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Food: Sips & Scenery
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Sips & Scenery
Lakes Region Brewfest Features 30+ Breweries
Written By Angie Sykeny (asykeny@hippopress.com)
Images: Stock Photo
The Brew with a View festival is just what it sounds like: a brewfest held in a scenic Lakes Region location, with views of Lake Winnisquam, Lake Winnipesaukee and the White Mountains.
The third annual event takes place Saturday, July 8, at Steele Hill Resorts in Sanbornton and will feature more than 30 breweries and beverage producers from New Hampshire and beyond.
“With the microbrew craze hitting, we thought it’d be fun to have an event where people can experience a wide variety of [beer] offerings, then turn around and enjoy this spectacular view,” the resort’s vice president, Justin Cutillo, said. “It’s one of the best views in the state.”
The festival will have two tents that house brewers and distillers serving samples of their products, and booths for wine tasting. There will be regional and national brewers as well as a number of local brewers including Throwback Brewery, Woodstock Inn Brewery, Stoneface Brewing Co., Redhook Brewery and Canterbury AleWorks; and local distillers Djinn Spirits and Tall Ship Distillery.
“We emphasize the local microbreweries,” Cutillo said. “It’s a great opportunity to go to a single spot and try all these different tasty beverages, some produced within 20 miles of the resort, and get a taste of the beer culture in the region.”
Upon admission, guests will receive a four-ounce tasting glass with which to taste the samples at each booth they visit. Brewery representatives, and in some cases the brewers themselves, will be pouring the samples and talking with guests about the inspiration for their product and how it is made.
Most brewers bring three or four beer varieties, which tend toward IPAs and small-batch brews.
“It’s less about the primary and mainstream beers that you associate with that particular brewery,” Cutillo said. “Many will be ones you haven’t seen before, or they’ll be a trial beer, and [the brewers] wants to get a reaction from people before they produce it.”
For even more exclusive small-batch beers, guests can opt for the VIP ticket, which will grant them admission to the festival one hour early and access to beers that won’t be available to general admission ticket holders.
Additionally, there will be sausages, pretzels and other foods that “appeal to the beer drinking crowd,” Cutillo said, catered by the resort restaurant.
The main tent will feature Janet and the Red Heads, a cover band performing classic rock songs, and to the side of the tents, there will be cornhole and other pick-up lawn games for guests to play between tastings.
A Brew with a View
Where: Steele Hill Resorts, 516 Steele Hill Road, Sanbornton
When: Saturday, July 8, 5 to 7 p.m. (VIP admission at 4 p.m.)
Cost: $40 general admission, $50 VIP
Visit: abrewwithaview.com
Participating Breweries & Beverage Producers
21st Amendment Brewery - Angry Orchard - The Brooklyn Brewery - Canterbury AleWorks - Djinn Spirits - Downeast Cider House - Foolproof Brewing Co. - Hidden Cove Brewing Co. - Ipswich Ale Brewery - Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers - Kona Brewing Co. - Life Support - Lord Hobo Brewing Co. - New Belgium Brewing - Newburyport Brewing Co. - Omission Beer - Pine State - Redhook Brewery - Rising Tide Brewing Co. - Samuel Adams - Seadog Brewing Co. - Shipyard Brewing Co. - Stoneface Brewing Co. - Tall Ship Distillery - Throwback Brewery - Traveler Beer Co. - Two Roads Brewing Co. - Von Trapp Brewing - Wachusett Brewing Company - Woodstock Inn Brewery - More TBA
News: More Aid
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More Aid
How the State Budget Could help Low-Income People
Written By Ryan Lessard (news@hippopress.com)
Images: Stock Photo
Analysts say some of the state’s most economically vulnerable people will benefit from a few items in the 2018-2019 state budget, which the governor signed into law June 28.
Welfare Ceiling
One of the biggest things that changes in the new budget is how the cap for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, formerly known as welfare, is determined.
Phil Sletten, policy analyst for New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, said the state previously set the maximum TANF benefits by a specific dollar amount per family size. While there will still be a formula that accounts for family size, the max will now be set at 60 percent of federal poverty guidelines.
For a family of three, that’s about $12,000, an increase from what had been about 39 percent of federal poverty guidelines.
This change affects fewer than 5,000 people statewide, most of whom are children, according to Sletten.
Medicaid Services
Woven throughout this budget are increases to Medicaid spending and additional services.
“There are new Medicaid services that are added for mental health, particularly children with complex needs, and additional bed capacities in various health care settings for mental health patients,” Sletten said.
The budget provides for 40 new transitional and community residential beds and 20 additional beds for designated receiving facilities.
Under the current Medicaid system, the more state dollars spent on programs, the more federal money is matched. That has the potential to change if federal health care legislation alters that relationship, but the state budget assumes no change.
The efficiency budget submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services had requested more money than it ultimately got, according to Sletten, but this budget still represents an increase over the last.
Affordable Housing
In the capital budget, which is a separate six-year budget that’s updated every two years, about $2.5 million was bonded toward the state’s affordable housing fund.
Housing Action NH is a statewide coalition of 80 organizations, and it partnered with the Business and Industry Association and various chambers of commerce to lobby for this allocation, because it is seen as a way to help solve the state’s workforce shortage.
“The workforce shortage is a complex issue, but housing is definitely a component of it,” Housing Action NH Director Elissa Margolin said.
The money will be used to provide under-market-rate loans to developers who can pass on the rental savings to renters so working-class and lower-income individuals can afford housing, something that has become more scarce than ever before in the state. The New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority estimated the state’s vacancy rate for two-bedroom apartments to be a record low of 1.4 percent.
