Summer Haze group art exhibition at Concord studio
Diverse pieces that capture the essence of steamy summer days will be on display during a group art exhibition at Jess Barnett Art Studio in Concord. The art is hanging now through Sept. 3, with an opening reception on Friday, Aug. 13, when the artists will be in the gallery to talk about their work.
The Summer Haze exhibition features pieces from five artists and is the first group exhibition Barnett has hosted since she opened her studio in November 2019.
“Covid kind of put a damper on [the studio opening],” Barnett said, “so this is really exciting to be able to have the group show.”
Earlier this year Barnett put out a call for entries to New England artists, asking for submissions that were based on the Summer Haze theme.
She ended up working with artists from New Hampshire and Massachusetts, plus one from New York, and between the five of them — Barnett included — there are about 10 to 12 pieces in the exhibition.
“It’s a good size for the gallery,” Barnett said. “It was pretty easy to fit everything in there and make [it] look good next to each other. It takes up one wall of the gallery, and then I have [my work] hanging on the other walls.”
Barnett’s pieces include a couple of new paintings that she hasn’t shown yet, including an abstract painting called “Lilac Season,” plus a couple of older pieces that go well with the theme, she said.
The exhibition is diverse, Barnett said, with paintings, drawings and glass art.
“I can’t really do installation art [because of space], so I wanted to have two-dimensional pieces and glass,” she said.
Karen Mehos, a glass artist from Boscawen, produces mainly stained glass and small glass works. She’s showing a glass bowl called “Small Town Sunset,” featuring a cityscape against a sunset background. It was made by melting glass in a kiln, using colored glass powders on a clear glass base, fusing them together into a flat disk in the 1,450-degree kiln, then softening them with heat again before using a ceramic mold to give it shape.
“It’s pretty innovative and cool how she did that, and she made it just for the show,” Barnett said.
Kathy Bouchard from Nashua has two acrylic paintings of kimonos in the show.
“It’s a cross between realistic and abstract,” Barnett said. “Her art is just really cool.”
The other two artists are Jason Michael Rielly of New York and Lorna Ritz of Massachusetts. Rielly’s art represents both the abstract and expressionism genres of artistic style, Barnett said. She said the work he put in the exhibition highlights these styles and communicates strong emotion, mood and vibrancy.
“They’re almost floral, but more abstract,” she said.
Ritz is a third-generation abstract expressionist-impressionist who paints landscapes.
“I paint the changing seasons as they occur, the light that emanates from seasonal color combinations that occur in landscape,” Ritz wrote about her work.
All of the work in the show is for sale, and for those who can’t make the reception and meet the artists, there will be labels with the artists’ information on the pieces for anyone who wants to learn more about them and their work.
For the reception, Barnett will be giving out a small gift bag with a piece of art to everyone who attends, and she encourages the general public to check it out.
“It’s a very laid back atmosphere. [We] aren’t snobby art people,” she said.
Barnett said she hopes to have more group exhibitions in the future, and she will invite artists of all levels, even those who are just dipping their toes into art, to participate.
“I just really feel that everyone, if they want to, should experiment with art,” she said. “Art can be a really good release for people to express emotion. … You don’t have to go to art school [to be an artist].”
Summer Haze group art exhibition
Where: Opening reception Friday, Aug. 13, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. When: Jess Barnett Art Studio, 4 Park St., Suite 216, Concord. The reception is free, and light refreshments will be served. RSVPs are encouraged on the gallery’s Facebook page but are not required. The exhibition will be hanging through Sept. 3.
Featured photo: The Summer Haze exhibition is on display now at Jess Barnett Art Studio. Courtesy photo.
League of New Hampshire Craftsmen celebrates return of its annual fair
After a year without an in-person fair, artisans from the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen overwhelmingly agree about one thing: They can’t wait to see the crowds and their fellow artisans at this year’s annual fair at Mount Sunapee Resort.
“The craftspeople are as excited to be back at the mountain as you can possibly imagine,” said Laury Nichols, a woodcarver from Chichester.
Lisa DeMio of Hampstead, who makes fiber wearables, echoed that sentiment.
“The artists are super excited to be back there,” she said. “It’s one of those places where I feel very at home. … This particular show has so many amazing artists. I’m looking forward to being able to see and touch and feel everything and connect with friends.”
The 88th Annual Craftsmen’s Fair is happening Saturday, Aug. 7, through Sunday, Aug. 15, and is one of the few arts events of its scope and size this year, according to Miriam Carter, executive director of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen.
“We’re in New Hampshire and we’ve gotten through Covid in a way that a lot of states haven’t,” Carter said. “I’m expecting a great response from the public.”
The fair will look a little different, with booths spaced farther apart and fewer artisans, and visitors are encouraged to buy their tickets online to get through the gate quickly. But beyond that, the fair should be everything it has been in past years — and then some.
“[The artisans have] had a year off to create work, so I’m really excited to see what they’ve done in that time,” Carter said.
She said she’s already seen some of the work that will be in the Art, Craft & Design Exhibition — a gallery that’s set up in the middle of the fair — and it’s some of the best she’s seen.
“I think they took advantage of their time off the road to … be creative and innovative,” Carter said.
There will be demonstrations this year, Carter said, following Covid precautions. Instead of the more intimate clay turning booth, for example, they will have precreated clay tiles, which people can use to create a textured piece that they can bring home and paint. Many of the demonstrations and hands-on activities are free, Carter said.
There’s also the Art, Craft & Design Exhibition and the Sculpture Garden, plus new food offerings, and, for the first time, alcohol will be available for purchase on the fairgrounds. The Adventure Park at Mount Sunapee Resort will be open, and the lift will be running for people who might want to ride up and hike down. But that’s all gravy.
“The best part of the fair is you get to meet the artists and you get to see what they’ve been up to,” Carter said.
Meet five of those artists, who talked about their work, what’s new this year and why they can’t wait for the fair.
Clay
Pottery by Michael Gibbons.
Michael Gibbons of Derry
What he makes: Functional stoneware for everyday use, like coffee mugs, bowls and teapots. “I’ve been making pottery since about 1980 and I love doing it,” Gibbons said. “I love the fact that it starts off as almost nothing and transforms into something nice and functional.” Gibbons’ work focuses on nature, with mountains adorning many pieces and a line of products made with white clay that look like birch bark.
What’s new this year: With a year off from fairs, Gibbons said he focused on producing, and he developed some new glazes. “My color palette is much broader than it was two years ago,” he said. “I have a red raspberry glaze, and I have a green glaze that I introduced. … I came up with a different glaze for my birch [products] too — less shine and more matte.”
Why he can’t wait for the fair: “It’s the highlight of my year just being around so many talented, great people,” he said. “I’m also excited to see how well-received the new colors are.”
Fiber wearables
Lisa DeMio of Hampstead
Bag by Lisa DeMoi.
What she makes: Accessories, predominantly for women, like handbags, totes and cosmetic bags. They feature hand-printed linen, leather, cotton and waxed canvas. DeMio started sewing years ago, and as her four children got older, she became interested in fabrics and textiles. She found a handbag pattern and made one for herself, then was promptly asked by one friend after another to make bags for them. “It’s one of those things that everybody needs,” she said. “Everybody needs to [carry stuff], and you might as well look good doing it.”
What’s new this year: “I have some new hand-printed fabrics that I’m really excited about,” DeMio said. She said one of the artists that she admires has started to make hand-printed fabrics again, so she’s been able to create some of her products using those. “I have a very limited number of those bags,” she said.
Why she can’t wait for the fair: “Just seeing people again — this is the first live event I’ll have done since February of 2020,” she said. “It’s one of those places where I feel very at home — with my products in my booth and [on the fairgrounds].”
Fine jewelry
Kristin Kennedy of Concord
What she makes: One-of-a-kind jewelry pieces made with precious metals and gemstones. Her inspiration is based on nature and her outdoor experiences, like hiking the mountains and swimming in the ocean.
What’s new this year: Kennedy has a few new collections, including the Everlasting collection that features pieces with rose-cut emeralds and London Blue topaz, and a Nuevo Deco collection that features pieces with rose-cut aquamarines, step-cut chocolate diamonds and champagne diamonds.
Why she can’t wait for the fair: “I’m definitely looking forward to seeing lots of familiar faces, being able to celebrate being together, enjoying art together,” she said. “Most of my customers I’ve had for 20 years, so it’s fun to see them.” Kennedy said she typically checks out the fair herself on the last day. “It’s fun to get to know the artists and handpick some of their special designs,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity to support local artists and appreciate some of the finer things.” This is Kennedy’s 20th year at the Craftsmen’s Fair, and she said it’s the only one she participates in. “I think it’s one of the most highly acclaimed art shows in the country.”
Wood carvings
Laury Nichols from Chichester
Badger by Laury Nichols.
What she makes: Whimsical woodland animal characters and custom woodcarving projects. The carvings are mainly characters she designs herself, and she has a few characters from children’s books like The Wind in the Willows and Beatrix Potter’s tales. With the carvings just inches tall, Nichols said she’ll be bringing about 500 of them to the fair.
What’s new this year: Nichols said she always has new carvings, and this year her booth itself is brand new. She took an online wooden puppet making class during the pandemic, so she’ll have a few puppets and will be taking orders for them. She has also created cards with pictures of her woodcarvings, but since she’s juried as a woodcarver, she’s not allowed to sell anything but woodcarvings. So instead, she’s giving away a free pack of “Celebrate” cards to anyone who asks.
Why she can’t wait for the fair: “I’m so excited to see everyone again, and I know the public is excited to be back to the fair,” Nichols said. “I [especially] love it when children come into my booth. They are so great. … I make free stuff for kids — I was an art kind of kid, and talking to real artists was very inspirational and influential.”
Wood sculptures
Donna Zils Banfield of Derry
What she makes: Sculptural art made out of wood. “Most of my work will appeal to about 10 percent of the people who will be at the fair,” Zils Banfield said. “It’s sculptural art — it’s not utilitarian, it’s not functional.” One example is her Wood Ffolkkes, a community of sculptural wood people that come in various shapes and sizes, with different moods, personalities, wardrobes, loves and hates, but all created from the same core. “At our basic core, we’re all the same,” she said. Zils Banfield started participating in the Craftsmen’s Fair in 2012 as a bowl turner. “I’ve slowly moved into the more nonfunctional artwork,” she said. “I knew early on that I had to be more than a bowl turner.” Zils Banfield said this kind of work is much more intricate, taking days, weeks or months to complete one piece, so she usually has several pieces going at a time. “Nothing is done quickly, which is unusual for the wood turning world,” she said.
What’s new this year: “I have a new sculptural piece that is going to be titled ‘Cityscapes,’” she said. It features 3D images carved into the wood with small particles of 24k gold leaves and silver leaves for the skyscrapers and the stars.
Why she can’t wait for the fair: “Seeing the people that I miss, both my fellow peers and the people who come to the fair to see me and to see my work,” Zils Banfield said. She said she loves showing her new pieces to past customers. “Every year I have at least one new idea that appears in my booth.”
More than a craft fair Woodcarver Laury Nichols shared her recommendation for how to approach the fair. “If you go to the fair only to buy stuff … you miss a huge amount. If you look for only acquisition you will miss the staggering artwork and craftwork. If you go with the mindset to just marvel … it is just amazing. … If you buy something and you’ve talked to the person who made it … there’s something about knowing that it’s handmade and knowing the face of the person who made it and having the conversation with that person.”
The 88th Annual League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair
Where: Mount Sunapee Resort, 1398 Route 103, Newbury When: Saturday, Aug. 7, through Sunday, Aug. 15, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, rain or shine Cost: General admission for one day is $16 for adults, or $24 for two days. Seniors are $14, and children under 12 get in free. Online ticket sales prior to the event are encouraged at nhcrafts.org.
Featured photo: Wood Ffolkkes by Donna Zils Banfield. Courtesy photo.
Nashua’s arts scene is expanding in the coming months as the whole community teams up for Creative Union, an art project designed to bring people together and showcase all of the programs the city has to offer.
“We’re amplifying and highlighting Nashua’s diverse community and the history of the city and the spirit of the city,” said Samantha Cataldo, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Currier Museum of Art, which co-organized the project as part of the museum’s Nashua Endowment, created to support Currier-organized arts programming for Nashua. “Everything about the project is in and for the communities of Nashua.”
