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Food: Brew At The Hall
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Brew At The Hall
Tupelo Hosts its First Beer Pairing Dinner
Written By Angie Sykeny (asykeny@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
The Tupelo Music Hall is best known for its live music, but for one night, the Derry performance venue will cater more to foodies than music fans.
On Friday, Aug. 11, the Tupelo will host its first-ever beer tasting dinner featuring four courses prepared by the Tupelo Executive Chef Jeannine Carney and paired with beers from 603 Brewery of Londonderry.
The dinner comes a few months after the Tupelo’s relocation from its original 240-seat venue in Londonderry to its current 700-seat venue in Derry. Carney and Tupelo owner Scott Hayward came up with the idea of hosting a beer dinner about a month and a half ago as a way to showcase the new venue’s full kitchen and bar and highlight local breweries. The former venue, Hayward said, didn’t have the accessibility or proper licensing for a beer dinner.
“This seemed like a natural progression for us,” he said. “It’s just a different kind of thing that we can offer and a good event to do at the new venue.”
From 6 to 7 p.m., there will be a reception and mini tasting with 603 Brewery in the lobby, featuring additional brews not included in the dinner and otherwise only available at the brewery. The Tupelo’s bar will also be open throughout the event.
At 7 p.m., the dinner will begin in the main theater. The first course will be goat cheese arancini with honey walnut drizzle and Dowie Farm pea tendrils, paired with 603 Winni Amber Ale.
The following course will include crispy pork belly on Oasis Springs greens, slow roasted tomato, balsamic onion jam with spent grain crouton and White Peaks vinaigrette, paired with 603 18 Mile Rye Pale Ale.
For the third course there will be a juniper roasted chicken breast, quinoa kale grain medley with orange segments, grilled zucchini and summer squash ribbons, paired with 603 Mosaic Saison.
Finally, the dessert course will be a deep dark chocolate stout cake with spent grain candy crumble and bourbon barrel salted caramel, paired with 603 Bourbon Barrel Stout.
“[Carney] is trying to put together a cohesive meal with interesting pairings that showcase both the beer and the food,” Hayward said. “She actually went over to 603 Brewery and tasted their beer, found the ones she thought would go well with food and built the menu around that.”
Carney will appear at the event to discuss each course and how it relates to its respective beer pairing. Representatives from 603 Brewery will also be there to talk about each beer and the process of brewing it.
Hayward said he plans to add more beer dinners to the Tupelo’s calendar, featuring beer from different local breweries.
“We have some great breweries around here,” he said. “We hope that by partnering with them we can show people both what our chef can do for food and what our area is capable of for producing beer.”
Beer Tasting Dinner featuring 603 Brewery
Where: Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry
When: Friday, Aug. 11, 6 p.m.
Cost: $55. Tickets are limited.
Contact: 437-5100, tupelomusichall.com
News: Return to Shop Class *
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Return to Shop Class
Power Up Your Basic Woodworking Skills
Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
Nobody takes up woodworking to save money. You’ll likely find a better deal on a jewelry box at a yard sale or on Craigslist after factoring in the cost of materials, tools, equipment and time it would take to make one yourself.
Ultimately, it’s pride in workmanship that gets people hooked on woodworking.
“When you use wood that used to be a tree and make a fine desk or a very unique jewelry box … there’s a sense of accomplishment,” said Steve Saulten, who runs The Wood Shop in Alton.
New Hampshire’s a great place to learn, no matter your reason, age or gender. Some of the state’s woodworking organizations shared their insight on why woodworking is such a powerful skill and how you can get started.
Start Young
The Girls at Work headquarters was coated in sawdust, and the air vibrated with the sound of palm sanders, but campers hardly noticed. Their attention on this Wednesday morning was on the task at hand: making a slab of wood really, really smooth.
All around, the Manchester nonprofit’s walls encouraged them with positive messages written by visitors. “You are powerful.” “Believe in yourself.” “Don’t let your dreams be dreams.” “Just do it.”
Most girls were giddy at the prospect of handling tools grown-ups usually forbid them from touching, which was evident in their focus and, every once in a while, their dancing.
“There’s something so powerful when kids realize they can do something that most people don’t allow them to do,” said Elaine Hamel, who founded Girls at Work in 2000. “We don’t even let them use the word ‘can’t’ in the shop.”
Girls at Work origins trace back to 26 years ago, when Hamel became something like a surrogate parent to her 9-year-old neighbor, whose parents were suffering from drug addiction. Hamel was financially unstable at the time but wanted to send her to a summer camp in the White Mountains.
“I asked the camp director if she needed anything built. And she said, come and teach the girls how to build,” Hamel said.
So she did. The girls took to the craft fast. Their preference was to build before breakfast and continue through meals. Demand for the woodworking workshops grew, and Hamel began receiving requests from other camps.
“But there were always more girls than I could reach,” Hamel said. “The camp directors started telling me we needed to be in the schools with a program that would be consistent because the one-shot deal wasn’t enough. So we designed an after-school program that consisted of eight weeks.”
In 1999, Hamel built a large barn next to her house in New Boston, an activity that drew neighborhood kids wanting to help out, including the very girls who helped her conceptualize the program she wanted to start: Girls at Work. It would comprise workshops that teach woodworking and help at-risk girls gain confidence and become empowered.
“Many girls still believe they’re not builders. The truck commercials are still men. The tool commercials are still men. The kitchen and laundry commercials are all women,” Hamel said. “Girls aren’t going to take a woodworking class full of boys. But girls have incredible potential. And they’re incredibly good builders. [It shoots] their self-confidence off the charts.”
Hamel created Girls at Work in 2000. It started as a part-time business that traveled from place to place. In 2012, she took to it full-time, and in 2015, she moved the company to Manchester. This winter, Mel Gosselin came in as CEO, allowing Hamel to focus on her passion, which is designing and leading programming.
With the help of its partnership with the Manchester school district’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers, the girls are bused to and from their schools (all Title I, which means 40 percent of the students live in poverty) for free. Some of their past projects include building sheds, picnic tables, benches, chairs, bookcases, tables, bird houses, bat houses, window boxes, storage bins and lockers. Most events happen in the Queen City, but the nonprofit also sets workshops up on site at other locations and hosts weekend women’s classes, birthday parties for girls and corporate team builds for men and women.
Mike DiMaggio, president of the Guild of NH Woodworkers, said it works with many New Hampshire schools, assisting students and teachers with the goal of furthering woodworking in the state.
“There are children who need some kind of skill to have a productive kind of life and a good-quality job,” DiMaggio said. “You can go into various areas of carpentry or fine furniture making with any kind of architectural training, but many schools don’t have the funding to have those kinds of programs.”
For the Grown-Ups
You don’t have to know anything about woodworking to take a beginner workshop.
Saulten said he starts his off with the bare basics, covering the kinds of tools you might use, both manual and electrical, and how to operate machinery like bandsaws, sanders, table saws and planers, plus how to finish a piece with paint or stain.
His beginner classes are evenly distributed between men and women, which he partially credits to a women-only beginner workshop he began offering a couple years ago. Women seem to be more at ease, he said, when they’re not afraid of being judged for not knowing certain basics.
“Men tend to have a macho attitude — ‘I’m a guy, so I already know how to do that stuff.’ Which of course they don’t, or they wouldn’t be taking the basic class,” Saulten said.
Some opt to continue their work in Alton, paying per hour they work, either because they don’t have the space at home or because they still want help.
“In addition to my shop, they get me. I can help them over the rough spot. I don’t build it for them, but I’m there watching and showing them and teaching them a better way,” Saulten said.