“Right now, there’s virtually no viable rental market near the job centers in New Hampshire,” Margolin said.
While she counts the funding as a win and is optimistic for the future, she said the state still lags behind others in the region when it comes to affordable housing investments. By contrast, Vermont bonded $35 million and Rhode Island bonded $50 million to their respective affordable housing funds.
Provider Rates
The new budget is allowing for an increase of “up to five percent” for the wages and compensation rates of certain direct service providers. Sletten said certain residential providers for the Division of Children, Youth and Families, as well as services for foster care, elderly non-Medicaid, case management, public guardianship, early intervention services and more will see increases.
The increase to rates given to foster parents was added at the last minute during executive session, Sletten said. Foster care rates haven’t gone up in a decade, according to advocates with Child and Family Services.
“One of the things that some members of the legislature wanted to do is ensure that provider rate increases were granted specifically to those groups of providers that had not been granted rate increases for several years,” Sletten said.
Education
Advocates say the availability of public full-day kindergarten helps parents find and hold down jobs with schedules that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to manage if their kids are in a half-day kindergarten program. Not only will the household potentially have more immediate income as a result, but studies show children with more early education have better economic outcomes later in life.
Meanwhile, increased funding for the state’s community college system to the tune of $7.3 million in additional funds, could also indirectly help the poorer population, according to Sletten.
Arts: A Photographic Retirement
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A Photographic Retirement
New Hampshire Artist Laureate Relishes his New Role
Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
New Hampshire native Gary Samson “just about fell out of his chair” when, this spring, he learned he’d been appointed to be the state’s next artist laureate — but then he realized there was no better time for this to happen.
“When Roger [Brooks] said, ‘You were selected to be the artist laureate,’ I thought, ‘I’m young enough so that I could actually enjoy that!’” Samson said, laughing, during an interview at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, where he’s worked for 30 years.
At the time of his meeting with Brooks, who’s chair of the New Hampshire State Council for the Arts, Samson was preparing to retire from his position as the NHIA photography chair. For decades, he’d worked two jobs — as the University of New Hampshire filmmaker and manager of photography and a part-time NHIA professor — until 2000, when NHIA became a four-year school. Samson felt eager to work on independent projects and sift through decades of negatives.
“I just felt like retiring now was the right thing to do. Some of the students certainly were upset about it, but if you think about it, you can never take care of all the students, because you always have new ones coming in,” Samson said. “I thought, while I still have the energy, I want to have time to photograph.”
Of course, he takes the word “retirement” lightly, particularly with this new artist laureate position. In June he spent a month teaching in Greece with the school’s study abroad program, and later this summer he’ll conduct a variety of workshops and lead a community-wide photography project in Peterborough. Anything he can do to help promote art in New Hampshire, he’s game.
“Even though I’m not formally teaching, I’m not saying I’m completely giving up teaching. I certainly would make myself available for people who want to learn about photography, especially young people,” Samson said.
Samson learned about the importance of giving back to artists from renowned photographer Lotte Jacobi, a German-American who lived in Deering from the 1950s until her death in 1990. She was known for her portraits of some of the 20th century’s most extraordinary people, including Albert Einstein, Robert Frost, Thomas Mann, Peter Lorre and Eleanor Roosevelt. When she was in her late 70s, UNH commissioned him to create a film about her.
“I was intimidated by her. Here’s this woman who spent her life taking photographs of extraordinary people. I was in awe,” Samson said.
Despite this age difference, they became friends, and at the end of her life there were several institutions interested in obtaining her collection, including the Library of Congress, but she offered it to UNH — under the condition she was to work with Samson. He traveled to her home regularly for years creating a catalog of her 47,000 negatives.
“Every time an artist or photographer said, ‘Can I come and visit you?’ or, ‘Can I come show you my work?’ she found time in her schedule to sit and provide advice. … It helped me become a better teacher,” Samson said.
In his own photography, Samson loves telling stories, particularly tales about history and culture. It all started with his 1976 film A World Within a World: The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company and Milltown, a photographic history of the textile mills and the immigrants who labored in them.
Samson, a first-generation American born and raised in Manchester by French-Canadian immigrants, can remember growing up at a time when he had to hide his cultural heritage; his grandparents worked at the mills, and so did his father. He was given a very American name — Gary, after Gary Cooper — in the hopes he might avoid the prejudices that were common against French-Canadians at the time.
People would say, ‘What nationality are you?’ and I would say, ‘What nationality do you think I am?’ They would say English or Scottish, and I just agreed,” Samson said. “When I was a sophomore taking French at Manchester Central … the teacher ridiculed [a French-Canadian student] for talking Canadian French and not what they said was pure French or Parisian French.”
Samson knows some of the things he taught at school will become outdated in a few years because the technology will change, but he feels photography is a universal medium. No matter the language you speak, you can understand a photograph, and the things you have to say with photography or with art will never change.
“What [people] care about is the image, and if it says something, if it moves you in some way. That has to come out of your heart,” said Samson, who also hopes to help other local artists find their voices, no matter their level. “Many of [the NHIA community education students] are professionals, and many of them make a lot of money, but they say to me, ‘Gary, when I come here and take a class … it keeps me sane. This is what feeds my soul.’ I believe there’s creativity and an artist in everyone, and you just have to find out what the outlet is.”
