The Currier Museum of Art will be hosting its annual Summer Block Party on Sunday, July 14, from 3 to 7 p.m. The entire community is invited to take part in this fun and free celebration of art and Manchester.
“Hopefully those that have not been to the museum before or for a long time can come and get to enjoy the museum for free,” said Karen Graham, interim director & chief operating officer of the Currier Museum of Art. She expects a good turnout.
“We typically get upwards of 2,500 people,” she said. Usually the building and the whole grounds are full of people enjoying the event.”
Guests can enjoy the fun inside or outside the museum.
“The first year we did it we weren’t sure if people would be interested in going into the galleries or if they would just stay outside because there are so many activities outside,” Graham said, “but the galleries … they were the most crowded of any day during the year during the Block Party.”
Some activities at the Block Party will be inspired by the museum’s new Daniel Otero Torres exhibition, “Sonidos del Crepúsculo (Twilight Sounds).” This is the first exhibition at a U.S. institution of the work of Colombian-born and Paris-based artist Torres. Activities will include a clay leaf project as well as a chance to “create watercolor seascapes inspired by the Stories of the Sea show,” according to the Currier’s website.
There will be a stamp printmaking station set up to mimic abstract patterns like the ones in Elisabeth Kley’s installation in the museum’s Welcome Gallery.
Outdoor activities are held in the Museum’s courtyard, some under tents. The event is held rain or shine.
“We close part of Ash Street on the side of the building and all of Prospect in front of the building … between Ash and Beech,” Graham said. This is where you’ll find food vendors including Deadproof Pizza, Consuelo’s, Arnie’s Place ice cream, Don Quijote, Chez Rafiki and the Gyro Spot as well as ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s.
Beer and wine will be plentiful; the Currier typically crafts specialty cocktails based on its current exhibitions.
“We close off the parking lot, obviously, and that’s where the wine and beer tent, the musicians, and all the art activities are, throughout the whole grounds of the museum,” Graham said.
Live music will be performed outdoors by Joey Clark and The Big Hearts, and Party of the Sun. “We had both of them play here on different occasions in the past and the crowd loved them both,” Graham said. Laura Boyce from Rock 101’s Greg & the Morning Buzz will act as emcee.
It’s a good time to sign up for a Museum membership, if you haven’t already.
“New members that join as a member that day, they’ll get a discount. We’ll have some of our staff walking through the crowds inviting people to become members at a discounted rate,” Graham said.
And, as Graham noted, there’s always face painting. It’s one of the most popular activities at the Block Party. “We make it our biggest tent … when we used to leave it up to requests the line would circle the building, so now we pick and give them a few options to pick from … so there’ll probably be a fish, a mermaid, things like that.” The face painting will be themed to go with the current “Stories from the Sea” exhibit. Central High School’s Art Department volunteers with the face painting and are led by museum staff.
That combination of art and the community brings joy to Graham.
“I just love an opportunity to have so much of our community come together in the summer and enjoy art. We always hear the best comments from people that say, ‘Oh, I haven’t been here since I was a kid taking an art class and now I’m coming back with my own kids…. People really, really love the opportunity to come in and see the art.”
The Currier’s Summer Block Party When: Sunday, July 14, from 3 to 7 p.m. Where: 150 Ash St., Manchester Admission: free More: currier.org, 669-6144
Flea markets generally fall into three categories:
Antiques. This doesn’t necessarily mean snooty people arguing over the fine points of Chippendale armoires, although it can. It means that most items on offer are old: boxes of old books, turn-of-the-last-century bottles, antique car parts, used CDs, piles of vintage Barbie dolls, or a stuffed owl or two — cool old stuff waiting for someone with a particular enthusiasm.
Sweat socks. Not just sweat socks, of course, but inexpensive consumer goods like burner phones, cell phone covers, neon-colored tracksuits and lots of shampoo. If you are looking for a velour blanket with a picture of a matador or a howling wolf on it, this is the place to find it. Please don’t think that I am mocking this type of market. It whispers sweet nothings to my heart.