Other places to check out for beginner woodworking classes include the Homestead Woodworking School in Newmarket, run by Alan Mitchell and instructed by professional craftsmen and woodworking professionals, and Epic Woodworking in Canterbury, run by Tom McLaughlin. You can also take beginner classes at a local makerspace or through the Guild of NH Woodworkers, said DiMaggio.
The Guild of NH Woodworkers, made up of men and women interested in woodworking, is divvied up into a variety of specialized groups — beginners and intermediates, boat builders, period furniture, woodturning, instrument-making and carving. Membership costs $40 a year and includes free access to all workshops and classes, held all around the state, plus a copy of its woodworking journal edited by Jim Seroskie. DiMaggio said about 70 percent of members do the craft recreationally, 30 percent professionally. It also raises money through fundraising events; at the League of NH Craftsmen’s Fair Aug. 5 through Aug. 13, for instance, the Guild will have a tent of donated items up for auction.
Places to Play
One of the biggest obstacles for beginner woodworkers is figuring out where to create. That’s where New Hampshire’s makerspaces come in.
Makerspaces are kind of like gyms, except instead of fitness equipment, they provide access to workshop spaces and materials, helping members create everything from robots to furniture. Nearby hotspots include the Manchester Makerspace, MakeIt Labs in Nashua, Port City Makerspace in Portsmouth and the MAXT Makerspace in Peterborough. Inside any of them are curious people ranging from beginner to expert in a variety of fields.
Nihco Gallo of the Port City Makerspace said that, by far, its woodshop is the most-used of its different trade shops (which include woodworking, machining, metalworking, embroidery, electronics, blacksmithing and automotives). Weekends are busy, but even on weekdays, you’re likely to find some of its 100 or so members working on something or just hanging out.
During a recent visit, one guy was building a ladder, and another working on his car. A few were managing their own businesses, which they run out of the makerspace, including Chris Straub, who’s been a member for three years and creates wooden pint glasses and rollers. For him, the value is access to machinery — table saws, lathes, bandsaws, planers, jointers, sanding centers and a CNC machine — and other people to bounce ideas off. Lots of people without woodworking backgrounds are intimidated by it, but they shouldn’t be.
“Yeah, you have to know the tools and be safe with the tools, and you’ll learn a million little things along the way, but it’s a lot less complicated than people think it is,” Straub said.
The Port City Makerspace is about five years old and hosts beginner woodworking workshops once a month open to members and nonmembers.
“I had a range of people [take the workshops], from those who’d never held a power drill before to people … who used to do fine woodworking but it was years ago and they needed a refresher course for all the tools,” Gallo said. “One of the benefits [of joining the makespace] is you get to absorb knowledge and experiences by osmosis. If you don’t know how to do something, there’s probably somebody that’s also wasting time in the common room who’s done it.”
Makerspaces are growing rapidly in New Hampshire. The Manchester Makerspace is only a year old and has become a hub for the Granite State Woodturners, who meet there regularly and recently held a beginner workshop (and as a result, its woodshop is dominated by lathes). Visitors are greeted by a chainsaw carving out front, and inside are tools and space for most all hobbies.
“New Hampshire’s a great state [for woodworking] because there’s wood everywhere,” said David Belser, the Manchester Makespace wood shop officer. “With woodturning, all you need is a hunk of wood mounted securely on a lathe. … There’s no material costs whatsoever, other than your time of collecting.”
Daniel Perrinez, current president of this makerspace, said members are working hard to open it up to new people and organizations. For example, it recently held a laser cutting workshop with Girls Inc.
“We’re making a lot of relationships with local charter schools and homeschool families. Some members created pieces for the bike art project in Concord,” Perrinez said.
After-Effects
There’s a reason why they call it a power tool. And it’s not just about woodworking; for Girls at Work, it’s also about confidence-building and empowerment.
Hamel told her campers this during a workshop last week, outside after lunch, near the Girls at Work vegetable garden that contained trellises and picnic tables the girls built themselves. Their next step was to try another challenging thing.
For example, climb a mountain. Hamel said the organization has worked with Kimball Union Academy campers. Part of their week, they build, and another part, they climb — either a short hike, a 2,000- or a 4,000-footer.
“If they go camping after they’ve been here, they’re feeling like giants, pumped up with ridiculous amounts of self esteem. Every one of them wants to do a 4,000-footer. How awesome is that?” she said. “The confidence. It’s a game-changer. They leave here [and] sometimes you’ll hear them say, ‘What else can I do?’ … Teachers are telling us it’s spilling into the classroom. They’re building picnic tables that we’re leaving at schools, and now the girls are asking us to take pictures of them building so they can hang them up near the table.”
At this point, Hamel has seen thousands of girls through the program, but it hasn’t changed the ferocity of her passion. She could talk for hours telling Girls at Work stories, and shared another about a camper who couldn’t tie her hair back.
“Nine years old, and nobody’s taken the time to show her how to tie her hair up. So I had a volunteer that day take her out and teach her how to tie her hair up,” she said. “Fast forward, the last day here, she shows up here, gets right up in my face and says, ‘Miss Elaine! I learned how to tie my hair up!’”
That day, while the girls were finishing the desks they made, Hamel caught sight of this girl decorating hers.
“She’s drawn a heart on her desk, which she was coloring in. Across the top of the heart she wrote, ‘I am strong,’” Hamel said. “These girls. I mean, there are so many times I just have to walk away because I get so choked up.”
Girls at Work has created a myriad of loyal fans, like Victoria Brier of Manchester, whose daughter, 10-year-old Violet Brier, was immediately “smitten” with the program when she created her first projects with the nonprofit a couple years ago through Hallsville School.
“She’s an adventurous, strong-willed girl. It was exciting for me to see the school offering something a little more in-depth than some other after-school programs,” Victoria Brier said. “She’s just always been one who can and will do whatever she wants, in a way. She didn’t really need that push. But it certainly never hurts anybody to do something new. … Now we’ve got Girls at Work projects all over the house.”
Jennifer Sanctuary, treasurer on the board, said she’s seen the same kind of confidence boost among women participating in weekend workshops.
“That’s had almost as much impact on the women as it has had on the children. The women in there are very apprehensive at first, and so for them to see this awesome table or bookshelf at the end of the day is really amazing,” Sanctuary said.
Reaching Out
Gosselin said Girls at Work has grown tremendously this past year, a trajectory she and the rest of the staff and board members would like to see continue.
“We’re growing rapidly. I think what we’re really looking for is people to invest in the girls and help us continue. Our long-term goal is to get our bus on the road and create a mobile workshop so we can bring it all around the state, because it’s not just a Manchester issue,” Gosselin said.
The same is true for the Guild and local makerspaces, particularly the newest.
Manchester’s got the room and most of the tools you might want, but it also wants to accrue more members to teach or take woodworking classes. They know it’s the generosity of locals that feeds woodworking culture.
“I lived in New York my whole life. And New York is a great place, and there are a lot of opportunities there, but I’ve never met the quality of people, who are so kind and giving with their time and resources, as I have with the people of New Hampshire,” DiMaggio said.
Learn Woodworking
Homestead Woodworking School
Where: 52 Bald Hill Road, Newmarket
What: Founded by Alan Mitchell, who directs the program, it offers classes for novice, intermediate and advanced woodworkers. Instructors are professionals with different areas of specialization, many from the Guild of NH Woodworkers or the New Hampshire Furniture Masters. Lessons occur in a large, restored timber-framed barn. Bring lumber to class or purchase some on-site, plus consumables (sandpaper, glue, screws). They begin in September and occur mostly in six-week sessions, ranging from making boxes to larger pieces.