Creative Union got underway in June, and the free workshops have been a success so far, Cataldo said. There are still five public workshops left, and anyone in the city can come create festive paper sculptures and handmade decorations.
“The theme of the work is this idea of a community garden, so people have been making things like large-scale flowers that are made out of papier-mache,” Cataldo said.
The first workshop took place during the Black Lives Matter Nashua Juneteenth Celebration. Cataldo said that more than 100 people made paper freedom flowers and leaves.
Everything created during these workshops, which are Phase 1 of Creative Union, will be part of a final celebration happening this fall.
“By the end of the summer a downtown space that will have been [vacated] will be filled with all of these sculptures that the community has made, from the freedom flowers to the growing vines that people made at the farmers market,” Cataldo said. “It will be an explosion of color, of these really fun paper sculptures and decorations.”
That final installation is part of Phase 2, which will also feature nine days of community programming that may include performances, dance parties, community dinners, artmaking workshops and more. Cataldo said the exact location of the final art installation can’t be revealed just yet, and the exact dates are still being determined as well, though it will likely be sometime in October.
For now, the focus is still on getting the community together to create these paper works of art. Along with the public workshops, Cataldo said the Currier has been working with specific community groups, like kids’ camps, to create the paper flowers and decorations. The kids at Nashua Community Music School’s summer camp, for example, made bigger flowers on which they wrote the things they like about living in Nashua, and then made a smaller flower to write about what they think the community needs more of.
“It’s art-making, but everything has kind of a conversation piece,” Cataldo said. “It’s sort of encouraging … people to think about what’s special about their community and also be more engaged with what’s going on and what’s impacting them.”
For anyone who can’t attend any of the remaining five workshops, there are take-home kits for making triangular bunting, with special markers, blank shapes and instructions. Cataldo said so far about 150 kits have been given out.
The Currier is co-organizing Creative Union with the City of Nashua as well as Elisa Hamilton, a multimedia artist from the Boston area who was brought on to develop the project.
“Whenever I’m working with a new community it’s incredibly important to me to learn about that community before developing a project idea,” Hamilton wrote in an email.
Hamilton has worked closely with the Mayor’s Office throughout the process.
“Early on, I learned so much about vibrant arts initiatives already happening in Nashua, as well as other great public programs such as the Sunday Farmer’s Market … [and] the many fantastic nonprofits for Nashua doing such terrific things,” she wrote. “My work is very much about bringing people together, so the idea of a ‘Creative Union’ — a joyful, creative centerpoint that would bring all of these groups together, along with the broader Nashua community — was really the foundational inspiration for this project.”
Cataldo encourages anyone of any age to come participate in the remaining workshops.
“It’s a really fun way to come together, be part of a whole,” she said. “Everything is provided, and no experience is necessary.”
Upcoming Creative Union workshops
Nashua Farmers Market,Great American Downtown City Hall Plaza Sunday, Aug. 8, and Sunday, Aug. 29, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
YMCA of Greater Nashua 24 Stadium Drive Thursday, Aug. 5, 4 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 7, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Grow Nashua Community Garden on Spring Street Thursday, Aug. 12, 6 to 8 p.m.
You can pick up the take-home artmaking kit at Arlington Street Community Center (36 Arlington St.) or at YMCA Greater Nashua (24 Stadium Drive in Nashua or 6 Henry Clay Drive in Merrimack). Art should be completed and returned by Aug. 6.
Featured photo: Community members make paper art at recent Creative Union workshop held at Nashua’s farmers market. Courtesy photo.
Henniker illustrator, photographer, author keeps on creating
It was the barn that Jerry LoFaro fell in love with when he bought his property in Henniker 25 years ago. Since then, he’s used the space as a studio for painting, digital artwork, photography, writing and live music performances, sometimes sitting alone in his well-worn office chair and sometimes surrounded by friends during the intimate concerts that he and his wife Kathleen host.
“This barn — this is why we’re here,” he said of the building, which was built in ’91 and had been used as a dance school. “It was perfect for me, really kind of idyllic.”
With a resume as eclectic as it is long, LoFaro’s recent projects include working on a follow-up to his first book of photography, Abandoned Vehicles of New Hampshire: Rust in Peace, and taking behind-the-scenes and onstage pictures of musicians as the official photographer for Tupelo Music Hall in Derry.
The latter gig started with an iPhone and front-row seats to numerous shows. The self-proclaimed “music freak” would sit in front of the stage and take pictures with his phone, without giving much thought to their artistic quality. It was a far cry from his usual approach to art — LoFaro has been a successful painter and illustrator for years, with work that has graced the covers of books and magazines, advertising and promotional items for brands like Aflac, Coca-Cola and Disney, and, his proudest achievement, boxes of Celestial Seasonings tea. For that work, he uses techniques like airbrushing and digital art, but taking pictures had never really been a thing.
“Most of my photography [at that point] had been a [starting point] for my illustrations,” he said. “It was part of a process and wasn’t really a goal in and of itself.”
But LoFaro was posting his concert shots online, and people were commenting. Knowing that he had an audience, LoFaro started bringing a better camera to the shows, discreetly taking shots from his lap.
“I had no goal other than to have fun and take better pictures,” he said.
Tupelo’s social media director noticed the photos, though, and started posting them on Tupelo’s social media sites. When the venue moved from Londonderry to Derry in 2017, LoFaro was asked to be the official photographer.
“I kind of was grandfathered in,” he said, aware that he got the job over professional photographers with years more experience. “But I’m an artist — what I lack in skill, I make up for in editing and artistry.”
Abandoned Vehicles of New Hampshire, which was published earlier this year, is a new creative venture for LoFaro, one that started when he turned his camera toward rusty old cars he found throughout the state.
“It was just something that captured my interest,” he said.
One of his four Instagram accounts is dedicated to his rusted cars photography, and one of his followers happens to work for a publisher, America Through Time.
“I knew I had a book in me,” LoFaro said.
The star of the book is a Hudson Commodore, a car he found in the middle of a field in Loudon and later bought from the owner of the salvage yard for $200. The Hudson is now a centerpiece in his front yard.
LoFaro said the response to the book has been great.
“I was inundated with people sending messages and locations [of abandoned cars] all over the state,” he said. “I have so much material [for a follow-up book].”
In the meantime, LoFaro is working on a book of photography about Henniker — something never imagined doing when he left New York City in 1995, when he was still working with his agent and big clients in New York.
His favorite client was Celestial Seasonings; he did artwork for them for close to 20 years.
“The way they feature artists on the box, it really just spoke to me,” he said.
It started with redoing the image on the box of Morning Thunder, the company’s first caffeinated tea. LoFaro also, among other things, created several variations of the Sleepytime bear — and that’s when he started transitioning from painting by hand to digital art.
“I had no interest in digital art,” LoFaro said. “I’m in love with the process of painting: mixing the paint, preparing the boards, the tactile element.”
A good friend of his, though, owned what Lafaro says was a “pioneer” computer art school in Weare. After Sept. 11, 2001, LoFaro’s lifeline to work in New York City all but vanished, and he got no jobs for several months after. With extra time on his hands, he agreed to take computer art classes.
“I was the worst student in the class because I had no computer experience,” he said. “It was excruciating.”
But after he got past the initial learning curve, LoFaro realized how much he could do with digital art — and how good it could be.
“I reinvented myself. I was still painting, but I can do this a lot better,” he said.
LoFaro maxed out his credit cards to buy a used computer system, and the day he got it, he took a job making clouds for a video game — that had to be done the next day.
“That was my trial by fire,” he said.
Lafaro said the more he learned about the intricacies of digital art, the more he could relate it to his airbrush work.
“It really was an incredible natural evolution,” he said.
And then there’s the music. A band’s photo shoot in the barn morphed into a bigger idea; in 2016, the LoFaros started hosting concerts, with the musicians playing on a small stage that LoFaro built. They were well-attended, so he built a bigger stage, and they’ve had more than 100 people in attendance for some of the shows. Those stopped during Covid, but LoFaro is hoping to get them going again by fall.
He’s back at Tupelo, too, and looking forward to shooting a few good shows this season. Right now he and owner Scott Hayward are in the process of creating posters of the 52×60-inch mural on canvas of LoFaro’s photos that hangs on the venue’s front wall. That will be sold at the venue and online later this summer.
If that seems like a lot of balls in the air, LoFaro isn’t quite ready to stop juggling.
“I’m on this journey, and I’m open for anything,” he said.
Featured photo: Jerry LoFaro poses in front of the Tupelo tapestry of his photos. Courtesy photo.
Get a new view of the world while ziplining above the trees, soaring in a hot air balloon or parasailing over the water
You’ve seen New Hampshire’s forests, mountains and seacoast, but have you seen them from above? Get a new view with a relaxing flight in a hot air balloon, an adrenaline-filled zipline tour or a gentle but exhilarating parasail ride along the coast.
Hot air ballooning
Heading toward the sky in a hot air balloon is a much smoother and quieter ride than most people expect, says Tony Sica of High 5 Ballooning in Derry.
“When we launch, [passengers] don’t even know we’re leaving the ground,” Sica said. “There’s no g-force; we’re just gently drifting off the ground.”
For every launch, riders meet half an hour before sunrise at 15 Ermer Road in Salem, then Sica and his crew pick one of five launch locations, depending on which way the wind is blowing.
“We’re trying to launch from a location that’s going to take us into a decent landing,” Sica said. “You land wherever the wind takes you.”
Once they arrive at the launch site, anyone who wants to help prepare the balloon for inflation is welcome to. Then the gentle ascent begins.
“There’s absolutely zero motion — unless I’m dancing, which I do sometimes,” Sica joked.
The balloon stays right above the trees and maintains a profile up and down the treeline, which Sica referred to as contour flighting. A three- to five-mile ride is typical, though Sica said he’s gone as far as eight miles when the wind is moving quickly. But he prefers to stick to that three to five miles that he says he knows like the back of his hand, because that takes his passengers over the most scenic areas.
“We try to keep it as natural as possible,” Sica said. “When we go over water or wetlands, I’ll get right down in there … so people can take those great reflection [photos].”
There’s also a crew following the passenger balloon that takes photos along the way. Sica said he likes to go for “the money shot,” flying over Melville Lake or Alexander Pond. If they’re in the smiley face balloon — his most popular option — he’ll spin it around and bring the basket down to the water so the crew behind him can capture both the balloon and its reflection on the water.
Once they land, passengers can help squeeze the air out of the balloon if they want, and then they head with the ground crew back to the meeting site for a Champagne celebration. The flight is an hour, but the whole experience is about two and a half hours, Sica said.
For people who think they have a fear of heights, Sica said most actually have a fear of falling, and since you’re surrounded by the basket’s four solid walls, that fear usually isn’t triggered.
He said the most scared passenger he’s ever flown, Paul, got in the basket and the whole thing was shaking because he was so nervous. Two months later, Sica got a letter from Paul’s wife thanking him for helping him overcome his fears — they’d just been on their honeymoon, where they went parasailing, and Paul had gone skydiving too.
“Another success story,” Sica said.
Plus, ballooning is the safest form of aviation in the world, he said. Any accident has been pilot-related, “people doing stupid things,” he said. “You have to be willing to walk away [if conditions aren’t safe]. Don’t ever put your wallet in front of your safety.”
Sica has owned High 5 Ballooning since 1999; when he opened, there were 27 ballooning companies in New Hampshire, and now there are three.
“I can’t even tell you how busy we are,” he said. “It’s insane.”
High 5 is currently booking into September and October. Sica can take as many as eight passengers; if you want a private flight, you can pay the $1,600 to be alone (you’re paying for all eight spaces), but Sica said most people realize it’s more fun with a group of people, even if they’re all strangers at the beginning.
“It’s an adventure sport and part of that adventure is sharing the experience with other people,” he said.
High 5 Ballooning
Where: 4 Joseph St., Derry (office); meeting place is 15 Ermer Road in Salem
When: Half an hour before sunrise, seven days a week
Cost: $200 per person. Prices are subject to increase for private flights, for passengers weighing more than 200 pounds, and for couples who weigh more than a combined 400 pounds.