NH’s Artist Laureate program
Music: Talking With a Legend
FEATURED MUSIC
Talking With a Legend
Graham Nash on his Music Career, Photography and More
Written By Michael Witthaus (music@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
“I think the ’60s are going to be seen as a very interesting era in history,” Graham Nash said midway through a phone interview. Clearly, that’s a huge understatement. Nash modestly doesn’t add that a lot of attention showered on the decade stems from his artistic contribution — first as a member of The Hollies, then with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Both bands are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The conversation touched on Nash’s influences, solo music (This Path Tonight was released in 2016) and what the future may hold for CSN&Y.
A musical moment at a 1950s school dance attended with Hollies cofounder Allan Clarke lit a spark for Nash.
We were walking across an empty dance floor when “Bye Bye Love” by the Everly Brothers came on the speakers really loud, and I had never had any piece of music affect me like that. … I had already been listening to the American Top 40 on Radio Luxembourg, Gene Vincent and Elvis, but [that song] made me want to make music that made me feel like I felt right then.
The diversity of his concert audiences inspire him to carry on.
I see a generation thing that is really thrilling to me. I see people that have been friends of our music and have grown up and gotten married and had kids and their kids have grown up and they turned their kids on to our music and I see that generation when I look out at our audiences. I see 70-year-old people standing next to 15-year-old kids.
The origins of “Our House,” one of Nash’s most iconic songs, were a bit of kismet.
You take your girlfriend [at the time, singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell] to breakfast, and she buys a vase in an antique store as you’re going back home, and when I get to her home in Laurel Canyon, I said, “hey, why don’t I light a fire and you put some flowers in that vase that you just bought today?” Well, all I needed was a chorus, really.
Why he keeps writing, not resting on his rich song catalog.
There is way too much happening in the world to remain silent. I’m a human being; I get up every morning and realize I’m alive and I get on with my day. I check the news; I check my trends; I see something tremendous ... and I write about it. There is no end to this songwriting thing.
The writer of “Chicago” and No Nukes organizer sees many ways to keep the artist’s social role vital.
I believe that artists have two things that they must do. ... We must try and tell the truth as much as we can, and I think we have to really show the world what the environment is in which we live. And that is what I am trying to do and I wake up every morning and I look out in New York City and there is a tremendous ocean of humanity out there and oceans of possibilities for songs and creation and images you want to paint and images you want to take with your camera.
Photography is a constant passion for Nash, who’s published books of his pictures.
I’ve never put my camera down. The truth is, surreal moments go on in front of me all of the time. ... And the most absurd things happen in front of my camera. You can kind of — not will it into existence, but you can put yourself into a mood that something great is going to go on today. I just know it, I’m ready, I’ve got my camera and my girlfriend. Amy Grantham and I, we walk out into the city with our camera and of course, always something wild happens, especially here in New York City.
A rock legend roaming the streets with a camera attracts less attention than one might expect.
Fans either touch me on the shoulder, or give me a thumbs up, or say, “Hey, that’s good music, man, thanks!” They don’t ask me about Woodstock, or where Neil is.
After a falling out with David Crosby, Nash declared CSN&Y over a while ago. Has anything changed?
I am tremendously supportive of David Crosby after all these years. We’ve been dear friends. But we’re just not talking right now. We just don’t have the same view of the world and the same opinion about what’s going on. ... We made some good music in our lives and let’s get on with life.
A high point stands out from his run with the supergroup.
One of the greatest memories was the end of the 1974 stadium tour, at Wembley in London. ... Not necessarily music-wise ... but for me, personally as an Englishman, to have played that show was fabulous.
Graham Nash
When: Wednesday, July 12, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Flying Monkey Movie House & Performance Center, 39 Main St., Plymouth
Tickets: $79.50 and up at flyingmonkeynh.com
Film: Baby Driver
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Film Review
Baby Driver
Written By Amy Diaz (adiaz@hippopress.com)
Images: Movie Screenshot
Writer-director Edgar Wright, of Shaun of the Dead fame, offers fast cars and furious heists in Baby Driver, an excellent mixtape with a great movie attached to it.
Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a getaway driver for robbery crews lovingly curated by crime boss Doc (Kevin Spacey). Doc doesn’t use the same mix of criminals twice but he always uses Baby, who can outrun police with skill. In addition to a taciturn nature, Baby is known for his constant wearing of earbuds, which play music to help drown out the tinnitus that is the result of a childhood car accident. Thus does Baby score a robbery and getaway to The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion doing “Bellbottoms” and his coffee runs to “Harlem Shuffle.”
When Baby meets Debora (Lily James), the new waitress at his favorite diner, he finds a fellow music-lover — one of their first conversations is about how few “Debora”-related songs there are and how many songs mention “Baby.” Debora, music and the open road is Baby’s dream for his future but his ties to Doc keep him in a life he doesn’t want and one that, he realizes as he falls for Debora, could put her at risk. This becomes particularly clear during a job with Buddy (Jon Hamm), Darling (Eiza Gonzalez) and Bats (Jamie Foxx), a mix of criminals that quickly proves more volatile and violent than usual.
A story of childhood trauma, violent crime, car chases, sugary young romance and music fandom shouldn’t swirl together into a satisfying smoothie (punctuated with a tart sense of humor) but it does here. When Baby dances around his apartment, flawlessly blending lip-syncing and signing to his deaf foster dad (DJ Jones), yes, you sense that the movie is showing off. But awesomeness can get away with a little showing off and this movie is consistently awesome.