Contact: 659-2345, woodschoolnh.com, woodschool@comcast.net
The Wood Shop in Alton
Where: 31 Chamberlain Road, Alton
What: Steve Saulten built the woodshed 15 years ago with the purpose of creating enough space for small groups of woodworkers to share tips, tools and encouragement. Classes include Woodshop for Beginners, Woodshop for Women and Advanced Woodshop.
Contact: 289-2109, woodshopinalton.com, steves@swscons.com
Epic Woodworking
Where: 336 Baptist Road, Canterbury
What: Classes are taught by Tom McLaughlin both in person and online. Most are project-based, focused on building things like Shaker end tables, swings, rocking chairs, etc., but some focus on basics of joinery and finishing pieces.
Contact: epicwoodworking.com
Guild of NH Woodworkers
Where: Statewide
What: An organization focused on promoting woodworking, mostly through education via lectures, symposia and demonstrations, which are held all over the state, from makerspaces to member shops. Within this umbrella organization are also a variety of specific groups (beginners and intermediates, boat builders, period furniture, woodturning, instrument-making and carving, etc.).
Contact: gnhw.org
Girls at Work
Where: 4 Elm St., Manchester
What: The nonprofit aims to empower girls and help them overcome adversity and build confidence by teaching them woodworking. It travels to locations and offers workshops in the Manchester shop, plus birthday parties and corporate builds for businesses. The girls’ workshops are offered to girls from Title I Manchester schools and funded through sponsorships and its partnership with 21st Century.
Contact: girlswork.org, 345-0392, info@girlswork.org
Manchester Makerspace
Where: 36 Old Granite St., Manchester
What: The nonprofit is a shared workspace with resources, training and mentorship for a variety of maker interests, from art and furniture-making to robotics and automotive. A one-month subscription costs $65 and includes 24/7 access.
Contact: manchestermakerspace.org
Port City Makerspace
Where: 68 Morning St., Portsmouth
What: Membership costs $50 a month during open hours or $80 for 24/7 access to the space and tools for woodworking, machining, metalworking, embroidery, electronics, blacksmithing and automotives, etc. You can also buy day, weekend or buddy passes or take part in beginner workshops, which occur each month and are open to both members and nonmembers.
Contact: portcitymakerspace.com
MakeIt Labs
Where: 25 Crown St., Nashua
What: The 12,000-square-foot facility is divided into an electronics and computer lab, wood shop, machine shop, welding/fabrication shop, automotive garage bay, rapid prototyping areas, classrooms, meeting spaces, etc. Membership options range from $50 to $110 a month depending on whether you want 24/7 access or storage space.
Contact: makeitlabs.com, 978-226-3266
Arts: Mind Blowing Event
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Mind Blowing Event
Kirk on Readying for League of NH Craftsmen’s Fair
Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
For Denise Kirk, the League of NH Craftsmen’s Fair in Sunapee is kind of like Christmas.
Kirk, a Queen City resident, is both a juried member specializing in felting and a member of the League’s full-time staff, which involves tasks ranging from running the Hooksett gallery to managing the CraftWear exhibition at the fair, which runs from Aug. 5 through Aug. 13 this year.
Kirk was at the fairgrounds a couple weeks before its start for setup, so she saw some of the work before anyone else — which, for a lover of fine craft, is very exciting. But just like the holidays, the fair can get stressful. It’s the biggest event of the year for most juried craftspeople, who’ve spent the better part of it building inventory. Most summers it attracts more than 20,000 shoppers. When things get overwhelming, staff are advised to remember why they’re there.
“If [staff] are feeling overwhelmed or feeling frantic, we say, just go out to the tents. Go out and feel that energy, and then you’ll remember why we’re here. We’re here for the craftsmen, to support the organization in whatever way we can,” Kirk said during an interview at the Hooksett gallery, located at the Interstate 93 rest stop.
Kirk is a lifelong admirer of the League. She remembers going to the fair with her family and being in awe of the work even as a kid. Her mom taught her to knit, but she didn’t take it seriously until about 10 years ago, while looking for something to fill her time while her sons played sports.
But it wasn’t until Kirk joined the League of NH headquarters staff about two years ago that she found the encouragement to try to become juried in. She got her stamp of approval in March and is one of a few full-time staff who are also juried members.
Kirk’s felted bags and bowls will decorate the fair’s exhibitions, and she’ll manage CraftWear, which contains traditional and avant-garde jewelry and handcrafted clothing and accessories.
Most of her pieces are bright and colorful, accessorized with beads or eclectic buttons purchased wherever she can find them — consignment stores, clearance racks and from craftsmen clearing out their workspaces. She uses two strands when she knits, which makes the bags durable, sometimes with ribbon yarn to add a bit of shimmer.
Kirk’s love of color in part stems from her studies at The Art Institute of Boston, where she studied photography.
“Everyone [at school] loved my stuff so much better in color. I see more in color than in black and white,” she said.
She’s excited and honored to take part in the fair for the first time as a juried artist.
“I think everybody should come to the fair and experience it because it’s incredible. To realize there are that many craftspeople that do that great of work in this small area, I think it’s mind-blowing,” she said. “We actually have people that move to the area so they can be in the League.”
League of NH Craftsmen’s Fair
Where: Saturday, Aug. 5, through Sunday, Aug. 13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
When: Mount Sunapee Resort, 1398 Route 103, Newbury
Contact: nhcrafts.org
Admission: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, active military and groups of 20 or more, free for children 12 and younger
Details: See pieces made by League of NH Craftsmen, watch master craftsmen demonstrations (in printmaking, glass blowing, jewelry making, blacksmithing, ceramics, weaving, etc.), take part in hands-on workshops (for adults, teens and children, in printmaking, pottery, sculpture plus “Tools for Kids,” at which kids can learn to use early American tools like planes, lathes and drills) and enjoy live music by New England performers on select days. In addition to tents featuring work by the craftsmen, there will be three exhibitions showcasing wearable art and fine craft for the home and garden in “CraftWear,” “Living With Craft” and “Sculpture Garden.” In addition, the Mount Washington Cog Railway hosts an on-site display of the historic Peppersass Cog Railway train engine, the world’s first mountain-climbing cog railway train engine. “Steampunk Day at the Fair” is Friday, Aug. 11, during which guests dressed in steampunk outfits will receive $1 off admission and be entered in a best-dressed contest.
Music: Charmed
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New England Country Music Festival Hits Third Year
Written By Michael Witthaus (music@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
When the first New England Country Music Festival launched in 2015, its creators waited nervously to see if the region’s perceived love for country music would bear out. The show, held at Redhook Brewery in Portsmouth, was more than a success, right down to the weather. The following year, it got even better.
In 2017, the third edition stars Frankie Ballard with supporting acts Michael Ray and William Michael Morgan, and advance sales are moving at a record pace.
“It’s only grown,” promoter Amanda Morneault said recently of the all-day, family-friendly event. “At a month out we’d distributed more tickets than we had attendees last year, so we are smooth sailing.”
Between them, the three acts topping the bill have multiple Top 10 country hits. Ballard did it three times on his debut CD Sunshine & Whiskey, with “Helluva Life,” “Young & Crazy” and the title cut all charting. His 2016 disc El Rio was named one of Rolling Stone’s 25 best country albums of that year.
Ballard has a vintage style, but a rock ’n’ roll heart. He grew up in Detroit listening to classic rock, and his newest single is a cover of Bob Seger’s “You’ll Accompany Me.” He embodies Tom Petty’s observation in a recent interview: “Today’s country music is 1970s rock.”