To book a flight, call 893-9643 or visit high5ballooning.com.
A&A Balloon rides
Where: 7 E. Derry Road, Chester (office); meeting place is 15 Ermer Road in Salem
When: Half an hour before sunrise
Cost: Sunrise flights are $250 for adults and $125 for children who are 12 or older or who weigh more than 100 pounds. The cost includes Champagne, crackers and cheese for after the flight. Private flights and events are also available. Costs are subject to increase for passengers weighing more than 200 pounds.
To book a flight, call 432-6911 or visit balloonridesnh.com.
Ziplining
For a more intense adrenaline rush above the treetops, ziplining will get you from Point A to Point B much faster than a hot air balloon floating through the sky.
“The zipline is great for people who have the need for speed,” said Jen Karnan, who started working at Gunstock Mountain Resort as a zipline instructor back in 2012 and is now the communications coordinator. “You can get up to 65 mph. … It gives you that wind in the hair sensation.”
But there’s still an element of control, she said — there’s a brake, so you’re in charge of your own speed.
“We actually get a lot of people who come up here to conquer their fear of heights,” Karnan said. “They go from ‘I can’t do this’ to ‘I can’t wait to do this again!’”
Gunstock’s guides get you started on the ground level of the main lodge, going through safety instructions while you put on your helmet and harness and pick up your trolley. The trolley weighs about 18 pounds and is the main piece of equipment you’ll be suspended from (or carrying in a backpack) during the tour. Athleticism is not required, but you do need to be able to walk up to 3/4 of a mile and ascend two 50-foot staircases while carrying the trolley, according to the Gunstock website.
Gunstock’s zipline tour has five lines, starting with a 45-foot demo line, then a 450-foot training line, which allows you to get the sensation of ziplining and practice using the brake, Karnan said. Next up is the Summit Zip; you take a chairlift to the top, then zip down 273 feet. It’s kind of a last call, Karnan said, to make sure you want to move on to the final two lines. Recoil Zip is 140 feet off the ground and one of the longest in the country at 3,981 feet long, with a 688-foot vertical drop. The Pistol Zip is 3,804 feet and is 50 feet off ground.
On the longer zips, it’ll take a couple minutes to get down depending on how fast you’re going. Karnan said a lot of people like to race, since they’re going down next to someone, and there are a few tricks with positioning and steering that can speed up the descent.
“Our zipline guys have some good hacks for that kind of stuff,” she said.
But it’s not all about speed.
“The zipline really forces you to be in the moment … take in the surroundings, kind of enjoy the nature,” Karnan said. “We have unmatched views of Lake Winnipesaukee. You might see Mount Washington on a clear day — if it’s clear enough, you can see up to the observatory.”
She said a lot of people just want to try it once, for the experience, but many come back.
“It’s really a bucket list item, and once you’ve done it, it’s hard not to want to do it again,” Karnan said. “It’s such an adrenaline rush.”
At Candia Springs Adventure Park in Candia, the guided zip tour has six lines that stretch out over about 3,000 feet of cable, according to Clarissa Coppin. Guests zip from platform to platform, she said, and trained guides are in charge of the guests’ trolley and braking.
“We have varying heights of up to 40 feet,” Coppin said in an email. “The best part is at the end; [it] finishes at the 1,000-foot zipline that stretches over the entire park and over the pond.”
Candia Springs also has an Aerial Adventure course with bridges, climbing ladders, scales, obstacles and crossing ziplines.
“We have had many guests cross off their bucket list items here, face their fears, and even get engaged,” Coppin said in the email.
Gunstock Zipline Tour
Where: Gunstock Mountain Resort, Gilford
When: The Adventure Park is open through the end of October, and zipline tours are available Friday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cost: $75 for ages 10 and up
You have to be between 4 feet and 6 feet, 8 inches, and between 50 and 260 pounds to ride the ziplines. Children 10 through 15 must be accompanied by a participating adult. Closed-toe and closed-heel shoes are required.
Candia Springs Adventure Park
Where: 446 Raymond Road, Candia
When: Open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday until Sept. 6. The Zipline Tour and Aerial Forest stays open until Oct. 31 on weekends only, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cost: $41 for the Zipline Tour, and $41 for the Aerial Forest. Advance reservations are recommended. Visit candiasprings.com or call 587-2093.
For both adventures, the minimum age is 7, minimum weight is 50 pounds and minimum height is 48 inches. The maximum weight is 250 pounds.
Parasailing
If you’d rather soar above water, parasailing offers scenic views along with an up-in-the-air experience that feels like sitting on a swing with a friend, says Captain Craig Schreck, owner of Hampton Beach Parasail.
“You can see the whole coast of New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, the Isles of Shoals. On a clear day you can see the White Mountains,” Schreck said. “It’s a very visual, scenic, relaxing ride up there.”
Hampton Beach Parasail offers rides with either 500 or 1,000 feet of line — the more line, the better the views, Schreck said. Passengers get harnessed to the parasail, usually two or three at a time, then take off from the back of the boat, ascending slowly as the boat takes off. They’re up in the air for about 10 minutes.
“It’s basically like I’m flying a big kite with people in it,” Schreck said.
One of the best things about parasailing, he said, is that pretty much anyone can do it. He recently took a woman who was celebrating her 80th birthday with a friend who was in her 70s, and he took his own kids when they were 7 and 9. He said parasailing isn’t so much like an amusement ride as it is a relaxing experience — even for people who are initially nervous.
“We get a lot of people who are afraid of heights [but] it’s a gradual increase [and] because you’re over the water you don’t necessarily feel how high you are,” he said.
He said 99 percent of people who are afraid of heights end up loving it.
“We take pictures too, and sometimes you see that first picture and you can see the nervousness in their eyes and then the next two pictures, all of a sudden [you can see] the relief and excitement,” he said.
There’s no need to be afraid of the boat ride either, Schreck said.
“If it’s really windy, we don’t go very fast at all,” he said. “If it’s not windy, we get up to about 15 miles per hour. … The [faster] part of the boat ride is going in and out of the harbor.”
Passengers start out at Hampton Beach Parasail’s office in Hampton Harbor, then walk to the boat and take off from the state pier. The boat holds up to 12 people, so it’s typically Schreck, his “mate,” who helps harness the passengers into the parasail, and about eight to 10 passengers. The whole ride is about an hour.
Rides start at 8 a.m. and run every hour until the last trip at 6:30 p.m. Schreck said he prefers the last couple of rides of the day.
“The evenings are nice,” he said. “It’s usually really calm and the sun’s starting to go down.”
Schreck has been parasailing off and on for years; he used to drive a parasail boat in Hampton when he was younger, and then later in Miami, Cape Cod and Newport, Rhode Island. The best part of driving the boat, he said, is seeing how excited people are when they land. And when he goes up himself, which he still does a handful of times each summer, he thinks it’s cool to look down and see all the people on the beach. But no matter how many times he goes up, he has the same thought: “I forgot how high this is!”
Hampton Beach Parasail
Where: 1 Ocean Boulevard, Hampton
When: Open seven days a week until the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival (Sept. 10 through Sept. 12 this year), and then weekends and reservations until October.
Cost: $99 per person for a 500-foot line, $139 per person for the 1,000-foot line
Reservations are recommended but not required. Visit hamptonbeachparasail.com or call 929-4386.
Featured photo: Ziplining at Gunstock. Courtesy photo.
New children’s book helps kids cope with pandemic life
Most people who are stuck at the mechanic’s for three and a half hours wouldn’t use the time to write an entire children’s book. But Kathy Brodsky of Manchester is not most people; when the words “Talula Turtle” popped into her head as she was waiting for her car last November, she took out her iPhone and started writing. The result is How Talula Turned Her Day Around, a newly published children’s book about coping with some of the challenges of Covid-19.
“She’s the cutest little thing who doesn’t like to wear a mask,” Brodsky said of Talula.
Though the waiting room location was unusual, writing stories in a short amount of time based on ideas that just come to her is Brodsky’s style.
“Even though I have no idea where any one of my poems will go, once I get the first four lines, I’m up and running,” she said.
Like all of Brodsky’s books — this is her 16th — How Talula Turned Her Day Around offers life lessons meant to comfort or inspire young kids.
“I’ve been a therapist for 51 years,” said Brodsky, who still sees clients three days a week. “I think being a therapist shows up in my books. … [Or] the books show up because I’m a therapist.”
Talula was born from the emotional impact that Covid has had on the world — a heavy topic made relatable to kids by showing how hard it’s been for Talula to adjust to wearing a mask and being away from her friends.
Discussion questions at the end of her books give kids the chance to talk more about their feelings; in Talula, one of the questions is “How has Covid-19 changed your life?”
“What’s happened with Covid is a huge loss for everybody,” Brodsky said. “It’s a loss of life as we knew it before. … Whenever there’s a loss we go through a grieving process. We’re shocked, then we deny it, we get angry. … Everybody’s just been trying to deal with this loss.”
Knowing she had to get Talula published quickly because of the immediacy of the topic, Brodsky couldn’t use her usual illustrator, Cameron Bennett, who was working on another project. Instead, she turned to her niece, Sarah Zeogas. While Bennett has hand-painted Brodsky’s previous books, Zeogas digitally illustrated Talula.
She and Zeogas worked together to get both the book and a corresponding coloring and activity book published by March. Since then, it’s been used in schools and read aloud during public library story times.
“[My books] have very simple words … but they can be much more than that,” Brodsky said.
The words for the first picture book that Brodsky wrote, My Bent Tree, came to her during a walk, when she noticed that a tree she’d walked past many times before was bent. She started repeating rhyming words to herself on her way home, and the book became a story of a tree that got struck by lightning and is now different from all the other trees.
“It’s for anyone dealing with any kind of difference,” Brodsky said, who didn’t fully realize her own connection to the book until it was done. “My Bent Tree was my story — when I was born I had polio.”
Brodsky never planned to become an author — “I had no idea I could write,” she said — but positive feedback from a poem she wrote in an invitation to her mom’s birthday party prompted her to enroll in an adult education writing class.
Brodsky self-published her first book, Moments in Our Lives, in 2004. It’s her only adult book, a collection of poems, and she’s planning to add on to it and re-release it in the near future. She also has another kids’ book in the works called Stover Learns to Swim, her third book featuring Stover the pig, who learned all about fitness and healthy eating in Stover, and then overcame his fear of staying away from home in Stover Goes to Camp. This time, Stover is afraid of swimming. The story stems from Brodsky’s time as a swimming instructor.
“When I first came to Manchester in 1970, I was the only swim instructor at the YMCA,” she said. “I had a 14-year-old boy [who was afraid to swim], but all of his friends were swimming.”
Though Brodsky has finished writing Stover Learns to Swim, she’s waiting on Bennett to return from abroad so he can hand-paint the illustrations. She hopes to publish it this year.
How Talula Turned Her Day Around How Talula Turned Her Day Around and all Kathy Brodsky’s books are available for purchase on Amazon or at kathybrodsky.com.
Take a mini day trip and discover new flavors at New Hampshire wineries
Whether you know (or think you know) everything there is to know about wine, or your wine experience is limited to the glass of Champagne you had at your cousin’s wedding, tastings are a great way to experience local wines, learn about how they’re made and the best foods to pair them with, and explore the vineyards that are occupying more and more New Hampshire real estate.
“People come for a tasting for something [fun] to do,” said Al Fulchino, owner and winemaker at Fulchino Vineyard in Hollis. “When they find out they like the wine, they think, how [is that made] in New Hampshire?”
Local winemakers and vineyard staff answer our questions about their wineries, their tasting experiences and the wines they think you should try.
Appolo Vineyards
49 Lawrence Road, Derry 421-4675, appolovineyards.com
Photo courtesy of Appolo Vineyards.
Mike Appolo, owner and winegrower, talks about his vineyard, the outdoor tasting room known as #thecrushpad, and Firefly 2020.