Because music is such a huge part of the movie, I found myself thinking of all the onscreen action — from the car chases to character interactions to scene changes — as choreography, and this movie is as well choreographed as it is scored. (And scored, it’s worth mentioning, not just with great music but also, at just the right moments, with the whine and other noises that Baby apparently hears.) The movie manages to be fun with the way it’s stylized without being silly, and to be stylized without minimizing the violence or the menace.
If Baby Driver has a flaw, it’s that maybe its final moments aren’t as strong as the movie leading up to it, but that is such a high bar that even in its least impressive moments, the movie is solid.
Grade: A
Pop: Open Book *
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Open Book
Summer Read Recommendations, Plus a Look at How Far Libraries Have Come
Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy & Stock Photos
Today’s New Hampshire libraries aren’t the ones from yesteryear, manned by old maids sporting cardigans and horn-rimmed glasses, loud-whispering, “Shh! This is a library!”
They’ve transformed into community centers that offer programming for kids and adults ranging from yoga sessions to cooking classes. Many contain high-tech items like 3-D printers and lend out, in addition to books, things like snowshoes and musical instruments.
These Granite State libraries follow a history of trying new things. We house not only the United States’ first public library — the Peterborough Town Library — but also the first state library, which just turned 300.
To commemorate this birthday, Gov. Chris Sununu proclaimed 2017 “New Hampshire’s State Library Year.” Michael York, our state librarian and acting commissioner for the New Hampshire Department of Cultural Resources, has been posting fun facts about state library history via Facebook and Twitter. He wants the anniversary to act as a launchpad for people to appreciate their own libraries. There’s a lot to celebrate.
“With the exception of tortoises, you don’t get a lot of 300-year anniversaries,” York said. “You still have a viable organization providing service to the community.”
NH’s Library Epicenter
The State Library is located in the heart of Concord next to the Statehouse, where visitors are greeted by a statue of three-term New Hampshire governor John Winant and a sign that states, The First State Library in America: Celebrating 300 Years.
Inside, the space still resembles the place voted into existence Jan. 25, 1717, by the 27th General Assembly. The main lobby displays portraits of Daniel Webster and Franklin Pierce, plus three “as built” drawings of the building when it first came to be. (Look closely, and you’ll see the two lamps by the fireplace are the same that stand there today.) The left side of the building used to hold the Supreme Court, but now it’s the genealogy room, regularly buzzing with locals looking up old census records.
This building is the center of the universe for the state’s 234 public libraries. It contains 600,000 items, including books about New Hampshire or by New Hampshire authors or illustrators, newspaper archives, genealogy documents, government documents and library science materials. Staff provide library services to residents, scholars, visitors, elected officials and public librarians throughout the
Granite State, plus workshops to keep librarians up to speed on the most cutting-edge aspects of library science.
“But our major responsibility, for a long time, has been to identify the holdings of the 234 public libraries and many of the academic libraries,” York said.
Sharing Resources
Each community in New Hampshire has a library, which in York’s opinion, reflects the state’s “Live Free or Die” attitude.
“There’s a sense of independence here in New Hampshire. And that, to an extent, is characterized by the fact we have 234 communities in New Hampshire, and we have 234 independent libraries with their own administration, their own board of trustees. Many other states have adopted either regional libraries or county libraries, or some variation on that,” York said.
But it can be a struggle for the state’s smallest towns, whose budgets are miniscule compared to those in big cities.
“Seventy-five percent of public libraries serve towns with fewer than 7,500 people,” York said. “Once you get outside the golden triangle — Portsmouth, Concord, Nashua — towns tend to be pretty small.”
One way the State Library tries to alleviate this issue is with its Interlibrary Loan van delivery service; if you want a book, CD or item not owned by your library, your librarian will effect a transaction to borrow the material from another library and have it delivered.
In New Hampshire, drivers in white Chevy Express vans adorned with the State Library logo are on the road five days a week. Some, like Heather Brownell of Whitefield, have been at the job for years. Her day starts at 5 a.m., and her first stop is to pick the books up at the State Library in Concord, which are in recycling bin-like containers. Then she turns around and heads to North Country libraries.
Each day is different, involving sorting, meeting with librarians and handing over requested titles — which lately have included lots of James Patterson, Nora Roberts and, because it’s summer, kids’ books.
The job hasn’t changed much since she began, but the volume has. She typically drives 1,300 miles a week.
“The North Country uses the program a lot because we have smaller libraries up here who can’t afford to buy the newer collections and new authors, and so the Interlibrary Loan program is really helpful for them,” Brownell said.
In November 2014, the State Library also initiated the MakerPlay program, circulating high-tech educational toys (like Snap Circuits and Dash and Dot, which teach circuitry and coding) and 3-D printers to libraries across the state via these vans.
“There’s no way the state library could purchase 3-D printers for everyone, but this sparks a movement,” said Bobbi Slossar, technology resources librarian with the New Hampshire State Library, who thinks offering these items is important to meet modern-day patron wishes. “A few decades ago, you would never imagine going to the library to use a computer … to fill out a resume or do your taxes. The needs of the public continue to evolve, and it’s up to public libraries to really stay on those needs. … They’re looking for ways to expand their roles in the community and become hubs for innovation and technology.”
NH Librarians
Sandy Whipple spent a recent Thursday morning building a Little Free Library with patrons in honor of this year’s summer reading theme: “Build a better world.”
“We’re kind of building a better world figuratively and literally here,” said Whipple, the Goffstown Public Library’s adult services and outreach librarian, during an interview at the Girls Inc. workshop, where card-holders were hammering, cutting and drilling — or learning how to. When finished, the structure would stand at the Liberty House and hold a collection of donated books passersby can take or add to.