Overgrown garage sale. You’re never sure what you’ll find at this kind of flea market. Yes, there are a few professional dealers specializing in Pokémon cards, or military surplus, but just as many of the vendors are people who have found themselves with too much of something on their hands — some old, some new — that they want to get rid of. For many of them it’s the getting-rid-of that’s the important thing. A sports family might realize they have 20 years’ worth of hockey gear, skis, football helmets and lacrosse sticks, and decide to flea market it.
About three years ago I found my flea market: the late, lamented Hollis Flea Market. It was an antiques market, full of vintage — stuff. There were some stunning antique clocks for customers with much richer blood than mine, but also any number of commemorative plates, piles of old postcards and, once, a giant pile of 3,600 C-clamps.
Unfortunately, this winter, the owners of the Hollis Flea Market announced that they were closing. This has left me searching for a new flea market.
Not counting yard sales and antiques shows, there are four major flea markets in the area:
Londonderry Flea Market
295 Nashua Road, Londonderry londonderryfleamarket.com Open Saturdays and Sundays 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. April through October Admission $1.50 per person; 60+ and kids under 12 get in free. The basics: The Londonderry Flea Market is an outdoor market on 30 acres, with up to 300 vendors on a given day. Many vendors do not accept credit cards; it’s a good idea to bring cash. There is an ATM on site. According to the Market’s website, there is a “huge assortment of items to find & buy for home, garden, work, pleasure, personal wants & needs. Make a list of things you’d like to buy before you visit the market. Bring the list with you to shop as the sellers here just may have what you’re looking for! f you don’t see it, ask them as it may just be out of sight.” Food: There is a concession tent in the center of the market selling burgers, hot dogs, snacks and drinks.
Londonderry Flea Market. Photo by John Fladd.
The Londonderry Flea Market is very, very large. There are two halves, one on each side of a fire pond. Many of the vendors work under cover, but at the very back of the flea market there are a number of people selling things from tables. I asked one man in the back who was selling old vinyl records and a seriously intriguing pile of 78s how business was. He said he hadn’t made any sales yet, “but it’s about to rain, and I’m located back here in Siberia.”
One of his neighbors in the back section of the flea market was Stephanie St. Pierre, an enthusiastic world traveler and a maker. She was selling a number of trinkets and antiques from Thailand and Myanmar, but her most fascinating items were four handmade cigar-box banjos. They are a reminder of a brief but intense enthusiasm from a few years ago. Some of the banjos have three strings; some have one.
“I like it,” St. Pierre said. “It’s just fun to play with one string. A diddly-bow, I guess is what they call the ones with one string.” At one point, she made electric cigar-box banjos. “The better ones had pick-ups,” she said. “You could plug them into an amp. I’m not musical, but I had fun going to the flea markets to find all the hardware.”
A 3-foot-tall Barbie doll in a crocheted sweater and miniskirt, concrete garden ornaments — I was distracted from these things by a table full of beads. I was struck by a 2-inch bead — a white porcelain cube with a hole through the center, and what appeared to be blue Chinese characters on the sides.
“What’s the story with this?” I asked the lady selling the beads. She examined it closely for several seconds. “I have no idea what that is,” she confessed. I bought it for a dollar, reasoning that I could tie it to my sword scabbard like a samurai, if I ever got really good at using a sword. It pays to be prepared.
Vincent is the Vinnie of Vinnie’s Uniques and Antiques. Unlike most of the vendors’ stalls, his has a sign. He is a regular; he sells at Londonderry every weekend.
“I look for stuff that nobody else has,” he said. “I want something that they [customers] cannot find anywhere else. If it’s something they’re going to have a hard time finding, I want to have that.” On this particular day, his favorite item was a model ship. “I’m going to tell you, I love this boat. This is a beautiful, beautiful boat,” he said. He pulled aside a tarp to reveal a glass case with a model of a four-masted ship inside. “This guy told me that this ship here burned down and they rebuilt it, but it was never the same ship. There isn’t a kit for this ship, so this ship was made by somebody [who knew it well]. I love my ship.”