“We actually wanted him last year so the fact that we were able to make this happen in Year 3 was even bigger,” said Morneault. “He is a really great guy to work with, and I’ve always loved his music.”
Ray has matinee idol looks — he recently appeared on the hit series Nashville — to go with songwriting, playing and singing talents that have many talking about him as the next Luke Bryan. “He has ‘Kiss You in the Morning,’ his first No. 1 hit, and then ‘Think a Little Less’ was also No. 1,” Morneault said. “He just released ‘Get to You,’ which will climb, too. … He has all-star power, and we’re really lucky to get him. By next year he might be out of our budget.”
A 24-year-old native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Morgan dropped his first album, Vinyl, in 2016. It went to No. 5 on the U.S. country charts and yielded the No. 2 hit “I Met a Girl.” Morgan appeals to purists, with plenty of twang and pedal steel guitar.
A big part of the festival’s first two years were regional acts given a chance to hit a bigger stage. That continues, with a luminous undercard including Timmy Brown, Jimmy Connor, Casey Derhak and Paige Davis.
“Timmy is phenomenal, a little bit older but he has a great band with him and just released a single,” Morneault said. “He is opening for some bigger artists and he is in high demand. I tried to book him for other local shows and his calendar was full.”
Connor is a returning favorite. The 17-year-old singer-guitarist got a career boost when Hunter Hayes noticed him holding a sign that read, “Can I sing with you?” at one of his concerts. Hayes became a mentor.
“Any time Hunter Hayes comes to the area, Jimmy plays with him,” Morneault said.
“Jimmy played a solo acoustic set for us last year, and we asked him back right away for a full band performance.”
Massachusetts-based Davis is a rising star at 16 years old. In April, she won the New England Music Award for 2017 Country Act of the Year. Derhak is the most local act appearing, with no possible competition. He was born at Pease Air Force Base, now the site of Red Hook Brewery, the festival venue. Several of his songs have been recorded by other artists, and he recently moved to Nashville.
“He is definitely one to watch,” Morneault said. “I would not be surprised if he crosses over from country to more on the pop end of the spectrum.”
Fingers crossed for good weather, the lucky third festival looks more than promising for Morneault and Harbor Agency partner Chris Whynock.
“This is definitely an all-star lineup,” she said. “We are working really hard to get everything buttoned up so we can enjoy the show.”
New England Country Music Festival
When: Sunday, Aug. 6, 1 p.m.
Where: Redhook Brewery, 1 Redhook Way, Portsmouth
Tickets: $15 to $85 at eventbrite.com
Film: Atomic Blonde
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Film Review
Atomic Blonde
Written By Amy Diaz (adiaz@hippopress.com)
Images: Movie Screenshot
Charlize Theron is a British secret agent in November 1989 Berlin in Atomic Blonde, a melted together lump of 1980s compilation CDs, fight scenes and visual fanciness that made for a good trailer but a slog of a movie.
Maybe two and a half good minutes was all this movie had in it.
Lorraine Broughton (Theron) is a British spy sent to Berlin to work with David Percival (James McAvoy), another British spy, after the death of spy James Gascoigne (Sam Hargrave), who also was Lorraine’s secret boyfriend. Gascoigne died during an operation to secure a list that features the names and work histories of oodles of western spies operating against the Soviet Union. A Soviet operative (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) killed Gascoigne and stole the watch containing the list. But rather than take it to his bosses, he intends to sell it to the highest bidder.
These are the last days of the divided Berlin, so to search for the list and for a mole in British intelligence, Lorraine has to operate on both sides of the wall. Spies and government agents abound and include a shifty East German (Roland Møller) and a French operative (Sofia Boutella). Throughout, we hear the story relayed in flashback by Lorraine to MI6 officers (Toby Jones, James Faulkner) and a CIA officer (John Goodman).
Theron’s bleach blond hair and her crisp black, gray and white (and occasionally red and metallic) wardrobe; the hits of the 1980s, specifically “Der Kommissar” and “99 Luftballons”; fight scenes of close combat between Lorraine and assorted henchmen; a bunch of spy bric-a-brac about East and West Berlin; some bad-music-video-ish sex scenes — this collection of bedazzlements filled the trailer and suggested, if nothing else, a fun action movie. But the movie itself is nothing but more of this stuff, with nothing of heft or weight underneath. Atomic Blonde is all puffy paint with no acid-washed denim jacket.
Ultimately the movie doesn’t hang together because all of the stuff thrown at it to sexy it up has nothing to stick to. The story feels very “intro to spy plots” and the mystery of the double agent is not particularly interesting and is resolved in a way that makes much of what came before feel pointless. The performances are dodgy; Theron in particular feels flat. (Rooting for Theron feels like the element that would make all this noise enjoyable but I never felt anything but — to borrow from the Emoji review — “meh” for her character.)
Occasionally, some of the fight scenes have the kind of coolness of choreography that hand-to-hand combat can have, especially when one or two people are fighting one or two people, but they tend to feel rather plopped into the movie — “here is your fun fight scene,” without a lot of stakes or connection to the plot.
Maybe because the trailers had me expecting better, I left Atomic Blonde not just disappointed but annoyed that this is the best the movie could do with its stars, setting (the turmoil of the end of the Cold War has plenty of narrative possibility) and the promise of a kick-butt heroine (Or anti-heroine, even; Theron as a coherent anti-heroine character would have been fine too. Instead, all her character work seems outfit-based.)
From afar Atomic Blonde looked like some glittery superhero fun but in reality it is nothing but a pile of sparkly junk.
Grade: C-
Pop: Old Stomping Grounds
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Old Stomping Grounds
Former Resident on New Books & Returning to NH
Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
Meghan Kenny timed her summer venture to New Hampshire so she can attend the MacDowell Colonyâ's Medal Day which this year honors filmmaker David Lynch with her family on Aug. 13.
It s a beautiful place, if you haven t been there before. It s the only day during the whole year they open it up to the public. If it s nice out, you can wander through various studios [housing] writers, painters or musicians. Often times, there are some pretty famous people hanging out there, said Kenny, a Pennsylvania writer who attended the Derryfield School in the 90s and who returns to the state regularly to visit her family s house in Grantham.
While going to Medal Day is a top item on her agenda, Kenny figured that while she s here, it made sense to hold a few author events promoting her own short story collection Love Is No Small Thing: Stories, published in March by LSU Press. Her only New Hampshire stop is Thursday, Aug. 3, at Milford s Toadstool Bookshop.
One of the stories in her collection, These Things Happen, is set in a small coffee shop inspired by one she used to frequent in Milford. Another, The Genius of Love, takes place in Vermont. The rest are set around the country, from Idaho, where she earned her MFA in creative writing at Boise State University, to Wisconsin, where her grandparents lived.
All are stand-alones and tackle the theme of love in one way or another, from familial relationships and romance to the love between old friends. There are tales of infidelity, disappointments, losses and expectations, which are delivered via bird sanctuaries, cross-country road trips, Halloween nights and skydiving.
I think [love] is sort of a mystery, but also the core of humanity and human nature. I think we all want to love and be loved. And of course, [love] doesn t always go according to plan or very smoothly. And then in those times, it s about, how do people reset, refocus and push on? Kenny said via phone.
It s a busy time for Kenny. She teaches at Lancaster Country Day School in Pennsylvania and for the Gotham Writers Workshop, which is based in New York but offers classes online. This fall, she leads a Contemporary American Writers course at Johns Hopkins University.
