Upper Valley Connections Weekly Digest - Issue #8
Upper Valley Connections
Issue No. 8 · May 7, 2026
Your weekly guide to life along the Connecticut River
May has arrived in full, and the Valley is showing off. This week's feature is about makers -- the clay studios, art centers, and pottery shops that have been quietly serving the Valley for decades. Highlighted by a free community art day at Dartmouth's Hood Museum on Saturday. Don't forget, Sunday is also Mother's Day, and we've rounded up local ways to celebrate: the Honey Field Farm plant sale, Sweetland Farm's spring opening, Mac's Maple ice cream on day one of the season, and more. Plus Firebird at the Hop, a triple bill at Sawtooth, and the Norwich Farmers Market back outdoors.
-- The Upper Valley Connections Team
This week's digest is proudly sponsored by Upper Valley Solutions -- never miss a call from a neighbor again. Experience it yourself. Visit the link to set up a free trial today! No credit card needed.
Happy Mother's Day Weekend
Sunday is Mother's Day, and the Upper Valley has a few good reasons to get outside this weekend.
Honey Field Farm / Friends of the Norwich Public Library Plant Sale Sat May 9 & Sun May 10 · 10am--4pm · 55 Butternut Rd, Norwich, VT
Honey Field's annual Mother's Day Plant Benefit is back for its fifth year, hosted in partnership with the Friends of the Norwich Public Library. Pansy packs, hanging baskets, flower pots, and organic edible planters -- a portion of every sale goes back to the library. Brunch from Wababaland micro-bakery (Hartland, VT) on site both days. A great reason to make the short drive off Route 5 north of Norwich.
Sweetland Farm Spring Celebration Sat May 9 · Norwich, VT (742 Rte 132)
Sweetland Farm is throwing a free spring opening party with food trucks (Korean, tacos, baked goods), farm tours at 3pm and 5:30pm with owner Norah Lake, a wool-washing activity for kids, and -- most importantly -- flowers. Good energy, great farm.
Mac's Maple Ice Cream Window Opens Sun May 10 · Bradford, VT (macsmaple.com)
Mac's Maple opens their ice cream window for the season on Mother's Day -- and that's the tradition. Maple creamees, waffle cones, and rotating sundaes made with their own maple products. They're only open Mother's Day through Halloween, so this is day one.
Fore-U Golf & Ice Cream Sat--Sun · 298 Plainfield Rd, West Lebanon, NH
Two 18-hole mini golf courses, batting cages, a double-decker driving range, and the Ice Cream Fore-U stand next door. Family-owned since the 1990s, in the past they've offered a nice deal for Mom's on Mothers Day: Mothers play mini golf or get a medium bucket of golf balls free when accompanied by family!
Mother's Day Tea at the Enfield Shaker Museum Sat May 9 · Noon--1:30pm · $40--$45 · 447 NH Route 4A, Enfield, NH
Tea, conversation, and the beautiful grounds of the Shaker Museum. Reservations recommended -- see details in the events section above.
This Weekend
[Arts & Culture] · Always Free
Community Day at the Hood Museum
Sat May 9 · 1:00 PM · Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH
The Hood is always free to visit -- no ticket, no membership, no catch. But Community Day takes it a step further with drop-in activities, extra programming, and the kind of Saturday afternoon energy that makes you feel good about where you live. If you haven't been in a while, it's worth the reminder: the Hood's permanent collection includes 65,000+ objects spanning six continents and the full sweep of human history. The anchor pieces are six Assyrian stone reliefs carved around 900 BCE for the palace of King Ashurnasirpal II -- displayed dramatically on the ground floor, they're among the oldest objects you'll encounter at any college museum in the country. The Orozco mural cycle, The Epic of American Civilization (1932-34), painted directly on the walls of Baker Library next door, is a National Historic Landmark. There's also strong New Hampshire landscape painting, a substantial Native American collection, Japanese woodblock prints, Old Masters, and right now an exhibition examining American art and culture in honor of the country's 250th anniversary. Dartmouth began collecting in 1772. The current building opened in 1985 and underwent a major expansion in 2019. Community Day is a good excuse to go.
[Music · Theater] · Ticketed
Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra & Dance Ensemble: Firebird
Fri May 8 · 7:30 PM · Daryl Roth Studio Theater, Hanover, NH
Stravinsky's Firebird, performed by the Dartmouth Symphony with the dance ensemble. Student production -- which means the energy is high and the tickets are not $150. A free pre-show talk begins at 6:30 PM for the curious-minded.
[Arts & Culture] · Free
Firebird: Pre-Show Talk
Fri May 8 · 6:30 PM · Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hanover, NH
Free pre-show context for the Symphony's Firebird. Even if you know Stravinsky cold, these talks tend to surface something you didn't know.
