Hay is for horses in Meriden

By JENNIFER HAUCK

MERIDEN — Dan and Sarah Donahue retrieve hay for their horses from their barn. The family hays their own land.

With a discerning eye, Hebert transforms the mundane into art

By NOAH DIEDRICH

Medora Hebert found her calling with her head in the sky and a camera in her hand.

To fight knotweed, Vermont towns let goats pig out

By LINDSEY PAPASIAN

MAD RIVER VALLEY — For the past seven years, volunteers have been pulling and clipping Japanese knotweed from riverbanks, open fields, roadsides and plenty of places in between.

From social districts to bathroom beers, new laws affect New Hampshire’s hospitality industry

By WILLIAM SKIPWORTH

A number of new laws enacted in New Hampshire this year will alter the state’s notoriously restrictive bar and liquor laws. Here’s a look at some of the legislation that could affect the hospitality landscape in the months to come.

Two Upper Valley residents win prizes in annual Billings Farm & Museum quilt show

WOODSTOCK — Two Upper Valley residents were awarded prizes in Billings Farm & Museum’s annual quilt exhibition.

As tick populations rise in Vermont, health officials urge precautions

By ALICE FINNO

Invasive plants, new housing development and climate change are boosting tick populations in Vermont, officials say, prompting new concerns about diseases the tiny arachnids carry.

Art Notes: New AVA exhibitions invite viewers to abandon their usual reality

By MARION UMPLEBY

LEBANON — Last summer, 48 artists working within an array of mediums exhibited work in AVA Gallery and Art Center’s biennial juried show. From that group, the juror chose four artists to receive a small cash prize and a year to develop a solo exhibition featuring new work. The fruits of that labor go on view this Friday on the gallery’s main floor.

Birds in tiny ‘backpacks’ might provide more insights to New England marsh restoration projects

By JULIA VAZ

Some salt marsh sparrows out on New Hampshire’s seacoast are now flying around with brand new backpacks. The accessory is actually a solar-powered tag the size of a fingernail, which will help University of New Hampshire researchers provide important data for marsh restoration projects across New England.

A new study looks at how to protect rare plants in snowy patches of Mount Washington as NH warms

By MARA HOPLAMAZIAN

As the last bits of snow on Mount Washington melt away in early summer, they’re providing more for the alpine ecosystem than their soggy remnants may suggest.

New Upper Valley youth birding group finds joy between rain drops

By EMMIE FOSTER

NORWICH — John Sheldon, 11, of Norwich, has been birding for nearly half his life. It’s a fun hobby that gets him outside, he said, often into the woods around his home.

Over Easy: Celebrating subtly this Fourth of July

By DAN MACKIE

I have long celebrated the Fourth of July with as much gusto as a person of my habits and sensibilities can manage.

Art Notes: An introduction to innovative dance for everyone

By MARION UMPLEBY

Three years ago, Elizabeth Kurylo, a choreographer living in Corinth, launched The Junction Dance Festival, a celebration of dance in the Twin States. What started as a three day event in White River Junction has been steadily gaining steam over the past few years.

Upper Valley welcomes reenactment of Lafayette's farewell tour

CLAREMONT — New Hampshire Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard members escorted the Marquis de Lafayette, played by Michael Halbert to a welcoming event in Claremont’s Opera House Square, on Friday.

Tunbridge woman has made sheep shearing a way of life

By MARION UMPLEBY

TUNBRIDGE — Whether it was mowing lawns to earn spending money in middle school or biking 20 miles to help out at a vegetable farm while working as a newspaper copy editor, Mary Lake has been hustling since she was a child.

Annual Enfield trumpet seminar to hold concerts

By JAMES M. PATTERSON

Dominic Sincrope, a recent graduate of New York University, practices Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 on his piccolo trumpet in his room at the Enfield Shaker Museum in Enfield during the Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar. The two-week workshop features concerts on Friday at 8 p.m. and with a lecture beforehand at 7:30 p.m., and on Saturday at 4 p.m. with a lecture at 3:30.

Take-home summer meals expand access for Upper Valley children

By CLARE SHANAHAN

BETHEL — In the first week of the summer, the White River Valley Supervisory Union distributed over 1,000 free meals to kids at the Bethel Elementary School alone, one of four to-go summer meal sites the district is running this year.

Upper Valley Fourth of July events 2025

Events free unless otherwise noted. Email additions and updates to calendar@vnews.com.

Art Notes: Opera under the big top in Cornish

By MARION UMPLEBY

CORNISH — In planning the upcoming season at Opera North, the performing arts company at Blow-Me-Down Farm, General Director Evans Haile went for shows that offered audiences a form of escape.

Gardener’s Supply in Lebanon to remain open amid company’s bankruptcy

By LUKAS DUNFORD

LEBANON — The Gardener’s Supply store on Mechanic Street will remain in operation for the foreseeable future, despite the Burlington-based company filing for bankruptcy last week.