It wasn’t Whipple’s only day off-site that week; on Friday, she had to be at Hannaford for a presentation on the Mediterranean diet.
“My job takes me all over the place,” Whipple said. “I might be partnering with Parks and Rec one week and doing a program on Alzheimer’s the next.”
Nicole Prokop, adult services and outreach coordinator with the Concord Public Library, also said it’s important to reach outside library walls; for example, her staff hosts Books and Brews the first Wednesday of the month at True Brew Barista. You’ll also find Concord librarians at downtown events like Market Days.
“We understand that in today’s world, it’s not always realistic to expect community members to visit the library regularly for their information needs. So we do everything that we can to go out into the community, to go to the patrons rather than expect them to come to us,” Prokop said in an email.
Today, New Hampshire librarians are event planners, directors, budget stretchers and tech-savvy, curious individuals. They need to be able to analyze information to direct the acquisition of materials and programming. Many positions require master’s degrees. And of course, they need to love books to give great book recommendations.
“One of the most important things is, they should be well-read and know what’s being published and what people are interested in,” York said.
Willing to Experiment
Modern libraries are all about room for activities.
Walk into a New Hampshire library today, and you’re likely to find writing workshops, storytimes, classes on cooking or martial arts, concerts, cupcake wars, plays, puppet shows, makerspaces, film screenings, comic book festivals, TED Talk screenings, fencing demonstrations, juggling performances, hula hooping, mini golf — the list goes on and on. Presentations tackle every topic you can think of, from tiny houses and fake news to Bollywood and Robert Frost. Whipple said one of Goffstown’s most successful programs is its Human Library, in which people act as “books” and visitors can hear their stories when they “borrow” them for 15 minutes.
“You have to always be open and willing to change directions,” Whipple said. “We’ve never been afraid to try something, and even if we fail ... we’ve learned something.”
The Granite State boasts a history of libraries trying new things. It created the first-ever public library in the United States — the Peterborough Town Library — in 1833. A 2012 study by the Institute of Museum and Library Services ranked New Hampshire first in library programming, visits and staffing per capita.
But one of the most modern changes to New Hampshire libraries is incorporating makerspaces into offerings; Slossar pointed to the Milton Free Public Library, which recently received a grant to build a MakerPlay room, and the Oscar Foss Memorial Library in Barnstead, which purchased Raspberry Pi computers to create a coding club.
As a result, less space is allocated for printed books, though these items are still available online or via Interlibrary Loan. York said one of the most popular developments is New Hampshire’s Downloadable Books Consortium, through which you can download books or audiobooks on your phone or tablet.
The Future
The most immediate danger to local libraries is not eBooks or Amazon, but funding in government budgets. The State Library in particular relies on the Institute of Museum and Library Services, from which each state received about $680,000, plus a certain amount based on population. York said the State Library’s piece of the pie typically equates to about $1.3 million; this is about half of its total budget.
All the money the State Library receives is used to enhance what happens at the local level.
But York isn’t worried about libraries disappearing; they’ll just change, as they always have, to tap into what community members need most.
“In the mid-’80s, VCRs came in and took over home entertainment. What did libraries do? They got into the business of lending VHS tapes,” York said. “Libraries will always adapt to make sure they’re helping patrons get what they want, regardless of what format it’s in.”
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MORE HEADLINES
New Sanctuary
New Sanctuary
Jewish Organization Begin Renovations to Stark House
Written By Ryan Lessard (news@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
For nearly 27 years, Chabad Lubavitch of New Hampshire — a social, cultural and religious support network for Jews in the community — has not had a proper gathering place to call its own. But with the acquisition of the Stark House from the Sununu Youth Center on River Road in Manchester, it hopes to open its first permanent base of operations this fall.
“Chabad is an educational institution,” the Chabad’s founder, Rabbi Levi Krinsky, said. “So it’s all about enrichment, it’s all about education, it’s all about the outreach [to] unaffiliated Jews in our community.”
In the nearly three decades of operating in the state, the organization would gather at hotels and function halls and host weekly gatherings in private homes. Its official location is presently Krinsky’s residence on Camelot Place in Manchester.
In a recent Executive Council meeting, a contract to sell the state-owned Stark House for $625,000 was approved. The building was built in the 1980s to serve as a transitional program for Sununu Center teens, but it fell out of use.
Krinsky said the purchase was closer to $650,000 with taxes and fees, and the organization will spend an additional $350,000 to renovate the structure.
Originally, the group was raising money for plans to build a new building at a parcel at the corner of Bicentennial Drive and River Road, but it ended up selling the land to the Derryfield School, which is planning on developing tennis courts there in the next few months, according to Krinsky. He said that worked out well because the original building plans were too optimistic.
“The Bicentennial property would have been too expensive and too big, the house is too small and doesn’t work, and the Stark House is just perfect,” Krinsky said. “It’s your classic win, win, win. The Derryfield School is happy, the synagogue’s happy and the Stark House people are happy. It doesn’t get better than that.”
Krinsky said the Chabad Lubavitch organization was founded 350 years ago in a Russian village and was spread to the U.S. in the 1940s and ’50s.
“It’s expanded and grown to become the single largest Jewish outreach nonprofit organization of the world, with offices in every state and all six continents,” Krinsky said.
Its new home in Manchester will include a 100-seat sanctuary — the “heart and soul” of the building — with an ark and Torah scrolls.
It will provide educational programs for youth throughout the year and offer a higher-level teaching series for adults as well.