[Outdoors & Nature] · With admission
Global Big Day Bird Count at VINS
Sat May 9 · 7:30 AM · VINS Nature Center, Quechee, VT
Every May, birders around the world spend a single day counting every species they can spot. VINS joins in from the grounds in Quechee -- one of the best spots in Vermont for migratory birds this time of year. Included with VINS admission; bring binoculars.
[Kids & Family] · With admission
Farm Friends Play Club
Sat May 9 · 10:00 AM · Billings Farm & Museum, Woodstock, VT
A morning of farm-based play for young kids at Billings Farm. Included with admission -- pair it with the Hopeville documentary screening in the afternoon if you're making a full day of it in Woodstock.
[Theater · Film] · Ticketed
National Theatre Live: All My Sons
Sun May 10 · 4:00 PM · Loew Auditorium, Hanover, NH
Arthur Miller's All My Sons, broadcast live from the National Theatre in London. A heavyweight Sunday afternoon. Tickets at the Hop box office.
[Kids & Family] · Ticketed
Tutti Frutti Productions: Hare and Tortoise
Sun May 10 · 4:00 PM · Lebanon Opera House, Lebanon, NH
Live children's theater at the Opera House. Tutti Frutti Productions does right by the classics -- this one's the Aesop fable, done properly for the stage.
[Music] · Free
Jennifer Turbes, Viola & Rose Hegele, Soprano with Chenyu Wang, Piano
Sun May 10 · 6:30 PM · Upper Valley Music Center, Lebanon, NH
A chamber recital at the UVMC -- viola, soprano, and piano. Free to attend. These Sunday evening performances at the Music Center are consistently good and consistently overlooked.
[Music] · $5
WHAT DOTH LIFE TRIPLE BILL!
Sat May 9 · 9:00 PM · Sawtooth Kitchen, Hanover, NH
Three bands, one night, five dollars. Sawtooth does this well. Show up after dinner.
[Music] · $10
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Fri May 8 · 9:00 PM · Sawtooth Kitchen, Hanover, NH
Live music at Sawtooth to close out the week. $10 at the door.
Later in the Week
[Literary] · Free
Diana Whitney, Meg Reynolds & Eve Alexandra -- Girl Trouble, Condition, None of Us in White
Tue May 12 · 7:00 PM · Norwich Bookstore, Norwich, VT
Three poets, three new books, one Tuesday evening at Norwich Bookstore. This is the kind of literary event people drive from Woodstock and Hanover to attend. Free.
[Arts & Culture] · Free
Art Exhibition Opening Reception
Thu May 14 · 5:00 PM · Norwich Public Library, Norwich, VT
Opening night for a new show at the Norwich Public Library gallery. Free reception -- a good excuse to make the drive across the river on a Thursday evening.
[History] · Free
Celebrating the 250th: Frontier of Revolution -- The Upper Valley in 1776
Wed May 13 · 6:30 PM · Howe Library, Hanover, NH
As the country counts down to its 250th anniversary, Howe Library examines what was happening right here in 1776. Local history with actual stakes.
[Education · Literary] · Free
Howe Spring Writing Workshops with Keiselim A. Montas
Wed May 13 · 5:30 PM · Howe Library, Hanover, NH
A writing workshop series running through the spring. Free and open to the public.
[Community] · Free
Sawtooth Trivia Night
Mon May 11 · 6:30 PM · Sawtooth Kitchen, Hanover, NH
Free trivia at Sawtooth. Show up, get a team together, see how much you actually know.
[Community · Fitness] · Free
Line Dancing Night
Thu May 14 · 7:00 PM · Sawtooth Kitchen, Hanover, NH
Line dancing at Sawtooth. Free. No experience necessary -- that's kind of the point.
[Film] · Ticketed
DFS: Borders and Belonging -- Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Thu May 14 · 7:00 PM · Loew Auditorium, Hanover, NH
The Dartmouth Film Society's Borders and Belonging series continues. Tickets at the Hop box office.
This Week in Upper Valley: Where to Make Things
The Valley Has Always Been a Place for Makers
There's a version of the Upper Valley that gets talked about a lot -- Dartmouth, the outdoors, covered bridges -- and then there's the version that's a little harder to see from the highway: a dense, genuinely remarkable concentration of places where you can show up with no experience and leave having made something with your hands.
This week's Community Day at the Hood Museum (Saturday, free, 1 PM) is a good entry point. The Hood is, obviously, a serious institution -- but Community Day strips away whatever intimidation that implies. Drop in, bring kids, look at things, make things.
But if Saturday gets you curious about doing more than visiting, the Upper Valley happens to have an unusually rich infrastructure for it.