Coolest item at the flea market that day: It’s a toss-up between a concrete garden statue of a sad dog and a gold-plated reproduction of a crocodile skull.
What I actually bought: The big Chinese bead and a $5 hockey goalie mask to use in my sword class.
Salem Flea Market (Outside)
20 Hampshire Road, Salem salemfleamarket.com Open Saturdays and Sundays 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Year-round Admission $1; a ticket will allow customers to return during the day The basics: The number of vendors at the outside market can vary on any given day, depending on the weather, but there are usually 50 to 60. Public restrooms are located inside the building. Almost none of the vendors accept credit cards. An ATM is located on the premises. According to the Salem Flea Market website, “The Salem Flea Market has been open for business for more than 40 years. We have new and used items, including antiques arriving every week.” Food: There are two or three concession stands at the entrance to the Indoors Market, as well as vendors selling fresh fruit in the Market itself. One review on the Market’s Facebook page reads, “Corn dogs. Corn dogs. Corn dogs. Corn dogs. Corn dogs.”
There are two parts to the Salem Flea Market: an outdoor market and an indoor one. It might be tempting to consider them as a single unit, but they are so vastly different that it makes sense to consider each on its own merits.
The Outside Market butts right up against the parking lot, and there is a lot going on. It is constantly in motion. It comes closest to being another garage sale-type market, but here the focus is on utility. Some of the vendors sell new items, most sell old ones, but virtually everything is practical. If you are looking for a hand-operated winch with 20 feet of chain, or a used large-screen television, this is the place for you.
Salem Flea Market (outside). Photos by John Fladd.
Lucas sells kitchen appliances. His tables are covered with blenders, food processors, microwave ovens and smaller kitchen tools. He has a small generator on hand, if any customers want to test out one of the appliances. Lucas doesn’t mind telling where he gets his merchandise. He buys the items from thrift stores, most of which he has a relationship with and will sell them to him by the pound. He cleans them up, if necessary, and resells them. I asked him how much he paid for a random blender. It was clean, new-looking, and looked like it would work well in most kitchens.
“I paid maybe 10 dollars,” he said with a shrug. “I can probably sell it here for 20.” What really jumped out at me was a variable-speed, hand-held immersion blender. I asked Lucas how much he wanted for it, and he said he was willing to let it go for $10.
On any given day, the outside market has anywhere up to a dozen cargo trucks. Most are from clean-out businesses or junk removal companies.
On this day, one vendor’s stock was mostly old, hard-worked lawn mowers and piles of air conditioners. His neighbor had three or four tables of used shoes. Another specialized in bicycles and stereo speakers. Because almost everything at the Outside Market is practical, and given the time of the year, several vendors at the front end of the market were selling garden plants. The people who sell at both Salem markets are from all over the world, so many of the vegetable plants for sale weren’t ones you might find at a local garden center — bitter melons, makrut lime trees and some with labels written in Asian characters.
A vendor named Melissa was beginning to think she might have come to the wrong flea market. She was located at the very back of the lot.
“I’ve got some bathrobes, some nightgowns, some [porcelain] figurines, some luggage,” she said, “a little bit of everything. It’s actually all mine. I’ve been a shopper my whole life and collecting things over the years. I usually sell on Facebook Marketplace, but that’s exhausting!” I asked what she thought her hidden gem was. She said that for the right person, the bisque porcelain figurines would be a satisfying find. “What is it they say? ‘One man’s junk is another man’s treasure?’”
Coolest item at the flea market that day: Two KitchenAid stand mixers. The vendor was looking for $80 for the small one, and even missing its bowl he was confident he could get $140 for the six-quart model.
What I actually bought: Plants — two brightly colored lilies and a large pot of Thai chile pepper plants for a total of $12.
Salem Flea Market (Inside)
20 Hampshire Road, Salem salemfleamarket.com Open Saturdays and Sundays 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. year-round Admission: The same $1 ticket. The basics: Public restrooms are located inside the building. Almost none of the vendors accepts credit cards. An ATM is located on the premises. Food: There is a small snack bar inside.