From fruit to wine: We make only grape wines. We are focused on food-friendly wines, so you will not find anything overly sweet here — well, except for our port-style wine, and that has some special pairing recommendations. We have a small vineyard [with 1,500 vines] in Derry with nearly a dozen named varieties of grapes. We also source grapes from all over New Hampshire, New York and other places. We make a variety of wines from dry to sweet, red, white and rosé. We have still and sparkling wines, including a brand new naturally fermented pet-nat [called Wild Eyes] and a red pinot noir bubbly [called Barchetta]. Many of our fermentations are done using native yeasts that bring out the best of the varietal character of the grapes we choose. We were one of the first in New England to grow the grape Brianna, which is now grown extensively in Vermont and in vineyards across the region. We offer still and sparkling versions of this wine. We are constantly experimenting with new grape varieties and trying new styles of wine.
What makes us unique: We have an outside tasting room, #thecrushpad, a patio in the middle of our sustainably grown vineyard. We have fire pits groups can reserve in spring and summer. Dogs are welcome on our patio as well. As one of the closest vineyards to Boston and Interstate 93, we see many visitors getting away for the weekend.
The tasting experience: Our staff will guide you through a tasting of anything from our menu of [often 15] wines, including both sparkling and still wines. The staff is well-versed in how each wine is made. When the winemaking staff is available, we will meet with customers to talk about the process.
Popular pours: Firefly 2020 is our newest sparkling Brianna white wine and is quickly gaining ground as our most popular at the winery. The sparkling Bee Wild 2019 white blend is right up there with it. Blue Eyes [sauvignon blanc] is our best selling wine in the New Hampshire Liquor and Wine Outlets. Red One [a sweet sangria-like New Hampshire red blend] is our most popular wine in Market Basket stores throughout the state.
Personal favorite: Firefly is my new favorite. I love the way the Brianna vines and grapes grow here — expressing the minerality of the granite-filled soils. We don’t spray this grape or use pesticides anywhere near it. I have had Brianna wine grown in at least five states and at various places across this state. The grapes here are very different, and my preference.
Appolo opened on March 13 for the new season. Current hours are Fridays from 2 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., by reservation only (visit the website to book online or call for same-day reservations). The winery is also in the approval process for a new outdoor covered tasting space and an indoor tasting room that Appolo says he hopes to start building in late spring, with expanded hours upon its completion.
Copper Beech Winery
146 Londonderry Turnpike, Building 3, Unit 23, Hooksett 400-2595, copperbeechwinery.com
Photo courtesy of Copper Beech Winery.
Lin L’Heureux owns and runs Copper Beech Winery on her own, which means she’s also the chief fruit selector, winemaker, lab chemist, taste tester, director of bottling, web designer, social media manager, photographer, advertising manager, hostess, server, groundskeeper, gardener and more.
From fruit to wine: Copper Beech Winery is a small batch woman-owned boutique winery. … We make … wines from fresh fruit and grapes that are grown as locally as possible and choose organic fruits whenever we can. Each small batch is hand crafted with patience and attention to detail. … We opened our tasting room in March 2014.
What makes us unique: While many fruit wines are sweet, ours are on the dry side, with just enough residual sweetness to showcase the fruit character without overwhelming it. Yes, dry fruit wines, a pleasant surprise for many of our customers. In 2021 we’ll be adding some well-aged grape wines as well. Our wines are fermented in the traditional style and most are aged at least a year before bottling.
The tasting experience: Normally we have about 14 types of wines available, which vary throughout the year. When a local farmer has a smaller supply of fruit available due to a bad winter, lack of rain, etc., we may run out of that wine earlier in the year. … We appreciate the local fruit when it’s available to us, and because I grew up on a farm, I really like the opportunity to help support local farmers. Our tasting room is small and cozy. … I love talking to people about how the wine is made, where the fruit comes from and what’s new in the tanks. This year, we’re working on approvals for an outside tasting and seating area and hope to open it later in the spring.
Popular pours: These tend to sell out early every year: Autumn Harvest [a blend of New Hampshire apples with tart red cranberries]; Brilliant Cranberry; Country Crabapple [a limited-edition wine crafted from New Hampshire crabapples]; Massabesic Rose [made with locally grown strawberries and fresh rhubarb]; and Wild Blue [a dry oak-aged red wine made with low-bush blueberries from New Hampshire and Maine].
Personal favorite: I honestly don’t have a favorite, but in the cooler seasons I tend to gravitate toward the reds, like Wild Blue or Regatta Red. In warmer seasons, I like a chilled white wine, like Fresh Peach or Country Crabapple.
Copper Beech Winery is opening later this spring; visit its website for details and hours for wine tastings and tours.
Crazy Cat Winery
365 Lake St., Bristol 217-0192, crazycatwinery.com
What can you expect from a wine tasting experience with Crazy Cat owner Claudette Smith and winemaker Tim Smith? Five pours, a souvenir tasting glass and stories about winemaking and “the Haunted House of Bristol.”
From fruit to wine: Our wines are made from wine grape juices shipped in from California, Washington and Oregon, as well as from Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Italy, Australia, etc. and fresh fruit from New Hampshire. All of our wines are produced here on site. We have planted a small vineyard on site that we hope will produce wine-quality fruit in a few years.
What makes us unique: One of the factors that makes us unique is our rather large selection of wines and varied styles. We produce reds, whites, semi-sweet summer wines, fruit wines and several dessert wines. Our proximity to Newfound Lake makes us an especially convenient and fun location for visitors to the Lakes Region. This building was built in 1880 and the tasting room is in the original carriage house.
The tasting experience: Our tasting experience consists of five pours from our collection and includes a logo souvenir tasting glass. Tastings are done in our Tuscan-themed tasting room. During the summer months, we also offer outdoor seating and service. One of our favorite things to do is to meet and talk to our customers, talk about the wines and winemaking. We also love to tell our story and tell tales about the building. It has been described by many locals as “the Haunted House of Bristol.” On many occasions, we love to sit with customers talking about our unique and weird experiences since moving into this building. Lots of unexplained happenings!
Popular pours: Popular pours would be our Reserve Merlot, juice sourced from Washington State; Whisker White, our special blend of three whites; Beach Peach semi-sweet summer wine and the Chocolate Espresso dessert wine.
Personal favorite: Tim’s new personal favorite is our Grenache Rose — light, clean with a distinct flavor of fresh strawberry. Claudette’s favorite is the cabernet sauvignon.
During the cooler off season months, Crazy Cat is open Friday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. In warmer months it is open Thursday to Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Visit the website for current hours.
Flag Hill Distillery and Winery
297 N. River Road, Lee flaghill.com
Cassey Nickerson, brand ambassador for Flag Hill, talks about what the largest vineyard in the state has to offer.
From fruit to wine: Flag Hill sits on a 110-acre conservation easement, which preserves the property to remain in agriculture forever. The vineyard itself comprises two areas on the property totaling 14 acres, making Flag Hill the largest vineyard in the state of New Hampshire. We focus primarily on cold-tolerant white grapes, though we grow a total of six hybrid grapes, which consist of both whites and reds. The types of grapes are Minnesota hybrids and French-American hybrids, and varieties are Cayuga, vignoles, la crescent, Niagara, de Chaunac and Marechal Foch. While we do grow all of our grapes for our grape wines, and the corn and rye for whiskey, we do not grow our own fruits for our fruit wines, though we source these from within New Hampshire and the surrounding New England states as best we can.
What makes us unique: We are a true farm winery and farm distillery. Growing the grapes and grains here at Flag Hill means that we have control over everything, from the compost that goes into our soil, to the temperature at the time of harvest.
The tasting experience: We offer a guided public tour every weekend at noon with one of our staff. If you … miss the scheduled tour, we encourage you to explore the grounds via our self-guided walking tour, which has 18 stations to visit. Our tastings are $5 for five tastes, where you get to choose which wines, spirits or combination of those you would like to try. Small snack boards are available, as well as glasses of wine, … wine smoothies and other seasonal offerings. … We are looking forward to when we can return, safely, to bar service in the Tasting Room, where guests get a one-on-one with our staff. … We are [also] looking forward to the summer of 2021 with the addition of an outdoor patio [where] guests can grab a flight, a glass and a friend and enjoy the day under the pergola.
Popular pours: Aromatic white wines are certainly what we do best at Flag Hill, so our visitors gravitate toward those. Our most popular pour within this would have to be our Cayuga white. It is our fan favorite that pops with flavors of green apple, peach and pear, very similar to a Germanic-style riesling. If you are more of a bubbly wine drinker, give the sparkling Cayuga white a try! Add a dash of one of our fruit liqueurs and your day is made.
Personal favorite: La crescent. This is hands down our winemaker’s favorite. La crescent is intensely aromatic with notes of honeydew, pineapple and orange blossom; it is the perfect marriage of sweetness versus acidity at the first sip.
The Tasting Room & Gift Store is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, year round, with the exception of Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
Fulchino Vineyard
187 Pine Hill Road, Hollis 438-5984, fulchinovineyard.com
For owner and winemaker Al Fulchino, winemaking has been part of his family’s history for nearly two centuries — so it only makes sense that he now has vineyards of his own.
From fruit to wine: We believe in simplicity. We have four vineyards within two miles. … We like to source what we use. Eighty-five to 88 percent comes from our property. We plant, pick, prune, we bottle, we label … we do all that. We believe in letting the wine speak for itself by staying out of the way. [We have] good vineyard sites to warm up and ripen the grapes. … We bought the land in 1991 and in 2007 planted the first vineyard. It’s a very successful piece of land for growing wine grapes. … Everything on this property, we built it.
What makes us unique: What makes us different, I don’t even want to know. All we can do is what we do. I think we make people happy.
The tasting experience: We cater to people who like wine, want to like wine or are curious about wine. We expect to exceed expectations with the wine person [and we] want to show people how to appreciate wine in a non-snobby way. I talk to everybody I can talk to, [and] we try to impart our knowledge on our staff. … [Tasters can try] five or six wines. … We try to give people information about the wine and what pairs well with it. [We want to] show people where the wine shines. … We try to have 18 to 22 [wines] on the table, but if we’re hit really hard there may only be 10 to 12 wines on the table. Right now there are 15 wines on today’s table. Things come and go.
Popular pours: Mirabella is our signature proprietary blend. It is a very full-bodied robust red that is meant to savor … with stone fruit notes, notes of chocolate, orange peel. It’s a crowd favorite, our No. 2 wine. No. 1 is a sister wine to Mirabella [where we] alter the aging process and we oak it differently: Cenare. It’s a French oak.
Personal favorite: If I just want a sip I like to go to my Mirabella. If I’m eating a certain type of dish, I might need my pinot or my chardonnay.
Hours now through March are Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., opening daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting in April.
Owners Sunny and Marshall Bishop offer tastings in the former home of a local legend.
Photo courtesy of Gilmanton Winery & Vineyard.
From fruit to wine: We have roughly 4 acres and six different kinds of vines: seyval, reliance, Concord, Marechal Foch, Marquette and aurore. We also make some of our wines from grapes that have already been pressed.
What makes us unique: Our property is just under 9 acres, and the house, which is attached to the business, was once owned by Grace Metalious, the author of Peyton Place. My husband, the winemaker, is a retired Marine and I’m a retired flight attendant, [so] we have a bit of memorabilia here.
The tasting experience: You get to taste at your own table, whether inside or outside, and we bring the flights of wine to you. We also serve [light bites, like cheese and crackers] and we do as much local as we can. My husband also loves to walk around and chat with everyone. … We also serve brunches every Sunday morning. We’re planning on doing picnics this summer.
Popular pours: Our most popular wines are Jack the Ripper, Green Apple Riesling and Blueberry Surprise.
Personal favorite: My favorite is Jack the Ripper. It’s from the carmenere grape and is a dry red wine.
Gilmanton Winery is open Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 1:30 to 5 p.m. for wine tastings.
Hermit Woods Winery
72 Main St., Meredith 253-7968, hermitwoods.com
Photo courtesy of Hermit Woods Winery.
Owner Bob Manley talks about the highly interactive experience you’ll have at a wine tasting at Hermit Woods.