In addition, she s readying for the release of her first novel, The Driest Season, to be published by W.W. Norton in February 2018, about a teen and her family who struggle to move on after she finds her father hanging in their barn.
Both books have been a long time coming. Kenny started the collection in graduate school but struggled to find an agent when she first tried to sell it about 10 years ago.
When they kept saying, Oh, we like your stuff, but we d like to see a novel, I put the stories aside and spent years writing the novel. By the time I went out to get an agent, I d written more short stories and had changed the nature of the collection, she said. I don t think it was really apparent to me [the collection] was about love until I started putting it together again.
Kenny credits, in part, teachers at The Derryfield School and the setting of her old home for her love of reading and writing. She has since learned a lot about the craft mostly, that you re not going to feel like you know what you re doing, particularly with a novel.
The trick is to push forward anyway.
I think having a lot of time in the woods allows you to have an active imagination, Kenny said. But it s really hard. I don t know any better how to write the next one. It sounds kind of foolish, and it s true.
Meet Meghan Kenny
Toadstool Bookshop: Lorden Plaza, 614 Nashua St., Route 101A, Milford, Thursday, Aug. 3, at 6:30 p.m., 673-1734, toadbooks.com
Newtonville Books: 10 Langley Road, Newton, Mass., Wednesday, Aug. 9, at 7 p.m., 617-244-6619, newtonvillebooks.com
Contact: meghankenny.co
The MacDowell Colony s Medal Day
Where: 100 High St., Peterborough
When: Sunday, Aug. 13; medal ceremony honoring filmmaker David Lynch at 12:15 p.m., picnic on the grounds at 1:15 p.m., open studios from 2 to 5 p.m.; order picnic baskets by midnight on Sunday, Aug. 6
Tickets: These are in the form of sponsorships that start at $20
Contact: macdowellcolony.org, 924-3886
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Keno Rollout
Keno Rollout
A New Gambling Game Readuies to Launch in NH
Written By Ryan Lessard (news@hippopress.com)
Images: Stock Photo
Now that keno, a rapid number drawing game, is legal in New Hampshire, cities and towns will vote on whether to adopt it, as the state Lottery Commission is setting up the nuts and bolts of the program.
Some bars and restaurants might be able to start offering the game as soon as mid-December.
The way it will work in New Hampshire, keno players will choose from a matrix of numbers on a ticket of 80 numbers. They make their bets in an automatic kiosk that prints them a receipt, then they watch as a TV screen displays a drawing of 20 numbers every few minutes.
Customers will receive their winnings directly from the machine, except for winnings of $500 or more, which will be mailed as a check.
You have to be 18 or older to play and it will only run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Up to Cities & Towns
Before anyone wins their first payout from keno, cities and towns must allow keno through a ballot measure. Cities will be the first to have a chance to vote on it this November. Towns will have a chance to vote on it in the town meetings in March and May.
To get the question of whether to allow keno on a city ballot or town warrant, the municipality needs to pass a vote of the city aldermen, council or selectmen or, alternatively, a petition signed by 5 percent of the community’s registered voters needs to be submitted to the legislative body.
According to the Manchester City Clerk’s office, there are 55,843 registered voters in the city, which means a petition would need about 2,790 signatures from among those voters.
Alderman Pat Long in Manchester said he made the aldermen aware of the process and will poll the board on where they stand on the issue when they get closer to their Aug. 15 meeting. Long is also a state rep for Manchester and voted for the keno bill, but he is on the fence about allowing it in the Queen City until he does more research on the topic.
Business Benefit
“If Manchester were to do it, I think my customers would enjoy it,” said Keith Murphy, owner of Murphy’s Taproom in Manchester and a state rep for Bedford.
Murphy said he would have the kiosk and screen set up in his Manchester bar as soon as he is able to, but he actually voted against the bill that legalized it because it was attached to full-day kindergarten funding.
Murphy expects Manchester to pass keno, and if it does pass in the majority of the state, he believes it would make far more than the $9 million in annual revenue.
“It’s going to blow that number away,” Murphy said.
Bars will be able to keep 8 percent of keno sales.
“That is not what I would have expected. I would have been happy with less,” Murphy said.
He’s also happy that the kiosk system will be automated, freeing his staff up to focus on food and drink service.
In Maryland, where Murphy grew up, the keno transaction was done through bar staff, he said. And unlike New Hampshire, where it will only be available in establishments with liquor pouring licenses, Maryland had keno in “literally every gas station,” Murphy said.
Murphy said he thinks keno is a more social type of gambling game that works well in a bar environment.
“My impression is most people who play keno will play it somewhere that sells alcohol and has food and is a social place like a bar or a restaurant. I think that’s a very natural fit,” he said.
He also believes it will raise the revenue for the meals and rooms tax.
“The reality is the benefit for me as an owner isn’t the 8 percent. It isn’t my small cut of what goes into that kiosk. The benefit to me as an owner and to my employees is that my customers will sit longer, they will have more food, they will drink more drinks,” Murphy said.
Gearing Up
Right now, the New Hampshire Lottery Commission is taking steps to develop new software to run the keno system at the lottery headquarters. It’s working with Intralot, who has had keno in its contract since 2010, to provide the technology.
Bars will have boxes connected to secure DSL lines installed that can connect to TVs to display the live feed.
Charlie McIntyre, the executive director of the lottery commission, said they are also getting ready to reach out to qualifying bars and restaurants in the state with letters in the mail and follow-up phone calls, which will notify them of the option to add keno and inform them of the application process.
“Our projected go-live date is Dec. 15,” McIntyre said.
He said he expects a “vast majority” of cities and towns to adopt keno this fiscal year. And that can mean bringing a lot of dollars back into the state that have been spent in Massachusetts, according to McIntyre.
“Already, $25 million annually is wagered in Massachusetts on keno by New Hampshire citizens,” McIntyre said.
Generally, McIntyre said the most popular approach for players is to bet on four or five number combinations (like birthdays) with top prizes around $50. He expects a chunk of those winnings will go toward buying more food or tipping waiters better. Besides the 8 percent that will go to the hosting bar or restaurant, 2 percent is expected to pay for operating costs, a little over 69 percent will go toward winnings, 1 percent will be set aside for problem gambling services and the rest (about 19 percent) will be profit sent to the education trust fund to help pay for full-day kindergarten.
A Granite Leader
A Granite Leader
Resources Helped Pull A Local Man Out of Homelessness
Written By Ryan Lessard (news@hippopress.com)
Images: Stock Photo
Lenny Constant is a stout fellow in his 40s with wavy salt-and-pepper hair and gentle brown eyes. Today, he works maintenance at the Hilton Garden Inn and lives with his wife in an apartment in Manchester. But not long ago, he was spending cold nights alone at the New Horizons shelter, sleeping on a bed on the floor.
While he worked hard to get back on his feet, Constant credits the Granite Leaders program for teaching him important life skills and shoring up his confidence when he needed it most.
Falling into Homelessness
Constant had been out of work and receiving Social Security Disability Insurance payments for COPD emphysema — $872 per month — when he broke up with his then-girlfriend and had to move out of their home. He stayed with a family member temporarily but had to leave due to lack of space.
So, on Feb. 3, 2013, Constant found himself homeless for the first time.
“I didn’t know where to go. … I was lost and extremely depressed,” Constant said. “For the first time in my life I had to actually admit that I had failed.”
Just a few days later, a major blizzard dubbed “winter storm Nemo” hit the state. Concord received about 24 inches of snow, according to USA Today.