The Inside Market in Salem definitely falls into the sweat socks category. As soon as you walk through the door you’re greeted by enthusiastic salsa and mariachi music. Neon-colored T-shirts compete for space with affordably-priced perfumes and colognes. One vendor sells apparently new-looking mattresses still in their plastic.
One stall was filled to the brim with brightly colored Catholic statuary — figures of saints and religious figures of all sizes, religious paintings, and ceramic bowls and flower pots.
Salem Flea Market (inside). Photo by John Fladd.
The Inside Market has several twisting aisles that branch off unexpectedly. Just when you think you’ve seen most of it, you turn a corner and find a completely new group of stalls. Like almost all the shops, my vote for the coolest one doesn’t have a name above the door. It is about twice the size of other shops, and there are dozens — probably hundreds — of used bicycles hanging from the ceiling. It would be a mistake to think of it as a bike shop, however. The main focus of the business seems to be knives of all kinds and replica swords. Tucked away in a corner are two reproduction helmets, one Spartan and one medieval. Plus the truly impressive number of ceiling bikes.
The chain-link wall of a nearby stall is covered with hundreds of wrestling action figures. A man named Tony runs it with his wife. “I mostly sell Pokémon, wrestling, and action figure toys,” he told me. “That’s all I sell. Well, that and some baseball cards. And football cards — things that people collect.”
Another stall is about half the size of Tony’s and looks for all the world like a storage closet. It is packed full of packages of disposable cups and takeout containers. The owner had stepped out when I visited, so I made small talk with a lady who had come in looking for cups. “This is for a church event tonight,” she told me. “I always come here, and I’ve been coming here since before Covid. I always find what I’m looking for.”
A hand-written sign at another stall nearby read, “Good Quality According to the Price You Pay.”
Coolest item at the flea market that day: A trademark-skirting box of brightly colored toy ponies called Horse Lovely. “THAT BEAUTIFUL HORSE SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND FLY,” the box announced cheerfully.
What I actually bought: Three small resin figurines of babies doing kung fu, for $2 each.
Davisville Flea Market
805 Route 103, Warner davisvillefleamarket.com Open Sundays 4 a.m. to 1 p.m. (The website advises visiting between 6 and 11 a.m.) Open May 5 until the last Sunday in October rain or shine. Admission and parking are free. The basics: An outdoor market with anywhere from 50 to 150+ vendors. Live music, outdoor toilets. Food: There is a concession stand that sells cold drinks, coffee, foods and snacks. Frequently there will be food trucks or vendors selling food.
The Davisville Flea Market is an antiques-centered one. A few artists and craftspeople sell their work, but the majority of the vendors sell old items. There are vintage tools, piles of old photographs, and beer steins on offer.
Aiden and Myles are 9 years old. I met them as they stood, spellbound, in front of the Holy Grail for 9-year-old boys: a giant pile of dozens of Nerf guns. Aiden was willing to give me some flea market advice, though he was incredibly distracted. His friend Myles stood next to him, his mouth agape. Aiden picked up a bright orange Nerf machine gun and examined it as he said, “I’m looking for one that has an attachment that can hold a lot of bullets.”
Aiden said that he likes the look of the guns. “If they made these look like camo [camouflage pattern] that would be good, if you’re into that,” he said, “but I like the bright colors. I think they make them this bright, so you buy them more.”
Davisville Flea Market. Photo by John Fladd.
As I walked around to different tables, I was reminded of some lessons about flea market etiquette I’ve learned the hard way. I approached a table under the shade of some trees that was covered with antique tools. The vendor was having a conversation with another man, but in a slow, laconic way, with many pauses. When I was new to flea marketing, I would have used a lull in the conversation as an opportunity to ask a question, but that has rarely worked out well for me. The polite thing to do is wait until the conversation is completely done.
In this case, I waited four or five minutes for the two men to finish their conversation before talking with the vendor.
“How ya doin’ this morning?” he asked. This is a time-tested traditional greeting that indicated that he was willing to talk. I made a friendly but non-committal answer, because being too enthusiastic about anything sets the wrong tone in negotiations like this. I asked him about a hatchet on his ax table. “What’s the story with this?” I asked. (I could have asked him how much he wanted for it, but that could be interpreted as enthusiasm.)