In White River Junction, CraftStudies (87 Maple Street) has been teaching pottery, jewelry, metalsmithing, basket-making, and fiber arts to Upper Valley residents for over 70 years. The organization went through a real reinvention a few years ago -- moving from Hanover across the river to WRJ and reopening with a new director and a new energy. Their pottery and metals studios are genuinely well-equipped, the kind of spaces where a beginner can start on a wheel next to someone who's been throwing clay for thirty years, and both walk out having learned something. Classes for adults, teens, and kids run year-round.
A few blocks away in the same arts district, Tip Top Pottery (tiptoppottery.com) offers a lower-stakes on-ramp to the same impulse. Paint-your-own-pottery has a reputation as a birthday party activity, and it is that -- but Tip Top has quietly grown into something more. Wheel-throwing lessons, a clay co-op for regular practitioners, summer camps for kids, and a Cork and Canvas sip-and-paint night for people who want to try painting without committing to a class. It's run by Tyler, who grew up coming here, bought the place in 2017, and genuinely cares about it.
Over in Lebanon, AVA Gallery and Art Center (11 Bank Street) is the region's biggest arts facility -- 40,000 square feet inside the old Carter Jean Factory building. What looks from the outside like a gallery is actually nineteen artist studios, five exhibition spaces, four teaching studios, woodworking and metal workshops, a ceramics studio, a sculpture garden, and a green roof garden for pollinators. AVA has been operating since 1973 and reaches 61 communities across NH and VT. Their Bank Street Gallery sells work made by member artists -- paintings, pottery, jewelry, fiber art -- and is open Monday through Saturday.
These three places operate at slightly different scales and temperaments, but share the same underlying premise: that making things is not a hobby for specialists, and that the Upper Valley is a place where that premise has been taken seriously for a long time. If you've been thinking about taking a ceramics class, learning to make jewelry, or just spending an afternoon at a wheel with no expectation of producing anything good, one of these three will have something starting in the next few weeks.
And in the meantime, Saturday's Community Day at the Hood is free.
Happy Mother's Day Weekend
Sunday is Mother's Day, and the Upper Valley has a few good reasons to get outside this weekend.
Honey Field Farm / Friends of the Norwich Public Library Plant Sale Sat May 9 & Sun May 10 · 10am--4pm · 55 Butternut Rd, Norwich, VT
Honey Field's annual Mother's Day Plant Benefit is back for its fifth year, hosted in partnership with the Friends of the Norwich Public Library. Pansy packs, hanging baskets, flower pots, and organic edible planters -- a portion of every sale goes back to the library. Brunch from Wababaland micro-bakery (Hartland, VT) on site both days. A great reason to make the short drive off Route 5 north of Norwich.
Sweetland Farm Spring Celebration Sat May 9 · Norwich, VT (742 Rte 132)
Sweetland Farm is throwing a free spring opening party with food trucks (Korean, tacos, baked goods), farm tours at 3pm and 5:30pm with owner Norah Lake, a wool-washing activity for kids, and -- most importantly -- flowers. Good energy, great farm.
Mac's Maple Ice Cream Window Opens Sun May 10 · Bradford, VT (macsmaple.com)
Mac's Maple opens their ice cream window for the season on Mother's Day -- and that's the tradition. Maple creamees, waffle cones, and rotating sundaes made with their own maple products. They're only open Mother's Day through Halloween, so this is day one.
Fore-U Golf & Ice Cream Sat--Sun · 298 Plainfield Rd, West Lebanon, NH
Two 18-hole mini golf courses, batting cages, a double-decker driving range, and the Ice Cream Fore-U stand next door. Family-owned since the 1990s by sisters Meredith and Jennifer Johnson, who grew up in Lebanon and have been running this place for over 25 years. Not glamorous. Very good.
Mother's Day Tea at the Enfield Shaker Museum Sat May 9 · Noon--1:30pm · $40--$45 · 447 NH Route 4A, Enfield, NH
Tea, conversation, and the beautiful grounds of the Shaker Museum. Reservations recommended -- see details in the events section above.
This Weekend at the Markets
The outdoor market season is underway. This Saturday, the Norwich Farmers Market returns to its Route 5 South location -- 9am to 1pm, rain or shine. Over 55 vendors, live music, SNAP/EBT accepted. One of the oldest farmers markets in northern New England (founded 1977) and, many weekends, the best way to spend a Saturday morning in the Valley. Pick up garden starts while you still can.
The Lebanon Farmers Market at Colburn Park opens for its outdoor season on Thursday, May 15 -- 4 to 7pm, downtown Lebanon. A good reason to plan ahead for next week.
Hartland, Woodstock, and Canaan markets open later in May. We'll keep you posted.
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