Constant found shelter at New Horizons, where he stayed for about two months before finding an apartment, paid for mostly with his disability check. But he was still unemployed and his rent was high, so four months later he moved in with his niece.
He was grateful, but his confidence was still low. After years of being self-sufficient and raising two kids, he was now staying with a relative whose diapers he used to change.
While staying with his niece, Constant enrolled in an associate’s program in psychology at Mount Washington College using federal student aid. Around the same time, Constant was volunteering at the shelter by distributing food. The program director at New Horizons, Kevin Kintner, told him about an opportunity to apply for a program called Granite Leaders.
Granite Leaders
Organized by the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness, Granite Leaders teaches leadership skills to currently and formerly homeless people, and graduates are invited to speak on panels and testify at the Statehouse to advocate for homeless issues.
Coalition spokesperson Michele Talwani said the program is run every two years and lasts for six months. It is held in Manchester with monthly meetings, but there are occasions where the class goes to Concord or other places to get experience.
“It’s really to help engage them, [and] to educate the population and public about homelessness,” Talwani said. “Who better [to] speak about what it’s like to be homeless than somebody who has actually been through it?”
For Constant, it was also a huge confidence-booster.
“It was probably one of the best things I did after my homelessness,” Constant said.
Every time he was asked to speak publicly on the issue of homelessness, he gained a little bit more confidence.
Inspired by Constant’s story, the Hilton Garden Inn Manchester and Roedel Cos. recently donated $2,000 to the Coalition to support the Granite Leaders program.
Talwani said the program is currently in its third year and is in the process of recruiting candidates for when the program starts up again in November.
A Happy Ending
Eventually, Constant found work at the college and then started his job at the Hilton Garden Inn in March 2016. With new income, he weaned off disability insurance. Constant was able to get his own apartment and then moved in with an old girlfriend he had reconnected with. They got married last year.
He said he used to think homeless people were all addicts. He thought of them as “bums.” And when he first became homeless himself, he figured he must be the exception to the rule. But he quickly learned that wasn’t true, and that realization helped him get back on his feet.
“OK, I’m not the biggest loser in the world. I’m not the only guy who’s not drunk, not on drugs that lost his housing. Anything can happen,” Constant would tell himself at the time.
His advice for homeless people is to keep moving forward. Four years ago, he was alone, sleeping in a shelter, waiting out a blizzard. Now he’s got a place to call home, he’s married and he loves his job, which he calls his second family.
“For the first time in my entire life, I look forward to getting up in the morning and coming to work,” Constant said.
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Played Out
Played Out
Actors’ Circle Theatre takes Twelfth Night Outdoors
Written By Angie Sykeny (asykeny@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
If you’ve ever been to a Shakespeare in the Park play, you know that things don’t always go according to plan.
The outdoor productions of Shakespeare comedies, held each year in Peterborough’s Depot Square Park, have had their share of tweeting birds, rumbling motorcycles, even a monstrous storm (which rolled in, ironically, during a performance of The Tempest).
But that’s part of what makes the plays so exciting.
“Anytime you’re doing a play outdoors, you never know what you’re going to get,” said
Mia Moravis, producer and an actor for this year’s play, Twelfth Night. “But we love every bit of it. It’s a great thing. We’re subject to the caprice of Mother Nature, and that can only make an actor better.”
Performances of Twelfth Night will take place over two weekends, the first of which is on Saturday, Aug. 5. This is the 10th year the Actors’ Circle Theatre’s has presented the series; past plays have included The Taming of the Shrew, The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and others.
Twelfth Night tells the story of twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Presuming her brother dead, Viola comes ashore to Illyria disguised as a man named Cesario and begins working for Duke Orsino, with whom she falls in love.
An absurd love triangle ensues when the object of Orsino’s affection, Countess Olivia, falls in love with Viola disguised as Cesario.
“Things get really crazy when Sebastian ends up on the island as well,” Moravis said.
“You’ve got quite a bit going on onstage.”
ACT presented Twelfth Night a number of years ago, but as an indoor, standalone production. Director Chris McCartie, who started work on Shakespeare in the Park with Moravis in 2011, proposed reviving the play as part of this year’s series.
“We haven’t done this one in the park yet, and it’s a popular play, so we decided that it was time to do it again,” McCartie said.
All but one of the 14 cast members have performed for Shakespeare in the Park before.
Two of them even performed in the previous Twelfth Night production, as the same characters they’ll be playing this year.
“This is a veteran cast,” McCartie said. “There’s a nice chemistry between these people. They’re friends off stage, and they’re comfortable acting together on stage.”
While some Shakespeare in the Park plays have adopted modern and alternative interpretations, Twelfth Night will adhere to its traditional language, setting and costumes. But Moravis said it will still be very accessible to a modern audience.
“We [the actors] have been directed very well by Chris to first understand what we’re saying before we usher the words to the audience,” she said. “If you understand what
Shakespeare is saying, you can do it with the proper purport and the audience will know what’s going on.”
In accordance with the play’s traditional approach, the set will be kept minimal and acoustic — no extravagant props, no added lighting, no recorded sound, and musical accompaniment will be performed by live musicians.
“We’re trying to pare things down for this one,” McCartie said. “We want the focus to be on the story and the acting and want the audience to rely more on their imagination.”
Shakespeare in the Park: Twelfth Night
When: Saturdays, Aug. 5 and Aug. 12, and Sundays, Aug. 6 and Aug. 13, 5 p.m.
Where: Depot Square Park, 11 School St., Peterborough
Cost: Free
Visit: actorscircletheatre.org
Just Fore Fun
Just Fore Fun
Chuckster’s Unveils New Mini Golf Course in Hooksett
Written By Matt Ingersol (listings@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
Chuckster’s Family Fun Park already has the two longest miniature golf holes on the planet, in its Chichester and Vestal, N.Y., locations. So for owner Mark Blasko, recreating the feat for a third time was a charm.
On Friday, Aug. 11, Blasko’s latest project is expected to come together, as a new Chuckster’s is scheduled to open in Hooksett. The five-acre park has been in the works for more than a year and will feature two brand new 18-hole miniature golf courses, one of which will include a 201-foot-long hole to match the length of those found in Vestal and Chichester.
“The holes are completely different [from the other Chuckster’s courses]. There is not a single one that is duplicated,” Blasko said.
Crews from the New Jersey-based Harris Miniature Golf have been working for months to build the new course, which has required more than two million pounds of concrete for the holes and thousands of square feet of carpet and wood to create the greens, retaining walls, bridges and steps, according to Blasko. In addition, almost 2,000 gallons of water will be used to fill the ponds and water fountains, some of which are even parts of the holes themselves.
When visitors arrive they will enter through the ice cream barn — featuring 32 flavors of Blake’s ice cream — to pick up clubs, balls and scorecards. Heading out through the rear of the building, there are three short holes not affiliated with either of the two main courses.
“The first thing you’re actually going to see when you come out here is the ‘world’s shortest minigolf hole, the ‘world’s easiest minigolf hole’ and the ‘world’s most difficult minigolf hole,’” Blasko said. “It’s just for fun, but the world’s longest minigolf hole is actually legitimate.”
From there, golfers have a choice between the Fire Tower Course, which will feature a New Hampshire-style fire tower replica you can climb up into, and the Cave Course, which is entirely ADA accessible and begins with a hole played through a makeshift cave sprayed with gunite. At the end of each course, you’ll get a chance to win a free game by sinking a hole-in-one on the 19th hole.
Although the designs of the holes are brand new, Blasko said the flow of water plays a major role in many of them, similar to those at the other Chuckster’s courses.