Clearly this was the right thing to ask. He gleefully told me the brand name of the hatchet. Apparently, at least according to him, it was generally used for splitting shakes. At this point a couple of other customers had wandered over, but I was pleased to find that he had made me one half of the old-guy conversation, so he could make the other people wait.
He tried to sell me a bear trap.
I made my way to a tent run by artists Courtney Norton and Matt West. Their business, 7 Glass Studio, specializes in glass work and pyrography — using heat to burn designs into wood or leather. Matt works in low-heat, non-blown glass. Today he was selling extremely life-like glass caterpillars. “The black, yellow and white ones are your traditional monarch colors,” he explained. “The other ones are just fantasy. People like to stick them in their potted plants.”
John Zapollo sells a lot of different things. Today it was mostly books. He was questioning the wisdom of bringing them to the market. “Books have gone way down,” he said with a rueful shake of his head. “Books here at the flea market don’t seem to sell. It seems like more people are looking for tools and stuff to take care of their houses. The antique stuff that I sell doesn’t seem to get a lot of traction.”
The coolest item at the flea market that day: The bear trap.
What I actually bought: Three antique cookbooks from John. The most interesting one was published by the Heinz Corporation in 1939. I paid $1 apiece.
Pipe Dream Brewing (49 Harvey Road, Unit 4, Londonderry, 404-0751, pipedreambrewingnh.com) will host a Sea Glass Workshop tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. Create colorful sea glass art by using an assortment of shells, colorful pebbles, sand and sea glass. All materials are included in the price of the class, but participants are welcome to bring their own. This class costs $60 per person. Tickets are required and are available at thecanvasroadshow.com/#Classes.
Friday, July 12
The Raymond Town Fair returns for its 48th year starting today and continuing through Sunday, July 14, at the Raymond Town Common (Epping and Main streets, Raymond). It will feature live music, family-friendly entertainment, a children’s parade, a fireworks display and more. See “Raymond Town Fair” on Facebook to keep up to date on details.
Friday, July 12
Chunky’s (707 Huse Road, Manchester, 206-3888, chunkys.com) will host Feud Gone Wild tonight starting at 8:30 p.m. The game and answers will be on the big screen. Expect about six or more 15-minute rounds. Tickets are $20 at the Chunky’s website.
Saturday, July 13
The Aviation Museum of New Hampshire’s (27 Navigator Road, Londonderry, 669-4820, aviationmuseumofnh.org) annual Classic Car Show is happening today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., welcoming vehicles of all makes and eras. Trophies will be given out for the People’s Choice Award and the Museum Award. Vehicle registration is $10, or you can come as a spectator for $5 (cash only; kids ages 12 and under are free). A rain date of July 22 is planned. Visit nhahs.org.
Saturday, July 13
LaBelle Winery (345 Route 101, Amherst, 672-9898, labellewinery.com) will host an outdoor Vinyasa Flow Yoga class next to its vineyard, in partnership with New Hampshire Power Yoga of Merrimack. A glass of wine in the Bistro Restaurant may be added after your class; the class takes place from 11 a.m to noon. The cost is $20.
Saturday, July 13
The Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum (18 Highlawn Road, Warner, 456-2600, indianmuseum.org) will host its 23rd Annual Intertribal Powwow from 10 a.m. today to 4 p.m. Sunday. There will be singing, dancing, drumming and more than 20 traders with handmade crafts. Admission is free for Native Americans, $15 for other adults; members and children are $8. Children 6 and under are free. Visit the Museum’s website.
Monday, July 15
900 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria (50 Dow St., Manchester, 641-0900, 900degrees.com) will host a Raising Dough event starting at 5 p.m. to benefit Jenni Share, of To Share Brewing. Jenni was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and the funds raised from this event will directly help with her medical bills. Visit 900degrees.com/events.