Krinsky said he hopes to have the building ready to open by September or October, but it may take a little longer.
“Certainly, before the end of the year,” Krinsky said.
Theater Stories
Theater Stories
Gatchell on Past Leddy Center Shows and Annie
Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
Elaine Gatchell is full of great stories about her theater, the Leddy Center for the Performing Arts, and the picturesque farm it sits adjacent to.
Once, a couple of donkeys escaped, ran down the road and licked actor Michael Coppola’s windshield while he sat at a stoplight en route to rehearsals. Another time, 20 baby goats jumped out of their pens and greeted guests in the theater parking lot before a performance.
“When people stepped out of the cars, the goats loved them! People took photos, and the goats didn’t want to leave. Bruce [Gatchell] had to coax them to the barn with a trail of popcorn. The show started 15 minutes late!” Elaine Gatchell said, laughing, during an interview inside the theater lobby, where there hangs a photo of a cow waiting by the door to buy tickets for their production of Bye Bye Birdie — which is another story.
At the time of the visit, Elaine Gatchell was readying for the company’s next production, Annie, which runs July 7 through July 23 and has its own history of stories. (Elaine Gatchell once followed a car containing the perfect dog to play Sandy to ask the owner’s permission to cast the pup in her play.) It’s the 152nd production for the company, now 43 years old, and the fifth time the Gatchells have produced it.
“It’s a favorite. Everybody loves Annie. That’s the reason we do it,” said Elaine Gatchell, who sported a black T-shirt decorated with her daughter Mary Gatchell’s name (Mary is a singer-songwriter from New York who has an upcoming concert in Epping).
The musical is based on the popular Harold Gray comic strip and features music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin and book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years, setting a record for the Alvin Theatre, now the Neil Simon Theatre.
This year’s cast includes Cassidy Green (as Annie), Rob Dionne (as Daddy Warbucks; he’s also the Majestic Theatre artistic director), Deirdre Bridge (as Miss Hannigan), Melissa Ransdell (as Lily St. Regis), Ashley Bush (as Grace Farrell), Nick Kalantzakos (as Rooster), Bruce Gatchell (who co-owns the theater, musically directs and plays President Roosevelt) and Daisy McMahon (as Sandy, reprising her role from six years ago). Elaine Gatchell directs.
That night, orphans and other cast members were slowly trickling in for the 6 p.m. rehearsal. Costumes were made and ready to go, and everyone knew their lines and music. The set decorating the stage was practically finished. Elaine Gatchell likes to nail these details down earlier than many other companies.
“I find people act differently and do things differently when they put their costume on,” Gatchell said. Focus now was on polishing details — costume changes, set changes. Everything’s done by cast members. Backstage activity is choreographed like a ballet — which is how it works in the most professional productions.
“I told them, that’s what they do on Broadway. Even Glenn Close brought on her own chair. It’s very efficient that way,” Elaine Gatchell said.
Annie
Where: Leddy Center for the Performing Arts, 38c Ladd’s Lane, Epping
When: July 7 through July 23, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays and two Wednesdays at 2 p.m.
Admission: $20
Contact: 679-2781; call from 3 to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or visit leddycenter.org
Up & Away
Up & Away
Hillsborough Balloon Festival & Fair returns
Written By Matt Ingersol (listings@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
What began by merging a fireman’s muster with a fall hot air balloon festival has since grown over the past three decades into a four-day weekend family event, with midway carnival rides, a parade, live music, food — and, of course, lots and lots of hot air balloons.
Today, the Hillsborough Balloon Festival & Fair is the product of a joint effort by the Hillsborough Lions Club, the town fire department and the Greater Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce, with proceeds benefitting all three organizations. This year’s event will be held from Thursday, July 6, through Sunday, July 9, at Grimes Field in Hillsborough.
Jessica Anctil, a volunteer organizer of the festival’s vendors and entertainment, said rides will be provided by the Webster-based Miller Amusements. Special “all you can ride” bracelets will be available for $20 during the day on Thursday and Friday.
For live music, groups include the 2nd Time Around Band on Thursday, Full Throttle and the Relic Review Band on Friday, and Tom Dixon on Saturday.
“We’ll have a variety of bands performing every night, mostly a mix of rock and classical music,” Anctil said.
Other non-music performances will be balloon animal skits, children’s shows and more.
The festivities begin on Thursday with a beer tent from 6 to 9:30 p.m., rides and music.
On Friday, the Osram Sylvania 5K Road Race will run at 6:30 p.m. along the outskirts of Grimes Field from Bear Hill Road to River and Preston streets. On the field will be tractor pulls and hot air balloon liftoffs that will begin, weather permitting, around 6 p.m., and a “balloon night glow” after sunset around 8:30 p.m.
Saturday’s and Sunday’s events get going much earlier, with both days offering something for everyone throughout the day. Balloons are also scheduled to go up in the air on both days, at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and Anctil said tethered balloon rides will also be available during those times. The cost of a ride is $200 per person and most balloons can hold up to two passengers in addition to the pilot. The length of each ride depends on the day’s weather conditions, according to Anctil.
A pancake breakfast will be held at one of the food tents on both days from 6 to 9 a.m.
“We’ll also have The Balloon Twisters [on Saturday]. … They basically make balloon animals and then put on a skit to go with them,” Anctil said.
A fireworks display is planned for 10 p.m. on Saturday, with Sunday as the rain date.
The annual antique car show is planned for Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the field, with registration from 10:30 to 11 a.m.