From fruit to wine: Each of our … handcrafted wines is made from a unique combination of locally sourced fruit, honey and flowers, in some cases wild-foraged. Our process is … hands-on from vine to bottle, using old-world techniques. … The result is a wine with rich, complex flavors. All of our wines are vegan, with the exception of honey wines, gluten-free, raw and mostly organic to best management practices. … We get our fruit from farmers all over New England, and on occasion outside of New England when supplies are short
What makes us unique: Hermit Woods is crafting dry, barrel-aged, European-style wines, many of which can be laid down for years in your cellar, from fruit other than grapes. We are the only winery I am aware of with this focus anywhere. We also offer a farm-to-table restaurant at the winery and sell local cheeses, meats and other locally crafted food items at the winery. We will soon be offering a listening room, called The Loft at Hermit Woods, where we will be showcasing music from around the country and possibly the world.
Our tasting experience: Our tasting experience is highly interactive, providing guests with an in-depth knowledge of our wine, wine in general, and wine application. We do offer tours, [but] they won’t resume until we are 100 percent past Covid. We will also be offering a wide variety of advanced tasting programs. … A typical tasting lasts about 30 minutes and is one-on-one with our team. Our premium tasting experience will be a 45-minute presentation by the owners and management only.
Popular pours: Our most popular wine is Petite Blue and Petite Blue Reserve. [Petite Blue] is bursting with fresh blueberry aromas and flavors. An entire pound of wild low-bush blueberries is in each and every bottle of wine. Unlike many available blueberry wines, this dry blueberry wine embodies the characteristics of a more traditional dry red wine. We enjoy it slightly chilled. Petite Blue Reserve, a specially crafted vintage of our … Petite Blue, is fuller in body and finishes long and dry like so many fine Burgundies we have come to love. Like our Petite Blue, there is over an entire pound of wild low-bush blueberries in every bottle. Also very popular is our Winnipesaukee Rosé. … Cranberries and apples are blended together in this rich, sweet, and tangy wine.
Personal favorite: Our personal favorite is our Red Scare, a multi-berry melomel. Whole wild blueberries, organic blackberries and raspberries, and local, raw, unfiltered honey providing balance, structure, and long-deep flavors. This wine was aged in a French oak barrel for many months. A complex, dry wine with great aging potential.
Hermit Woods is open seven days a week, year round. Wine tastings are available at any time during operating hours, which are Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the winter. It stays open an hour later in the summer.
LaBelle Winery
345 Route 101, Amherst; 104 Congress St., Portsmouth; and coming in May, 14 Route 111, Derry, labellewinery.com
Photo courtesy of LaBelle Winery.
Michelle Thornton, director of marketing and business development, explains the winemaking process that happens on the grounds of LaBelle’s Amherst property and describes the winery’s most popular pours.
From fruit to wine: LaBelle Winery Amherst has seven different grape varieties planted on about 2 acres of land. … Varieties of grapes are chancellor, noiret, petit amie, seyval blanc, petit pearl and Brianna, and are all cold-hardy to withstand New England winters. The vines will be hand-harvested in the fall when the grapes reach the optimal sugar and acidity and will immediately be transported to the crush pad behind the winery. … LaBelle also sources grapes from the Finger Lakes region of New York, California, and Washington State to supplement our volume. Our fruit wine is produced using farm fruits from all over New England. … Ripe red grapes are crushed in a crusher/destemmer. Must [a juice containing the skin, seeds and vines] is placed in a container and a selected strain of yeast is added. In the fermentation process, yeast added to the grape or fruit juice converts sugar into both carbon dioxide, which is released into the air, and alcohol. … After being filtered from the other organic material, most red wines undergo a second, malolactic fermentation, in which sharp malic acids are converted to softer lactic acids. Racking and filtering follow when the wine is separated from any remaining solids. Clarified wine is placed in bottles and sealed. For white grape processing, instead of being crushed, white grapes are gently pressed to avoid juice contact with the skins or broken seeds and vines that give red wines that sharp, tannic taste. The juice is collected in a fermentation tank [either stainless steel or oak] and may be clarified once before a yeast variety is selected and added. Fermentation of white wines usually occurs at cooler temperatures and for more time than reds to maintain crisp, fruity aromas and flavors. Barrel aging and malolactic fermentation may occur for some wines [like chardonnay], followed by clarification and bottling.
What makes us unique: Amy LaBelle is the winemaker, founder and owner of the business, along with her husband, Cesar Arboleda. LaBelle processes over 40 tons of grapes a year, which will be doubling in 2021 with the Derry property’s addition. LaBelle is known for its friendly and inviting staff and incredible dining, shopping options and educational and fun events that complement the award-winning wine. LaBelle also hosts hundreds of private events a year, such as weddings, corporate and nonprofit events.
The tasting experience: Our expert tasting room representatives guide guests by sampling our wines, all produced in our … winemaking facility in Amherst. During a wine tasting, a guest can select from over 35 of our different wines to taste. … Tastings are first-come, first-served, and do not require a reservation. Our guided tours, which are approximately 20 to 30 minutes, provide an overview of the building architecture, vineyards and winemaking production cellar within our Amherst facility. Additionally, guests are welcome to follow our self-guided tour brochure at any time during operating hours. We also offer private tasting and tours, which require a reservation. Tour and tastings are highly interactive and educational. The LaBelle Winery Derry property will have a new structure built, named LaBelle Winery, home to a tasting room and a space where a new line of sparkling wines will be produced. The tasting room will wrap around the production and aging experience and will require additional equipment and riddling racks that we don’t have space for in our Amherst location. The new red, white and rosé sparkling wines will be made using the French Methode Champenoise, making the Champagne house at LaBelle Winery Derry the only one of its kind in New England.
Popular pours: Rose, a dry, classic blend of the red grapes grenache and syrah, with aromas of watermelon, florals and strawberries; Americus, with a rich tannin structure and loads of pepper on the palate; petit verdot, a bold red wine with strong floral and fruit tones and a deep tannin structure; seyval blanc, a delicate wine with citrus tones and a crisp, clean finish; and malbec, a deep red rich wine that’s spicy and bold on the palate with a lush and balanced finish.
Personal favorite: Americus
LaBelle’s hours are changing soon; visit the website for the most up-to-date information.
Owners Lewis and Stacey Eaton live and work on their farm, where they offer a relaxed wine-tasting experience and a chance to walk around the vineyard. Lewis Eaton shared more about what you’ll find at Sweet Baby Vineyard.
From fruit to wine: We are a small family-owned vineyard and winery that grows six different cold-hardy grape varieties. Each year we expand our vineyard, with plenty of room to grow for the future. Our … fruit wines are all made with locally grown New Hampshire fruits. We source them directly from single source farms. … Our winemaking process is simple and natural with all-natural ingredients letting the wine express its own unique character.
What makes us unique: What makes us stand out is that we offer locally grown fruit, we are agriculturally driven and are very approachable. We live and work on the farm and love what we do. Coming to our farm is very relaxed and easy.
The tasting experience: Our tasting experience is super-relaxed and guided by our incredible tasting staff. Our winery sits in the middle of our 8-acre farm. We offer 25 different wines — fruit, grape, sparkling and fortified — [and] our tasting staff and winemaker will explain everything from where the fruit is from, how it is made and usually what their favorites are. Though there isn’t a formal tour, our grounds are open to everyone and we allow folks to roam through the vines and enjoy the beauty we offer. … We have both indoor and outdoor — in warmer weather — seating.
Popular pours: Some of our most popular wines are our blueberry wines — sparkling, port-style and still — and our varietals, like Niagara and Marechal Foch, that we grow on the property. The blueberry wines are produced semi-sweet and are made with locally grown low bush wild blueberries from Alton, New Hampshire. We do three versions of Niagara: sweet, sparkling and dry. These are grown on our farm. Marechal Foch is a dry red grown on our property and aged in American oak barrels for two years and is a dry medium-bodied table wine.
Personal favorite: My favorite is our Farm Stand White. It is a blend of la crescent, petite amie and aromella. Two of the grape varieties are grown here and the other we buy from [Flag Hill Distillery and Winery]. It is an off-dry aromatic white perfectly balanced acidity with melon and citric notes. This wine is incredible.
Sweet Baby Vineyard is open year-round from noon to 4 p.m. Thursday and noon to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
Winnipesaukee Winery
458 Center St., Wolfeboro 455-0182, winniwinery.com
Heidi von Goetz Cogean, owner and winemaker, looks toward the future at her vineyard.
From fruit to wine: We are a New Hampshire farm winery, woman-owned and family-operated. We grow cold-hardy white grapes in our vineyard, [which] operated as a dairy farm from 1810 to 1942. … The vineyard was planted in 2018 [and] we expect a harvest in 2023. We source our cabernet sauvignon and merlot red grapes from the Lanza family vineyard in Sonoma County, California, and our award-winning carmenere from the Central Valley of Chile. Wild blueberries are purchased locally and rhubarb comes from Tuftonboro, New Hampshire, [and we make] both sweet and dry wine from these fruits.
What makes us unique: All of our red wines are classic European-style fully dry reds, aged in French oak barrels. We are currently selling vintage 2016 dry reds, [and] we are the only New Hampshire winery selling oak barrel-aged wine that is over four years old. We are [also] New Hampshire’s only winery and bed and breakfast. … We also have a huge barn full of antiques for sale … from April to mid October.
The tasting experience: We conduct a four-wine tasting, with [an] option to enjoy prepackaged snacks procured from Black- and woman-owned companies. [Visitors can] enjoy a glass of wine on the patio [or] a bottle of wine in our vineyard. Frozen wine slushies [and] wine cocktails with real fruit are … popular. … Most days the winemaker is serving customers. … Private tastings with [a] charcuterie board can be arranged after hours.
Popular pours: Wicked Good Red, [which is] 50 percent cabernet and 50 percent merlot, [is] our most popular wine. [It] pairs well with heartier fare [and has] balanced tannins and superb mouthfeel. [We are] selling vintage 2016 right now.
Personal favorite: Whatever I am currently bottling!
Winnipesaukee Winery is open May through October, Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
Zorvino Vineyards
Photo courtesy of Zorvino.
226 Main St., Sandown info@zorvino.com, zorvino.com
Tom Zack, wine director, talks about the wines, the food and the woodwork you can find at Zorvino Vineyards.
From fruit to wine: Zorvino Vineyards is an 80-acre property in the middle of a Northern hardwood forest, which is composed of vines, fields, woodlands with trails, a pond and a beautiful post and beam manor house. … Our actual vineyard is now home to 1,000 vines, including la crescent, Marquette, petite pearl, St. Croix, Itasca, Valiant, Frontenac, Frontenac Gris and Niagara. Most of these are known as Minnesota hybrids. We have extensive gardens where we grow vegetables for our restaurant plus for winemaking and fruit trees that bear fruit for wine also. We source premium grapes from wine regions all over the world including California, Italy, South America and South Africa. Additionally, we start with local fruit from New Hampshire and then branch out to other areas of America depending upon production needs. Our wine is initially made in stainless steel drums and then the premium wines are transferred to American Oak barrels for aging and refining.
What makes us unique: We are one of the largest and busiest wineries in New Hampshire, especially during the summer months when our outdoor patio is open. … Our kitchen puts together a menu that includes creative sandwiches and flatbreads to pair with our options of six different flights where the wines rotate from week to week. The patio can seat up to 80 people but we allow guests to bring blankets and chairs and enjoy our beautiful property. We have our own sawmill and you can often see Jim Zanello, our owner, working on our own hardwoods to create tables, chairs and … whimsical items of all shapes and sizes.
The tasting experience: Our typical offering consists of six different wine flight options, where each flight includes four rotating wines of 3 ounces each. All our outdoor tables are reservation only, made through our website, and reservations are for an hour and a half each. During Covid we have suspended tours, but guests are welcome to wander the property and enjoy the scenery. We also have first-come first-served tables and benches near the pond and throughout the property if the patio is full. When you purchase your flight samples, our winery staff will fill you in on which wines you’ll be trying. Our … staff is always glad to take the time to answer any questions you may have about our wines or our history.
Popular pours: We make more different varietals than any winery in New Hampshire: white, red or fruit wines totaling over 40 this past year. … We are also known for our Z Wine Labs offerings, which are short-run wines that are released every two weeks and include … Peanut Butter & Jelly, Blackberry Bourbon Smash, Chocolate Hazelnut, Key Lime Pie, Field Day (watermelon) and many, many more. We also offer a new product that is quickly gaining in popularity. It’s called Good Boy Sparkling Seltzer. It’s unique in that it’s wine based and comes in at 7 percent alcohol. This means lower-calorie too because [there’s] less sugar.