“There are actually 12 different ponds, and a lot of streams that interact with the holes,” he said. “[What] makes Chuckster’s unique is the holes interact with the water. So for instance, there will be one hole where if you hit the ball too hard and it ends up in the stream, it’ll actually go downstream and spit back out onto the green.”
The first Chuckster’s miniature golf course opened in Chichester in 2007. Since then, Blasko has added more attractions like go-carts, batting cages and rock climbing walls. But he never stopped thinking about new ideas for minigolf holes.
“In the back of my head, I kept forming all these new ideas for holes … and I visited courses in Myrtle Beach, Orlando and all these other places where there are these great courses, and I really wanted to put them all in one place,” he said.
So, unlike the other Chuckster’s, the Hooksett location is dedicated to just minigolf and ice cream.
“Here, we’re focusing on minigolf, but on a much bigger scale,” Blasko said. “Minigolf and ice cream go hand in hand; you can’t do one without the other. But I’m kind of testing a theory of mine that minigolf and ice cream alone on a big scale is very viable and will be very popular.”
The new Chuckster’s is the first of several businesses planned for Granite Woods, a property off Interstate 93 that Blasko said is also set to include hotels, restaurants and more. Despite its being less than 20 miles away from the original Chuckster’s park, his hopes are high for success in Hooksett.
“If you think about it, minigolf is kind of king in that just about everybody on the planet can play, from age 2 to 92,” he said. “Not everybody is going to want to hit baseballs or climb a rock wall or do a zip line, but with minigolf, every demographic is represented.”
Chuckster’s Family Fun Park opening in Hooksett
When: Opens to the public on Friday Aug. 11; hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 9 p.m.
Where: 53 Hackett Hill Road, Hooksett
Cost: Pricing for mini golf is $9.50 per one 18-hole round and $6 for ages 5 and under; golfers can play the second course on the same day only for a discounted price of $6.50 per round. The cost for ice cream ranges from $2.25 to $5.25, depending on the size.
Visit: chucksters-hooksett.com
Full of Hot Air
Full of Hot Air
Balloon Rally Returns to Pittsfield
Written By Ethan Hogan (news@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
For one weekend every year, thousands of people converge in Pittsfield to see hot air balloons float over the small Suncook Valley town. This year, 14 hot air balloons will take off from Drake Field at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 4, to kick off the three-day event.
The event has been held for 36 years, according to Fallon Reed, co-chair of the Balloon Rally. It was the summer before ninth grade when Reed’s family moved to Pittsfield and she first experienced the hot air balloons. Now, 16 years later, Reed is organizing the event, which she said never stops amazing her.
“How many people in their lives get to say they’ve seen and touched a hot air balloon? It’s a great little gem in New Hampshire,” Reed said. “I’ve been hooked ever since.”
The balloons weigh over 500 pounds and spectators will get to see the giants lift off at least three times over the course of the weekend, if weather permits, Reed said. The first scheduled takeoff is on Friday at 5:30 p.m., then again on Saturday at 5:50 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and Sunday at 5:30 a.m.
The balloons drift across the Suncook Valley and usually stay within town but Reed said there have been years where the balloons end up in Concord or Northwood.
“Once you get up there it’s wherever the wind takes you,” said Reed.
If the weather is right, the pilots will try and dip their baskets into the Suncook River Reservoir. The maneuver makes for an amazing photograph, according to Reed.
Tethered hot air balloon rides will also be available for $10 so attendees can experience the 100-foot-high flights. Reed took a tethered ride herself and said the experience was worth the long lines.
“It was super surreal because you felt like you were in a bubble because it was so calm and so clear. If you were to sit on a cloud, that’s how I feel it would be,” Reed said.
On Saturday, at 8:30 p.m. the hot air balloon pilots will fire up their propane engines and illuminate their balloons in the dark. Reed said they look like fireflies.
The marquee feature of the weekend-long event is the hot air balloons, but there are also carnival rides, food, fireworks and helicopter rides.
The $30-per-person helicopter rides give you a true aerial tour of the town. Reed said that each ride takes four people up for a scenic view of the area. While the pilots typically stay on the same pre-determined route, they have been known to take special requests so that people can get a view of their homes.
Admission to the festival is free but guests are encouraged to purchase food, crafts and rides, as a portion of the proceeds goes back to the Suncook Valley Rotary Club. The rotary club donates money to help end polio, raises money for scholarships and helps organize events for the Police and Fire departments.
There will be fair fries, Mexican-style food truck cuisine, fried dough and many more food options at the rally.
“I have never left the hot air balloon rally hungry,” said Reed.
The weekend’s hot air balloon events are all dependant on weather and Reed said her team is doing an anti-rain dance.
Suncook Valley Rotary Hot Air Balloon Rally
When: Friday, Aug. 4, through Sunday, Aug. 6
Where: Drake Field, 17 Fayette St., Pittsfield
Cost: Free admission. Food, beverages and carnival, helicopter and tethered hot air balloon rides all have separate fees.
Visit: pittsfieldnh.gov
Schedule of Events
Friday, Aug. 4
3 p.m. Midway Carnival rides open
5 p.m. Helicopter rides begin
5:30 p.m. Balloons liftoff
8:30 p.m. Nightglow
Saturday, Aug. 5
5:30 a.m. Balloons lift off
5:30 a.m. Pancake breakfast
10 a.m.- 8 p.m. Crafters open
11 a.m. Midway Carnival rides open
2 p.m. Helicopter rides begin
3 p.m. BMX bike show
5:30 p.m. Balloons lift off
8:30 p.m. Supper Night Glow
9:30 p.m. Fireworks
Sunday, Aug. 6
5:30 a.m. Balloons lift off for final launch
5:30 a.m. Rotary scrambled egg and bacon breakfast
8 a.m. Awards for balloonists and sponsors
9 a.m. Frank H. Donovan 5K Road Race
In The Can
In The Can
Enjoy Local Produce All Year Long with Canning
Written By Angie Sykeny (asykeny@hippopress.com)
Images: Stock Photo
With bustling farmers markets, colorful farm stands and CSA programs in full swing, there are plenty of opportunities to eat local this time of year. But during the colder months, it can be a challenge to find fresh local produce.
That’s why Anna Kovalcik of the Seacoast Permaculture Group is teaching a water bath canning workshop as part of New Hampshire Eat Local Month, a statewide series of programs held throughout August to celebrate local food and farming. The workshop will take place on Saturday, Aug. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m., at her home in Barrington.
“A big part of [canning] is about supporting local farms, because the only way to keep those resources around is to buy the things they have,” she said. “If you only buy what you’re going to use in a week, that’s still nice, but canning is a way to take advantage of what we have around us right now so that you can eat local throughout more of the year.”
Kovalcik learned the art of canning at a young age from her mother and grandmother. She said she cans as much as time and produce availability allow, with some help from two of her daughters who share her passion. They will be assisting in teaching the upcoming workshop as well.
“I don’t know if we’ll be teaching people anything they can’t learn from reading online or watching a video, but for a lot of people, it’s important to have a hands-on experience,” Kovalcik said. “I think it will give them confidence to come do it themselves and see that if my 15-year-old daughter can do it, they can do it, too.”
There are various kinds of canning methods, but water bath canning is considered the easiest and the best introductory method for beginners. It’s ideal for preserving high-acid foods like fruits, pickles, jellies and jams, sauces and salsas.
At the workshop, Kovalcik will walk participants step by step through the canning process, which entails sterilizing the glass canning jars, filling them with the prepared foods, sealing and processing them.