Wednesday, July 17
Bring your blankets and chairs to Veterans Park in downtown Manchester tonight at dusk for a screening of 1989’sHoney, I Shrunk the Kids. Concessions will be available for purchase, according to a post on the Manchester Economic Development Office Facebook page.
Save the Date! Sunday, July 21 North America’s premier Celtic act, Tartan Terrors, will play the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St, Derry, 437-5100, tupelomusichall.com) Sunday, July 21 at 7 p.m. The Terrors blend the energy of a rock show with humor and step dance. Tickets start at $39.
Members of the Spartans Drum and Bugle Corps (spartansdbc.org) learned last week that they will march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York in November. WMUR reported in an online article July 4 that the Spartans “were selected from more than 100 applicants and were one of nine bands that received the invite.” The invitation came with a $10,000 donation from Macy’s to help with fundraising for the Spartans to travel to New York City next year. “What an amazing way to celebrate the Spartans’ 70th anniversary!” the Spartans posted on their website.
QOL score: +1
Comment:The Spartans describe themselves as “a community-based performing arts program in Nashua, NH.”
Laid-back in Nashua
In a recent study by WalletHub (wallethub.com), an online financial management website, Nashua ranked as one of the least stressed cities in America. Out of 182 U.S. cities, Nashua placed 175th. In a July 8 press release, WalletHub described the study. “WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 39 key metrics. The data set ranges from average weekly work hours to the unemployment rate to divorce and suicide rates.” Nashua scored in the 20th percentile or lower in terms of work, financial, family, and health & safety stress.
QOL score: +1
Comment: According to this study, Cleveland, Ohio, is the most stressed-out city in America, and Charleston, South Carolina, is the least.
Falling for love
Ninety-year-old Manchester man Bill Rogers sky-dived last Sunday to celebrate his anniversary with his late wife, Natalie. According to a July 7 online story by WMUR, Rogers completed his sixth skydive in Pepperell, Mass., with an eye toward teasing his wife, like he would have if she were still alive. “Every time I jump out of a plane, I can hear her say, ‘Billy, you’re as crazy as ever,’’” WMUR quoted him.
QOL score: +1
Comment: According to Guinness World Records (guinnessworldrecords.com) the oldest skydiver on record is 106-year-old Texan Alfred Blanschke, who broke his own record in May of this year.
Goodbye to Bob’s
On July 1, Bob’s Stores announced it would close all its remaining stores, which included one in Salem, New Hampshire. Bob’s Stores began with a single store in Connecticut and eventually expanded throughout the Northeast. Meanwhile, several Eastern Mountain Sports stores, including the one in The Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, are closing as well. EMS and Bob’s Stores are owned by the same parent company, which recently filed for bankruptcy protection.
QOL score: -1
Comments: The going-out-of-business sale at Bob’s was expected to continue through July 14, according to a story on WMUR.com. EMS still operates its Eastern Mountain Sports School in North Conway and is the official outfitter of the Mount Washington Observatory. (Bob’s Stores, by the way, are NOT affiliated with Bob’s Discount Furniture, a whole separate company that sent out a press release to clear up confusion, according to a July 9 Boston Globe story.)
QOL score: 72
Net change: +2
QOL this week: 74
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?
The Big Story – Red Sox Are Rolling: After coming back to beat the Yanks in dramatic fashion 5-3 on Friday with ninth- and 10th-inning homers and again 3-0 on Sunday with three more, they’ve won 16 of their last 21. It’s turned a 13.5-game Yankees lead over them to just 4.5 by Monday. It also has them 1.5 games up on KC for the final wild card spot. That’s shaken up the conversation over what to do at the trade deadline and let the thought creep into Red Sox Nation’s mind that maybe JohnHenry’s been right and they’ve been wrong all along.
Sports 101: Name the five pitchers who have started the All-Star game for both the AL and NL.
News Item – Who’s Hot:
Jarren Duran: With three homers last week he became the first person ever to have 100 hits, 10 homers, 10 triples and 20 stolen bases before the All-Star break. Which is why he was named to the AL All-Star team.