Personal favorite: My current favorites are the Tempranillo Barbera Blend, zinfandel and tempranillo that are sourced from the Lanza Vineyard in the Suisun Valley of California. These are aged in American white oak for six months to a year or more and are our top reds. These continue to get better and better.
Zorvino is open daily year round, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours in the summer, usually until 8 p.m. There is indoor seating and a seasonal patio, which sometimes closes early for weddings and other functions.
Featured photo: Photo courtesy of Flag Hill Distillery and Winery.
The tales of puppies, sugar gliders, a potbelly pig and other animals that found new homes in the last year
With limited opportunities for human socialization over the past year, many New Hampshire residents have turned to companionship of the furry, feathered and scaly variety. Meet some of the animals who found their forever-homes during the pandemic.
Beauty and Beast
Beauty and Beast are two nearly one-year-old sugar gliders, mammals native to Australia that look like a cross between a small racoon and a flying squirrel. Sheila Sanville of Londonderry adopted the pair last September from the Raymond-based Our Sugar Gliders of New Hampshire, soon after moving into her new home.
Sanville had owned two other sugar gliders, named Tink and Simba, around a decade ago. In captivity, she said, they tend to live up to 10 to 12 years.
“My mother-in-law had a co-worker who needed a home for her sugar gliders, which is how I first got Tink and Simba. I had never heard of them before and I said I would love to know what they are all about,” she said.
She found Beauty and Beast (then known as Bambi and Thumper) from the Raymond rescue and sanctuary through Facebook.
“I work at a school and we were remote at the time,” she said. “I knew that I could give them more time and attention than I ever could have … to just make that bond with me.”
Sugar gliders can make good pets, just as long as you do your research. According to Sanville, they are nocturnal and have different diets depending on their age. State laws vary in the legality of keeping them as pets, although it is legal in most, including New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
“In the wild, you’ll find them at the tops of trees,” Sanville said. “They have skin under their arms and legs that helps them ‘glide’ from tree to tree.”
Coco
Derry couple Michael Pereira and Amy Wales had fostered several dogs from Second Chance Ranch Rescue in New Boston prior to adopting one themselves. After Solomon and Sadie, two dogs they had fostered who respectively were adopted into new homes in late 2019 and June 2020, Pereira and Wales met Coco (previously Vera), a 3- to 4-year-old black Lab pitbull mix who was introduced to them by Second Chance Ranch owner and founder Kristin Morrissey. “Kristin’s goal is really to find the right home that’s a good match for the dogs,” Pereira said. “We recently took guardianship of my wife’s cousin, who has special needs, and Coco has done incredibly well with her. … She’s also great with our kids.”
Vera, he said, was renamed Coco after the 2017 Disney film of the same name.
“From what we understand, she was a sweet caring and nurturing mother,” he said. “She loves hugs and will cuddle with anyone.”
Herbie
Ryan Moran never thought he’d get a pet bearded dragon. But when his sister Nicole, who works at the Manchester Animal Shelter, sent him a post on a dragon named Jackie Chan that was looking for a new home, he was intrigued.
“I thought he looked cool … [and] I’ve always been drawn to an animal with a funny name,” he said.
Moran had always had dogs in his family growing up. But with his landlord not allowing dogs in his apartment, and with Moran working from home more often during the pandemic, he became interested in the prospect of owning a new pet reptile. Jackie Chan was eventually renamed Herbie — Moran plays the piano and named him after pianist Herbie Hancock. Through online research and a visit with the veterinarian, he worked to educate himself on Herbie’s enclosure habitat, behavioral patterns and diet.
“Bearded dragons are omnivorous, so they’ll eat mostly leafy greens and different proteins,” Moran said. “He’s actually encouraged me to eat a little healthier and expand my own horizons.” Dragons, he said, also love natural sunlight and are drawn to windows.
“The cool thing is that he’ll change color,” he said. “Most of the time he’s a lighter tan color, [but] he turns a darker color to absorb more heat and he turns totally white when he’s sleeping.”
Iceberg Lettuce
Iceberg Lettuce, also known as Iceberg or “Icy” for short, is a 2-year-old female parakeet with light green feathers and a yellow head and tail. Thirteen-year-old Doc Willoya of Manchester received Iceberg as a birthday present last November from the MSPCA adoption center at Nevins Farm in Methuen, Mass.
Due to the pandemic, according to Willoya’s mother, Constance Spencer, they were required to make an appointment ahead of time to meet Iceberg.
“When we got there, we had to wait to be let in … and they escorted us straight to the bird room,” Spencer said.
Though Iceberg is currently recovering from an upper respiratory infection, she is a very musical bird.
“She just loves to chirp all day,” said Willoya, who also has another parakeet and a green-cheeked conure.
Also known as budgies, parakeets like Iceberg live for around 15 years and have a diet that includes pellets, seeds and chopped up vegetables.
JoeE
Katie Hall, her husband Chris and daughters Olivia and Lucy adopted this adorable 4-month-old Lab mix puppy late last month from Second Chance Ranch Rescue in New Boston. JoeE (pronounced “joey”) is named after the street the shelter is located on (Joe English Road) and is also short for Joe English Hill in New Boston, near where Chris’s parents still live. After the Hall family dog, Maple, passed away last fall at the age of 10, Katie said, searches for a new pup were made online via Petfinder to no avail.
“It was pretty limited in the midst of the pandemic,” she said. “It was hard to get a timely response from anyone.”
The Halls eventually learned of opportunities available at Second Chance Ranch Rescue, and met with potential adoptees in an outdoor fenced area on the property while masked up. JoeE was one of at least three littermates the family visited.
“Part of our inspiration to get a puppy was for the kids to have those childhood memories and adventures,” Hall said.
JoeE has adapted to his new home very quickly — you just can’t leave him unsupervised, Hall said, or he’ll try to chew on a glove, mitten or shoe.
Kane
Kane is a 2-year-old medically needy American Staffordshire terrier who found his new home in late January. Chris Garceau of Windham came across an online post about Kane from the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire in Bedford.
A pet owner for three decades, Garceau has adopted several other animals with medical conditions in the past. He most recently had a 13-year-old springer spaniel with canine cognitive dysfunction named Lexi; she passed away last September.
“I didn’t want to see a dog like Kane end up with a family that couldn’t afford his care,” said Garceau, who noted that Kane is on multiple medications for food and skin allergies.
Garceau also has two cats, Dezzy and Tyna, who came from Pope Memorial SPCA in Concord, and reports that Kane has settled in with his new furry housemates seamlessly.
Oakley
Oakley is a sweet 12-week-old female Lab mix who came all the way from Puerto Rico. Melissa Magee of Sandown and her family adopted Oakley in late January from The Student Rescue Project, a Vermont-based volunteer-run organization that rescues stray and abandoned dogs from the U.S. territory. Once she received her vet clearances, she was to be flown into Boston to be picked up by the rescue.
“Covid caused so many delays and forced schedule changes so the flights had to be rebooked more than once,” Magee said in an email. “Because of this, Oakley and the rest of the dogs with her ultimately traveled for two days from Puerto Rico to Baltimore, New York City and Philadelphia before being driven to Connecticut, and finally to Vermont.”
The pandemic, she said, also made the pickup process very quick and informal.
“We had to stay in our vehicle, with masks on, and have our puppy brought out to us,” she said. “There was a quick handoff, details about receiving her paperwork, and then we were off.” Despite the initial scheduling hiccups, Magee said the young pup has quickly acclimated to her new home and bonded with the family’s 2- and 4-year-old sons and their other rescue dog, an English shepherd and Great Pyrenees mix named Pooh Bear.
Scarlett
Christine Kay of Merrimack brought this 9-year-old senior cat home earlier this month. A retired teacher, Kay had another cat that passed away about three years ago and had thought about adopting again.
“I came across Scarlett online and really liked her,” she said. “I had no other pets, just me, and now of course we can’t travel … so I thought she might be a good fit.”
Kay said she was so excited to meet Scarlett that she drove to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire in Bedford in a snowstorm. Scarlett, in turn, jumped on her lap almost immediately. “[The Rescue League’s] website says you can take the animal home the same day, and I left the little carrying cases outside the room hoping that that would happen,” she said.
In addition to some upper respiratory challenges, Scarlett has had several of her teeth removed and is a very fussy eater, oftentimes not touching her food in the morning.
“They were very up front about everything that needed to be done,” Kay said, “and I thought, ‘you know what, I can handle this.’ I don’t mind, because she’s worth it.”
Zazu
Named after the character from The Lion King, Zazu is a 3- or 4-month-old black and white domestic shorthair kitten. Londonderry native and University of New Hampshire student Saba Awan had gone fully remote with her classes and wanted a new pet kitten. She found Zazu late last year.
“I had nothing to do and we were all home anyway, so we knew he was always going to have somebody around,” Awan said. “He settled in pretty much immediately. … He could fit in my hand when we first got him. He’s a little bit bigger now but not by much.”
Banana
Kim Caddle of Stratham adopted 2-year-old male pup Banana from the New Hampshire SPCA last June.
“We had fostered a few dogs for the last couple of years and knew it was time for our family to get a forever dog again,” she said.
When the NHSPCA first brought Banana out to meet Caddle and her family, he was “smiling from ear to ear,” she said, and the connection was instant.
“As soon as he approached my 8-year-old son, he reached up and covered his face in kisses,” she said. “That sealed the deal.”
Caddle said Banana is “the friendliest goofball” who is full of energy but also loves downtime with lots of cuddles.
During the pandemic he has made friends with the neighborhood kids and has become the “mascot,” Caddle said, for the pod classroom of third-graders who meet at her home.
“Everyone on Zoom knows who he is,” she said.
Jimmy
Wife and husband Alison and Mark Langlois of Goshen had been looking for a companion pig to join the other rescue pigs and animals on their hobby farm, so when 8-year-old potbellied pig Jimmy became available at the New Hampshire SPCA, they applied right away.
“One look at his photo online stole my heart, but even more so when I arrived and saw him basking in the sun next to his duck friends,” Alison Langlois said. “He was pure joy from the first moment.”
When they brought Jimmy home from the New Hampshire SPCA a few weeks ago — a two-hour car ride in an SUV — they tried to have him ride in the back of the hatchback trunk, but he was “having none of that,” Langlois said.
“[He] opted instead to climb up next to me in the back seat and ride the rest of the way like a human,” she said.
In the short time that Jimmy has been at his new home, Langlois said he fits right in and has already made friends with one of the sheep on the farm.
“It’s heartwarming to watch these beloved animals interact,” she said.
Bennie and Charlie
Wife and husband Lisa and Scott Hunt of Hillsborough already had two hound rescues and weren’t planning to adopt any more dogs, but when they saw a post on Facebook featuring 12-year-old puggle pair Ben and Charlie, who had been left at the Manchester Animal Shelter, they found it hard to look away.
“We knew we had to go meet them,” Lisa Hunt said. “The minute we met them, it was love at first sight. … We [applied] and prayed that we would be chosen to give these boys the best last years of their lives.”
Charlie is “Mr. Personality,” Hunt said — very vocal and loves to play with his toys and roll around on the floor — while Bennie is “cooler than the other side of the pillow” and loves his nap times.
“They are both sweet, funny, loving and just pure goodness,” she said. “They are both very spunky too. You would never know they are little old men.”
Their favorite part of the day, Hunt said, is their morning Dunkin run.
“We pile [all the dogs] into the car … [to get] our iced coffees and their doughnuts,” she said. “Everyone [at Dunks] knows them, and they love the attention from their doughnut friends.”
Hunt said the dogs have brought her family “instant peace and feelings of love” throughout the pandemic.
“I think about how lucky our family is to have these sweet boys by our side during the toughest times we have ever faced,” she said. “Who is luckier, us or them?”
Baby
Having lived her first year as a feral dog on the streets of Georgia, Baby was in need of a foster home with another dog who could help her learn how to live domestically. Wife and husband Shannon and Nate Sprague of Pelham, who heard about Baby through a post on the Greater Derry Humane Society’s Facebook page, felt that they and their dog George would be able to fulfill that need, but then something happened that they did not expect.
