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How to mark this winter solstice with old and new traditions

Sunset Winter Snow with Trees
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This hour, we discuss old and new winter solstice traditions.

Wednesday is the winter solstice, the official start of winter and the shortest day of the year. In Vermont, there will be just eight hours and 49 minutes of daylight.

This hour, host Mikaela Lefrak explores the solstice with an organizer of a Wabanaki winter solstice ceremony, a meteorologist and a Vermonter who’s making new solstice traditions.

Our guests are:

  • Nick Bear, a member of the Penobscot Nation, program coordinator at nonprofit Nibezun and the organizer of the Wabanaki Winter Solstice Sunrise Ceremony in Passadumkeag, Maine
  • Mark Breen, senior meteorologist & planetarium director, Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium in St. Johnsbury
  • Sas Stewart, founder and owner of Adventure Dinner, which is hosting a solstice dinner in Middlebury

Broadcast live on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or tweet us @vermontedition.

Mikaela Lefrak joined Vermont Public in 2021 as co-host and senior producer of Vermont Edition. Her stories have aired nationally on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Marketplace, The World and Here & Now. A seasoned local reporter, Mikaela has won two regional Edward R. Murrow awards and a Public Media Journalists Association award for her work.
Tedra joined Vermont Public as a producer for Vermont Edition in January 2022. Before moving to Vermont, she was a journalist in New York City for 20 years. She has a master’s degree in journalism from New York University.