With the water bath method, processing means submerging the jars in a large pot of boiling water. The suggested “enjoy by” date for water bath canned goods is one to two years after canning, but this can vary depending on the type of produce and the consumer’s personal preference.
Participants do not need to have any previous experience with canning to attend the workshop, but they should bring their own paring knife and wear an apron or clothes they don’t mind getting dirty. All materials, including the produce, jars, jar lids and rings and canning equipment, will be provided at the workshop.
Participants will take home two completed jars of canned produce. The featured produce is dependent on availability and yet to be finalized, but Kovalcik said she’s aiming for one can of a fruit or jam and the other of a tomato sauce or salsa.
“It’s all about what we can get from the farms at that time, so it’s hard to plan ahead,” she said. “But that’s part of the whole thing, especially if you want to use a local source. You have to go with the flow.”
Kovalcik will also talk briefly about pressure canning, which is “the next step up” from water bath canning, she said, and if there is enough interest, she may host a follow-up workshop on pressure canning in the future.
“There are crops of all sorts of wonderful things in August and into September, and canning lets you capture that.” she said. “Then, when winter comes, you can have a little taste of summer, and there’s nothing like the taste of something that came from the field or off the trees.”
Water Bath Canning Workshop
When: Saturday, Aug. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m.; registration required by Friday, Aug. 5, at 1 p.m.
Where: Anna Kovalcik’s residence in Barrington (address will be shared upon registering)
Cost: $25 to $40, sliding scale, with a nonrefundable $10 deposit to be paid online with registration, and the remaining amount due at the class.
Registration: Log in or create an account on meetup.com, then go to meetup.com/seacoast-nh-permaculture and join the group. Click on the water bath canning workshop in the upcoming events. Follow the instructions on the event page to register.
Visit: seacoasteatlocal.org/nheatlocal
New Asian Options
New Asian Options
Noodles and Pearls Gets Ready to Open in Concord
Written By Matt Ingersol (listings@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
Don’t confuse the ramen soup featured on Noodles and Pearls’ menu with the instant stuff you can get for pennies at the grocery store; the new restaurant, set to open in downtown Concord later this month, will serve a more authentic version of the Asian staple using homemade broth, meat and vegetables.
“We’re not just throwing chicken broth and noodles together. … We’re starting with authentic recipes [and] preparing and steaming all of our meats and broth,” said co-owner Richard Weisberg, who formerly owned Vanderbilt’s Delicatessen on Main Street. “So the meats will get marinated for maybe a day before they are steamed, which helps to lock in the flavor.”
It’ll be one of the stars of the Noodles and Pearls menu, along with bubble tea and jianbing, two other popular Asian food items that Weisberg said will be new to the area.
“I’ve been trying to identify … something that the Concord community would really respond to,” Weisberg said.
Bubble tea, according to Weisberg, is served cold and prepared using soft, chewy tapioca balls or jelly balls placed at the bottom of the cup before a liquid is added.
“There are three basic types of liquid you would use as a base,” he said. “There is generally a black tea, a dairy base and a soy base, like soy milk. … You usually add in either sweet tapioca balls or jelly balls first and then fill the liquid to the top. … We will rotate our flavors, so for example we might have a mango-flavored tea or juice that we’ll use and then switch it out from time to time with something else, like apple.”
It was Weisberg’s business partner, Dongmei Wang, who suggested adding jianbing to the mix. The dish shares several basic components of ramen but in the form of a crepe rather than a soup.
“It’s a very popular street Chinese food,” Weisberg said. “You start with a crepe and then add a layer of egg on top of it … and flip it over, so the egg is on the outside. Then from there, the ingredients that go in will be similar to what you can get in ramen. …
[The crepe] then gets folded up into kind of an envelope shape, and you can walk down the street eating it.”Weisberg said he and Wang hope to establish a new option for getting your food quickly and efficiently while maintaining good quality.
“For right now, I want to keep the menu small,” he said. “You know, I hate it when I walk into a place and there’s like 20 different things you have to choose from, and you have to figure out [how to order]. It’s terrifying.”
Although there are hundreds of varieties of ramen and bubble tea that can be made, what you’ll get at Noodles and Pearls to start with will be simple, but still with plenty of choices.
“We’ll be offering the ramen and jianbing on a daily basis [with] some type of a meat-based broth and some type of vegetarian-based broth, so people will have their choice to start with there,” he said. “Then it will be a matter of whatever they choose to put in it, so we will be preparing delicious chicken and beef and pork, as well as different vegetable-type additions that would go in there.”
Changes and additions may be made to the menu based on customers’ initial responses.
“I understand that the American palate [of ramen] is not the same as the Asian palate all the time,” he said. “For example, a strictly authentic ramen broth could be very salty to the American tongue. So we’ll tone that down a little bit … and let the customers guide us in that way.”
Twenty-four seats will be available inside the restaurant, including table seating and stool seating along the counter by the front window. In nice weather, tables and chairs may move onto the sidewalk for outdoor seating.
“We’re not running a full-scale, full-service Chinese restaurant, [but] people on their lunch hour should be able to come in and be out of here in five or 10 minutes,” he said.
“We want it to be something that is as quick to serve, but still as good as a really good slice of pizza.”
Noodles and Pearls
Opening date anticipated in early August.
Where: 26 Pleasant St., Concord
Anticipated hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week
Contact: noodlesandpearls@gmail.com
Weekly Music Review
Weekly Music Review
Lana Del Rey & More
Written By Eric Saeger (news@hippopress.com)
Images: Album Artwork
Lana Del Rey, Lust for Life (Interscope Records)
The photogenic singer’s fifth album is a haunting backward step to her 2012 Born to Die debut, but with a bit more hip-hop in its veins. If you’re not familiar with her, imagine a waifish Adele after a quarter-fifth of vodka, the mourning longing tones impelled by a lot of bedroom-ready echo, this kind of thing. If I have to pick one quibble, it’s with the predictability of the contents, although the Phil Spector girl group ballad “Love” emulates The Crystals after an all-night bender quite admirably, proffering a nice unhealthy amount of Raveonettes-level beach-angst, but that’s nothing compared to the “Take off your clothes” refrain swimming through the title track’s interplay with The Weeknd, whose falsetto is in full get-it-on mode. The amniotic, subatomic incidental percussion on the absolutely drugged-sounding “Cherry” is pretty irresistible, but I wasn’t wildly impressed with the perfunctory “Beautiful People Beautiful Problems,” which comes off like something that was hastily cobbled together in order to take advantage of Stevie Nicks showing up for a one-off. That said, there’s nothing truly awful here.
Grade: B+
Lisa Said, Estranged (Tall Short Records
The backstory of this EP is rooted in Said’s childhood, growing up in an Egyptian immigrant family in rural Tennessee, a real-life sitcom situation that might be untenable today, what with — oh, you know the deal. Except for the whirling zydeco of “Travelling Minus Zero,” her last record, No Turn Left Behind, was basically a tryout for a Sheryl Crow cover band, but this time out, focused on a desire to drop a quick EP with passion pegged and purposely little planning — she’s found her inner Natalie Merchant, and a bit of an inner Chrissie Hynde while she’s at it. “Some Dudes,” the opener, unveils Said’s fetish for early booze-blues Rolling Stones with some rough-and-tumble slide-guitar moves that are so nasty you half-expect Kim Deal to sing a bar or two; the Chrissie side rears its head on “Regular Guy”; “Peel the Moon” evokes solo Natalie. Straightforward stuff throughout, bolstered by a hard-wired ability to draw out her notes until they work.