CeddanneRafaela: After doing what Dustin Pedroia did as a rookie in battling to get over the Mendoza line through the first two months, he’s now on a tear. And it’s not just the two big homers he hit over the weekend. Friday’s 10th-inning game-winner came in his first ever game at Yankee Stadium. The 412-foot shot to dead center raised his average to .311 since the switch got flipped on June 1. Then he did it again in the eighth in Sunday’s win.
It left him with 11 homers and 50 RBI in his first 85 games. Both are the most by anyone hitting in the 9-hole this year.
Rafael Devers: He topped his young friend by hitting three homers and having six hits vs. the Yanks. That pushed him over the 1,000 career hit plateau, while the homers are something not even all-time great sluggers like Jimmie Foxx, Harmon Killebrew, Yaz or even TedWilliams ever did. They gave him 16 career homers at Yankee Stadium to tie him with BigPapi and leave him just three behind all-time visiting Stadium homer king JoseBautista.
Which I find amazing.
News Item – Celtics Keep Team Together:BradStevens wasted little time locking up his team for a run to repeat. That included signing JaysonTatum and DerrickWhite to max extensions that run through 2027, and also bringing back SamHauser, LukeKornet and XavierTillman.
The Numbers:
11 – MLB-leading wins for ChrisSale after allowing one run on six hits over six innings while striking out nine in a 3-1 win over the Giants.
12 – record-tying consecutive hits recorded by Twins infielder JoseMiranda over four games last week, last done in 1952 by Sox first baseman WaltDropo.
$1,193,248.20 – annual payment BobbyBonilla has received every July 1 from the Mets in deferred income since 2011 and will continue to get until 2035 even though the ex-Met and Pirate outfielder retired in 2001.
… Of the Week Awards
Thumbs Up – Celtics Brass: For putting their money where their mouth is to keep the team together.
Thumbs Down – Celtics For Sale: Because WycGrousbeck and company have been great owners and they’re really hard to come by. So, Celtics Nation, keep your fingers crossed.
Good News / Bad News Award – Caleb MartinTo 76ers: He hurt the C’s badly in the playoffs two years ago. So his leaving Miami is good for them. Except he signed a four-year deal with a better team in Philly, so they’ll still likely face him in the playoffs.
Har Dee Har Har Award: To the Lakers brass for saying at his introductory press conference that four-point-a-game-scorer-at-USC Bronny James “earned” being drafted in the second round last week to counteract the belief by every other person in the universe that it only happened to keep papa LeBron from leaving as a free agent.
Random Thoughts:
If the Red Sox are going to add at the trade deadline, forget rentals. Make a major/real deal that brings back a starter who’ll be under their control for a few more years.
Sports 101 Answer: The five who started All-Star games for both leagues are Vida Blue, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay and MaxScherzer.
Final Thought – Caitlin Clark Records First WNBA Triple Double: This is not aimed at Clark’s 19-point, 13-assist, 12-rebound effort in Indiana’s win over New York on Saturday. It’s just that folks are making a big deal about that being the first triple D in WNBA history and I’m asking why it took so long.
It’s not like dunking, which is a size and jumping thing. It comes from just playing, where it happens all the time in the NBA and I even did it five or six times myself in college.
The league started in 1997, so why did it take that long? Style of play, bad coaching or the players themselves not playing all-round games? It just seems weird.
The Department of Health and Human Services releases its 2024-2025 Roadmap
Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Weaver talks about the new DHHS Roadmap 2024-2025, which outlines the plan the DHHS developed with input from many stakeholders (people involved with or affected by the Roadmap) to help improve the state of health for all Granite Staters. Visit dhhs.nh.gov (get to the Roadmap via News & Events).
Explain ‘Mission Zero’ and how the Roadmap will address Emergency Department boarding?
Mission Zero is the Department’s commitment to eliminating boarding in an Emergency Department. … It used to be, years ago, that we would have 40 or 50 people sitting in any given day waiting to find a bed for psychiatric care. … the beginning of this year in January of ’24, we were at about 4 1/2 days sitting in an emergency department waiting for a bed … now we’re down to 2 1/2 days [in May]. … That basically means that you’ll have people come in that will need that level of care and rather than waiting weeks and months they’re actually getting care within an average of 2 1/2 days at this point.