“We took her in to foster … and she never left,” Shannon Sprague said. “We fell in love with her … and couldn’t imagine living without her.”
Baby has come a long way since they made the adoption official last March, Sprague said. At first Baby was petrified of people and wouldn’t step outside of her crate or let anyone touch her. Now she loves snuggling, hiking and going for car rides with the family.
“George took her under his wing and truly taught her how to live in a home with people and other animals,” Sprague said. “She has transformed into a completely different dog. … We can hardly believe it.”
Sprague said Baby has been a source of comfort for the family during the pandemic, especially for Sprague’s 15-year-old daughter, Gwyneth.
“Gwyn is an extremely social teenager and has been hit hard emotionally at times due to the pandemic,” Sprague said. “Baby has rescued her as much as she rescued Baby. They are smitten with each other.”
Sugar
Katie LeBeau works at the Nashua Humane Society for Greater Nashua. It was there that she first met Sugar, a 13-year-old cat who was up for adoption.
“It was love at first sight,” LeBeau said. “I would care for her every day, and we developed a bond while she was waiting to be adopted.”
LeBeau said she thought about adopting Sugar every day but was hesitant because she had another cat at home and wasn’t sure how the two would get along. One day LeBeau came in to work to find that Sugar had been adopted.
“I was happy she had found a home, but heartbroken at the same time,” she said.
The adoption did not work out, however, and Sugar returned to the shelter shortly after. This time LeBeau didn’t hesitate.
“I just knew I could not let her go again, so I adopted her as soon as I could,” she said.
Fortunately, LeBeau said, Sugar and LeBeau’s other cat, Simba, get along great.
“They are very happy together,” she said. “They act like they have lived together their whole lives.”
Rue
Last December, Heather Mills of Nashua agreed to foster Rue, a 3-month-old Chihuahua mix up for adoption at the Humane Society for Greater Nashua, while the puppy was being medicated for anaplasma, a tick-borne disease.
“The shelter felt it would be best for her to go into a home setting instead of sitting in a shelter while on the medication to receive socialization that is so important at a young age,” Mills said.
Mills, who had just adopted a kitten a month before, had no intention of adopting another animal, but when Rue and the kitten “fell in love right away,” she started to reconsider.
“As the month went on I kept telling myself, ‘No, I don’t want a puppy,’” she said. “In the end I just could not part with her. … It was just meant to be.”
Mills said Rue is affectionate, loves people and is “the ideal lap dog,” and has been a comfort to Mills’ daughter, who was a college student when the pandemic hit.
“She is going through some depression like so many other young adults,” Mills said, “but [Rue] just brings a light into our home [and] brings both myself and my daughter so much joy.”
Juneau
Wife and husband Donna and Eric Long of Bradford had been considering getting a dog after their 14-year-old Labrador retriever died in 2019. When the pandemic hit, they decided to not put it off any longer.
“My husband and I were both working from home, [so] we figured it would be a good time to train a puppy,” Donna Long said.
In September they adopted Juneau, a 9-week-old Siberian husky, Labrador retriever and boxer mix, from Pope Memorial SPCA in Concord.
“We put in an application for a puppy, and we were matched up with her,” Long said. “We visited with her for a bit … and she stole our heart immediately.”
Long said they are always looking for ways for Juneau to engage with other people and dogs in hopes of preventing separation anxiety if and when the couple returns to working outside of the home.
Juneau has even had the unique opportunity of getting to know her biological siblings thanks to the owner of one of the siblings, who proposed that they all keep in touch. The group has connected eight out of the 10 adopted puppies from Juneau’s litter, occasionally getting together for playdates, sharing pics and keeping each other updated on the pups’ weights and developing personality traits.
“It usually takes a few moments [for the puppies] to remember who they are [during the playdates], but then they are so happy to play together,” Long said. “It is fun to watch all the siblings grow up together.”
Prosecco
Katie Boyden met 9-year-old cat Prosecco at the Humane Society for Greater Nashua, where she works as the director of community engagement.
“I would visit her kennel and she would meow and come right up to me,” Boyden said. “I knew from the moment I met her that our personalities were meant to be.”
Boyden said she had no intention of adopting an animal during the pandemic, but after seeing a promotional video the Humane Society made with Prosecco giving a “shelter tour,” she couldn’t resist.
“It stole my heart. … I fell in love immediately,” she said. “When I saw she was still available the next day, I adopted her.”
Prosecco loves snuggles, french fries and accompanying Boyden to work in her “adventure backpack,” Boyden said, but most of all she loves to be the center of attention, especially on Zoom calls.
“She sits front and center in front of the camera whenever I Zoom,” she said. “She has become well-known around Greater Nashua; anyone who has Zoomed with me has gotten to know my beautiful cat.”
Featured photo: (left to right) Beauty and Beast. Photo courtesy of Sheila Sanville. Coco. Photo courtesy of Michael Pereira and Amy Wales. Herbie. Photo courtesy of Ryan Moran. Icy. Photo courtesy of Doc Willoya and Constance Spencer. JoeE. Photo courtesy of Katie Hall. Kane. Photo courtesy of Chris Garceau. Oakley (right) and Pooh Bear. Photo courtesy of Melissa Magee. Scarlett. Photo courtesy of Christine Kay. Zazu. Photo courtesy of Saba Awan. Banana. Photo courtesy of Kim Caddle. Jimmy. Photo courtesy of Alison and Mark Langlois. Bennie and Charlie. Photo courtesy of Lisa and Scott Hunt. Baby. Photo courtesy of Shannon and Nate Sprague. Sugar. Photo courtesy of Katie LeBeau. Rue. Photo courtesy of Heather Mills. Juneau. Photo courtesy of Donna and Eric Long. Prosecco. Photo courtesy of Katie Boyden.
Tone up, stretch and sweat at home with virtual fitness classes and local teachers
There are so many reasons to avoid going to a gym or fitness studio: lack of time, fear of embarrassing yourself, no motivation to put on real clothes and get in the car and drive — the excuses are endless. Well, thanks, Covid-19 — when fitness centers were forced to shut down last March, instructors jumped online and figured out how to offer classes virtually. Local fitness pros who teach everything from group personal training to Zumba talk about what it’s been like to transition to virtual classes and why now might be the perfect time to give at-home exercise a try.
Zumba
What it is: Zumba is a “dance fitness party” that’s often set to Latin and world music, according to the official Zumba website. There are also variations, like Zumba Step, Zumba Toning, which incorporates light weights, and Zumba Gold, designed for older exercisers.
You might like it if: You want a non-traditional cardio workout, you love upbeat music and dancing and you don’t want to have to buy any equipment.
Going virtual: When her studio in Manchester shut down on March 16, Gorica Santos, a licensed Zumba fitness instructor, spent two days figuring out a Plan B, then on March 18 went to a local park with her iPhone, created a closed Facebook group and invited her regular students to attend online. She quickly realized that Facebook had its limitations — not everyone could access it, and the platform has restrictions about music — so she moved to Zoom and continues to use that platform.
“I’ve been doing this for 12 years and I have a huge network of women who have been coming to my classes on a regular basis,” Santos said. “We see each other two or three times a week. … Not being able to do that all of a sudden was a challenge.”
The pros and cons of virtual classes: Santos said the hardest thing about moving her classes online has been the lack of personal connection to her Zumba community.
“I generally don’t like it because I’m missing the socializing part, which is a huge part for all of us,” she said.
For in-person classes, Santos’s studio is set up like a nightclub with a big dance floor.
“Everybody’s yelling and cheering — we feed off each other,” she said. “You can’t substitute [that feeling] with online classes.”
Santos said that livestreaming classes from home, where she’s alone, is nothing like the vibe in her studio.
“People come to class because of my energy, so I have to work really hard to create a similar atmosphere [virtually],” she said.
On the plus side, she has found that it’s easier for some people to attend classes online, particularly when they lack the time or motivation to get to the studio, or if they wouldn’t normally come out because of bad weather or not having child care. She also has some former students who moved away back in class virtually.
“Right now the participation is a little higher, so that’s a positive,” Santos said.
Another positive is that it’s a great opportunity for people who are new to Zumba and worry that they won’t be able to keep up or get the moves right.
“Most people are intimidated — doing something in front of other people that you’ve never done before is intimidating,” Santos said. “[This way] no one can see you.”
Give it a try: To try Zumba with Santos, visit zumbawithgorica.com, email her at gorica@zumbawithgorica.com or call her at 560-6175. Her drop-in fee is $10, and she’s currently holding classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. She recommends that anyone who hasn’t done Zumba before give her a call prior to class so she can go over the basics. If you’re interested in other kinds of Zumba classes, such as Toning, Gold or Strong, visit zumba.com/en-US/online-classes, where you’ll find instructors from around the world offering drop-in classes, so you can pick the most convenient time and day. Prices vary and many are by donation.
My Zumba experience My completely subjective take on a few iterations of Zumba, based on my own likes, dislikes, skills and lack thereof Zumba: I just can’t, with the dancing. That’s why I’ve only done Zumba once. By the time I got one move down, it was on to something else, and I just felt like I was too busy trying to figure out where my feet were supposed to go and how to make my hips move like that to get a really solid workout. That said, I had always wondered if I could do it, and being able to try it in my living room, where only my kids could make fun of me, was a definite plus (though of all the Zumba-ish classes, this is the one where I felt like my living room wasn’t quite big enough, even with furniture pushed to the side). I should also add that my best friend (who has rhythm) loves Zumba, as does my mother (who does not, but has been happily Zumba-ing in her bedroom since the pandemic began). Zumba Toning: This I can do, and I feel like I’m getting a real workout. Some of the movements are still a little complicated at times for a person devoid of dance skills, but I like that I’m working my arms, legs and sometimes core. The first time I did this, I used 5-pound weights because they were all I had. I’ve since bought 2-pound weights and I still feel the burn without worrying that I’m about to injure myself. Strong: I first tried Strong a few years ago through my town’s rec department, and I liked it enough to keep going despite the fact that I’m not a big fan of, um, people. The music is motivating, the moves are hard but not in a complicated way — using-muscles-I-didn’t-know-I-had hard — and there are modifications if you want to make it easier or if you want to up the intensity. It’s HIIT, so your heart rate stays up while you’re toning your whole body. I like it even more virtually; some might prefer the camaraderie of in-person classes, but I’m a fan of living-room Strong, mainly because I don’t care if I look like I’m dying during ab exercises. The best part is that the moves change quickly, so if you hate one of them (looking at you, burpees), it doesn’t last long.
Pound
What it is: A full-body workout that uses Ripstix (lightly weighted drumsticks) that combines cardio and strength training with yoga and pilates-inspired moves, according to the Pound website.
You might like it if: You want to “rock out while you work out” — Pound’s official tagline
Going virtual: Jessica Hodgdon of East Kingston had been teaching Pound live at a studio in Fremont and a couple of places in Portsmouth before Covid hit, and even when those studios opened back up she didn’t feel comfortable returning. So she went virtual, first trying it out with her Zumba classes and then adding Pound in January — mostly because she missed doing it herself.
“Pound is a great workout because not only are you burning calories but it is a great way to relieve stress — and it is fun being a rock star!” she said.
Hodgdon said she hasn’t had a lot of virtual students so far but attributes it to the fact that Pound is still a new form of exercise in this area.
“A lot of people are like, ‘Pound, what is that?’” she said.
But the down time has given her more of a chance to figure out the technology, learning how to use Zoom and how to share music so that it sounds good to both her and her students. And while some instructors host their classes in kitchens or living rooms or garages and don’t change the background, Hodgdon uses a backdrop and ring lights so her students can focus on her and her movements rather than her surroundings.
The pros and cons of virtual classes: Hodgdon said that prior to Covid, both Zumba and Pound wouldn’t allow instructors to teach virtually, but it’s been such a successful addition to their programs that she thinks it will likely continue even after the pandemic. And Hodgdon is on board with that. She said she and her students benefit from the convenience of not having to drive anywhere, and pretty much anyone can do it, anywhere. She also said that it’s a way to stay connected — but on the flip side, she admits that that connection pales in comparison to being in person.
“It’s not the same,” she said. “I miss teaching live classes. I like to interact with people. I like to get right up next to somebody and do the moves with them.”