At noon on Sunday, the Hometown Parade will kick off from the Hillsborough-Deering elementary, middle and high schools, which are all about a mile west of Grimes Field, on Hillcat Drive.
“The first division [of the parade] starts up with local area fire trucks and firemen marching,” parade chair Kyle Knapton said. “Then there will also be a huge display of area cars and trucks, followed by the floats built by local businesses and nonprofit organizations.”
The floats follow a specific theme each year and are part of a contest in which judges pick the best. Knapton said this year’s theme is “Live Free and Parade.”
“The idea this year was that instead of making it really strict, we wanted these businesses to showcase themselves and pick something they are great at … to show the town and visitors what they offer,” he said.
Knapton said the parade lasts about an hour before coming to an end at Grimes Field.
Following the parade will be the festival’s first annual pie eating contest on the stage from 1 to 1:30 p.m. and a second performance by The Balloon Twisters from 1:45 to 2:30 p.m. Dozens of food vendors will be on the field for the duration of the festival. The carnival will remain open through 8 p.m. on Sunday.
Hillsborough Balloon Festival & Fair
When: Thursday, July 6, through Sunday, July 9
Where: Grimes Field, 29 Preston St., Hillsborough
Cost: Free admission; some food and activities require a fee
Visit: balloonfestival.org
Schedule of Events
Carnival rides: Thursday, 6 to 10 p.m., Friday, 5 to 11 p.m., Saturday, noon to 11 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 8 p.m.
2nd Time Around Band performance: Thursday, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Beer tent: Thursday, 6 to 9:30 p.m., Friday, 5 to 10:30 p.m., and Saturday, noon to 10:45 p.m.
Santa Croce performance: Thursday, 8 to 10 p.m.
Lawn tractor pulls: Friday, 5 p.m.
Full Throttle performance: Friday, 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Hot air balloon liftoffs: Friday, 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Osram Sylvania 5K Road Race: Friday, 6:30 p.m.
Relic Review Band performance: Friday, 8:30 to 11 p.m.
Pancake breakfasts: Saturday and Sunday, 6 to 9 a.m.
The Balloon Twisters performances: Saturday, 1 to 1:45 p.m., and Sunday, 1:45 to 2:30 p.m.
Chris MacKay & the ToneShifters performance: Saturday, 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Tom Dixon performance: Saturday, 6:30 to 11 p.m.
Fireworks display: Saturday, 10 p.m. (rain date is Sunday)
Antique car show: Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (registration is 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.)
Hometown Parade: Sunday, noon to 1 p.m.
Pie eating contest: Sunday, 1 to 1:30 p.m.
Curious Creatures performance: Sunday, 2:45 to 3:45 p.m.
The Julie & Brownie Show performance: Sunday, 4 to 4:45 p.m.
Taking Flight
Taking Flight
Aviation Museum Hosts Fly-in for homemade aircraft
Written By Matt Ingersol (listings@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
Dozens of local and regional pilots will convene at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire in Londonderry, flying their own homemade and antique airplanes in for display.
At the third annual Homebuilt Aircraft Fly-In on Saturday, July 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., there will be People’s Choice and Kid’s Choice votes for the best display, as well as opportunities to meet the pilots, participate in interactive workshops and sit in the planes’ cockpits.
Museum Executive Director Jessica Pappathan said the event is meant to be a fun and educational way to expose the lesser-known homebuilt side of aviation, which she said is one of the fastest-growing building segments of aircraft in the country.
“In the past, we’ve focused this event just on homebuilt aircraft, but we’ve since opened it up to all vintage and antique aircraft as well,” she said. “Homebuilt airplanes are typically built in garages instead of in factories and rely heavily on personal skill and craftsmanship. … You have to work on it basically every day for a number of years … and they are allowed to fly as long as they are approved by the FAA.”
Planes on display will likely include aircraft spanning several decades, dating back to the 1940s or even earlier.
“We’ll see a pretty wide variety from new to vintage,” Pappathan said, “and a lot of times the pilots who come will allow visitors to check out the inside of the cockpit.”
You can vote on your favorite airplane on display once you arrive, and at 1:30 p.m. the two winners for each of the judging categories will be announced.
There will be several other features going on for the duration of the fly-in inside the museum, including a wing rib building project for kids.
“We’re also going to have interactive demonstrations inside like a fabric-covering demonstrations and riveting as well, which is essentially the mechanical fastening of rivets together in assembling an aircraft,” Pappathan said. “Visitors will be able to watch and learn how an aircraft is pieced together and built and will even get a chance to try it out for themselves.”
The museum will be open regular hours and tours will be available as well. Pappathan said one of the newer exhibits recently donated to the museum on display is an Experimental Aircraft Association biplane they plan to showcase during the fly-in.
Tidewater Catering will be providing food for purchase during the fly-in, and an ice cream truck is also expected to be there.
The homebuilt fly-in has grown into one of the Aviation Museum’s most popular summer events, according to Pappathan, drawing hundreds of visitors. Other upcoming events will include its annual car show on Aug. 19 and its gala and auction on Sept. 29, to raise money for its educational programs.
