris Clemson, owner of Frost Gardens in Ely, waters hanging plants in one of their greenhouses on Friday. The business will open May 1.
Mud season on repeat for the Upper Valley’s back roads
By FRANCES MIZE
VERSHIRE — Dicey weather and a mud season like something out of the movie Groundhog Day are taking their toll on Upper Valley roads — and exhausting the area’s army of town highway crews.“I’ll tell you what, I’m tired of snow,” said Mark Fogarty, of...
A Look Back: Crank telephones connected Meriden community for 75 years
By STEVE TAYLOR
It was a great conversation starter half a century ago, and, if you lived it, the subject can bring amusement, even awe, to those hearing about it today. That’s the “hand crank” or magneto telephone system that served Meriden Village for nearly 75...
Out & About: Lessons of the Holocaust focus of Thetford interfaith event
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
THETFORD — Two Upper Valley congregations are joining together to host an event that encourages people of different religions to discuss faith and the Holocaust.“Faith Among the Ashes: Lessons From Holocaust Survivors” is scheduled to take place...
Over Easy: Happy enough in the Upper Valley
By DAN MACKIE
The World Happiness Report is out, and America’s ranking might make you frown. The USA, where “the pursuit of happiness” is enshrined in the Constitution, just after “the Right to Taylor Swift Concert Tickets” and “Snacks on on Super Bowl Sunday,” has...
Friendship inspires musical gatherings in Upper Valley fiddler’s home
By CAOIMHE MARKEY
Music is made to be experienced in person. Watching performances online can be convenient, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person concerts. The feeling of interconnectedness that comes from a festival, concert or backyard jam,...