Give it a try: Hodgdon hosts 45-minute virtual Pound classes every Tuesday at 6 p.m. Drop-in classes are $8, a five-class pass is $35 and a 10-class pass is $60. (She also hosts virtual Zumba toning classes each Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. for the same price.) Register at befreshwithjess@gmail.com or find her on Facebook by searching for “Be Fresh with Jazzy Jess.” You can find other virtual Pound classes, hosted by instructors from around the country, at poundfit.com. Prices vary by instructor.
Pilates
What it is: “A fitness version of physical therapy,” according to Concord Pilates instructor Bethany Filteau-Hill.
You might like it if: You want to develop your core strength or have recurrent injuries or soreness that you want to address.
Going virtual: Though she was just finishing up her training to become a Pilates instructor last year “when the world shut down,” Filteau-Hill said, she was able to transition to virtual classes pretty quickly, both to finish her training and to teach.
“Truly, I can’t really say that it’s harder,” she said. “I think it’s just different. … Virtually, you have to use different senses [as an instructor]; it’s almost as if someone took my sight away. And you have to be more descriptive [when explaining the moves].”
For her virtual group classes Filteau-Hill only does mat work, and she makes sure her workouts are of average difficulty so everyone can do them and still be challenged. It’s a bit different than in-person classes at the studio, where they assess newcomers and give them individual plans and goals. Concord Pilates in particular is a bit different, Filteau-Hill said, as its workouts are done in circuit training style with different stations that have machines like the reformer and the trapeze.
The pros and cons of virtual classes: Filteau-Hill said that new students who have been going right to virtual love it, while students who had been working out in the studio prior to Covid haven’t been quite as enthusiastic about going virtual.
“They still love us, but they’re still kind of ‘eh’ on the virtual part,” she said. “When you’re in person, everything just had more of a flow to it.”
One of the positives, she said, is that by offering virtual classes, the New Hampshire-based studio has been able to “open up and be more than Concord Pilates — we can [teach] Pilates in California.”
Give it a try: Filteau-Hill offers virtual classes through Concord Pilates, which has a number of classes with different instructors. Call 856-7328 or visit concordpilates.com. Filteau-Hill also teaches dance through Royal Palace Dance Studio in Manchester, which has moved all of its classes online, including tap, jazz and wedding dances. Visit royalpalacedance.com.
My Pound experience I heart Pound. The music is loud and awesome and invigorating. Like Strong, I first tried this in person during a rec class; in fact, the instructor changed the class from Strong to Pound, and I was not thrilled. Working out with weighted drumsticks? “Rocking out while you work out?” It sounded so … quirky and upbeat (read: not my typical MO). But I was hooked after the first class. You almost don’t notice that your legs are being tortured as you’re air drumming. My quads and glutes have never worked so hard. I wouldn’t say it’s a great arm workout, but your arms are definitely moving, and the more intensely you “drum,” the more you’ll feel it. Since Pound hasn’t been offered in my town for a couple years and I couldn’t find an in-person class to fit my schedule, I was thrilled to find out that it’s being offered virtually for the first time ever. I got myself some Ripstix, and in the past couple months I’ve tried classes with four instructors from various parts of the country (virtual classes are listed on the Pound website, and you can almost certainly find one that fits your schedule). Each instructor leads classes a little bit differently, so I would suggest finding one who you vibe with (I couldn’t deal with the one who kept calling us “friends,” as in, “OK, friends, stand on up!”).
Yoga
What it is: There are several kinds of yoga that vary in intensity, like gentle yoga, which focuses onstretching postures, gentle flowing movements and breathing techniques, and Vinyasa yoga, which flows from one posture to the next to increase the aerobic activity and build strength.
You might like it if: You want to stretch and tone your body and improve your balance, or you’re stressed out and want to try a new relaxation technique.
Going virtual: YogaBalance Yoga Studio in Manchester closed for two and a half months after the shutdown last March, but its virtual classes were up and running by April 1.
“It was very much a case of scrambling … and kind of coming up with scrappy solutions,” said Katherine White, director of YogaBalance.
She spent some time learning to use Zoom and researching and acquiring equipment, and now the studio is offering what it calls “YBLive” virtual classes, which are livestreamed from the studio as in-person sessions are happening. There are also on demand, pre-recorded videos that clients can sign up for and access whenever they want.
“I’m really happy that we’ve kind of found our feet with it all,” White said.
The pros and cons of virtual classes: “If you can just pop it up on your phone, the convenience of it is second to none,” White said, noting that there’s no need for child care and you don’t have that drive time. And it’s a good option for anyone who hasn’t tried yoga before.
“Because it’s private [at home], we’ve been hearing from beginners that it’s less intimidating,” she said. “I think it’s a really amazing stepping stone for people to start with.”
The downside is that there’s no teacher there to help correct postures and poses, and some people don’t have equipment, like yoga blocks, or enough space to really feel comfortable. And she said from the instructors’ perspective, it’s more difficult to manage a hybrid class, when they’re trying to lead in person while staying connected with the students online.
Still, White said, virtual classes have been a long time coming.
“[Before the pandemic] there was definitely a desire in the fitness industry for online classes,” she said. “Now it looks like they are here to stay.”
Give it a try: There are numerous YBLive virtual classes. The cost to livestream is the same as in-person, which is $18 to drop in ($13 for students and seniors 62 and older), $39 a month for new clients for one month, and $99 a month thereafter ($69 for students and seniors). On-demand videos are $3.99 each; unlimited access is $14.99 a month. Visit yogabalance.info.
My yoga experience OK, technically speaking, I have never taken a yoga class, either in person or online. But I’ve been doing yoga in my living room to the same handful of DVDs for about 15 years, with instructors like Jillian Michaels (Yoga Meltdown and Yoga Inferno) and Bob Harper (Weight-Loss Yoga), both from The Biggest Loser. I’m more of a fan of faster-paced yoga that’s slightly less focused on breathing (yoga instructors everywhere are cringing right now) and more focused on stretching, strength and flexibility, and balance. While I can’t speak to the livestreaming class experience, I can say yoga in general has so many benefits. The older I get, the more it helps alleviate back pain and loosen up muscles that are tight from running. When I need to relax, I go for my “easier” DVDs that help me slow down a bit and really focus on slow, purposeful movements. I know I could find all of these variations of yoga through higher-quality and more effective virtual classes, and I will try one eventually — as soon as my DVD player dies.
Group personal training
What it is: Classes-based personal training that allows each member of the group to train and progress to their own abilities.
You might like it if: You want the benefits of having your own personal trainer for a fraction of the cost, or you think you’d benefit from being part of a fitness community that will push and encourage you.
Going virtual: At Get Fit NH in Concord, owner Meagan Sbat said she was “forced to become a tech person” when she had to shut down last March in order to connect with her clients. Since then, she’s fine-tuned the online offerings pretty successfully, and many of her clients are taking advantage of it.
“It’s almost like, why haven’t we been doing this the whole time,” she laughed.
Virtual programming includes a system called True Coach that delivers training emails to her clients every morning.
“We also record our live class at 5 a.m. and email it out to all our clients … and we have a livestream option, eight classes a day,” Sbat said.
All the coaches have earpieces in so clients at home can communicate directly with them, whether it’s to ask questions or ask for modifications based on the equipment they have at home.
The pros and cons of virtual classes: Sbat said she has been reaching out to her virtual clients on a regular basis to see if there’s anything they can improve with their online programming.
“Most of them reply back that they feel very connected,” she said. “We’re still engaging in front of the camera to the people at home. They miss talking to people, but the community aspect is still present.”
Several clients who have gone virtual because they work remotely, or they go out of town and want to jump on a livestream class.
“It’s definitely something that’s never going to go away,” Sbat said.
There are some benefits to in-person classes in a group personal training setting, though.
“You get to know the people around you,” Sbat said. “You want to perform better because there are other people in the room pushing themselves.”
Get Fit NH also has a brand-new facility that opened Nov. 30; located on Terrill Park Drive. It’s 10,000 square feet compared to the 4,000 square feet in their previous facility on Main Street.
Give it a try: Get Fit NH is now offering an online-only version of its group personal training program, starting at $89 a month. An in-person or hybrid membership ranges from $147 to $177 a month. Call 344.2651, email getfitnh@gmail.com or visit getfitnh.com.
Strength and toning
What it is: There’s a wide variety of strength and toning classes, from HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training, which combines body weight exercises for toning with that high intensity for cardio burn) to toning with weights.
You might like it if: You’re more interested in building and strengthening muscles than doing straight-up cardio.
Going virtual: When Hampshire Hills Athletic Club in Milford shut down, the instructors first moved some of their classes to Facebook.
“We loved it because we were able to still have that connection with participants,” said Sue-Ellen Maher, Group Fitness Coordinator.
Eventually they switched to Zoom, and now the club offers several virtual strengthening and toning workouts, like BodyPump, which is a barbell workout using light to moderate weights.
“People have been using milk jugs for weights,” Maher said. “They make steps for the BodyPump platform. … As members adapted, we were able to adapt and add more.”
Other strengthening and toning virtual classes include Les Mills Grit Strength, which is a 30-minutes HIIT workout; BodyFlow yoga; Pilates; and Forever Fit Strength & Balance, which uses dumbbells, balls and tubing and focuses on functional strength.
The pros and cons of virtual classes: While the facility is still open at 50 percent capacity, the addition of livestreaming classes has been well-received.
“Parents appreciate having that virtual option, and [some] of our members are just not ready to come back yet, and we want to keep them engaged,” Maher said. “They’re still able to log on and see their instructors and their friends.”
Still, she said, there is a disconnect when you’re working out online.
“[Students] have their cameras on when they first log on, they wave and say hi, and then they turn them off,” Maher said.
She said that can be a challenge because she’s not able to directly correct alignment.
“Some members could get more out of it if I saw what they were doing,” she said.
Give it a try: There are no drop-in options at Hampshire Hills; you must be a member to access any of the virtual classes, though Maher said they’re looking to add a virtual membership option for a smaller fee. For membership information and costs, visit hampshirehills.com. For similar class offerings, you can also check out your local YMCA’s website. Individual chapters are offering livestreaming classes for members, and there’s also a new organization-wide option called YMCA 360, which includes a full library of on-demand videos.
With the Patriots done for the season weeks ago, New Hampshire football fans may not be all that excited for Sunday’s Super Bowl, but they can still celebrate the sport during the Super Sunday 4 Miler, an in-person or virtual run that features T-shirt jerseys as swag and beer at the post-race tailgate party. The race distance is also a nod to the theme: “There’s four downs [in football],” said Barry Lewandowski, the marketing director at Millennium Running, which is hosting the race. The in-person event takes place Sunday, Feb. 7, at 9:30 a.m. and starts and ends at the 1750 Taphouse in Bedford. The first Super Sunday 4 Miler took place in February 2020, and Lewandowski said it was a great success. “It went really well,” he said. “I think we had over 1,500 finishers.” A lot has changed since this time last year; there was no virtual option, for one thing, and social distancing wasn’t an everyday term. Now race organizers are implementing a time trial start, which they’ve done for every in-person run they’ve had since the pandemic began. “Two runners will start every 10 seconds to space them out on the course and to allow for social distancing,” Lewandowski said. While runners won’t have to wear masks while on the course, they are required before they start and after they finish, he said. Those who opt to participate virtually will run their four miles solo on Feb. 7. “We have a link for them to give us their result time,” Lewandowski said. “They’ll enter that time and then we calculate all the results on Monday.” Lewandowski sees the Super Sunday 4 Miler as an opportunity for individuals to get out of the house, do something “culturally relevant” and have fun with the theme. At the same time, participants will be supporting two good causes. This year Millennium Running has adopted the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester as their official charity partner. The company has also teamed up with Bedford High School Athletic Boosters, who will receive some of the event’s proceeds.
Millennium Running’s Super Sunday 4 Miler When: Sunday, Feb. 7, 9:30 a.m. Where: 1750 Taphouse, Bedford, or virtual Tickets: $30 for virtual participants, $30 for in-person participants under 21, $35 for in-person participants over 21 More Info: Visit millenniumrunning.com/supersunday4miler
Featured Photo: The inaugural Super Sunday 4 Miler in 2020. Photo courtesy of Millennium Running.