3rd Annual Homebuilt Aircraft Fly-In
When: Saturday, July 8, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, 27 Navigator Road, Londonderry
Cost: Regular museum admission applies ($5 for adults, $4 for seniors over 60 and veterans, $2.50 for kids ages 12 to 16, free for members and kids under 12); pilots who fly-in their aircraft also receive free admission
Visit: aviationmuseumofnh.org
Weekly Music Review
Weekly Music Review
Jeff Simmermon & More
Written By Eric Saeger (news@hippopress.com)
Images: Album Artwork
Jeff Simmermon, And I Am Not Lying (Comedy Dynamics Records)
Debut comedy album from Simmermon, a standup comic and the producer/performer behind the same-titled variety show out of the UCB Theater in New York’s East Village. This is his stand-up routine, focused on real-life encounters and ruminations on things, like “fake-ass jobs,” wherein he compares his job to his grandfather’s: “He was a welder for NASA, using the same callused hands he’d used to kill actual Nazis. I edit tweets for a shampoo company.” The most popular bit is when he recalls booking the grindcore band Vomit Fist (two 19-year-old guys and the drummer’s dad) into his regular show, after which things got out of hand when the kids disappeared and dad went “dad” on the whole bar. Told in the mildly paranoid tone of your average hipster dude, Simmermon also goes over a pretty bad dinner he attended with Al Sharpton, kangaroo hunting in Australia and dating for the first time in seven years.
Grade: A-
Kenny Shanker, The Witching Hour (Wise Cat Records)
Lots of buzz surrounds this California-born jazz saxophonist, who’s played with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra among other resumé bullets. This, his second album as a leader, displays a rare gift for interpreting bop with such depth it’s like getting fitted for a hearing aid. You could hear a pin drop between his phrases, which often finish off with a casual trilling that’s as warm as the smooth compositions he’s put together with this quintet, which also features the well-rounded talents of pianist Mike Eckroth and guitarist Daisuke Abe, both of whom receive enough solo spaces so as to not sway the focus from Shanker’s sax. The signature move within these tunes is a straightforward, confident march of quarter-notes of various modalities, whether it be blues-ish, better-than-Kenny-G torch (“Saturday 2 AM”), wistful balladry (“Siobhan”) or the usual breed of easy listening (most everywhere else). Amazingly clear voice here.
Grade: A+
Spreading Poetry
Spreading Poetry
First Youth Poet Laureate on Writing and Reading
Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)
Images: Stock Photo
New Hampshire’s first Youth Poet Laureate, Ella McGrail, has a strict schedule when it comes to writing.
The recent Portsmouth High School graduate, who plans to study creative writing at Bard College this fall, tries to get pen to paper every day, whether for her poetry collection or her second fantasy novel.
“My goal is to write three pages a day and edit three pages a day. I started a new novel, though I’m not finished my last one entirely, so I’m trying to give both my equal attention — and of course, pick away at my poetry collection,” McGrail said during a recent phone interview.
New Hampshire Poet Laureate Alice Fogel appointed McGrail to the position with Andrew Fersch (who runs The Penn Program, an alternative school McGrail attended for a year) and the Poetry Society of New Hampshire in April, and McGrail will hold it until Aug. 1. McGrail said she was flabbergasted at the proposition, but friends and family weren’t.
“I’ve always got a pen in my hand and am always trying to push my next book to somebody. I never shut up about writing. They were certainly pleased and supportive, but not terribly surprised. I was probably the most surprised out of anybody,” McGrail said.
But now that McGrail has a summer job as a lifeguard and duties as the state’s YPL, it’s harder to squeeze in time to write in her family’s attic library — her favorite place to jot down words. Instead, she makes do with the variety of notebooks she keeps in different places.
“Wherever there’s a flat surface, I write,” McGrail said. “I don’t believe in writer’s block — I think it’s a myth, an excuse.”
During Pride Week, McGrail lead Teen Beat Night at the Portsmouth Book and Bar. On July 14, she reads at Exeter’s Word Barn with Fogel, and on July 17 she reads poetry on the theme “home” with fellow youth writers at RiverRun Bookstore to raise money and awareness for the state’s foster care system. Several teens were confirmed to read, but she’s looking for more.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn more about what is a very big crisis. There are lots of hopeful and wonderful stories in the state attached to it,” McGrail said. “I have a couple writing friends I can ask to read [at the event] in a pinch, but I’m trying not to just ask people I know. Part of my position is about getting people to share poetry, and I’m trying not to ask the same people all the time if I can help it.”
Many of her peers are excited about poetry, but some kids struggle getting into it. For them, McGrail advises trying different styles.
“The thing about poetry is it involves the writer telling the truth in a very raw way. … But if you don’t relate to it, it can be hard to get through,” she said. “It can be hard to get kids into classical types of poetry, but I think slam is such a big genre right now — and I think poetry has a very strong future with my generation thanks to slam poetry.”
Come Aug. 1, McGrail will be part of the selection committee choosing the next YPL, whose term spans Sept. 1 through Aug. 31.
“It’s a very flexible position, and I think the next youth laureate should shape it to their own personality and preferences,” McGrail said. “You need to be able to get people excited about poetry. … And I think the best way to do that in this position is to be deeply passionate about your own writing.”
Looking For The Next Youth Poet Laureate
Entries to be the next Youth Poet Laureate go out in August for teens attending high school; visit poetrysocietyofnewhampshire.org for more information at this time.
Poetry ReadingsTwo Poets Laureate: The Word Barn, 66 Newfields Road, Exeter, Friday, July 14, from 7 to 9 p.m., with New Hampshire Poet Laureate Alice Fogel and New Hampshire Youth Poet Laureate Ella McGrail, facebook.com/1WordBarn
Poetry for Foster Care: RiverRun Bookstore, 142 Fleet St., Portsmouth, Monday, July 17, at 6:30 p.m.; group of young poets and prose writers gather and perform work to raise awareness and money for NH’s foster care system, riverrunbookstore.com