What are school-based services for children enrolled in Medicaid and how will they be strengthened through the Roadmap?
We have a lot of school counselors who provide services to youth that may be having some issues. That could be mental health counseling, that could be substance-use disorder counseling, could be any sort of peer-related issue. The schools need a mechanism to be able to, for those students that have Medicaid, to be able to bill Medicaid for that service….The Department was able to secure a grant to be able to build an administrative infrastructure. … This process will automate and streamline those processes for schools to be able to bill Medicaid and then get reimbursed to be able to provide that service so the schools aren’t losing any money …. The commitment here is really about investing in the infrastructure so that it’s self-sustaining and lasts for a while.
Would you mind expanding on the Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies initiative and why that’s important in the Roadmap?
We know that our maternal health definitely stands out as a need in the state of New Hampshire. What we do is we put a lot of money into prevention and being able to get moms into prenatal care as soon as they’re eligible in their first trimester and then caring throughout … and then obviously post-delivery care. We know that if we put our money and time into prevention, then we’re seeing less on the other end of having to continuously treat. It’s putting the money in and the time in to be able to have that healthy mom and healthy baby and then sustaining as a community member not necessarily having to go in for needs after that. Maternal mortality rates for the state of New Hampshire are pretty high, as they are nationwide, so we’re looking to reduce those maternal mortality rates as well.
Why is it that the maternal mortality rate is so high across the country and in New Hampshire?
I think when we’re looking at equity of care that oftentimes we will see a lot of our diverse populations don’t have the same access to maternal care that some other parts of our population do. It’s really making sure that no matter who you are in the state of New Hampshire that you have access to that care. I think in New Hampshire we’re a small enough state that we can set that as a goal and I think make a dent in it.
Could you expand on the ‘building a system of care for healthy aging’ initiative?
… Basically, taking a lot of the parts of our services that serve seniors and working to update, upgrade, automate and making sure that seniors have access to services. It goes back to a lot of the same things about community-based services about trying to keep folks within communities rather than having to be in institutional care, so that means having a robust system that can get seniors’ needs met before having to go into a nursing facility, say, that they could actually get their care at home or in a community-based setting. We have things like our service link centers, which I think in our report is called the ‘aging and disability resource centers.’ Those are some of the first stops that our folks in the long-term care system will go to to get help. It’s making sure that wherever you are in the state you could go to one of these centers and clearly understand what … resources were available to you or your family members.
In what ways will customer service be improved?
When you think about the Department from customer service, we have a couple of different customers. … Oftentimes you have to fill out a form to see if you’re eligible for a service. We’re committed to making sure that there’s efficiency and expediency in those processes … The Department is so large, you could come in, Zach, and you might think you need one service from here but all of a sudden you find out you need a couple of other services from the Department. …You shouldn’t have to go knock on 10 doors to figure out how are you going to be able to get these services. You should knock on one door and then be able to have a care plan developed for you. So there’s that side of it. Our customers are also our providers, so we get a lot of federal money and [with] the money that we have we do contracts with providers, then those providers will go out and provide a service. Let’s just say, like a residential care home for the developmentally disabled, we would give money to a provider to stand up that service. That provider is also our customer, so we want to make it easier for them to do business with us, right. We want to be a better business partner. … We also want to be able to have a financial payment model that works for providers so that they’re able to be paid in a timely and sustainable way.
Is there an aspect of the Roadmap you’d like to expand on that you haven’t been asked about or something particular in the Roadmap you think is exciting to talk about?
The one thing you didn’t ask me about, really, was the commitment one, which is People and Culture. That’s our focus internally. … If we’re taking care of our staff and our workforce, it’s going to show up in the work … we’re going to have better customer service skills from our staff if we’re able to create an environment in the Department where people want to be, can grow and learn …. The Roadmap, really, is about the Department being able to say to all of those stakeholders that I just mentioned, who we are and what we do. —Zachary Lewis
